My Last Week, RFK Comments & Indiana Jones

This is my last week and I will try to get a new post per day until Friday. I’ve gone back and forth on this a bit but the bottom line is that I don’t feel like going on so…It’ll probably be about four more entries until the end.

Tossing Endorsements Overboard

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has rejected the endorsements of two preachers (John Hagee and Rod Parsley) he sought to shore up conservative support during the primaries. Both pastors are those apocalyptical preachers that view everything through the prism of a single book of the Bible (Revelation) and end up saying outlandish things like how God caused the Holocaust to happen so the Jews would end up in Israel again…because it’s part of Biblical prophecy and the apocalypse can’t take place without the Jews in Israel.

Honestly, McCain probably never believed anything that Hagee or Parsley preach about and simply sought out their endorsements as part of political maneuvering, which while creepy on one level, sure beats the idea that he wanted their support because they share his views. It’s not the same as spending 20 years in a church with a pastor who served as your personal spiritual advisor…unless Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) wants to come out and say that he used Jeremiah Wright to gain street cred in Chicago while he was an up and coming local politician.

Other Primary Notes

While the long primary season might’ve hurt Obama in some ways, this article points out that it also gave him a shot at running in almost all 50 states and developing an especially sharp ground game.

This is an article about what McCain should be looking for in a running mate. Slow dancing skills were not one of the things mentioned.

The RFK Remark

You can’t mention the presidential primary without looking at the Robert Kennedy comments Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) recently made. In an interview discussing her chance at clinching the nomination and how primaries often aren’t decided until June, she said, “My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California.”

I saw the interview and the context the statement was made in and the interviewer skipped right by the assassination reference and stayed with the ‘primaries-don’t-end-before-June’ line of questioning. Her campaign defended the remark, which she had previously made in March, saying that she was merely talking about the history of primaries. Which I agree with…sorta.

You know how you can say something that means one thing on one level and has another meaning on another? That’s clearly what this is. It’s like when Obama during a debate talked about admiring Clinton for withstanding media attacks of the mid-90s and then started restating those attacks she withstood. It sounded like he was complimenting her but what he was actually doing was bringing up those old attacks. If Clinton attacked him for doing that, he could’ve responded by saying, ‘I agree those were unfair attacks and I was praising you for withstanding them.’ She would’ve looked silly and so she kept her mouth shut and he got free shots at her.

The difference with this is that there are people who remember where they were when Robert Kennedy was killed and his death brings back memories and because it had an effect on their lives, they’re going to have a strong, negative reaction to Clinton’s comments…regardless of their ‘intent.’

But for the Clinton campaign to act like people who took those comments in a negative way are somehow irrational, ignorant or irresponsible…I don’t know, it kind of explains why Clinton’s in the mess that she’s in after being a clear frontrunner for so long.

Oh, and one last thing about the comments. She keeps bringing up about her husband winning the nomination in June. The Iowa caucus happened six weeks later then than it did in 2008, so mid June in that cycle is the equivalent to late April in this one. Also, he clinched the nomination because he went over the pledged delegate count, he was virtually mathematically assured of winning the contest win he nearly swept Super Tuesday and his main competition, Governor Jerry Brown (D-CA) didn’t win a state after March 24th (which would’ve been the equivalent to the second week of February in this year’s cycle).

Her husband won 52% of the popular vote in what started out as a crowded field. He lost just nine states. So while he didn’t become the presumptive nominee until June, it wasn’t like this was a competitive race until June. And even if it was, the primary season started six weeks later than it did this year. Her comparison is just inaccurate.

As for the 1968 primary, it’s a totally different discussion. There was an incumbent president within the party who announced he wouldn’t run late into the game (the last day of March 1968). This through the nomination into a tailspin that guaranteed it couldn’t be resolved quickly. Second, the primary system is vastly different now than it was then. It was much less dependent on individual primaries back then. In fact, only a few states even held primaries. Third, the party was undergoing a realignment and therefore was deeply fractured. This caused votes to be split and final tallies to be very narrow. It wasn’t like the presidential nominee was going to be chosen by June. It was going to go to convention just like it always had in the past. Clinton’s statement ignores these realities.

If these two examples are her arguments for staying in…her argument isn’t very strong since neither bear even the slightest resemblance to the situation she finds herself in.

Clinton Has the Most Votes…Sorta

Clinton is also going around claiming to have the lead in the popular vote. But looking at this collection of information, she’s trailing in the popular vote any way you look at it unless you include Michigan, a state where Obama’s name didn’t appear on the ballot. By the most favorable count for Clinton (including Florida and Michigan), she leads by 164,654. It’s worth noting that Uncommitted finished second in Michigan with 238,168.

Random Lieberman Update

Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) continued his person War on Terror by demanding YouTube take down various Islamist videos that are deemed to encourage terrorism. YouTube took down some of the videos that contained violence or hate speech, which they said violated their community standards but did not take down all the videos in question.

New Bin Laden Tape

Osama bin Laden released a tape that called on Muslims to liberate Palestine. It was a short message, lasting just under 10 minutes and he didn’t give his review of the new Indiana Jones movie.

The Ruskies Are Seeing Red

Russia’s Communist party was upset with the new Indiana Jones movie. It’s unclear whether it was the overreliance on CGI effects or how every time Indy was doing a stunt, it was dark and shadowy and you couldn’t see Harrison Ford’s face.

I saw this movie over the weekend and it was a dreadful piece of shit. It should’ve been called ‘Indiana Jones and the Quest for a Heart’ because this movie was in desperate need of heart. It was a collection of stunts that didn’t have to make sense and a plot that seemed to borrow liberally from 'Alien v. Predator,' 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' and a bad 'X-Files' episode. Aside from being predictable and hokey, it was also boring. The action scenes were dull, the acting was soulless and the ending wouldn’t actually end…something that Steven Spielberg has struggled with for the last 10 years or so.

Oh…and Shia LeFluff as an motorcycle riding greaser? I buy it just less than I bought C. Thomas Howell in ‘The Outsiders.’

However, I had a blast making sarcastic comments throughout the film. So, I at least had a fun time, even if the movie sucked alien ass.

Karen Allen Hides Her Role

Karen Allen reprises her role that she played in the first movie. She claims that Spielberg originally wanted to keep her role in this picture a secret. She said, “Even after the film was announced, people would call me. 'Oh, it's too bad you're not going to be in the film.' I had to go along with it and say, 'Yeah, it's a shame.' When it was finally announced I was in it, it was a huge relief. I was having to make up stories for why I wasn't in it, and I was finding it excruciating to have to do that.”

Why was she having to make up stories for why she wouldn’t be in this Indiana Jones movie? I mean, she wasn’t in the second or third one? You think Short Round (the little Goonies kid from the Temple of Doom) is explaining to friends and family why he isn’t in this one? No, he’s still explaining why he hasn’t done a real movie since 'Encino Man' and telling stories about what Howard Hessman’s REALLY like.

At the Dwarf House

I ate at the Chick-fil-a Dwarf House with my mom and brother over the weekend. She had salad with a side of salad. That’s not a joke. This wasn’t her choice though. She ordered a salad and the waitress brought out a side salad and then a little bit later, she came by and gave my mom the main salad. It was weird.

I had a steak, which I knew was a mistake. I mean, Chick-fil-a uses cows as their spokesmen and here the company is serving chopped up cows for lunch. I should’ve ordered something else and when I got sick, I knew I had it coming.

I did get to walk through the tiny dwarf door though, so it was at least kinda worth it.

Hey, do dwarves get offended by the Dwarf House? Do any dwarves go there or do they avoid it? Would they use the dwarf door or the door for real sized people? It’d be hard to laugh if I saw a dwarf or a midget at a Dwarf House.

The Great DJ

There's this band called the Ting Tings and when I first heard this song, I didn't know the name of it and I thought it was annoying. Then I heard it again. Still annoying. Then I heard the name of it, 'The Great DJ' and I felt like I was supposed to like it, so I listened again. And I don't know if it's the dancing, the strings (ee ee ee ee ee ee ee) or if it's the drums, the drums, the drums, the drums, the drums, the drums, the drums...but damn it, I started liking this song. I'm sure it's probably not going to translate for anyone else but just in case, take a listen.