Cleaning out my files–part 5: Odds & Ends

• A disgusting response to a soldier’s simple inquiry.  The employee was fired. The name of the owner of the business is Faisal Khetani (not that that means anything.)
• “Hollywood star Clint Eastwood said his acclaimed picture ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’ aimed to show the futility of war.” The futility of World War II? In what possible sense could you call WWII “futile?” Is he cracking up?  Before you protest, the article makes clear that he’s not calling Japan’s decision to go to war futile.  He’s saying World War II itself was futile: “I think every war has a certain parallel in the futility of it and that’s one of the reasons for telling these stories — they are not pro-war stories.”
• Kathryn Jean Lopez says, “I knew I liked Joe Lieberman.  He reads Mark Steyn.”  Me, too.  And, me, too.
• Libertas (a fun Hollywood/politics site) is now going to review movies as a regular feature.  ’Dirty Harry’ pledges that “you can finally look forward to being forewarned of political agendas snuck into films that promise only to entertain. The era of Hollywood getting away with this crap has just come to an end. I intend to holler, kick, scream, and make a huge stink over the left-wing sucker punches we’re all sick of. And yes, it will have an effect on my overall review because the worst sin a filmmaker can make is to take the viewer out of the film, and nothing does that faster than slipping in a political agenda.”  I’m looking forward to it.

Cleaning out my files–part 4: John Edwards’ pet bloggers

**Strong Language Alert** 

Remember how Democrats suddenly started quoting scripture after the last presidential election?  Did you think they were for real?

The story:

John Edwards–as mainstream a Democrat as they come–hires Amanda Marcotte for his campaign.  I won’t link to her site directly, or quote her stuff on my site, but you can click here to read some choice excerpts.  [Language Alert #1]

Read that? Good. Now here’s (reg. req.) what John Edwards says to people who may think that hiring someone who uses that sort of language might display his campaign’s contempt for Christianity: 

“I’ve talked to Amanda and Melissa; they have both assured me that it was never their intention to malign anyone’s faith, and I take them at their word.”
He also said that he would not allow his campaign to be “hijacked” by religious conservatives who had pointed out the bloggers’ most provocative comments and demanded their removal.

The two bloggers have since resigned from the campaign.  Edwards was in a pickle: if he kept them on, he couldn’t win in his home state, never mind anywhere else; if he fired them, he would alienate a substantial portion of the Democrats.  That’s right.  A sizable minority of Democrats are consumed by anti-Christian bigotry.

In the WSJ (reg. req.), Mary Eberstadt writes about how this dilemma causes problems for all of the Democratic Party’s presidential hopefuls.  Her conclusion:

Sophisticates and secularists have always titillated themselves by despising the Bible Belt. But professional Christian-bashers have never been as “embedded” in the liberal mainstream as they are today. And therein lies a problem for Democrats. More Amanda Marcottes are not what the party needs as it scrambles to re-establish its religious bona fides with wary red-staters. No wonder so many Democratic candidates are in church. Now they really have something to pray about.

Finally, Iowahawk does a good job capturing the characteristic tone of  Edwards’ erstwhile blogger-in-chief.  [Language alert #2]

Cleaning out my files–part 3: Why is Sandy Berger a free man?

Read about him here and here.

I don’t have much to add.  I’m pretty sure the answer to the question in my title is tied up with the fact that his security clearance will be reinstated in the year 2008.  2008… Now what’s so significant about that year?  I know, it’s a leap year!

Cleaning out my files–part 2: Joe Kennedy, Hugo Chavez, and Jodi Rell

Joe Kennedy claims that Hugo Chavez is “our friend,” apparently because he is willing to starve his own people (reg. req.), through price controls, in order to score PR points by giving cheap fuel to Americans.

Iain Murray explains why price controls are a stupid idea here.

Jodi Rell shows off her knowledge of basic economics here.  Her ignorance makes me very worried about her plan for universal health coverage.

I’m just connecting the dots, people…  The fact that the free market is not “fair” doesn’t mean it should be subverted, because usually the cure is much worse than the disease.

Cleaning out my files–part 1: Borat

I’ll let you in on a little secret.  For every item I post here, I write two or three.  I get hung up on the way I word what I write, or whether I’m being fair to the people I disagree with, and so I save the post and look at it again the next day.  And the next.  And the the next thing I know, it’s a week (or more) later and I feel like it’s too stale to post.  Problem solved!

So, to clean out my files, I’m just going to post some links with just a line or two of commentary.

First up:

I decided not to see the Borat movie without really thinking about why it didn’t appeal to me.  Then I came upon these two articles and I think they express how I feel about this kind of comedy better than I could:

The Laugh of the Future argues that Christianity teaches us that we can laugh at fools while simultaneously identifying with them, and that the new paganism replaces this identification with a smug superiority.  This was written several months before the Borat movie was released.

Twelfth Night and the Art of Humiliation uses one of my favorite plays to illustrate the tension between humor and compassion, and how much depth our comedies lose when the compassion is jettisoned.

—————–

*UPDATE*

I was flipping through the channels a couple of nights ago.  I was about to zap right by “Mama’s Family” when I saw Carol Burnett there.  I watched the rest of the show.  She’s got it right.  Eunice is somebody we laugh at.  And then we feel horrible for laughing at her.  It’s the perfect balance.

If any of you remember the story where Eunice gets on the Gong Show, you’ll know what I’m talking about.  She was gonged.  Right away.  The camera zoomed in to capture her face.  Do you remember that?

 I laugh at Eunice.  And my heart breaks for Eunice.  And you can’t seperate those two things, or there is diminishment.

Move along people, nothing to see here

Here’s another muslim who is absolutely not a terrorist.  Let me see what other incidents of this type I can recall:

The Washington Snipers case

The Oklahoma football stadium bomber

The UNC-Chapel Hill SUV incident

The hit-and-run spree in San Francisco

The shootings at the Jewish center in Seattle

The shootings at the El Al counter at LAX

 And these are just off the top of my head!

Two questions Al Franken won’t be asked

 

Al Franken has announced that he’s running for senator.

 Here are two questions I predict he won’t be asked:

1. Do you still physically assault people you disagree with?
2. What did you know about Air America’s theft from widows and orphans, and when did you know it?

 A conservative would never get a free pass on these kinds of things, but Franken’s betting he’ll be treated like a male Hillary Clinton.  I’m betting he’s right.

Swimsuit issue is out!

Here’s the cover:

I flipped through it.  Nothing to compare to the greatest SI photo of all time:

That’s a swimsuit! 

For those who prefer something a little tamer, here’s the cover of the 1970 Swimsuit Issue:

That’s a swimsuit?

Lifetime reading plan

I’ve been in an introspective mood the last month.  I’ve been dealing with death, money and taxes.  (I didn’t post about the taxes, but if the IRS doesn’t see things my way, I will.)  I’ve tried to post on current events, but I’m just not feeling the passion to do it right.

 So, instead I’ll try to make a little money.  Remember, if you click on any of my links to Amazon, no matter what you end up buying I’ll get a percentage.  It’s called a “kickback.” 

Years ago, I picked up a copy of The New Lifetime Reading Plan, and decided to give it a go.  It lists what the authors (Clifton Fadiman and John S. Major) believe to be the greatest works of literature ever written.  It’s actually a joy to read on its own: one to two page beautifully written essays that actually make you want to read the books.  Reading about reading is almost as fun as reading!

I picked it up eight years ago, and decided to go through it, and keep a journal about my reaction to each book.  Here’s what I wrote:

My latest decision

I think the reason I’ve been thinking so much about money is because my future has been so uncertain.  My store is closing, and I’ve been offered the same position for the same money in another location one town over.  Translation: slight pay cut (no more walking to work!)

Before I go any further, I want to reassure my father that when I’m talking about money, I’m talking about income versus outflow, not my savings.  I have a nest egg!  I’ve been agonizing about the possibility that instead of adding to it little by little every month, the money will be–equally slowly–going the other way.

 So, here were my options:

1. Work until my store closes, take the two months’ severance pay, and find another job.  I could get a job that pays a dollar or two more an hour very easily.
2. Take the position at the other store.  Forego the severance, and take a little money out of my savings every month.  On the other hand, keep my very good benefits.

So, I’ve been thinking about income and the lack of it.  And my thoughts went to the men I pass on the street every day with their hands out.  (Because I’m so darn cheerful.)  And I decided to take the severance.