politics « Dee Savoy

Archive for the 'politics' Category

Jul

grasping at straws

By writerds 9 Comments

Categories: entertainment, in the news, media, politics and wtf?
Tags: election, hilary, mccain, obama, sad

I haven’t made it any secret that I want Obama to win in November. At first I was for Hilary until she and Bill got on my nerves, but she’s out of the race so watcha gonna do? Now I’m thinking McCain should do now what Hilary should have done before she was forced out and Jesse Jackson should have done before his unfortunate, sour grapes comments–get the hell out of Obama’s way.

Now McCain is likening Obama to such political luminaries as Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, calling Obama the biggest celebrity in the world. Is that all you’ve got McCain? Obama isn’t qualified to run the country because . . . people like him? Whoa! Ride him out of town on a rail for that.

I’m sure you can find video of that commercial all over the web. Here’s another bit of video that is just plain sad. I also admit most of it is taken out of context, but it’s still pitiful.

McCain is reminding me more and more of some old curmudgeon crabby because his lap rug is out of place. So my message to McCain–quit grousing grandpa. Go on and take your nap now. You’ll feel better later.

Jul

stupid like a fox?

By writerds 4 Comments

Categories: politics and wtf?
Tags: barack obama, jesse jackson, King, scandal

Please, Jesse, tell me it ain’t so that you managed to go on Fox News of all places, threaten to do bodily harm to a presidential candidate and let the “N” word come out of your mouth to a reporter who looked caught between not wanting to know and salivating to hear.

Honestly, my hope is that Jackson, knowing that people had equated Obama with him, found a way to put distance between the two men in the public’s eye. Otherwise, I don’t even know what to say about Jackson’s latest appearance.

In many ways, I feel sorry for Jesse. He’s been at this game since King was King. The way people speak about him now it’s as if he’s always been some sort of buffoon. He may have always been narcissistic and self-absorbed, but he made a decent presidential run, even if his politics guaranteed the majority would never vote for him. Jesse’s done pretty good by black people, too, working for their interests around the world.

And what took Jackson out? A scandal with some woman who fathered his child. Big freaking deal. I don’t care if he’s a reverend. I don’t care that betraying his marriage makes him a hypocrite. I think many in the black community abandoned and ridiculed him for no good reason. We humans, whether black, white, or anything in between have little tolerance for those who purport themselves to be heroes having any flaws.

Jesse, I’d love it if you could tell me this slip was part of some plan, but it seems you let your lip slip before your brain can restrain itself from commenting. I remember the stir you caused with a certain H____town comment about my hometown New York (you know if I don’t say the N word I’m sure not going to touch the H word). Put this kind of crap under the column of things that just make me sad.

Jul

The Politics of Smear

By writerds 2 Comments

Categories: politics and wtf?
Tags: cover, new yorker, obamas, racism, satire

Not since Miller’s great taste/less filling debate have folks seemed equally and vociferously divided over a popular image.

Enter Barry Blitt’s controversial cover for the July 21 edition of the New Yorker magazine. According to a poll I saw on my local news 47% of those polled thought it was satire; 48% thought it was racist drivel. At the very best, whatever you call it, the use of the artwork was ill-advised. I’d rather not get into the worst.

In the picture, Obama is dressed in traditional African garb; Michelle is tricked out a la Angela Davis–all while a flag burns in the Oval office fireplace and Bin Ladin’s picture hangs on the wall.

Leaving aside the intention of the artist and the magazine for a moment, what I want to know is why it didn’t occur to anyone that such a cover would blow up in their faces. Was there no voice of reason to say, hey, maybe these images might be misconstrued whatever our intent?

Guess not. The New Yorker tends to thrive on controversy, annoying liberals and conservatives almost equally. But a note to the folks at the New Yorker–it ain’t satire if folks don’t find it funny. The point of satire is to expose the absurd. It’s not satire if what you appear to be exposing is character not caricature. Captioning the piece The Politics of Fear doesn’t change the fact that the cover more likely reinforced detractors views of the Obamas as being militant, Muslim extremists rather than ridiculing them.

Now that’s funny, and not in a ha ha sort of way.

To read more go here.

On a more positive note, at least it beats this–

Jun

A waist is a terrible thing to mind

By writerds 0 Comments

Categories: media and politics
Tags: dieting, heart health, secret life of dee, smoking, tim russert

One of the aftereffects of Tim Russert’s sudden death is the intense focus on cardiac health across the country. Waist size has emerged as a leading indicator of heart attack risk. Men should keep their waists 40″ or less. For women it’s 35″ or less. Since I quit smoking my waist, as well as the rest of me, has ballooned a bit. So contemplating getting out that tape measure is an exercise in stress induction, which makes your belly fatter, which presses on your other organs which puts strain on your heart. You see the problem here, don’t you.

On top of that, your waist should be no wider around than half your height. Now, I’m five foot nothing. Not even another half inch to play with. That means my waist should be no more than thirty inches across. Damn! These two skinny minis they interviewed on TV had twenty-nine inch waists, so I have no shot whatsoever.

Luckily I stopped smoking long enough ago that I feel ready to diet off those extra pounds.

And speaking of Tim Russert, it is said that after Bruce Springsteen’s ukelele strumming version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow was played at his funeral, mourners walked out to see . . . a rainbow.

Here’s a tribute to Tim . . .

Jun

Tim Russert, 58, is dead

By writerds 0 Comments

Categories: media and politics
Tags: media, reportage, tim russert

I have to admit I was annoyed at NBC last week for canceling my favorite Sunday program, Meet the Press, in favor of some sporting event I couldn’t care less about. Clinton had just conceded defeat to Obama and I was dying to know what Tim Russert’s commentary on that event would be. I guess the world will never know, since Russert died yesterday of what is said to be a massive heart attack.

I was not only shocked by Russert’s sudden death, but profoundly saddened. There are few things in this life one can count on, but Russert’s hard-hitting, penetrating reportage was one of them. My favorite tactic of his was to let guests blather on about what they said or what they did, then in rebuttal he’d pull out clips from earlier shows to refute whatever the guest just said.

Yet for all his professional success, Russert was still a regular Joe and a family man. He’d just returned from a family trip to Italy to celebrate his son Luke’s graduation from Boston College to prepare for this Sunday’s program when his heart gave out.

I could list a host of Russet’s career accomplishments, if I were so inclined, or post a list of luminaries with kind words to say at Russert’s passing. But I think the most relevant thing I can say is that in my house, as well as millions of others, if it’s Sunday, Tim Russert will be missed.

Jun

Grace under pressure

By writerds 2 Comments

Categories: politics
Tags: politics

I watched Hillary Clinton give her concession speech this morning, and have to admit I was quite moved. At one time, I was a staunch supporter of hers, salivating over the chance for the first woman to make it to the White House as something other than the president’s missus. But after some of Clinton’s missteps, foibles and, let’s face it, underhandedness, I switched camps.

Then, as the pundits expounded before Hillary took the podium, i wondered what she would say. According to the pundits, Clinton needed to give on helluva speech, spoken on just the right note, to start to mend the Democratic party in time to win in November. She needed, as I think Tim Russert put it, to, not only concede, but to endorse Obama in a way that her constituency wouldn’t refuse to vote at all or defect to the McCain camp out of spite.

I wondered if Clinton had that much graciousness in her. I half expected her to fall short of the goal for her speech, but the more she spoke, the more impressed I became. She really made a decent call for her supporters to help elect Obama, if only to make sure there wasn’t another Republican in the Oval Office.

After a bit of a plug for herself and her supporters for coming so far, Clinton exhorted her supporters to help Barack Obama become the next president of the United States.

But to my mind, where she really excelled was in talking about the impact her candidacy has had for women. Thanks to her, the ultimate glass ceiling has been cracked, if not broken. Those are her words, but I believe them, too. If she had stuck with this hopeful message instead of drowning in offensive, quasi and real racial insults and other nonsense, I wonder whether she would have had to make that speech.

Another thing that struck me was her smile. I don’t think I’ve seen another candiate bow out with such elan. In fact I’m sure I remember a few men with great big tears in their eyes (and perhaps running down their faces) when it came time to give up the ghost. So much for women being the weaker sex.

To read more about it, go here. Then again, there’s always this guy.


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A skewed sense of humor has kept me sane through 10+ years of teaching and almost as many writing. I invite you to come in and look around. Leave a comment if you like. My goal is to leave you with a smile on your face and a few new thoughts to mull over. If you like the blog, please tell your friends. If not, tell your enemies.