A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
I'm pleased that this year's nominees for feature film, Jurassic World Rebirth, Wicked, and The Wild Robot, are all speculative fiction, one each from science fiction, fantasy, and animation, although The Wild Robot earned two nominations as science fiction in this year's Critics Choice Super Awards. This demonstrates once again that genre entertainment can convey serious messages in the middle of all the escapism. Speaking of serious messages, a combination of environmental content and star power decides these awards and that makes me think that Jurassic World Rebirth is the favorite. Its theme of the importance of biodiversity as natural capital is as strong as the respect for nature in The Wild Robot and stronger as an environmental theme than the animal rights subplot in Wicked. Jurassic World Rebirth also has as much star power as Wicked, although previous host Jeff Goldblum plays the Wizard of Oz, which might tip the balance, and more than The Wild Robot. Sorry, I don't think Lupita Nyong'o in a voice-acting role is enough.
I expect to vote on two of these nominees at the upcoming Saturn Awards, Jurassic World Rebirth, which is my co-favorite with Lilo & Stitch for Best Science Fiction Film and Wicked, which is my choice for Best Fantasy Film. The Wild Robot already won Best Animated Film at the Saturn Awards, but lost to Flow at the Academy Awards. As I wrote in April, I now have Flow penciled in for Best Animated Film at the Saturn Awards. I also now have Flow as a snub for the EMA Awards. I think it had the environmental content, but it was a foreign film with no dialog, so no Hollywood star power!
Now for the nominees I can recommend to my students as extra credit. My pick is Emmy winner Octopus! on the basis of environmental content and star power. I predicted I would see it nominated at the EMA Awards and I was right. The Last Rhinos: A New Hope and Yanuni have as stong environmental themes, but no other awards nominations and no Hollywood stars. However, Yanuni has a compelling personal story, which might be enough for it to upset Octopus!
Here’s the thing: there actually is an island of garbage in the ocean – but the only person who mentioned it during the whole campaign was Trump's insult comic.
A quick message ahead of Tuesday’s election. And the worst photo that’s ever been taken of anyone. Ever.
As my regular readers know, I live in Michigan — in fact, I live in RashidaTlaib's district — so I'm quite familiar with the uncommitted movement. John's message is probably the best one for them. It's the one I wish I could make so that convictedcriminalDonald Trump would finally become irrelevant, especially after he's sentenced and stands trial for his other crimes.
Bill has a message for the undecided voters who like to wait until the eve of an election to make up their minds.
I'm recycling my reaction from Bill Maher says 'Make the Mall Great Again' for Cyber Monday: "In the middle of all the 'Get off my lawn' sentiment and resentment over reactions to the pandemic, Maher makes some good...points," especially about the economy. If the economy is really the issue, then all of the headline measures, employment, economic growth, wages, and even inflation, should be a slam dunk for Kamala Harris and the Democrats. That it's not indicates other issues are important to undecided voters. I have to go to work, so I won't explore them today. Maybe tomorrow. Stay tuned.
As John Dean is quoted as saying, "The criminal conduct of Richard Nixon and his top aides...became the blueprint for what no President of the United States should do." Unfortunately, it became the blueprint for what the former guy actually did, resulting in two impeachments and several indictments, beyond what happened to Nixon, who resigned before he could be impeached and was pardoned before he could be indicted.
First, I'm an environmentalist; I recycle. Second, it looks like we learned the wrong lessons from Watergate. The bad actors have learned how to get away with political crime, not that they should behave better. If anything, they're behaving worse and many of us are helping them.
The battle for the soul of America isn’t Right vs. Left. It’s Normal vs. Crazy.
I agree with the general sentiment, even if I'm not down with all the details he uses to support his position. That written, from Bill's lips to our ears.
It's time to get back out into the world because online shopping is killing us, psychologically and environmentally.
In the middle of all the "Get off my lawn" sentiment and resentment over reactions to the pandemic, Maher makes some good environmental points, particularly about fast fashion; Americans are buying way too many clothes and throwing them in the trash after a few wearings. On the other hand, a lot of the hidden costs behind the goods we buy would be the same if we bought them in person. It's only we might be buying more online because of the convenience that the environmental costs pile up, just like the shipping boxes for recycling and disposal.
Speaking of which, it's trash and recycling pickup day and I have to take mine to the side of the road. Off to do that chore, then return to work after being at home for Thanksgiving. See you tomorrow for Giving Tuesday!
The fans in Boston have a special dislike for Draymond Green, he and his Warrior teammates are upset about the abusive Boston fans, last night was the first night of the January 6th Congressional Hearings, we learned how pre-meditated and coordinated the effort to take control of the White House was, it was revealed that Trump did not call the National Guard to stop the attack, multiple Republican lawmakers asked Trump for pardons, Fox News attempted to bury the hearing by going commercial free for two and half hours during it, Trump responded to the hearing with fourteen manic posts on Truth Social and defended Ivanka for believing Bill Barr when he told her the election wasn’t rigged, Klan Mom Marjorie Taylor Greene continues to kiss Trump’s ass but finished a distant second to a reporter from OAN and we duped a passionate Warriors fan into missing the fourth quarter at an NBA Finals game.
Bill reacts to the top stories of the week, including the opening night of the January 6th Committee hearings, in his Real Time monologue.
Bill wasn't as sharp as either Noah or Kimmel, as I think he's more incredulous than angry. Fortunately, he and his guests continued examining the subject in "Mike Pence Deserves It".
Kellyanne Conway and Josh Barro join Bill to discuss whether President Trump's words and actions on January 6th should bar him from public office.
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Let's see if the January 6th committee presents evidence for that and proposes any action. The only fly in the ointment is that the amendment does not specifically mention President and Vice President, although I would argue that "any office, civil or military, under the United States" would cover both.
The committee hearings resume on Monday. In the meantime, stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature.
Happy Throwback Thursday! I was having trouble finding a recent video featuring Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, the subjects of the most read entry I haven't covered yet in my series of retrospectives about the top posts of the eleventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News until I watched New Rule: Bath Salt Conservatism | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO), heard Bill say "For all of you who get frustrated because Manchin and Sinema don't vote like true liberals, because they never were," and saw the image I screen-grabbed above. If the pair can't make the news on their own lately, maybe they can look good in comparison to the current crop of Republicancandidates.
If you think the Left has gone looney in recent years, wait'll you see the current crop of kooky Republican candidates.
I think Bill still regrets his part in making Christine O'Donnell ever more of a laughing stock than she already was. He genuinely likes her. That's more than can be said about the rest of the subjects of last Friday's New Rule.
By the way, Manchin and Sinema are the two most moderate/conservative Democratic U.S. Senators as the above chart from Voteview shows. The blue dots to the left of their names shows their ideological positions according to DW-Nominate, the same source I used to rank Democratic presidential candidates from left to center. Just to emphasize the point, Manchin's page calls him "the most conservative Democrat of the 117th Senate" and Sinema's page describes her as "more conservative than 97% of Democrats in the 117th Senate." Sinema was also the most conservative Democrat in the 115th Congress when she left the House of Representatives in 2018. Neither were ever true liberals, despite Sinema being a member of the Green Party.
Follow over the jump for the top posts last year about Congress and its members, including an event that happened before Congress.
Conan (TBS) The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (Comedy Central) Jimmy Kimmel Live! (ABC) Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)
Like last year and thethreeyears before that, "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" leads variety talk series nominees, this year with seven nominations. "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" follows with five, although Stephen's extended franchise earned four more for a total of nine. "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" earned two, while "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" and "Conan" earned one each. "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" got snubbed in this category in favor of "Conan," which just ended its run on TBS. I'm sure it's all the same to TBS, but I'd rather have seen Bee return. Next year.
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Presents: Pandemic Video Diaries: Vaxxed and Waxxed (TBS) Inside Pixar (Disney+) Pose: Identity, Family, Community (FX) Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen (Bravo) Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man (YouTube)
I'd like Bee to win this category, but I just don't know if she will despite being a returning nominee. "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man" would be the other political choice, while all the rest are about entertainment. My gut says it will be "Inside Pixar" or "Pose: Identity, Family, Community," the first because of Disney's production values, the second because it's a three-time returning nominee in its final season. That alone might give it the Emmy.
Samantha Bee ('Full Frontal') on Trump's absence: It's the 'best possible outcome for America' and 'for our show.' The Emmy winner chats about her variety talk series with Gold Derby editor Daniel Montgomery.
Despite the discussion of her family being eligible for craft awards like technical direction, the main show earned no nominations. Maybe it helps to have members of the Television Academy do that work for it to be nominated.
Speaking of Stephen's extended franchise earning four more Emmy nominations, here are the show categories featuring them, beginning with Outstanding Variety Special (Live).
Celebrating America — An Inauguration Night Special (Multiple Platforms) The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards (CBS) The Oscars (ABC) The Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show Starring The Weeknd (CBS) Stephen Colbert's Election Night 2020: Democracy's Last Stand Building Back America Great Again Better 2020 (Showtime)
While the two political nominees, "Stephen Colbert's Election Night 2020: Democracy's Last Stand Building Back America Great Again Better 2020" has three nominations and "Celebrating America — An Inauguration Night Special" has two, neither leads nor is likely to be favored. Both "The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards" and "The Oscars" have four nominations while "The Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show Starring The Weeknd" has three. Based on the history of the award, I think a live event celebrating show business will win, favoring either "The Oscars" which has been nominated every year since the inception of this version of the award, or the Grammy Awards, which has been nominated for three of the four years of the current category. If all things were equal, I'd give the nod to the Oscars, since movies are closer to television than music, but other than the number of nominations, I'm not sure all things are equal. I found the ceremony a bit underwhelming compared to previous years except for the pre-recorded music segments; those were spectacular. If it wins, it will be because it was a minor miracle that it happened at all.
Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series
Carpool Karaoke: The Series (Apple TV) Late Night with Seth Meyers: CORRECTIONS (YouTube) The Randy Rainbow Show (YouTube) Reno 911! (Quibi) Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News (Paramount+)
This is a very different looking category from last year because the Television Academy merged Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series with Outstanding Short Form Variety Series to recreate Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series. Consequently, more of last year's Short Form Variety Series appear here than the sole returning scripted comedy from last year, "Reno 911!" At least the addition of variety nominees didn't dilute the political and government content, with "Late Night with Seth Meyers: CORRECTIONS," "The Randy Rainbow Show,", and "Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News" providing a lot of political content to go along with the funny cops of "Reno 911!" While I'm rooting for "Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News," I expect "Carpool Karaoke: The Series" will win instead. I've learned not to underestimateJames Corden.
Follow over the jump for nominations of the people behind the camera.
Bill gives two thumbs down to the trend of virtue-signaling Oscar films.
Bill has a point about the movies the Hollywood creatives in the Motion Picture Academy nominate for awards. They are serious "coffee table" cinema that the entertainment industry wants to show off as serious art. I grew up around these people and they've always been like this, so that's not new. It's just that two trends have made it more apparent this year.
“The Oscars aren’t just about the most popular movie,” said Jonathan Kuntz, film historian and lecturer at the U.C.L.A. School of Theater, Film and Television. Instead of mass appeal, the best picture award recognizes intangible qualities such as originality, technical innovation, cultural significance and artistic value.
...
“The Academy Award has always been, since the early days, Hollywood’s way of helping itself in promoting films,” said Mr. Kuntz, explaining why lower-grossing art house films are often favored. “The value of an Oscar to a medium or small film can be great, whereas to a large film, it can be insignificant.”
...
“They want to reward new people and new ideas,” said Mr. Kuntz, which is why best picture rarely goes to reboots or sequels. The first “Star Wars” movie, “A New Hope” (1977), was nominated for best picture, but did not win. The “Star Wars” franchise has enjoyed enormous commercial success since then, but Mr. Kuntz doubted that academy voters would pick a “Star Wars” film for best picture.
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“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003) is one of the few fantasy movies, and one of few sequels, to win best picture. “In 2001, when the first movie was nominated,” Mr. Kuntz said, “it was considered a major achievement.” He suspects that the reason it took three films for the academy to recognize the trilogy was because of its genre.
So there is a method to Hollywood's madness. I just hope it doesn't backfire.
Second, the pandemic has completely messed up Hollywood's box office and release schedule, so it's almost impossible to really gauge the popularity of movies and a lot of movies that would have been released in theaters ended up delayed, on streaming services, or both, like "Wonder Woman 1984." The following graph from Calculated Risk using Box Office Mojo data shows how the pandemic has caused the domestic box office to crater.
By the way, the uptick at the end of the 2021 series is from "Godzilla vs. Kong," which became the top grossing film so far this year after one week, even though it's also available for subscribers of HBO Max to stream.
On the other hand, the kind of films that the Motion Picture Academy likes to nominate got released anyway. That made Hollywood's taste for socially conscious Oscar nominees even more prominent this year than in previous years, when there were more popular movies to see in theaters. Just the same, even some of the Oscar nominees have found audiences on streaming, as the following graphic from Cord Cutter News shows.
Yes, "Nomadland," which Bill Maher dumped on, broke into the top ten streaming movies as measured by Nielsen. That's why I think it has a very good shot at winning Best Picture, whether Bill likes it or not. At least we know people, including the Motion Picture Academy members, are watching it.
Finally, Bill mocked the documentaries as the category for serious examination of issues to make people feel bad. As I pointed out in Politics, government, and injustice among the 2021 feature documentary Oscar nominees, while I found little uplifting about "Collective," I thought "Time," "Crip Camp," and "My Octopus Teacher" featured positive stories and "The Mole Agent" to be surprisingly fun. Maybe Bill should watch those for a better movie experience.
That's it for today's entertainment feature. I'll be back tomorrow for Yuri'sNight. Stay tuned.
Bill's "bringing unsexy back" with a new award honoring dull, dedicated civil servants who know how to make actual progress, as opposed to doing progressive theater.
For my reaction, I'm sharing my comment to Infidel753's Video of the day -- tantrums vs achievement, which features this video: "I'm proud to say that Henry Waxman was my mom's representative in Congress for at least a decade. That's why I recognized him immediately." Infidel753 replied "Waxman's been an achiever for a long time. I remember reading about his efforts on the early AIDS epidemic, when there was still widespread resistance to real action." This Crazy Eddie approves, both of Waxman's long career of public service and of "Real Time" recognizing it. Here's to this award being continued and a new member of Congress being honored next year.
Two weeks ago, I wrote about "John Lewis: Good Trouble" for the Sunday entertainment feature. Today, I am featuring another documentary about civil rights and politics, "The Fight," "an inside look at the legal battles that lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union are facing during the Trump administration." Watch The Fight - Official Trailer by Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing.
The Fight is an inspiring, emotional insider look at how these important battles are fought and the legal gladiators on the front lines fighting them. Directors Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, and Eli Despres capture the rollercoaster ride of the thrill and defeat in these deeply human battles. When a mother is separated from her child, a soldier is threatened to lose his career, a young woman’s right to choose is imperiled at the pleasure of a government official, and the ability to exercise our basic right to vote is threatened, the consequences can be devastating to us and to future generations. The Fight celebrates the unsung heroes who fiercely work to protect our freedoms.
While I've mentioned the ACLU in passing before and even reported on the organization being nominated for Creative Arts Emmy Awards two years ago, I've never made the ACLU the main subject of one of my posts until now. Time to make up for that omission.
Emmy-nominated actor and producer Kerry Washington joins Bill to discuss her work on the ACLU documentary, "The Fight."
Washington's star power should serve the film well when it comes time for awards such as the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards and Academy Awards. It's already won two, a U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Social Impact Filmmaking at the Sundance Festival and Best Documentary at the Miami Film Festival. May those be good omens for the film's award prospects.
With Thanksgiving coming up and the prospect of being with relatives who disagree with us facing many Americans, Bill Maher, of all people, made a plea for political toleration in New Rule: Let It Go.
In his final New Rule of the season, Bill Maher calls on Americans to put aside their political differences.
I think this is good advice, even though Maher insults conservatives in giving it. Here's to hoping the insults don't get in the way of the call for mutual toleration.
National Presidential Joke Day is observed annually on August 11.
This day recognizes the humor often found and yet not so appreciated in the highest office in the land. With a nod to the blunders, take a look back at some of our presidents’ social missteps. Many of them awkward. While in the moment, the Commander in Chief might not find them so funny. Looking back, sometimes, they’re downright hilarious mistakes. ... Sometimes the gaffes are vice presidential. At a Trenton, New Jersey spelling bee in 1992, Vice President Dan Quayle misspelled the word potato.
During an election year, the scrutiny of the constituency can be brutal. The presidential candidates should be prepared to handle the presidential joke. The citizenry will be listening!
Two years ago, I focused on the President. Last year, it was the Vice President. This year, I return to Trump with a side helping of Democratic candidates and a dash of Pence.
Only 8 candidates have qualified for the next Democratic Presidential debate so far, which means Michael Bennet, Andrew Yang and others from the crowded field must do everything they can to break through before the deadline.
Colbert spoke a bit too soon, as Andrew Yang qualified for the September debate(s) the same day Colbert's monologue was uploaded to YouTube. Oops! Just the same, Colbert managed to pack in a lot of Trump's gaffes, mistakes, and complete fabrications in the second half of the monologue.
Colbert returned to milking Trump for humor along with a dash of the Democratic candidates in the second half of the monologue, Joe Biden: Trump Offers No Moral Leadership.
In a speech today, the former VP denounced President Trump's response to America's latest mass shootings, drawing unfavorable comparisons between Trump's divisive language and the strong actions taken by former Presidents Bush, Clinton, and Obama.
I can't let this go without a joke at the Vice President's expense. Fortunately, there's one in This Week in Unnecessary Censorship from Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Once again, we've bleeped and blurred all the week's big TV moments whether they need it or not. This week we feature Chris Harrison, Mike Pence, Donald Trump, Tiffany Haddish and more.
I plan on writing more about Yang and the other Democratic presidential candidates when I follow up on Democratic presidential candidates from left to center from Voteview. Yang has never held elected office, let alone served in Congress, so he doesn't have a Voteview score, but he does have a page at OnTheIssues.org and I will use that site to arrange the Democratic contenders from left to center in a future entry. Stay tuned.
Those among my readers who have been both waiting for the next retrospective of last year's posts and paying attention to what I've written about the next one may have noticed a discrepancy in which one I would write next. In April 11's Daylight Saving Time (sucks) for the seventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News, I wrote "I expect I will be writing about my predictions about the tax bill." I changed my mind in April 19's Vox and The Dodo explain how Trump's border wall disrupts nature and is bad for animals, when I responded to my comment in Tax Marches in Washington D.C., Palm Beach, and elsewhere to "stay tuned for a retrospective about the top posts of the previous blogging year," "I was planning on looking back at popular posts about football and the Super Bowl from last year." That's because the raw and default page views disagree on which was the more read entry of last year and I'm exploiting that for another purpose, timing the update of the tax bill post so that it will be more current when I share it later.
According to raw page views, John Oliver on stadiums and NFL cheerleaders for Super Bowl Sunday, posted February 4, 2018 was the seventh most read entry of the seventh year of this blog, the sixth most read actually written last blogging year with 7222 raw page views. However, according to default page views, which are what show up on my dashboard for the year, not what shows up by the post when I look post-by-post, it's the sixth most read entry of last year, the fifth most read actually written last blogging year with 7168 default views. Normally, I go by raw page views for these end of year retrospectives, but today, I decided to use the default views. It's my blog; I can do what I want so long as I explain my methods and reasoning.
On October 23rd get ready to go live before a studio audience on National TV Talk Show Host Day! Created to pay tribute to TV talk show hosts and appreciate their unique form of humor, entertaining stories, spontaneous wit and timely political jokes.
Talk shows come in a variety of platforms. Daytime talk shows provide a combination of current events, health updates, technology news, and entertainment. The later the hour, the more comedy the TV talk show host dishes out. From practical jokes, impersonations, and sketches to games, sidekicks and audience participation. Guests usually star in an upcoming film or made headlines for a stunt, good deed or unusual invention.
Each day we watch our favorite talk shows, and we laugh, cry, listen and learn. It is these great hosts that make the shows ones that we want to watch.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Watch your favorite TV talk show host and use #TVTalkShowHostDay to post on social media.
HISTORY
National TV Talk Show Host Day was chosen to be celebrated on The King of Late Night Television’s birthday. John William “Johnny” Carson was born on October 23, 1925. Carson was the host of The Tonight Show for thirty years (1962 – 1992).
Bill Maher gave props to Hollywood – particularly its sci-fi visions – for showing voters both the end of our world and a way to salvation: In his episode-closing New Rules comic monologue, the host of HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher last night asked what movies like Divergent, The Hunger Games, Elysium, Snowpiercer and The Giver have in common.
Can you guess? How about post-apocalyptic worlds rescued and controlled by a “cold, technocratic boss lady in a pantsuit?”
Touting Hollywood’s uncanny ability to predict the future – Star Trek‘s flip-phones, Minority Report‘s touch-screens, Morgan Freeman as president – Maher then reminded viewers about the big screen’s recent nuclear obsession. “Folks, blowing up the world is something that could actually happen,” he said, setting up the bit in earnest.
I couldn't have said it better myself. Here's to being with Bill Maher and supporting the “cold, technocratic boss lady in a pantsuit.” It beats being led by Immortan Joe!
FiveThirtyEight asked Could An Independent Candidate Succeed In 2016? Of all the answers to the question, I agreed most with Harry Enten, who said "this year pretty much meets all the criteria for at least a moderately successful third-party candidacy." For me, that means that the Libertarians and possibly the Greens could reach the threshold of five percent of the popular vote to qualify for public financing in 2020. The Constitution Party does not have ballot access in enough states to meet that criterion. It's very unlikely that even one of the minor parties will qualify for the debates with the major party candidates. As Gary Johnson pointed out, that requires fifteen percent in several polls before the debates. While minor parties have earned Electoral College votes before, that happened when they had concentrated regional strength, such as the Dixiecrats and the American Independent Party, and could win pluralities in three-party contests. Neither the Libertarians nor the Greens meet that criterion; their support is more diffuse. Consequently, none of the minor parties will win the presidency, but they'll certainly overperform compared to any election since 2000 and possibly even 1996, but not 1992. None of these candidates is Ross Perot. Even he didn't win any Electoral College votes.
So far, those predictions are panning out. First, Johnson did not get into the debates, as he did not get 15% in the polls in time. Second, as of today, FiveThirtyEight projects Johnson will earn 7.6% of the vote in November. That would be the best showing for a minor party candidate since Perot in 1996, but not better; Perot earned 8.4% in that election. As I wrote, Johnson is not Perot. Third, FiveThirtyEight is also predicting only a 2.9% probability that Johnson will earn any electoral votes, most likely in his home state of New Mexico. My forecast, as far as it went, is coming true. That written, there are two results of Johnson's success that I didn't foresee, the newspaper endorsements and the comedic reaction.
“We would rather recommend a principled candidate for president — regardless of his or her prospects for victory — than suggest that voters cast ballots for such disappointing major-party candidates,” the editorial board wrote.
“We reject the cliche that a citizen who chooses a principled third-party candidate is squandering his or her vote,” the endorsement continued. “…We offer this endorsement to encourage voters who want to feel comfortable with their choice. Who want to vote for someone they can admire.”
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It’s the fifth newspaper endorsement that Johnson, who is polling in the single digits, has received from traditionally right-leaning editorial boards. On Thursday, The Detroit News, which has until this year always endorsed Republican candidates for the presidency, endorsed Johnson. The Libertarian candidate also has received endorsements from the New Hampshire Union-Leader, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Winston-Salem Journal.
In contrast, the closest Trump has to a major metropolitain newspaper endorsement comes from the New York Post. Five endorsements to maybe one. That's not a result I would have expected, even from the Detroit News. Speaking of which, WXYZ reported on Detroit News endorses Libertarian Gary Johnson for president. Roll video!
Get used to that clip. It will show up again and again over the jump as Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Bill Maher, and Sarah Silverman laugh at Johnson.
A week ago today, I attended my college's Commencement ceremony, where I watched my students from the past few years get their degrees. It was a wonderful experience, including the addresses by the student speaker and the former CEO of Garden Fresh. I'll be back for next year's ceremony.
It’s graduation time. And you know what that means – kids writing things on their mortarboards, like, “Hire Me” or “Thanks, Mom & Dad: I Love You.” Well, in these difficult times and with these millennials, the grad cap messages are a little different…
For those of you who want something more critical of the Super Bowl than my goofy posts about commercials and animals, I recommend the latest by EscapefromWisconsin over at the Hipcrime Vocab: Are You Ready For No Football?
It's once again Super Bowl Sunday, and time for this post I wrote a couple years ago, but forgot to post on the big day. So, in honor of this Packerless Super Bowl, I can finally post it. In it, I wonder just how much of a shelf life professional football has due to a combination of economic contraction and lawsuits from concussions.
Escape then compares football to both the Roman Legion and gladiators and the U.S. to the late Roman Empire. I highly recommend the history lesson, which he interrupts with a screed about commercials.
Commercials are as big a deal as the game now, and one has to wonder at not only the mental state of the people these commercials appeal to, but the tremendous waste in a society that can't even keep it's infrastructure sound or it's basic public services funded. How much of our economy is dedicated to this essentially useless and unproductive activity? How much economic "growth" has it been responsible for?
I wonder what escape thinks about my interest in marketing and commercials? Probably not much, if at all. I've only seen Escape on my blog once, commenting on Matt Taibbi and Mike Lofgren are on the same page about the global rich. I wouldn't mind him commenting more. Aside from the personal, he's again raising good questions about advertising, which is the life blood of the media industry. The real question becomes "what good is the media" and how can one maintain a worthwhile media sector without advertising? I don't think subscriptions are it for mass media (HBO on the one hand and public broadcasting on the other notwithstanding) and a TV tax like Britain has would go over like a lead balloon--or worse. So, no, I don't have any answers right now.
Escape also talks about how lawsuits by players and ex-players could shut down the game. I suspect it won't, but it might make it more safe. If it does end football, well, it might be what finally turns the U.S. into a power in the other football, men's soccer. Wouldn't that be a switch? In any event, I'm betting on the legal situation ending football sooner than general economic decline. Extending the Roman Empire metaphor, we need our bread and circuses. Besides, the one thing that will get Americans to act is messing with their entertainment, something I've mentioned again and again. The end of football would interfere with Americans messed up priorities and we'll want to keep football as long as possible.
A short essay animated from the audio recording of 'The New New Rules: A Funny Look at How Everybody but Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass'. It was originally performed on 'Real Time with Bill Maher'.
