Wanda Sykes makes 'em cry

Gee, it seems so long since we've had a ridiculous media obsession germinating from the thick, grimy logic swamps known as the right-wing blogosphere. Sure enough, we have one now. And quite frankly, it's as ridiculous as one could possibly imagine.

And like most incidents of 'mockrage' (meaning 'mock outrage' - neat new word, huh?), this one will likely be forgotten in a few days.

Now, allow me to stir the pot and get this thing started with a joke:

Q: What's the difference between Rush Limbaugh and the Hindenburg?
A: One's a flaming Nazi gasbag, the other's just a balloon.

Okay, now come on feel the mockrage! Certainly comedian Wanda Sykes is feeling it from some rather thin-skinned people who appear to be experts at dishing it out, yet lousy at being the butt of jokes.

This past weekend was the White House Correspondents Association Dinner, an annual light-hearted affair more akin to a PG-rated celebrity roast than a stuffy cocktail party. Invitees (primarily from the news media) are traditionally allowed to invite others, most typically celebrities. And in keeping with the lightness of the proceedings, a comedian usually steps up to the podium. A few years ago, you may remember Stephen Colbert ruffling Bush's feathers. Another recent host was Cedric The Entertainer, known for his hilarious but tasteless "fuck Jesse Jackson" rant in the movie "Barbershop".

Ms. Sykes was this year's controversial Dinner speaker du jour. And she let it rip. Bush, Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin, Michael Steele (perhaps the most ridiculous RNC chairman in history) and others were not spared by her verbal jabs, which to many ears were witty but not altogether vulgar or shocking. Surprisingly, it was somewhat tame.

(Here's the video).

But does it really matter to a bunch of sniveling right-wingers with talons engaged, ready to pounce on any piddly shit thing that offends them? Hell, they'll make mountains out of those molehills, by golly! Sure enough, they have. They're going apeshit, appalled at supposed attacks on their false idols. And it's yet one more reason to ignore this sniveling bunch of crybabies.

Seriously, what is offensive and what isn't to these people? Let's compare and contrast. Here's what Sykes said about Dick Cheney on Saturday night:

"Oh my god, that’s a scary man. Scares me to death. I tell my kids if two cars pull up, and one has a stranger, and the other car has Dick Cheney, you get in the car with the stranger."

Contrast that with, say, a recent comment from CBS golf analyst David Feherty, who said this about our Democratic congressional leaders:

"...if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Osama bin Laden, there’s a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death."

Guess which remark is most likely to get the righties all riled up? Certainly not the one from Feherty. They probably agree with that one. And last I checked, Feherty still does golf for CBS.

Okay, so a comedian rips Bush and Cheney. Ehh, old news. 'Typical unhinged moonbat hatred,' the outraged sneer and whine. But you just know that they were ready to pounce once she started dissin' Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and the other current 'great white dopes' of the mouth-breathing wingnut movement. Well, then the fur starts to really fly.

Here is Ms. Sykes, on 'The Turd of Absurd', a.k.a. Limbaugh:

"...Rush Limbaugh said he hopes this administration fails. That’s like saying, ‘I hope America fails.’ Or that ‘I dont care if people are losing their homes, their jobs, our soldiers in Iraq.’ He just wants the country to fail. To me, that’s treason. He’s not saying anything differently than what Osama Bin Laden is saying. (turning to Obama) You might want to look into this, sir. Because I think maybe he was the 20th hijacker. But he was just so strung out on Oxycontin that he missed his flight.

(crowd gasps)

“Too much? But you’re laughing on the inside…

She continues:

"...Rush Limbaugh [says] 'I hope the country fails.' I hope his kidneys fail. How about that? He needs some waterboarding, that’s what he needs."

On Hannity:

"Let Keith Olbermann waterboard him. He can”t take a waterboarding. I can break Sean Hannity just by giving him a middle seat in coach."

Not surprisingly, the tighty-righties - those masters of 'political correctness', mockrage, hypocrisy and outright thin-skinnedness, are pissed! Pat Buchanan, the world's most depressing role model, said Sykes' jokes will "hurt" the public impression of the dinner event (as if Bush's "can't find the WMDs" bit and "Rappin' Rove" didn't). The Washington Times' Amana Carpenter, who is employed by a destructive religious cult with its tentacles wrapped around the GOP, claimed Sykes "went over the line." Limbaugh's boot-licking lackey Brian Maloney lost what was left of his marbles with the wild-eyed headline "A bitch called Wanda" while yet again ripping into 'unhinged media and Hollywood elitists' (while disregarding that Limbaugh himself could easily be classified as an 'unhinged media and Hollywood elitist'). Other pro-GOP bloggers launched their own attacks. Funny, they elicited nary a peep when Don Imus cruelly ripped into Bill Clinton at the 1996 Dinner. Clinton was not amused. Right-wingers said tough shit.

But this is different. After all, how dare this... this... BLACK LIBERAL (and a LESBIAN to boot!) put a pox on Rush's kidneys! Or call him a (gasp!) terrorist! Make fun of his drug addiction! And how dare she claim Hannity ain't tough enough to fly outside of first class! Hey, even the 'mainstream' news media, ever so quick to do backflips in order to give Limbaugh "the Maloney treatment" (i.e. kiss his ass and beg for scraps), will probably make hay of the whole Sykes non-controversy.

But will the suck-up myopic media go along with the wingnut attempts to turn a silly comedy monologue into a banal non-scandal for President Obama? Particularly since he had the unmitigated gall to... get this... laugh at Sykes' jokes? The horror!

Yeah, that's right. Obama laughed. And quite frankly, after all the cruel, mean-spirited shit he's taken from loudmouth assholes like Limbaugh, Hannity, et. al., Obama deserves to laugh the loudest. If these right-wing media rabble-rousers are so danged tough (or tough enough to even fly coach like us rank-and-file), they can take it in stride without their lemmings crapping their diapers and falling over themselves demanding personal apologies from Sykes, Obama, the attendees and anyone else watching who laughed at the cruel, mean-spirited and hate-filled jokes aimed at their fearful leaders.

Hey, I laughed. And no, I won't apologize.

So, why always the kids-gloves treatment for Limbaugh? After all, it's alright for Limbaugh to cruelly mock Michael J. Fox's crippling bout with Parkinson's Disease, but not okay for a comedian to take jabs at El Dumbo? Am I getting this right?

And how many outraged right-wingers no doubt laugh their asses off at just about every vile rant that falls out of Ann Coulter's mouth? Where's the outrage there?

Needless to say, few are better at playing the 'victim' card these days than the 'holier than thou' tighty-righties. And they consider themselves to be the hardass tough guys? Lord have mercy!

'But, but...,' they say, 'Limbaugh's a private citizen speaking his mind. He should not be subject to public ridicule.' Well, what about 'private citizens' like the Dixie Chicks and Michael Moore, who were viciously attacked in recent years by countless right-wingers for speaking their minds? Tell ya what, when Limbaugh becomes the subject of death threats, blacklists and radio boycotts like Dixie Chick Natalie Maines, then I'll sympathize.

Limbaugh calls himself an 'entertainer' as he strives to become the tail that wags the mangy dog that is today's Republican Party. Sykes is an entertainer, and aspires to nothing more.

Crybaby conservatives have no shame cruelly savaging the likes of Maines, Moore, Janeane Garafalo, Linda Ronstadt and any other outspoken left-leaning celebrity in Hollywood for the mere sin of publicly voicing their opinions. Even going so far as to issue their own personal fatwas (i.e. death threats). But turn the tables? And in a humorous manner, no less? They go crying to their mommies!

So, let me spell it all out for you tighty-rightie sissies that are reading this. Your movement is out of favor not only because of your idols' self-indulgent 'scorched earth' attacks on this very nation, resulting in endless wars and the worst economic turmoil since the Hoover Administration. It collapsed because nobody likes sore losers, crybabies and sniveling wimps who love to dish it out but can't take it. We've put up with your shit for eight years, while you called us traitors, 'anti-American' and worse. You've spent the past decade and a half attacking this mythological thing you call 'political correctness', deeming it as some sort of fiendish liberal plot, all while using your own version of the very concept to suit your own needs. You people are weak and pathetic.

I say to wingnuts everywhere, pull your heads out of Rush Limbaugh's cyst-covered fat ass and take a deep breath. You are not victims. You are wussies. Nobody respects wussies. And nobody likes hypocrites. Or sore losers. So take your medicine and suck it up. That's karma coming back to bite you in the buttocks.

And if you want respect, or perhaps an eventual return to power, then grow a thicker skin, for crying out loud. Because, quite bluntly, you guys are really just a bunch of chickenshits.

In closing, I've got the punchline to beat all punchlines to wrap up this whole story. This fall, Wanda Sykes gets her very own Saturday late-night talk show. The place? Why, the FOX network, of course.

Before the paint hits the wall

As I continue to grind away at yet another spiffy makeover for this blog, I thought I’d catch up with some older news.

Adios, Air America in Atlantic City

We start this fun-filled episode with yet another small AM station spinning the format wheel, in hopes of seeing what sticks. WTAA, which began airing a progressive talk format in June 2007, went Spanish on September 18. They are now airing a syndicated format known as “La Gran D.”

La Gran D went on the air Sept. 18, becoming Atlantic and Cape May counties' only all-Spanish language, 24-hour radio station. The format replaced the political programming of Air America, which had been broadcast on the station.

Kelly said the format switch was made because the listenership for syndicated politically liberal-leaning format (featuring Air America and Don Imus) has been negligible for the 15 months it had been on the airwaves.

"We knew we wanted to do something to serve the Spanish-speaking community," said Kelly, who predicts the Spanish format will get better ratings.

Because of the increase in the number of Hispanics living in Atlantic County, it was likely someone would try a Spanish-language station. In Atlantic County, the U.S. Census Bureau counts 38,894 Hispanics out of a total population of 270,644, a 31. 8 percent increase since 2000.
The station was sold last May, and rumors of a pending flip have been ongoing since.

"Carol" sings a sour note

Okay, I got a lot of shit from the Free Republic crowd for dissing David Zucker's new right-wing 'comedy' flick "An American Carol." Well, perhaps they would have a stronger leg to stand on if it actually did well at the box office. For the past weekend, the film debuted at a tepid #9 overall, getting throttled by a kiddie flick about a talking chihuahua.

The film, which opened in 1,639 theaters, pulled in a weak $3,656,000. By comparison, the #10 movie, the Bill Maher documentary "Religulous," opened in only 502 theaters, but finished only $200,000 less than "Carol." Maher's film, made for a measly $2.5 million, has more or less made its investment back. The $20 million dollar "Carol" looks much iffier.

"Carol" was not screened in advance for film critics, usually a bad omen but typical for comedies that know they're going to get trashed by reviewers. Nonetheless, some reviewers actually did see it, and most thought it sucked. On Rotten Tomatoes, which tracks film reviews, the film got a 15 out of 100 on the Tomato Meter. Only one person, Kevin Ranson of MovieCrypt.com, actually liked it. And speaking of political satire...

Scranton, Wilmington get dissed by SNL

Okay, if you're like me, you've been enjoying "Saturday Night Live" this season, particularly for the hilarious Sarah Palin bits featuring Tina Fey (though they could have just aired tapes of the oft-ridiculous Palin and gotten much of the same reaction). Nonetheless, it's the best political impersonation on the show since Dana Carvey riffed on both George Bush and Ross Perot.

During last week's opening skit spoofing last week's VP debate on SNL, cast member Jason Sudeikis, playing Joe Biden, referred to Biden's hometown of Scranton, PA as a "genetic cesspool," among other things, and also disparaged Wilmingont, DE as being "not that much better."

According to AllAccess, two top 40 personalities, Ralphie Aversa, night jock on WBHT Scranton and Ricky Thomas, night guy on WSTW in Wilmington, aired calls and and hit the streets seeking listeners to rebut (or agree with) the accusations. You can hear the audio on the WBHT site here, or on the WSTW site here, if you're curious.

The Rest

* Rachel Maddow gets yet another writeup, this time in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

* As mentioned last week, you can hear "Maron Vs. Seder" weekdays at 3P ET at mvslive.com.

The October cinematic surprise, Part 2: When filmmakers attack (each other)

Note: You can find Part 1 here

Earlier, I gave you my assessment of "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against The West," an inflammatory documentary which was distributed last week in newspapers across the country. While "Obsession" is a serious documentary that in part is unintentionally funny, an upcoming release from a renowned comedy director looks like it may just elicit groans.

Enter the newest effort from David Zucker. Over the past three decades, the Wisconsin native has become a sort of comedy legend. With his brother Jerry and childhood friend Jim Abrahams, the trio got their start with 1975's "Ketucky Fried Movie," a silly low-budget assault of short bits and gags. I actually admit to owning this oddball gem on VHS. The trio hit paydirt with their next film, the classic "Airplane!" in 1980, a hilarious mashup of early 70's disaster flicks and 50's war films. The movie was a smash, putting them in the same league as Mel Brooks, Woody Allen and other film satirists of the day, and led to other similar projects, including "Top Secret!" (melding Elvis movies and spy flicks) and "The Naked Gun," which evolved from a outrageous, short-lived "Dragnet" spoof called "Police Squad!" that lasted a mere six episodes on ABC in 1982.

Over the years, Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker (ZAZ) inspired many imitators, some good (like Keenan Ivory Wayans) and some really terrible (like Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, the guys behind the recent "Disaster Movie" and similar quickie so-called pop culture 'comedies'), but David on his own soon began to imitate himself, as if he were recycling past glories. In the meantime, Zucker also had a personal revelation. He found Republicanism.

Zucker could be best described as a "9/11 Republican." Like Dennis Miller, Ron Silver and other self-described 'former Hollywood liberals,' he formed the idea that George W. Bush and the GOP could keep us safe from terrorist attacks (though that obviously didn't happen in September, 2001). All it would take is to wage war in Iraq, lower taxes for rich people, tie yellow ribbons, do a lot of flag waving and listen to Lee Greenwood songs. And label anyone who stands in opposition as 'un-American traitors.'

During the past few years, Zucker's new-found faith found itself creeping into his artistic work. He directed a few shorts for right-wing think tanks, released on the internet, that attacked Democrats such as John Kerry, and repeated the tired 'tax and spend' rhetoric. Zucker also made a short mocking former Secretary of State Madeline Albright. Unfortunately, the short was released in 2006, almost six years after Albright and the rest of President Clinton's administration left office.

Okay, so Zucker's recent work seems evident of someone living in the past. And his recent cinematic output seems to milk past glories. How out of touch is David Zucker? His upcoming release, out October 3, is called "An American Carol," and mocks Michael Moore, and his 2004 documentary smash, "Fahrenheit 9/11." More than four years after numerous other films did exactly the same thing. A summary on Wikipedia describes it as such

Left-wing activist and filmmaker Michael Malone (subtle, huh?) is campaigning to end the celebration of the Fourth of July (WTF???). Malone truculently argues to the American people that America's past and present are offensive, and therefore should not be celebrated. Malone is then visited by three ghosts, George Washington, George S. Patton, and John F. Kennedy, who try to make him rethink his view of America

Years ago, some would call a film with this premise evidence of too much cocaine flowing through Hollywood. these days, it appears to be too much Kool-Aid. Now, normally I don't like to criticize films I have not seen. I held off on passing any kind of judgement on the "Obsession" DVD until I actually had a chance to sit down and watch it. As Zucker's new offering has yet to be released, all I have to go on is a synopsis, some promotional materials, the listing of cast and crew and a trailer. But seeing as a studio executive or potential producer can initially make a yes or no decision based on a mere sales pitch, and syndicated right-wing columnists like Kathleen Parker are already drooling over it, well, I guess I can give it my best shot

The film, a rehash of the famous Charles Dickens Christmas fable, features a who's-who of right-wing Hollywood, with the likes of Kelsey Grammer, Jon Voight, Dennis Hopper, James Woods and country singer Trace Adkins on board. Longtime Zucker regular Leslie Nielsen also appears, as well as has-beens Kevin (Hercules) Sorbo and Gary Coleman. Oh, and Bill O'Reilly appears as himself. Somehow, I get the feeling that quite a few Hollywood executives took a pass when they heard what had to be an obviously weak-ass pitch.

So, what do I think? First off, this film reeks of something that's been sitting on the shelf for a long, long time, well past its expiration date. In other words, it sounds really, really stale. Cheapie right-wing hit pieces attacking Moore came and went years ago, and have long since been forgotten. Trey Parker and Matt Stone already milked the Moore parody bit years ago in "Team America: World Police." Moore has also moved on since 2004, and his most recent release, "Sicko," took a markedly different tone than "Fahrenheit 9/11." The premise of "An American Carol" sounds as timely as a Monica Lewinsky blow job joke. And if this film is a Christmas story about Independence Day, why release it in early October

Second, Zucker, like many right-wingers of 4-5 years ago, makes really stupid arguments. He pokes fun at a fact that really doesn't exist. Namely, he accuses someone of being un-American, simply because he disagrees with him. It's a vile, classless, immature and uninformed accusation, since our country was founded and built on dissent and activism. Think we'd have the abolition of slavery, women's sufferage, the 40-hour work week, the end of child labor and civil rights unless brave people spoke up and challenged the system? Noted rabble-rouser Susan B. Anthony was eventually featured on U.S. currency. Martin Luther King has a federal holiday and a Capitol Mall memorial on the way. Upton Sinclair's works are still studied in classrooms. Are they traitors? Do they hate America? Right-wingers who attack Bush dissenters for being 'un-American' are intellectually lazy and are apparently oblivious to the history of our country and what it's about. To assume someone like Michael Moore, who obviously loves his country enough to try to make it better, wants to abolish the Fourth of July is just plain lame. And when the patriotism bit plays itself out, all Zucker is left with is fat jokes. But I guess that's what David Zucker has devolved into.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm all for satire from all types of viewpoints, so long as it's actually good. The varied viewpoints of 300 million people are what make this country what it is. It is sad, though, that conservatives have a hard time finding things to laugh about. Political humor tends to work better when it rails against the establishment. That's what gave us Lenny Bruce, George Carlin and Hunter S. Thompson. And like it or not, conservatism, which represents the interests of the wealthy and powerful, is about as establishment as one gets. Nobody likes to laugh at the little guy. And that's why most right-wing humor fails.

That's not to say there aren't any funny conservatives. Writer P.J. O'Rourke honed his craft as a rightie railing against the ultra-liberal late-60s atmosphere of Harvard. The late William F. Buckley was also rather witty, because he had a personable self-depricating style and was smart enough to never take himself too seriously. The 'Blue Collar Comedy' guys like Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy, obviously conservative in their politics, scored not with red state rants but with good 'ol boy Southern humor. Conservative comedian Drew Carey is more about dick jokes in his routines than pro-Dick Cheney rhetoric. The problem, as I've mentioned in the past, is that politically-tinged right-wing humorists take themselves too seriously, and come across as out-of-touch or just plain whiney. Conservative cartoonists such as Bruce Tinsley or Michael Ramirez recycle tired stereotypes into eye-rolling dreck, and nobody's laughed at Rush Limbaugh's jokes since the Clinton administration, after he retreated to his South Florida drug-fueled multi-millionaire exile. Limbaugh's main problem is that he now plays golf with the very establishment that he should be challenging. Ann Coulter comes across as too cruel to garner any laughs, apart from desperate followers in the flock

But back to Zucker's movie. Some may ask why I'm even drawing attention to it. Well, it looks like it will need all the help it can get. "An American Carol" just doesn't look like a big box office smash. Rather, it has all the appearances of something that's just being dumped unenthusiastically into the marketplace in the off-season. Heavy-handed politically-charged films have had a rough go at the cineplex in recent years, with even efforts featuring Hollywood heavyweights like Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx and Brian DePalma landing with a thud. There are exceptions. Michael Moore has built his works into a very reliable brand, with films that are funny and informative, seem genuine and elicit populist sentiments. Socially-themed offerings like "An Inconvenient Truth," which nobody could have predicted success for, likewise inspired a passionate reaction from filmgoers in addition to strong word-of-mouth publicity. "Harold and Kumar" injected stoner humor into a funny and topical terrorism subplot. But with our economy in ruins, President Bush's approval ratings at historic lows and an expensive never-ending war in Iraq, will Zucker find enough people still sympathetic to his cause

Moore has kept a pretty good sense of humor about the whole thing. Shown a clip of the movie on Larry King's show recently, Moore expressed vague familiarity with "An American Carol," and joked that he felt Viggo Mortenson should have played him. Otherwise, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "I hope it's funny

And in this election season, Moore is not keeping quiet. He released "Fahrenheit 9/11" in the election year of 2004 in part to fire up voters. And for this election year, he is unleashing a long-in-the-works film, "Slacker Uprising," a documentary based on a 2004 college speaking tour of political swing states. Unlike his other films, this one won't be hitting the cineplex. Instead, he is giving it away, a free gift to his fans, similar to what Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails did with their recent music releases. Moore has teamed with Brave New Films to release "Slacker Uprising" as a free online download, starting today and available through October 13, with a low-priced extra-filled DVD also on the way

According to Moore:

It's also one of my contributions to help get out the vote November 4th. That's why I'm giving you my blanket permission to not only download it, but also to email it, burn it, and share it with anyone and everyone... I want you to use "Slacker Uprising" in any way you see fit to help with the election or to do the work that you do in your community. You can show my film in your local theater, your high school classroom, your college auditorium, your church, union hall or community center. You can have your friends and neighbors over to the house for a viewing. You can broadcast it on TV, on cable access, on regular channels or on the web. It's completely free -- I don't want to see a dime from this. And if you want, you can charge admission or ask for a donation if it's to raise money for a candidate, a voter drive, or for any non-profit or educational purpose. In other words -- it's yours!

"Slacker Uprising" is available for free download from a variety of sites as well as the film's official website And it's probably more genuine than David Zucker's upcoming 'comedy' movie that mocks him for, well, being an American.

The October cinematic surprise, Part 1: The Sunday morning jihad

So, after the tragic death of my old computer monitor, taken out by, of all things, cat vomit, I hooked up my new 'used' monitor (a nice 19" model I got for a good price) and decided to give it a test drive.

I have found that DVDs always seem to play better on high-resolution computer monitors than on conventional tube TV sets (I'm too stubborn and frugal to upgrade to HDTV quite yet). And I have a few DVDs that I like to watch on a computer, including CGI-heavy films like "The Matrix" or "300," or even a Pixar animated offering. For some strange reason, though, the disk I chose to christen my newly acquired monitor was some freebie that I salvaged from last Sunday's newspaper, a controversial Islam bashfest called "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against The West."

I held off on watching this until the other day, as it just didn't look all that exciting. We all know without watching what's in the DVD. We know that there are radical groups based in the Middle East that hate our guts. We know that fundamentalist Islamic television programmers tend to show rather outrageous, inflammatory rhetoric to the masses. Hey, we have people that do that here. The problem is, this DVD seems like an all-out attack on Muslims in general (though they run disclaimers that such is not the case). And that's not really fair.

Another problem with this film, originally released two years ago and now making the rounds again in the runup to the upcoming general election, is that we know so little about the people behind it. We know that it was written and produced by an Israeli-Canadian named Raphael Shore, who heads a shadowy nonprofit organization called The Clarion Fund. And in the past week or so, we know that Clarion spent untold amounts of money to freely distribute 28 million DVDs of the film in at least 70 Sunday newspapers, most of which are in so-called swing states. The group claims to be a non-partisan, non-profit organization, totally independent of any government, political or foreign entity. But some media outlets, including newspapers that distributed the DVD as an advertising supplement, are skeptical about the group and their intent. The Tampa Tribune reported that the Clarion Fund has yet to file a required 990 tax form with the IRS, which is required of all tax-exempt groups. And The Palm Beach Post pointed out in an editorial that the Fund "is not listed with Charity Navigator, which rates nonprofits based on efficient use of donors' money" and that Clarion has provided "No names of directors. No sources of money. Just the mission statement" on its website. The editorial concluded with the irony that Clarion itself seems to be "operating like the secret cells it warns about. Terrorists are cowards. In their own way, so are the people sending out this campaign ad."

Much of the controversy about the film as of late is in regard to the newspaper blitz. Some question the ethics of a so-called 'family newspaper' circulating a DVD featuring some rather grim and shocking footage that some groups would deem racially offensive. Some papers, such as the Orlando Sentinel, took a pass on it. Many others accepted Clarion's advertising money, saying that it was a sales department decision independent of the newsroom, and it was no different than running the weekly Lowe's circular. Most papers cited their First Amendment rights, which is understandable. But let's look at this from another standpoint. Would the same papers citing free speech justification take the same approach if some group came to them with their own DVD? How do you think that free copy of "Loose Change" or "9/11: In Plane Sight" would play out stuffed in the Sunday funnies? How about a DVD that attacks fundamentalist Christians for inspiring terrorists like Paul Hill and Eric Rudolph? How about if the same DVD showed clips from Pat Robertson, like when he called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez? Or Robertson claiming that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's devastating stroke a few years was a message from God warning him about coddling the Palestinians? Gee, wonder what the newspapers would think of offending those crowds?

So, what about the film? Well, as I said, I volunteered to watch it so you don't have to. And if you have indeed decided to take a pass on it and merely treat it as if it came from AOL, well, you aren't missing a whole lot. It's a standard talking head documentary intercut with snippets from television news shows from Islamic countries, crude internet videos, actuality feeds from anti-Western riots, American flag burnings, outlandish Iranian hip-hop music videos and even vintage Hitler/Nazi imagery. Palestinians are also broad-painted as terrorists. In short, it looks like a Mossad propaganda video.

And if that wasn't subtle enough, the disk also features a trailer for another Clarion release, "The Third Jihad," which looks like a continuation of the same theme as "Obsession." Not sure why they put in extended footage of Rosie O'Donnell, though. But I guess that unintentionally reveals something about the people releasing it.

Now, in this whole Israel/Islam debate, I choose to not take a side. Let them work out their turf beefs on their own. It's not really my concern. The sad thing is, the DVD is a blatant attempt by a foreign entity (with a U.S. branch office) to influence our presidential election, which is borderline illegal at worst, tacky at best. Clarion even offered up an endorsement of Republican John McCain for president on their site before snooping bloggers caused them to quietly 'disappear' it.

So, "Obsession" is what it is. Cheap propaganda that paints a whole race/religion with a very broad brush. The sound bytes taken from Arab television are rather interesting and sometimes a bit silly, but otherwise, it's an overly partisan snore. But if nothing else, at least now I can say I've heard Iranian hip-hop.

See the next installment for Part 2 of this election season cinematic rundown

Stewart and Colbert return - unwritten

The 2008 presidential sweepstakes is in full swing.

Current Republican frontrunner Gomer Pyle Mike Huckabee looks to be the village idiot. Following the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Huck called for tightened security on the Mexican border, lest any Pakistani terrorists get through. Once the laughter died down, his camp tried to backpedal, saying that he doesn't have any foreign policy experience. No, I'm not making this up.

Bottom-of-the-pile fear monger Rudy Giuliani, upon coming in almost dead last in Iowa last week, brushed off the caucus results, claiming that the Iowa outcome didn't scare him as much as "9/11" did.

Self-appointed 'mouthpiece of God' Pat Robertson claims that the almighty spoke to him and already gave His endorsement for president. But Robertson was coy about it, claiming he was keeping it a secret. Incidentally, Pat supports the dead-in-the-water Giuliani for president.

And in much more important news, Britney Spears went apeshit again last week. The reports of an ambulance hauling the pop princess to the hospital last Thursday night almost upstaged the Iowa Caucus on the so-called news channels.

With all this silliness in the world, we need more late night comedians to talk about it. More than ever. Unfortunately, there's a writer's strike going on.

In the past week, late night hosts have begun to return to work. David Letterman scored a coup when his production company, Worldwide Pants, which owns his show and that of Craig Ferguson, struck an independent interim deal with the Writers Guild of America to resume production, with full writing staffs, bits, monologues, etc. intact. Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Kimmel, who's shows are owned by the networks, returned to work, but without support of the Guild. As all three are Guild members, they are heavily restricted in what they could do. They're restricted in even writing their own material!

These limitations are going to hold back Comedy Central political humorists Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert as they return to the airwaves tonight after being sidelined for two months. Stewart and Colbert, both members of the Guild, are staunch supporters of the strike. Two weeks ago, when both shows announced their imminent return, then added, in typically ironic fashion: "We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence." Considering that their shows are heavily dependent on crack writing staffs and scripted material, it may well be the equivalent of shuffling cards while wearing boxing gloves.

Sure, they could just stick to extended interview segments. But that's another problem. Campaigning politicians, particularly those on the Democratic side, may not be too keen on pissing off valuable union supporters by crossing WGA picket lines to appear on these shows. So far, only Huckabee has been willing to do so, appearing for two whole segments on the guest-deprived "The Tonight Show" last week. A-list celebrities, who often appear on late night shows, are members of the Screen Actors Guild and won't cross picket lines either.

So, what will these shows do without their writers? And without high-profile guests? All while abiding by WGA strike rules?

"The Daily Show" is a news parody show. "The Colbert Report" is a mockery of blowhard cable news pundit shows, ala Bill O'Reilly. Unlike The Tonight Show and others, these are much more dependent on writing staffs. Leno can go on and play with wild animals, cook with Emeril Lagasse and introduce bands while waiting out the strike. Leno and Kimmel will even make appearances as guests on each others' shows this Thursday. With the Comedy Central shows, it gets a bit trickier.

Under WGA rules, Stewart and Colbert are technically not allowed to write their own material. Leno, a guild member, has gotten quite a bit of flack for writing his own monologues the past week. He insisted he had gained approval from the guild. The guild's not too keen on that, and has vowed to take some form of action, as yet unspecified.

"Leno will not get a pass. The guild has told him he can't write his monologues," said Sherry Goldman, a spokeswoman for the Writers Guild of America East.

Stewart and Colbert, both members of the guild, are barred from writing anything. How much they will be allowed to improvise is also unknown. Comedy Central spokesman Tony Fox said, "Stephen and Jon are still figuring out what they're going to do on Monday night's show."

So far, the strike continues on. The best hope is to bypass the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and deal with production companies individually. Worldwide Pants so far has been the only production company to agree to an interim deal with the guild. United Artists, headed by actor Tom Cruise, struck a deal with the guild earlier today. Dick Clark Productions, producer of the Golden Globe Awards, has attempted to do likewise, but NBC, which was originally slated to run the show this coming weekend, claims that the guild turned them down. The result, in lieu of the Screen Actors Guild boycotting it, was the outright cancellation of the event. Rumor has it independent film studios, such as Lion's Gate, Weinstein and Lucasfilm are currently looking into interim deals with the guild. For the bigger conglomerates, such as NBC Universal, Disney/ABC, CBS/Paramount, Time Warner and others, resolution may become a bit more problematic.

Why are the late night hosts returning to work, in defiance of the guild? To support the many behind-the-scenes employees of each show, who aren't members of the guild or any other union. Without shows to work on, they are effectively laid off. Many of the hosts paid those employees out of pocket for the first few weeks of the strike, but with threats of employee furloughs, the hosts returned to keep the shows in production.

Here's hoping that the guild and the Hollywood studios and television networks can once and for all get together and put an end to this whole thing. The striking writers aren't asking for a whole lot, and deserve a fair deal involving new media. Let's hope a resolution comes soon, since there's a lot of comedy material ripe for the picking on the campaign trail.

Hollywood writers set to strike

Well, here's hoping you like reruns and reality shows.

After an imposed deadline for negotiations with movie and television producers and studios passed without an agreement, the Writers Guild of America's leadership late Thursday formally declared its intention to call a strike, according to people familiar with the matter.

The strike could start as early as Monday, and would be the union's first strike in nearly 20 years.

The dispute this time around centers around royalites from new media, such as DVD and online releases, including video downloads. They see this as part of the future of television and film.

"The future of TV is not going to look like what it's been for the last 30 years," said TV writer Dave Schiff, who has penned scripts for "King of the Hill" and "That 70s Show."

"So, you know it's not just for us who are currently working, but writers down the line, that we make sure that we get a ... piece of the pie."

But CBS President Nina Tassler said not enough is known yet about new media revenues to figure out what the royalty structure would be.

"We don't know what the pie is yet, in order to determine how to cut it up," she said recently.

So, what does this mean to us? Well, if a strike does take place, and goes on for awhile, no new episodes of your favorite shows will be produced, since there would be no scripts. Expect reruns and more reality and game shows, which do not use WGA writers.

Scripted shows may take a while to feel the effects, as there are already episodes in the can, enough to run through the end of the year. Feeling the pinch of a strike immediately would be topical late night talk shows. That would mean David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and the rest would go into reruns. These shows are often written the same day or close to it. Other topical shows such as "Saturday Night Live" would also be shut down.

And perhaps most notable to many readers of this blog would be the freezing of programs like "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central. "Real Time with Bill Maher" could also be affected, but will likely go on a planned extended break soon. Although with so many of the jokes seemingly writing themselves, perhaps guys like Stewart don't really need scribes.

On perhaps one of the few positive notes, NBC is looking into airing the original British version of "The Office," from several years ago, to fill in for the awesome American version if need be. They're also looking into reruns of HBO's witty "Curb Your Enthusiasm." And if there is a silver lining in all of this, perhaps this will mean the quiet end of the hideous "Cavemen."

As for the film industry, they're better prepared for a strike, since they rushed to have as many scripts and projects in the can as possible.