video

My man Joe is close to internet fame. Vote for him again even if you did before (1 vote per day is allowed apparently):

http://broadcasting.projectbreakout.com/media_page/entry_id/197

It’s internet democracy, Chicago style.

Kellymundo succeeded in getting me to watch a few consecutive episodes of The West Wing on DVD the other day, and as someone who’s been steeped in politics over the past five years, it leaves an interesting impression. If 24 is the Dark Side of the contemporary political debate, The West Wing represents something of the sunny side.

The stuff I’ve seen is from Season two, which is something of a historical time-capsule, having been made prior to both the onset of the Bush Administration, and of course 9/11. It’s totally enjoyable, but also strikes me as anachronistically sanguine, a grown-up Schoolhouse Rock but with the benefit of excellent production values. The cast is strong, and the writing is excellent from a literary standpoint. On substance, though, I think the text reflects all too well the hazy miasma that surrounds our allegedly elite political discourse.

Two quick examples from the three or four episodes I’ve seen:

• In an episode concerning a jungle hostage situation in Columbia, the presidents strangely Rumsfeldian chief of staff delivers a strong appeal not to attempt any kind of invasion: “Mr. President, I fought a jungle war… and if I could have been there when our ships were attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin I would have said, ‘Don’t do it.’” It’s a soft play on the consensus opinion that Vietnam Was Bad, but it ignored the widely-held belief (more or less proven in 2005) that the “Gulf of Tonkin Incident” was as fake as the Maine.
• In an episode concerning the dangers (or lack thereof) of marijuana, the specific phrase, “doesn’t display the addictive properties of cocaine or LSD” was used more than once. LSD is among the most un-addictive drugs yet uncovered from both a physical and psychological standpoint. Ironically, the crux of the show revolved around the statements of the Surgeon general and “the duty of a doctor to tell the truth.”

Now, I’m not entirely sure whether these are nudge-nudge/wink-wink inside jokes for those in the know, or simply the natural result of having Peggy Noonan on as a consultant. The overall awe-shucks tone of the show suggests the latter.

This makes it a bit harder to suspend my disbelief and really inhabit the world of the show, but in a sort of Brechtian sense it heightens my appreciation for just how confused and unconsciously hypocritical our political discourse remains. The Verfremdungseffekt is strong. Also, as it is something of a time-capsule, it’s interesting to see how mainstream pop-culture re-defines and re-digests the political process.

It’s been a pretty good week so far. I would have more to say, but I’ve got to get ready to drive down to SF tomorrow, the better to fly to Boston for DrupalCon. So, here’s a video I endorse:

And the tiny corona:

Clever people in LA:

And also:

And, in case you haven’t seen it, the original, which is a pretty amazing little bit of campaign juice:

Things look good for Obama. He swept the weekend primaries, and looks set to sweep Maryland, DC and Virginia. This should build momentum. The big showdowns will be in Wisconsin (February 19), and Texas and Ohio on March 4th. If Obama rolls through there, he will clinch it.

An Obama/McCain showdown would be pretty exciting. Literally the future vs the past. That’s a hot matchup, and one that massively favors Democrats as far as I can tell.

It’s almost enough to make me want to give money and/or reach out to people in Ohio or Texas.

This is hot:

Politics is like a good martini, or conjugal relations after a period of disagreement and strife. It’s hard for it to be too dirty.

There’s trouble on every corner
I need a place to hide
the bad things follow us down
I want you by my side

Do we ever really know why
why the bad things come our way?
Do we ever really know
this is where we’re headed
this is were we’re going?

So, this is a lot darker than I actually feel. It’s good music though, and the “do we ever really know” question seems prescient.

James Lipton: French Pimp.

If you haven’t seen this already, give it a peep. It’s quite funny and good. I never made any effort to get into the entertainment unions, but as someone who has paid his/her rent from time to time with my cultural production, I would like to express my solidarity with the writers.

One big union, bitches.

So I mentioned this bit in the show Mad Men in a post below. It’s really really good, and so naturally some smart kid put it on YouTube. Here’s the beef:

Good. Shit.