On a recent appearance on NBC’s The Today Show, Jenna Bush discussed her impending wedding. Among her observations regarding being the daughter of the president, she said, “I’m not that glamorous.”
No shit.
That was painful to watch, and I blame neither candidate for it, really, the Republican OR the Democrat.
The less people see of that performance by ABC News, the better.
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…
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.
Senator Obama, you’re amazing.
Mike Huckabee wants you to know that all the votes should be counted! He doesn’t want the United States to be like the Soviet Union!
That would be awesome . . . if Huckabee hadn’t insisted on Gore dropping recount efforts in 2000.
Today’s internet lesson, kids: Once this shit goes up, it stays around FOREVER.
This has been a really strange campaign. First Ann Coulter said she’d campaign for Hillary if McCain got the Republican nomination. From what I’ve heard, this is akin to a fundie Christian saying that she is MORE EVIL THAN SATAN.
Now, that aside, I just discovered this little piece of news:
THE GREATFUL DEAD ARE REUNITING.
FOR OBAMA.
That. is. amazing.
Presidential candidates have begun using B-rated action heroes to support their campaigns. Normally no one would think to mess with the wrath of Chuck Norris, with his roundhouse kicks and other cheesy karate moves along with the never ending jokes, it is no wonder that Republican candidate Governor Mike Huckabee has him by his side. With the plan to secure the border using Chick Norris, who knows this may be a good idea from Governor Huckabee. It has to be better then President Bush’s plan of sweeping it under the rug and hoping American’s do not notice the extra twelve million new neighbors we receive.
Arizona Senator John McCain is now being supported by Sylvester Stallone. Perhaps this collaboration could be a positive political action because of their similarities. Both McCain and Stallone’s character Rambo fought the bad guys of Vietnam, granted Rambo is still stuck there and making another last resort movie. Another resemblance that the two share is the ongoing debate that they are too old to being doing their job. Stallone 62 may need to throw in the towel first, before he makes another Rocky. Surely McCain could make it another four years.
While I was in Chicago over the weekend, they were constantly running commercials for this guy. I have no idea who he is or whether or not these other two guys are crooks, but I thought it was pretty inventive to campaign with a JibJab video, especially since they put it on YouTube.
Ah, Steve…so much time spent, yet none of it accurately addressing the topic at hand…
“Where does one start when documenting how Marvel has gone beyond simple huckster-isms and into straight out lying to their customers?”—Kevin Huxford
Apparently, you’ve never been in sales of any kind, Kevin.
Marvel cared enough to offer an explanation—whether it’s completely accurate or not really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
Dear biased, win-at-all-costs, attain-your-goals-at-the-expense-of-others Ekstrom…if it isn’t completely accurate…and it is shared with full knowledge of its inaccuracy…it isn’t simply sales and marketing, but a full blown lie.
(more…)
“Honesty is for the most part less profitable than dishonesty.”—Plato
This is the entertainment business, not the honesty business, Kevin. You and I are nothing but nodes which contribute to the propagation of this industry when you look at the bottom line. I do understand that in an ideal world no one would lie to anyone and that all of our farts would smell like lemon chiffon and Koben Kelly would get to bed down with Asia Argento every night but it doesn’t stop publishers from stopping the direction of a project or going against a promise—in effect changing their minds.
What Marvel did wasn’t lying–it was marketing their product.
(more…)
Troy here: Recent posts by contributor Kevin Huxford concerning issues surrounding the unmasking of Spider-Man and the subsequent fan reaction to “One More Day” and “Brand New Day” have spread into other sites, blogs, and forums. Over at Blog@Newsarama, a spirited debate began between Kevin and another Shotgun contributor, Steve Ekstrom. All parties involved thought that it would be more appropriate to move the discussion to a more formalized setting. Here.
The Rules, then:
1) Each contributor prepared an opening position statement regarding Marvel, the Unmasking, BND, etc.
2) Both opening positions appear in this post.
3) Due to a coin toss, Steve’s statement appears first, then Kevin’s. Subsequent posts will carry rebuttals and extensions.
4) The Debate, like fights at Fight Club, will go as long as it needs to.
5) And, for the record, Steve and Kevin’s opinions are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ShotgunReviews.com writers and management, Best Shots, Blog@Newsarama, or Newsarama.com.
Everyone good? Let’s go.
Barb just gave me this:
Ann Coulter just said that she would campaign for Hillary Clinton if John McCain becomes the Republican Nominee. It’s right there in the video.
My head is exploding. In fact, I probably look like Toht from Raiders of the Lost Ark as we speak.
Maybe this is all some diabolical plan to completely screw up the Clinton campaign.
Then again, maybe no matter how it goes, we’re still screwed.
Over on Newsarama, Marc Guggenheim (WGA member) said the following:
“Speaking solely as a WGA member (and not a representative thereof), I’m not disappointed in Joe at all. He isn’t a member of the WGA (or the DGA, SAG or IATSE, for that matter) and, therefore, has no legal or moral obligation to honor the picket line. Nevertheless, he still solicited the opinion of at least one highly successful WGA member before committing to go on the show — a classy move, in my opinion, that he didn’t have to do.
Plus, did you notice the red WGA-solidarity wristband he wore?”
So, it appears that there are at least two WGA members that think it is OK to support the producers by helping them complete one of their shows by filling time as a guest. I give Mr. Guggenheim all the credit in the world for stating his opinion publicly and standing behind it as he has. But agreeing to appear on a show, when you have no contractual obligation, supports the producers by helping them to get new, compelling product out there. Sure, Quesada is not a big mainstream draw and someone else would probably step in, but that doesn’t excuse making the appearance.
But I want to know who this highly successful WGA member is and whether or not they are a current Marvel writer. I don’t want to support anyone who makes excuses for someone crossing a picket line. As far as comic book writers, that means no purchasing works by Guggenheim, thus far. I can only hope that the Skrull WGA member Joe spoke to will have the courage of his convictions to put his name to that advice so I can swear off purchasing their material as well.
Plus, did anyone notice the attempt to act like the red WGA-solidarity wristband that most of America has no recognition of might outweigh helping producers create a show without writers?