Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Obama's Favorite Tie
Helping the economy starts at home like recycling the same tie. Here's Obama tonight, on November's election night and in August at the DNC.
Britney Ain't Alright Yet
For all the talk of her comeback, Britney is still bat-shit crazy in my opinion. How many other 27 year-olds have their Dads worried about who they talk to on the phone? According to TMZ Britney is sneaking calls to Sam Lutfi and Adnan Ghalib, her shady former managers. Imagine how intelligent those conversations are.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Christian Bale and Joaquin Phoenix
Presenters at Saturday's Indie Spirits awards
Since this was Saturday, did Ben Stiller steal the idea to mock the bearded one? Nah, it's ripe and obvious comic territory. British comedian Steve Coogan (Hamlet 2) is under the bat mask. I haven't figured out who's doing Joaquin. Internet speculation is it's Jonah Hill, Horatio Sanz or some unknown director. Who do you think it is?
Since this was Saturday, did Ben Stiller steal the idea to mock the bearded one? Nah, it's ripe and obvious comic territory. British comedian Steve Coogan (Hamlet 2) is under the bat mask. I haven't figured out who's doing Joaquin. Internet speculation is it's Jonah Hill, Horatio Sanz or some unknown director. Who do you think it is?
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
The Presidents
This being President's Day I got to thinking about our presidents and how they rank. There have been numerous surveys and polls by historians and non-historians over the years.
Lincoln is universally favored as our best. Because he 1)saved us from the civil war, 2) freed the slaves and 3) was assassinated. Of course it does not matter if #1 and 2 are not entirely true, they have been added to our cultural folklore of old honest Abe.
FDR saved us from the depression and WWII. So he rules too.
JFK was good-looking, screwed Marilyn and was also assassinated.
Reagan is beloved for "saving us from the Russkies" and engenders fierce man crushes from Republicans. Others come and go with the times, like the resurgence of Truman or decline of Eisenhower in the eyes of history.
In my opinion the best presidents were
1. Lincoln
2. Washington
3. FDR
4. TR
5. Jefferson
6. Monroe
7. Cleveland
8. Truman
9. Polk
10 Eisenhower
The worst were:
1. William Henry Harrison
2. Buchanan
3. Andrew Johnson
4. Harding
5. Pierce
There are flawed presidencies like LBJ, Nixon and Grant or even Clinton, where extremely capable men floundered their opportunity or let personal demons get the better of them.
George W. and truthfully Clinton still should appear in a list of "too soon to tell" along with Reagan as we need to wait a generation before pronouncing sentence on their terms. It may be safe to say now, however that G.W. Bush will go down as a more impactful (for bad or good) president than Clinton. Because of 9/11, terrorism and Iraq if for no other reason. Poor Clinton, who all his life wanted to be a great president simply didn't have the big events occur on his watch.
Lincoln is universally favored as our best. Because he 1)saved us from the civil war, 2) freed the slaves and 3) was assassinated. Of course it does not matter if #1 and 2 are not entirely true, they have been added to our cultural folklore of old honest Abe.
FDR saved us from the depression and WWII. So he rules too.
JFK was good-looking, screwed Marilyn and was also assassinated.
Reagan is beloved for "saving us from the Russkies" and engenders fierce man crushes from Republicans. Others come and go with the times, like the resurgence of Truman or decline of Eisenhower in the eyes of history.
In my opinion the best presidents were
1. Lincoln
2. Washington
3. FDR
4. TR
5. Jefferson
6. Monroe
7. Cleveland
8. Truman
9. Polk
10 Eisenhower
The worst were:
1. William Henry Harrison
2. Buchanan
3. Andrew Johnson
4. Harding
5. Pierce
There are flawed presidencies like LBJ, Nixon and Grant or even Clinton, where extremely capable men floundered their opportunity or let personal demons get the better of them.
George W. and truthfully Clinton still should appear in a list of "too soon to tell" along with Reagan as we need to wait a generation before pronouncing sentence on their terms. It may be safe to say now, however that G.W. Bush will go down as a more impactful (for bad or good) president than Clinton. Because of 9/11, terrorism and Iraq if for no other reason. Poor Clinton, who all his life wanted to be a great president simply didn't have the big events occur on his watch.
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