The Sound of the Crowd

And here’s a good example of why.

Or, “I Left My Heart…”

You’re not going to believe this one, although I don’t know why I’m surprised. The White House is re-writing Presidential history to show themselves in the best light.

Nothing new, you say? But the President whose history they’re re-writing isn’t George Bush this time, or even Clinton. Who is it? Some guys called Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.

You heard me. Check it out.

Yahoo! News has a story that says violence among girls is increasing. I don’t know how to explain that, but I don’t agree with

some [who] believe the violence is also fueled by the emergence of movies and video games such as “Tomb Raider” in which women wreak violence with the gusto of male action heroes.

Tempting as it might be to make a snarky remark about a vampire slayer at a time like this, I think Phil Leaf, director of the Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, has a better handle on things.

“In retrospect, we can see girls falling prey to the same influences as boys,” Leaf said. “A decade or so ago, we were worried about the lack of male role models in the home. Today, there is a dearth of effective female role models as the mothers who used to be there are forced back into the job market or get rendered ineffective through abuse of drugs and alcohol.”

…of The Washington Monthly‘s Kevin Drum. I’m just saying is all. But his post is also worth reading in the interests of “know your enemy.”

Karen Hughes says, in the NY Times article linked below, “President Bush has worked to say, let’s be reasonable, let’s work to value life, let’s reduce the number of abortions, let’s increase adoptions. And I think those are the kinds of policies the American people can support, particularly at a time when we’re facing an enemy and, really, the fundamental issue between us and the terror network we fight is that we value every life.”

Meanwhile:

Number of U.S. service members killed in Iraq since Operation Iraqi Freedom began on March 19, 2003: 707

Number killed since George W. Bush declared an end to “major combat” on May 1, 2003: 569

Number killed this month: 111

(As of Friday, April 23, 2004)

Source: U.S. Department of Defense, via MotherJones.com

“Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers.”–George Carlin

Not me. Roger Ebert, in his Great Movies column, features Leaving Las Vegas, one of my favorites.

I’ve been looking for an excuse to link to an Ebert column, because I wanted to say how much people miss if they only watch him on television, which I don’t much anymore. There is a reason why the man won a Pulitzer; he is one of the best examples of the reviewer-as-essayist working today. It’s a genre I try to work in, as you know if you read my feature on The West Wing, for example. I don’t always agree with what he says, but I’m almost always engaged by the way he says it.

Here’s some of how he says it about Leaving Las Vegas:

“The movie tells the story of Ben and Sera, played by Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue. He is a Hollywood agent, she is a prostitute. Although prostitutes can be a cliche in the movies, and those with a good heart even more so, the details of their relationship leave cliches far behind, and the movie becomes the story of these specific characters and exactly who they are. There is also the truth that a man in Ben’s condition would be unable to begin any relationship without paying for it.”

“Cage’s performance in these early scenes is an acutely observed record of a man coming to pieces. He shows Ben imploding, rigid in his attempt to maintain control, to smile when he does not feel a smile, to make banter when he wants to scream. He needs a drink. During the movie, Cage will take Ben into the regions of hell. There will be times when he has the DTs, times when he must pour booze into his throat like an antidote to death, times of nausea, blackouts, cuts and bruises. There is a scene in a bank when his hands shake so badly he cannot sign a check, and we empathize with the way he tries to function, telling the bank teller whatever he can think of (“I’ve had brain surgery”). Yes, sometimes, he feels better, and sometimes we can sense the charm he must have had (we sense his boss’ affection for him even as he’s being fired). But for Ben these moments are not about pleasure but about the temporary release from pain.”

Full story here, now, it’s quotation and comment time again…

Karen Hughes, an adviser to President Bush, appeared on CNN today to provide a counterpoint to the anti-Bush sentiment on the Mall. She praised the president on his “very strong record for women,” saying he has employed more women in senior-level staff positions than any other presidential administration.

But you know if you’ve read Bushwomen, those women in senior-staff positions haven’t done much to support their sex.

She also said that abortion-rights activists were moving against what she said was popular momentum, particularly since the terrorist attacks of 2001, in favor of anti-abortion policies.

“I think that after September 11, the American people are valuing life more and we need policies to value the dignity and worth of every life,” she said.”

You heard it here first, folks–if you support the right of a woman to chose to have an abortion, you’re no better than the terrorists.

Or if you are a Republican, hug a liberal. Or if you’re either or both, team up and group hug a moderate. We need each other.

Josh Marshall on what may (please god) be Kerry’s secret plan. One of the more simple points made is:

“…the Gore campaign listened too closely to its critics and paid a price for it.

The Kerry campaign doesn’t seem to have that problem. And my gut tells me that’s a good thing.”