Hillary Clinton Supporters are all Mouthbreathers

Got that? As far as I'm concerned all you "Reagan Democrats" can shove it, you mouthbreathing, wishy-washy, Bush -voting, ignoramouses. All you people who are threatening to vote for McCain in November can jump in the lake. Eat it.

My Letter to the Obama Campaign Re: "bittergate"

To Whom It May Concern:

I've given $125 to this campaign since the week before the Iowa caucuses, and that's $125 more than I've ever given any campaign. I have been and remain a committed Obama supporter, but I have to also express me deep frustration with the Senator's recently reported remarks, i.e. "Bittergate". Many people think those statements are condescending, as well as the Senator's [clumsy] defense of them.

Rather than try to walk them back, why not take the political high road and simply admit how incredibly stupid they were, and apologize. After a sincere apology, get back on message; back to a campaign about HOPE before the Clinton's began to suck the life out of it. The promise of HOPE is the greatest thing this campaign can give to rural Pennsylvanians or Americans in general. It's what inspires people who make less than 11,000 a year to donate $100+. The Democrats will never beat the "elitist" wrap once it sticks. Maybe Senator Obama should do something Bush has never done and apologize for a mistake, and re-adopt the HOPE narrative to carry us across the finish line.

sincerely,

Matt Euler

Obama Love Fest

For anyone who hasn't seen this elsewhere I thought I'd post this here:

Obama on Hip Hop. Man, I really like this candidate. He really strikes me as "with it", insightful, and genuine. He' also on the cover on the current Rolling Stone, where he receives their endorsement.

Here's an old piece from Andrew Sullivan (12/07) on the potential rebranding opportunity an Obama presidency might provide.

Conversely, Mickey Kaus is trashing Obama on his site, for anyone who is interested. I typically think Mr. Kaus' stuff is pretty good, but I'm beginning to tire of his habit of always destroying the best candidate, and hence setting the stage for something far worse.

Hillary Go Please Go Away

Here are my top however 5 reasons why people should not vote for Hillary Clinton for president.

1. If she wins the White House that'll be approximately two decades of the same two families running our country. Can't we get somebody else in a nation of 300 million people?

2. The Clinton-haters will come out the woodwork and ensure 4 more years of partisan mutually-assured destruction.

3. It'll put Bill Clinton back in quasi-control of the White House in a near violation of the 22(?) ammendment.

4. She'll mobilize and embolden the right wing.

5. She grates

Independence Day

Well, we did it America. One more year of everlasting freedom. I'd like to express my patriotic gratitude to the creators of this great nation:

Dear Founding Fathers,

Hey guys. What's going on? Nothing much here. By the way, we're holding up our part of the deal. You're welcome. When Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum uploaded that virus to the alien mainframe those 10 plus years ago, they were thinking of you. Just like your stance against the evil British empire, you showed those bastards that the Windows Vista that is America defeats all those inferior alien and arab Windows 95s.

Hope you guys are doing well in heaven. See you soon.

Love,

e

Governor Richardson on Leno last night

Bill Richardson was on Jay Leno last night. He is by far the most qualified of all the democratice candidates in the race up to date; having been a congressman, Ambassador to the UN, Secretary of Energy, and the current Governor of New Mexico. I found most of his appearance on Leno disappointing. He seemed to be there to mention specific things about his biography as opposed to having a genuine interaction with Leno in front of the American people. Big surprise I guess. He took the opportunity to clarify that he had only been scouted and not signed to major league baseball team; an exaggeration he was called out for in his latest campaign for Governor. He told an anecdote about a meeting he had with Saddam Hussein on behalf of President Clinton. It was interesting, but again totally scripted. A disppointing showing up to that point. It was especially disappointing given his reported poor performance in the MSNBC debate.

Right now, I'm tentatively supporting Richardson for president as he's demonstrated competence as a diplomat and governor. His accomplishments in the State (spaceport, railrunner, energy rebate, developing the local film industry) have made me feel that on balance he's a capable leader and someone who can walk and chew gum at the same time (unlike CURRENT GROSSLY INCOMPETENT ADMINISTRATIONS who shall rename nameless). I hate the things Richardon's done with state boards and UNM, but at the same time I wonder if that authoritarian streak is necessary to be an effective president. At the end of his interview with Jay Leno, Jay finally asked him about policy.

I'm pleased to report that Richardson took the opportunity to claim an issue. He said that among other things he'd like to move our oil supply from 65% foreign oil to 10% in the next 10 years. Alright, now we're talking! He mentioned working to actually make use of wind and solar technology (as opposed to lip service), and using more efficient means of transportation. He even mentioned turning the lights off and using less AC at home! Not thrilling, but sensible and something that needed to be said. Above all, he specifically mentioned that he believes that if given some leadership, Americans will actually make some sacrifices and use less. Hallelujia! I've been waiting for a national figure to take that stand for 6 freaking years.

I think if Richardson has the cojones to really make this his issue, he could win. Or perhaps should. To my mind, energy is the most important national issue right now. If he's serious about fixing it, thereby improving national security, cleaning up the environment, creating jobs and a more modern workforce, and stimulating the economy, then he deserves serious consideration. Americans simply want someone who knows what their doing and has a serious vision about change. I commend the governor for being the first in the race to address energy. It definitely saved an otherwise scripted and pointless appearance.

I give it a charitable B-. Let's keep that substance coming.

Spider-Man 3

Ok, to get it right out of the way: Spider-Man 3 kind of rocks and kind of sucks a sack of balls at the same time. Not having read the comics, my main source of Spidey knowledge comes from the old Saturday morning cartoon, so my qualms do not stem from "omg they didn't do that in the comix, fuck sam raimi omg!" Instead, I look at this movie as a film, and as such, it's a fun movie with a whole lot of sloppiness and frayed edges. The main problem I have is that the writing gets cluttered with silly, easy attempts at wide audience laughter and unnecessary not-so-comedic interludes. How many singing and dancing numbers does there have to be, seriously?

Oh, and I'll be giving shit away, so fee free to stop reading any time.

The film has a lot of really good ideas, and given another script rewrite or two, they could have been handled more elegantly and seamlessly into the story. For one, I love the idea of an "evil" Spider-Man. When the symbiote merged to Spidey, all I could think was "Fuck yeah! Now, we're talking!" Ultimately, however, the potential is ruined when Peter Parker just turns emo and is kind of a dick to everyone for about 25 minutes. As he becomes more and more "affected" (yes, only just affected) by the symbiote, Parker unintentionally strikes MJ in a fit emo rage. While this scene could have been a powerful lesson to Peter, it is incredibly dwarfed and its steam is stolen due to a five minute Tobey Maguire fucking dance-a-thon 30 seconds prior. I want a true moral dilemma here, not a pretty boy character strutting through Manhattan winking at all the hot extras they hired. Come on Raimi, show me some regret, show me internal conflict! Sigh.

Anyway, much of the plot (and this is a very plotty film, for how much they try jam pack in there) is devoted to the deterioration of Peter and MJ's relationship due to Spider-Man's increasing ego and unrelenting lack of support. The other two films focused on this relationship a lot too, but it was far more balanced the first two times around. I get it: shit's not working out and all the guy characters are douchebags for more than 3/4 of the movie. Oh and by the way, Kirsten Dunst is fifty pounds and a shaved head short of being a dead ringer for Billy Corgan (can't take credit for that one, but I couldn't resist).

Along with the MJ/PP relationship, a lot of the narrative driving plot points are just ridiculous. Harry getting amnesia for the first half of the movie? Jesus Christ. The worst comes near the end when a very peripheral shell of a character determines the ultimate decision of Harry by explaining his thorough and entirely "medical" knowledge of Green Goblin hovercraft spike wounds. Give me a fucking break.

Visually, the film is great. This CGI-fest trumps the first two outings, as is to be expected, and Venom's scenes are top fucking notch (albeit brief). I didn't even mind Topher Grace. That being said, I enjoyed the side characters more than the actual main players. Jameson added the real comic relief for me, and Bruce Campbell's cameo probably marks the most enjoyable moment in the film for me. With all the whining and crying that goes on, it gets pretty tedious, especially near the end. And it's not a bad end to this trilogy, but compared to the other two (along with all the problems inherent in those movies as well), this one falls short. Enjoyable? Yes. Memorable? Not so much.

7 out of 10