September 12, 2008
Watch as the ladies of The View press John McCain on issues the mainstream press has ignored.
More clips here. They call him out on abortion and the separation of church and state. He can’t come up with anything that will satisfy them.
Cheers to the women of The View! For doing the job that no one in the mainstream media has done. Calling out the lies, following-up, insisting on clear answers, and telling it like it is.
August 10, 2008
Anonymous Liberal at Crooks & Liars wants Obama to respond to the “celebrity” attacks like this:
My opponent has taken to calling me a ‘celebrity’ in all of his commercials. The suggestion, I can only assume, is that all of you (gesturing to the crowd) show up at events like this and donate your time and your money to this campaign because you’re all adoring groupies who are obsessed with me. Now, that would certainly be flattering if it were true, but I’m not going to delude myself. The reality is I can’t act, I can’t sing, and my personal life is incredibly boring.
The truth is that no one would be paying any attention to me at all if I wasn’t talking about things that really matter to a lot of people. You’re not here tonight and you’re not watching at home because you want to be entertained. Lord knows there are plenty of things that you could be doing with your time right now that would be far more entertaining than listening to me. No, you’re here tonight because you love your country and you’re concerned about the direction it’s been heading over the last eight years.
You’re not here tonight to see what kind of outfit I’m wearing or to hear my latest hit single and if you are, I think you’re probably going to be disappointed. No, you’re here because you want change, you want a government that fights for people like you and not on behalf of powerful special interests; you want a government that keeps you safe by pursuing a rationale foreign policy abroad and keeps your family secure by creating jobs, ensuring access to affordable health care, and fighting for energy independence.
That’s why you’re here. That’s why you’re volunteering your time at record levels. That’s why you’re contributing your hard-earned money in record amounts.
So remember, when John McCain and his surrogates call me a ‘celebrity,’ they’re not insulting me; they’re insulting you. They’re insinuating that you are a mindless groupie rather than a concerned citizen, a fan rather than a voter.
But it’s not going to work. You know why you’re here, you know why you’re watching, and you’re much smarter than they give you credit for.
Agreed. I am insulted by the politics of nothing. I thought that this year the candidates would be forced to talk about real issues, seeing as how the vast majority of people in the US think the country is going in the wrong direction and want a change. Yet they have managed to lower the level of discourse, as usual, to things that I simply do not care about.
When you ask people what they care about, they say things like health care, the economy, and ending the war in Iraq. Let’s hear more about these issues. Not talking points, but what are you going to do about these issues? What makes your plan different? I’m all ears.
Stop insulting us. There is way too much at stake.
July 15, 2008
(Animation courtesy of Jezebel)
Shakesville has a great series going called “Impossibly Beautiful,” highlighting the photoshopping that goes in to making women fit into an unrealistic ideal of beauty.
I especially like numbers three (shrinking Kelly Clarkson’s lower half), four (airbrushing fake boobs onto Keira Knightly), thirteen (bobblehead Rachel Bilson), Vanessa Williams (no wrinkles at 45?), and of course, eighteen (Jennifer Hudson’s ridiculously impossible waist).
Check out PhotoshopDisasters for a lot more bad photoshopping. Maybe it will train your eye to catch the crazy photoshopping that goes on in the ads you see every day.
UPDATE: On a related note, check out this article about teenage girls’ feeling pressure to live up to sexual ideals (The Guardian).
July 8, 2008
Headlines read:
“Madonna Blamed in Alex ‘A-Rod’ Rodriguez divorce case”
“Madonna Brainwashed Husband: Cynthia”
“Rumors Say Madonna At Fault in A-Rod Divorce”
Notice where the blame falls in these headlines, or from a linguistic perspective, which subject in these sentences is the agent of the action.
According to this article, the blame is on Alex Rodriguez in the divorce papers:
Alex Rodriguez’s wife Cynthia claimed in court papers that the $275 million New York Yankees player had been unfaithful and “emotionally abandoned his wife and children”.
“The marriage of the parties is irretrievably broken because of the husband’s extramarital affairs and other marital misconduct,” her divorce petition said.
The text of the divorce papers clearly states that A-Rod was unfaithful and “abandoned” his family, yet the media plays down this side of the story. With just a cursory glance over the headlines, one would think that poor, unsuspecting Alex Rodriguez got lured away from his family against his will by manipulative, irresistible Madonna. As if he has no control over his own actions.
The headlines could read:
“A-Rod Blamed in A-Rod Divorce Case”
“Did A-Rod Abandon His Family”
“A-Rod Unfaithful: Cynthia”
“A-Rod At Fault in Divorce”
but they don’t.
July 5, 2008
Vanessa Richmond has an excellent article out about the double standard in the media facing female celebrities. She highlights the disparity between coverage of women like Britany Spears and Amy Winehouse as compared to Heath Ledger and Owen Wilson. Surely the men face media scrutiny too, but overall their coverage is more sympathetic and respectful. The message behind the coverage is different:
… while a media story about a drug-addicted man is likely to focus on or even celebrate his expected return (as with Robert Downey Jr.’s recent Iron Man performance) coverage of female celebs is more likely to focus on their (self-inflicted) demise and act as “cautionary tales.”
Perhaps it all comes back to women not “knowing their place.”
“We seem to have a lot more fixed ideas about what women’s lives should be like than we do of men,” she [Diana Negra] said.
Why? “When we use female celebrities this way, we see them failing and struggling, they serve as proof that for women the work-life balance is impossible. Can you have it all? The answer these stories give again and again is ‘absolutely not.'”
Check out the whole article, “Even as Celebrities, Women Face a Double Standard.”
Noticing the Gap 