Cheap Thrills: Sarah Palin Goes to Debate Boot Camp

So this VP debate is coming up on Thursday. Quite frankly, I’m more excited for it than I was for last week’s presidential one. I think it’s because Palin has been in debate “bootcamp” since last week, and I picture her standing in camo at a podium barking her answers at Beavis and Butthead’s gym [...]

Amuse Bouche: Mr. Lumpy Face and Mr. Tall Head Debate

The presidential debate last Friday has been analyzed and critiqued to the hilt, especially the candidates words.
Check out this funny video by Scott Bateman that dissects the body language of John McCain and Barack Obama and what wasn’t said in last week’s presidential debate. A lumpy-faced McCain takes on a tall-headed Obama in this clever [...]

American Voters: What the World is Saying about You

Dear American Voter,
Have you ever wondered what the rest of the world is saying about you?
Here’s an idea:

“America is not the savior of the world, nor its hope. It is up to you Americans to make sure that you are loved more than you are hated.”
“Anyone who is American, who thrives on the [...]

Daily News Roundup: Party Like It’s 1987

The Dow’s 777-point loss? that’s Monday’s news… Bush spoke Tuesday morning, like he did the day before, urging members of Congress to pass the bailout plan. He said he hoped negotiations for new bailout legislation would move forward when members of congress returned to Washington on Wednesday, after the Jewish New Year. Known as a [...]

McCain and the Times are Both Gamblers

And the hits just keep on coming. A front-page story in Sunday’s New York Times detailed John McCain’s extensive ties to the casino lobby and his connections to American Indian tribes and their gaming interests. The 4,600-word article also highlighted McCain’s personal penchant for gambling.
Last week the paper disclosed the mortgage company Freddie Mac had [...]

Amuse Bouche: Sarah Silverman As Political Go-Between

Sarah Silverman attempts to woo grandchildren to participate in a great schlep to their Florida-bound Jewish Nanas in order to help the country get Obama to the White House.

Sarah: you’re hilarious. I love you. But you do crass better than you do politics. And when it comes to schnoz and money-grubbing references, I’m over it. [...]

Happy Birthday Horatio

September 29, 2008: Just taking a brief moment to wish Admiral Horatio Nelson a happy 250th birthday.
Bearing the distinguished titles of viscount, knight, baron, most noble lord, vice admiral, duke and knight grand, I like to think of him as Mr. Trafalgar himself.
His defeat of the French and Spanish fleet during the Napoleonic wars is [...]

Little Britain USA: Class, Culture and Dignity?

Emily Henry takes a look at the new import HBO sketch-comedy series Little Britain USA

Amuse Bouche: Repentance at a Price

Just in time for the Jewish New Year.

Brilliant.

Pastors Take Politics Into Their Own Hands

I thought we had a separation of church and state in the United States. Apparently, some ministers overlooked that memo.
This past Sunday, Christian ministers across the country took the laws into their own hands by telling their congregations to vote for John McCain.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, at least 33 ministers knew [...]

The Monday Movie Report

This is a sad week for the Movie Report [Ed note-and the first!]. Academy Award-winning actor, philanthropist and race car driver Paul Newman passed away on Friday night.  He was 83.
Newman was beloved throughout the world, starring in classic films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Cool Hand Luke, Cat on a Hot [...]

Where Have All the Photo Editors Gone?

Word broke that Staci Schwartz, whose talent has illuminated the pages of The Village Voice for the last eight years, was laid off last Thursday so the paper could cut costs and pass her photo editing duties onto the art director.
Since the formidable merger of the two biggest alternative newspaper chains—New Times, which owned 11 [...]

A Different View: Watching the Debate with Local Republicans

While millions of Americans tuned in to watch senators John McCain and Barack Obama face off in their first presidential debate, I headed to a neat little apartment in Marina Del Rey to see how the local Republicans reacted to the debate.
It probably wasn’t your typical Republican debate watch party. For one, the host, Carol [...]

The “R” Word: A Brief History of Race in the Election

Although the talk about race in the current presidential election has been a long time coming, it is now here and in plain view. A September 2008 AP/Yahoo poll confirmed what everyone secretly thought: Race is an issue: “If there was no racial prejudice among voters, Sen. Barack Obama would receive about six percentage [...]

Debate Analysis: You Mean Obama Won?

The first debate is in the can and apparently, I got it all wrong.
The most compelling portion of the event came before it even began, when a haggard John McCain crawled back in front of the press, tail between legs, and said he would come out and play after all, his bluff called by the [...]