Saturday Night "Smooth"--and "Smooth 2"!

From a movie that permanently entered Harrogate's Top Ten movies the first time he saw it. Every time the movie is on Harrogate watches it. If he owned it he'd watch it all the time. That's why he doesn't own it.

The movie has among other selling points: top notch acting and special effects, a pulp fiction quality, an ecocritical thrust, a bottomless racial element, a romantic nostalgia for old school Hollywood, and a markedly anti-corporate sensibility. And it's fun as hell!!!

The character we feature here of course was brilliantly executed by Kathleen Turner, and immortalized one of the naughtiest lines in American film history: "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way." It was Amy Irving, however, who provided the singing voice the Transcendent Scene you are experiencing here.

Harrogate especially dedicates this song to Mr. and Mrs. Oxymoron, in honor of their "Smooth" and "Smooth 2" musical collections.

Saturday Morning Montage

Friday Afternoon Sublime: GOP Now Starring in Remake of Evil Dead II

Correct Harrogate if he is wrong here, Roof. But for Harrogate's money this right here represents Raimi and Campbell at their best.

And, as the Balloon Juice bloggers now show us, this clip also serves as a wonderful analogue for what is currently happening to the GOP.

Eugene Allen

A wonderful but sad story in The Washington Post about Eugene Allen, a White House Butler.

Musical Tribute Part the Second: More Indispensable Bruce!!!

It's been a Springsteen kind of day for Harrogate, as so many turn out to be. "Eyes on the Prize" is one of our most cherished songs, and this version of it reminds us why.

UPDATE: The transition at the 2:58 mark is guaranteed to make your Soul take flight.

Happy Friday Musical Tribute

Always a fun, joyous song, reflecting the gospel tradition at its most persuasive.

Bruce and Company do it justice!!!!!

An Updated No Taxation without Representation

Melissa Etheridge has issued a statement declaring that if California does not grant her the right under the constitution to marry that it extends to its heterosexual citizens she will not pay her taxes. Logistically, I'm not sure how this will work, but I applaud the sentiment. The recent defeat of Prop. 8 reaffirms something I've believed a long time: same-sex marriage cannot be a state issue. It will have to be addressed at the federal level, much the same way Civil Rights had to be addressed at the federal level.

Post Election Post from a Rhetorical Situational Anarchist

I want to write an "open letter" to Obama, but our format (and limited audience) truly preclude that, so I'll just say this to the Situationists.

If you see him, pass this along.

I have been wrestling with the corpse of my objectivity for the past month or so. I clicked over from "Obama is the best option" to "Obama is the right person for the Presidency" around the time of the "Charrr-lee" interview. I didn't mind. During the flurry of idiocy in subsequent weeks, though, I broke. My objectivity shattered, crumbles, and drifted to the floor. I won't lie: when I voted, my thought process was, "GIVE IT TO ME!!! Give me what I want!"

Soul searching and objective self-inquiry was still in play. I voted correctly. I got what I wanted and, as value added, I am certain that I wanted the right thing. But I lost myself there.

I want to be hypercritical again. I am looking forward to being disappointed that he isn't the end all, be all.

So, when you see Barack, you tell him that I say he has three months to be human.

Three months to lie, cheat, bring flowers in last month's newspapers to the Hilton Wenches (as they dawdle in the dress they are used to wear), huff paint, tear cats, take money from disreputable sources for no reason but to soil his reputation, develop "a wide stance", fart musically, squeeze the Charmin, golf in Scotland, spend time at the "poker tournament down at the rec center", put on a show to save the bikini car wash, read Ishmael, go to the Copa--Copacabana (it is, after all, the hottest show in Havana, and just generally fuck up.

Then he has to live up to his words.

Not the words which promise credulous change, but the promise that he is Kal-El.

He has to become Superman, or I call forfeit.

And (for the geeks), not "leaping tall" anything Superman. No leaping; fly! You fucking fly. And backwards so you go back in time. I want you to use your heat vision to turn lead into aluminum. Because, apparently, that's what heat does. I expect you to use freeze breath in space, somehow making it colder than zero degrees Kelvin. You wil sleep with Michelle and then arbitrarily Super-hypnotize her so that she never remembers it, and it won't be creepy. No. Not at all. You will save the Earth from a comet you heard whizz past Pluto by doing a handstand.

You will punch a wall so fucking hard history changes and new universes are formed or I'm done.

Three words: "cellophane 'O' net". You had better have one, boss.

I for one, look forward to being hyper-critical...SUPERCRITICAL!... again. I look forward to being over-dramatically...SUPERDRAMATICALLY!...disappointed in the mechanisms of leadership.

You will need android doubles.

You need to adopt Krypto. Name your dog Krypto and I'll forgive you for not going after the war profiteers , for not putting Joe-mentum in the corner for a time-out, for...

Wait a minute. You're still against gay marriage, aren't you?

There it is. THERE IT IS!

I've found your kryptonite and I can already taste the disappointment.

Three months, Superman. Then either you save the world or we'll have to. The smelly monkey mass of us.

Or my name isn't Lex Luthor.

A long-winded response to "OMFG: A Tribute to Sarah Palin"

My "too long-winded for the comments box" reply to O'Reilly's interview with Carl cameron posted earlier today by solon.


Here's "O'Reilly Logic", at its most dipshitty:

1- "The woman's not a stupid woman," she just needed to be "tutored" in current events, basic government, geography, rhetoric, the English language, American and world history, what skills, experience, or duties she is supposed to have, how to read and remember the titles of things she has had "placed in front of her", the difference between "mine" and "yours", how to take criticism, how to answer the questions she is asked rather than talking about what she wants to, that you can't subtract $150k from $20k, and so forth.

So, she's not a stupid woman; she's a standard pre-kindergartener, really.

I defer to Robert Fulgham:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.
Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

It shouldn't take her more than 12 years to bring her up-to-date with most high school graduates on these "the basics."

Then, 2- He forgives her not being able to name the title of anything in the media or exhibit differentiation "all" and "some" by saying, "She didn't want ot be bogged down by a lesson before" the interview.

So:
1) She's not a stupid woman
2) She can be tutored easily
3) They knew the questions that would be asked and prepared answers and information
4) Who the fuck has time to learn?
5) {omitted}
6) This is obviously not her fault

I'm going to call it now: O'Reilly has achieved "The Underwear Gnome Paradox", which is itself an offshoot of Johnny Cochran's infamous "Chewbacca Defense":

This is Chewbacca, Chewbacca is a Wookiee from the planet Kashyyyk, but Chewbacca lives on the planet Endor. Now, think about that. That does not make sense! Why would a Wookiee - an eight foot tall Wookiee - want to live on Endor with a bunch of two foot tall Ewoks? That does not make sense! What does that have to do with this case? Nothing. Ladies and gentlemen, it has nothing to do with this case! It does not make sense! None of this makes sense. If Chewbacca lives on Endor, you must acquit! The defense rests. DAMNIT!

Damn it all to hell. I Missed it.

Remember, Remember the 5th of November.

McCain-Palin: Country First

Palin scheduled the prank call?

According to The NY Times. Wow McCain's campaign, the handlers and candidates, were terrible.

Update: Forget the Times. Read the account of the schism in the foreign press, which reports how McCain mocks Palin. According to the Guardian (UK):

An exasperated McCain has been telling friends in recent weeks that Palin is even more trouble than a pitbull. In one joke doing the rounds, the Republican presidential candidate has been asking friends: what is the difference between Sarah Palin and a pitbull? The friendly canine eventually lets go, is the McCain punchline.

What happened to the lipstick?

Meanwhile, in the World of Batshit-Crazy Ann Coulter

There's a lot of entertainment to be had from this piece of Coulter Hysterics. For example, behold:

Indeed, the only good thing about McCain is that he gave us a genuine conservative, Sarah Palin. He's like one of those insects that lives just long enough to reproduce so that the species can survive. That's why a lot of us are referring to Sarah as "The One" these days.

Like Sarah Connor in "The Terminator," Sarah Palin is destined to give birth to a new movement. That's why the Democrats are trying to kill her.

OMFG: A Tribute to Sarah Palin

Today, the Hammer dropped on Sarah Palin. On Fox News no doubt. This is the first of many "one the record" stories-- stories which reporters cold not discuss until after the election.

And the "real" Conservatives still want her for 2012. Please...



Generally speaking, the segment of American voters who support Palin may want to pay closer attention to the real world.

Here is another interview, discussing the same subject, on The O'Reilly Factor.

While some of this, I'm sure, is not on the level and the McCain camp is attempting to punish Palin to save McCain, some of it makes sense, especially considering the "joint" appearances with McCain and Palin towards the end of the campaign.

Dear Gov. Palin,

Soon my posts discussing your basic inequalities as a public servant will end. You will return to "real" American and hopefully, once there, the Alaskan voters will ensure you will not be their Governor because of your abysmal performance.

But until that time, I just wanted to let you know we are thinking of ya.'

The wild dogs cry out in the night
As they grow restless longing for some solitary company
I know that I must do what's right
As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serangetti
I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become

It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

Sincerely,

Your BFFs at The Rhetorical Situation

"Behind the Scenes" Coverage

From Newsweek: There are not too many surprises in the article, such as Obama's staff did not want Senator Clinton as VP because of Bill; Senator Clinton was closer to McCain than Obama; both Clinton and McCain did(?) not like Obama (their descriptive words are "flashy" and "callow"); McCain feared Clinton as a VO choice; Obama hates debates. When discussing the format of the debate, Obama stated:

"I don't consider this to be a good format for me, which makes me more cautious. I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, 'You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.' So when Brian Williams is asking me about what's a personal thing that you've done [that's green], and I say, you know, 'Well, I planted a bunch of trees.' And he says, 'I'm talking about personal.' What I'm thinking in my head is, 'Well, the truth is, Brian, we can't solve global warming because I f---ing changed light bulbs in my house. It's because of something collective'."

But here is what we did not know (well, mostly):

• Both campaigns faced massive problems with technology as a foreign entity hacked into the computers systems of Obama and McCain. The FBI is investigating.
  
• Palin has zero credibility and cannot be trusted. Her shopping spree cost much more than $150,000 and extended to her entire family. This matters only because of her lengthy denials.
  
• McCain and Palin rarely spoke. (This is a save McCain piece BTW.)
• Barack and Michelle received many threats during September and October, which correlates to the periods when the McCain & Palin rallies stopped being civil.
  
• On the Sunday before the last debate, McCain's advisors debated a to whether or not they should tell McCain that the race was effectivly over and he could not win. This is about the time McCain's aids spoke to the press.
  

The slow political dath of Sarah Palin continues as does the attempts to reclaim McCain's honor.

These color-commentaries are from a longer serieson the campaign, which I suggest everyone reads. It discusses Obama throughout his campaigning and reveals anecdotes such as the sign in Obama's campaign headquarters that asked staff members to bring back shampoo from hotels so they could be donated to charity and this description of David Plouffe: "Staffers joked that Plouffe's range of emotions ran all the way 'from A to B.'"

Further, the first article discusses the Clinton campaign and reveals that Senator Clinton was quite apprehensive about running for President and she surrounded herself with fools. There is a very interesting discussion of her not wanting to leave her home for the campaign trail.

This is part of a longer series:
I. Obama: How He Did It
II. McCain: Back From the Dead
III. Clinton-Obama struggle: The Long Siege

Two Quick Things

1. WE ARE NOT POST-RACIAL JUST BECAUSE WE ELECTED A BLACK PRESIDENT. We took a lovely step in that direction, but come on! The black pundits on MSNBC said things like, "I can now tell my child they can be anything and it's true." And that's the truth. But what about half of Harlem? Can they say the same thing? Admittedly, we might be moving toward a pure class bias, but even that is so tainted by the racial history in our country.

2. And speaking of Oprah, I loved seeing her standing in the crowd last night. Not so much because of what it said about her, but because of what it says about how Obama inspires people.

Just saying...

The elections was last night and there were no terrorist attacks today.

One for one so far.

Tom Toles

Colin Powell's Reaction

to last night's election at CNN.

Gov. Palin Bids us a Fond Farewell, Reaches Out to President-Elect Obama

"If I cost John McCain one vote, I'm sorry," she said.

Wednesday Musical Tribute, and a Shoutout to M, Paperweight, and Wild Man