Pop quiz time!

The antonym of “Arab” is:

a) decent
b) family man
c) citizen
d) all of the above.

If you, like John McCain, answered “d,” pat yourself on the back. You’ve just earned yourself some praise from unexpected corners — including much of the liberal blogosphere — for finally reining in the vitriol of your most rabid supporters. In this case? By agreeing with a woman in your audience that the word “Arab” is a slur. She pins the word on Obama; McCain says that’s just not nice.

Watch the video.

What’s notable here is that McCain, like everyone in his audience, knew immediately where she was going with this. He knew that to “respect” Obama in this case meant to defend him from the (supposedly heinous) charge of being Arab, and he did this not by saying “actually his father’s family is Luo, from Kenya…” but by calling Obama a decent family man, a moniker he apparently believes no Arab could claim.

Ana Marie Cox of Wonkette, who was present at the event in question, reports that the woman, Gayle Quinnell, said “Arab terrorist,” which would render McCain’s comment more defensible. But in the video there is no indication that Quinnell said “terrorist.” She just said “Arab.” Some have wondered if the word “terrorist” was inaudible. This might be true, but Quinnell keeps speaking after she says the word “Arab,” before McCain reclaims the mike.

I am guessing Cox simply misremembered the exchange: that the words “Arab” and “terrorist” are so thoroughly linked by now that to make the former an adjective of the latter has become second nature.

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 definition of “staying humble.”

Second, he never felt he should hide his politics for the sake of his art.

Thanks, Paul.

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama met fantasy President Jed Barlet and received some fantasy advice. Bartlet’s voice really comes through at the beginning and there a few funny gems:

BARTLET That was a hell of a convention.

OBAMA Thank you, I was proud of it.

BARTLET I meant the Republicans. The Us versus Them-a-thon. As a Democrat I was surprised to learn that I don’t like small towns, God, people with jobs or America. I’ve been a little out of touch but is there a mandate that the vice president be skilled at field dressing a moose —

OBAMA Look —

BARTLET — and selling Air Force Two on eBay?

OBAMA Joke all you want, Mr. President, but it worked.

BARTLET Imagine my surprise. What can I do for you, kid?

OBAMA I’m interested in your advice.

BARTLET I can’t give it to you.

OBAMA Why not?

BARTLET I’m supporting McCain.

OBAMA Why?

BARTLET He’s promised to eradicate evil and that was always on my “to do” list.

It’s difficult to imagine the long tirade below, however justified. Maybe more Toby than Bartlet?

OBAMA The problem is we can’t appear angry. Bush called us the angry left. Did you see anyone in Denver who was angry?

BARTLET Well … let me think. …We went to war against the wrong country, Osama bin Laden just celebrated his seventh anniversary of not being caught either dead or alive, my family’s less safe than it was eight years ago, we’ve lost trillions of dollars, millions of jobs, thousands of lives and we lost an entire city due to bad weather. So, you know … I’m a little angry.

OBAMA What would you do?

BARTLET GET ANGRIER! Call them liars, because that’s what they are. Sarah Palin didn’t say “thanks but no thanks” to the Bridge to Nowhere. She just said “Thanks.” You were raised by a single mother on food stamps — where does a guy with eight houses who was legacied into Annapolis get off calling you an elitist? And by the way, if you do nothing else, take that word back. Elite is a good word, it means well above average. I’d ask them what their problem is with excellence. While you’re at it, I want the word “patriot” back. McCain can say that the transcendent issue of our time is the spread of Islamic fanaticism or he can choose a running mate who doesn’t know the Bush doctrine from the Monroe Doctrine, but he can’t do both at the same time and call it patriotic. They have to lie — the truth isn’t their friend right now. Get angry. Mock them mercilessly; they’ve earned it.

McCain decried agents of intolerance, then chose a running mate who had to ask if she was allowed to ban books from a public library. It’s not bad enough she thinks the planet Earth was created in six days 6,000 years ago complete with a man, a woman and a talking snake, she wants schools to teach the rest of our kids to deny geology, anthropology, archaeology and common sense too? It’s not bad enough she’s forcing her own daughter into a loveless marriage to a teenage hood, she wants the rest of us to guide our daughters in that direction too? It’s not enough that a woman shouldn’t have the right to choose, it should be the law of the land that she has to carry and deliver her rapist’s baby too?

I don’t know whether or not Governor Palin has the tenacity of a pit bull, but I know for sure she’s got the qualifications of one. And you’re worried about seeming angry? You could eat their lunch, make them cry and tell their mamas about it and God himself would call it restrained. There are times when you are simply required to be impolite. There are times when condescension is called for!

OBAMA Good to get that off your chest?

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 — and if they succeed, I think I might declare myself a 24-year-old virgin named Lance and see what that might lead to. Paste a new face on my Facebook page, maybe become the Dauphin Louie the Thirty-Second, the rightful heir to the Throne of France, put on silk tights and pantaloons and a plumed hat and go on the sawdust circuit and sell souvenir hankies imprinted with the royal fleur-de-lis. They will cure neuralgia and gout and restore marital vigor.

9/18 Update: History has been made!

Bitch magazine has been providing readers a “feminist response to popular culture” for the past 13 years. In a sea of mediocre media, Bitch consistently and forcefully rises above the fray. Just take a look at the diversity of topics covered — and voices included — in the past 41 issues.

Now Bitch needs all the help it can get to continue publishing smart feminist analysis and media criticism.

This is not a good time for independent media, as Andi and Debbie make clear in their funny and poignant video. Take a look, and then click here to give what you can, or visit Bitch’s donate section for more info on the sustainer program, hosting a house party and other actions.

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 with a 58 percent majority in the polling in those states, because they are going to lose seven percent of voters who will tell pollsters they are for Obama but who instead will vote their racial fears when they complete the ballot.

What Todd didn’t mention is that this racism isn’t simply a result of a backwards segment of the population; it is being actively fomented by the Republican party and their surrogates. And I’m not talking about intimidating African American voters and others in places like Michigan, where they are threatening to challenge all voters who have received a foreclosure notice on their home (a legally questionable and certainly “mean-spirited” tactic).

No, I’m talking about the distribution of “Obama Waffles” at the Values Voters Summit. It featured a variety of racist portrayals of Obama. While the image on the front recalls classic racist stereotypes, the image of Obama on the top shows him wearing an Arab-like headdress. The image on the back depicts Obama wearing a Mexican sombrero. Joan Lowy of the AP writes:

The box was meant as political satire, said Mark Whitlock and Bob DeMoss, two writers from Franklin, Tenn., who created the mix. They sold it for $10 a box from a rented booth at the summit sponsored by the lobbying arm of the Family Research Council. [...]

While Obama Waffles takes aim at Obama’s politics by poking fun at his public remarks and positions on issues, it also plays off the old image of the pancake-mix icon Aunt Jemima, which has been widely criticized as a demeaning stereotype. Obama is portrayed with popping eyes and big, thick lips as he stares at a plate of waffles and smiles broadly.

Placing Obama in Arab-like headdress recalls the false rumor that he is a follower of Islam, though he is actually a Christian.

On the back of the box, Obama is depicted in stereotypical Mexican dress, including a sombrero, above a recipe for “Open Border Fiesta Waffles” that says it can serve “4 or more illegal aliens.” The recipe includes a tip: “While waiting for these zesty treats to invade your home, why not learn a foreign language?”

If you want to see how a caricature can legitimately use humor and make a political point, I would suggest Steven Brodner’s illustration of Sarah Palin in a recent New Yorker. BagNews Notes, as usual, has the insightful and convincing analysis:

Palin [...] is a reality show. Sixteen days out, her visage continues to permeate the media sphere, as the electricity — primed by biographical fairy tales tightly bound to visual spin aimed at the right brain — continues to trump the reams of qualifying or damaging information that is streaming out.

The crossed arms on two screens and in the larger caricature reflects her inherent defensiveness and hostility. The fish “that big” and the hand gestures on “Bridge to Nowhere” call out the chronic double speak. The way the eyes track in relation to the angle of her head speaks to how well she knows where the camera is (while the disappearing neck telegraphs the underlying reality of “the empty suit.”)

In real life as well, one can easily sense all this, but still she rolls.

Even though many Democratic activists are calling for it, I’m not yet sure that the Obama campaign needs to meet the Republicans down in the muck. I think the alternative narrative — which keeps them on a high road — might hold the most power, if we can afford to be a little patient.

Regardless, they need to seize control of the narrative. And an image, I’ve heard, can be worth a thousand words.

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 kid who hits you in the head with your hand and says, “Why’re you hitting yourself? Why’re you hitting yourself?”

“Um, actually I’m not. You’re hitting me.”

“You calling me a liar?”

“No, I’m just pointing out that…” SMACK!

“Why’re you hitting yourself?”

And, although he no longer speaks because of his battle with cancer, Roger Ebert is still able to give a devastating “thumbs-down” to those tactics.  Along the way he explains why Sarah Palin is the “American Idol” candidate:

I think I might be able to explain some of Sarah Palin’s appeal. She’s the “American Idol” candidate. Consider. What defines an “American Idol” finalist? They’re good-looking, work well on television, have a sunny personality, are fierce competitors, and so talented, why, they’re darned near the real thing. There’s a reason “American Idol” gets such high ratings. People identify with the contestants. They think, Hey, that could be me up there on that show!

My problem is, I don’t want to be up there. I don’t want a vice president who is darned near good enough. I want a vice president who is better, wiser, well-traveled, has met world leaders, who three months ago had an opinion on Iraq.

And Matt Damon thinks we’re all living a “bad Disney movie” nightmare:

Of course, why should the opinions of celebrities matter?  I mean, the only place farther away from the political realities of Washington than Hollywood is … a small town in Alaska?

Sexism exists, and the only way to fight it is to vote for a woman you may or may not agree with on any of the issues.

That’s from the latest edition of “Target Women,” a segment on Current TV’s weekly show InfoMania that looks at the often-ridiculous ways in which the media reaches out to women.

Our hero Sarah Haskin introduces the new female-friendly PANTHER and shows how easy it is to switch out candidates. Supermarket scene: Priceless.

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 — “Six Feet Under” — and, putting aside a few lulls in the middle of its run of five seasons, I consider it one of the highlights of 21st-century American culture. Following in the trailblazing path of “The Sopranos,” it used the long-form nature of a television series to develop the subtleties and complexities of its characters with a literary patience and depth.

Alan Ball’s latest project premieres tonight, and from most accounts, “True Blood,” the fantastical story of vampires fighting for rights and recognition in the modern world (based on the Southern Vampire Mysteries of Charlaine Harris), falls somewhere in between the glibness and the richness of his two previous major works.

But even a blatant attempt at political allegory is refreshing, since it signals a thematic ambition that has been missing of late — with a few exceptions — on the small screen.

I’ve written plenty about the power of allegory, from Narnia to “Battlestar Galactica,” from “The Wire” to “Mad Men.” And, at least according to Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times, “True Blood” should be giving us plenty of “pop politics” to talk about:

Continue reading "Can Vampires Save Us Again? Television Looks for Another Resurrection"

Before we say a final goodbye to the Republican National Convention (and the good times had by all!) let’s take a moment to spotlight news stories, columns and an open letter to the Alaskan governor that transform the “R” for Republicans into Reality.

Jesus Was a Community Organizer: Joe Klein explains, in language simple enough for Rudy Giuliani to understand, exactly what a community organizer does — and specifically what Barack Obama did. The MoJo blog has more. And the Boston Globe has a story today featuring community organizers who are none too happy about the insults.

The Mother of All Hypocrisies: Lynn Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, wrote an open letter to Sarah Palin on women’s rights that is a must read. Over at Slate, E.J. Graff explains the difference between feminism and feminine chauvinism.

In a column titled “Mirrored Ceiling,” Judith Warner asks, “Why does this woman — who to some of us seems as fake as they can come, with her delicate infant son hauled out night after night under the klieg lights and her pregnant teenage daughter shamelessly instrumentalized for political purposes — deserve, to a unique extent among political women, to rank as so ‘real’?”

Calling Out Contradictions: Kudos to Jim Kuhnhenn and Jim Drinkard of the Associated Press for putting together a handy rundown of false claims and exaggerations made at the convention. The issues covered include Obama’s tax plan, the infamous “bridge to nowhere” and Mitt Romney’s back-to-the-future moment.

Meanwhile, Ted Anthony, who covers culture and politics for the AP, notes that the Republicans want it both ways when it comes to the Palin family: “Hey, media, leave those kids alone — so we can use them as we see fit.”

Finally we turn to “The Daily Show” for a delightful exchange between Jon Stewart and Newt Gingrich on the politics of language:

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 experience, how everyone knows each other and is likely to help out in a crisis. True, but the flip side is that local leaders, who are generally not trained in public administration, are more likely to cross the line between official responsibilities and personal agendas.

Case in point: As mayor of Wasilla (pop. 7,025), Palin set out to fire a librarian who didn’t share her interest in book-banning (resulting in a community outcry); requested the resignation of city employees who had shown support for her opponent; and successfully terminated the well-liked police chief.

That Palin allegedly demonstrated the same lack of professional judgment as governor when she removed the state public safety director for refusing to fire a state trooper who was involved in a messy marital situation with Palin’s sister should come as no surprise, but let’s stay in Wasilla.

In my experience, the city’s form of government is atypical for such a small community. Wasilla has what’s considered a “strong mayor” system, where the mayor has executive responsibilities. This system is usually associated with larger communities (250,000 or more), where there is a significant number of interest groups in competition with one another. It is therefore important for the mayor to have the executive power and political leverage to garner sufficient support for his/her goals and policies. In cities of this size, the mayor is also likely to have a deputy trained in public administration.

Continue reading “Sarah Palin and the Experience Argument to Nowhere.”

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 will donate his royalties to Obama: “With my contribution to Obama’s campaign, the Republicans are now supporting Obama.”

You gotta have Heart, I guess.

Yes, Heart — one of my youthful guilty musical pleasures — has sent a cease-and-desist order to the McCain-Palin campaign via their record label.  They objected to their use of “Barracuda” after the Republican convention speech of VP nominee Sarah “Barracuda” Palin (the nickname she supposedly gained on the basketball court).

Four years ago I saw John Fogerty on the “Vote for Change” tour supporting the Kerry-Edwards ticket with Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M. and others.  His extra-bitter performance of “Fortunate Son” made it clear what he thought of George W. Bush.

So why isn’t he publicly objecting to the use of “Centerfield (Put Me In Coach)” — which bridged the speeches of Joe Gibbs, former coach of the Washington Redskins, and Senator Lindsey Graham at the convention?

Now, I don’t know if a cease-and-desist order would have any legal basis, but as Dave Burdick at the Huffington Post reports, many other artists and their labels have made their objections known.

Come on, John, the list even includes Van Halen.

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 on the whole “politically correct” thing.

(Wait, now that I think of it, political correctness was a Republican creation in the first place).

Update: Indiana’s WTHR television news has the story.

They’re moving delegates around on the floor to put more women in front of the stage before Gov. Sarah Palin speaks. The gender breakdown of Republican delegates explains the need for the seat shuffle: the number of male delegates overwhelms female delegates by 2 to 1.

Speaking of gender, NPR tonight noted that the speech originally written for the vice-presidential nominee was deemed too “masculine” and was thus rewritten when Sen. John McCain selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

As for other demographics, in a historic shift, only 1.5 percent of the total number of delegates at the RNC are African Americans — amounting to only 36 delegates, according to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. It marks a sharp drop-off from 2004, when 6.7 percent, or 167 delegates, were African American. That was the all-time high.

In contrast, at the Democratic National Convention, nearly 25 percent of the delegates were African American, and slightly more than half were women (a first). The full demographic breakdown is available here.

Back at the convention, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a former Republican presidential candidate, practically did air-quotes around community organizer to minimize Sen. Barack Obama’s experience.

Meanwhile, the current Republican mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, opted out of watching Palin’s speech. His pick tonight? Whoopi Goldberg — in “Xanadu.”

Update: The Washington Post has a front-page story on the mostly white convention.

The McCains, the Palins and the Johnston meet on the tarmac in Minneapolis. Via The New York Times.