W. The Movie Based on a True Story: Frontline The Choice HEAT

Going to see the movie W. tonight. My wife and I are finishing a few chores around the house and decided of all the movies to go see that we ought to see W.

We saw Oliver Stone and the movie's lead Josh Brolin on the Charlie Rose show recently. Perhaps, that is part of the allure, the pull to see W. But then again, there really isn't much that has stoked the fire about laying down $10 a ticket, and forget the popcorn, buddy.

...11 10 12... Days until NOVEMBER Fourth!!!

The movie is supposed to be a fact-based, not trying to belittle him, honest look at the man who has been President for the past eight years. The trailer looks like evidence that the movie will be what Stone says it will be. I try to get back with you about it, and please if you've seen it or have comments - let me know.

The show that has proven to be honest and worth the watch, in my opinion, is The Choice. PBS Frontline's documentary about the Presidential hopefuls is bar-none, impressive.

I thought I would be so totally underwelmed by yet another reiteration of the information I've heard 1,000 times already - John McCain was a Navy pilot; Barack Obama is the son of a Kansas mother and an African father... But it, through the Frontline lens ends up being so much more than that. They really do a fantastic job, and HEAT is another, similarly phenominal documentary.

One of the beauties of the Frontline programs is that you can watch them - totally free, totally online - moreover, they are in eight minute blocks that make sense to watch all together or one or a couple at a time until you are finished. Really quality reporting, really smart entertainment.

Check it out for yourself and see if you don't agree. let me know if you have any questions/comments/or thoughts. Best...

Obama McCain Videos Media Proliferation & the 2008 Election

"Quite funny", I said to my friend who had sent me an email/posted the link to the video that named ME, the sole reason and purpose for a John McCain win, and a Barack Obama loss in the 2008 Election. 

Have you seen it? Have you heard it? You'll probably want to. You'll probably get a kick out of it. Essentially, what it is is a video that allows someone to put in a personal information (i.e. first and last name) of a person - maybe yourself, or maybe someone you want to send the video to. 

Then, when the video plays the information entered is used to "report on" the outcome of the Presidential election. In the video, which looks like a top-teir news clip, a psuedo broadcaster explains that all was lost for Obama on one person's unwillingness to vote. That person, of course, is you (or whoever's information was entered). 

The remarkability of this from a marketers stand-point is that it is just one more of the many manifestations of how the political race has changed. Countless talking heads have reviewed, and mentioned the fact that Obama's grassroots organization has shattered records and broken new ground in campaigning. But the truth of the matter is, connectivity, media conversion/proliferation have been altering this relationship for sometime now. 

Obviously, a national campaign, funded by millions upon millions of dollars, in this day-in-age is going to use the most effective, most unique, and most used channels for getting their message out if they follow anything even close to common logic and general approaches. The Obama campaign is red hot, and the social aspects of what they do are entreating. (let's not forget that Bush's disaster - coinsidentially, this is a title the local Democrats are using on their literature to get voters to vote down the ticket - has helped to place people in a position to be ready and welcoming the change Obama brings.) 

Check  the video out here. Amuse yourself. And, don't forget to vote. 

McCain Obama & the 2008 Election

Only 14 days until Americans cast their vote for President. 

McCain Fights to Keep Crucial Blue State in Play

• SIGN IN TO E-MAIL OR SAVE THIS
• PRINT
• REPRINTS
• SHARE

By ELISABETH BUMILLER and JEFF ZELENY

Published: October 21, 2008

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — People are scratching their heads: Why is Senator John McCain here?

Blog

The Caucus

The latest political news from around the nation.Join the discussion.

• Election Guide | More Politics News

Senator Barack Obama has a double-digit lead in recent Pennsylvania polls. Senator John Kerry beat President Bush here in 2004. The previous three Democratic presidential candidates won, too. And this year there are 1.2 million more registered Democrats than Republicans in the state.

But in these frantic last weeks of the 2008 campaign, Mr. McCain has lavished time and money on this now deep-blue state — he made three stops here on Tuesday — as if his political life depended on it. And, from his campaign’s point of view, it does.

...find more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/us/politics/22pennsylvania.html?hp

Sarah Palin Appears on Saturday Night Live (SNL): But is it Too Little, Too Late?

Sarah Palin makes it to SNL...in person.



Over a million views by mid-day Sunday, October 19 - aka, the day after. Let's do a little deconstruction, eh?

Governor Palin appeared on the show that has, and honestly continued to lampoon her, though from a tight little squiggly angle if you tried to frame it as such you could say that SNL took some liberties lampooning themselves (but only in addition to the lampooning they did of Mrs. Palin) by describing what they do, parody, for the viewing audience in the show's opener on Saturday.

Wise move? These appearances can mean a lot to a public figures' persona. Some have argued that because Mrs. Palin refused to do interviews when the world was asking,"who is Governor Palin" and because Tina Fey was more than willing to portray her; public perceptions may have been influenced by these circumstances.

Mrs. Palin has been sought after, being a relatively unknown political figure - despite what the campaign says about her being the most loved Governor of all U.S. states. In addition to being unknown, she has been relatively unwelcoming to press coverage. (Recently it was sited that Joe the Plumber had done more interviews in 24hrs than Mrs. Palin had since her selection).

The exposure, in addition to the "hip-factor" of appearing on a program like Saturday Night Live, logically could lead to a positive reception from the voting electorate. But, I don't see it happening, not this time.

One reason the appearance won't work for Palin is that the momentum has shifted. Had she appeared on SNL a few weeks back, when interest in the Republican ticket was skyrocketing, and before people begun to suspect a certain weakness in her filling the slot of VP, her appearance may have been better received.

Another reason is the type of character she played on the show. She did not come as a heroic figure, only a mocked figure. True, she exhibited some disapprovement in what SNL was doing (by way of replacing Tina Fey at the podium), but the belittlement Alec Baldwin gave her was just a jab too deep. Palin wasn't able to recover.

Down for the count, down to the count the Presidential election has shifted and Palin is no longer the focus. The economy, the pressing deadline (less than days) and a growing sentiment (if not all out declaration) of Senator Obama's victory have taken the news lead.

In Sum: Mrs. Palin's appearance was too little, too late.

*See the further mockumentary aspects of Mrs. Palin's visit to SNL by watching her spot on Weekend Update. (Had she refused to appear, she likely would have done better for herself.)

Bill Moyers & Barack Obama's Impending Administration

In 2003, Bill Moyer said the rich had declared class war and were winning. According to the post Moyer submitted and published through the PBS website the rich were buying, "...the laws and loopholes they want from Congress, and from the White House, they buy executive protection of their privileges."

This identification of the way things were in Washington, and on Wall St are interesting in light of the current economic crisis. One might conclude that not only did the rich declare class war, but they ensured its future by pushing the envelope on the housing miss management.

The economic crisis is inherently linked with the credit markets, the credit markets are inherently linked to the lack of regulations in the housing markets. In spring of 2008 my wife and I listened dumbfounded as NPR explained the crazy state of the housing situation through interviews with people who had actually been involved in selling the no-check credit lending that appears to be at the root of the whole debacle.

A man who had sipped from $100-$300 bottles of bubbly admitted that "when setting-up the credit deals, we didn't care if they would be paid for, we knew we were going to sell them to long-term lenders. And they wouldn't be a bother of ours." I was appalled at the system that had so greedily created situations that would come to effect others so callously.

Here now in the closing months of 2008 we know now that credit has tightened, and that the folks in Washington have essentially socialized the U.S. banking system. It is interesting (along with infuriating) that the party that describes itself as a protection against socialization has been at the helm. Or is it?

Joe the Plumber Talks with Senator Barack Obama about Taxes

Here upon popular demand Joe the plumber. The man from Ohio that made the list of talking points the candidates tossed arrows over during the third and final debate of the 2008 Presidential Election.

Frontline Investigative Reports Presents "The Choice"

Frontline has been running a program online and on-air documenting the paths of the two Presidential candidates, Senator John McCain, and Senator Barack Obama. The Choice is one of more than 45 full-lenth Frontline reports available, with no commercials, at pbs.org/frontline.

The Choice takes a long look into the lives of the candidates and offers interviews with former personalities such as Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, David Axelrod, and journalist Matt Bai.

Heres a snippet for your consideration: The Choice 2008 draws on in-depth interviews with the advisers, friends and those closest to these unlikely candidates, as well as with seasoned observers of American politics, who together tell the definitive story of these men and their ascent to their party's nominations.

When FRONTLINE first aired a profile of presidential candidates during the 1988 election, The Choice redefined political journalism on television. Now, in an unprecedented election year, veteran FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk (Bush's War, Cheney's Law) goes behind the headlines to tell a deeper political story about the candidates, the decisions they made, and why their nominations may indicate a historic change in American politics.

Kopell Backs Obama on Charlie Rose Show

Ted Koppel, an unarguably top-tier personality with connections to many heavy-hitting leaders in politics, news, and society, was a guest recently on the Charlie Rose show. 

Koppel, paraphrased, said in matters of foreign policy, a nation must talk with it's enemies. He went on to say the U.S. has frequent points of contact with Britain, and Germany, allied countries we know what they are up to. It is the countries and nations that we are not allied to that we should be talking with. Reason being, that it is precisely how we [implied: diplomatically] verify and understand their aspirations, leanings, goals, wishes, hopes, desires, plans, ... these things are not to be invariably feared, and must first be understood. 

Koppel's statement well reflects the well-known, and oft used saying, "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer", but what do you think? 

Sound off: Does Koppel tell it like it is? Is Obama's stance one that puts the country in jeopardy, or will he usher a new era of diplomatic integrity and availability for the US among the rest of the world? 

Comment #1.

I know I think Obama is the real deal, and that the US needs such a style and approach to foreign policy as well as genuine political/social leadership. Today there is a move to be part of a global society of humankind that Obama, and like minded leaders, can capitalize on without (1) becoming dictators, (2) risking our heritage and future, and will provide (3) a smooth transition into a new globally connected/aware/interactive human race.