TV: The 'debate'

The Friday debate?



We missed it.



We tuned in, we watched. We just didn't see much of a debate.



We heard Barack whine, yet again, that in 2002 he gave a speech against the illegal war and we grasped just how pathetic it is that he still points to a speech six years ago as qualifying him to be president.



"I was right! I was right!" he crows (even though he wasn't, read the text of that alleged 'anti-war' speech). But strangely, he considers the surge to have 'worked' in some way but can't admit he was wrong in 2007.



He wants to say he was right in 2002 but wants to pretend like 2007 didn't happen.



It was very strange.



It was very strange to watch John McCain bungle the flaw in Barack's meeting "without preconditions" with foreign leaders who are not considered 'friends' of the US: No preconditions, no human right advances.



On Iraq, McCain was correct that Barack was confusing a tactic with a strategy. But he scored no points for being right because most Americans were left as lost as Barack. (Hint to McCain, define the terms next time.)



Barack was a real kiss ass to moderator Jim Lehrer (PBS). "A testimony to you, Jim," cooed this century's Eddie Haskell when Lehrer noted that both candidates were "even on time." When not playing kiss ass, Barack acted like a punk ass, attempting to speak over McCain (this happened before Lehrer noted they were even on time and it happened after) and also hoping that the press love and his sucking up to Jim meant he could call on Jim to rescue him. If Barack needs help from Jim Lehrer to handle a debate with John McCain, how ready is Barack for the Oval Office? Or does he intend to take Jim to the White House with him?



Barack was fumbling all over the stage and that may have been noticeable when he insisted, "Jim, let me just make a point. I've got a bracelet, too!" Well good for you. But next time you tell us who you're wearing, Barack, how about knowing it ahead of time? ("From Sergeant -- from the mother of Sergeant . . .") One would assume the man who is yet again on the cover of Men's Vogue would know how to work that runway.



Possibly the most interesting exchange in the dull proceedings was over Afghanistan. If so, it was spread out over many, many responses. We'll excerpt it so that it runs together.



John McCain: Senator Obama is the chairperson of a committee that oversights NATO that's in Afghanistan. To this day, he has never had a hearing.



Barack Obama: Look, I'm very proud of my vice presidential selection, Joe Biden, who is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and as he explains, and as John well knows, the issues of Afghanistan, the issues of Iraq, critical issues like that, don't go through my subcommittee because they're done as a committee as a whole.



John McCain: You might think that with that kind of concern that Senator Obama would have gone to Afghanistan, particularly given his responsibilities as a subcommittee chairman. By the way, when I'm subcommittee chairman, we take up the issues under my subcommittee.



First, had Barack offered any objection to McCain's characterization, we'd include it. We're specifically thinking that Barack did, after the Democratic Party primary ended, finally hold a subcommittee meeting. Since he didn't correct McCain on that, we'll assume that either Barack didn't hold a meeting or he doesn't really care enough about the meeting to bring it up.



Second, Barack's either ignorant or lying. Work is done in subcommittees and, in fact, the entire point of Congressional subcommittees is to do the work that will then be brought before the larger committee as a whole.



McCain (rightly) pointed out, as a subcommittee chair, he has held meetings. That might have been a moment in the debate if it had played out as above -- instead it was broken by too many other exchanges. But Barack becomes that subcommittee chair just as he decides to run for president. So the point there should be, "You took a chair position and did nothing with it. Was it just to beef up your year book resume?"



The fact that the position was handed to him by the man who is now his running mate only makes it look even more like Barack was being given credits he didn't earn.



Third, tip to Barack, it's probably not a good idea to point your running mate, who is not top of the ticket, to shore up your own weak credentials. It only leaves the impression with Americans who are undecided that you really do not have the earned credits for the graduation you're so quickly attempting to make.





Fourth, Barack never addressed not visiting Afghanistan. He let the charge stand.



It was an embarrassment for Barack.



The spinners are out in full force insisting he did good. He didn't. (And despite all the prep, he still stammered and uh-uh-uh-ed his way through.) In the debate itself, no one won. We're sure Amy Goodman will use Monday's Pravda on the Hudson to reconstruct bits of the debate and insist Barack won. He didn't win.



In fact, he actually came off worse than McCain.



PBS' Washington Week found Gwen and the gang doing two live shows Friday. On the first, pre-debate, they offered what each needed to do (based on their own beliefs and on what the campaigns were saying). Dan Baltz (Washington Post) noted McCain's hurdles included the age difference.



McCain held up throughout the debate. He also didn't rush to Jim for help in dealing with Barack or repeatedly attempt to speak over Barack when it was Barack's turn.



Barack's turn. The debate seemed to exist to remind everyone of Michelle Obama's infamous words that Barack didn't need to wait his turn. She meant it another way but what it boils down to is that two years into his first US Senate term, he didn't feel he needed to wait to run for the presidency. And Friday night, he didn't feel he needed to wait his turn.



Combine his repeated attempts to speak when it was McCain's turn (before and after Jim Lehrer noted the two candidates were dead even in the amount of time they'd been given) and his being made a subcommittee chair by his running mate Joe Biden-- in some sort of "be chair, but it's in name only" formation -- and the impression Barack made was of someone who doesn't believe he has to earn a damn thing or that he has to wait his turn. The line starts with Barack, apparently, and, if he can't earn a position, a man will create one for him sort of like the stereotype of seventies husbands with money creating make-work 'careers' for their wives by setting them up with little shops to dabble in.



Jim Lehrer actually tried to play fair and, in fact, frequently encouraged the two candidates to speak to one another and not him. But it's hard to have a presidential debate without all the candidates.



On that, two points. First off the McCain decision that put the debate in question. McCain decided to return to DC mid-week and suspend his campaign. On Friday he announced he would participate in the debate.



Some are calling that a 'bad decision' on McCain's part. It wasn't.



It was a very smart decision.



For those acting like it was the end of the world, Barack walked out of two debates in the last 12 months. He walked out of a December debate involving all the Democratic candidates (the other candidates walked as well -- the writers' strike was going on and no one wanted to cross a picket line). In April, seven days before the scheduled and announced North Carolina debate with Hillary Clinton, Barack called it off.



It was hilarious to hear the college Friday's debate took place in whine about the money they'd spent and how they might lose it. No one worried when Barack cancelled the North Carolina debate.



But the college . . .



That's why it was smart on John McCain's part. The locale was chosen for Barack's benefit and he was scheduled to reap tons of positive press insisting he was historic. Maybe he could have claimed he wouldn't even be on the stage if his parents hadn't met at the groundbreaking of the campus all those years ago? They didn't but his mother gave birth long before the Selma March and that didn't prevent Glory Hog Barack from crediting the Selma March with getting his parents together originally.



What McCain did was steal the press.



By become an 'iffy,' he became the story. There was no time for the joyful stories about the campus and it's long history and what it mean for (bi-racial) Barack and blah, blah, blah. The week was supposed to be all about Barack and reporters from various news outlets were assigned 'historical' stories -- the bulk of which never ran because McCain stole the thunder. Hard to reflect on history when the entire debate is up in the air.



For that and many more reasons, we'd rule the McCain the winner.



The loser?



The viewers. A presidential debate needs to inform and, to do that, you need to include the candidates running for the office. Cynthia McKinney, Ralph Nader, Bob Barr and Chuck Baldwin weren't present. (Links only to McKinney and Nader. We're tired and not in the mood to write this piece let alone hunt down links. We will note an update, Adam Kokesh is no longer supporting Bob Barr.) How are Americans supposed to decide which candidate they support when all the candidates are not present?



But of course the 'debates' aren't about Americans deciding. They're about corporations telling you there are only two choices and that you better fall in line and do so quickly. There was more spontaneity in the scripted Ralph Nader and Obama Girl YouTube video then there was on stage. Doubt it?



If there's one question McCain needs to answer on Iraq, it's why he says the US has won? He has made that statement repeatedly. It's an opinion statement and he may be able to defend it. (We don't believe there's a 'win' there.) But to know why he says it, he needs to be asked to explain it. After he's asked that, he needs to be asked when withdrawal follows 'victory'? Barack needs to be asked about reality. He gave a speech in 2002. Yeah, and by 2004, he was telling the press that he didn't know how he would have voted if he'd been in the Senate at that time and he was endorsing Bully Boy's illegal war. Once in the Senate, he waited until after he announced his run to finally vote against funding the illegal war. He's gotten away with crowing "I was right in 2002!" over and over. Being right in 2002 means nothing if you go on to back down from the position which, for the record, is what Barack did. Maybe he could explain that? To know if he could, he'd have to be asked to do so.

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Ava note added 9-29-08. Community member Marci e-mailed to note this post at No Quarter. We (C.I. and I) knew that the parents weren't happy about Barack using their son -- which is why we did not even include the son's name in the bracelet comments above -- we did not know, as No Quarter has pointed out, that they had asked Barack to remove the bracelet.. W

The New Adventures of Old Christine

tTy (Third Estate Sunday Review): The New Adventures of Old Christine is a sitcom starring Emmy winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Christine or Old Christine. It's been all over the CBS schedule and season four finds it airing in the first half-hour of prime time on Wednesdays. The cast includes Hamish Linklater as Christine's brother Matthew, Wanda Sykes as her best friend and business partner Barb, Clark Gregg as her ex-husband Richard and Emily Rutherfurd as New Christine, the woman her ex-husband is involved with. Christine and Richard have a son Richice who goes to grade school and two mothers at the school who torment Christine are Lindsay and Marly. Again, in the fourth season, the show has moved to Wednesday nights. We're trying to do our part to make sure everyone's aware of that and this feature is just us sharing our favorite episodes. Betty?







Betty (Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man): "Open Water" from the first season. I have the first two seasons on DVD and this was the show's third episode. It's funny for a number of reasons including learning how Christine's ex-husband Richard met New Christine. The introduction came via a character who makes her first appearance in this episode, Barb played by Wanda Sykes. I love this show and laugh throughout each episode. But, as the mother of three children, one of the reasons I'm glad the show is on the air is because, unlike all of CBS' other sitcoms, Black people are on the show. You have Wanda who finally has a TV role that's worthy of her as Christine's best friend Barb and when my oldest son started watching, Daniel Harris who was played by Blair Underwood. Christine was interested in him in season two and they broke up during season three. The show's worth watching just for the laughs but, I've talked about this before, my kids do notice that the bulk of the shows on TV have no Black performers. My oldest son can follow the show and some of the jokes might be too adult for young viewers but I don't think that's really a problem. My daughter, who is the baby, lays on the living floor with her coloring books when the show's on. She finds everything Wanda says hilarious. She'll let out this loud laugh and say, "She's funny, right Mommy?" And, yes, she is; however, it's really matters to me that my kids can grow up seeing a Black woman on TV who didn't just get busted for drugs or prostitution and is telling the White detective about some other crime to lighten her sentence. If I can add one more thing, I really identify with Christine and I think you will too if your a single mother. She'll make bigger mistakes than you do but you will recognize the mistakes and laugh.







Jim (Third Estate Sunday Review): I'm going with a season three episode which is titled "New Adventures of Old Christine." This is after Christine's broken up with Mr. Harris and she's trying to get on with her life. She wins the big on tickets to the opera and she goes twice. At the start of the episode, she goes with her brother Matthew and his date and her ex-husband Richard and New Christine. They and everyone around them are making out so Christine ends up hugging the ice chest. New Christine begs her to let her fix her up with a lawyer from her work place. They meet up at the opera and the guy's name is Timmy. He's obviously not a lawyer. He tells her he hasn't passed the bar yet and also compliments her mouth which does the trick because Christine's always seeking a compliment. A running gag on the series is how Christine loves her wine. Timmy doesn't have his i.d. on him so they can't get wine. He says if Christine will drive him to his house he can grab it. At his house, they hit it off until they're making out on the couch and his mother walks into the room. Timmy's not almost a lawyer. He's in high school. If that doesn't sound funny enough, after Christine makes it home, Timmy shows up at her door announcing he's run away from home. Matthew's having a lot of fun at her expense during that section. And Julia does the shift from awkward to angry to concerned really well. It's a very funny episode.







Mike (Mikey Likes It!): And the best line in that episode is Matthew's. Christine says, "Why did I let you talk me into a fix up? It was a disaster. His mother caught us kissing on the couch!" Matthew replies, "Oh my God! Is she gonna' call our mom? You're gonna' be so grounded." My favorite episode is also from season three. It's the pot episode. Christine and Barb, they own a gym, are going through the lost and found items and they find a tiny joint in a purse. Christine says they need to get rid of it and Barb grabs it promising to get rid of it. Christine wants to smoke it too and Barb tells her she's not that kind of person. Christine insists she is and, since her son Richie's with his father that night, they should smoke it at her place. Barb shows up skeptical and Christine's overdoing everything -- which is part of why she's so funny. As they're getting ready to light it up, Richard and his friend played by Kids in the Hall David Foley walk in so Christine hides the joint by throwing it down her pants. After the guys leave, Christine's fishing around in her pants trying to get the joint and Barb has this look of disgust on her face that's just hilarious. They decide to smoke it in the garage and though Christine's acting like she's majorly stoned, Barb's explaining to her that there wasn't enough to get high. Christine's desperate to get some pot and asks Matthew and that's a running bit in the episode, everyone thinks Matthew's a stoner. She and David Foley go looking for pot and never find it but do go out on date which allows Christine to finally finish something she started. Meanwhile, Barb and Matthew are making out in the garage. The episode is "Burning Down The House" and Matthew and Barb get the two funniest lines. When Barb's explaining that her husband Pete is the only man she's ever been with and she's not sure what it will be like with other men, Matthew tells her, "Well Pete was 6'5" with a size fourteen shoe so you might wanna' start by lowering your expectations." And at the start when Christine can't believe Barb is going to "smoke reefer," Barb tells her it is just like wine. Christine says, "Oh, Barb, it is not. When was the last time you ever heard of somebody getting addicted to wine?" Barb tells her, "Talk to the guys who collect your recycling." Like Jim said, Christine's love of wine is a running gag on the show.



Elaine (Like Maria Said Paz): I'm going with the third season's "Popular" in which Christine has a chance to be, yes, popular. There's a new parent in the mix at the school and Christine's attempting to turn him into her friend. Marly and Lindsay, not yet mentioned, are two mothers who loathe Christine and make her life miserable since they control the school her son Richie goes to. So the new father offers, Christine hopes, a chance to turn that around. It doesn't happen. He thinks she's the mean mom and Marly and Lindsay are nice. Christine ends up becoming popular with Marly Lindsay, however, so popular that she notes, "I haven't been this popular since the nympho rumor went around about me during high school. I'm not a nympho -- just regular." But Christine is now popular and she gets to sit with popular parents during a recital. But all that happens is the parents have every thing to do except pay attention to their children on stage. Christine's a flawed character and that's what makes her funny but she will also do the right thing when it has to be done. In this episode she explodes at the talking parents so that she can share her son's performance. I'm sure there are a few running gags in there but that's the part that stood out to me.





Cedric (Cedric's Big Mix): That was a strong episode and season three has a great deal of them. My pick is from season three as well, "Traffic." This is when Christine and Daniel are still a couple. She has two things going on nearly at once, a softball game her son's in and a dinner with Daniel. She's so rushed that she doesn't have time to stop at home and change her clothes so, while they're in the car, she demands that New Christine swap clothes with her. And Richard has a good moment in the car as the Christine's are starting to change. Barb, at one point, offers to watch Richie. This is when Barb's marriage is falling apart and she explains, "If you want, Richice can come with me. I'll be scratching dirty words in the door of Pete's Mercedes. And then we'll get ice cream!" Wanda Sykes has a lot of fun with the lines. Christine's got a really good one that episode as well when she's running late, "I would've called you but yesterday I dropped my cell phone in the toilet. After. So I left it there." It's a really funny episode and part of a series of episodes that explains why Christine and Daniel won't work as a couple -- their schedules never mesh.



Rebecca (Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude): I'm glad no one's called mine yet and should probably explain that the order was chosen ahead of time and that we were informed if someone grabbed our favorite episode and we didn't have a back up, we should jump in and add to the discussion of that episode. Mine is when Christine and Daniel are still dating, season three, "Beauty Is Only Spanx Deep." Let me back up and explain that "New" Christine is younger than Christine. Richard, Christine's ex-husband, is older than "New" Christine. So with that in mind, and remembering Blair Underwood plays Daniel, the two couples double-date. It's awkward at the table immediately and New Christine tries to get a conversation started with no luck. The server comes to their table and things get really bad. He assumes Daniel is with New Christine and that Christine and Richard are their parents. Richard says he's fine with the fact that he's dating out of his league but he's not and has a huge panic. But Christine has no ability to self-censor and it's clear that she's upset. She makes a decision which my favorite line from the episode explains, "I want to feel better about myself and the only way I can think to do that, short of diet and exercise, is plastic surgery." In the end she doesn't have plastic surgery but it's a very funny episode. And I really like the tension at the table when the two couples go out on a double date.



Dona (Third Estate Sunday Review): We have a time limit that we're close to missing so I'll be very brief. "One and a Half Man," also in the third season. In this one, Richie's got a big thing and Richard wants to be in charge. He's very insistent that this falls under his area and not Christine's. The entire cast is great but just to give Richard credit, there's a really charming scene where he takes Richie to the tailor's to be fitted for a suit. Richie complains that everything's too big and Richard's explaining various things to him. Then Richie says, "My weiner itches." Richard replies, with the perfect look on his face, "That's part of wearing a suit. That's why they give you long pants." It's a funny moment. And, for the record, we're not commenting on Richie. He's a child actor and we're following Ava and C.I.'s lead there.



Ty (Third Estate Sunday Review): I'm actually next and we drew for the order. I'll try to be quick as well. My favorite is season two's "Undercover Brother." In this one, Richard's brother comes to visit and stays over at Christine's. Funniest line is probably Matthew's when he says to Christine, "Oh congratulations! You've now been with your cousin, New Christine's father and your ex-husband's brother. You're almost ready to start dating outside the family!" Matthew's always got some good lines. But Richard's brother isn't interested in Christine, he's hiding the fact that he's gay. That secret will emerge in a non-very-special manner and the comedy will remain intact throughout largely because as the big reveal gears up, you've got Matthew and Richard stuck in Christine's car which is trash dump on wheels.



Kat [Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills)]: And I'm next up. Barb and Matthew have been mentioned a lot. Richard and New Christine are funny, no question. But I think most of us enjoy Barb and Matthew the most of the supporting characters. My pick is season three's "The Happy Couple." When Barb and Matthew finally do the deed. It's very funny. Afterwards, they're talking and Barb says she regrets saying "come to Mama" and Matthew adds, "Me too." Now twice before Matthew and Barb have made out and done everything but -- there's the pot episode and also when Richie has a camping trip and Barb and Matthew get stuck in the cold in a car that runs out of gas and have to keep warm. But this is the official make out episode. Christine's reaction is to hit the roof and forbid it because Christine usually sees every thing first as how it effects her. It's a very funny episode and just to add one more thing. The show really benefitted from adding Barb as Christine's business partner. The gym thing could have played out like some subplot in Sally Struthers' Gloria sitcom. Barb took it an entirely different direction. And that's partly because, as Cedric pointed out, Wanda Sykes knows how to do suprising things with funny lines.



Wally (The Daily Jot): I'm next. I'm going with the first season and with the episode "Supertramp." This is the episode Ava and C.I. praised. It was aired the same night as the pilot and it really is so much stronger than the pilot. Christine is never as 'bad' as she wants to be. In this episode, she meets a guy and sleeps with him. She thinks she's so daring. All the tension is out of her body and Marly and Lindsay notice when all the parents are dropping their children off at school. They immediately guess that Christine's had sex and Christine's trying to act like she is just this wild woman and that Marly and Lindsay have completely misunderstood who she is. That's when Andy Richter shows up, he's playing the man she slept with. And he's known at the school as "Sad Dad." It's really funny to watch Julia play Christine's swaggering and immediately just shift over into embarrassment. It's really a funny show and the second episode made clear where it was headed. If I can make one more comment quickly, that should tie in with what Ruth's about to talk about, the show does not take place in Mayberry. It takes place today. Christine wears a "Peace" t-shirt in this episode.



Ruth (Ruth's Report): I've watched this year's first episode, that aired Wendesday, three times now and I really think that's my favorite one. Like Wally's saying, the series takes place today. It's also set in California. So the legalization of same-sex marriage was worked into the season debut. Barb and Pete have broken up. They're divorced and Barb's attorney explains to her that she may have to leave the country. She tells Christine that she came into the country on a student visa, then met Pete and they were married for ten years. Christine's insisting that Barb can't be deported because she's from Jamacia. One of Christine's funniest qualities is she always thinks she's smarter than she is. In this case, she thinks that country is part of the United States. Next up, Matthew will suggest that Christine should marry Barb so she can stay in the country. Christine tells Matthew, with a look that says "you're so stupid," that two women can't marry. Christine's understanding of "gay marriage" is that it only applies to two men. When that's quickly cleared up, she'll propose to Barb noting how much their friendship means. Then Richard will show up and be surprised by it and Christine will start saying that two women can get married, gay marriage isn't just for men. You really have to see the look on her face during that. But anyway, Christine and Matthew really get into the wedding. Matthew's into being the wedding planner and Christine's into getting married because Richard is proposing to New Christine throughout the episode and she wants to beat Richard down the aisle. Barb calls off the wedding when Pete offers to remarry her. Even though it was only a marriage so Barb could stay in the country, Christine takes it very hard. At the end, Barb shows up and decided she'd rather owe Christine than Pete and they get married. It's a very funny episode and you won't find many sitcoms that will tackle this.



Jess (Third Estate Sunday Review): Agreed and it's very funny when they go to get their marriage license. And there are funny bits of Christine's vanity throughout like when she insists Barb's Ethel while she's Lucy and when Barb asks why she'll grimace and say don't make me say it. She does the same thing when Barb asks why she's the groom. I'm second to last and I'll try to hurry so that Marcia has time to speak. Some of my favorites have been named. Ava and C.I. are working on a different feature and they suggested one I'd forgotten. Season three "Between A Rock and a Hard Place." In this episode, Matthew's seeing a therapist as part of his college degree plan and Christine's just broken up with Mr. Harris and having a real hard time. She finally decides that she's mourned enough and she takes Richie to a classmate's birthday party. They have a wall that you can climb at the party. Richie doesn't want to because the harness hurts his crotch. While he goes off for cake, Christine decides to climb the wall and she's full of energy and telling the new father at the school that he can look at her ass while she climbs and then asking him not to. So she starts climbing. Matthew's doing his therapy and insisting he's not too attached to his sister. His phone goes off and he doesn't want to answer it, he knows it's his sister. The therapist has suggested he needs to put distance between himself and Christine. Because Christine's stuck on the wall, Matthew goes to help. He climbs the wall to try to talk her down. She's freaking out over the breakup with Mr. Harris and feeling alone in the world and needs Matthew to hug her. He's behind her on the wall and she's reaching around with her hands and grabbing him to pull him on top of her. It's a very funny sequence for Matthew and Christine. When she's finally down from the wall, she goes to see his therapist with him and rips the woman apart but ends up making an appointment for therapy. It's a funny episode. Marcia?



Marcia (SICKOFITRADLZ): A lot of good episodes. I had three episodes handy and two were picked so I'll go with "Faith Off." In this episode, Christine has had a great subway sandwich but can't remember where she bought it. Meanwhile, Richie's trying to find out about church. Christine has to explain how they're religious but don't go to church and it's a funny bit. She ends up going to church with Richie. And that's even funnier. At the church, she has an epiphany: she remembers where she had the sandwich. It's a very funny episode. I'll repeat what everyone else has said about the cast and the writing. Whether it's Barb, Matthew, Richard, New Christine, Lindsay and Marly or whomever, there are some really strong supporting characters and Julia works so well with all of them. It's a great show to watch.



Ty: And The New Adventures of Old Christine is now airing Wednesday nights on CBS' first half-hour of prime time. There are not a lot of sitcoms with women in them and this is one where a woman is the lead. She's not whining at Ray or Doug like any number of women sidelined for most of the decade. She is the mix. And it is a comedy set very much in today's world. There are many reasons to watch it and hopefully something we've shared has made you consider tuning in if you haven't already.

MyTV's Fascist House: Princess Tiny Meat Chronicles

On the latest installment of MyTV's Fascist House, Princess Tiny Meat finishes another Men's Vogue cover shoot in time to attempt the role of 'man of the people.'




Princess Tiny Meat fails. The whole head tossed back pose should only be used in productions of Equus unless one's trying to look haughty. Also, star earings might work on Wonder Woman but for a man seeking the presidency . . . And for those wondering about the nickname, check out the photo of Barack eating ice cream, check it out very closely.

Following Ava and C.I.'s review of MyTV's Fashion House, MyTV's Fascist House became a regular feature. The collages were time consuming and we were glad to stop it. But readers never stop requesting another collage. This should be our last one, just FYI.

Coming Up

Monday's first hour finds NBC starting the new season of the show Ava and C.I. praised as the best of last year, Chuck. Mike ended up watching it due to Ava and C.I.'s comments here and to him. Before the first season ended, he was hooked. Tune in Monday to find out why.



Wednesday sees The New Adventures of Old Christine on CBS' first half-hour of prime time. The fourth season started last week and, if you missed it, Christine got married. You won't want to miss it this Wednesday.



Thursday the Democratic Party and Republican party vice presidential debate takes place. Don't call it the "vice presidential debate" since Matt Gonzalez, Rosa Clemente and others are left out. NBC's Brian Williams moderates and it airs during the second hour of prime time.

Highlights

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, Ruth of Ruth's Report, Marcia of SICKOFITRADLZ and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.





"I Hate The War" -- C.I. goes where everyone else plays dumb. FAIR repeatedly cries for presidential debates to be opened . . . except this year. This year FAIR's in love with Barack and damned if they worry about being fair anymore.



"Saucy potato-tomato-casserole recipe in the Kitchen" -- Trina offers an easy recipe and addresses the proposed bailout that will soak the American people.



"Queen Bee Calls" -- Gail Collins dials up Betinna. Wally and Cedric note that they laughed repeatedly at Betty's latest humorous chapter. She will be under "Recommended" on Monday. They did their joint-entry Saturday before Betty posted and forgot that in their rush to get it up at their sites later that morning.



"Amy Goodman broadcasts more homophobia" and "Amy Goodman and other homophobes" -- Marcia tackles the 'left' 'friend' Amy Goodman who always find an excuse to broadcast homophobia.



"Barack cracks open a case of whine" and "THIS JUST IN! BARACK" -- Cedric and Wally speak with whiney Barack who is yet again whimpering.



"Nader, Cher" and "Cher, Ashley Sanders, Nader video" -- the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame released their latest nominees for induction and Cher was among the many women not on the list as Ruth and Kat point out.



"heroes" -- Rebecca tackles the TV beat at a reader's request.



"Kim, pack up your office" -- Elaine states the obvious, Kim Gandy needs to step down as president of NOW.



"Christine, Nader, movies" -- Mike notes movies and then has to do an update one day later ("Nader, movies").



"Look Who's Whining" -- Ruth explains how the press has given Barack so many passes he now expects them.



"barack bombs in another debate" and "A real debate requires Ralph" -- Rebecca and Mike weigh in on Friday's 'debate.'



"This one time, at debate camp . . . " and "THIS JUST IN! DEBATE CAMP HORRORS!" -- Cedric and Wally get the details of debate camp from Barack.



"Lisa Richardson, sexist" -- Ruth tackles yet another woman utilizing sexism to 'take down' Governor Sarah Palin.



"The New Adventures of Old Christine" -- Kat talks New Adventures of Old Christine. Something we're doing for a feature this week.

"Kat's Korner: Chris Martin's cold play" -- Kat's first posted review in months. (Or it feels like months.) This was supposed to go up Saturday but we were so busy on this edition that everyone forgot. So it just went up and it's one of what Kat hopes is three CD reviews over the next few days. A second review goes up Monday. A third review she hopes will be up before Saturday night but she's not sure when. Read it, it's great. So is her second one which we've also all read. It's also on a group.

Truest statement of the week

This has a lot to do with a graphic image of Palin I just saw in which she is dressed in a black bustier, adorned with long, black gloves and wielding a whip. The image appeared in the Internet magazine Salon to illustrate a column titled: "The dominatrix," by Gary Kamiya. Kamiya calls Palin a "pinup queen," and says she not only tantalized the Republican National Convention with political red meat, but that her "babalicious" presence hypercharged the place with sexual energy, and naughty energy at that. "You could practically feel the crowd getting a collective woody as Palin bent Obama and the Democrats over, shoved a leather gag in their mouths and flogged them as un-American wimps, appeasers and losers."
That's some sexual mother lode. Dare I point out that I have never -- ever -- in three decades of covering politics seen a male politician's style, even one with an earthy demeanor, described this way?
Salon editor Joan Walsh says she agrees the "dominatrix" piece had a "provocative cover,'' and that her columnists enjoy great freedom. "One day Gary (Kamiya) called Palin a dominatrix, the next day Camille Paglia called her a feminist." The magazine exists, Walsh says, to "push the envelope."
No sooner did Walsh give me this explanation than another Salon contributor, Cintra Wilson, pushed that envelope again. Wilson described Palin as follows: an "f---able ... Christian Stepford wife in a 'sexy librarian' costume" who is, for ideological Republicans, a "hardcore pornographic centerfold spread." That is, when Palin is not coming across as one of those "cutthroat Texas cheerleader stage moms."
What is it about a woman candidate that sends the media into weird Freudian frenzies?



-- Marie Cocco, "Sexism Again" (Washington Post Writers Group)

Truest statement of the week II

This truest delted on 1-15-09 by Ty. The man was a racist. He revealed himself to be such 1-15. We have deleted his other two truests. We apologize and would not have promoted a racist. We are a diverse group including Ty (African-American) and Ava (Latina). Dona points out C.I. refused to include the racist in the year-in-review C.I. did January 1st. C.I. already had qualms about the guy. We will not be highlighting him in the future.
We regret that he was highlighted prior.
None of his comments deleted were on race.
He is noted in two other feature articles still. We'll leave those.
But knowing that he's a racist, we could not let it stand with him having any "Truest" statements.

A note to our readers

Hey --
Oh how the years go by, as Vanessa Williams sings. And the days.

Another edition and, along with Dallas, the following worked on this edition:

The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
and Marcia SICKOFITRDLZ.

We thank everyone. So let's break down this week's edition.

Truest statement of the week -- Marie Cocco. She's become a very strong voice this year and we're happy to note her again.

Truest statement of the week II -- This is the second time Joseph Cannon has been a truest as well. We had six other choices and, if any had enough votes to warrant a third, we would have done a third. Cannon and Cocco were the clear winners.

Editorial: Spending in an economic meltdown -- Our Iraq piece. We knew we'd be noting the hearing in some form and had considered just copying and pasting the transcriptions C.I. did during the week but this was the last thing we all worked on and we had more energy than we thought. The House Budget Committee held a hearing on Iraq's surplus and the Iraqi 'government' spending and the US spending. You'd think it would get attention at any time of the year. Surprisingly, even with an economic meltdown, it didn't. Apparently, we can max out the charge cards and never worry about paying.

TV: Shrinkage and expansion -- I had a wish list for Ava and C.I. to cover in their piece. Turns out they'd been given a number of wish lists already. They had to cover Saturday Night Live because, as Ava explains, "It was a vast improvement and if we're going to call out friends when they're awful, we also have to acknowledge when they do something well." As Dona and Jess told them (with the readers' wish list), this is the sort of thing the readers were hoping for. They both note they don't write under demand or upon request. Translation (to steal their phrase), don't expect them to do this next week. They're covering a lot but between my list, the readers' list, friends' list and their own list, they don't feel they covered nearly enough. But they always hate what they write. Everyone else loved it and there were several belly laughs when I read it out loud. Marcia loved it so much, she said they needed to call her mother. They agreed to do so and interview her but wanted to wait until Marcia's mother was up. (6:00 a.m. EST.) They thank Marcia and her mother.

Real Change vs. Small Change -- Our Nader piece. And tossing this out there now. We have scanned in other buttons. Do readers enjoy this one or would they prefer to see other buttons with the Nader pieces? Ralph's campaign is making real strides, despite a lack of media attention. We almost posted a Ralph video but Ty hollered, "Don't!" Seems there's an issue with videos. A number of you don't want them and have stopped visiting many sites. If we'd known about that (Ty saw those e-mails, C.I.'s gotten similar ones at The Common Ills), we would have tackled the online videos in an article this edition. Short version: They are a nightmare for readers on dial up.

Arthur Krystal delivers a lesson in exclusion -- In the roundtable, we talk about how something ends up getting to be a piece. It's noted that if Rebecca, Mike and I are on board, it's an automatic piece (which doesn't mean it gets posted here, it may only be good enough for the print version as many are) because we are very vocal. One thing we failed to note in the discussion is the Ava and C.I. factor. It's noted that from time to time they will advocate strongly for a piece. But this feature resulted from another Ava and C.I. quality. They don't come to the edition with a one-sentence idea. If they have an idea, they have it sketched it out. They have it sketched out in multiple ways. For example, this was on the topic lists and we were all for it. C.I. had faxed the article to those who participate by phone and those of us here had read the article. We had much to address and thought this would be the longest and hardest hitting piece. We were going to explore Krystal's presentation and our own thoughts. That would have included the topic of sexism and much more. As time ran down, this moved to the "kill pile" because there wouldn't be time to do that article. When Dona and I said that was happening, Ava and C.I. came back with the fact that they also had a way to address the article in a very fast format. They presented it and there was actually very little for us to do other than to take their presentation and write it up. So that's another way something ends up becoming a feature. It's more than just the topic. This ended up being written more quickly than anything else this edition.

Cock Rock Hall of Fame -- At various times, Elaine, C.I., Ava, Kat and Rebecca have pitched this as a topic. It's always shot down or put on the maybe list. (Usually by me -- shot down and maybe-d.) Kat wrote about the topic at her site this week and I grasped what I wasn't hearing when it had been advocated for here. That's part of the process, we're all focused on pitching our topic and a lot of times we (or me, Jim) don't listen closely enough to the pitches others are making. A note on the illustration for this and the feature above (the same illustration). During writing editions, we have to take breaks. Many times, a number of us will run to the store. I always check out the toys. This is something called "Instant Prehistoric 3" which is capsules you drop in water that turn into figures. I have picked that up repeatedly on our late night runs but never purchased it. C.I. told me this morning, "Get it already." And, truth be told, though I hide behind, "This might make for an interesting illustration," the reality is I was just curious about if the capsules really turned into figures. As Mike would say, ":D".


Roundtable -- You love roundtables, we've begun to loathe doing them. They take so much time. Last week, we did one and pretty much everyone pulled from the remarks (I didn't, C.I., Ava and Betty didn't but I'm not sure who else) that not only was it not much but there was no way it flowed when you read it. So it was killed. It was also a time consumer. But we tried it again this week. The illustration is by Betty's oldest son.

Coming Up -- Some things to look for and the candy wrappers were also purchased on our run this morning. I said it was because they might make a good illustration and be a way to note Halloween. Reality, I just wanted the candy. As Ty pointed out by noting there were also Snicker Halloween candy and I wasn't picking those up. (I don't like Snickers.) I ate them and forgot about it. Jess was picking up some of our garbage at one point and pointed to the wrappers saying, "I thought these were going to be an illustration." We didn't have a Halloween piece. We did have this which was titled "Recommended." Dona pointed out that if we called it "Coming Up," we could use the wrappers as an illustration because Halloween is coming up. Next week, the plan is to do something more on The New Adventures of Old Christine, by the way. Marcia and Ruth came up with an idea for that but there wasn't time.

Jerk off Artiste of the Week -- Self-explantory. This was noted by eight readers who e-mailed to express their anger with the latest attack on women and the latest excuse where it's always someone's fault but never Barack's.

E-mails (Dona and Jess) -- I typed up the roundtable. If there are typos, I don't care. While I was doing that, Ava and C.I. were doing their TV commentary and Ty was editing the article on Nader, and Mike, Elaine, Betty, Rebecca, Ruth, Marcia, Kat, Cedric and Wally were working on "Highlights." Dona and Jess decided to attempt a feature covering the e-mails. Normally, a solo or duo piece goes up higher in the mix. Dona and Jess were both adament that this go as far towards the end as possible so that Stacie Adams not mistakenly think that we give a damn what she says.


Highlights -- Mike, Elaine, Rebecca, Betty, Kat, Ruth, Cedric, Marcia and Wally wrote this and we thank them for it. I always worry I'll leave someone out when I type up the credit for this each week.


See you next weekend.-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.