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Thanks for the memories, Mr. Spock.

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Enjoy the game.

Sorry O'Reilly, but you're wrong

On tonight's program he took a letter from a reader who corrected him about his contention on Monday that the current Caliph of IS (formerly known as ISIL, formerly known as ISIS, formerly known as AQ in Iraq), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was released from jail during the Bush administration.

Amazingly (or not depending on who you are), he doubled down on his wrongness, claiming tonight that he was released in 2004. 

He's probably confused between the two Baghdadis.  See, the first Abu Baghdadi was known as Abu OMAR al-Baghdadi, who was killed in 2010 before we won the war and left Iraq in victory.  The new Baghdadi is Abu BAKR al-Baghdadi.

BAKR was captured by coalition forces and imprisoned in Camp Bucca jail in 2005.  He was released to Iraqi custody in 2009.  Then released by Iraq in 2010.  Here's Mother Jones reporting it--and managing to blame Bush:

In 2008, while reducing the numbers of US troops in the country, Bush signed an agreement with the Iraqi government that mandated that all detainees be handed over to Iraqi forces.

In accordance with this agreement, Baghdadi was transferred to Iraqi custody in 2009, and by 2010, the Iraqi government (for a reason not explained publicly) had set him free. That same year, Baghdadi assumed leadership of ISIS. He has since been dubbed "the new bin Laden."

Yes, it's hardly worth comment to spend time knocking down their idiotic premise.  But to be fair and balanced, here's a Gateway Pundit story on the same thing, blaming Obama.

The true blame belongs with neither US president, it belongs with al-Maliki.  Knowing O'Reilly he was likely trying so hard to be fair to the president (so he'll get another interview) that he let it cloud the facts.  But facts are facts, and he reports only the facts, which is why he says he calls it the fact-or.  So we'll expect Bill's correction of his correction to the correction on Wednesday night...

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RIP, Eli Wallach. He'll be most remembered for his western roles in "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly".  Here's a memory..

Derailed!

Ran across this picture today from recent news..  pay attention to the actions the men are taking and the first sentence of the caption:

Damn, what a couple of Popeyes!  Re-railing freight cars by themselves!   Or maybe abject morons.   No, apparently this is a time honored process in getting minor train derailments cleared up by using wood blocks or metal pieces under the wheels to guide them back on the rails.  But the train cars are not moved along by the men using crowbars, they are moved along by an engine. 

Speaking of derailments...

Watched the Academy Awards last night for the first time in years.  Yes, it was mainly due to the possible political fireworks with Zero Dark Thirty along with a need to retreat from the machine.  And it was fairly enjoyable show--right up until the end.  Enjoyed Shirley Bassey singling "Goldfinger" again--she's still got a little left in those amazing pipes.  Her stage presence far outshines Adel's but the rookie's voice is certainly golden.  And yes, Babs Streisand still has a gift.  For singing.  

But the stunt with Michelle O at the end wiped out any good comments uttered along the way.  What a cheap sucker move.  And Jack Nicholson taking part?   Sad.  As reported, some of the media and critics even groaned.

But the question is, did the White House know the winner beforehand?   Would Zero Dark Thirty and its 'torture' sequences been as easy for Mrs Obama to roll off the tongue after her little we-are-the-world speech?   How would that movie winning look to the billion-strong world audience?   America--the land of Bush torture, brought to you by the Obama White House!

Sorry, going to have to suspend a bit disbelief.   As to how Hollywood landed her?  Of course this is what they would say.  

 

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Silly stuff, but once a good pastime for a Saturday morning.

It's About Time...

After being officially at war with terrorists since late 2001 it's nice to see a movie is finally coming out that portrays American troops as heroes...fighting terrorists.




"Act of Valor" is getting a lot of ink today.  Reviewers are touting it's authentic Navy SEAL cast and unconventional, non-Pentagon endorsed beginnings as it prepares to open on the 24th. Actress Roselyn Sanchez, who plays the CIA agent (yet another strange thing-- an apparently sympathetic spook) comments about working with the SEALS:

“What surprised me was how unaffected and cool they were," Sanchez told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column of the SEALs. "Here they were doing a Hollywood movie and it wasn’t a big deal, they went along for the ride, they did their thing and they were incredible. I didn’t see any diva behavior. It was new for me to work with guys that even if they were waiting around for eight hours and didn’t have a trailer, they were content. It was refreshing.”

Roselyn must have forgotten what normal men are like.  At any rate, the movie apparently shows our guys blowing up terrorists, even of the Islamic variety (albeit Chechen), which is something Hollywood was loathe to do during the Bushitler years. During World War II Hollywood was urged by FDR to make pro-war films and cut down on the grisly reality-based kind, which undoubtedly helped morale at home. But aside from "Blackhawk Down" in 2001--made during the Clinton years--it's hard to think of any Hollywood productions during the Bush years that made the US military look valiant fighting terrorists.

While it's tempting to apply politics, ie, a democrat is back in the White House so it's time to produce patriotic movies again, this one began filming in 2007.  Nevertheless it will act as a political tool insofar as showing the SEALS in action, reminding folks of how Obama got Osama (and a substitute for the postponed release of the UBL movie, originally scheduled to premier just after the Democratic convention), however some parties may object based on the bad guys, which could have been another reason Hollywood laid low (afraid of the fatwa). But politics aside, the movie sounds great. It sounds old-fashioned. Maybe it'll even have a happy ending.

Can't Win for Losing

Lowe's is under fire for pulling ads on a Muslim reality TV show.  Regardless of whether you think they were right or wrong in their justification, this type of reaction is the real story here: 

According to the Los Angeles Times, Lieu wrote a letter to Lowe's CEO calling the company's removal of ad spots from the program "bigoted, shameful and un-American," as well as "profoundly ignorant."

OK, that's fine. He has an opinion.  But soon he's on the ramp flying over the shark:

The senator also called for Lowe's to reinstate its advertising, along with an apology, or contend with legislative action.

In other words, Lowe's (or maybe the other 60+ advertisers who've pulled their ads since the show began) should have to continue buying ad time even if they choose not to.  If they refuse, a legislative body will punish them.  Most people would call that fascism.  How ironic the CNN story would follow that by quoting Russell Simmons as follows:

"This can't happen in America, [Lowe's] needs to fix this immediately...There are American principles at stake here," Simmons told Entertainment Weekly. "This country is built on religious freedom. This is the kind of hate that tears the country apart."

Yep, there are American principles at stake here, he's just confused about which ones.  The main one is a business' right to advertise as they see fit without government mandate so long as there are no laws being broken.  Maybe Lowe's shouldn't have pulled the ads if they were only about pressure from the Geller-backed group, but it's more likely they saw the storm coming and decided to pull the rip cord hoping nobody would notice.  Either way they lose.  This is why I don't like boycotts.

Ironically, this story amounts to a ton of free publicity for the show thanks to Lowe's.  Meanwhile the store will probably draw the attention of the non-partisan, non-religious, non-Obama supporting Obama backers of OWS.

James Arness, RIP

For all the Gunsmoke fans..



He embodied the American male hero of a bygone era--honest, strong, and relatively silent until he needed to say something, and when he did people listened. Yes, just a character, but Gunsmoke would not have persisted for all those years without that character.

With that here's this week's musical selection, a song from another 60s-era TV show based on what made Dodge City famous (in real life)..

Peter Graves

The secret revealed..



My favorite memories are from "Airplane" but he had many fine roles, such as the German spy in "Stalag 17". For some reason, like his older brother James Arness, he seemed better suited for the good guy roles. RIP, Mr.Graves.

ABC's Celebrity Politicians

It's always fun to read dumb comments from celebrities, and ABC did a puff piece on some today entitled..

Uh, What? Dumb Celebrity Quotes

The piece featuried 38 quotes taken mainly from typical Hollywood airheads. But maybe they had ulterior motives as well.

Scrolling to number 25 brings a politician--the governor of California. OK, Arnold was the Terminator and a former celeb, so no biggies.

But right behind him at number 26 is the butt of all political jokes, Dan "potatoe" Quayle. Well, he's no longer a politician, but a red flag pops up.

And soon, many more red flags. After a few more airheads we get celebrity Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin, then number 33 features "celebrity" George W. Bush, followed by John McCain and the real Sarah Palin bringing up the rear.

No dumb comments from the human gaffe machine or any variety of liberals, just a less than clever lumping of popular coservatives with the likes of Jessica Simpson, Brittney Spears and Paris Hilton. They just can't help themselves, can they?

Breaking Bad

Is good. Very good. In my humble opinion.

For those not hooked it's a TV series on AMC Sunday nights at 9 central. It's got me, and I haven't been hooked on a TV series since the 90s.

The general premise follows the title--good guy goes bad. Matter of fact, the initial previews were somewhat of a turnoff to conservative-minded law and order types--just another liberal glorification of crime due to circumstances.

But as the series has unfolded it's become remarkably compelling to watch Bryan Cranston's middle aged Walter Mitty-like high school chemistry teacher character first learn he has terminal cancer, then realize his life savings will get wiped out paying for treatments. With a pregnant wife (with an 'oops' baby in the oven) and a handicapped teenage son to think about he decides to solve the problem by teaming up with a former slacker student to cook the best meth ever while dodging his DEA brother-in-law, and the 'fun' begins.

Cranston won an Emmy last season for his role, very well-deserved. The writers should be awarded as well. Breaking Bad has more bizarre plot twists and predicaments than you'll ever see, all utterly believable and imminently clever. Perhaps the most alluring part for us middle class burb dwellers is the cross pollination of cultures depicted as Cranston bounces back and forth between his docile life in suburbia and the mean streets of Albuquerque.

So far they've stuck to heavy doses of reality in favor of agenda. That may well change, but I don't care. Next week's episode can't come soon enough for me.