Gallup came out with their first job approval numbers for President Obama. Historically, they're downright stratospheric, befitting his position as The One. In the history of Gallup polling, only my man JFK had higher numbers in his first Gallup poll as president...Here are the first poll numbers for each president in the postwar era at the outset of their administration, first week in office...
1. Kennedy (72%)
2. Eisenhower/Obama (68%)
3. Carter (66%)
4. Nixon (59%)
5. Clinton (58%)
6. Dubya (57%)
7. Reagan/Bush 41 (51%)
Knowing that Eastwood's seminal performance in "Gran Torino" was utterly snubbed, thus depriving the awards of artistic legitimacy, I'm going to offer up my picks for Oscar, pretending the Academy consists of...me.
I'm going with the list of nominees provided...as far as I'm concerned, "Tropic Thunder" was the Best Picture of the Year and Eastwood deserved Best Actor...Langella WAS great though as The Great Satan of American politics...
Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey, Jr for "Tropic Thunder"
Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis for "Doubt"
Best Actress: Meryl Streep for "Doubt"
Best Actor: Frank Langella for "Frost/Nixon"
Best Director: Ron Howard for "Frost/Nixon" (make-up award, he should have gotten it for
"Cinderella Man" three years ago.)
Best Picture: "Doubt"
What has this achieved, exactly? $350 billion later, the banks still aren't lending, the economic cycle has not been reversed or repealed, and nobody quite knows where the money went...
And we want to do more of this? $350 billion more for the President to dispense? On top of the $825 billion in stimulus?
The acronym needs to be changed...SCAM...
The Empire State has a new U.S. Senator, and it would appear that after much fumbling and bumbling, Governor David Paterson has backed into a wise selection in the person of U.S. Representative Kirsten Gillibrand. Twice elected to the House in the most reliably Republican district in the state, Gillibrand brings considerable political acumen and diversity of thought to the Senate Democratic caucus. A brilliant fund-raiser, Gillibrand will be a formidable adversary for any primary challenger a year from now. Moreover, as an experienced legislator, she is eminently more qualified for the position than Lady Caroline, who, in the tradition of her late uncle, attempted to make a gift of herself to the people of New York, only to be awkwardly rebuffed by the governor, and quite probably, Senator Chuck Schumer (who is understandably weary of being upstaged by celebrities in the N.Y. Senate delegation).
Most satisfying of all however is the unhinged discomfiture, indeed, fury, of Big Apple liberals in response to the Gillibrand appointment. Much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments has ensued from the Trendy Left quarter of Manhattan at the word of Gillibrand's ascent, showing that Obama's Annunciation/ Coronation/Transfiguration this past Tuesday was insufficient manna for The Tribe of Liberalism. It is not enough for them to have driven the GOP from the Oval Office, or to have drafted themselves a blank check to remake the nation in the image of Sweden or Canada. They want the World.
One of the great crimes of the week was the Academy Awards' omission of Clint Eastwood from the list of acting nominees. "Gran Torino" was arguably better than "True Grit," the ambling shaggy dog of a western that garnered John Wayne the Best Actor trophy in 1969, and Eastwood's depiction of Walt Kowalski was more nuanced and poignant than the Duke as Rooster Cogburn...my point being that Eastwood is due for a lifetime achievement award (a la Wayne, Newman for "The Color of Money," Connery in "The Untouchables"), AND he gave a great, iconic tour-de-force performance...
"Gran Torino" has too many flaws to be considered a great film. The script is clunky, and much of the acting is wooden. However, Eastwood's Kowalski is an anti-hero for the ages.
Kowalski is a stand-in for The Greatest Generation, an elderly auto worker and Korean War vet with a Vesuvian contempt for twenty-first century America. Much has been made of the racist dialogue that flows easily from Eastwood's lips throughout the film. For me though, the most significant Eastwood moment is at the movie's beginning, when his character is standing in church at his wife's funeral Mass.
Walt watches his ill-mannered, insensitive, slovenly grandchildren lumber into their grandmother's funeral service, embodying everything about modern American society that many of us loathe. Walt's facial expressions at the sight of such colossal rudeness speaks volumes on behalf of many of us.
It's not that Walt is pious. He makes it clear shortly thereafter that he has little use for religion. It's the unwillingness to exhibit just a shred of dignity, respect, and propriety at the most solemn of occasions that evokes his wrath and secession from his biological kin. It's the signature moment of the movie for me. It just goes to the heart of what's wrong with America today, and why deserve every bit of recessionary woe that's coming our way.
It is no wonder that offical Hollywood didn't get or embrace "Gran Torino." Judging by the box office grosses though, Eastwood has struck a chord.
Go see "Gran Torino."
For people who profess to lead a major political party, the GOP congressional leaders were an abject and feeble lot in the aftermath of yesterday's stimulus meeting with the President. While it is unclear whether they were Jedi mind-tricked by His Worship or just intrinsically lame, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner were a sad and pitiful bunch as they ambled up to the microphones outside the White House.
McConnell's capitulation to the spending spree was as terse as it was significant, with the senior senator from Kentucky apparently forswearing any possible filibuster from the loyal opposition, stating that the Senate would have the stimulus on the President's desk, ready for signature in a month. Perhaps the gentleman from Kentucky will even provide the President with pens with which to volley hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars into the ether.
Boehner was barely better. For openers, could he please lay off the Man-Tan? Nobody from Ohio looks that bronzed in winter. It's just getting ridiculous Congressman...COME ON!!! As far as defending the Treasury from epic fiscal folly, Boehner was less than full-throated, or for that matter coherent, in his opposition. He mumbled concern about "the size of the package," which when repeated (as Boehner kept doing for five minutes) sounded like something else...but this is a G-rated blog, so innuendo quickly withdrawn. He then muttered something vaguely disapproving about hundreds of millions of dollars for contraceptives, which combined with the words stimulus and package REALLY sounded like something else (Please Congressman, not in front of the children...). What it did not sound like was any manner of lucid and persuasive defense of fiscal conservatism, which his caucus purportedly represents.
To some extent, Boehner's verbal flailings and flounders, while earnest, are beside the point. House rules for debate and voting are the exclusive province of the majority. Nancy Pelosi can do as she pleases with the House. A Senate filibuster is the only thing that can prevent the enactment of the liberal spendfest, and Mitch McConnell made it clear yesterday that the Senate GOP will go the way of France in May 1940. Boehner's rhetorical fecklessness, while sad and piteous, is emblematic of a larger, self-willed irrelevance.
Which begs the following question...what exactly is the point of electing Republicans to Congress?
After a worrisome slump around the holidays, Gang Green is dominant once again...Heading into Sunday's showdown in the Garden with Dallas, the Celts boast a seven game winning streak with some astonishing maulings of Phoenix, Miami, and Orlando, with the last two coming on the road. Boston has the depth to defend its title, and if they get past Cleveland in late May, another banner will be hoisted in the Garden in November...L.A. has the best record, but in a seven game series, their defense disappears...it already vanishes in long stretches now...
Cleveland remains the biggest concern and obstacle...
I took a brief break from blogging this past week to ascertain my First Amendment rights with regard to this blog and my employment in the public sector (for whom I in no way to speak)...I'm happy to report that everything is kosher, and I'm back to pontificate and ruminate on current events...
