A Little Of The Old In And Out



In: Paul Allen. Clearly we live in a period of Imperial excess (The Corsair opens a bottle of Chateaux Prieuré-Lichine). Historians of the future may look backwards to the humiliating rebuff of President Bush by the Saudi's as the beginning of American decline and the rise of the rest. recession looms and this economy sheds jobs and mortgages foreclose, the hot-blooded rich primp and preen to the existential soundtrack of Nero's fiddle for the flashbulbs on the French Riviera (Averted Gaze).

And though we are loathe to admit it, Billionaire Paul Allen, at least until the Russian oligarch's catch on and fuck up the whole shit up, is something of a King of Cannes. His "Octopus" hosted the hottest party thus far.



Out: Congressman Vito Fossella. If you are a New York Republican politician and The New York Post is beating the drums for you to resign daily, then chances are you are probably toast. Originally Congressman Fossella, he of the wine-stained lips, was supposed to drop out within 72 hours of the first reports of his "love child." Then the only Republican Congressman of the New York City delegation thought he might try to stick things out and navigate a tough re-election campaign. Nope! Now TheHill reports that he is on his way out. From TheHill:

"Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) is expected to announce this week that he will not seek reelection, according to two sources.

"The announcement could come as early as Tuesday but is expected before Congress adjourns for its Memorial Day recess at the end of this week.

"It is unclear if Fossella will finish out his term or opt to resign before the end of the 110th Congress. One source said he will complete his sixth term."

In: This Paltrow Moment. There was a time when Gwyneth Paltrow was about to call it quits on the whole acting thing. And we wanted to shout out, in closing, "-- Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord done split you!" With gusto.

She irked us. We cannot deny that. We didn't like the looks of her. Paltrow exuded a sort of frosty disdain at the whole process: the fame, the fortune, the Oscar, the public. And that kind of made us all negativ-ish on Paltrow, despite the fact that her mother, Blyth Danner, is a magnificent raspy-voiced actress that blew us away in Woody Allen's Another Woman, and her father, bruce Paltrow gave us the fantastic "St. Elsewhere," one of the best television shows ever.

Then something changed. The lack of fame and buzz softened Paltrow. Time took the private school sharpness away. Irrelevance does that to a spoiled, blousy, blonde Spence School girl (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment).

Paltrow is more open about herself. She is less arrogant. Frisky! She got Fox 411's Roger Friedman into a party at Cannes. She was all humble on Letterman. She did "Iron Man," which is so thoroughly not the obnoxious second rate "Miramax" art house shit she used to do. And we just want to cradle Paltrow in our mighty arms and say, "That whole Miramax Muse period when we were not that into you? It's forgotten, boo."



Out: "Fuck Kentuck!" That Clinton machine has been working Kentucky like John Travolta and that goddam "Travolta Hair." Of course Senator Clinton is going to work the Appalachian racist vote (AKA, "The Goat's Rope"), possibly matching that 41-point margin in WV. Then, logically, she will hammer the point that Obama can't win (and neither can she, electorally), thereby weakening the Senator from Illinois for McCain.

If Clinton gets a record turn out, Politico argues that she might make the case that she could win in Appalachia. That's kind of a hard sell, though, considering the hard core Appalachian cousin-fucker vote trends Republican. And it has for Generations.

Still, from Politico:

"If Clinton wins by a larger margin than the one by which Obama is expected to beat her in Tuesday’s other primary in Oregon, it would also amplify her assertion that she’s ahead in total votes, if Florida and Michigan are counted.

"A Kentucky landslide would serve another purpose: it would bolster her case that Obama can’t win over the blue collar and elderly white voters who fill the state’s voters rolls and who, the Clinton campaign argues, are necessary to beat McCain in November."

More here.