“So, what was the highlight?” That’s the question most people have asked since I returned from attending the Inauguration festivities in Washington, D.C. And my answer surprises even me: It is the road trip home, listening for the first time to Barack Obama reading “Dreams of My Father.” We’ve gone from the ridiculous to the sublime. Somehow Americans [...]

Lately, we have been inundated with science fiction narratives that have been exploring our collective love/fear obsession with technology in a new light. “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “Battlestar Galactica,” and (a little ways back) “The Matrix” trilogy of films all envision a world in which humans and machines — as distinct races — attempt [...]

The first presidential election in which I was able to vote was 1992.  I remember the youthful euphoria I felt as we had apparently put the Reagan era to bed. Quite possibly my favorite moment of that political season was when the Clintons opened up the White House to the public on Bill Clinton’s first day [...]

As the presidential race winds down, you can feel the Republican desperation. Now, that’s not to say I think this election is a done deal.  I’ve got my phone bank list open in another browser window (Obama’s website couldn’t make it any easier).  So after reading this post — and commenting on it, if you’d like [...]

Yes, stories of the future matter.  The best science fiction, as I’ve said before, is an allegory for our present-day world. So I think it’s extremely cool that the folks over at i09 have asked a variety of well-known pundits what science fiction texts are must-reads when considering the imminent choice for president. I would rather they [...]

Ironically, even as George W. Bush has frequently positioned himself in opposition to the Hollywood elite and liberal journalists, he might be considered our first pop culture president.  According to Stephen Humphries of the Christian Science Monitor, the media has shaped his image and legacy to an unprecedented degree — and not to his advantage: The [...]

I’m the last person to celebrate the life of a celebrity — but I will make at least one exception: Paul Newman. My fervent hope is that future generations of superstars take his cue — on two fronts. First, he shunned the entire Hollywood machine, even while he was living off it.  He created an entirely new [...]

You don’t believe it?  Well, as Keillor himself points out, it’s not any more of a leap of logic than what the Republicans are trying to do: It is a bold move on the Republicans’ part — forget about the past, it’s only history, so write a new narrative and be who you want to be [...]

I heard Chuck Todd report on Meet the Press today that insiders in both campaigns acknowledge that a major factor in Wisconsin and Michigan is an unspoken (and un-pollable) racism from white rural voters — “the Bubba vote.” Todd says that the Obama campaign has a “magic number”: They need to go into election day [...]

Paul Reiser (of Mad About You fame) uses some much-needed levity to express his own frustration with the lies and innuendo that appear to be the entirety of the McCain-Palin campaign: We’re in the 3rd grade again. The skinny, smart kid who just moved in to the neighborhood is getting roughed-up by the asshole bully. The [...]

I am one of those who doesn’t think that the award-winning film “American Beauty,” written by Alan Ball, is that good of a movie. I found it a little too obvious and pedantic in its attempt to unearth the not-so-quiet desperation in late 1990s suburban America. It didn’t move me. Then came Alan Ball’s next project [...]

In an article published in PopPolitics magazine, Anthony A. Cupaiuolo, an expert on public administration and municipal management, raises questions about the mayor’s role in Wasilla, Alaska and what Gov. Sarah Palin’s two-term record as mayor says about her managerial skills. Small town adherents love to talk up the positives of the small town [...]

Update (via DailyKos): Okay, Heart actually doesn’t appear to have legal standing, since “Barracuda” has been “licensed for public performance under a blanket fee paid by the venue to ASCAP, the firm that collects royalties on behalf of composers and copyright owners.”  But Roger Fisher, a former guitarist of the band, says he [...]

CNN just showed what is presumably a member of the Indiana delegation with a button, featuring a logo and picture of McCain and Palin along with the following: “Hoosiers for the Hot Chick.” Since the Republicans have just discovered the concept of sexism, I guess we can understand if they are not yet up to speed [...]

My two favorite takes so far on John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin for his running mate: Stephen Colbert accuses nay-sayers of missing the significance of the moment: “A lot of people are saying that Sarah Palin is being used as a cheap political ploy. That is such petty cynicism. This is historic. For the first [...]