progressive politics and regressive entertainment. like peanut and butter.
May 30, 2012 Leave a comment
Here’s Neil Gaiman’s commencement speech for the University of the Arts. And if you’re interested in seeing the speech turned into a comic, Gavin Aung Than has already done that for you.
May 30, 2012 2 Comments
No, this isn’t about the news and opinion manufactured out of hot air over at Fox News, the official propaganda outlet of the Republican Party. It’s about Roger Ailes and a story he tells about how Jon Stewart once told him (Ailes) that he (Jon Stewart) is a socialist. This apparently happened twelve years ago in a bar in Philadelphia.
Now, I wouldn’t blame you for assuming that Ailes made the story up. That’s kind of a habit with him, at home and at work. Ailes doesn’t seem to notice whenever outside reality is different from his inside fantasy. (Hint: it’s a lot.)
May 29, 2012 9 Comments
My question is, how truly ridiculous do your political positions have to be for someone as thoroughly establishment as Wolf Blitzer calls you out? It’s ridiculous for Donald Trump to even be treated as a public figure. The man’s a repeated business failure who relied on daddy’s money and has filed for bankruptcy four times, but in the process built himself a brand based on bluster. I do wish Blitzer had been more of a bulldog when it comes to Trump’s refusal to validate any of his contentions, but that is not the CNN way.
May 29, 2012 8 Comments
ThinkProgress is right to sound the alarm on Florida Governor Rick Scott’s attempt to suppress voting in his state. As they pointed out yesterday, he’s trying to purge voters from the voting rolls, using a list of ineligible voters from the DMV that is highly outdated and inaccurate. In Miami Dade, the list of purged voters has already turned out to be over 20% inaccurate, and that’s just based on the people who received the notice and were able to send in verification of their citizenship. How many others did not receive the notice or manage to send in verification for a second time? And what is the GOP doing relying on the Department of Motor Vehicles to secure our democracy? The party that distrusts the ability of government to tie its shoes is putting the future of our democracy in the hands of the DMV?
May 28, 2012 Leave a comment
It’s a really cool wedding proposal. The writers of “Marry You” must have known their song was going to be used for proposals and weddings, but this goes above and beyond. I was particularly touched by the friends and family helping out with it all, including those who took part via Skype.
May 28, 2012 10 Comments
“The Other Woman” was of couple of socks to the jaw, a pair of punches to the gut, or two swift kicks to the knees. That’s mostly what I’m going to talk about today. First, what was done to Joan. Second, what Peggy did for herself.
Sit back, and let’s begin…
May 27, 2012 7 Comments
What’s startling about Birtherism is how accepted and acceptable it is in the conservative movement. Sometimes the only way to fight the extreme is to mirror it, and ask what it would look like if Mitt Romney were treated with the same sort of bigoted rumors circulated against Barack Obama.
MAHER: Mitt Romney comes from a Mormon background. I don’t know how many wives he has. I’m not saying I believe in that. I’m just saying that he was born on a Mormon compound. I’m not a Wifer, but for some reason he’s never shown his original marriage certificate.
May 27, 2012 1 Comment
Thomas Frank has an article in the June 2012 Harper’s that’s worth reading, called “Easy Chair: The Price of Admission.” Frank takes a look at the evolution of education, as it increasingly becomes a profit-making scheme designed for pay-to-play Capitalism, rather than a place where one can explore what it is to be human and grapple with various forms of knowledge before entering into the workforce.
May 26, 2012 Leave a comment
Came home the other day to find ducks resting in the pool. The chlorine can’t be good for them, can it?
May 26, 2012 5 Comments
Sure, sure, Paul Krugman is invariably good, but there are some occasions when his columns seem to take it to another level, or perhaps it’s that talent he shares with Atrios — the ability to say with clarity and concision what the bulk of the traditional media ignore, and that they frequently drown out with their willingness to perpetuate false narratives.
On Thursday, Krugman took care to remind all of us just who we’re dealing with on Wall Street…
Remember when Stephen Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group compared a proposal to limit his tax breaks to Hitler’s invasion of Poland? Remember when Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase characterized any discussion of income inequality as an attack on the very notion of success? But here’s the thing: If Wall Streeters are spoiled brats, they are spoiled brats with immense power and wealth at their disposal.
May 25, 2012 5 Comments
The Young Turks do a good job contextualizing the borderline birther comments of Representative Mike Coffman (R-CO), explaining how he may be walking back his comments about President Obama being Un-American due to redistricting that make his district less conservative. But the real kudos have to go to local reporter Kyle Clark from 9News. My astonishment at seeing such doggedly intelligent reporting is only surpassed my incredulity at Coffman’s doggedly unintelligent response.
May 25, 2012 6 Comments
When I came out from seeing Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods a few weeks back, the theater lobby looked like it’d been hit by Occupy. Groups of kids all around, sitting on the floor in expectation, phones out. Turns out that The Avengers was premiering at midnight. I determined to be back as soon as the lines died down…
Matthew
Todd
Max
Most Recent Comments