A Little of the Old In and Out



Kelly Klein. (image via NYSocialDiary)

In: NYSocialDiary. The Corsair's obsessions are are not all that great -- some fine wine, a good cigar, Couperin, the blog wife, and NYSocialDiary. According to our favorite social chronicler, David Patrick Columbia's Hampton's correspondent:

"Others enjoying (The Hamptons Classic horse show) were Kelly Klein ... Sharon Sondes wearing her Verdura pins ... Lady Sarah St. George ... Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos ... Also at the Classic: Dixon and Arianna Boardman and Pepe and Emilia Fanjul. Rumor of the day is that Kelly Klein's hunky/well-bred/Argentine polo player beau has been seeing his lithesome young stable mate Marley Goodman -- she's beautiful and loaded.

"Mai and Ridgely Harrison had a cocktail party. Anne Hearst had a fabulous dinner for her houseguest Diandra Douglas who is back from Majorca where she spent part of the summer with her new beau. She, Michael and Catherine Zeta-Jones share the Majorca property, but not together of course. "

Of course (Arched eyebrow). Pictures of the horse show at NYSocialDiary.

Out: Staying "On Message." The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina demands heartfelt, impromptu answers to hard questions (Which, incidentally, doesn't ecessarilyrily mean a fuzzy-wuzzy Clintonian "I-feel-your-pain" National address, either) -- to those, in particular, who lost their loved ones and their homes. This desire to have the President address the nation and connect emo-style has been building since before Katrina, even as crucial swing-state Ohio was hit hard in Iraq, and Cindy Sheehan gathers grassroots strength. The President cannot simply cast himself as a Churchillian Statesman without the attendant "Fireside Chats (so to speak)," which remind and resuscitate the commonweal during the tribulations of war. Unfortunately, what we are getting from the Administration -- Rove? -- is loads of strategic spin and emotionally deadening talking points that are, robotically, on message. You see, "democracy is on the march," and, "we will not falter," and, of late, anyone who asks of FEMA's response is "blame gaming (this is vintage Karl Rove stuff)" --but this cannot help but hurt the cause. Robert Novak, our favorite Dickensian villain concurs:

"Democrats have seized on the administration's performance in handling Katrina to bash President Bush, but Republicans are not much happier with him. The common complaint is that the president has let the lawyers take over. Chertoff, a former federal judge and assistant attorney general, is a quintessential lawyer who has surrounded himself at Homeland Security with more lawyers. Michael D. Brown, who as head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is Chertoff's subordinate, is also a lawyer. Neither Chertoff nor Brown was experienced in politics or large-scale management before joining the Bush administration.

"Chertoff's inexperience was shown when he said 'I've got this down' into an open microphone, thinking he was safe because the cameras were off and not realizing his words were transmitted via satellite. He clearly saw himself as an advocate tailoring what he said to a lawyer's brief."



(image via wikipedia)

In: FEMA Into The Department of the Interior? The Corsair receivedeved a lot of email and blog-comments regarding Hurricane Katrina, and just what was our take on it (Racewise, blamewise, etc). Not to politicize the event, this blog will wait until more is known before blaming anyone or rushing into the "Crossfire" and descending into the opaque realm of the left-right continuum of mindless "chatter," that bane of an democracy in decline.

One thing is for sure: FEMA failed America. Leaving aside that lame political appointment of a clearly unqualified sub-cabinet official (Averted Gaze), as well as the utter incompetence of the Mayor of New Orleans (He was no rise-to-the-emergency/take-full-responsibility Giuliani, that's for sure)

A modest proposal: Why not enfold FEMA into The Department of the Interior. Homeland Security ought to be laser-focused on the War on Terror, and placing FEMA under their auspices, as we've just witnessed, is a terrible collabo. Interior, created in 1849, was a sort of hodegpodge amalgamation ofbureaucracyracy related, in fine, to the Westward expansion of these United States. As the 19th Century drew to a close, Interior expanded and evolved, taking on the thankless tasks of the US Geological survey, Census duties, and -- mirabile dictu -- the creation of dams (See where this is going?).

Nowadays, Interior is staffed with well-meaning but low-status environmenaficionadosados -- park rangers, geological surveyors, natural scientists, etc -- Who better to monitor and handle natural disasters than those in awe of geological, meteorological and cosmological phenomena? According to FEMA History, "FEMA ... is tasked with responding to, planning for, recovering from and mitigating against disasters. FEMA can trace its beginnings to the Congressional Act of 1803. This act, generally considered the first piece of disaster legislation, provided assistance to a New Hampshire town following an extensive fire."

And , keeping that in mind, the Mission of the Interior Department is, in part, "Resource Protection - Protect the Nation�?s Natural, Cultural, and Heritage Resources ... Resource Use - Manage Resources to Promote Responsible Use and Sustain a Dynamic Economy ... Serving Communities - Safeguard lives, property and assets, advance scientific knowledge, and improve the quality of life for communities we serve."

Now, doesn't that sound like a good fit for FEMA?



(image via worldpress)

Out: Robert Mugabe. Fuck Robert Mugabe; no, really (The Corsair gets surly; tosses fizzy drink across room), fuck his corrupt, tyrannical, paranoiac Sinophile ass (The Corsair rolls up the crisp sleeves of his Saville Row shirt). The gauntlet is thrown; I demand satisfaction! The Corsair detests African dicatators in particular, and dictatorships and double standards in general. According to -- of all places -- Liz Smith:

"Although (The Interpreter starring Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman) won mixed reviews and suffered the diminished fate of most movies over the last year, the stars have now been accused by the nation of Zimbabwe of being part of a plot to oust President Robert Mugabe. (In the movie there is a fictional despot named Edmond Zuwane who bears some resemblance to President Mugabe. The character, like Mugabe, is an octogenarian and one-time teacher who ruins his country by hanging on to power.)

"The Zimbabwe government, in all its paranoia, has just discovered the movie and calls it 'an imperialist plot.' They think the CIA was behind the movie, claiming the film was timed to "coincide" with the world leaders summit happening here in the city Sept. 14-16. I guess they don't know that the film came and went about nine months ago, soon after its release. (I thought it was great, by the way.)"

Charmed, we're sure. (BTW: CNN International reports poverty in Zimbabwe is worsening; lets see the mandarins of Beijing, who regard Zimbabwe of little strategic importance, help you out of that, "Your Excellency")



(image via upforanything.net)

In: Bill Clinton's Media Domination Tour (tm). Whose left? He's charmed George Bush 41, his former political nemesis, who apparently now has taken to calling Bill "Bubba" (Averted Gaze); he's "charmed" (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment) -- allegedly -- former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto and Canadian hottie-politician Belinda Stronach; he's charmed world leaders (as Jennifer Senior's wonderful NY Mag piece reveals) as well as cynical-perennial international players, like Dick Holbrooke. Now (sotto voce), according to Lowdown -- Rugrats are the new black:

"(T)he ex-President was sweeter than the candy. ... 'I'm not a huge Clinton person, but for 15 minutes he did not drop eye contact with me,' said the spy. 'I can tell how he charms people. He fixates on you and makes you feel like you're the only one there.'

"The 59-year-old Clinton regaled the gathering crowd, largely children, on all manner of subjects, including the best things about New York in the summertime (the state fair) and his favorite animal to visit at the zoo (the albino alligator)."



(image via gocontinental)

Out: John Travolta. Well, not so much ... "Out," per se (You'll see what we're sleazily implying in a moment). This, according to Radar Magazine:

"According to a press release from The Church of Scientology, the religion's second-favorite celebrity couple, John Travolta and Kelly Preston, swooped in to Baton Rouge and New Orleans on Travolta's jet Monday to join the approximately 400-member Scientology Disaster Response Team already in place.

"The couple visited shelters and doled out 1,200 tetanus shots to relief workers."

Although it may be the first time for Kelly, we guess -- allegedly -- that this isn't the first time that John Travolta has given an "injection" to a "relief worker." So to speak. *Allegedly*.



(image via twcmainesales)

In: TNT. Congratulations to Kyra Sedgwick, a fine, unheralded indie actress who always chooses her projects with the jewelers' eye and executes the roles with astonishing economy. It's about goddam time she had a hit; and, ancillary congrats to TNT (Ed Note: TNT had advertised on this blog), which made this happen. In The Corsair's Remote Control Diary, 2.0, we wrote of TNT, "Lousy with Middle aged Testosterone. A musky-smelling channel. Bruce Willis and Steven Seagal action flics and basketball. Big in New Jersey."

But now, this, from MediaLife:

"'The Closer,' a highly praised police drama about a neurotic female cop played by Kyra Sedgwick. That new take on an old concept made it the No. 1 original series of the summer on cable.

"And led by 'Closer,' TNT scored basic cables best summer ever, according to Turner Networks' analysis of Nielsen ratings. That paced a great summer for cable overall, which had a bigger household share than broadcast for the fifth straight summer. 'Closer's' 70-minute season finale Monday at 9 p.m. averaged 6.4 million total viewers, bringing the show's season average to 5.5 million total viewers. The older-skewing cop drama was also strong among 18-49s. In that demo, the season finale averaged 2.3 million viewers, bringing its season average to 1.9 million.

"Among adults 25-54, 'Closer' averaged 2.4 million viewers. That helped TNT finish No. 1 in primetime for all three demos, its best-ever summer performance."

Congrats.