FIRST DRAFT

First Draft Fundraising Drive Ends: Thank You All!

Weekend Question: HOW MUCH ASS DO YOU ALL KICK?

You kick all the asses. That are there. To be kicked. 

In all sincerity, thank you all for contributing. It will help us move to our shiny new home tomorrow (you may see some lag time with the switchover, and we have to get some of the archives uploaded still) and keep the lights on here at FD HQ for another year of malfeasance and nonsense from Republicans. 

A. 

The Fog Of History: 40 years ago today

Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency in disgrace on this date in 1974. His farewell speech to his cabinet and staff is the strangest Presidential speech in American history. I've watched it dozens of times over the years and it still creeps me out and *almost* makes me feel sorry for him. Almost.

 

ANNIVERSARY PARTY CRACK VAN

Donate and join the fun below! 

Update: Thanks to all for joining in!

The Fog Of History: Reflections on Tricky Dick

I woke up this morning thinking about Richard Nixon. Mercifully, I didn't have devious, delirious dreams of him plotting with Haldeman and Ehrlichman. I just have Tricky Dick on my mind since this is the week it finally went down the terlet for him 40 years ago. He gave his abdication speech on 8/8/1974 and then resigned, gave the weirdest Presidential speech ever, and went off to Elba West. And yes, James Brown endorsed the Trickster in 1972. That papa had a brand new bag of dirty tricks. Good gawd y'all.

I'm not the only one with a Trickster earworm this week. There's a terrific interview at Salon with John Dean, whistleblower, Nixon historian and witness for the prosecution. Hmm, I make him sound like Marlene Dietrich in the Billy Wilder flick. Anyway, Dean is plugging his new book, The Nixon Defense, but he gave a wide ranging interview to David Daley. Read it and then come back after the break.

A Brief Defense of Rick Perlstein

I haven't chimed in on the "plagiarism" charges against Rick Perlstein's new book, The Invisible Bridge because my copy hasn't arrived yet. Hurry up, UPS. The reason I put the P word in quotes is that the charges by conservative historian/activist Craig Shirley are absurd: he's thanked in the book and cited in the footnotes. But horrors: they're on the interweb instead of making a very long hardback even thicker. Digby wrote a fine post about the virtues of this so I won't go into it here.

The charge that bugs me the most about this book and Nixonland is that Perlstein is an "aggregator" like Satan's Botoxed Handmaiden. To begin with, he has done some original research but what Perlstein really does is write INTERPRETIVE HISTORY, which is a venerable and honorable method. His books remind me of the work of Garry Wills, especially The Kennedy Imprisonment, Nixon Agonistes, and Reagan's America. Like Wills, Perlstein looks at the accepted or disputed facts, synthesizes and interprets them. That's not aggregating, it's awesome. I know that was lame but what can I say? I spent way too much time on Twitter last night battling the forces of malakatude.

Finally, there's an excerpt of The Invisble Bridge at TPM. It's well worth a look and a read.

That is all.

Friday Ferretblogging

Bucky and Claire would like to snuggle everyone who's donated to the fund drive so far: 

Keep it going! 

A. 

Friday Guest Catblogging: Kittens

Some close friends of mine have adopted kittens in the last month so I thought I'd feature them in all their kittenish glory.

Meet Ripley whose humans are my friends Wendy and Dan. Not sure if she came out of Dan's chest but she *is* sitting on his hand:

Now it's time to meet Chicory who has joined the unwieldy menagerie of my friends and fellow Spanksters, Brett and David. He's deballed and ready to rumble:

Iraq Again Forever and Ever

The night the Iraq War broke out I was drunk at a bowling alley. 

The paper I was working for had set up its coverage plan, because we'd all known this was going to happen if not exactly when, and we'd been working on it for approximately 12 hours a day for a week. Everybody had their assignments, everybody had the places they were supposed to be and the people they were supposed to call all lined up, and all we could do ... was ... wait. 

Our boss called a friend of his in AP who said it wasn't going to be that nigtht, but maybe the next morning. The waiting and planning and worrying and watching TV 24 hours a day was making us all buggy so we decided to go across the street to the bowling alley bar where we hung out after elections and big stories.

This was an old-school place, where you could still smoke and there was only one TV and there was a pool table, and the jukebox had a lot of Journey. The bartender had a blonde beehive wig and a voice like the inside of a whiskey barrel, and she'd keep the register open late on nights she knew we'd be there because no matter how poor reporters are, there is always money for beer. 

We ordered a bunch of pitchers, put our phones and pagers on the table, and proceeded to get pretty plastered pretty quickly. There was a show on, at the time, called Are You Hot? and we watched that for a while. People talked about wars they'd covered. People talked about sleeping with each other. Nobody thought it was going to be that night. Then all our pagers and phones started going off at once.

My assigment was to talk to a WWII vet about what he thought about all this, and as I recall (can't find the story online now) first he said something to the effect of at least now the politicians will shut up. But second, he said, he hoped it didn't come to house-to-house fighting in the cities and towns. 

This guy had been shot at by snipers. If that kind of thing happens, he said, things will get very bad, very quickly. 

Nobody could have predicted, of course. Except anybody who'd been in that kind of situation, including a nonagenarian watching the war on TV while talking to a half-lit reporter on the phone. 

I thought of that night when I heard this had happened: 

(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday he has authorized air strikes against Islamist militants in Iraq to protect American personnel and launched humanitarian assistance to prevent a genocide of members of a religious minority who have fled their homes.

[snip]

Obama said any U.S. operations would be limited, and pledged not to allow the United States to be dragged into another war in Iraq.

"Even as we support Iraqis as they take the fight to these terrorists, American combat troops will not be returning to fight in Iraq," he said. "The only lasting solution is reconciliation among Iraqi communities and stronger Iraqi security forces."

None of which was promoted during the near-decade we have already spent bombing the shit out of that country. What exactly do we think we're salvaging, here? 

A. 

Thursday Night Music: You Haven't Done Nothin'

Watergate didn't generate many protest songs, but Stevie Wonder was on the job with this swell anti-Tricky Dick tune:

 

Headline Of The Day: British Politics Edition

London Mayor Boris Johnson looks and acts like a toon but he's a master politician. Bozza, as he's known, is skilled at appearing culturally cool whilst pandering expertly to the Euro-sceptic Tory right. The right wing media love him, other politicians not so much. Boris and Prime Minister Cameron are longtime frenemies. Bozza's announcement that he plans to return to the House of Commons is a shot across the Cameroonian bow. The Posh Boy is pretending to be pleased by this Johnsonian u-turn. But Johnson is setting himself up to run for the Tory party leadership if they lose the next election. End of contextual paragraph.

The headline of the day is a doozy. It comes from a story by the Guardian's brilliant veteran pundit Michael White:

Boris Johnson: attention-seeking rascal seeks career change in silly season

Now that I've re-read White's piece, this post is a two-fer, he also wrote the paragraph of the day:

But is he serious? Is he really clever Jeeves, not silly Bertie Wooster of public image? Or is he a sinister Roderick Spode, potential leader of the Blackshorts, our own priapic Berlusconi? We don't yet know, and probably nor does Boris the Sleepwalker, who makes things up as he goes along. But the learning curve won't be dull.

I love a good Wodehousian reference. Toodle pip. 

Pulp Fiction Thursday: Human Pin Cushion

I haven't posted a Fred G. Johnson sideshow banner in a freakishly long time. This is what I feel like when I wake up with a screaming headache:

Dick's Downfall

From Album 5

So, it was 20 40 Years Ago Today This Week when Dick, the Tricky One (as opposed to just plain-old- mean-ugly-Dick-father-of-Liz Cheney) finally saw the writing on the wall and opted for, as the video link below notes, humiliation with honor...and retirement benefits.

To mark the occasion, the media's doing what they do best: talk about themselves, with the bonus of grainy archive footage and me-decade fashion...and if they don't have the real stuff, well (no disrespect intended on that one)...so, to add my own recollection, here's to my favorite rendition of Nixon (Philip Baker Hall gets a very, very close second place)...

But, while truly inspired, the photo above unfortunately doesn't come with a transcript -- you'll have to imagine Aykroyd's jowly rendering of "The New Dick" -- anyway, the lack of a transcript plus the timing makes this video more appropriate (hmmm...for some reason it won't embed...grrr...sorry). And Madeline Kahn is very much missed.

Note: I can't find a full video of the sketch, so sorry for the abrupt ending. And a bit of trivia: according to a Saturday Night Live book/history, it was written by Al Franken and Tom Davis. If I remember right, they overcame a case of writers block...with several tabs of LSD...so, enjoy the drug-inspired entertainment.

Malaka Of The Week: Mo Brooks

There are some weeks that I feel as if I'm piling on. This is one of them. This week's "honoree" said something egregiously stupid, hateful, and idiotic. He also lost his magic wingnut dog whistle code book. And that is why Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Roll Tide) is malaka of the week.

Brooks, hitherto an obscure back bencher, came on my radar screen with an appearance on talk radio and then kept going and going like the Energizer bunny of malakatude:

Since Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) claimed on Monday that Democrats have launched a "war on whites," he has continued to explain how he thinks Democrats inject race into political issues.

Brooks initially made the remarks on Laura Ingraham's radio show.

"This is a part of the war on whites that’s being launched by the Democratic Party. And the way in which they’re launching this war is by claiming that whites hate everybody else," he told Ingraham, referring specifically to the crisis at the border.

Brooks stood by his characterization and told AL.com Monday that Democrats have been "attacking whites based on skin color."

"The Democrats routinely make appeals based on race and they get away with it. It's repugnant to ever make an appeal based on race," he said.

On Tuesday, Brooks told USA Today that "if you look at current federal law, there is only one skin color that you can lawfully discriminate against. That’s Caucasians — whites."

And in an interview on NewsmaxTV's "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Tuesday, the congressman made a similar comment.

“Embedded in federal statutes, what is the one race that can be discriminated against? As a matter of law. What is it?” he asked, according to a clip recorded by Mediaite.

“White males?” Steve Malzberg asked in response.

“Not just white males, but all whites," Brooks then responded.

Hey, at least he's not sexist, except for when he votes in the House chamber, that is...  

Who else remembers when one of the right's greatest hits was that liberals were whiny pukes forever playing the victim card? It was not that long ago, y'all. Now it's all poor me, the mean old negro President hates whitey. We could all do with less of this from Brooks and other GOPers; Mo or less...

The other amusing thing about No Mo Brooks' comments is his failure to abide by the tried and tested rules of the GOP playbook: Speak in code. Don't be specific, which means that people will call you on your malakatude and Mo or less mock you relentlessly. Here's Charlie Pierce's take on how Malaka Mo lost his wingnut code book:

Now, as all good conservatives know, this is not how we speak when anyone who is Not Of The Body may be listening. We speak then only of "values," and "hard-working Americans," and "Christian nations," and, if we want to be real high-caliber hypocrites on a couple of levels, we speak of the embattled "middle class." We all know what those who are Of The Body mean when they use these terms. We do not speak plainly of these things. These things are understood.

Malaka Brooks needs to consult with Paul Ryan, and not talk about on the "war on white people" no Mo. In fact, #waronwhites has been trending on da Twittah all week, which should be a clue to dial it back.One would hope that he'd have younger relatives or interns to tell him to STFU. Time to get back to basics and talk about the "urban population" instead of being so blatantly, whinily racist, Mo man. Even David Dukke briefly dialed it back until he moved to Honkystan in the former Soviet Union.

One begins to think that Brooks is thick: Slow Mo kept giving us instant replays all week. I found it delightful but, then again, I find Michelle Bachmann, Steve King, and Ted Nugent amusing as well. The whole Reince Priebus rebranding thing isn't going very well, is it?

I'd like to thank Mo Brooks for having a punworthy name to go with his tiny pea brain and his big bazoo. He is the peckerwood's peckerwood, the cracker's cracker, and that is why he is malaka of the week

Writing this post gave me another earworm. I guess that's because Mo is "just another white boy with the disco blues" even though he doesn't know it:

  

Album Cover Art Wednesday: Deja Vu

I enter my share of contests and never win. This time I entered an online contest for a CSNY box set and won something I wouldn't have otherwise bought.  It's a 3-CD, 1-DVD set documenting their 1974 tour. It was an odd tour for its day. Bands made their money off publishing and record sales back then and CSNY wasn't promoting a new band LP. The music world has flipped and now the money is in playing live. The music is pretty darn good, better than I remembered. I saw them at the Oakland Coliseum and got into trouble with some Neil Young fangirls by loudly declaring that The Band had blown CSNY off the stage. They did but I got in deep shit for stirring the pot. Very little has changed.

Onward and upward to CSNY's 1970 smash hit LP, Deja Vu. This was one of the albums that *everyone* had. I listened to it for the first time in eons and most of it holds up quite well, especially Carry On and Helpless. Of course, Young and Stills were the heavyweights although Graham Nash's Our House and Teach Your Children are still charming excursions into hippie/Beatles/Holliesville. I think you take the Marrakesh Express to get there, man. David Crosby's ode to paranoia Almost Cut My Hair has become rather campy. I halfway expect some hipster to rewrite it as Almost Shaved My Beard. It happened just the other day, man and it gave me deja vu, man...

The packaging and design by Gary Burden is classic. The LP had an aged, fake leather thing going on, and the lettering was embossed. Fake but not cheap. Henry Wiltz's faux daguerreotype cover picture depicts CSNY as rock and roll's answer to the Hole in the Wall gang or the Wild Bunch. Given David Crosby's later brushes with THE MAN, it's fitting that he's cradling a shot gun in his lap.

Blogger Ethics Panel

We always seem to need one: 

Basically, the Times will now distribute a weekly magazine produced by the Redskins and publish "commentaries" about football matters provided by the team in the newspaper. In return, columnists and reporters from the Times will appear in the team's video ventures, such as a halftime show narrowcasted via FedExField scoreboards during home games.

There was a time, kiddos, when such a pact would've been viewed as wholly unbecoming of a newspaper. In 1999, the Los Angeles Times published a 168-page special edition of its Sunday magazine, devoted to the new Staples Center; advertising profits were split between the magazine and the arena. This arrangement was deemed so poisonously unethical that theTimes newsroom responded with an 11-chapter analysis of the deal called "Crossing the Line," an act of self-abuse in both senses of the word.

And yet the marriage between Dan Snyder and the Times has drawn mostly whimpers from the journalism watchdogs.

I'm sure that was before the new DIGITAL PARADIGM that seems to excuse everything from firing a lady who asks for a raise to deliberately shortchanging paying customers. 

Schmucks. 

A. 

What I Want For My Birthday

I've gotten to the age where I'd rather not celebrate my birthday. I'm as coy at discussing my exact age as Lucille Ball and I cherish friends who are older than me: Hi Craig, Mark, and Russ. I know that once I become really old that will change but for now I embrace the cryptic.

Another thing I embrace is First Draft and our remarkable readers. When Athenae invited me aboard nearly 5 years ago I was honored. Writing for you lot has kept me sane or at least as sane as I'll ever get. So, here's what I want for my birthday, please hit the tip jar and give some dosh to First Draft. We're good enough to get paid for what we do here but we do it for love, not for the love for money. So, if you have some spare change please send it our way. I promise not to embezzle it but I cannot vouch for the deeply corrupt Della Street.

Jeez, this is sounding like a PBS or NPR tin-cup rattling fundraising appeal. One difference is that we don't have any mugs with Oscar, Claire, or Kick's mugs thereon but I'm trying not to mug you with reality or some such shit. Damn, this post was an enormous digression regression. Anyway, CLICK HERE.

I'll let my fellow Leo, Jerry Garcia have the last word. This is my favorite Dead song and I can't get it out of my head:

 

Of course, if someone wanted to buy me some food or adult libations, I wouldn't object. Told you that I was deeply corrupt...

Picayune to New Orleans: Never Mind

That pesky Athenae beat me to the punch on this one, which is A-okay by me. All I have to add to the discussion over the Picayune's kinda, sorta retreat is the post title, and a swell tweet from former TP editor Peter Kovacs who is now with the competition that was created by this robust Newhousian malakatude.

We don't need 500 words to explain New Orleans Advocate home delivery schedule. Two words are sufficient: Seven Days

— Peter Kovacs (@PKovacs7) August 1, 2014

People Like, Pay for Print, Part the Infinity

But hey, just keep yelling DIGITAL PARADIGM. I'm sure one of these days it'll relate to the actual facts: 

This week, The Times-Picayune of New Orleans announced that its home-delivery subscribers, who were cut back to three days a week in the fall of 2012, would be getting two “bonus” home-delivered papers — Saturdays and Mondays — at least through the end of football season this year. Also, the paper would switch back to a broadsheet format every day, dropping the tabloid editions it had introduced last year.

Apparently this is part of the "start-up culture" in which it's okay to flail from one thing to the next without any regard for customers and what they want, or any fear of looking like total idiots. 

We’re adding two bonus days during football season because we know readers will welcome having their hometown newspaper with Saints, LSU, Tulane, college and high school football and NFL coverage delivered to their doorsteps during football season. However, home delivery 7 days a week is not a sustainable business long term. We plan to serve the New Orleans area over the long term.

"Giving you what you want this one time doesn't mean we're dumb enough to do that ALL THE TIME. God."

A. 

Today on Tommy T's Obsession with the Freeperati - Benflopzi edition

 

Oh dear.

I got permission from Ms. A to do a special. You see, after over two years of Freeperati wishing, and hoping, and dreaming, and praying, Ben Gazerra has finally come to fruition...

 

Ah, what a heavenly dream.....

 

You know, it would be a cat-a-strophy if perchance harm were to befall this serene - scene....

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House panel: No administration wrongdoing in Benghazi attack
SFGate ^ | 3:53 pm, Friday, August 1, 2014 | Carolyn Lockhead

Posted on ‎8‎/‎2‎/‎2014‎ ‎9‎:‎02‎:‎09‎ ‎AM by Olog-hai

The House Intelligence Committee, led by Republicans, has concluded that there was no deliberate wrongdoing by the Obama administration in the 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, said Rep. Mike Thompson of St. Helena, the second-ranking Democrat on the committee.

The panel voted Thursday to declassify the report, the result of two years of investigation by the committee. U.S. intelligence agencies will have to approve making the report public.

Thompson said the report “confirms that no one was deliberately misled, no military assets were withheld and no stand-down order (to U.S. forces) was given.” …

1 posted on ‎8‎/‎2‎/‎2014‎ ‎9‎:‎02‎:‎09‎ ‎AM by Olog-hai

.

To: Olog-hai

No one here can legitimately claim that we need to vote Republican so that we can get control of the Senate and the House, and that 80% agreement is better than 100%, blah blah blah. They simply are not capable of running anything.

2 posted on ‎8‎/‎2‎/‎2014‎ ‎9‎:‎04‎:‎19‎ ‎AM by Gaffer

 

So you're voting for Democrats this year?

 

To: Gaffer

You are right. Republicans are spectators, not players, and are content with their good seats in the grandstands from which they can watch the real action. They make lots of noise but have no intention of participating in the game.

16 posted on ‎8‎/‎2‎/‎2014‎ ‎9‎:‎14‎:‎11‎ ‎AM by Starboard

 

Actually, the committee is dominated by Republicans. Facts are stupid things.

 

To: Olog-hai

The House Intelligence Committee, led by Republicans, has concluded that...”Thompson said the report “confirms that no one was deliberately misled, no military assets were withheld and no stand-down order (to U.S. forces) was given.” …”

All complete and total lies, and we all know it.

We know the administration lied about the cause of the attack.
We know military assets were withheld.
We know military assets were told not to go in.

Every person on that committee is a Republican, yet, they lied.

You know, that's what I said.

Mike Rogers, Chairman, Michigan, Republican
Mac Thornberry, Texas, Republican
Jeff Miller, Florida, Republican
Mike Conaway, Texas, Republican
Peter King, New York, Republican
Frank LoBiondo, New Jersey, Republican
Devin Nunes, California, Republican
Lynn Westmoreland, Georgia, Republican
Michele Bachmann, Minnesota, Republican
Thomas J Rooney, Florida, Republican
Joe Heck, Nevada, Republican
Mike Pompeo, Kansas, Republican

So, basically, everyone is lying except for you.  There's a description of that syndrome in the DSM-IV, but I don't think you'll like it.

Someone want to tell me why I should ever vote for another Republican? ANY Republican?

73 posted on ‎8‎/‎2‎/‎2014‎ ‎10‎:‎11‎:‎57‎ ‎AM by CodeToad (Arm Up! They Are!)

 

So what ARE you going to do on Election Day this year??

 

 

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I'm glad we got THAT cleared up.

 

More sweet, sweet tears after the crack in the world...

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Ladies Want Love, And Are Too Stupid to Know It

Women don't really want to hook up, even if they say they do. Women are silly, and you can't believe what they say, because they don't know their own minds, and even if they say they want sex, deep down they all really want commitment. 

Whereas men are just out for the pooty: 

Many women tend to think the guy they’re hooking up with might fall for them. This is something they secretly hope will happen, and they convince themselves that a series of hookups with the same guy will ultimately lead to him wanting something more.

This lingering hope causes women to reluctantly participate in the hook-up culture, in hopes that he will wake up one day and realize it’s been her the whole time.

It reminds me of some Taylor Swift song — and accordingly, it’s a common enough problem that I’ve seen several women crushed when this dream dies.

Accordingly, some women are idiots who either don't honestly discuss with a sex partner what he wants out of the sexing, or don't believe him when he says he doesn't want to fall in love and get married and have a dozen babies. Accordingly, some men are assholes who lie to women about what they intend, or weaklings who can't be honest about what they want. 

The hook-up culture is not to blame for human stupidity/weakness/assholery. This story is as old as time. Eve sat down with Adam and was like, "Look, I know we're the only two people on the planet but let's be clear about what we're doing here."

This entire thing presumes women are too dumb to actually know what they want and pursue it. And it also presumes all men are basically predatory pimps who will only be interested so long as you deny them pussy. I have yet to hear an explanation from any of these puritannical scolds about what happens once, having made a man wait just long enough for sex that you're not a slut but also not a frigid bitch, you reluctantly (but also sexily!) surrender the prize.

The entire relationship has been set up as a transaction that's been completed. Where do you go from there? 

I don't think women should be pressured into having casual sex. But I also don't think women should be treated like morons who are somehow being victimized by a culture they don't understand if they do have casual sex they want to have. Maybe the young ladies fully understand the hook-ups they're having and like them. 

There was a time when being in a relationship seemed easier to accomplish. Perhaps this was during a time when online dating was less prevalent and people had less options getting in the way of commitment.

This was a time when more people gave it their all, and actually openly communicated their feelings with each other.

There was?

When was this? Because I'm pretty sure I've read a Jane Austen novel about a dickhead who misrepresents his intentions towards a lady OH WAIT THAT'S ALL OF THEM.

A short list of people I went out with in college prior to there being a real Internet with dating sites and apps, when people openly communicated their feelings with each other: "nice guy" who played the cello, drummer who didn't have much in the way of conversation, irresponsible pot-smoking copy editor, cokehead poet who said he'd quit doing coke for me and then OF COURSE NOT, "nice guy" who cheated on me with another girl from the same damn dorm floor, rich asshole who thought his money gave him the right to tell me what to do, rando almost twice my age who it turned out said gross things to his friends after I refused to sleep with him.

I met all of them in person. If I'd met them online, I might at least have been able to weed out the obviously unsuitable drummer and elderly creepster. (The poet was unavoidable. There were no boys like that in my small town and I was a dumbass at age 18.)

To the men out there: It’s worth sacrificing other options for a special lady, and please bring back the traditional date. You will score major brownie points with women.

As for the women out there: Let’s drop the delusion that a series of hookups will hook a boyfriend, and instead hold off on sex until a commitment has been made.

Yeah, guys! Score some brownie points! That's the only reason to be nice or do things together. And ladies, even if you want to have sex, don't have sex, because sex is a reward for men to achieve, not an enjoyable activity for you. 

Via Jude, who likes to raise my blood pressure. 

A. 

The Fog Of Funky History: Get On Up

I devoted way too much time to variations on the post title, it could have been the funky fog of history or the fog of funky film history but that's beside the point. But what would my posts be without any digressions? It's called style, baby, and this is mine, such as it is.

Now where the hell was I? Oh yeah, the new James Brown bio-pic Get On Up. I wanted to LOVE this movie but ended up liking it instead. There's much to admire. The acting is first rate, the music sequences are delirious and who among us wouldn't enjoy seeing a sweatsuit clad James Brown shoot a rifle at the ceiling of his own office building. Good gawd, y'all.

Chadwick Boseman as James Brown is phenomenal. He does the Godfather of Soul's speaking voice without sounding like Rich Little. He played Jackie Robinson in 42 so I wonder who's next: Frederick Douglas? WEB DuBois? Speaking of actors who've played historical figures (MLK in The Butler,) Nelsan Ellis does an excellent job in the thankless role of Bobby Byrd, JB's best friend and second banana. It's great to see my favorite True Blood actor featured in a major feature. The man sho can dance too. Good gawd, y'all.

Where Get On Up, slips up is with the script and format of the film. There were 4 writers credited, which usually means there were more including director Tate Taylor and the producers. That's a sign that there were too many cooks in the kitchen. In this case, this script is overcooked with flashbacks. Some of the cuts work fairly well but others are just flat-out confusing. A few reviews have called Get On Up, a predictable mainstream bio-pic, I wish it had more Hollywoodified: there are too many flashbacks and overly short scenes. Stretches of the film were like watching a livelier episode of Treme, alas.

As to historical accuracy, I'm not a James Brown expert but the flashback overkill made it chronologically confusing. The best thing I've seen about that aspect of Get On Up was written by Douglas Wolk for Slate. In the end, I'm not much of a stickler if it's close to the truth and entertaining. And that's where Get On Up excels, it's as entertaining as all get out. Good gawd y'all.

I've been a bit hard on Get Up On but I was frustrated when I left the theatre. It should have been a great film instead of a good one. The material was there but it needed to be organized better. I still give it 3 stars and/or an Adrastos grade of B. Go see if for Chawdick Boseman and the music. Good gawd, y'all.

I'll give the last word to the man himself with this clip from his appearance on the TAMI show in 1964, which was beautifully recreated in the movie:

 

If you like what we do at First Draft, please click here to bribe us. That's right, I said bribe: we have bloggers from both Illinois and Louisiana here and we like a good pay-off. Good gawd, y'all.

Arcane Phrase Of The Week: Culinary Edition

As a New Orleanian, I spend a lot of time thinking and talking about food. Every conversation here will eventually turn to food, glorious food. Growing up in a Greek family was similar, which is one reason I assimilated here so rapidly. That's why I think this Victorian term for OTT extravagance should be revived:

Butter upon bacon

Usage: I think that putting glitter on that beaded shirt is a bit too butter upon bacon.

This one is a potential winner, I can see it sweeping the foodie scene. Hopefully, the dread Guy Fieri won't pick it up but you gotta take the bitter with the sweet sometimes.

First Draft Fundraising Drive: TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Contribute if you can, and be here Friday night for a crack van celebration! 

Today on Tommy T's Obsession with the Freeperati - Hoveround Commandos edition

Well, good people, the Freeper Run For The Border is officially under way!

Thousands of Freeperati have now mobilized and are heading for McAllen, Texas to do battle with the invading brown hordes of scared kids.

And by "thousands", I mean - two.

We need your continuing support to keep FR on the air!! [FReepathon XVIII - RGV pics]
Click here to pledge your support via secure server ^ | July 26, 2014 | Jim Robinson

Posted on ‎7‎/‎26‎/‎2014‎ ‎10‎:‎30‎:‎54‎ ‎AM by Jim Robinson

We had a great day here in Mission and McAllen Texas yesterday. We planted the flag at our base camp on the banks of the Rio Grande and defended the border against any invaders. Not a single alien tried to cross on our watch. Now we just need to get a couple million more liberty-loving citizens to come stand a couple days watch each. We the people can secure the border if we become determined to do so.

We also set up a temporary camp across the street from the McAllen border patrol station and flew our flag there. Received lots of honks and waves from passing motorists and truckers. Even some of the border patrol personnel honked, waved or chirped their sirens to us as they pulled in and out of the facility. I think they appreciated our support.

It was a long hot day, but very satisfying. We're all very happy we decided to complete this mission. We're going to put in another long day here on the border today.

Will post a few of humblegunner's pics below and we'll all be posting more pics later:

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I kinda like that he's posing with the motorhome that the marks paid for, and asking them for still more money.

Since thousands of two people on the other side of the border a U.S. highway can only do so much, there should be thousands of Freepers flooding in to help.

Any minute now.

To: Diogenesis

 

saddened and angry I couldn't be there

thanx, guys.

4 posted on ‎7‎/‎26‎/‎2014‎ ‎10‎:‎42‎:‎00‎ ‎AM by knarf (I say things that are true .. I have no proof .. but they're true.)

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To: Jim Robinson

Yall be careful down there in the heat.
Wish I could have joined you.

15 posted on ‎7‎/‎26‎/‎2014‎ ‎11‎:‎26‎:‎42‎ ‎AM by mylife

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To: mylife

I’m surprised you’re not there!

29 posted on ‎7‎/‎26‎/‎2014‎ ‎12‎:‎16‎:‎46‎ ‎PM by LUV W (All my heroes wear camos! Thank you David, Michael, Chris Txradioguy, JJ, CMS, & ALL Vets, too!l)

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To: LUV W

Finances prevent it.
Otherwise I would be there.

30 posted on ‎7‎/‎26‎/‎2014‎ ‎12‎:‎24‎:‎58‎ ‎PM by mylife

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To: BuckeyeTexan

I thought you where(sic) there?
What happened to the road warrior Lady?

31 posted on ‎7‎/‎26‎/‎2014‎ ‎12‎:‎28‎:‎24‎ ‎PM by mylife

 

She was probably delayed by sneaky illegal sapper teams.

 

Wait - what's that in the distance? Rumbling thunder of approaching reinforcements?

The support team has arrived!!

 

Now there's three of them.

 

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And the reinforcements have brought badly needed supplies!

 

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Because when you're vacationing fighting the illegals on the other side of the highway border, ya just can't have enough flags....

 

More white-on-brown action after the Cloward-Piven jump.

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Annual Fundraising Drive: TEN YEARS MAN

We are ten years old. We are in fourth grade. We need new corduroys and school supplies.

Ten years ago this weekend, Holden and Tena and pie and I decided we'd had a stellar time guestblogging over at the Crack Den while Atrios was off, I dunno, becoming famous and respectable, and we'd set up shop here at this web site that I had that was basically some password-protected Buffy fanfiction and ranting about people who don't turn their radios down at the drive-thru window at Taco Bell. 

Those were, of course, good and awful times. Awful: We didn't have to look far to chronicle the malfeasance of the Bush administration, gay people couldn't get married just about anywhere, John Kerry was about to lose the election, and there were perhaps a couple hundred liberal political blogs up against a mass media narrative dictating that the president was epic and everything was fine.

Good: The 2004 election felt like a big fat party a lot of the time, and a good fight the rest of the time, and there's nothing I love more than a fight that feels like a party. Dissent had begun to have a voice, however small. Plus, there were perhaps a couple hundred liberal political blogs, so we could basically love everyone in this bar. 

(I basically still love everyone in this bar.)

I don't know what I expected to happen ten years from then. I didn't think about whether we'd still be here. I just thought that there was a here, and people seemed to like it, so we laid down some shag carpeting in the crack van and fueled that sucker up. 

(That carpet smells like goat vomit now, TOMMY.)

In preparation for this glorious anniversary of ours, I've been putting together an anthology of the best and most favoritest posts we've done, and in doing so I've read basically all our archives going back to August 2004. We were not as good as I thought we were, but in some cases we were better, and we managed to do some real work at a time when everybody who writes here has a day job or two, or is looking for a day job or two, or is otherwise somehow in a position where it would be totally acceptable to curl up underneath the quilts and not come out.

I'm proud of what we've built and it would be nothing without all our readers who come here every day. I'm so grateful to all of you, and I hope you've found something of value here. If you have, I hope you'll contribute to the drive. We didn't do one last year, because I was distracted by twenty things including the baby, and this one's our tin anniversary. Hallmark suggests you give us a lunch box full of popcorn. The Paypal button up there might be easier. 

In the coming year? I'm hoping this anthology finds a publisher home, and we will be moving to a newer, shinier, spiffier site that looks more like the Internet of this decade (minus the pop-up ads and frequent requests for customer feedback). 

Oh, and Friday night? Friday is our CRACK VAN BIRTHDAY PARTY, BITCHES. Old-timey Happy Kerry Photos, ponies, punch3 kitten chainsaw, re-posting Jude's gumbo recipe, and a very special message to all of you from our newest van passenger, callsign Kick. 

Give if you can. Party whether you can or not. 

A. 

Sunday Morning Video: Crime Inc. Episode One

I stumbled into this 1984 Thames teevee documentary about La Cosa Nostra this week. What's not to love about a seven parter that features interviews with Jimmy (The Weasel) Fratianno?

 

Happy Birthday, Jerry

Today would have been Jerry Garcia's 72nd birthday. If I believed in astrology I'd go on about the awesomeness of my fellow Leos but I don't so I won't. As you can see from the picture above, Jerry was also an ardent San Francisco Giant fan. It will be Jerry Garcia Tribute Night at Pac Bell Park on August 12th thereby proving that my team is cooler than your team. Neener, neener, neener.

Here's some music. First, one of Robert Hunter's finest lyrics:

 

Friday Ferretblogging

Bucky jumping up to say hello: 

He's gonna be six this fall, which is the equivalent of a senior citizen in ferret years, but sometimes he still thinks he's a kit. 

A. 

Malaka Of The Week: Lenar Whitney

I must admit to not having paid too much attention to the race for Dr. Empty Suit's open Congressional seat. (That's Bill Cassidy, maybe I should call him Dr. Empty Scrubs.) The most noteworthy things about the race are that Edwin Edwards is mounting a comeback and that there are several Jindalistas in the race. (His candidates usually lose.) This week State Rep. Lenar Whitney, a dance teachin' wingnut from Houma, got oodles of national publicity. All of it bad and that is why she is malaka of the week. Btw, it seems to be a bad week for folks whose surnames begin with W. Hmm, I wonder what Mr. Woodger thinks of Witless Whitney, and I wonder if she, too, thinks using the word homophone advances the gay agenda? 

Lenar Whitney is extreme even by Gret Stet standards. She's a climate change denier in a state that has been dealing with coastal erosion for many years. Here's a video she made stating her views, which apparently she doesn't understand and cannot explain:

 

Bossy-Nova

 

A few years back, I asked people to tell me about their asshole.

The story was that I had someone who was making my life hell at work and I didn’t think I could take the bullshit anymore. Thus, with the idea of there being strength in numbers, I figured you all had someone, somewhere who did the same thing to you. Thus, I asked you to tell me about that asshole so, as Julie Andrews said, “I won’t feel so bad.”

Honestly, it really did help, so I'm asking for help again.

My wife is having a similar existential crisis these days at work, thanks to a boss with personal disorganization and a demeaning streak of OCD demands. This has been going on for about two years, although it has been getting worse over the past six months. The prevailing theory is she doesn’t want to run the department, won’t confront faculty and thus focuses on minutia in the front office and uses it to attack my wife. It’s like the guy who has a shitty day at work and goes home to berate the dog for not walking properly.

To wit:

• She has been handed back meeting minutes with lines down them, demonstrating that she hasn’t been keeping every line in exact indented formation
  
  
• Her boss told her that she has to “be perfect” in every aspect of communication with other people via email. (My wife often corrects the emails of her boss prior to sending them out. The boss searches for typos in my wife’s email and brings them to her attention.)
  
  
• She was told she wasn’t following the standard form of minutes noted by my wife’s predecessor. When my wife pulled out several copies of minutes, all using different forms, her boss said that wasn’t the point.
  
  
• The boss forced my wife to go through a training guide that no one reads to fix all the problems. These “problems” ended up being spots where there were two spaces used to create harmony among indentations instead of a two-space tab. You can’t tell the difference unless you turn on the “show formatting” option in Word, but this was a huge problem for people who will get this thing in print, apparently.
  
  
• She was told she needed to “standardize” her lunch breaks because people needed to be able to “rely” on her and know when she would be around. After doing so, the boss would occasionally come in, during her lunch break, and talk with her. The reason? The boss had just shown up and was leaving early to do something else.

There are a dozen other patronizing or demeaning things I could list, but that’s not the point. The point is that this sucks and I’m hoping that if you were able to offer support or share your own stories of “Yeah, I’ve got a Dilbert-boss over here too…” it might make things just a bit shinier on a gray and rainy Friday.

Share away and thanks for your help.

Doc