Wednesday July 26th, 2006Previous Entry | Archive Index | Current Blog | Next Entry
And example of this is the Estate Tax, or Death Tax as the 'publicans like to call it. Congress says that even the very rich must pay a tax when they inherit enormous amounts of money, and Bush disagrees, so he refuses to enforce this tax, and for good measure, sees to it that half of the lawyers at the IRS who would be investigating and auditing these big inheritances are fired. Bush's doing this sort of thing is supposed to be protected by executive privilege, but now people are saying this is straight-up abuse. At best it's a cause for censorship. At worst it's a terrible blow to the balance of powers and could result in a deadlocked government, as congress tries to pass amendments limiting the president's power, causing a shift in the other direction. This issue, more than any other, has really brought home to me the notion that government is not, afterall, a machine ticking along, but an organic structure that really can suffer from the cancers of misuse.
Clips of Ann giving speeches, clips of Ann at book signings, clips of Ann relating anecdotes from her childhood-- the film's one success is that it did not seem to try and further a political agenda-- but then again, Ann herself is barely pro-anything, saving all her vigor for being anti-liberal. The film tries to show us that Ann tells a good joke, has friends who are not necessarily right-wing neo-cons, and rather enjoys her infamy. Let me make a comparison-- the time, at a impromptu rally for the KU basketball team, when one guy climbed a streetlight pole, raised his arms, and shouted "Hell yeah!" The crowd went wild... of course it did. Telling an anti-Clinton joke to a bunch of conservatives is easy. It's punditry at it's best. Two stars out of five, which is a gift, because as I said, the production was really poor. But I do want to give credit for, as I said, it's not being too political. Unless you're a rabid Ann-aholic, or have way too much free time, I wouldn't recommend this one-- your time is probably occupied with materials that have more substance.
But the book, in the end, fails to deliver. It's a watery broth when you're hungry for stew. There are a handful of decent entries, but there are way more that comes across as just whining or complaining. The ones you’d expect are there: Howard Dean, Jim McDermott, Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, Nome Chomsky. He sandbags people he once counted as friends ("This is one is difficult to write," he tells us more than once.) He's got a few rappers on there, a basketball star, Maury Povich Howard Stern Phil Donahue Jerry Springer. He lists Michael Jackson, writing nothing more than: "If I have to explain it to you, you shouldn't be reading this book!" I guess I shouldn't be reading it then, because I just do not see how MJ has changed the welfare of Americans in general, not even a tiny tiny bit. He also lists Courtney Love, and while almost all of the other entries get a page or two or three of explanatory text, CL gets one word: "Ho." Welcome back to Junior High, I guess. You'd think, since his name is in the title, the one on Al Franken would be good-- it's not. It’s nothing more than a satirical "interview" with the author and Al in Franken's radio studio. It explains nothing about how Al Franken has any kind of influence. It does explain how, yet again, with Goldberg we have another writer taking comedy cues from Dave Barry. I like Dave Barry-- which is why I read Dave Barry, and not everyone else who shadows his style. Probably though, the biggest cop-out of the book is all the way down to number one. Maybe some credit goes to the guy for putting together a book where you could guess who number one is, and as you read each entry, your guess gets that much closer to being right. Not unlike in a beauty pageant, where you know who won when they announce who took second. But then, you want the pay-off, right? Walk for us, Miss America, wave, cry, show us why you won. All Goldberg does is show us a picture of the #1 person who is screwing up America, with a small quote from the man. No, I'm not going to tell you. Because you probably already figured it out. Suffice it to say I am glad I read the book, as it mentions a few people I had never heard of, and I am looking forward to reading the recently published 101 People Who Are Really Screwing America (and Bernard Goldberg is only #73) by Jack Huberman, though I suspect it will be as watery. I'll let you know. Dave Barry-esque zinger goes here.
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Looks like the Boy Scouts of America are taking another hit-- Philadelphia has decided they need to start paying rent for their headquarters in one of the government buildings there. Some will say, "you bastards," others will say, "it's about time." The BSA is decidedly anti-gay, a policy which they implement only be refusing homosexual men to be troop leaders. (At least, I am not aware of any anti-gay discussion in the books and lessons they teach the boys). The city of brotherly love has decided that anti-gay is also anti-Phillie-- so no more free ride. Of course, the BSA has always defended their stance by invoking God, which, from my point of view, turns them more into Christian propagandists-- ironic, when so much of the color and flavor of BSA iconography is drawn from Native American culture. And for the record, although I don't know if it's universal for Indian tribes, there are at least many tribes that recognize and provide social structure for homosexuality.
It always tickles me when I read some page 8 story from some small newspaper about something that later the big pundits get ahold of and nationalize. I'm not saying I scooped them, I'm just saying I'm glad to be able to occasionally find the scuttlebutt pulse. The latest revelation of Bush's misdemeanors is of his use of Signing Statements. These are the devices whereby el presidente gets to not enforce a law he has signed into law. Clinton signed 110 of these things-- Bush is catching up, with 80 so far. And those are just the official ones-- allegedly, he has defied provisions of law some 750-880 times, depending on which expert you talk to, which is more than all of the other presidents combined.
I watched this documentary because, for me as it is for most people, Ann Coulter is a fascinating clown, a one-trick pony who never ever misses that trick. I thought this was going to be an Ann-bashing documentary, and so I was a bit reluctant, since I am not a choir that needs to be preached to. But when it started out, it seemed to be Ann-neutral. I was able to ignore the low production values, the lack of narrative flow, the false segues and non-sequitters, all because I figured I was seeing the real Ann, not the stage-Ann we get both from herself and her detractors. But by the end of the film, it becomes apparent that this is a pro-Ann piece, and that Ann herself was in on most of it.
Just finished this book by Bernard Goldberg. Have to admit that I first, at found the man's prose style engaging, having just finished Sean Hannity's book. And partial credit to the guy for not merely taking pot shots at only liberals and democrats. Also, he tosses in the reminder that he does not want to outlaw what some of these people do, nor even sanction them. He just wants to show how what they do is a sign of troubled times. He even acknowledges that this is his list, and no one will necessarily agree with the whole thing-- a humble statement that pundits should take note of.