Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Hillary’s Sopranos spoof

Via The Moderate Voice, “This Hillary Clinton video spoofing the last scene of The Sopranos is a masterful use of American culture. Can you spot the real cast member from The Sopranos?”

Xanadu on Broadway

I’m supposed to see it while in town next week. James Wolcott:

I loved Mamma Mia! And I loved Xanadu, as did the audience, and I loved the audience for loving Xanadu.

It was like taking Ecstasy in Broadway ticket form.

Our love glinted and radiated and swirled like the reflections of the mirrored disco ball that crowned the climax of the show’s pagan revels.

Ahh, the 80s...

Giuliani: strike 2! UPDATED: strike 3?

In the brouhaha over Giuliani’s no-show bowing out of the Iraq Study Group, one point in The Carpetbagger Report’s timeline counts for 2 strikes - one for putting his money-making speaking gigs before public service, and one for who he was here helping:

* The first ISG plenary session was on April 11. Giuliani didn’t show up; he was giving a $100,000 speech in Atlanta, and was helping [disgraced Georgia loser] Ralph Reed raise campaign funds.

LATER: Evidently I misspoke. There is no brouhaha:

Barack Obama has a researcher who mentioned “Punjab” in a stupid memo and the media obsessed over it for five days. The AP ran multiple stories about it, and every network reported on it in some length.

But Rudy Giuliani blows off the Iraq Study Group to cash in on his celebrity, is forced to resign, and the vast majority of news outlets don’t even lift an eyebrow.

Well then, maybe this will get their attention:

South Carolina Treasurer Thomas Ravenel, a former real estate developer who became a rising political star after his election last year, was indicted Tuesday on federal cocaine charges.

Ravenel is also the state chairman for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign.

Who’s the sleeping giant now?

The other day on All Things Considered, Michel Norris asked Micheline Maynard, NYTimes Detroit bureau chief, about auto makers’ claims that they can’t possibly meet higher fuel efficiency standards:

Ms. MICHELINE MAYNARD: I actually don’t think it is true, Michele, and I think the issue here is not just an issue of technology, it’s an issue of marketing. Over the last 15 years or so, Detroit companies made billions of dollars in profit selling SUVs and pickup trucks. And at that time, gasoline was cheap, gasoline in many parts of the country was under $2 a gallon and people bought millions and millions of these big vehicles. In fact, people said, you know, this is what Detroit wants us to buy, this is what we’ll buy.

NORRIS: You’re saying it’s more of a marketing challenge than a matter of science or design.

Ms. MAYNARD: I really do think that it is, because these carmakers compete in places like Europe and in China. And fuel economy standards in those places are significantly higher, even higher than the Senate legislation that’s under discussion right now. And they managed to meet them and they managed to compete in those markets… And in China, the market is evolving, but, you know, even China has higher fuel economy standards than the United States. And they’ve only had fuel economy standards for a couple of years.

200 votes

Democrat James Marlow appears to be out of the July 17 run-off that will choose a replacement for the late Charlie Norwood. Norwood’s death in February after fighting cancer and lung disease left northeast Georgia’s 10th District House seat up for grabs.

Marlow, a Blue Dog in a Red State running in a largely rural district, looks to have lost his shot at the run-off by a mere 200 votes. These were the numbers at midnight:

U.S. Representative, District 10
96% of precincts reporting
Paul Broun 11,203 20.7%
Bill Greene 1,640 3.0%
Mark Myers 388 0.7%
Nate Pulliam 926 1.7%
Erik M. Underwood 394 0.7%
Jim Whitehead 23,570 43.5%
Denise Freeman 2,574 4.7%
James Marlow 11,016 20.3%
Evita Paschall 1,790 3.3%
Jim Sendelbach 725 1.3%