Category: The Dish

Two varying views on what, if anything, should be made of last night. Did Crash win the older vote? A reader muses:

"I’d be really curious to see a breakdown of Oscar votes by age.  I suspect we’d see that Crash cleaned up among the old guard, while Brokeback was the choice of younger Academy members.  My evidence is only anecdotal, but as a straight, white, male GenXer (I’m in my early 30’s), I can tell you that almost all of my friends had the same reaction to both films.  We loved Brokeback not because we viewed it as a gay film — we didn’t — but because it was simply a very strong, moving, adult love story (albeit with some cheesy dialogue), in an age where that is becoming increasingly difficult to pull off effectively.  We weren’t very impressed with Crash, however, because although we viewed it as a well-made film, we thought its vision of race-relations was hopelessly outdated.  I’m a New Yorker, and even I find it difficult to believe that the LA Haggis presents bears any resemblance to the real place.  I took Haggis’ LA the same way I now take Woody Allen’s New York, as a work of nostalgia.  Even among critics, it’s been my observation that the old guard (like Roger Ebert) seem much more enamoured of Crash than the younger generation.  Perhaps this says something positive about the direction of race and sexual orientation relations among the younger crowd."

Or did Crash win the "subversive" vote (as understood by boomer liberals):

"If anything, I think last night may indicate "Brokeback" went a little TOO mainstream for the Academy’s tastes. Like when "Shakespeare In Love" won over the movie everyone was talking about in 1998, "Saving Private Ryan." Or in 2002 when "Chicago" won, probably solely on the merits that nobody talked or cared about it. The problem with "Brokeback" was that too many regular folks turned out for it, related to it and liked it. It was too conservative!"

I thought, for what it’s worth, that Crash was a marginally better movie than Brokeback, but BBM was the better, and more truthful, narrative. Still: I have to say I couldn’t care less who wins the Oscars. I enjoy them for their meaninglessness more than anything. 

A reader takes the long view:

"I agree with some of your points on the order of: suppose we hadn’t gone in? True, Saddam didn’t, and still wouldn’t, have any WMD, but (as we know all too well right now) the WMD issue was only the beginning. The Saddam regime was inherently unstable and some kind of crackup was coming to Iraq eventually anyway.

The lesson can only be: the entire civilized world ("The West", if you will) needs to take more seriously the problem of unstable and/or failed states, and needs to develop and actual functioning machinery for dealing with them, including situations in which Iraq-style "regime change" is the agreed-upon course of action.

While the US had the will and ability to go into Iraq (mistakenly or not), the interesting question is: what if there was no USA? No power with the ability (or belief in its ability) to act unilaterally? Suppose the present situation was not the result of a US invasion, but instead the natural outcome of a post-Saddam Iraqi crackup? What abilities exist under the auspices of organizations like NATO or the UN to deal with it? The answer is clearly, "not much", and this is not going to be adequate for the long term.

Given our financial predicament (exacerbated by the Bush tax cuts), it simply isn’t going to be possible for the US economy to support the kind of gigantic military capability that has been typical of the US since the end of WWII. Once our military has declined to a level more typical of Western democracies such as, say, Great Britain, we won’t be in a position anymore to deal (on our own) with the Iraqs of the future, and a more collaborative mechanism had better be in place before that point is reached."

Agreed. Alas, the Bush administration may have made this harder. But I see signs that they are adjusting. And the Europeans may be beginning to realize that we need to be in this together for the long haul in order to prevail.

Here’s a quote for ya:

"I know that you share the president’s and my commitment to maintaining the full faith and credit of the U.S. government," – Treasury secretary, John Snow.

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Just a reminder: here’s what he’s done in a mere five years.

A devastating critique, if a little tough on Disraeli.

What I got wrong about the Iraq war. But why I still haven’t given up. My new Time essay here.

"Yes, you could say I am libertarian. I believe in liberty for all, equality and human rights, freedom and democracy, free-market ethics, and I hate extremism in everything. I believe in life more than death as being the way to happiness," – an Iraqi Shiite, risking his life translating Ludwig von Mises into Arabic. His best weapon? The Internet. Jonathan Rauch keeps hope alive here.

An elegant skewering of the veep. This sentence sure rings true:

"Now that the Armstrong incident has receded into the mists of time, where it can be calmly considered in historical perspective, the shotgunning of Harry Whittington, in itself, does indeed appear as of less than global significance."

Er, yes.

It was a great night for Mickey. Gloating and excitement can be read in full here. Yes, he still cares. I actually enoyed the show Shales loathed. Yes, Jon Stewart couldn’t bring it off, but he seemed to be unaware that these people take themselves very seriously. Of the good things I loved: Tomlin and Streep, natch, reminding us that many of those other stiff, ungainly people on stage are actually actors in their spare time; Dolly Parton, Dolly Parton, Dolly Parton; the gay cowboy clip sequence (give me a break, okay?); PSH thanking his mom for his first Oscar; and Lauren Bacall, showing what real reality television is. Dialogue in Sullivan household:

"She’s drunk."
"No, she’s just old."
"Will she finish?"
"Where’s she going?"
Two minutes of slapping-the-carpet laughter. 
"Where’d she go?"

Now that’s an Oscar night. My favorite awful moments: Clooney telling America to go screw itself; the slow-mo dance set for Crash, which seemed to involve a Robert Wilson version of a cop feeling a woman up; everything about that Pimp number; the silly Brits in their bowties; the silly frogs with their cuddly toys. What more can you ask for?

(Photo: Vince Bucci/Getty)

The Bush administration has left a big gaping electoral hole: the populist, xenophobic, isolationist tendency in America. Will the Republicans fill it? Or the Democrats? My take here.

It’s hard not to be impressed by this astonishing public display in Bahrain of the real face of moderate Islam – appalled by the blasphemy of the Samarra mosque bombing. Here’s a slogan worth cheering: "No Shia, no Sunni. All of us denounce the exclusivists (terrorists)." Gateway Pundit has the goods. Invaluable commentary here. Photo courtesy of Montadayat.org. Many of the demonstrators were Shi’a, seeing themselves as the victims of sectarian attack. But their response is to build bridges, not to burn them. All this happened last Wednesday. Have you seen a mention of it in the MSM? Me neither.