- I think John Scalzi has it right about this health care bill that passed in the House yesterday:
As such there was no real political or moral philosophy to the GOP’s action, it was all short-term tactics, i.e., take an idea a majority of people like (health care reform), lie about its particulars long enough and in a dramatic enough fashion to lower the popularity of the idea, and then bellow in angry tones about how the president and the Democrats are ignoring the will of the people. Then publicly align the party with the loudest and most ignorant segment of your supporters, who are in part loud because you’ve encouraged them to scream, and ignorant because you and your allies in the media have been feeding them bad information. Whip it all up until health care becomes the single most important issue for both political parties — an all-in, must win, absolutely cannot lose issue.
- Meanwhile, Poppy Z. Brite has some harsh things to say about David Simon’s new HBO show Treme. The title of her post should tell you exactly how she feels about their filming in her hometown of New Orleans. It raises some interesting questions — namely, are some wounds too raw to be fictionalized, much less re-enacted for television in the same place? And what, if anything, is Treme‘s responsibility to the neighborhoods in which it films? Is it meeting that responsibility, just by bringing jobs and revenue to the city? (After all, you can’t please everyone, no more how sensitive your approach.) Can Simon, as an outsider to the city, even hope to do the tragedy that was Katrina justice? Frankly, you couldn’t stop me from watching this show, and I think if it’s handled with even half the depth and honesty as The Wire, it could terrific and emotional television.
- Paul Di Filippo has the line-up for the ultimate Beatles-reunion band. This is either a terrfic or terrible idea, I’m not sure which.
- Oh great, a book of inspirational quotes from Sarah Palin. I can’t fucking wait. [via]
- And finally, I’ve mostly avoided all these Chatroulette videos (and the site itself), but Ben Folds’ live-show use of it was surprisingly awesome [via]:
I’ll take that to mean you won’t be watching her new Mark Burnett produced reality show – ‘Sarah Palin’s Alaska’? Oy.
The paper has been full of editorials bitching about one thing after another for the past several months. The Saints parade tied up traffic downtown. People camping out and staking territory on the neutral ground for Mardi Gras. Crescent City Classic closed off too many streets and had brass bands playing at 9 am. And now this… This used to be a city where all were welcome and the motto was laissez les bon temps roulez (let the good times roll). Now it’s just full of whiney, possessive, self important grumps. Do I like to be awakened early in the morning because a random group of people are second lining down my street? No, not particularly. But I embrace it for what it is, that bit of something that makes this place unlike any other city in the world. If you want cookie cutter suburbia, move your ass to Metairie or the West Bank…