Commentary (and rants) on national and local politics.
This just in from the completely unexpected and wow-you-don't-know-me-do-you Christmas gift department: My new boss just gave me a coffee mug from Tiffany's and a $25 gift certificate to Starbucks. Times like this are what "it's the thought that counts" were made for! The mug looks odd sitting on my desk next to my Kucinich for President mug. As for the gift certificate, I think some surprise snacks for tonight's D&D session might be in order. No coffee, though!
For all those who scoff at anything that even remotely suggests so-called “conspiracy theories,” believing they’re all far-fetched fictions made up by paranoid whack-jobs, here’s a little something to chew on: right-wingers looking to inflitrate comic books!
At Bill Jemas’ zenith as President of Marvel Comics he commissioned “4/11,” also known as The White Album, an anthology series telling stories about world war, politics and terrorism with a slant towards fixing problems, finding new solutions and making the world a better place. Mark Millar and Frank Quitely’s short story about Irish sectarianism was a highlight, but the project faltered after one invited writer had her work rejected and went AWOL, and the third issue and subsequent collection were both cancelled – seen as an initial sign that Jemas was on the skids. And he skidded out of the door to be replaced by a safer pair of hands.
We wonder what he’s make of Marvel’s upcoming “Combat Zone: True Tales from GI’s in Iraq.” Not only has this book been waiting for publication at Marvel for a while, but a number of artists have been approached, started on the book and then left when it’s true nature was revealed.
While a number of Marvel’s previous titles involving war and terrorism have tried to explore issues from different perspectives, reports I’ve had are that this is not the case here. America is the One True Hope, all who oppose her or disagree with her current thinking are evil scum, and the world would be better off without them. And thank the Lord we have these plucky brave soldiers to do her bidding.
(ongoing series only) 1. Gotham Central - I'm a big fan of strong characterization and tight plotting, and this Batman-themed take on the classic police procedural, a la Hill Street Blues and Homicide: Life on the Street, features some of the strongest writing in comics. Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka are terrific, and Michael Lark's gritty artwork matches them note for note. He'll be sorely missed but I'm hopeful that DC will tap a replacement with similar sensibilities. 2. Teen Titans - I fully expected this series to take an immediate downhill turn for the worse after the thrill-ride of…
One 37-cent stamp, and five minutes of your time, and you might make a difference. The Honorable David M. Walker Comptroller General of the United States U.S. General Accountability Office 441 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20548 Dear Mr. Walker: I am writing as a registered voter and a taxpaying citizen of the United States, to request that you launch a public and fully-transparent investigation into the increasing allegations of massive and wide-spread election fraud perpetrated against the American voting public on Tuesday, November 2nd. The right to vote, and the right to have that vote properly counted, is perhaps…
Old man winter has arrived on a mission, kicking in the door and pistol-whipping me into submission. Was it really 70 degrees here on Sunday!?!
Yesterday was the start of Week 2 of NaNoWriMo and while I have officially surpassed my output from last year’s prolonged 2.5 month attempt, I’m also 7,663 words in the hole as of Day 8! I am right on schedule with what’s referred to as the Week 2 Wall, though – that time where a little thing called “PLOT” is supposed to kick in. Figure I can introduce two more characters, and develop some more of the overall backstory, before I have to figure out where it’s all going.
Howard Dean as head of the DNC? Like his primary campaign, on the surface it sounds like a much-needed change. Until you remember that he’s a craven opportunist, a little bit more outspoken than most Democrats but at his core, not fundamentally different.
Meanwhile, John Kerry seems to think he has some political capital of his own to spend and is fired up to get back in the Senate and get his hands dirty: “Sometimes God tests you,” Kerry told the crowd at H20, a restaurant on the Potomac waterfront, according to an aide. “I’m a fighter, and I’ve come back before.” Um, John, dude, God didn’t test you, he punk’d you! And a good portion of the 55 million that voted for you, mainly voted against Bush. Another significant portion will be jumping on the Hilary bandwagon shortly. Ask Al and Joe. You’re done.
Does anyone really believe that blanket insults directed towards Middle America are the most effective way to make them see the error of their ways? That there really are 56 million complete idiots across this country, that had no idea what they were voting for? Like a good portion of Kerry’s supporters didn’t do some similar weighing of their values and choose to compromise for their perception of the lesser of two evils?
1. Bush won 51% of the popular vote, the first majority victory in a presidential election since his father beat Dukakis in 1988. 2. Bush won 31 states to Kerry's 19. 3. Bush won 11 states with more than 60% of the vote, and another 4 with more than 59% of the vote. 4. Kerry won only one state (Massachussetts) with more than 60% of the vote, and another 2 with more than 59% of the vote. [NOTE: He also won Washington, DC with 89.5% of the vote.] 5. Democrats that are busy debating whether or not Bush can claim…
Kerry concedes, delivering a bad Oscar speech, and once again calls for compromise from Democrats: "America is in need of unity, and longing for a larger measure of compassion." Instead of rallying the troops and capitalizing on the momentum of an invigorated, if demoralized, left he wants us to play the lamb to the lion and hope this time we don't get mauled. Sorry. Not this time. We tried that route in 2000 and took it square on the chin as a result, and got saddled with another compromised loser instead of taking a stand for real change and nominating…