Heather’s got the story on a little event happened at Miss America involving the parents of two contestants (who both happen to be from just down the road in High Point, NC).
Pat Boone: Modern Man
Seriously, this guy must have been big back in neanderthal times:
Women shouldn’t be trained to kill, to engage in hand-to-hand combat or to risk death facing hate-crazed enemies.
Now if that’s not bad enough, keep in mind that this is in the middle of an article talking about presidential nominees. Which makes me wonder what Pat actually thinks the President does.
What man wants to let that happen, no matter how it might appeal to some women themselves? Sure, they can … but they shouldn’t. If it must be done, it’s a man’s job, a man’s duty….
And that’s how I feel about the idea of a woman president. Face it, Americans will elect a woman their leader only if there seem to be no qualified men – only if they feel she’s the best we can come up with. Have we come to that? Can neither party present a man who so clearly has the leadership qualities we need that we’ll decide to accept a woman – to sit across from Vladimir Putin or the Chinese, Korean or Pakistani leaders who all despise the idea of having to treat a woman as their equal, politically or otherwise?
Say what? We should have a woman president so that we won’t be despised by our political opponents on the world stage?
Listen, Pat. If you want to be misogynistic, that’s fine. But at least have the balls to say it, and not put it upon your imagined misogyny of "the Chinese, Korean or Pakistani", mmm-kay? (P.S. As for Pakistani women leaders, does the name Bhutto ring a bell, Pat?)
P.S. Pat would also like you to know that he would be all for a black (male) president — really, he would! — just not, you know, Obama for Chrissakes snicker doodle sakes.
Read This…
From the NYT Review of Books:
Many bloggers really don’t write much at all. They are more like impresarios, curators, or editors, picking and choosing things they find on line, occasionally slapping on a funny headline or adding a snarky (read: snotty and catty) comment. Some days, the only original writing you see on a blog is the equivalent of "Read this…. Take a look…. But, seriously, this is lame…. Can you believe this?"
True, that. At least for me.
Some Pre-show Publicity: The Foreigner
Nice article, I guess. Not sure if it’s gonna pack ’em in. Well, then again, all publicity is good publicity.
What Economic Downturn?
Nope, not if you’re Big Oil:
Shell will be at the centre of a political storm this week when it posts profits of almost $27bn (£13.6bn), the highest earnings ever made by a British company.
The record-breaking profits, on the back of soaring oil prices, seem likely to stir fresh allegations of profiteering. The price of petrol has been increasing sharply, rising from 71p a litre five years ago to about 104p a litre today, according to the AA.
Texas-based Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest privately-owned oil company, is expected to improve on its own previous record on Friday by reporting earnings of $39.6bn, the biggest annual profits that the US has ever seen.
Life Is A 1950’s B Movie
So we had the UFOs in Texas last week (by the way, mystery solved, I think).
Now, it’s The Blob in the sewers of Lewiston, Maine.
Lego Turns 50
Some Lego facts:
- There are about 62 LEGO bricks for every one of the world’s 6 billion inhabitants.
- Children around the world spend 5 billion hours a year playing with LEGO bricks.
- More than 400 million people around the world have played with LEGO bricks.
- More than 400 billion LEGO bricks have been produced since 1949. Stacked on top of each other, this is enough to connect the Earth and the Moon ten times over.
- 7 LEGO sets are sold by retailers every second around the world.
- The LEGO bricks sold in one year would circle the world 5 times.
Here’s the original Lego patent.
And check out this Lego artwork by Nathan Sawaya:
And finally, the very ambitious The Brick Testament — the entire Bible illustrated with Lego figures:
Obama Gets Kennedy Endorsement
I think the media makes much more of endorsements than the general public. I mean, does anyone vote based on a newspaper’s endorsement? Or a celebrity’s? Or another politician’s? I don’t think so. [UPDATE: Well, maybe I’m wrong…]
Still, Kennedy’s endorsement of Obama is a nice coup for that campaign. And coming off of Obama’s South Carolina win 28-point blowout, it may be the start of some genuine mo’ heading into Super Duper Tuesday.
He’s gonna need it, as this WSJ graph shows:
UPDATE: For those who missed it, here’s why I’m leaning toward Obama. It’s his victory speech from SC. No, he doesn’t shine in debates, but this is where he shines:
MORE: From TPM:
You cannot overestimate the significance of the Kennedy endorsement of Obama.
Suddenly Obama has become the candidate of generational change just as JFK was. His youth is transformed from a possible negative to a huge selling point. The message is that the world cannot be changed by leaders who evoke a previous generation.
As an early baby boomer, I’m a little sad to see late boomer Obama wrest the torch from our aging fingers.
But it’s time. We’ve had two Presidents –Clinton and W — and now its our younger brothers and sisters time.
There is no guarantee Obama will win or that he can change America the way we need to be changed. JFK was followed by Johnson and Nixon, two relics of the 1950’s.
But it is JFK (along with those other "kids," RFK and MLK) who still inspire us and who continue to remind the world that America was once something special, and can be again.
I think Obama will go all the way. But I can’t be sure of it. One thing I am sure of is that it’s his time. I talk to many kids (DC is full of them, some of the best in this country) and I haven’t met a single one who isn’t for Obama (okay, asome are for Edwards).
Call me a self-hating 60’s person but I’m happy to stand with the kids, with change and with the best parts of the Kennedy legacy.
That is what being a 60’s radical was all about. I’m old, the ideas remain young.
Yeah, it’s weird. Obama is only 2 years older than me.
State Of The Union 2008
Not much to say about Bush’s last State of the Union speech. I only note it because my first post ever on this blog was about the State of The Union — four years and one week ago today. That was 5,301 posts ago.
But who’s counting?
Anyway, Bush will speak tonight — supposedly to calm American’s nerves about the impending economic crisis. Of course, when he last spoke on that subject one week ago, the Dow dropped almost 150 points immediately (like, within the hour) after he got through.
Sunday Night Propaganda
"Boys Beware" (1959 Anti-Homosexual Film)
Uh-Oh or Psychout?
For the second consecutive day, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady wasn’t in the locker room or at practice when reporters and cameramen were allowed inside Friday.
During the 45-minute period in the locker room, several cameramen lingered near his locker, but he didn’t show up. Nor was he there for the first 12 minutes of practice that the media were allowed to watch.
Asked if he could say whether Brady would practice Friday, New England coach Bill Belichick said, “Not now. We’ll see.”
The Boston Globe reported that Brady missed all of the team’s first practice Thursday.
Brady was photographed in New York on Monday wearing a protective boot on his right foot. He took it off later in the day and hasn’t been photographed wearing it since. He reportedly has a minor high ankle sprain that isn’t expected to keep him out of the Super Bowl against the New York Giants on Feb. 3.
My guess? Psychout. His ankle is fine.
For Your Baby
Lullaby versions of sings by U2, Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Nirvana, Tool, Green Day, Metallica, and lots more.
Here’s a couple of samples (mp3 format):
Dog v Balloons
Spoiler: Dog wins…
Election 2008: South Carolina Watch
There’s something going on down there. Obama has a commanding lead and is set to win that state’s primary. But the not-much-discussed story is Edwards who has been surging like a madman over the past few days according to this poll:
| Candidate | 1/22-24 | 1/21-23 | 1/20-22 | RCP 5-poll Ave. |
| Obama | 38 | 39 | 43 | 38.2 |
| Clinton | 25 | 24 | 24 | 26.4 |
| Edwards | 21 | 19 | 15 | 19.2 |
He’s now within 4 point sof Clinton.
What would happen, one wonders, if Clinton came in third in South Carolina tomorrow?
Clinton: “I Have To Defend Myself”
What?
Hillary Clinton said Friday she must respond in kind to attacks from rival Barack Obama even though she’d rather keep the race for the Democratic presidential nomination focused on their differences on public policy issues.
"I try not to attack first, but I have to defend myself — I do have to counterpunch," Clinton told NBC’s "Today Show."
Wow. As I posted yesterday, Clinton is the one on the attack. That’s just ballsy — go after your opponents with Republican-like tactics and then play the "I’m the victim" card?
What’s distressing is that, in today’s climate, it’ll probably work with much of the electorate. Publius calls it "the rube strategy":
But still, she and her campaign keep harping on this — dishonestly. What’s so infuriating is that, in doing so, they assume their audience is too ignorant to learn the truth. It’s not so much that they’re attacking Obama – after all, that’s politics. It’s that Clinton’s attacks illustrate a deep contempt for voters. Call it “the rube strategy” – we’ll say what we want and most people will be too ignorant to ever figure out the difference.
UPDATE: Then again, maybe it’s backfiring….
UPDATE: And then yet again, it must be working because the Clinton campaign is going to keep at it:
After three weeks of nearly nonstop campaigning, set off by Mrs. Clinton’s third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, Mr. Clinton has shown as much ability as his wife — or even more — to stir public and news media skepticism about Mr. Obama’s position on Iraq and his message of nonpartisan leadership, Clinton advisers say.
Mr. Clinton is deliberately trying to play bad cop against Mr. Obama, campaign officials say, and is keenly aware that a flash of anger or annoyance will draw even more media and public attention to his arguments. He will continue campaigning full-time for Mrs. Clinton after South Carolina in states with primaries on Feb. 5 where he is especially popular, like Arkansas, California and New York, they say.
They also see benefits in Mr. Clinton’s drawing the ire of the Obama camp, predicting that there will be a voter backlash against Mr. Obama if the former president looks like a victim in the cut-and-thrust of the race.