Brief Observations

Weekend’s here, and while waiting on some Bunker stuff, music video stuff
and Bunker-documentary stuff to come together, figured I’d take a break from
the filmmaking updates to make a few comments and observations.

1. BP’s oil cap seems to be working. Finally. Yet, while the administration
and BP try to put a happy face on it, where’s the outrage? Is the mainstream
media really going to let this one go despite the fact that for nearly 90
days, the administration stood by and whistled as oil gushed into the Gulf
unchecked? Why isn’t anybody beating down the White House doors over the
fact that we *still* don’t have ships rushing in from other nations which
have offered help to clean the Gulf up? Why hasn’t Obama waived the Jones
Act in order to facilitate the fastest possible ecological recovery effort?
Why is the administration looking the other way as BP pumps tons of
dispersants into the Gulf that are so toxic nearly every country in Europe
with so much as a decent sized lake has banned its use? Is the media so
invested in this guy that they’re going to give him a pass on allowing one
of the worst environmental disasters in the past century to play itself out
while he postured and tsk-tsked at the damage without addressing it head-on?
Tell you what, it’s easy to make comparisons, but if Bush had been in office
every environmental group would have been storming the castle with
pitchforks and torches (bio-diesel torches, of course), demanding immediate
action. Like, within 72 hours. Obama futzes around for nearly three *months*
and everybody’s glad handing now??? Are you kidding?

2. For everyone who thinks Mel Gibson’s career is dead, come on, be serious.
Take a step back. You think a guy with Gibson’s earning power is done for?
If you believe that, Look at Victor Salva, and tell me, if a convicted
kiddie diddler (Salva pled guilty to 5 counts of felony child molestation in
1988) can keep getting work, that Mel Gibson can’t? No doubt, Gibson is an
ass, and a bigot. Fine. But if being a pedophile with a conviction for
sexually abusing a young boy isn’t a death sentence in Hollywood…what’s it
take?

3. Robert Byrd croaks, and suddenly he’s beloved. Forget his KKK past,
forget that he once used senate procedural rules to bar a disabled woman
from using her guide dog on the senate floor-despite knowing she had used
the dog during the previous session without issue, and forget Byrd’s
unparalleled pork-barreling. The talking points of the day when he kicked
all pretty much stuck to the dem party line, “He’d given that up (his racist
viewpoint) long, long ago. He was a champion of diversity!” Oh yeah? Well,
it wasn’t all that long ago that Byrd was using the term niggers on FOX
News, folks, remember that.

4. Now that the World Cup is over, besides a few Spaniards you might
know…you still experiencing soccer fever in your neck of the woods? No?
Exactly. Soccer now goes back to being a sport largely ignored by everybody
save for parents of kids who can play cheap because all you need is cleats,
unlike hockey or football or baseball, which cost more. And, by the time
those kids are 12-14, they’re moving to sports with more wide appeal to
Americans, like basketball and football. And, by the time you get to
college-age? Only scholarship kids are still interested in the sport, and a
tiny fraction of the American sports-viewing audience. You think soccer is
going to rival the big 4 any time soon, as many pundits were proclaiming
when the U.S. team was still alive in the tournament? Dream on.

5. The economy still sucks, jobless rate is still in the 9.7% range, and the
administration is crowing about how many jobs the porkulis bill saved? Nancy
Pelosi is out there saying in video interviews that unemployment checks are
great job-creators? Huh? Did Nancy take Economics 101 in high school, like I
did? Maybe if this was 1850 and the economy was more rooted in sales of
bread, milk and food staples she’d have a little ground to stand on, but
given that the congress has approved extension after extension after
extension of unemployment benefits (and are about to do so yet again), and
that *plus* a trillion bucks in so-called stimulus money haven’t created any
jobs, ain’t it time to admit you screwed the pooch and try what worked for
Kennedy, Reagan and Bush-tax cuts and small business incentives? Or, isn’t
four years of a huge congressional majority enough to get the unemployment
rate back to what Bush had it at during the first 6 years he held office,
which was down around 4.5%? What, that wasn’t good enough for you?

6. Jesse Jackson has every right to whine about Dan Gilbert ripping LeBron
James. But…slave mentality? Really, Jesse, you passed over Oscar Grant to
grandstand about *this?* What horseshit. Gilbert (like those fans who were
burning LeBron’s jersey in the streets outside the bar down the block from
the Cavs’ arena who *weren’t* white) has every reason to feel betrayed.
LeBron was the city’s hope. In fact, he was the face of that whole city, 10
story mural tall. And, he ignored the hometown boy aspect to go play where
he’d have a better chance to win a title or three. Which is fine. Feeling
betrayed when one of your own bolts for greener pastures is natural. But,
Jackson bringing up slavery is so beyond the pale that it’s repugnant.
Remember, LeBron went elsewhere to take *less* money, Jesse, not more. He
went to win titles, not because the Cavs were abusing him by offering him a
bigger salary and promising to try and sign an even better supporting cast.
(This, despite last year’s supporting cast widely thought to be enough to
get him to the finals). Gilbert and the Cavs were offering LeBron, by all
accounts, a whole lot more than the Heat could afford. But LeBron wanted to
win, so he and D. Wade and Chris Bosh all are gonna make less than they
*could* to try and win. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with the city
and Gilbert turning on their See Ya Later superstar, either. Only thing
wrong here? The race-baiting ‘reverend’ yapping because he needed to drum up
some instant face time on CNN. That people actually gave him any coverage
shows just how willing the media is to pander to the lowest common
denominator. Unless, of course, they were just afraid Jesse would give
frequent partner in shakedown crime Al Sharpton a call and camp out in front
of their studios. That might be part of it, too…

7) Is Lindsay Lohan really that big a deal? Seriously? Not sure which is
worse, seeing idiots who somehow think it’s wrong to lock up this tabloid
sales-generator simply because she’s been in a couple of movies, or the
hypocrites who are thumping their chests and cheering that she finally got
some jail time when they’ve got their own DUI histories or drug arrests, or
prescription pill scandals and/or addictions in the closet.

8. How many stiffs can M. Night Shyamalan churn out before somebody takes
him aside and straightens him out? I mean, the guy has talent, everybody
knows it. But when pro athletes get in a slump, like batters or golfers,
they bring in swing coaches and hitting gurus who try and get them back on
track. Doesn’t M. Night have a buddy who’s making hits who can give him a
hand?

9. Gee, Raiders former quarterback and all-time biggest NFL draft bust
JaMarcus Russell has a problem with Purple Drank, huh? What a surprise.
Could drinking cola laced with codeine syrup perhaps explain his lethargy
addiction, lazy approach to football, lackluster performance, nonexistent
work ethic and weight problem? Just maybe…?

10. The scumbag in the Connecticut home-invasion slayings is actually
claiming (well, having his lawyers do it for him), that the death penalty is
cruel and unusual and shouldn’t be applied in his case? What?! This guy and
his partner broke in, raped women and children, tied them to their beds and
poured gasoline on them, and then *set them on fire!* He also tried to
strangle the dad. Uh, lethal injection is too cruel for a guy who burned
women alive after sexually assaulting them??? What fucking chutzpah. I know
it’s deep-blue Connecticut, but I’d hope there’s at least one reporter up
there willing to say what needs to be said, and that’s: “How do you walk in
those pants with balls that big, you miserable piece of shit?”

* * * * * * * * * *

Currently listening to: Funhouse by Pink