A Little Of The Old In And Out



In: Hillary Clinton, Senate Majority Leader. Lets start some buzz this morning. Clearly Senator Clinton as a Presidential candidate is finished. And because of the nature of the campaign she ran -- cynical, racially and gender polarized, amoral -- she cannot be Senator Barack Obama's running mate. The spurious argument that she can get white voters is laughable, and, besides, Jim Webb can do it better. But Hillary Clinton is once again drawing buzz as a possible Majority Leader role. last night Bill Moyers -- another Democratic Party statesman -- alluded to it, telling Charlie Rose, "The Vice Presidency would be nothing compared to the role she would be able to (carry off) in the Senate." Moyers also, favorably, compared her future to the life of his mentor, LBJ.

Step aside, Harry Reid.



(image via bloomberg)

Out: The Burmese/Myanmar Junta. It really is quite astonishing what's going on in Myanmar, a telltale sign of the Daffy Duck logic that dictatorships employ. Psychologically ill regimes have an almost dream-like quality, with reality bending to the Id-dictates of a single man. The Burmese junta, for example, for reasons beyond fathoming, confiscated the humanitarian relief aid intended for the victims. This is some truly depraved shit. From The NYTimes:

"In the government statement, the military junta said it would distribute international relief supplies itself.

"Paul Risley, a spokesman for the United Nations World Food Program, said, 'all the food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated.' He said the World Food Program was suspending the few flights that the Myanmar authorities had so far allowed to enter the country until the matter was resolved."

Absolutely batshit. More here.



In: Tom Cruise, Comic Actor? We're not quite sure how this will work out, but Tom Cruise -- formerly "Urban" -- is slowly morphing into a comic actor. If he brings it off, Cruise has a chance at once again being at the top of the A-List of actors, although it takes him out of Oscar orbit. From EW:

"Regardless of how Valkyrie fares, (Tom) Cruise still has important friends in high places. Ben Stiller cast him as a bald, overweight, comically obscene movie producer in this summer's Tropic Thunder, and the part could prove to be the comeback role of his career. 'After everyone sees this movie they are going to have a different opinion [of Tom],' predicts one insider. 'They'll consider him for parts they wouldn't have before.' According to industry sources, the actor knows it. He's already told his agents at CAA to seek out funny scripts, he met with Judd Apatow on the set of Knocked Up, and he's still signed to star opposite Stiller in the long-gestating buddy comedy Hardy Men. '[That] would make a lot of sense,' says one insider. 'It's a lot easier for people to like you when you create a likable, charming role.'"