The Third Estate Sunday Review focuses on politics and culture. We're an online magazine. We don't play nice and we don't kiss butt. In the words of Tuesday Weld: "I do not ever want to be a huge star. Do you think I want a success? I refused "Bonnie and Clyde" because I was nursing at the time but also because deep down I knew that it was going to be a huge success. The same was true of "Bob and Carol and Fred and Sue" or whatever it was called. It reeked of success."
Sal Mineo was an actor who died before he turned forty. He was a film actor that I didn't know of through films. I was watching an old COLUMBO episode on PLUTO. You get a lot of famous guest stars in that detective show: Ruth Gordon, Jeanne Berlin, Robert Conrad, Leonard Nimoy, Lesley Ann Warren, Lee Grant, Roddy McDowell, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, Anne Baxter, Johnny Cash, Ida Lupino etc. And then one episode has PRETTY WOMAN's Hector Elizondo who's the crook and killer and tries to cover another murder by having the (already) dead man's car crash and puts glasses on the corpse not realizing the man alternated glasses and contacts and was already wearing contacts when he died. That man was Sal Mineo.
Don't know about you, but I do that. When I watched THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE's second to last episode and the cop Old Christine thinks is a stripper stood out to me, I went to IMDB to find out who it was (Josh Randall).
Sal Mineo had great presence and I made a point to look up who he was.
Michael Gregg Mchaud's SAL MINEO: A BIOGRAPHY is a wonderful introduction to the actor. His writing about the filming of the classic REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE was enough to make me see it. It's not just a bad commercial on TCM where Ben Mankiewicz pretends he's James Dean. The film itself is vital and Sal holds his own alongside Natalie Wood and James Dean.
The book takes you through Sal's early beginnings as a child actor on through stardom with REBEL and other films including GIANT and EXODUS -- he was nominated for an Academy Award for the latter and won a Golden Globe for it. In addition, he was nominated for an Academy Award for REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE as well. But film fame ran out and he increased his appearances on TV while trying to land a good film role and while exploring directing.
He ends up stabbed to death at 37. Along the way, he makes friends (such as Yul Brenner -- they worked together on Broadway when Sal was a kid and he's one of the few who really remains a friend) and has many lovers including sixties teen idol Bobby Sherman.
Would Sal's career have been any different if he was born 30 years later? I have no idea. James Caan's homophobia kept Sal from being cast in THE GODFATHER. I would think that a real artist in this century wouldn't care about the whining and bitchiness of a James Caan and would cast an actor like Sal but who knows?
The book's a testament to real artist who threw himself into his career -- often at the expense of his life.
In case you missed it, 2024 is a presidential election year.
Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS comics have been covering the race for president this year.
That's his THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "The GOP Debate" noting how even Nikki Haley outperformed Ron DeSantis in the GOP primaries. When his campaign failed, the world felt a little better.
For the bulk of 2024, no presidential candidate was as embarrassing and laughable as Robert Kennedy Jr.
"He Eats Dog" addressed the rumors that Junior did just that -- poor Snoopy!
For most of 2024, President Joe Biden was the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.
"He Sees The Death Angels" came right before Joe stepped aside and noted how his voice was unsure and hesitant.
No presidential nominee was as awful as Donald Trump.
"Donald Trump On The Wings Of A Maxi" addressed how stupid Donald looked while trying to milk the shooting by wearing a large, unneeded 'bandage' that looked like a Maxi-Pad over his ear. He did that at the GOP convention. Many years into the future, people will still be laughing about it.
As bad as Donald is, it came as a surprise that he could pick a running mate who was equally awful.
"Crowd Envy"
dealt with JD and Donald's dwindling audience which came as crows were
turning out for Presidential nominee Kamala Harris and vice presidential
nominee Tim Walz.
JD ended up with a new name -- Miss Sassy. Miss Sassy emerged when the country learned that 29-year-old JD Vance put on a blond wig and dressed like a woman when in law school. Not college, law school. He was 29-years-old. And this from a man who has called out drag queens for political gain.
Miss Sassy has proven to be very popular with community members and Isaiah admits he has a blast drawing Miss Sassy. It's JD's id exposed. So when Robert Kennedy Jr. was flirting with endorsing Donald, we got "Miss Sassy Puts Junior On Blast."
As summer was winding down, the Green Party made the hideous Jill Stein their presidential nominee for the third time. She is a monster, she is "Jill FrankenStein."
Having endorsed Convicted Felon Donald Trump, Junior raced to campaign for him as did Trashy Garbage (Tulsi Gabbard). Don't worry, Donald's running mate set them straight in ""Miss Sassy Will Not Be Denied Or Upstaged." "
Easiest way to reach us? That would be common_ills@yahoo.com. Dipping into the mail bag.
Jatin e-mails that "In the 2010s I used to read a lot of blogs and I need help with something now. My girlfriend doesn't believe that there is or was such a thing as Mac and Cheese pizza. But I was in college and I remember it. I've left comments the last weeks at sites that are still around or e-mailed them. No one seems to know anything. Can you help?"
Sure can. Check out our 2012 "From the TESR Test Kitchen" and you'll find us reviewing Tony's Mac & Cheese pizza.
In addition to that piece, Wally remembers Cici's having a mac & cheese pizza on their buffet at several of their Florida locations back in the day.
Callie had a related e-mail asking if we remembered Special K chips? We mentioned them in a 2012 "From the TESR Test Kitchen" and, like you, we miss them.
George e-mailed to say he misses illustrations "and you used to do good ones. Photographs, drawings, paintings, album covers, sheet music -- I'm remembering a Sonny & Cher one -- and I miss them. You don't even really note Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS comics. I miss them."
That's the sheet music cover George is e-mailing about. Sheet music covers? That one's from C.I.'s music library and we could do several every week. However, it's really an issue of time. We just don't have it. It's harder and harder to pull together an edition which is why, so often of late, it's just Ava and C.I. doing their media feature. In terms of Isaiah? We're trying to do something here for this edition.
Kendrick e-mailed to ask for more music coverage -- "and at the very least, you could repost Kat's music reviews." Yes, we could do that and we are doing that this issue.
Lauren asks why we don't link to all the artists on our "This edition's playlist" feature? She wonders, "Is it because you don't like them?" The albums are listed are what we listened to. If we didn't like the artist, we wouldn't be listening to them. Unless we make an error, we link to all living artists although there was a group we did not link to because they did not have a website. But when you see, for example, Aretha Franklin or Laura Nyro, there's no link. They have passed away so we don't link to them.
Lastly, Brianna e-mailed to say she wished we do more "Film Classics of the 20th Century" and that she really enjoyed the mural we created for that regular feature.
Was. Will we do it again? Maybe. We did 35 articles in that series. Are there more we could do? Absolutely. DEATH BECOMES HER, SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY, A NEW LEAF -- look at some of the films that make up the collage we did. But there are other things we focus on so who knows. In the meantime, you could refer to 2023's "The funniest movies from the last 100 years."
Kat:
Summer 2024 -- June, July and August -- has been about a lot of
garbage and a lot of crap. Trash like, for instance, FOREVER.
Jon
Bon Jovi is not a major talent and never was. But with Richie Sambora
co-writing songs, the group Bon Jovi seemed to have an anthem or two to
shout. And with Sambora on lead guitar, there was a reason to listen.
Ahead of the forgettable FOREVER being released this summer, the usual
false rumors circulated that Richie might be back with the band -- or
with whatever passes for a band. Instead, there was no Richie Sambora
and twelve tracks that stood as twelve arguments for Jon Bon Jovi to
retire.
Speaking of musty, Moby showed up with one of the
worst albums of all time. The music itself was quickly forgotten as we
marveled instead over the fact that ALWAYS CENTERED AT NIGHT didn't
make it onto BILLBOARD's TOP 200 selling albums -- not even for one week
-- his eleventh album since 2013 that's failed to chart in the US.
Eminem called it a little too soon (2002's "Without Me"), but, yes, when
it comes to Moby, "It's over." The same news should be broken to Neil
Young. He's released over 20 albums since 2018. Albums of new stuff?
No, this is Neil desperate for money and raiding the archives. Someone
break it down to him, he was never Stevie Wonder and he's certainly not
Prince. Meaning? It all sounds like the same f**king song and no one
needs his archival releases -- although, in fairness, EARLY DAZE did
manage to chart this summer and even make it into the top 100 on
BILLBOARD's album chart -- something only one of the previous 20
managed. And, speaking of bad, don't forget Ice Spice's Y2K! -- an album
so simplistic that it made her Dunkin Donuts commercial seem layered
and meaningful by contrast.
This summer brought the news that we're still done with Ani DiFranco. Her embarrassing and racist plantation retreat did get purged from her WIKIPEDIA page but not from our memories. The 'lesbian' sunk a little lower on the honesty scale as she began performing old songs with newly censored lyrics that the twice-married-to-a-man wrote back when she pretended she was into women.
Even so, UNPRECEDENTED SH*T brought no one to the yard and that awful
title track sounds like a wounded cat needing to be put down. "I've got
a lot of heart," Ani insisted over some 'musical' notes far creakier
than the ones coming out of her throat before telling us she had "a lot
of balls." If you hadn't bailed on her by then, you did when the second
verse featured a 'whistle' that was about as musical as a car alarm.
The album failed to chart and the official video of the title track
couldn't even crack 3,000 views in three months of release. Like
OneRepublic's ARTIFICIAL PARADISE, UNPRECEDENTED SH*T begged the
question who wanted to toss money into the sinkhole? In Ani's case,
it's Ani. She's the head of her own label which makes you wonder will
she keep releasing crap albums until all her money is gone or will she
be her own best A&R, take herself to a bar and explain, "The
career's over. You're dropping yourself from your own label"?
July
brought one album that did actually sell: Eminem's THE DEATH OF SLIM
SHADY (COUP DE GRACE) which didn't have the strong humor of his first
two albums but was his best release since 2002's THE EMINEM SHOW and was
also one of the few bright spots of the summer. And while it didn't
sell, July also brought Jack White's NO NAME. It was solid if a little
light weight. But it wasn't enough to resurrect the career. I think by
now, we've all gotten over Jack's lie that his former White Stripes
partner was his sister. No, she was his wife. And although we've
gotten over the long ago lie, I think we're all still grossed out that
for years a then-married couple pretended they were brother-and-sister.
The bad taste still lingers.
August brought about
Khalid's SINCERE which was frothy enough to make you hope for more but
there was no more there. (Khalid is one to watch, however. He needs
stronger material than this, but he's got real talent.) Any positive
vibes Khalid managed to send out quickly went scurrying with the release
of AGHORI MHORI MEI. The what? The latest garbage from Billy Corgan.
Whenever he needs money, it's back to what he tries to pass off as the
Smashing Pumpkins. The Pumpkins, a grunge era band, has two classics:
SIAMESE DREAM and MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS. The first
remains a sonic landscape, the second finds Billy at his most heavily
Anne Sexton-influenced. Nothing since has ever mattered in the
slightest. Maybe that's because even Billy's huge ego hasn't been
enough to fill the holes left by the departure of original bassist Darcy
or the death of Jonathan Melvoin.
At any rate, I was
willing to toss in the towel and be done with the dreadful summer of
2024 when I learned Vanessa Williams' SURVIVOR was out.
The
title track crackles with life and makes you want to swing your hips on
the dance floor. "I really love that and am looking forward to the new
album" -- I wrote that sentence August 24th.
Didn't realize that the album had been released the day before until
e-mails started coming in. There's been a lot of interest in this album
because SURVIVOR has already produced two dance classics.
"The Legs (Keep Dancing)."
Vanessa Williams, Trixie Mattel and LION BABE doing "BOP!"
She
does a great job covering Natalie Cole and Linda Williams "La Costa"
from Natalie's 1977 release THANKFUL. Even more on the money is her
cover of 1934's "Junk Man."
The
life she breathes into that Frank Loesser and Joseph Meyer classic is
amazing. As is what she does with Cab Calloway's "Zaz Zuh Zaz." Those
songs and their dynamic vocals are probably supposed to remind you that
Vanessa's triumphed on Broadway with the musicals KISS OF THE SPIDER
WOMAN, INTO THE WOODS, SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM, AFTER MIDNIGHT and next
month starts wowing British audiences in THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA --
London's first ten shows are already sold out.
SURVIVOR
celebrates Vanessa's voice by providing her with dance numbers, jazz
and Broadway staples and ballads. This is the artist whose chart hits
include "Save The Best For Last," "The Right Stuff," "Dreamin'," "(He's
Got) The Look," "Work To Do," "Running Back To You" and "Colors Of The
Wind." That's a wide range and SURVIVOR honors it. Make a point to
check it out.
Did you know: Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who legalized child labor in Arkansas, based her entire personality on this Nellie Oleson doll, which remains her only friend: pic.twitter.com/NSKvMRflom
Over and over, last week, we had to keep telling ourselves that. And then we'd hum along to Mary J. Blige's "No More Drama."
But drama was all last week offered. Some of the low lights?
Well there was Friday afternoon when we watched on TV as Robert Kennedy Jr. spoke and our jaws dropped. Not over his endorsement of Donald Trump in the presidential race. We knew that was coming. What we couldn't believe was the face.
Did no one ever explain to Junior that blush is an accent, not a foundation?
Yeah, it's just for the cheeks. And it should look like it was put on with a brush, not with a brick.
There are circus clowns that wear less make up.
A mutual friend of Junior's had told us earlier in the week about the call that was put in. Was he making a mistake if he endorsed Donald Trump? Yes, the friend told him.
"It was so different from the call a decade ago," he explained. "That time it was him asking if he should marry Cheryl [Hines] and my yes answer got a lot more push back."
Indeed.
Junior raised the issue of Cheryl's name value (not as high as he wanted) and her "horse face" and the dangling boob that was smaller than the other and -- Well, let's leave it there. We don't want to be unnecessarily cruel. Besides we had to jog his memory on the fourth complaint Junior had about Cheryl, he'd forgotten.
We hadn't because Junior made four calls that time, to four trusted friends, who'd repeated the story over the years. Three of them didn't think the marriage would last five years and that Junior would leave her. Fortunately for Cheryl, with her, he just cheats and "she gives him time, [he] makes it back home." That was from another man he called about whether or not he should marry Cheryl. When we found out he'd called at least one about both (whether to marry Cheryl, whether to endorse Donald), we decided to check and see if he'd called all four.
Three. He called three of the four. One didn't return the call ('when someone's dead to you, that's it."), another explained that Junior no longer has his phone number ("I ended it when he announced he was running as an 'independent'") but on the fourth, we struck gold.
He explained that Junior "seemed more worried about endorsing Trump -- kind of strange you know, since he was marrying Cheryl three months after wife number two killed herself."
Yes, that is strange until you grasp that the American people, unlike Cheryl, are not a doormat.
They'll rebuke him. They'll call him out. They'll refuse to support him.
Cheryl?
Oh, honey, you made a mistake again! I forgive you! Don't leave me! Don't leave me!
Desperate.
Desperate like JD Vance.
Last week, he went into a donut shop. It did not go well.
No one wanted to talk to him. He came off as even a bigger weirdo than he normally does. And what was up with that hair?
It’s
almost definitely not intentional. But the unstyled shelf of hair atop
his dome, with no gradation to the rest of his hair, is not a great look
for anyone and most certainly not a Vice Presidential nominee. So what
exactly is happening to Vance’s coiff? We called up a few hairstylists
to find out.
“It
looks like someone just plopped a toupee on top of his head,” said
Kevin Baker, a hairstylist at Material Salon in Tampa, FL, who went on
to note that it seems like Vance went to an unskilled barber. Taking
that idea further, another barber we spoke to (who wanted to remain
anonymous) said it looked like either a DIY cut or a rush job—or both.
“That’s someone who thought ‘something is better than nothing,’ which is
obviously incorrect,” they said.
Vance is probably the type of guy who would look down his nose at paying
for an expensive haircut, but you don’t have to pay a lot to get a good
haircut provided you go to a good barber. Either Vance actually did try
to DIY his hair (or maybe asked an aid to trim him up on the campaign
bus—while it was moving) or he didn’t vet his barber properly to make
sure they give a good cut regardless of how much he’s paying for it. A
good rule of thumb is to always check out a barber’s work before going
to a new one, either on their own social media (or the shop they work
at) or with real life referrals so you know the quality of their work
before sitting down in their chair. And if you’re going the DIY route,
make sure you or whoever is cutting actually knows what they’re doing.
Goodness, Munce, haven't you ever hear of Occam's razor?
The most obvious explanation is that he paid someone to cut his hair and that someone -- like the bulk of the country -- can't stand him. It was an accidentally bad haircut, it was one more member of the working class making it clear that they didn't support JD Vance.
And why should they? His best known moments? JD Vance repeatedly insulting single women as "childless cat ladies" over the years -- not one, not twice, not three times -- No, at least a dozen times he stated that these women were hurting the country.
But there he was this morning on NBC's MEET THE PRESS refusing to apologize for it. Refusing to take it back. Refusing to call it a mistake.
KRISTEN WELKER:
All right. Let's talk about
women voters more broadly. The Census Bureau estimates there are 22
million women between the ages of 20 and 40 who, for whatever reason, do
not have children. What do you say to those women who hear some of your
comments, including "childless cat lady" comments, which you've been
asked about, but who feel as though you won't represent them?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Well,
I'd say, first of all, I will represent you. I want to be the vice
president for the whole country, and I want to represent everybody. And
yes, I made a sarcastic comment years ago that I think that a lot of
Democrats have willfully misinterpreted. But what I’ve simply said is
that I think that it's really a profound change that's happened in our
country, where we've become anti-family. And I would like to change
that. And I think if you talk to young women, whether they have children
or don't want to have children, what you consistently hear is that a
lot of young women feel like they don't have options. I saw this with my
own wife, who's a working mother, who's a very, very accomplished
litigator. She has three beautiful kids and always felt like she was
having to balance being a good mom with being the kind of litigator that
she wanted to be. I just want women to have more choices. I've seen
that very personally in my own family, and I think it's something that
is broken about our country.
KRISTEN WELKER:
Let
me zoom out a little bit then. You're calling it a sarcastic comment,
and yet some women – and you got the feedback in real time – felt like
it was a gut punch to them personally. Do you regret making that
comment?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Look, I regret
certainly that a lot of people took it the wrong way, and I certainly
regret the DNC and Kamala Harris lied about it.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But do you regret what you said, Senator?
SEN. JD VANCE:
Look,
Kristen, I'm going to say things from time to time that people disagree
with. I'm a real person. I'm going to make jokes, I'm going to say
things sarcastically. And I think that what's important is that we focus
on the policy. There are certainly going to be things that I say if I'm
elected vice president that people are going to say, "Well, I wish he
had said that differently." I think it's most important to actually be
the person I actually am, and to say those sarcastic comments were made
in the service of a real substantive point. This country has become too
anti-family. It's too expensive to afford a house. It's too expensive to
afford groceries. Donald Trump and I want to change that. And unless we
get better leadership, we're not going to.
KRISTEN WELKER:
But
again, just very quickly, given that people have told you directly,
have spoken out, have said that they were offended, they were hurt by
those comments, do you wish you never made those "childless cat lady"
comments?
SEN. JD VANCE:
I think that it's much more important for me to just be a normal human being who sometimes says things --
KRISTEN WELKER:
So no regrets?
SEN. JD VANCE:
– people disagree with. I have a lot of regrets, Kristen, but making a joke three years ago is not at the top ten of the list.
He lied and tried to pretend it was a one-time remark.
He lied and tried to blame Kamala Harris for his own words.
He lied and could only offer others -- Kamala, the people who took it the 'wrong' way and were offended.
The remarks came from his mouth and he won't own it or take accountability.
President Harry Truman didn't just say, "The buck stops here." He had it made it into a sign that sat on his desk in the Oval Office. Contrast that with JD who instead says, "The buck stops with everyone else."
About the only thing the clown improved on was his makeup. Here he is a month ago on MEET THE PRESS.
And here he is from today.
As you can see, for the facial skin, he's now just sticking with foundation and applying it evenly proving that even Miss Sassy College Draq Queen can still learn a thing or two about makeup.
Maybe he and his buddy Donald can learn about music rights? Beyonce's forced Donald to stop using her song "Freedom" at the rallies by having her attorneys send a cease-and-desist order. Last week also saw a lawsuit against the Donald-JD campaign over music usage. Mitchell Peters (BILLBOARD) notes, "On Friday (Aug. 23), the late soul singer's son Isaac Hayes III
announced on social media that a federal judge had granted his father's
estate an emergency hearing in their lawsuit against the former
president, who has been using 'Hold On, I'm Coming' without
authorization during multiple campaign rallies." Ourselves, we keep wondering when Donna Mills is going to sue JD Vance? Or did making 1984's THE EYES HAVE IT makeup video relinquish all of her rights to her patent eye makeup.
Last week also saw the DNC in Chicago. The national convention brought out a lot of crazies.
For example?
We highlight
Roland S. Martin from time to time. Ja'Mal Green is having a
big problem with Roland and is all over Twitter (and amplified by a
grifter named Sabby Sabs). We have no idea what the problem is because
Ja'Mal Green is too stupid to Tweet properly. If you are calling
attention to some falling out you have with someone, it's incumbent upon
you to explain what it is. Reading his Tweets, you never know what
Ja'Mal's griping about or whining about. But, for the record, we don't
say, "How dare you say that about someone that age!" By the same token,
Ja'Mal shouldn't hide behind his alleged youth to try to churn up
sympathy.
Ja'Mal has many problems. Including Tweets like this:
BREAKING:
Since yesterday morning, over 25 people have been shot in Chicago.
While those at the DNC are downtown being protected in their cozy rooms,
we’re still living real life problems in our neighborhoods. No one has
been arrested for these shootings but over 100 protesters downtown have.
Really?
That's your Tweet? Chicago's main news is -- and for decades has been
-- its murders. That's one of the reasons we don't live there. We fail to see
what your point is other than whining.
Are you going to do the same in 2028 when the Olympics come to LA?
Maybe so, maybe you're just that damn worthless.
A
political convention is an opportunity for a city to rake in some money
and for it to try to spin itself as good for tourism. That's all it
is. Same with hosting the Olympics.
As with your gripes about Roland, your other Tweets really have no point either.
Rightly challenged by MDJ,
"What do you do to help your community? It didn’t start just
yesterday," all Ja'Mal can do is whine, "Do your research?" Why,
Ja'Mal, because you don't think African-American men do research?
It's
not incumbent upon MDJ to research you -- you're a failed political
candidate who appears to grift under any situation -- where others see a
pandemic, you saw a nail salon opportunity! -- and no research is
necessary to note the stupidity of your Tweet.
X number of people killed in Miami on Monday while those at the DNC are being protected in their cozy rooms!
That
makes about as much sense as the garbage you Tweeted. And then Joel C
@ RunNuri Tweeted a racist attack on MDJ and, Ja'Mal, you didn't call
that out. (The n-word, the c-word - though he spells it with a "k" --
and we're noting that because the comment does violate the rules so it may
be gone if anyone goes to look for it. But it was there and it was
racist. And included some form of a gif of a Stepin Fetchit dancing.)
If you're not getting how disgusting Ja'Mal and his audience are,
there's a man insisting that African-Americans have to vote for Donald
to stop Communism. Really, Ja'Mal, that's how you want to live online?
They're the ones propping you up with comments and hugs, Ja'Mal, like
@brianlevine33 who is one of your biggest supporters and he -- White MAGA --
is calling for the shooters in Chicago to start shooting the
protesters.
We have no idea
what your problem with Roland Martin is; however, it's very clear that
whatever it is, you've got a larger problem with whom you're attacking
(Roland and MDJ) while MAGA racists are embracing you. Maybe take a
look at that. And maybe notice how you allowed that thread to further
devolve into an attack -- from your right wing supporters -- on
immigrants. Or maybe notice how your audience includes a lot of
foreigners like the guy from London who, at his own account, is MAGA
24x7. And at your account, he decries abortion and Democrats in the
same thread we're talking about.
You
do get, don't you, that the people who are supporting you are MAGA
supporters? You do get, don't you, that you've become a tool for MAGA?
So maybe lay off the attacks on Roland and address the problems in your
own household.
A little advice that could have applied to a lot of people last week.
CODESTINK was present. The elderly figureheads -- Jodi and Susan (aka Medea). Doing the same thing that they've been doing for over 20 years. When your efforts have achieved nothing for two decades, maybe it's time to either step down and let younger people take over or at the very least rethink how doing the same thing over and over is ever supposed to produce different results.
"Saying Their Names At The DNC."
That was one of the more ignorant YOUTUBE video whines last week.
Their names? The dead in Gaza.
Say their names why? This wasn't an episode of NIGHTLINE, it was a political convention.
And that might have been the biggest problem for some on the left last week: Knowing what a political convention was.
DEMOCRACY NOW! expanded to two hours a day last week to cover the convention; however, they never managed to get the basics right. There hasn't been a real convention since 1968. 1972? McGovern's team ensured abortion and women were rendered invisible. Nora Ephron covered it all in "Miami" decades ago. Apparently, however, ignorance of history found a lot of the left playing Gloria Steinem screaming in tears at Gary Hart in 1972, "You promised us you would not take the low road, you bastards!" She had made deals and promises and been played like the fool she is.
See Veronica Geng's "Requiem for the women's movement," the November 1976 cover story of Harper's.
And for a take on 1972 that paints Gloria as a sell-out to women, see
Germaine Greer's "McGovern, the big tease" from the October 1972 issue
of Harper's.
We've noted that repeatedly over the years. These conventions are spectacle, planned spectacle, ever moment orchestrated ahead of time except the audience's response.
But last week, no one wanted to tell all the slow kids what was happening and what was going to happen.
When we note the conventions, we also like to note 1984 when ABC broke into the Democratic Party's convention for a late-breaking rerun of HART TO HART.
That statement -- not claim, it happened -- has resulted in more e-mails than anything else per Ty who reads the bulk of the e-mails that come in. And thousands and thousands of people have e-mailed to insist that we think we're clever with that joke but it never happened.
Two nights earlier, one major participant in the
convention-as-electronic-event had turned off the television, perhaps
forever transforming the manner in which future conventions would be
covered by television: ABC, impatient with a scheduling lag on Jesse
Jackson's speech - which that network considered the only newsworthy
part of the evening - cut away from the event and put on a rerun of
''Hart to Hart,'' a segment of one of its canceled detective series. It
was the plug-pull heard 'round the broadcast world. The moment ABC
viewers across the country saw Robert Wagner and Stephanie Powers in a
screeching car chase car instead of the presentation of the Democratic
platform, an era of pro-forma public-affairs responsibility in television
had effectively been challenged.
You'd do well to read the entire article. It addresses the reality of the political conventions.
Again, reality was ignored last week.
We wanted one speaker!
Well you were never going to get them. Certainly not some minor state official. But you deluded and tricked yourself into believing otherwise and people who live for drama encouraged you to indulge in the psychotic break with reality.
It reminded us, honestly, of 2008. The DNC was in Colorado where Barack Obama tricked and manipulated IAVW -- punked them like an episode of Ashton's now forgotten TV show. All these years later, there were whiners yet again.
As we noted in 2008, they're infomercials, that's all the conventions are. They're selling a product.
And it's a pre-packaged product, no substitutions. It's not Burger King, you can't go up to the counter and pick from an assortment of products and then order one with "hold the lettuce and extra pickles please."
So maybe try dealing with reality. There aren't multiple contestants. The winner in November will either be Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. You don't need a dozen roses, it's not an episode of THE BACHELOR.
The 2024 Democratic National Convention was
an exhausting rollercoaster ride for Arab Americans and supporters of
Palestinian rights. It was a messy affair, with highs and lows, some
small victories and some setbacks. But on balance, the naysayers are
wrong, because Palestine and supporters of Palestinian rights were big
winners during the four days in Chicago.
We didn’t get language on the Palestine-Israel conflict changed in the party platform, nor did we get a Palestinian-American speaker
in prime time from the convention’s main stage. But the issue of
Palestine was front and centre from Monday to Thursday, and in the days
that followed. They were small wins, to be sure, but they were
victories, nonetheless.
To know what goals we should make and pursue, we need to know the basics.
"Saying Their Names At The DNC." That's beyond stupid,
it's actually insulting. The ignorance is not an excuse. Let's
spoon-feed the uninformed masses. Over one million Iraqis died in
something known as the Iraq War. Their names weren't listed at the
2004, 2008, 2012 or ever. Not at any convention -- not the DNC, not the
RNC, not the Greens. Equally true, not even the US troops who died in
Iraq after being sent there by the US government got their names read.
For a number of you, the expectations were ahistorical and unrealistic and, therefore, setting yourselves up for failure. There is no revolution without education.
Jim, Dona, Jess, Ty, "Ava" started out this site as five students enrolled in journalism in NY. Now? We're still students. We're in CA. Journalism? The majority scoffs at the notion.
From the start, at the very start, C.I. of The Common Ills has helped with the writing here. C.I.'s part of our core six/gang. (C.I. and Ava write the TV commentaries by themselves.) So that's the six of us. We also credit Dallas as our link locator, soundboard and much more. We try to remember to thank him each week (don't always remember to note it here) but we'll note him in this. So this is a site by the gang/core six: Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I. (of The Common Ills).
