Drool Fest 2007! Ten military bloggers got a special briefing from the President after his prime-time speech Iraq last week.

In this meeting, Ward Carroll of Military.com said the president seemed more comfortable with his message than on TV. We’re led to believe Bush’s becomes articulate when surrounded by hand-picked pro-Bush and pro-war supporters probably because he can say “Scrabble-ma-jangles” without judgment.

Carrol described the President’s performance in front of the blogger round-table:

“No deer-in-the-headlights stuff here. Truly unwavering and passionate.”

Apparently, the standard for unwavering presidential passion has been boiled down to looking less like a fawn frozen before its slaughter than one usual does.

Facts on the ground notwithstanding, he believes the United States can win the Iraq War. And to be honest, being around him made me believe it at that moment too.”

I would hate for facts to withstand the thrall of the President’s most recent victory pep rally among the loyal.

Source: President Reaches Out to a Friendly Circle in New Media [WaPo]

Condi wears the pants in every relationship.

We’re lagging a little behind on this, but Forbes released their review of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women late last month. It seems the times really are a-changin’ as most of the American women are getting bumped down the list against their international counterparts. A quick rundown:

Ol’ Condoleezza, once THE most powerful woman in the world, lost her 2006 second-place standing to place fourth. Maybe this is a good thing. And the media maven herself, Oprah, dropped completely off the Top 20 – a major turnaround from her ninth place ribbon in 2005 – to finish at 21. But even though she doesn’t start wars or command armies, Oprah still knows how to get things done better than some of our more prominent policymakers *cough, cough* like Hillary and Nancy Pelosi, numbers 25 and 26, respectively.

Our vote for this year’s biggest loser? Let’s just say she was dumb enough to marry the current president. She was the fourth most powerful woman in 2004 but has since been lost in obscurity to finish at number 60 this year. Hell Laura, even Meredith Vieira (#55) beat you.

Best in show went to Angela Merkel (#1), Chancellor of Germany, for the second year in a row, followed by Wu Yi (#2), Vice premier of China. An honorable mention went to Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (#100), president of Liberia. We had no idea either.

Featured Song: “Sweet Talkin Woman” by Electric Light Orchestra


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Source:
Special Report: The 100 Most Powerful Women Forbes.com

No words. Just watch.

Via Stereogum:

“He’s in a wide stance with his Hammer pants down.”

Honestly, give the Daily Show a fucking Grammy.

Like you, we thought that Britney’s “Gimme More” was going to signal a New Era, a Britney Rebirth, etc., but by now you’ve likely seen her bewigged performance [if one could call it that] at the VMA’s and are, well, sorely disappointed. Devastated, even!

Well, not as devastated as this lad. Please be prepared for the most epic tirade you have ever seen.

Featured Song: “Gimme More” by Britney Spears

Source:
Emotional Fan Defends Britney Spears Gawker

Jens and decapitation.

Damn Swedes have done it again. With the exception of Ace of Base, the Scandinavian country has a relatively unshakable reputation for hosting some brilliant pop acts with timeless music. Enter: Jens Lekman.

The 26 year old is and old dog at this game. His previous albums (“When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog” and “Oh You’re So Silent Jens”) were two of the most entertaining albums of their respective years. They were both drenched in a minimalistic Brill Building sound a la Burt Bacharach with his Stephen Merritt-esque vocals (a very popular trait among Scandinavian male singers, it seems. Refer to Suburban Kids with Biblical Names as well.)

Whereas some other European indie pop male singer/songwriters (how are those for qualifiers?) seem to barely tip-toe the borders of their own ingenuity (I’m looking at you, Sondre Lerche), Lekman is more than happy to do what he does best…only better. There’s a sense of richness and depth in his third album, “Night Falls Over Kortedala,” that he’s hinted at before, but is dominant here. The album is nothing if not a natural progression from his previous work polished to perfection. Lekman manages to bridge that Brill Building pop with old-school rhythm and blues, a connection that would usually pass over most of our heads but makes complete sense.

Do yourself a favor and catch him if he stops by your city.

Featured Song: “Kanske Ar Jag Kar I Dig” by Jens Lekman


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Featured Song: “The Opposite Of Hallelujah” by Jens Lekman


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Oh, Michelle Malkin.

You and your rabid fear mongering about illegal immigration is the only thing that separates you from…well, actually, no other conservative wing nut. In fact, no one really knows who you are, unless they either 1) are a part of the 50 year-old to on-my-death-bed-in-rural-Missisippi-with-my-first-cousin/wife FOX News viewer demographic or 2) they prowl the media for immigrant-hating Filipino media vultures.

Malkin covered the first Spanish-language presidential debates held on Sunday and hosted by Univision, one of two leading Spanish-language networks in the United States. Did she tout the debate as a celebration of multicultural efforts to bridge cultures together in an attempt to promote a basic democratic function and right? Nah. Why do that when you can call it a failure and a joke?

More Malkin love after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

To think he’s a moron is to misunderstand his genius.

Following up our earlier post on Fred Thompson’s new, improved and announced presidential bid, we have a couple of items from today’s papers about how our man Fred is doing. Summing up: for a guy who waited until all his hype was gone to get staff together, than fire most of that staff, then ceded the opportunity to frame his candidacy to his opponents he’s doing just perfectly fine and is in no way worried about the fact that one of his major donors is a criminal and also Hollywood has no interest in his candidacy at all.

On the former point, Fred accepted almost $14,000 from a family who ran a drug company as it was defrauding medicaid out of millions of dollars. Politico reports:

The company, King Pharmaceuticals, paid $124 million in 2005 to settle with the Justice Department and 49 states, which had alleged the company overcharged Medicaid and other government health programs for drugs from 1994 through 2002.

He and his entire family have donated the max to Fredo’s bid. Of course, Fred’s not about to give the money back, either because, you know, he doesn’t have that much to begin with.

Secondly, we have to admire the time Fred spent out Hollywood nurturing the relationships that will surely fuel his big to the White Hou – oh, wait. Yeah, sorry, we got that totally wrong. The LA Times reports:

The place that made the former Tennessee senator rich as an actor cannot be counted on to pour cash into his presidential run, especially if he’s going around bashing gay marriage and Roe vs. Wade. The minute he comes out strong against embryonic stem cell research — a fervent Hollywood cause — he’ll be banished from every cocktail party north of Sunset Boulevard.

“You’re asking me if people here will support Fred Thompson?” said Donna Bojarsky, a longtime industry political consultant. “How do I put it? No. No. And no.”

It seems odd that the industry in which Fred has worked for the past 10 years would give him the cold shoulder. Do you suppose that means that maybe Fred had no previous plans to run for president? Do you think maybe that means he’s totally winging it? Surely not.

Featured Song: “Hollywood Ending” by Sleater-Kinney


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Sources:
Fred donors’ firm tied to Medicaid scandal Politico
One industry won’t back Fred Thompson Los Angeles Times
King Pharmaceuticals