Monthly Archives: May 2012

Not Having My Baby

by

3

Where is Paul Anka when we need him?

Incredible Shrinking Country

In Japan, birthrates are now so low and life expectancy so great that the nation will soon have a demographic profile that matches that of the American retirement community of Palm Springs. “Gradually but relentlessly,” the demographer Nick Eberstadt writes in the latest issue of The Wilson Quarterly, “Japan is evolving into a type of society whose contours and workings have only been contemplated in science fiction.”

Ross Douthat, Op-Ed Columnist, New York Times (April 28, 2012)

Killing Bin Laden Ad

by

2

Watch this controversial 2012 ad that gives Obama credit for his commander-in-chief decisiveness about killing Osama bin Laden. Many critics, including myself, consider this ad from Obama’s “Truth Team” to be tacky and not befitting the office of president of the United States.

Surprise, I’m in Afghanistan! (Obama, that is)

by

0

President Barack Obama made a surprise trip to Afghanistan to announce a new strategic agreement with the government and to meet with the troops.  Read the transcript of his speech to the American people from Bagram Air Base.  Today there are 90,000 American troops stationed in Afghanistan, almost three times the number when Obama took office three years ago.  The American president pledges that the U.S. will hand over security to Afghan forces in 2014.  Is this a campaign stop or just the president doing his commander-in-chief duties?  Perhaps both.

And what is significant about the 2nd of May?

Obama: Comedian or Commander-in-Chief?

by

1

Watch a professional comedian Jimmy Kimmel do his comedy routine

Watch President Barack Obama do his comedy routine

On Saturday, 28 April, the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner took place at the Washington Hilton.  The charity event, which raises money to support journalism scholarships, includes a popular American comedian as well as the American president engaging in a stand-up routine.  This year’s comedian was Jimmy Kimmel, host of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” included several digs at the state of American journalism.  Here are a few:

What’s black and white and red (read) all over? Nothing anymore.  (The answer used to be “a newspaper.”)

Some people say journalism is in decline, they say you’ve become too politicized, too focused on sensationalism, they say you no longer honor your duty to inform America but instead actively divide us so that your corporate overlord can rake in the profits.  I don’t have a joke for this, it’s just what some people say.

Kimmel was expected to poke fun at the American president, Barack Obama, and here are a few of his jokes.

Mr. President, I know you won’t be able to laugh at any of my jokes about the Secret Service so cover your ears if that is physically possible.

If you told me when I was a kid I would be standing on a dais with President Barack Obama, I would have said, ‘The president’s name is Barack Obama?’

Mr. President, remember when the country rallied around you in hopes of a better tomorrow.  That was hilarious.

You know the real reason people think you are from Kenya has nothing to do with your birth certificate.  It is the fact that you lost so much weight everyone thought you were the Kenyan that won the Boston Marathon.

He also went after the Republicans in attendance and the elites in the room.

I have my own theory about Lincoln’s death.  I think John Wilkes Booth was innocent, and I don’t even think it was an assassination.  I think Lincoln had a vision of what the Republican Party would become in 100 years, and he shot himself.

What a collection of people.  Here in one room we have members of the media, politicians, corporate executives, advertisers, lobbyists, and celebrities.  Everything that is wrong with America is here in this room tonight.

Obama got in some good one-liners too:

Four years ago, I was locked in a brutal primary battle with Hillary Clinton. Four years later she won’t stop drunk-texting me from Cartegana.

Obama on Romney: We both have degrees from Harvard. I have one, he has two. What a snob.

Last year at this time, this very weekend, we finally delivered justice to one of the world’s most notorious individuals. (Displays Photo of Donald Trump)

What is the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull? A pitbull is delicious.


The Washington-Hollywood Nexus

by

0

White House Correspondents’ Weekend

“Yes, the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is decadent and depraved. It is elitist and shallow, smug and insidery, a three-day orgy of corporate preening and celebrity suck-up so far removed from its earnest D.C. journalism roots as to be completely meaningless.  But you can’t fight it. You can’t change it. So, relax. Surrender. Just try to make the best of it, okay?”

This is the Super Bowl of politics, where Hollywood takes over Washington.  It’s a brief triumph over the joke that Washington is Hollywood for ugly people.  I know a lot about this connection between Hollywood and Washington.  I lived in Washington, D.C. for nine years (1986-1995) and have lived in the vicinity of Hollywood (Thirty Mile Zone or “TMZ”) since 2000.  If Washington is Hollywood for ugly people, then one might observe that Hollywood is Washington for dumb people.  That’s a very coarse observation, but the premium in Hollywood is sex appeal and physical appearance, while the premium in Washington is smarts and advanced degrees.  Hollywood types like George Clooney are able to cover both bases; he has sex appeal but also is well versed on human rights abuses in Africa.  There are still many Americans who disdain both Hollywood and Washington, Hollywood for its decadence and Washington for its overspending.