The Chris Moeller Archives

Hopping off the fence

Last year, George W. Bush promised the American people that he would fire any cabinet official found to have leaked the name of a CIA operative to the press. Yesterday, with his chief political strategist, Karl Rove, sitting squarely in the investigator's crosshairs, he revised his promise to fire anyone found to have broken the law. The shift in standard allows Rove's continued service in the administration until the commission of the crime has been established.

It's comforting to know that criminal activity won't be tolerated in the West Wing of the White House.
In sports parlance, this is called "moving the goalposts."

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The timing of today's Supreme Court nomination should serve to temporarily take some heat off of Rove, but New York Times columnist Frank Rich believes the Rove angle is, itself, a bogus subplot, secondary to the larger story about how we were led falsely into war.

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Billy Bob Thornton is that rarest of actors-- a talented and unique entity on the screen, and a genuinely interesting person off. He's been in the public eye for less than a decade, and he's already given us five evergreens-- "Sling Blade," "A Simple Plan," "The Man Who Wasn't There," "Monster's Ball," and "Bad Santa." The secret of his success, I believe, is that he's truly from somewhere, and he carries that somewhere with him in his work. Here's an engaging profile from the Village Voice.

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I can remain silent on this issue no longer: the general public disdain for Paris Hilton has gone completely overboard. The latest mock outrage by tabloid consumers and clever radio disc jockeys is over the fact that the hotel heiress asked to be married at a church in London where only royalty has been married previously. Jesus, it doesn't hurt to ask, does it? What makes Paris think she's worthy of royalty? they ask. Well, what makes anyone think they're worthy of royalty, especially the royals? Jeez, Louise. I realize we're conditioned to hate anyone rich and attractive, but this girl's taking a drubbing. Doesn't it say something that she's willing to laugh at herself on television? And hasn't she already taken her public comeuppance with the whole sex tape thing? She might come up short on talent in television and film circles, but she's hardly alone in that regard.

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It may seem like a golden age for home movie entertainment, but we're not there yet. Sunday night I was fixin' to re-watch Woody Allen's "Radio Days" from 1987. Problem is, it's not out on DVD yet, and the video copy at my local store wasn't due back for two more days. So it was off to Blockbuster.
Are you aware they have no video tapes there anymore? A few new releases, I guess, but only the DVD format on the comedy and drama shelves. Not only was there no "Radio Days," there were only four comedies under 'R.'
This has to change.

posted by CM @ 9:57 PM