Media-Whore D'Oeuvres

"Obama mentioned three Democratic House members who he said had taken tough votes to support his policies. It's worth noting that all of them—Tom Periello in Virginia, Betsy Markey in Colorado and John Boccieri in Ohio—are trailing their Republican challengers by a few percentage points in recent polls. Perhaps the president was giving them a calculated shout-out. Stewart wasn't afraid to wander into the weeds on health care. And when he questioned the hiring of Larry Summers, Obama stepped in it by echoing W.'s praise for Brownie, saying the economist had done 'a heck of a job.' 'You don't want to use that phrase, dude,' Stewart shot back. That, of course, took place within the confines of a Washington studio. By what standard, then, should we judge the Stewart stagecraft on Saturday? Certainly not by the crowd size, or whether the host is better than he was at the Oscars. If the rally is merely entertaining, he will have failed to make a larger point. If the rally is excessively political, he will have sacrificed a bit of his comedic credibility in favor of earnest activism. Or Jon Stewart could hit the sweet spot between being provocative and preposterous. And that would be a truly sane outcome." (Howie Kurtz)

"We get it. It’s a dirty, terrible world out there and anything and every one is fair game. So when some guy was willing to trash Christine O’Donnell, the Republican candidate for United States Senate in Delaware, for the small money Gawker paid for the scoop, it was just one more step down the road to clickable perdition. Except even as she was being fed into the digital wood chipper, various other parties on the Web began to step back and wonder why a pretty average night between seemingly normal people was being pathologized. Even those of us who take issue with Gawker Media’s willingness to plunk down cash for scoops routinely amble by the site at lunch, or goaded by Twitter, stop in to see what’s blowing up on the Manhattan gossip site. Gawker is a daily playground of misanthropy, but this one landed with a clank: Anyone who clicked on this particular drive-by, which brought the site half a million page-views, had to feel a little implicated by the time they got to the bottom. An anonymous guy recounted going out with Ms. O’Donnell three years ago on Halloween night in Philadelphia. She was wearing a lady bug costume and flirted with him. 'We’d probably knocked back five Heinekens when Christine leaned over and whispered in my ear that she wanted to go back to my place.' The account – it got a work over from a ghost writer at Gawker — takes that bit of cliché as a jumping off point and goes dark and skeevy after that, including a description of (non)intimacies and intimate physical features. We are all probably supposed to feel O.K. about mousing over this because Ms. O’Donnell has championed chaste living in her public life. 'Some people think we were passing judgment on her, and that’s not the case at all. We’ve sort of humanized her,' the Gawker editor Remy Stern told The New York Observer. Certainly that was one of the unintended consequences of the post, but not its primary gesture." (NYTimes)

"Tony Baratta of Diamond Baratta design is a conundrum: we had real fun interviewing him because he’s given to loud bursts of infectious laughter, giving us the kind of un-canned answers that we love. The hilarious pictures in their book, 'All-American, The Exhuberant Style of William Diamond and Anthony Baratta,' of he and his long-time business partner, Bill Diamond variously posing on giraffe-print thrones or looking coy in silk pyjamas, would indicate that neither of them take themselves too seriously—at least this was our interpretation of those pictures" (NYSocialDiary)

"The New Zealand parliament has passed emergency legislation ensuring that the 2 back-to-back Hobbit films get made in the country. The legislation bypassed usual parliamentary committees, prompting New Zealand MPs to call it a 'day of shame.' One held up a redesigned national flag with the Warner Bros logo in one corner. 'What is the government going to do next – give in to any multinational that asks for a labour standard to be diluted in return for some form of investment?' asked opposition MP Charles Chauvel. The amendment was passed by a 65-50 vote. The government’s decision to rush through amended employment laws – stopping below-the-line workers from being treated as full-time employees, with all the rights which go with being a salary man -- has divided local opinion. The above political cartoon is from a New Zealand newpaper. Meanwhile, some actors union officials though have received death threats after threatening a boycott.Prime Minister John Key has defended his government’s tax deal that secured The Hobbit movies as being far less generous than the opposition’s Lord of the Rings deal." (Deadline)

"As to money, the New York Times reported Wednesday that, actually, in the 109 most contested House races, Democratic candidates have outspent Republicans, $119 million to $79 million. While the Center for Responsive Politics reported that pro-Republican independent groups have outspent pro-Democratic groups $177.2 million to $83.1 million so far, it turns out that the biggest outside spender is the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, at $91 million, according to the New York Times. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is second at $75 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. Karl Rove’s group, American Crossroads, is third at $65 million. But the Service Employees International Union is fourth at $44 million and the National Education Association is fifth, at $40 million. Let’s stipulate again, corporations ought not be spending stockholders’ money on campaigns — as Congress first decreed in 1907 — and unions shouldn’t spend member dues, as Congress ruled in 1947. Contrary to the opinions of the five conservatives on the Court, corporations and unions are not “persons” entitled to First Amendment rights." (Mort Kondrake)

"A dazzling crowd gathered at the Chateau Marmont on Wednesday night in honor of the amfAR Inspiration Gala, an evening designed to celebrate men’s style and raise funds and awareness for AIDS research programs. Hosted by Kylie Minogue and themed 'Black Tie/Black Leather,' the philanthropic soiree featured a poolside fashion presentation by DSquared and Jean Paul Gaultier, a live auction of luxury items, dinner and a special burlesque performance by Dita von Teese. 'I’m excited to perform tonight, because it’s a racier show that I haven’t done in too many places. A lot of people have seen me perform in a giant martini glass, but tonight’s going to be a little different. This crowd can definitely handle it!' said von Teese with a wink. And admitting to a bit of a girl crush on the burlesque dancer, Natasha Bedingfield watched von Teese from afar and confided, 'I like her sexiness, her power as a woman. I think it’s quite amazing. When you think of a strip tease, you don’t think of the femininity and power that comes with it, but Dita’s bringing it back.'" (Fashionweekdaily)