Chelsea Clinton again blew a chance to respond to a question that would make her mother seem like a stronger candidate. Once again, she was confronted with a question about her mother’s public handling of the Lewinsky affair, and once again, she muffed it.

There was an opportunity here for the Clinton campaign to be forthcoming. There was an opprotunity here to attack that lingering issue head-on.

Let me make one thing clear: I don’t think that a president’s sex life is our business. I don’t care. I honestly, 100% don’t give a shit. I’m less worried about where the president spends his night than whether or not he’ll put down a children’s book and take care of business.

The original question turned not on how Hillary felt, but on how the situation made her look weak by her lack of response. This is a sensible question. He didn’t ask if Hillary cried, he didn’t ask how long Bill slept on the couch, and he didn’t ask if Monica did something Hillary wouldn’t do. He asked about the public reaction to an issue that the whole country discussed for over a year.

Chelsea could have said, “I think that my mother has proven herself often enough since then.”

She could have said, “My mother left that behind and became a U.S. Senator. I’d say she handled it fine.”

She could have said, “I fail to understand the substance of the question, because my mother is one of the final two Democratic candidates for the highest office in the land.”

Instead, she fell back on “None of your business.” Not once, but twice.

So much for trying to restore honesty and transparency to the White House.

One More Thing: Before I get the usual garbage from both sides, my political take this time around is pretty even: all of our choices kinda suck.

Full Disclaimer: I am a former soldier and an Iraq War veteran.

In watching CNN Headline News this morning, I saw Robin Meade report the new U.S. death toll in Iraq: 4000. In addition, at least 80,000 Iraqis have died, and that’s to say nothing of the 4.5 million, MILLION that have either been forced out of their homes or even the country. Now, don’t get me wrong, Saddam Hussein was a ruthless, vicious, waste of humanity. He genuinely needed to be taken down (though not like this, but that’s a whole different discussion). When oh when will we step up and acknowledge that this just isn’t going well? The worst stat Robin put out there? Last year, 2007, was the BLOODIEST for the U.S., with the death toll hitting over 900 during that year alone.

But hey, the surge is working…

Recently, Occasional Superheroine’s Valerie D’Orazio got mad as hell and decided she wasn’t going to take it anymore. A recent blog entry talking about stereotypes in comics got a bit heated, especially when one poster asked D’Orazio (whose comments had become increasingly condescending as the thread grew larger), “Are you capable of responding to an argument without a personal insult?”

Cue fireworks in 3… 2… 1:

D’Orazio: You don’t like what I write? Don’t come on here and whine about it like a 13-year-old. Go read another f**king blog. See if they tolerate your negativity. I owe you NO respect when you disrespect this blog. It isn’t a democracy, where you can come in here and bitch and insult me and my intelligence and I’m going to bend over backwards to make sure your rights as a debater are preserved. Got that? And if you don’t like it, please please please take you and your self-righteous whiny comments elsewhere.

Well, since you insist.

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Last week a good friend of mine, who occasionally moonlights as a writer, smugly told me to “get it together, sister” and learn to better edit the things I write. She basically implied, more or less, that if I were ever going to become a successful writer I would need to be free of spelling, typo, and grammatical errors. She then taunted me even more by stating that since I had my BA in English that I should, therefore, be a perfect self-editor and that any good writer – one who’s taken seriously and who makes an actual living as a writer - would be able to catch all their mistakes. So in essence she told me my frequently typo-ridden writing, regardless of form or content, was lacking and, basically, just so much crap under her superior shoe (or at least that’s how I took it in a moment of extreme sensitivity).

My first initial insane-o reaction was to pull all her hair out, tell her to F**K Off, and then leap out of the moving car and find comfort in a pint of ice cream. Instead I maturely (and boringly) told her that just because I majored in English it didn’t mean I knew everything there was to know about the degree and that editing my own mistakes has always been my biggest weakness (we have since smoothed things over and I can now appreciate her effort, if not her execution, in trying to help me be a better writer). Go figure! I accept it (despite the fact that I struggle each and every time I write something to make sure it is mistake free, but re-reading and re-re-reading and re-re-re-reading rarely leaves my writing error-free) and I have learned to embrace my shortcoming – even though I curse myself after something has been posted or printed with a glaring typo in it.

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It seems noted temperamental “star” Edward Norton (when was he last seen in a popular movie or, I dunno, just a movie in general?) is not-so-quietly battling with Marvel over the upcoming final cut of The Incredible Hulk movie. I say “not-so-quietly” only because someone must have leaked this beef between Norton and Marvel, unless of course it’s just some marketing ploy to get the movie on the pop culture radar, which really wouldn’t surprise me in today’s controversy loving media. I tend to believe in the veracity of this rumor over marketing ploy, or mere smear-campaign, simply because I live on the web and eat up all and every aspect of pop culture goodness and I find when a story like this makes it onto more than one news/gossip site, well, there’s some truth in “them thar’ hills.”

Apparently Norton wanting a bigger say in the final cut of the film and Marvel is not exactly agreeing with Norton’s input, (or vice a versa depending on your source) and both sides are “working” to come to an understanding. With the June 13^th premier date looming over the horizon Marvel really needs to nail down a final cut, with or without Norton’s stamp of approval. If Marvel does go forth with their vision for the film, which kinda makes sense seeing as how this is their property, their character, and when the chips are down and everything is totaled up, if the movie does badly it will be Marvel that will suffer for it. It’s Marvel that stands to be the most effected if the movie tanks: they stand to loose in theatrical revenue, toy line sales, future sequels profits and further Hulk opportunities (cartoon anyone), whereas Norton will most likely remain unscathed by the movie crashing and burning and will just happily move along to his next project (like Eric Bana did in the first Hulk movie!).

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Gee, Ben Stiller’s new comedy “Tropic Thunder” sure seems hilars, right? Haven’t heard of it yet, well no worries my friends ’cause you sure as heck will. And in a big, big way too! Why? Well, maybe because it features a well known white actor playing blackface! Yup!

Talented actor Robert Downey Jr. brings that “adorable” time old racist tradition of white actors wearing make-up to play a black character back to the mainstream. Yay? Even played for broad humor (Downey Jr. is a white actor playing black in the film as well) I wonder, are we Americans ready?

Uh, “Soul Man” anyone?

Does the sting of blackface still exist as strongly today when it isn’t being used to belittle and subjugate an entire population? I would like to think that we Americans can poke fun at politically-incorrect ideals, but I fear that in today’s hyper amplified media with their shark-like thirst for controversy that any humor and social commentary might be totally and utterly lost.

Still I hold out hope that Stiller and Downey Jr. are able to bring levity to such a potentially offensive idea while also standing for something good, like maybe taking an awful reality from the past and perhaps making it into a positive statement for the future? Alas, knowing Hollywood we will probably just have a stupid “funny” movie with a blackfaced Downey Jr. and lots and lots of fart jokes.

Quitter.

Gee, doesn’t this trailer for Mike Meyers new movie “The Love Gurg” seem, I dunno, super familar? Like, uh, maybe a tad too Austin Powersy - like it’s just Austin Powers dressed as a dude from India?

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPz5e9TvYIs&eurl=http://justjared.buzznet.com/page/2/

All the same humor, much the same cast (hi Mini Me Verne Troyer!), and *gulg* a porno-stach Justin Timberlake in a *shudder* speedo! Yes, Justin freakin’ Timberlake! Speedo. Oye!

Now I love me some Austin Powers,  those movies are well truly hilars! But this? I can’t help but feel I’ve seen all these jokes and story set-ups before, and dare I say it, done better? Why not just make a fourth Austin Powers movie and call it a day?

Celebrities can be horrible role models, especially for teens that are very impressionable. Some may argue that celebrities never signed up to be role models; however they pursued a profession where their entire lives are in the spotlight. The crazier you are, the more coverage you get. Whether they signed up to be someone’s role model or not, celebrities are looked up to and emulated by many young people, and this is not good.            

One thing that many celebrities do best is promoting bad behavior. You cannot walk by a magazine stand without seeing a cover with a picture of a celebrity whose life has gone down the drain due to bad behavior. They are either drunk all the time even in public, being promiscuous, or insulting other groups of people, usually the minority. There are so many photos in magazines like “People” where celebrities are coming out of a nightclub completely intoxicated. This is not good for our youngsters. I know plenty of young people who think the only way to have a good time is to drink on the weekends and get trashed. Where are they getting this idea? One place is definitely celebrities. Teens are just trying to follow their lifestyle because they think celebs are cool. (more…)

The Obama camp sure doesn’t seem happy with the fact that Hillary and company have dredged up this photo.

Our take? If the man wants to cosplay Captain Nemo from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, then that’s his private business.

Like Santa Claus, Spectrum only comes around once per year and is always highly anticipated. This annual collection of the world’s best contemporary fantasy and Sci-fi art is always a favorite not only due to its sheer size and beautiful production, but also because of its diversity in scope. Spectrum presents the best art from the fields of books, comics, advertising, editorial, concept, and even sculpture into each year’s volume.

As always, the book begins with a look at the year in review and the trends in contemporary fantasy art before getting into the opening category of advertising art and presenting the first of its gold and silver annual awards to the best in each category. This year’s gold winner in the advertising category went to James Jean for his Retro-hip “Spacerace 2020” painting for Nike. This gorgeous pop-art piece is a tribute to Sci-Fi imagery of the ‘40s and ‘50s. (more…)

Wow!  It seems sweet little Hayden Panettiere is going the way of the all the Britneys, Lindsays and Paris’ before her and sexying up her image in a bid to gain more Hollywood notoriety. But I have to wonder, is this such a good plan Hayden? Who are these ads geared towards, besides horny middle-age men wishing they could tap a piece of that?  

When will these teen starlets learn from the mistakes of the past? It seems that anytime a young girl makes the leap from talented kid actress/singer to sexed-up Lolita only bad, horrible stuff follows; underage drinking, drugs, random hook-ups, sex tapes, eating disorders, rehab, loss of creditability. Soon the “celebrity” is more famous for her hard-partying ways and personal traumas than her work as an actress/singer. I for one am totally sick of these girls who are famous just for being famous.

I hope this won’t be Hayden’s future, but judging by the steps she is emulating, I don’t have a good feeling. How long will it be before we see a snapshot of her ‘pom pom’ on the internet? Two weeks? Hopefully this is a minor bump in the road for Hayden’s Hollywood career and not an omen of things to come.

Spider-Man The Icon, $49.95 (Titan Books) Written by Steve Saffel.  There have been some fantastic books published over the past couple of years about comic books and comic book characters and the latest is Spider-Man the Icon from Titan Books.  This 320 page, hardcover tome traces the evolution of the character from his beginning in Amazing Fantasy #15 to his present day status as a blockbuster pop culture superstar.   The book follows Spider-Man’s development, decade by decade.  This is a character whose origins even pre-date Amazing Fantasy #15.  Uncanny Tales #26 from 1954 featured a character called the Spider Man, which looked like a giant spider with a human head.  Seems the seeds for Spider-man were planted many years before his first appearance.  Interestingly, Aunt May and Uncle Ben made their first appearance two months before Spider-Man, in Strange Tales # 97.  Here the elderly couple had not a nephew, but a niece named Linda who turned out to be a mermaid!  The issue was drawn by artist Steve Ditko, and there’s certainly no doubt that this is the same Aunt May and Uncle Ben who would raise Peter Parker.  (more…)

You can keep all the fluff and nonsense that comes from the Grammys.

I’ll take the über-HAWT Cat Power any day of the week over that assortment.