Friday, November 21, 2008

Confidantes: Hillary Rodham Clinton Accepts Secretary Of State



(image via Damon Winter/The New York Times)

While we would rather have the immensely qualified and politically glorious Governor Bill Richardson as Obama's Secretary of State, we understand the politics. We understand, though it stings. Now it is a Team of Rivals that President-elect Obama has created. According to The New York Times:

"Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the position of secretary of state, making her the public face around the world for the administration of the man who beat her for the Democratic presidential nomination, two confidants said Friday.

"The apparent accord between perhaps the two leading figures in the Democratic Party climaxed a week-long drama that riveted the nation’s capital.

"Mrs. Clinton came to her decision after additional discussion with President-elect Barack Obama about the nature of her role and his plans for foreign policy, said one of the confidants, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the situation."


Will the Hillary pick break the hearts of Obamaniacs? Is this their first introduction to the world of hardball politics ("sorry kid, thems the breaks")?

Our consolation: when it comes to negotiating with the Chinese, there is no one we would rather have staring down the mandarins of Beijing than the steely Hillary Rodham Clinton that emerged from the fiery furnace of Pennsylvania Demcrat primary.

Howie Kurtz Tweets: "By the time Obama actually announces Hillary it will be *old* news. Except in NY, where Andrew Cuomo & others will be vying for Senate appt."

More questions: Does Cuomo really want this seat? In the past, the Attorney General has been focused -- laser like -- on the Governorship, a position his father held and he has sought before a defeat to the Establishment candidate H. Carl McCall. Cuomo, in our opinion, has been seeking to restore family honor (not unlike Bush, 43 in the wake of Bush, 41's defeat at the hands of Clinton, ironically Cuomo's political patron). A Senate seat, which Cuomo is immensely qualified to fill, might break that Father-and-Sons psychodramatic loop. If not, Robert Kennedy, Jr. -- again, the political legacies bequeathed by fathers to their sons! -- might be a sleeper pick.



(image via npr/books)

David Patterson, who has spent his life as a legislator, has been a lackluster Governor thus far. And he doesn't seem to be having any fun after his surprise appointment post-Spitzergate. Does Patterson appoint himself, fleeing the quagmire of the budgetary process in Albany, in the wake of this financial crisis?
A Little of the Old In And Out



(image via vectorlogos)

In: CBS. CBS has the new "Must See" Thursday game, as NBC was before the "Friends" debacle fucked the whole thing up (all chronicled, brilliantly, in "Desperate Networks"). From Variety:

"CBS has made it 4-for-4 on Thursdays in the November sweep, winning the night this week behind its veteran combo of Survivor and CSI. ABC was a close second on the strength of Grey's Anatomy, which had its best scores of the month.

"According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, CBS opened the night a winner as usual with Survivor (4.0 rating/11 share in adults 18-49, 12.6 million viewers overall), which won its hour by 4 shares in adults 18-49 over ABC and NBC. CSI followed with average scores (4.9/12 in 18-49, 18.4 million viewers overall), placing second for the hour in 18-49 and first in total viewers. Rookie drama Eleventh Hour finished things up for CBS with a second-place finish (2.8/8 in 18-49, 10.7 million viewers overall), down a bit week to week."


More here.



(image via tdaxp)

Out: Unipolarity. American unipolarity, which began with the inevitable dissolution of the totalitarian Soviet Union, is over. The burden of global stewardship, which fell upon the mighty shoulders of Uncle Sam, will now be made lighter by the combined efforts of other nations -- many Eastward. The good news: We are still the most powerful and influential force in the world, and our values -- which are generally noble -- will still hold sway internationally. Who else could -- or would -- have the will to spearhead international efforts to thwart, for however long it is possible, the volatile Iran from achieving a nuclearized weapon.

The bad news is that it will be difficult to make bold, unilateral maneuvers in this new world. We will have to learn a new vocabulary, flex our of late atrophied soft power muscles, building coalitions. More good news: This present global situation plays to the strengths of our President-elect's skill set. From The Foreign Policy Blog:

"U.S. power and influence is waning, according to a new report by the U.S. intelligence community. The good news? So is al Qaeda's.

"But 'the unipolar moment is over,' declared Tom Fingar, chairman of the National Intelligence Council (NIC), in announcing the report.

"The NIC expects United States will remain the world's foremost economic and military superpower. But its report, 'Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World,' argues that the rise of powers like China and India means that the United States will be just one of many players in a 'global multipolar system.' It concludes, 'The US will remain the single most important actor but will be less dominant.'"


Historians of the future may look back and argue that The Post-American World author Fareed Zakaria and The Second World author Parag Khanna released their books at precisely the right time (not unlike Zbigniew Brzezinski, whose tome The Grand Failure, serendipitously landed on bookshelves just as the Berlin Wall fell). here.



(image via fanpop via gq)

In: Jason Bateman. Jason Bateman is one of the few child actors -- Robert Downey, Jr. is another -- that is still making waves in Hollywood, and not for bad behavior (We are over to you, Todd Bridges). Bateman, who co-starred with Will Smith in the successful "Hancock," is co-hosting the Independent Spirit Awards on December 2nd. And Cult TV classic "Arrested Development" may be coming to the big screen. And the A-List director Ron Howard (another kid actor done good) might, in the end, be attached at the helm. From TheHollywoodReporter:

"The 'Arrested Development' feature has moved closer to reality, with Mitch Hurwitz and Ron Howard reportedly closing deals for the long-gestating project from Imagine and Fox Searchlight.

"The possible migration of the critically acclaimed but short-lived Fox series to the big screen has been a hot topic among fans for the past year. Speculation has been fueled by cast members of the show, including Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Jeffrey Tambor, who have been frequently quoted in interviews that a feature adaptation is in the works."


More here.
Corsair Classic

Bonfire of the Vanities: Dubai



(Charlize Theron via Charles Crowell/Bloomberg News)

The geopolitical center of power has moved eastward, could also the swag bags? The second-largest sheikhdom in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai, might not inconceivably become the location of the global after-party if the global financial crisis turns the first world radioactive to the idea of celebrity celebratory excesses (The Corsair sips a chilled glass of Ugandan Waragi). Already there is schadenfreude, what will follow if the economic hard times last -- as some economists predict -- for four years or longer. Will our fascination with the party photos cease, or, worse, veer into disgust? UAE Central Bank Governor Sultan Bin Nasser al-Suwaidi boasted to Bloomberg TV on Aug. 28 that the Dubai economy would expand 6.6 percent this year and "stay strong through 2009" so long as oil prices stayed above $60 a barrel.

If Calvin Klein's 40th anniversary party in September was $3 million, imagine what can be done for 2,000 guests and $20 million? From Bloomberg:

"Dubai defied the economic crisis last night as stars flocked to South African billionaire Sol Kerzner's Atlantis resort for a $20 million party that included the world's largest fireworks display dazzling enough to be seen from space and a performance by pop singer Kylie Minogue.

"The 2,000 guests of the Atlantis, located on a man-made island in the shape of a palm, were treated to a champagne reception and an 'Atlantean Feast' and danced the warm night away to Minogue's performance of 'Better the Devil You Know' followed by Samantha Ronson, a DJ friend of actress Lindsay Lohan, mixing 1980s pop music.

"'I love Dubai, I love the architecture', basketball player Michael Jordan said in an interview on the red carpet before the party. 'It's the second time I've been here, I'll be back.'

"... Janet Jackson, the singer, and Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Group Ltd., boogied to Ronson's classics including Aretha Franklin and Bell Biv DeVoe. Lohan, a shoeless Mischa Barton and model Jade Jagger chatted and smoked cigarettes on the steps of the stage."


A shoeless Mischa Barton is enough to stir the red-hott fires of blogger schadenfreude. Other guests among the 2,000 were: Wesley Snipes, Robert de Niro, Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra and catwalk model Yasmin Le Bon. "The Atlantean Feast" organized by Sol Kerzner, the South African billionaire -- not to be confused with Trimalchio's Feast by Petronius Arbiter -- included Atlantic lobster and tiger prawns hosted by Michelin-starred restaurateurs Nobu Matsuhisa and Giorgio Locatelli. Kerzner, we cannot fail to note, laid off 800 of its employees at Paradise Island Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas because American guests had declines due to the recession. Charmed, I'm sure.
Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson had their second major spat in a week at the extravagant launch of a Dubai hotel last night. Sam took to the decks at the afterparty but left Lindsay in tears after they had yet another row. An onlooker said: 'At one stage Lindsay approached Sam in the DJ booth and screamed at her, How many more songs? How long is it going to take for you to pack up?'.'" (Thisislondon)

"CNN's Christiane Amanpour receives the National Press Club's Fourth Estate Award tonight in Washington. Part of the evening's program will be a 'roast' by colleague Wolf Blitzer, as well as Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright." (TVNewser)

"With thousands of sold-out shows because of pre-sales, Summit Entertainment field teams weren't expecting any massive lines for Thursday's midnight screenings. As a Summit distribution exec reminded, 'The days of lining up hours before are gone due the Internet. ' Boy, was he wrong! I'm told that in Phoenix, Arizona, 4 major local TV news crews did live evening broadcasts because of the long lines for the midnight shows for Twilight at the Harkins Tempe Marketplace. And footage was even shot of the massive audience sitting in the sold-out Cine Capri, one of the largest theaters in the city. In Cincinnati, Ohio, the crowd began forming over four hours early for the midnight screening at the Showcase Florence, which sold out two houses for the midnight screening and were working on a third. I'm told almost everyone attending had some kind of store bought or homemade Twilight T-shirt." (DeadlineHollywoodDaily)

"SOME New Yorkers were disappointed Michael Bloomberg opted out of running for president, but the mayor's daughter, Georgina, 25, isn't one of them. 'Was it something I wanted? Absolutely not,' she tells Page Six Magazine in Sunday's Post. 'I don't think anyone my age wants to be the president's daughter.' The accomplished equestrian, now training for the 2012 London Olympics on her farm in North Salem, owns nine horses and drives a BMW, but says pop instilled in her the value of the dollar. 'I'm not rich, my father's rich. When I go shopping, that's my own money,' she says." (PageSix)

"'The first thing is, we don't all live here,' director Andrew Jarecki explained while introducing a short talk by his brother Eugene to the small crowd gathered in his mother Nancy's Upper East Side apartment on Wednesday night. The celebration was in honor of Eugene's recently released The American Way of War, a book about the American military-industrial complex ..During a brief question and answer session, the actor Danny Glover observed, 'We’re going to have to make a new step despite ourselves ..It's too soon to judge. (President-elect Obama's) just starting,' he added. 'You can't speculate about the content of a man’s soul. It's like a black hole, you can't see what’s there, but you can see the asteroids and all that stuff shooting out from the side.'" (Observer)



(Gail Lumet Buckley via NYSocialDiary)

"Meanwhile, back to the night before last. The National Book Awards evening at the Cipriani Wall Street was an evening of talk .. Martin Garbus in introducing the now legendary Barney Rosset (of Grove Press who brought Tropic of Cancer and Lady Chatterley’s Lover into print in America), gave us a sense of America’s passionate literary history .. Kiran Desai spoke about Maxine Hong Kingston who was receiving the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters .."(NYSocialDiary)

"One by one, guests came up to the red carpet to ask who was set to arrive, because the line to get into last night's Art Rocks! event benefitting the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center was insane! Well we knew Alexandra Richards was one of the featured aritsts... but what about the rumor that David LaChapelle might be bringing Pam Anderson!? While that rumor turned out to be false .." (Papermag)

"Designer/celebrity collaborations and designer/charity projects are nothing new, but in its own luxe way, Gucci has managed to merge all of the above. Frida Giannini's Tattoo Heart collection of handbags and accessories is part of the 4th annual Gucci campaign to benefit UNICEF. It's the first of such collection to earn its own ad campaign--featuring Rihanna, even." (Fashionweekdaily)

"For the New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), generous dividend payments are almost as sacred as sophisticated news coverage. Now, the paper has finally given in to the realities of the declining newspaper industry and the wider economic turmoil. Capping weeks of speculation, the NYTCo’s board announced that it was lowering its quarterly dividend to $.06 per share on the Company’s Class A and Class B common stock, down from $.23 per share in Q3. While some of the family members who were previously getting $25 million on the $.23 per share dividend will likely complain, many analysts will surely argue that the cut doesn’t go far enough." (Paidcontent)
Rock The Soap?

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(image via cbs)

Soap operas are presently in the hour of the wolf. The entire cheesish genre is dying before our eyes, like on the shows -- overwrought, protracted and weepy. It is evaporating like the fizz on a cheap champagne.

Enter: "Rock the Soap"

"Rock the soap" is one of those cruise thingies that embattled organizations -- journals of opinion, talk radio stations -- engage in to actually make a profit. But it sounds to us like an episode of "Unsolved Mysteries" waiting to happen. Soap opera fans, unlike, say, readers of National Review, have a bit of a reputation for obsessiveness and acute stalking. However entertaining it may sound, it is unlikely that a fan of, say, Jonah Goldberg's apologetic prose would klunk him over the head, rope him up and lock him in the cabin quarters while snapping eccentric Polaroids for the duration of the cruise (would that that were true, dear reader, would that that) were true. Unfortunately, such a scenario is not entirely alien in the world of soap opera fans. And a cruise deconstructs the prevailing trespassing laws. Now, take that little fun barge into lawless international waters and you may see where The Corsair might have a problem with the concept.

The whole idea is ill-conceived and, worse, an evildoers delight! The "Rock the Soap" cruise will be embarking to a sleepy fishing village in Mexico. An isolated location like this does not bode well for "talent" like Michael E. Knight, "Van Hansis" and the fetching Eden Riegel. "Van Hansis," people: Van. Hansis. Is this cruise not just dangling these marginally talented actors before the wolves, like over-cosmeticized cuts of beef? And if soap opera actors are beef, true believer, then Kelly Monaco is truly the short loin (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment).

On a cruise there are no exits. It's huis clos quarters aboard the good ship soap. If a "superfan" were to get overexcited over the chiseled features of, say, a Thorsten Kaye were accosted? Is there even a "security" detail? And, if not, how can we protect a national treasure like The Bold and the Beautiful's wolfishly handsome Constantine Maroulis? Markoulis' unofficial fanlist, we cannot fail to note, includes dodgy handles like "Hazel Eyes Fan (#78)," "mrs. maroulis (#104)" and the truly alarming "Constantinefreak (#139, but we suggest 9-1-1)." Bad news waiting to happen, people.

In conclusion, I would ask that the organizers of this floating bad operetta make sure to check the paying guests for chloroform and nipple clamps. And keep an eye out for superfans with "hungry eyes" on Karaoke night singing one-on-one to their fave villain or hunk. Note that sarongs for the Mexican beaches can also be used for binding, and thus restriction of individual limbs. Finally, organizers, stop advertising the event with the motto, "Be Open to Experiencing it All." This is an invitation to the crazy. You want to discourage the crazy at all costs. Be reasonable.

Resolved: Rock The Soap is a dangerous thing.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Howard Stern Versus Richard Belzer, Take 2



(image via fetchdog.com)

The "feud" between longtime friends Howard Stern and Richard Belzer reached a strange, anticlimactic conclusion this morning on The Howard Stern Show on Sirius radio. Belzer, who appeared on the show years before it became nationally popular, even claimed once that he got his job on Dick Wolf's Law & Order franchise after producers heard him on the Howard Stern Show, which was --- and still is -- tremendously popular in LA.


How did the feud begin? If you'll remember, the famously conspiratorial "Law and Order" actor, Belzer, abruptly pulled out of the North Shore Animal Leagues "Dogcatemy" Awards at the last minute. Howard Stern, who attended the event (Stern's wife is a big supporter of the organization), attacked Belzer on his radio show for being too big to live up to his commitments. The Belz -- who is a longtime friend of the show came in to explain himself. From Marksfriggin:

"Howard had the guys bring in Richard Belzer who was all fired up when he came walking in. Belzer asked Howard if he knows that the most important thing to him is saving animals. Howard said he doesn't know that. Howard had Belzer blow his nose before he went on because he was stuffed up. Belzer did that and joked that $400 just went into that tissue.

"Belzer said that he would have called Howard up if he had done what he did with that event. Belzer said that he really was sick that day and he was shitting and puking blood. Belzer said he thought he could make it to the event that day so that's why he waited until 15 minutes before the show started to pull out.

"Howard said he was going to be honest with him. He said he went to the charity event and this was the third year in a row that a celebrity did this. Last year it was Sam Champion who canceled. He did it 2 days before the even though.

"...He said Howard was out of line but Howard said Belzer was out of line. Belzer said he wouldn't have made this up just to get out of doing the event.

"Howard told Belzer that he thinks that Belzer was tired from doing shows and he pulled this shenanigans to get out of doing more work. Belzer said he was telling the truth and he was sick. Howard said he's not telling the truth."


And so they hooked him up to an actual lie detector, administered by "celebrity lie detector" Ed Torrian. More:

"Belzer eventually calmed down so Ed got into the questions. Howard asked Ed to ask him if he was sick the night of the North Shore Animal league event. Belzer said yes. Howard had him ask him if he was bleeding from his ass the night of that event. Ed asked but Belzer started to laugh. Howard had Ed ask if he was too sick to perform the night of that event. Belzer said yes. Howard asked if he was bleeding from his ass that night. Belzer said yes.

"Howard had Ed ask if he knew that morning that he wouldn't be able to do that charity event. Belzer said no. They asked Belzer if he called 15 minutes before the event to cancel. Belzer said no. Howard asked if he's ever downed a kitten. Belzer laughed ...

".. Howard asked Belzer if he would have sex with Obama. He said yes. Belzer was asked if he likes being Jewish. Belzer just laughed. Belzer told Howard to ask him if he was gay. Howard asked that but they were done with the test by then.

"Howard asked Ed if Belzer was lying about the question about being sick that night of the event. Ed said that he failed that one. Howard thought that was funny. Belzer said 'fuck you...' Howard said they asked him if he was too sick to perform, he flunked that one as well."


Then something rather interesting happened. A killer radio moment. Belzer asked Howard to go to commercial, he wanted to tell him something off the air that would explain why he missed the charity event. Howard asked Robin if they should go to break and she agreed and the tension was palpable. It was all very cryptic. Then, they returned and everything changed:

"After the break Howard said he had to apologize to Belzer because he gave him a doctor's note during the break. Howard said that Belzer is making him the asshole now. He said that he feels like a giant asshole now. Belzer said that he really isn't, he just went with his instinct.

"Howard said that Belzer really was sick from what he told him. He said that he's fine now though. Robin asked what was going on but Belzer wanted to leave it at what they had already said."


Stern actually announced coming off of break, "Richard really was not feeling well. I feel like a giant asshole..." Belzer will be on The Daily Show tonight. Maybe Jon Stewart can crack that cookie. No word on what the mystery illness was -- or if there even was one. We wonder what Belzer told Howard off the air and why it was so personal. All Howard would say when a caller asked is that it was "personal" and legitimate as an excuse. He told the caller to "trust (him) on this one."

que?
A Little Of The Old In And Out



In: Madonna. Once again, serendipitously, Madonna comes out ahead. Fortuna, the Roman Goddess of luck to whom Niccolo Machiavelli ascribed the real powers of creating opportunity, smiles wanly on the Material Girl. Reports are leaking that Guy Ritchie, who, according to British law, had a solid shot at taking half her fortune, but decided to walk away with nothing. Madge's fortune, estimated at $450  million, would have left Guy with $225 million. According to the report, Ritchies own personal worth is one-tenth Madonna's (these figures and the report, we cannot fail to note, are fairly speculative).

IF the story is true -- a big "If" -- and Guy Ritchie is walking away without touching Madonna's fortune, then Fortuna, clearly, is smiling upon her.



(image via thebruceblog)

Out: Congressional Seniority. The mantra in Washington at present is "Change." That, it seems, is code world for: The Old Order Changeth. The momentous defeat of Senator John McCain has been followed almost immediately by the ouster of Senator Ted Stevens, the longest serving United States Senator. Today, Congressman Waxman "waxed" -- there realy is no other way to put it -- longtime political powerhouse Congressman John Dingell. That loss is being interpreted as a signal that Congressional seniority, if not dead, is on life support in the nation's capital in the wake of this young and vibrant President-elect and his family. From WashPo:

"Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) today won the backing of the Democratic caucus to become the new head of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, defeating longtime chairman Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) in a vote Waxman's backers said would signal strong support for the agenda of President-elect Barack Obama.

"...'It's the mantra of the Obama election. People want change,' said Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), who rallied support for Waxman. 'He'll work best with the new administration.'

"...Senior Democrats were stunned by the Waxman victory, which seemingly dealt a blow to the party's long-held principle of seniority. 'It's just been buried,' Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, said of seniority."


Is there no place in Obama's new Camelot for wise old Merlin?
Winona Ryder Accidentally ODs On Tranquilizers



Fragile actress Winona Ryder, who has had some legal problems in the past, was hospitalized in Europe. There has been a nimbus of psychiatric issues following Ryder throughout her young life -- depression, insomnia and panic attacks. She was also, ironically, the Goddaughter of now-deceased LSD guru Timothy Leary. Once again the psychiatric karma rears it's head in Winona's life. From the Telegraph:

"The actress Winona Ryder was taken to hospital in Britain after collapsing on a flight to London following a suspected accidental overdose of tranquillisers.

"The star collapsed twice in first class on the 10-hour British Airways flight 282 from Los Angeles to London Heathrow.

"It is thought the 37-year-old mistakenly took too many Xanax pills – used to treat anxiety – to combat her fear of flying.

"The actress, whose film successes include Dracula, was taken to Hillingdon Hospital where she was admitted under a false name and discharged after one hour.

"The actress has since flown to another European city.

"The captain of the flight reportedly requested a priority landing from air traffic controllers at the busy airport and touched down 22 minutes early.

"A spokesman for British Airways said: 'Our passenger services staff went with her to hospital. We wish her well.'"


So, of course, do we. Full story here.
Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



(Charles Askegard, Morgan Entrekin, and Candace Bushnell via JH/NYSocialDiary)

"Michael’s was Wednesday which is wall-to-wall. The rundown give or take five score or more: Lesley Stahl, Richard Holbrooke, Barry Diller, Chrystia Freeland (FT editor), Harold Ford, vice-chairman of Merrill Lynch, former Tennessee Congressman; Peter Brown; the old-gang-a-mine-gang, Dr. Imber, Messrs Kramer, della Femina, Greenfield and Bergman, Glamour’s Cindi Leive with Scott Currie; Jonathan Burnham, Parker Ladd and Arnold Scaasi, Nick Verbitsky, Kathie Lee Gifford, Jann Wenner, Judy Price, Bettina Zilkha, Jeffrey Slonim, Steve Tyrell now headlining the Café Carlyle, with the Carlyle’s GM ..Last night down at Cipriani at 55 Wall Street, they held the 59th annual National Book Awards .." (NYSocialDiary)



(Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman via Fashionweekdaily via PatrickMcMullen)

"In Last Chance Harvey, Dustin Hoffman plays a man who lost nearly everything in a span of a dozen hours; at last night's Piaget-hosted Cinema Society screening of the film, one might venture that a role was a bit of stretch for the ever-popular Oscar winner .. (Director Joel) Hopkins wasn't the only one starstruck by the cast--his film had plenty of fans of the likes of Marc Jacobs, Ivana Trump, Bebe Neuwirth, Brittany Snow, Susan Stroman, and Lisa Kudrow at the Lincoln Square screening .. (Emma) Thompson, meanwhile took time to dissect her luxurious ensemble: nothing more than a fur coat and diamonds. 'My stones are all borrowed from London,' she admitted. 'I feel like I'm original queen of bling tonight. But underneath my coat, I'm really just wearing a bra and a pair of wool skin tights. You can't really do that during the summer, can you?'" (FashionWeekDaily)
What's Going On At Viacom?



(image via metue)

December is truly the cruelest month. It is the worst month to get laid off, just before the holidays with significant gift expenses. But that's just what's going on at Viacom, where the Methuselan Sumner Redstone still, quixotically, wields the iron gauntlet dealing with upstarts not unlike a cosmic force swatting away a troublesome gnat. From Gawker:

"The latest rumor is that MTV is planning a round of layoffs for early December. Now a tipster tells us that fellow Viacom property VH1 is holding a big HR meeting for department heads tomorrow. To sharpen the hatchet?"


Does anyone even still watch VH1?
Obama's Los Angeles Crew



(image via theipinionjournal)

Every Democrat President has an "LA Crew," go-to players -- and, in a feature role, their mansions -- who hold fund raisers and, quite possibly, cushion things for when the President leaves office. Hollywood divides itself accordingly during the course of the campaign season casting their lots almost arbitrarily with the candidates. It's an even exchange: the Los Angelinos get to dine on tales of their proximity to the glamour and thinkiness of the White House (while gratuitously wearing glasses with fake lenses and vapidly talking "policy" on Real Time with Bill Maher), and the President gets cold hard cash to fill their political coffers.

Even Reagan had an LA posse (Bush, for obvious reasons of serious lack of cool, didn't). Politico's Jeffrey Ressner puts together a list of the Los Angeles players that roll with President-elect Obama:

Michael Lawson: "A partner with the international law firm Skadden, Arps and a board member of the Music Center and the Los Angeles Airport Commission, Lawson and his wife, interior designer Mattie McFadden-Lawson, have been big Obama donors since his first U.S. Senate campaign."

James Lassiter: "Will Smith’s longtime manager and head of their production company, Overbrook Entertainment, Lassiter — always known by his initials, J.L. — grew up in the same Philly neighborhood as Smith and was introduced to the actor/rapper by his former sideman, DJ Jazzy Jeff." (Corsair: Finally, DJ Jazzy Jeff will have some influence ..)

Nancy McCullough: "An entertainment lawyer in L.A., McCullough was a year behind Obama at Harvard but worked closely with him at the school’s Law Review. Heavily involved in lawyer-monitored voter protection efforts before and during the election, she was also there at the start of Obama’s campaign, huddling in the front row in Springfield, Ill., when he announced his presidential bid. More recently, she sat on Obama’s Arts Policy Committee along with novelist Michael Chabon, photographer Pat York and Disney exec Thomas Schumacher."


The full list here.
Corsair Invites



via papermag; click to enlarge.
Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"Madonna and Guy Ritchie have reached agreement on their divorce — with the British film director refusing to take a penny of the pop star's cash. An announcement could come by the end of the month, a source close to the negotiations has told the Evening Standard. Madonna will walk away from the eight-year marriage with her fortune, estimated at (USD$450  million), still intact. Although Ritchie, himself believed to be worth (USD $45 million), was entitled under English divorce law to as much as half her wealth, sources suggest he has done a 'Piper' — a reference to Billie Piper, the actress who divorced the broadcaster Chris Evans without asking for anything ..A second source said: 'Ritchie could have taken her to the cleaners. He is a very honourable man to have walked away.'" (Thisislondon)

"The Obama administration is working on the deal that will dominate political chat for the rest of this gloomy year, and the best information now is that all the stars have lined up for Mrs. Clinton to accept the job. There will be rough edges, such as dealing with the many entangled details of Bill Clinton's global affairs, but nothing profound. It will provide the Obama team a major voice in world affairs with credibility immediately on Israel and Palestine, on Russia, on China and East Asia economies. Mrs. Clinton will be the third female StateSec and not attract interference about being the first female, or being an awkward official for the hairy potentates overseas to deal with. She will need independence and broad funding support; she will need an air force and a whole new political apparatus built upon the antique political offices at State; but she will have the foundations of a massive reawakening of State as the traditionally first and most senior Cabinet post -- the Prime Ministry of the United States of America." (JohnBatchelorShow)

"Lindsay Lohan’s girlfriend was not Best pleased to catch her lover flirting with her playboy ex – no wonder their night out ended in tears and a massive tantrum. At one point things turned so nasty between the Mean Girls star and DJ Samantha Ronson that the pair had to be physically held apart. By none other than LiLo’s old flame, Calum Best. They nearly came to blows at London’s Boujis on Wednesday after Sam spied LiLo indulging in a little dirty dancing with Calum. Our source reveals: 'Sam had had a few cocktails earlier in the evening and was perhaps a little more emotional than usual. While she was in the VIP section, Calum shimmied up to Lindsay on the dancefloor. Lindsay was lapping up the attention, having a laugh – and a flirt. But Sam saw them and went ballistic. She marched over and started pushing and shoving the pair, demanding to know what the hell they were playing at.'" (3AMGirls)

"Call me dubious about Barack Obama's apparent enthusiasm for emulating Abraham Lincoln's choice to bring former political rivals into his Cabinet. It worked a century and a half ago when White House infighting was mostly private, but in today's world every squabble could become a public spectacle. When Lincoln did not like what was written about him, he ordered the military to shut down a New York newspaper and arrest the editors. Presumably, those days are gone. Scandal-crazed bloggers, out-of-control partisans and unmanageable leakers now lurk around new administrations like nothing before. Big egos, each with a unique political base and a personal agenda, could distract the nation and derail the new administration." (Craig Crawford)



(image via complex)

"I recently interviewed (rapper Jim Jones) about the play while sitting on the lip of the stage, and toward the end of our talk, I asked him how he felt about Obama’s victory. Since Election Day, every conversation I have eventually turns to Barack Obama and our emotional reactions to this American epiphany. Jim confessed that the election inspired him to drop the word 'nigga' from his vocabulary—where it was a nearly ubiquitous presence—and replace it with 'Obama.' He gave me a few examples: 'What up, my Obama?' 'Yo, did you see them Obamas last night?' 'Now that’s a real Obama.'" (Toure/TheDailyBeast)

"On his 85th birthday, Alaska counted enough absentee ballots to make it clear that (Senator Ted) Stevens lost his election. Even if he had won, Mr. Stevens had nothing but grief ahead of him – colleagues who feared him and respected him but may not have exactly liked him now were threatening to take away his coveted Appropriations seat to show they don’t tolerate corruption. And he’s trying to stay out of prison, appealing a federal court conviction for failing to report that he had taken a bunch of freebies from a crony -- big stuff, like a Viking grill, major home improvements and a gigantic fish sculpture whose beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A man who zips so fast through the marble hallways that 20-something journalists have a hard time keeping up was moving a bit slower this week and looking not like a roaring Hulk but a thin, stressed-out old man." (CQPolitics)

"Remember the summer’s furious speculation over whether Marc Jacobs had married his boyfriend, Lorenzo Martone, in France? It may be that Lorenzo said no, or at least, not yet. After the Cinema Society screening of Milk, which tells the story of California's first openly gay elected official, Jacobs said marriage could be in his future. 'I am seriously considering marriage,' he told us. Gesturing to Martone at his side, Jacobs added, 'If I can get him to marry me, I would.' Jacobs claimed that this was not just a case of post-Milk pride. 'I’d do it in a minute,' Jacobs insisted. He laughed when we reminded him that California is not an option. 'I refuse to let anyone tell me who I can and cannot marry, and who I can and cannot love. That’s just bullshit,' said Jacobs. 'Wherever we’d have to go. If he’s up for it, I’m up for it.'" (NYMag)

("Liam McMullan and his crew" via papermag)

"It just doesn't get any easier, with one building housing both Milk Gallery and Phillips de Pury Gallery, with two different events happening there simultaneously last night. On the third floor, in the Phillips de Pury Gallery, Timo Weiland was launching his neckwear line TIMO with family and friends and no less than Robin Williams, who was sporting a casually-draped TIMO scarf." (Papermag)

"But here we are, only a few months later, and Senate Democrats, by a vote of 42 to 13, have done just that, re-issuing to Lieberman the gavel for the influential Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, a development most remarkable for how unremarkable it ended up being. After McCain’s effort to sell his party on Lieberman as a V.P. candidate failed in August, Lieberman changed course, tempering his attacks on Obama, well aware that he’d probably be back in the Senate after the election and could ill-afford to burn any more bridges with the ruling Democrats. The strategy worked. With a few exceptions, Senate Democrats rallied around Lieberman as his fate was decided these past two weeks. So, for that matter, did Obama, who made clear his preference that Lieberman not receive any serious punishment for straying. Their rationale was understandable: Lieberman votes with Democrats on just about every domestic issue. Why, with the party about to control both houses of Congress and the White House for the first time in 14 years, waste time trying to settle a score from the middle of this decade? Plus, many of Lieberman’s Democratic colleagues still like him personally." (Observer)



(image via style via patrickmcmullen)

"The space was jammed, but when it came to early bidding at Tuesday night's RxArt annual fundraising fête, the numbers were much like our economy: sluggish. Even Terry Richardson's self-portrait with Barack Obama — a meeting of icons if ever there was one—had just a single bid. Had Obama mania peaked? Too early to tell, insisted Vogue's Sarah Brown, pointing out that 'as more people hit the bar, we'll be in business.' She was right. Toward the end of the night, not only was Terry/Barack getting expensive, many of the other pieces—including Kehinde Wiley's Samuel Adams and Aurel Schmidt's Drag — were, too. In all, a tidy six-figure sum was raised for RxArt, an organization that places artwork in the patient, procedure, and exam rooms of health care facilities." (Style)

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Ana Marie Cox: Mitt Romney Has Chicken Legs



The Corsair just asked Ana Marie Cox about the reported skininess of Mitt Romney on the WashPo chat. She responded, "OMG CHICKEN LEGS. Totally. I saw him in a hotel lobby as he was coming in after a run (before the Hofstra debate) and he looked like a human bobble doll."

How can "Mittens" expect a "free and strong America" with weak knees?

Also, from me:

"The Corsair: Ana: You have said in the past that Nixon Agonistes is one of your favorite books. Why is it that no one writes with Wills' kind of intense new journalism on the political campaigns anymore?

"Ana Marie Cox: Well, personally (to the extent I dare to compare myself to Wills at his best): I don't know how anyone ever found the time. That blogger mentality (MUST POST NOW!) I referred to earlier makes it difficult to step back and think through narrative arc of a campaign, and there are few outlets that have the kind of space one would need to unpack the characters that make campaigns so compelling up close. I have been thinking about writing a novel based on the McCain campaign (yeah, yeah, old dog, no new tricks, sorry) just to TRY to get at the interiors Wills described so well when it came to Nixon. I don't think I could do timely enough to be a quick post-election book, and I know that it would be difficult to gain the access, post-campaign especially, Wills had to do as completely non fiction. There would be a lot of guessing. Educated guessing, but guessing."
Ford Shares At $1.29!



(image via britannica)

Did you ever think you would live in an America in which shares of Ford Motor Company are selling for $1.29?! No wonder John McCain bolted Michigan with a quickness.

Not a good sign for the ailing auto industry, although a President Obama has promised throughout the campaign that he will not let it collapse.
Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



Why is this man smiling? (image of Lady Liliane Cavendish and Spy magazine's Ironman Nightlife Decathlon winner Anthony Haden-Guest via Caroline Torem Craig/Papermag)

"Last night's Rx Art Party, held at Milk Gallery, was hosted by Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, the magnificently talented and dreamy design duo behind Proenza Schouler. The honoree of this charity event was Jeff Koons .." (Papermag)

"President-elect Barack Obama's incoming White House chief of staff challenged chief executives and other business leaders Tuesday night to join the new administration in a push for universal health care, saying incremental increases in coverage won't be acceptable. 'When it gets rough out there, a lot of business leaders get out of the car and say, We're OK with minor reform. I'm challenging you today, we're going to have to do big, serious things,' Rahm Emanuel said, speaking to The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council, a conference convened to elicit corporate opinion on the challenges facing the new president ... He said business leaders should help find solutions to the middle-class squeeze or face a revolt. 'We need a strategy as a country to make sure they have an opportunity to move up that ladder,' he said .. Mr. Emanuel promised that a major economic stimulus would be "the first order of business" for Mr. Obama when he takes office Jan. 20. The focus of spending will be on infrastructure, specifically "green infrastructure," which he said would include mass transit, upgraded electricity transmission lines, "smart" electrical meters that allow consumers to save money by using electricity at off-peak hours, and universal broadband Internet access, which he said would encourage telecommuting." (WSJ)

"Whether the draw was the increased visibility of the gay rights movement post-Prop 8 or the chance to see Sean Penn in the flesh, even the frigid temperatures couldn't stop the stars and fashion flock from coming out to the Details and Cinema Society-hosted screening of Milk Tuesday night ..As always, the event's afterparty at the Bowery Hotel drew as many A-listers as the screening, with Moet-sipping guests like Naomi Watts (though no drinks for this mom-to-be!), Daphne Guiness, Adrian Grenier, Charlotte Ronson, Stanley Tucci, and Taylor Momsen. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte planted himself at the bar and flirted with pretty young partygoers, while Natalie Portman busied herself chatting with Julian Schnabel and Rosie Perez gabbed about the maybe not-so-certain cancellation of Lipstick Jungle." (Fashionweekdaily)

"The London set shimmied their way into Vivienne Westwood's column gowns and dresses Tuesday evening for a worthy cause--children--at an exclusive fashion and music show to benefit the NSPCC, the UK's leading children's charity specializing in child protection ..Westwood gathered a cohort of friends and fans together: Tracey Emin, Claudia Schiffer, Eva Herzigova, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Jerry Hall and daughters Lizzie and Georgia May Jagger, Nigella Lawson, Jasmine Guinness and Alexandra Shulman (sporting some new bangs) sipped champagne and chatted ...Emin had (a) thought. 'When I wear Westwood, it makes men and women look at my cleavage and want to nuzzle my chest,' she laughed. 'But it's so comfortable. I wear Westwood like a pair of jeans' ..(Nigella) Lawson ..the domestic goddess summed up the evening festivities fittingly, although she was describing her plunging red Westwood dress. 'I feel contained and bursting all at once!'" (Fashionweekdaily)

"Alex Rodriguez, Sean Combs, and Terrence Howard were all in Miami Beach this weekend, which can mean only one thing: No, Madonna wasn't playing in concert; Victoria's Secret staged its annual fashion show at the city's newly renovated Fontainebleau hotel. The festivities kicked off on Friday night with a lavish reopening party." (Style)

"I still find it interesting that Zawahiri or Osama bin Laden didn't make any statement before the election, like they did in 2004. It may be that they didn't have a strong preference in the choice between the old hawk and the apostate Muslim. Or perhaps they were refreshing RealClearPolitics as often as the rest of us and saw that the race wasn't really close enough for them to make a difference." (Blogs.ForeignPolicy)
A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift Of All

A sneak peak, from Comedy Central:

Will Romney Be The Next, Great GOP Hope?



The battlefield has been cleared after the rout. The fruited plains drink deep the blood of fallen GOP boy-soldiers. Like the broken French line at Agincourt, the Republican party now faces the full measure of their defeat. The prevailing mood is one of empurpled melancholy (The Corsair pours himself a glass of port). Boozy Hoosier R. Emmet Tyrell not too long ago coined the term "Crack Up," and ever-after it has been used for both parties as the moment, post-Presidential campaign, when introspection after electoral defeat causes the losing party to fray at the edges. Today that refers to the Republicans, post-McCain.

The question on everyones lips in Washington, after the speculation of who gets what spoils in an Obama administration, is: Who will be the standard-bearer of the GOP torch. Right now, it could be argued, Rush Limbaugh is "the man." He reaches 10 million strong conservatives who briskly jog in place, red-cheeked, at the ready for their marching orders and talking points (".. give us this day our Daily Bread"). But where was Rush Limbaugh during the GOP primary? His failure of leadership is one of the least reported stories in the conservative press.

Limbaugh hated McCain during the Republican primary. He even did an adolescent impression of the Senator -- he was aiming after comedy, but came off as beyond peevish. Listening to Limbaugh during that period -- and The Corsair did, as an editor at FishbowlNY covering the media -- it was clear that El Rushbo hated McCain more than he was pro-anyone else, creating a vaccum that the McCain, as the most experienced candidate in a hierarchical party, won. Second only to Limbaugh's visceral distaste for Senator McCain was his classist disgust at former Governor Mike Huckabee. Limbaugh regaled leaders with tales of Huckabee frying squirrels to eat at a less-tan top drawer University. His positively acid dressing of Huckabee's fried squirrel sounded not unlike a socialite at a country club, circa 1950 (Imagine the Limbaughian sour-face!). Had Limbaugh heroically fought through his congenital negativity ("to stand athwart History yelling stop") and endorsed Mitt Romney, it could have been an entirely difficult political game. But Limbaugh's bile won out and McCain, damaged, was forced to pick Governor Palin to motivate his base. And the rest, post-Courick interview and economic crisis, is history ..

Huckabee is seen by some as a contender. We don't see it that way, though. Sure, Huckabee is a charming countrified soul, waifish even. But speculation of a future President Huckabee administration is all for naught, because: 1) Huckabee wants to become a millionaire, and 2) he only stokes the fires of a possible candidacy to leverage his value in the media. Even when Huckabee ran this cycle, he seemed more of a vanity candidate -- a la fellow Reverend Al Sharpton -- interested only in getting his name out there, driving up speaking fees. Heck, Huckabee even took high profile gigs while on his off days in the campaign. And when, in the hour of the wolf, his campaign logically out to have unleashed Cain on the McCain campaign, he instead engaged in a quixotic two-on-one against Mitt Romney, helping the Arizona Senator secure the nomination. Does that sound like a pol with fire in the belly, or a man tired of being poor, looking after a future on Fox television and, possibly, terrestrial radio.

Of course, the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency could signal a generational shift that hurts anyone running over 50. That could be a boon to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. But Jindal comes from a region that is already firmly Republican, which would give him a large hurdle to clear around the country. His extreme social conservatism notwithstanding, if Louisiana prospers in the wake of Katrina -- and that remains to be seen -- he may have an argument on effectiveness. Boring Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is as exciting to watch as plant photosynthesis. Governor Schwarzenegger, an exciting Presidential prospect to be sure, is barred by the Constitution (but that could change via amendment). And "Jebby's" got the whole Bush family baggage to contend with.

And then there is the unlikely case of Sarah Palin. The Governor of Alaska also has the chops -- if she wants it -- to become a media star, a white Oprah, a "Whoprah," if you will. But it doesn't seem as if she has made the decision yet. Right now Palin seems intent on clearing her name, shaking off the Quayle (tar and) feathers. As a hierarchical party, the Governor will have frontrunner status should she decide to run in 2012. Sarah Palin also has the backing of traditional conservatives and the Pat Buchanan wing of the party, who like her warrior woman cult-of-fertility archetype peddling. But she will have a lot to overcome. A "second sailing" would force Palin to up her game, show that she has overcome the learning curve of foreign policy. Nothing about Sarah Palin suggests that she has the chops to master the geoplitics of the next age of internationalism.

That brings us to Mitt Romney. Romney exudes competence, which is not a Republican strong point. That works in his favor. He is also, arguably, the most experienced -- and successful -- businessman on the political stage. His triumphant internationalism is forever linked to his deft anti-corruption chairmanship of the 2002 Winter Olympic games. His speech at the Republican Convention was a welcome, Reaganesque break from the general hue of angry-white-rhetoric that they had going on in Minnesota. And clearly Romney is interested, as his "spreading the wealth" in Georgia suggests. And his matinee idol good looks and clean family living make him appear almost more Reagan than Reagan. And appearance, as Reagan would tell you, is everything.

As Obama has shown us, it's the temperament stupid. Ironically, John McCain wrote a book called "Character is Destiny" only to find on the fly that he was wholly incorrect: Temperament is Destiny. In order to bring the multiple streams of modern conservatism into confluence -- the paleocons, the neocons, the anti-abortionists, the libertarians and the Reagan Democrats -- as well as make inroads among Hispanics and African-Americans and suburban women and Jews, we have to leave the mundane realm of politics and enter into the more mysterios science of Psychology.

And among all the Republicans left standing, Mitt Romney thus far presents the most likely personality profile for the virtue of competitiveness.
Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"Move over Dita Von Teese - Mel B has landed a $1million deal as a burlesque star in Las Vegas. In her sauciest ever role, former Scary Spice kicks off Peepshow next March in Sin City where she'll play the leading lady. A source said: 'She won't go topless but it will feature some very saucy outfits indeed. Mel can't wait - and her husband is even more excited that she'll take some of the outfits home with her.'" (3AMGirls)

"It was odd, wasn't it, that Britain's Guardian, of all publications, was first to report Hillary Clinton planned to become Barack Obama's Secretary of State? The paper's DC bureau chief, according to today's Observer, 'said... his source said he could use the information as long as he didn’t source it.' One tipster of ours, apparently speaking speculatively, is certain the source has to be Sidney Blumenthal, who was a senior unpaid campaign advisor to Clinton during her campaign, was an aide in Bill Clinton's White House and — key detail — has a column at the Guardian.." (Gawker)

"As negotiations started for the release of a Saudi-owned supertanker seized by pirates off Somalia, the Indian Navy said on Wednesday that one of its warships fought a battle at sea with would-be hijackers in the Gulf of Aden, sinking one suspect vessel and forcing the pirates to abandon a second as they fled. The drama on the night-time waters of the Indian Ocean late Tuesday underscored the growing international concern at the audacity with which armed pirates, mostly based in Somalia, range across vast areas of the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, attacking at will." (NYTimes)

"WHICH talk-show host has a flatulence problem so bad, he's said to have an assistant follow him around with an odor-vaporizing spray can?" (PageSix)

"Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson had a lover's tiff at Mayfair club Mahiki last night. We're told Lindsay wanted to be there because the club is owned by one of her friends, but Sam was tired after a long week of DJing and wanted to go home. Onlookers said that at one point the couple were waving their fists at each other — and Lindsay was in a foul mood. When they got back to their Kensington hotel, Lindsay sat in the back of the car for a full 10 minutes after Sam had jumped out and stormed indoors." (Thisislondon)

"Sorry I didn’t start a pool on how long it would take the usually voluble Mark Cuban to move past that first relatively low-key—for him—response to the SEC’s charges of insider trading yesterday. Well, technically, he isn’t doing the talking. Instead, Tuesday’s salvo posted on Cuban’s Blog Maverick is from a second lawyer at Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP 'on behalf of Mark Cuban.' This one denies the SEC’s claim that Cuban broke an agreement of confidentiality when he sold his stake in Mamma.com in 2004 just before the company made an announcement that would dilute the value. The post includes a partial transcript of an interview with former Mamma.com CEO Guy Faure, who is not identified by name in the SEC lawsuit." (Paidcontent)

"Tesfay Bekurezion Gebredngle paid $1,300 to make the clandestine boat trip from North Africa to Sicily. Instead, the Eritrean refugee was taken to Malta, an island a thousandth of Italy's size .. Malta, which joined the European Union in 2004, has become a dumping ground for unsuspecting refugees trying to reach the continent. They are left by their traffickers because the island is the first point reached by boats from war-torn parts of Africa. Under EU rules, Malta cannot refuse anyone who may qualify for international protection. Now the Maltese are asking their EU partners to help absorb the wave of immigration. The government is lobbying larger countries to provide financial and diplomatic aid to implement an immigration agreement signed by all 27 EU leaders on Oct. 16." (Bloomberg)