Wonkette
- A suicide bombing in Kabul today outside the Indian embassy killed at least 40 people and injured 140. [New York Times]
- George W. Bush met the new Russian president, Dimitri Medvedev, at the G8 Summit and pronounced him “a smart guy.” [New York Times]
- Sacramento has magically transformed from “Excremento” to “shining city on a hill” due to its responsible growth policies. [Wall Street Journal]
- Dick Durbin tore Republicans a new one for being an Obstructionist Congress and holding up all sorts of bills. [The Hill]
- The Army would like it if Hollywood made fewer “crazy war vet” movies, so they are happy to offer input to directors, and the directors are happy to ignore them. [Los Angeles Times]
- Conservatives anticipate a serious battle with John McCain and his allies over the Republican platform this year. [Washington Post]
- Youngsters, Facebook, My.BarackObama.com, online organizing, Apollo 11, Joe Trippi, McCain is screwed. [New York Times]
I wonder what abstract concept W peered into this year to make his judgement about the Russian president’s person.
Yeah — why was Hollywood so reluctant to tell all the good, fun, happy stories of the war in Vietnam? Damn libruls.
Godless Liberal *: He looked into his ear and couldn’t see out the other side.
That Dimitri, he’s good people.
Perhaps if these vets were treated for PTSD and other traumas resulting from their service, there would be less material for Hollywood to work with.
At least the Vietnam Vets would mellow out with some Heroin or other drug, these crazy Gulf-war vets just want to beat up their wives.
Bush sees a smart guy? W is one person who just should not be passing judgment on who is smart.
Too many movies have portrayed Vietnam vets are angry, confused, unstable crackpots. Nothing could be further from the truth! Just look at presidential candidate John McCain who - oh wait. Forget this entire argument, sorry.
George Bush met a rhotodendron at Ed’s Garden Supply and Nursery and pronounced it “a smart guy.”
Monsieur Grumpe: Bush saw the Russian guy doing a crossword puzzle.
“The Army would like it if Hollywood made fewer “crazy war vet” movies…”
And the public would like it if the Army made fewer war vets “crazy.” And would also like it if those who were made “crazy” could get the help from the VA that they so desperately need.
But it seems far more important to the Pentagon that soldiers not be portrayed accurately; only that movies depicting them be cheerleader-ish propaganda. After all, if it’s a choice between a)altering reality and actually improving the lives of soldiers; or b) merely reshaping the perceptions we have of soldiers… the former is hard and the latter is easy by comparison.
Maybe if the Army spent less time reading scripts and more time ministering to those at Walter Reed…. but, nah, that’s just crazy talk spouted by “socialist faggots” like yours truly.
Praise the Lord and pass the popcorn.
Canuckledragger:
Meanwhile I just wish Hollywood would make less movies that suck.
Army had no complaints when Rambo blew up half of Afghanastan.
Does Bush’s conversation with Medvedyev count as appeasement?
Can’t wait for the More-Conservative-Than-Thous to duke it out at the GodBoyLoveRepubliconCon08. It will be more hilarious than the “who’s the better captain: Fake Baldy Kirk or Baldy Baldy Picard?” debates (and the BTW, it’s Kirk.)
Serolf Divad: Commie! Next you’ll want American fast-food chains to make food that doesn’t suck. Why do you hate America?
So, this means Medvedev is mentally retarded, right?
Has Ken Layne been in the office yet? I am a little worried about him, after his tribute to Jessee Helms. He may be the guy with the nose-Moustache-and-glasses thingy at Starbuck’s.
Serolf Divad: Completely agree. But why should anyone aspire to high art and have their opus die on the Sundance indie circuit when it’s Hollywood suckage that draws the big bucks? If we keep rewarding mediocrity with our money, we’re assuring we get more of the same.
Pretty easy pronunciation for Mssr. Bush since just about anyone is a ’smart guy’ compared to him.
Dang that American Apparel chick is starting to look pretty good, can we put something else there?
WadISay: He might be glued to C-Span waiting to see the vomit-inducing tributes from the House and Senate floors today when Congress comes back.
What, no sense of Medvedev’s soul?
The American Apparel girl has a cute butt and all, but she looks cheap, and if I saw her on the street…meh.
(But then, I’m not the target audience.)
most of the movies made about Iraq have really been about Vietnam.
And why not step into the river twice to love the smell of napalm in the morning? Apocalypse Redux:
Francis de Marais: Why don’t you Americans learn from us - from our mistakes? Mon Dieux!
Hubert de Marais: … you Americans… you are fighting for the biggest nothing in history!
Willard: The war was being run by a bunch of four star clowns who were gonna end up giving the whole circus away.
Willard: Terminate the Colonel?
General Corman: He’s out there operating without any decent restraint, totally beyond the pale of any acceptable human conduct. And he is still in the field commanding troops.
Civilian: Terminate with extreme prejudice.
Roxanne: Do you know why you can never step into the same river twice?
Willard: Yeah, ’cause it’s always moving.
Roxanne: The war will still be here tomorrow.
Lt. Carlsen: You’re in the asshole of the world, Captain!
Perhaps the Pentagon should take a long hard look at itself, particularly the Academy Fraternity in charge. The physical and psychological damage to these young men and women is from poor command decisions by career-minded officers who refuse to think out of the box even when demanded by the situation. They insist on employing conventional warfare tactics in a guerilla war, just to play it safe and ensure future promotions. Because of this stubborn old thinking, we came uncomfortably close to losing WWII. We just had some lucky breaks. We can’t rely on luck.
Darehead: For some reason my “stop italics” code thingy isn’t working. And I really tried this time. Sorry.
Smart to Bushie means being able to locate Russia on a world map in one try.
Ho, yeah, the intarwebs is SO GRASS ROOTS. Hahaha, it’s the domain of people who can frickin’ afford it. :p
So, George looked into Dmitri’s soul and saw himself looking back. “Either a smart feller or a fart smeller.” We’re gonna miss such high quality stupid when W. leaves office.
Here’s an idea. Quit using taxpayer money to let the Army support ANY movie.
Then the Army doesn’t have to make any decisions on which movies make them look like assholes and Hollywood doesn’t need to complain that the lack of taxpayer money to supply aircraft and tanks for their pet projects is censorship.
…and yeah, use some of the money we would have spent on Tom Cruise to provide the vets something better than Walter Reed.
True story of another “smart” politician:
At the 26th G8 summit in Okinawa Prefecture, former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori asked former president Bill Clinton “Who are you” with the intention of saying “How are you?” Since Clinton thought it was a joke, he answered (in English) “I’m Hillary’s husband, and you?”
Mori, on auto pilot to hear “fine, thank you, and you?” answered, “Me, too”.
Canuckledragger: regarding vets…nicely stated!
Re-release “The Green Berets.” John Wayne showed ‘em the bright side of the Vietnam war and what a great job we did over there. Commie journalist David Jansen gets his comeuppance, you can be sure.
Seriously, if you have never seen this thing, it’s the greatest piece of wartime propaganda produced since Leni Riefenstahl showcased the upside of Nazism. One of the Duke’s finest moments.
Dick Turban knows this is simply tit for tat.
Release the Bush judicial nominee hostages like you promised.
But then, when was the last time the democrat party kept its promises to the Republicans?