Sonny Bunch considers the politics of Iron Man:
This is not a "conservative" movie, per se, but it is the film equivalent of a Rorschach test. If you go into Iron Man seeking right-wing imagery, you’ll find it: Tony Stark is a patriot, pro-military, and likes unilateral intervention. If you go into Iron Man looking for left-wing imagery, you’ll find that, too: The true villain here is Stane, representing an out-of-control military-industrial complex.
I guess it was bound to happen eventually:
I’ve been trying everything to break through my blogger’s block – even to the point of going to a writing class in UCLA. (which is great, but doesn’t have much bearing on blogging so far) Generally the best way to start blogging again may be to announce that I’m taking a hiatus. Then again, I’ve been on an unofficial one since about Christmas, so perhaps not.
When you first start blogging, everything in your life becomes fodder for ‘ooh, I might blog about that’. After a couple of years, and especially if you’re in a job where you can’t really write about your area of expertise, the dry spells appear. And life intervenes. For months after I moved to L.A. I could barely think of a thing to blog about. It reminded me of how after my university finals, I literally could not read a page of a book for a couple of months. Eventually that wore off. For the last month or more, there are absolutely all manner of things I think of blogging about. And I just can’t seem to write about any of them.
Kudos to Betsy Reed for calling it like it is:
What is most troubling–and what has the most serious implications for the feminist movement–is that the Clinton campaign has used her rival’s race against him. In the name of demonstrating her superior "electability," she and her surrogates have invoked the racist and sexist playbook of the right–in which swaggering macho cowboys are entrusted to defend the country–seeking to define Obama as too black, too foreign, too different to be President at a moment of high anxiety about national security. This subtly but distinctly racialized political strategy did not create the media feeding frenzy around the Rev. Jeremiah Wright that is now weighing Obama down, but it has positioned Clinton to take advantage of the opportunities the controversy has presented. And the Clinton campaign’s use of this strategy has many nonwhite and nonmainstream feminists crying foul.
The Clintons may end up not just losing this race, but their reputation among liberal Democrats as well.
"Few voters will be more inclined to vote for Barack Obama because his friend, mentor and pastor is extreme. They will think it makes Mr. Obama less attractive. They will not think Mr. Obama handled the challenge with force, dispatch and the kind of instinct that turns dilemma into gain.
And yet . . . it doesn’t get my blood up. It doesn’t hurt my heart. It doesn’t make me feel I need to defend my country. Because I don’t see it as attacked, only criticized in a way that is not persuasive," – Peggy Noonan, in another great, unpredictable and shrewd column on this campaign.
"We believe the presidency requires leadership…There are times that a president will take a position that a broad support of quote-unquote experts agree with. And there are times they will take a position that quote-unquote experts do not agree with," –Howard Wolfson.
And there are times when you don’t care what you say as long as it might get a few votes. (Hat tip: Ezra).
A fascinating glimpse, courtesy of Ricardo Sanchez, formerly in charge of combat in Iraq, into Rumsfeld’s bureaucratic rear-end protection:
After the meeting ended, I remember walking out of the Pentagon shaking my head and wondering how in the world Rumsfeld could have expected me to believe him [that he had no idea that the plan was to rapidly draw down forces after conquering Baghdad]. Everybody knew that CENTCOM had issued orders to drawdown the forces. The Department of Defense had printed public affairs guidance for how the military should answer press queries about the redeployment. There were victory parades being planned. And in mid-May 2003, Rumsfeld himself had sent out some of his famous "snowflake" memorandums to Gen. Franks asking how the general was going to redeploy all the forces in Kuwait. The Secretary knew. Everybody knew.
So what was Rumsfeld doing?
Nineteen months earlier, in September 2004, when it was clearly established in the Fay-Jones report that CJTF-7 was never adequately manned, he called me in from Europe and claimed ignorance, "I didn’t know about it," he said. "How could this happen? Why didn’t you tell somebody about it?"
Now, he had done exactly the same thing, only this time he had prepared a written memorandum documenting his denials. So it was clearly a pattern on the Secretary’s part, and now I recognized it. Bring in the top-level leaders. Profess total ignorance. Ask why he had not been informed. Try to establish that others were screwing things up. Have witnesses in the room to verify his denials. Put it in writing. In essence, Rumsfeld was covering his rear. He was setting up his chain of denials should his actions ever be questioned. And worse yet, in my mind, he was attempting to level all the blame on his generals.
It’s interesting to me that Rumsfeld would rather be regarded as a total incompetent than responsible for any errors of judgment that ruined his war plan. He really was Bush’s man, wasn’t he?
Michael Schudson and Danielle Haas report on a new study:
Anyone who buys the beltway complaint that television news reporting shrivels both politics and public discourse has two new reasons to worry: sound bites are getting shorter and video reels are getting longer. That means less talk of policy solutions and more rolling shots of diplomatic handshakes, tarmac striding, and presidential cowboys whacking underbrush on Texas ranches.
Oh goody.
A $300,000 watch that doesn’t tell time. Not that I’m bitter about it or anything.
Cyberdyne Inc. (also the name of the company that creates Skynet in the Terminator movies) is working on a sleek exoskeleton called HAL (the name of the killer computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey). Bad omens? Or a group of scientists with a sense of humor?
Postcards From Yo Mama, a blog of real-life e-mails and IM conversations from mothers, is the latest niche blog to snag a book deal. Some recent ones:
I was in the car listening to the radio, and who is this “shorty” they keep talking about in rap songs?
Just wanted to say hi. I know you’re probably busy getting caught up at work after last week. I hope you enjoyed the plays. Did you get the movie I sent you? Today is our 31st anniversary. We are eating leftovers for dinner, and I was bit by a dog this morning. I’m not foaming at the mouth, so far. The fun never ends. Love, Mom
I love you. I will pray for you. Be sure and take some kind of i.d. so if your plane crashes and burns they will know who to call. Hope you do that on all your trips anyway. That way if I don’t get a dreadful call, I will know you are just fine and happy.
Margaret Cho’s voicemails remain the gold standard.
