We’ve moved to our new house on internet street. Update your bookmarks and links to http://www.mouemagazine.com/blog. Hope to see you there!
We’ve Moved!!
September 6, 2008About Us
August 26, 2008If you’re at all curious about who it is that writes the super amazing posts here at Moue, there’s now a link on our sidebar under “About Moue Magazine” entitled “The Moue Bloggers” that gives us a proper introduction. Well, Will and I for now. Acallidryas hasn’t turned in her homework yet.
The Text Message System Didn’t Fail
August 23, 2008There’s been some discussion this morning about the fact that the major news networks announced Obama’s pick before the promised text messages and emails went out. The media was essentially stalking Biden and put 2 and 2 together (kind of remarkable they can still do that, actually) when Secret Service showed up. Obama didn’t make the announcement to the media first. They leaked it to get a scoop. To try to stay as good to his word as he could at that point, his campaign got the messages out as soon as they could. The networks seem to have called it on Biden at around 1 am. The text messages went out two hours later (a stretch of time, yes, but much earlier than the campaign intended on sending them). Which made them come in at around 3 am.
Because of that timing, some disenfranchised Clinton supporters thought it was a jab at her “3 am” ad (a theory that the McCain campaign is feeding, further suggesting that PUMAs are Republicans in straight jackets Democrat clothing). To which I say: believe it or not, some things aren’t about Hillary Clinton. I know, it is a shock that some things are coincidences rather than needless jabs at an openly mocked campaign ad most people stopped caring about months ago.
Regularly Scheduled Programming
August 23, 2008The schedule of the web comic and the Moue Music spots got thrown off this week because of my having to haul around furniture before and after Tropical Storm Fay. Things should resume to semi-normal (or as close as we get) on Monday.
The Associated Press Is Staffed By Idiots
August 23, 2008I will quote just barely enough to let us get by with “fair use”. Trust me when I tell you that two sentences of this utter codswollop is more than enough.
Maybe I should be a wee bit more specific: so far as I can tell at this point, it is merely Ron Fournier himself who is an idiot:
In picking Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate, Barack Obama sought to shore up his weakness — inexperience in office and on foreign policy — rather than underscore his strength as a new-generation candidate defying political conventions.
As did George W. Bush in 2000, who was roundly praised by a salivating press corps for having the wisdom to complement his own deficiencies. There were, as I recall, hosannahs all around for this “outside reformer’s” choice of a “grownup” who “understood how Washington worked.” Such was the love for the backslapper who gave everyone in the press corps a nickname.
But somehow this time seems different. I don’t think we’re going to have a VP who’s basically a Bond villain.
More codswollop Fournier:
So the question is whether Biden’s depth counters Obama’s inexperience — or highlights it?
Counters it, unless you’re an idiot political writer looking for a salvageable spin. This choice plays precisely into Obama’s mantra of “no more yes-men or Armageddon-instigators in the Executive branch”.
One of the signs of a good leader is to hire someone who’ll call you on your bullshit. Biden will do that for Obama.
One of the signs of a weak leader is to hire someone who convinces you that your bullshit smells of delightfully fresh spring roses. We’ve had eight years of that. It has been less that pleasant.
The American public is, I hope, done with it. Pity the Associated Press isn’t.
Recommendation
August 23, 2008Don’t get back into distance running after a two month break by running two miles outside around noon on a day in late August. In southwest Florida.
/heatstroke.
Olympic Basketball Commentary: In a Word, Hacktacular
August 23, 2008I’m not a huge fan of professional sports, to put it mildly, but I’m a fan of good writing, and a ton of good writing is done in that particular field. So I like to look in on what various folks are doing from time to time, and the Olympics have provided a deep well to draw from.
Sometimes.
Dear Lord, Adrian Wojnarowski makes me want to vomit. This is the absolute worst kind of fanboyish, the-league-above-everything mentality that makes me NOT be a sports fan.
Here he is on Olympic basketball:
As the worst nightmare for an NBA dynasty unfolded on the floor – San Antonio Spur Manu Ginobili crumbling with the agony of an ankle hurt all over again – the world witnessed one more window into how an Olympic basketball war of attrition threatens to deepen the gap between the United States and its reeling rivals.
Ginobili is from Argentina, and plays for his national team, as do a number of other NBA stars. Wojnarowski’s basic beef here is that these NBA stars are hurting themsleves playing for their national teams in the Olympics, and therefore wasting their value as NBA stars. Because, by allowing them to compete for their national teams,
the NBA is slowly, surely decaying multi-million dollar assets.
…which, of course, every human being in the world should want to be, right? An asset? That’s what we all aspire to, I’m sure.
Make no mistake, here: Wojnarowski does indeed express some heartwarming concern for the players themselves, and conjures up the right amount of OMG-is-that-really-happening-to-these-poor-people anecdotes of injuries. But his agenda becomes a little bit too clear a little bit too soon:
Whatever you want to say about national pride, your responsibility is to the team that signs your check.
No, your responsibility is to yourself. If your own heart and soul dicatate that you serve the interests of the nation of your birth rather than the people who have bought you as a show pony to make some cash, then so be it.
Professional athletes know all too well that the mere specter of an injury is all that separates them from the top ranks and oblivion. Yet they choose to compete for their home countries in the Olympics anyway. Are they really the hapless pawns Wojnarowski portrays them as? Seriously, walk up to Ginobili and ask him whether he’d rather have the remainder of his contract money from the Spurs or another Olympic gold medal for the country he’s from.
My God, sports freaks like Wojnarowski really disgust me. He feigns interest in the players, but his real interest, poorly hidden, is in the massive-dollar agenda of the NBA — and, not coincidentally, his own gravy train as a sports writer.
I really have enjoyed what I’ve seen of the USA basketball team this time around — not the brash, in-your-face “dream teams” of years past, but a bunch of guys who seem genuinely interested in the experience of being Olympians and, as corny as it may sound, not just interested in winning but also interested in representing their country well. That’s kind of what the Olympics is supposed to be about, right?
But leave it to hacks like Wojnarowski to reduce it to the profit margin.
Looks Like Biden
August 23, 2008We’d speculated about this ’round these parts, but the rumors are flying hot ‘n’ heavy tonight, and political creatures thrive on rumors.
Could’ve been better, could’ve been worse. As we’ve said, Biden has his baggage, but he’s definitely got his advantages.
And he’ll look properly dignified at funerals.
Update: For those joining us just for the Michael Phelps pictures, let me clarify that it looks like Barack Obama has chosen Joe Biden as his Vice-Presidential candidate.
Update #2: Yep, it’s official.
