Forbidden Phrases! The President's Spill Speech

Get out the pitchforks! Even the liberals are turning on the President! I thought, that was a pretty good summation of what we've done, how to handle the spill and it's cleanup, and a reminder of where we need to go. And then Olbermann, Matthews, and Fineman danced it flat and stomped on it.

Anything specific the President would have proposed in energy legislation would have been torn apart in minutes. It would be like the President dangling an idea into the Amazon, only to have the ravenous piranhas of Republicans, Blue dogs and media pundits strip it to the bone. I wish he would have done it, anyways, but that's just not how President Obama works. His legislative and executive accomplishments are massive, but since he does them with the best consensus he can muster, instead of the loud, sloppy, cow boyish screams of a dictator, America hardly notices.

What did bother me was later on the Rachel Maddow show, when it was brought up that he never used the phrases global warming or climate change. Then Ezra Klein (I think that's who it was) said they decided that they didn't use them because they don't poll well. THEY DON"T POLL WELL? We're not gonna tell the American people the truth because IT DOESN'T POLL WELL? WTF?

I'm not blaming the White House per se, but how far does America have it's head in the sand not to want to face up to reality? This whole oil spill crisis amount to nothing if it's just about getting the damn hole plugged (which may be increasingly problematic given the possibility of sea bed cracks).

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is climate change is not going to go away just because we can't face up to looking at it. We need more courageous politicians like Al Gore to come to the forefront and make us look at it, even it's not the politically smart thing to do. They have to do it because it may be the only thing that can save us.

New Coast 1

Surf’s up!

Dig those mandible waves! They’re flying into Sacramento Beach at the speed of wompbelly! I am ready to go crashin ‘n’ slapshin’ as soon as Randy gets here. Then we’ll grab our boards, take off on our badass bikes, and hit the ocean deck! Until then, I thought I’d give this new websyde of Denny’s a whirly twirl. Suppose to be talking to cats all across the fractured states of America. Wella, we’ll see. Supposed to be super secure, no prying eyes and all that. Wella, we’ll see.

Maybe I should state my name, rank and cereal brand. Wella, maybe not. I’ll just say I’m Gene. My Dad calls me Eugene (damn that birth certificate!), and my friends call me Gene-bo. Ain’t that grand! Dad says I’m named after my Great-Grandfather, and I try to listen when he tells me about him, but one ear out the other, y’know? At least I ain’t no freebin’ Junior, I hate that crap-a-mundo.

I live here in Frandor, beautiful fandancy suburb of New L.A. Okay, it’s not that beautiful. It’s closer to a crappin’ lower-middle-class hellhole, but what the sugary drops, at least it’s home! We’re only a few blocks from the Pacific, and those groovy mandible waves. Dad and I are close enough to New Hollywood to get to work (without paying New Hollywood rents).

I got plenty of buds, and once in a while the chickies looka my way. All in all, not too shabby. The worst part? The smell of the ocean is most often drowned out by the huge De Sally plant ten miles up north. I think’s it’s one of the biggest in the world, if what I see on the netter is right. Denny works up there,. Maybe I shoudn’t say that. Oh, wella, it ain’t no freebin’ crime. Anyway, I might be lying about his name. Wella, he’s the smartest guy I know, and if he ain’t right about this websyde, we’re all screwed. Can’t see why they’d care. Wouldn’t know a state secret if it bit me on the beeber.

I work mostly at night, which leaves my days free to roam the beachfront. Thank Krishna my Mom was an Indian chickie, straight from Bollywood to Hollywood, cuz otherwise, if I was as light as Dad and his cracker ass family, I might be one crispy critter.

I was born May 7, 2027, out in North Los Angeles, which is now gone, daddy, gone. No visitin’ the old homestead for me. Love the ocean, but even I can’t hold my breath that long. I ain’t no degree boy. Got enough community college to work at Dad’s place. Learning the new editing equipment takes time, but I got a knack for it. I ain’t as good as Dad, but I ain’t trying to be. I work on some of the best series you may have heard of (assuming you get netter access to that kind of stuff). Some’s even replayed on the old tube. Ever hear of The Three Wiseguys? Yep, I help edit that. I leave out the all the jackass goofups the actors do – jeezie-luigi, all that money going to such utter and complete freebups. You have no idea what I protect you from. I also do The Really Golden Girls , starring Miley Cyrus, Dakota Fanning and Kellyn Manders. Can’t hardly believe how popular those old broads are. And before you get any big ideas. I don’t really get to meet the actors. My Dad had a party once, and Oscar winner Kirsten Dunst was there. Of course, that was before The Big One. Oh, and I forgot. My Mom was in a some movies, including a few leads. When I think of her, though, that’s not what I remember. It doesn’t computize to me that my Mom was a celebrity. She was my Mom.

Enough ‘o’ that. It’s surf’s up time! Randy’ll come soon, we can Schwinn power our way to the beachfront, catch them while the tide is good. Can’t beat the rushy you get from ridin’ atop a bigun. Maybe Miranda ‘n’ Suzi'll be there , wearin’ their seethrus over the sunscreen. Then we can grab a sushi dog, wash it down with De Sally Razzie, walk the beachfront. Then beat the afternoon bakers at a Pod Club, maybe get the shakin’ groove with one of the chickies. Randy’s sticky sweet on Miranda, ‘n’ I like Suzi okay, but I really like field days, if you get get my drifters. Suzi is much more crushy sweet on me than I am on her . I and commitments, we don’t get along too well. I think that’s the way a lot of people are out here. From what Denny says, there used to be a lot more committed people. Wella, I don’t mean crazies, I mean like marriages ‘n’ stuff. Didn’t stop my dad from not tying the knot with my mom. But it also didn’t stop her from loving her with all his heart and soul. I know he still thinks of her ALL the time. He blames himself for her not being on the right side of the divide, and it haunts him. I know. He acts like it doesn’t get to him, ‘n’ everybody thinks of him as so easygoing, but they don’t see him like I do. They don’t see him rolling and muttering in his sleep, they don’t see the way he stares blankly towards the southwest, where most of his old world lies buried.

Oh, Krishna! I got maudlin agin, didn’t I? Don’t know why that keeps a-happenin’. If you were here, you’d know I’m one of the most happy-go-lucky guys on the planet. Not used to writin’ this much stuff. Strange what comes out of you sometimes. So I guess maybe I will pack it ip for now, afore I get too weird.

Wella, I’m looking forward to readin’ stuff from other places. Don’t hear too much from outside of here. I ain’t been nowhere else but here. Not that I’d want to be anywhere else. I’ve always heard that Californy is th’ place ya oughter be. It certainly might not be the best place, if there’s another Big One. Oh wella, live on the edge, what the freeb! I can’t imagine livin’ without those mandible waves! Crashin ‘n’ a slapshin! I’m just curious, is all. Denny says there was a time when we knew more about other parts of the world. Now, people seem more self-absorbed, and the netter ain’t so good now as Denny says it was. Corpies put up barriers, might like keeping people apart. I don’t want to get into that, I trust Denny, but I don’t want to be too moronic. Anyways, leave me a dime talk if you feel like it. Love to hear from the Southland. The Big Easter, the Wild Prairie, even places I don’t know about. And, goshers, Uncle Doug, it would be swelly-good to hear from you. Denny says you may be connected.

I hear Randy Schwinning near! Gotta go! Surf’s up!

American Idol Jumps the Shark

The announcement of Lee Dewyze as the American Idol rang as loudly and true as Fonzie on a pair of skis. A travesty of a decision, it culminated a season of of truly awful moments. When Lilly, among others, were left at the starting gate, failing to make the top 12, the sniff of doom lurked about. In every case, except for perhaps Crystal and Siobhan, the American people chose the blander of the competitors.

Simon slept walked through the season, Randy was dawged out, Kara was uninspiring, and Ellen seemed mostly lost. Unique and clever song choices were few and far between. Product placement dominated and made me feel like I was watching one long commercial.

So why fight or care about this tired, old program? Because there are damn few things that Americans hold in common enough to talk about any more. Our moments of social symmetry are becoming fewer and fewer. It sounds trite, but it's a water cooler show that brings diverse people together to share commentary and common experience. In this day of multi-hundred channel televisions, an Internet with millions of choices, cell phones that in my opinion are actually driving us apart instead of together, it is refreshing to have something that everybody can talk about.

So rather than abandon it altogether, I would like to discuss some possible solutions. If it is at all technologically possible, they need to do what they can to enforce limited voting. It is ridiculous to try to have a fair contest when tweeners are sending their phones into robo-call overdrive. Let's use technology to limit each phone to only a small number of calls. With repeat voting eliminated, we might get a fairer representation of an Idol.

Secondly, let's increase judge input, as they do in Dancing with the Stars. Include mentor(s) each week who specialize in the area of music being highlighted that week. Have the judges and mentors rank each of the contestants, average the ranks, and then blend it in with the public vote.

Thirdly, have only two regular judges, and then rotate in one to three judges. The panel and opinion will look fresh and different every time.

Fourth, cut the product placement crap - you're already making enough money. cut the inside jokes - I don't care what Kara and Ryan might be smirking about.

Fifth, improve the song selection. I don't know if the problem is the list of songs they have to choose from, or if the contestants are trying too much to play it safe. Some songs should be retired, virtually anything by Whitney Houston, for example. I so wished that Shioban would have tooken on Roy Orbison, or done Live and Let die in McCartney week.

So help with other suggestions here. If you have other ideas to help other shows become water cooler shows, let me know those too.

Thanks America, for rewarding Captain Pitchy. May we do better in the future.

Oil's Not Well in the Gulf

How devastating is the oil spill in the Gulf? Will it "magically dissipate" in the vast ocean per Rushy Limbaugh? Will it permanently end the Gulf as we know it, destroying coral reefs, fishing industries and coastlines? I imagine it will end up somewhere in between, although the longer the leak continues, the more it will confirm the worries of the second question.

I'm not an environmental scientist (although my son is). I know there have been other serious spills, in addition to the Exxon Valdez. But this seems particularly onerous to me. I think we'll be seeing effects of this for many years to come. I'm concerned not just for the coastline, but what it is doing to the ecology of the Gulf as a whole, not to mention the compounding effect of the chemical dispersants being used.

Whatever the impact, I think all political sides can agree that this is not a good thing. This is a particularly difficult conundrum for conservatives. You either have to advocate we stop drilling in these spots where such devastation can take place when something goes wrong, or you have to support increased government regulation and oversight to prevent this from ever occurring again. Watching the cartoon style avoidance of responsibility at the recent Congressional hearing should convince even the most stalwart corporatist that regulation is indispensable.

The government has it's share of blame, but that's because of it's inability to regulate, it's caving to corporate donors, it's deferral in the simplest fundamentals of oversight. But make no mistake where the vast majority of responsibility lies. This country was run by two oil executives for eight years. Congress has been rendered ineffective by a combination of Republican extremists and Blue Dog Democrats willing to sell their soul to the highest corporate bidder. Anybody who thinks progressives control our government paid absolutely no attention to the health care debate.

All this fuss for a fungible fuel source that will not help us domestically, goes into a big global pot, increasing the oil supply by the tiniest of fractions. We need to concentrate on the technologies of the future, to help make America independent, proud, and leading the world once again to a brighter tomorrow.

On What to Do About President Lieberman

There is a great deal of anger amongst progressives today. And rightfully so. We have seen the most important political initiative in the last several decades be shanghaied by a petulant, spoiled brat. All the bad things they are saying about him are absolutely true. He was against the misuse of the filibuster until recently. He favored universal coverage, or so he said in his 2006 campaign. He was THE advocate for a medicare buy-in, and endorsed it as recently as September. And he told the New York Times today that when he realized that liberals actually liked the medicare buy-in, he decided to turn against it. Unbelievable. This so far exceeds any decent politics, even in today's hyper-partisan era (at least from the Republicans), that it borders into the realm of evil. And I do not say that lightly.

So what do we do about Traitor Joe? It is so tempting to strip him of his chairmanship. It would mean so much to expel him from the caucus. But none of that gets us health care.

Whatever we do or don't do to our pseudo-President, we cannot lose sight of so many in need of better health care. I say pass whatever's left of the bill, concentrating on reforms such as pre-existing conditions and improving access. Then pass a medicare buy-in and/or truly robust public option as a reconciliation bill. Does anyone think that the Republicans wouldn't have the stones to do it if it what they wanted to? IT WOULD ALREADY BE DONE.

We also need to reform the Senate rules so that a tiny group of industry protectionists can NEVER do this again. The simplest way to do it would be for Harry Reid to effect a change in filibuster rules, which can be done by a simple majority vote. Set it at 55. Or make all filibusters true filibusters - get your frickin' dictionary and hold the floor as long as you can. Again if it were the Republicans, and they had been filibustered a record number of times, IT WOULD ALREADY BE DONE.

The best way to deal with A--hole-In-Chief Lieberman is to mute his power through reconciliation and changes in the filibuster. Reduce his irritating yapping to background noise. And by the way, Connecticut citizens - think about a anti-spoiled brat rule in your state and federal elections - if you lose your primary, you can't turn around and run as an independent.

He makes me sick to my stomach, but let's keep our eye on the prize. There must be true reform and true choice. Do not give up the fight.

Pallin' with Palin Update: The Independent Run Looms

Since stating several months ago that she would run Third Party/Independent for President in 2012, around the time of her resignation as Governor of Alaska, I think subsequent events only continue to bear this out. She endorsed a third party choice in NY-23, causing a huge uproar in the Republican Party. Her candidate succeeded in sidelining the Republican, but also created an opening for a narrow victory by the Democrat (first win in that district in over a century).

Her book has been unkind towards her Republican handlers, showing she is completely willing to burn bridges (including those that seem to go nowhere). Her book tour shows no inclination towards any conventional wisdom in her conduct. It does show she's mostly interested in Sarah, with $16 photos, controlled media and SarahPac promotions. Her remarks have shown no sensitivity to pragmatic politics, and often created more media frenzy than they warranted.

As I stated in the original Pallin' with Palin article, she has no desire to run the gauntlet of Republican debates and primaries. She can run from day one her own way by becoming an Independent. She will probably do this by grasping the controls of emerging and/or existing parties, including the growing Tea Party movement, and perhaps the Constitution and Reform parties, It would also be a major coup to secure the Libertarian Party nomination, which Bob Barr has shown can be shanghaied by an outsider.

Depending on circumstances, she could garner anywhere from five to twenty per cent of the vote. She could possibly win a handful of extremely conservative states. I doubt that this in itself would be enough to jeopardize the election of a mainstream candidate, but politics is full of surprises. If unemployment remains or soars, do not expect the reaction of the American people to be rational. The 1930s were a rocky time in World history, with the Depression bringing out extreme virulent forms of fascism and communism. Thank God we had FDR and his confident pragmatism to steer us through. We can only pray that Obama has the same ability to see us through, and that as a nation our political maturity has not deteriorated. If not, then the minor threat of Palin may turn into the biggest disaster this nation has ever faced.

Sci Fi on TV - What the Hell do you Want?

I have noticed this phenomenon for many years, but it seems particularly pronounced right now. A science fiction program will open with great and/or spectacular ratings, and then those ratings will rapidly deteriorate over subsequent episodes. This has been most pronounced recently with the premieres of Flash Forward and V. Both opened up to great ratings, both had sharp audience declines in subsequent weeks. The ratings are also dropping for returning series Fringe and Heroes. If they continue to go down, we may be left awash in a sea of reality shows, doctor soaps and crime procedurals.

If science fiction was unpopular, it wouldn't get the initial ratings that it does. So my question out there to all my loyal followers, and the proud few who blindly stumble across this blog is WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT? What is it in the science fiction series that come on that make you sample but not stick? What is it that you're looking for but not finding?

Although some science fiction programs have had some success in the ratings, few have been consistent top ten programs. The X-Files had the most success in that regard. I think it worked because it was a crime procedural in scifi clothing. It also had a heavy case of the week feel. There were continuing elements, but they were almost secondary (at least for most of it's run). Lost flirted with top ten status initially, but now is more of a cult/DVR/demographic hit. It's emphasis on character and de-emphasis on scifi elements probably helped it early on. Burt as the story grew more complex and clearly scifi, it's fan base shrank some (although vocal and hard core).

Another trend I worry about is the USAfication of scifi shows. USA Network specializes in shows that are light, airy, built on amusing interplay between quirky but likable leads, with a de-emphasis on continuing elements. SyFy is gravitating to these kinds of shows, with Eureka and Warehouse 13. These aren't horrible shows, but they're nowhere near as filling as such greats as Battlestar Galactica, Buffy, Pushing Daisies, Firefly and hell, even Dollhouse.

Well, that's just some thoughts I have on a genre that I haven't blogged about until now, but it is a big part of my life. I really would appreciate some feedback from others as to what they may be looking for in science fiction television.

And then, later, maybe we can talk about comic books!