This piece is written by Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Kat of Kat's Korner, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Marcia of SICKOFITRADLZ and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.
"The Problem From Hell: Samantha Power" -- the seminal entry at any site this week. :D This is an entry by C.I. and Dona and we say "and Dona" because she went into make a quick note that she was adding links to what C.I. was writing about (due to the fact that e-mails were coming in saying, "Did not happen!") and ended up writing quite a bit in her "Added" note following "The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com." We love Dona's note and we really love C.I.'s entry. Dona told us that nothing has gotten more e-mails at the public account since she's been working it as this did on Friday "all in the matter of thirty minutes. This thing took on a life of its own and as the e-mails kept piling up, I called C.I. and said, 'If I add links to what you wrote, I can probably cut down on at least a third of the incoming e-mails.'"
"In the closet with John and Cathy" -- Betinna's still in the closet in Katrina's office. Betty says she read this to Kat and C.I. over the phone on Friday and they couldn't figure out what was wrong. Betty knew something was wrong but couldn't figure it out herself. "C.I. said, 'Give me a minute.' Called back ten minutes later and said 'stacatto.' Meaning to take the chapter and break it up into shorter sentences for a punchier rhythm and more of a Jack Webb feel. When I did that, it worked perfectly and is probably the only chapter I'm proud of." We think she has much to be proud of but are thrilled that she finally likes something she posted.
"Perogi Potato Casserole in the Kitchen" -- Trina's sharing a recipe and reviewing the death of Sammy Power.
"Mama Mia!" -- We loved this by Ruth but wondered who the Republican quoting Mia Farrow was? She couldn't remember. We just asked C.I. who's finishing the TV commentary with Ava and were told, "I'm tired. I don't remember. It was Thursday. Wolf. His last name is Wolf. It was the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations of the House Committee on Appropriations, they met Thursday. Wolf was quoting Mia on Darfur and noting she had termed it the 'genocide olympics.' Frank. I believe it's Frank Wolf. Search it and make sure." It was Frank Wolf. Ruth's writing about how time has changed that Mia Farrow, a member of the Love Generation, can now be quoted in Congress, by a Republican. (For the record, we do not support the send the military into Darfur loonies. We also have stated many times that we feel Mia Farrow is very genuine in her work on the issue of Darfur and we do not include her in the list of nut-jobs.)
"Making history" -- We also loved Ruth's post on watching Tuesday night's return with her family.
"Dallas' precinct preview" -- community member Dallas (who helps out at this site every week) phoned in a precinct report from Texas to C.I. who posted it while the caucuses in Texas were ongoing.
"Barack needs 12 inches!" & "THIS JUST IN! OBAMA NEEDS 12 INCHES!" -- Everyone loved this. We were curious about the hilarious headline -- suggesting, when you read it, that Barack only looks like a real candidate from far away. Wally and Cedric say that (a) we can't bother C.I. again and ask but (b) as they understood it, Rolling Stone did a profile on Joan Collins back in the eighties and the title of the piece was "Joan Collins Needs 12 Inches . . . and the further back you get, the better she looks." Cedric: "We had the whole thing written but it needed something still. Wally called C.I. and read it and then calls me back and fills me in on the Joan Collins thing. We agreed it was just what was needed so we not only put it in the title, we made it a sentence in the joint-post." Wally: "And everyone's asking us why we didn't post on Tuesday. We were in Texas still and still campaigning for Hillary. We were supposed to leave after voting ended but a friend of C.I.'s said, 'Oh come on, you know you want to find out the results.' So we ended up staying and by midnight, when it was obvious Hillary had won, we were partying."
"Ruth's Report"-- Ruth's weekend report at The Common Ills that went up last Saturday a week ago and we missed it. We didn't know she'd done a report when we were doing highlights. This is a great report and the only thing we'd suggest would be to call it "Deadbeat Media." Read her report and see why.
"Ruth's Report" -- This is the one that went up late last night. Ruth wrote it and posted it right before we did the roundtable. She claims it's a "dashed off quickie." We think it's a hilarious shorter report from Ruth.
"Sammy go bye-bye" & "Sammy Power blows a gasket!" -- Mike covering War Hawk and Our Modern Day Carrie Nations, Sammy Power. Bye-bye, Sammy, bye-bye.
"Hillary and the nut-jobs of The Nation" -- Elaine tackles the whiney babies of the weekly magazine less and less people are bothering to pretend to read.
Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Pinocchio Obama" -- Isaiah's hilarious comic from Monday. Bambi proved himself to be even more of a liar by week's end.
"hillary's back!" -- Rebecca going over reality.
"NAFTA-Gate" & "NAFTA-Gate and more" -- Elaine and Mike noting Bambi's lies on NAFTA.
"The economy" -- Kat on the economy including an overpriced book!
"THIS JUST IN! SAMMY POWER DOWN BUT NOT OUT!" & "Sammy Power's new war" -- Wally and Cedric reveal what Sammy Power's up to now: Look out Cambridge!
"Melissa Harris-Lacewell doesn't speak for me!" & "Pt. 2 of MH-L" -- Marcia covering why Melissa Harris-Lacewell shouldn't threaten a Black-Out.
"I Hate The War" -- and C.I.'s highly requested by readers of this site Thursday night entry.