Groundbreaking JFK doc

We take for granted that today's politicians are extensively media-trained, unable to offer anything spontaneous (or honest) in front of a television camera. This was not always so, however, and that is the amazing quality that stands out in Robert Drew's two documentaries on JFK's presidential race and adminsitration, Primary and Crisis.  Here we see Hubert Humphrey asleep on the way to campaign against this New England Upstart; Governor Wallace speaking freely about his thoughts on segregation; Jacqui Onnassis fidgeting nervsouly behind her back as she speeks to a delegation of Polish-Americans. Adding to this cinema-verite is the amazing mobility of the camera, allowing Robert to capture the full scale of a political campaign, from the jungle of the convention floor to the cramped siderooms where the real deals are made. It doesn't hurt that its subject is one of the most telegenic and dynamic political creatures of the 20th century. 

All in all, this is a ground-breaking documentary that captures the dawn of the media-politician right in a way that can never be replicated. Check out more about the doc here. 

On Right Wing Haters

Routines are important. They give you a structure to cling onto, to provide stability in uncertain times. For me, there are three essential, daily updated websites I must check in the morning before I do anything else, websites so crucial that to miss them would cause physical pain - salon.com, slate.com, and nytimes.com. 

On a later date I'll talk about exactly why these websites have such a dear place in my heart. For now I just want to thrust some nice articles into your face that I found on them. 

"Ante Up Luda" talks about what I mentioned in yesterdays post - the potential backlash voters might have against hollywood types taking their love of Barack to far and alienating peeps. As he explains, 

I'm not calling for censorship, but I am calling for "sense"-orship. Any chance these right-wing player haters get to bad mouth hip-hop and put Obama on blast at the same time is like Christmas andJefferson Davis' birthday all rolled into one.

As you can tell, he's also a pretty funny too. Check it out. 

Next up, Changing Lanes is a good article by Elizabeth Kolbert (the anti-colbert) decries McCain's campaign tactics. Blaming Obama for high gas prices?  Looks like the Straight Talk Express doesn't run during campaign season. Its too bad - I really liked McCain in the late 90s,  but an maverick can only maintain his independence for so long in 8 years of Karl Rove-run republican rule.  For more on McCain's mudslinging antics, and how effective its gonna be, direct your attention to The Low Road Warrior in last weeks issue of New York Metro. Its a disheartening view of a campaign gone south real far, real fast. And worst, it might just win him a seat in the whitehouse. 

Okay, enough of this depressing stuff. I leave you with the first episode of the fine comic/cum/webseries, Get Your War On