It's really very simple: A judge whose rulings advance your political wishlist is a Strict Constructionalist who's just interpreting the Constitution and other laws as written. A judge whose rulings go against your political wishlist is an Activist Judge who's legislating from the bench. That's how it always goes. You never hear anyone say, "Gee, I wish the law didn't say that and I will work to change that law...but that judge is just interpreting what the law says."
Some Jack Kirby news. Two of my former employers are teaming up to market some of the ideas that Jack created or helped develop for animation in the eighties. The article doesn't mention it but there's also a big art book in the works featuring some of this material.
I have, of course, zero interest in trying KFC's new Double Down sandwich, which consists of two fried chicken fillets acting as the "bread," containing two slices of Monterey Jack and pepper jack cheese, two slices of bacon and a special sauce. In most fast food restaurants, "special sauce" means mayonnaisse mixed with something else they have lying around. One Double Down gives you 540 calories, 32 grams of fat and an eyeball-busting 1,380 milligrams of sodium. That's the version with the fried chicken fillets. They also have one with grilled chicken. That has 460 calories, 23 grams of fat and 1,430 milligrams of sodium. I guess the extra sodium is to make up for any possible artery blockage you lose when you drop out that much fat.
My disinterest flows not just from the nutritional numbers. Truth to tell, a lot of us probably eat things in restaurants all the time that sound healthier but really aren't. My disinterest is because it's been a good twenty years since I had anything from a KFC that tasted like anything other than stale, deep-fried batter...and that includes the one time I popped into one to get a bottle of Dasani water. Someone could probably open a very successful fast food franchise if they could just advertise (and deliver) fried chicken as good as the Colonel's was before PepsiCo bought the chain in 1986. The decline actually started in 1971 when the company that bought out Colonel Sanders sold the operation to Heublein and it got worse in '82 when the R.J. Reynolds company acquired it. But it didn't get really bad until PepsiCo moved in and cheapened things down to inedible. Which is great. Think how fat America would be if the food at KFC tasted good.
People are acting horrified that KFC would offer such an unhealthy sandwich. This is like being shocked that Larry Flynt is putting out something in bad taste. What else do you expect? It's KFC. If you went in to eat there and they didn't have this sandwich, you'd probably order two pieces of Original Recipe fried chicken (breast and drumstick), an order of potato wedges and a biscuit...for a total of 880 calories, 43 grams of fat and 2,320 milligrams of sodium. Compared to that, the Double Down qualifies as Health Food.
Joe Conason reminds us about Ronald Reagan's approach to nuclear disarmament. It was very much like what Barack Obama is trying to make happen and very much unlike the way folks like Sarah Palin now describe it.
Fred tells us why Sarah Palin doesn't understand the new nuclear arms policies she's out there criticizing. I don't think she cares. I think she's just looking to say anything that will keep her base mad and stupid.
My right-wing friend Roger used to believe that U.S. troops were swooping down on terrorists, expertly capturing only the bastards and shipping them off to Guantanamo where they couldn't hurt anyone and would spill their guts. That would have been dandy but revelation after revelation has shown that wasn't the case; that we were just kinda locking up people at close-to-random. Some were actual terrorists but a lot were totally innocent, including very small children and very old seniors...and the axis of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld didn't care. Here's the latest large hole poked in the myth Roger used to believe.
Well, no one saw this coming: It's been announced that Conan O'Brien will begin hosting a late night show for TBS. It starts in November and will air at 11 PM, bumping George Lopez's show back to Midnight. Some will note the irony that after what went on at NBC, O'Brien's show will be forcing someone else into a later time slot...but that's the way these things always go in TV programming. You can't get a time slot without taking one that someone else wants. And for all his complaining about weak lead-ins at NBC, he's now going to be following — unless TBS has the bucks left to buy more original programming — things like reruns of My Name is Earl.
I'll be glad to see Conan back on TV and I guess this move makes sense, especially since there was apparently no acceptable offer from Fox. Lopez's show has done okay in that slot. TBS must figure Conan can helm a modestly-budgeted show that will do at least as well and probably better...and they'll have a two-hour bloc that might not be competitive with Leno and Letterman but will make money. The channel no doubt dreams of expanding its new programming and chucking the reruns some day and this is another solid step in that direction. I'm curious if they gave a lot of consideration to putting Conan on at 10 PM or earlier so he wouldn't be going head-to-head with The Daily Show followed by Mr. Colbert. Those are pretty strong contenders for his key demographic so why wasn't that done? Because Leno didn't work at 10? That show wouldn't have worked in any time slot.
No word on whether O'Brien will come to us from L.A. or New York but I'm guessing the former. I'm also guessing that TBS will run each show twice a night, as they presently do with Lopez. Given that this has to represent a hefty investment for them, I wouldn't be surprised to see them reairing shows on the weekends too, or even on weekday afternoons. I'll sure be watching, albeit via TiVo.
I don't know if you've been following the latest in a never-ending, never-addressed series of sex scandals involving Catholic priests and underage boys but it's pretty ugly, especially because the response from The Vatican seems to be along the lines of, "Keep moving...nothing to see here." Until the next one and the one after that and the one after that. Maureen Dowd and Andrew Sullivan (Catholics, both) have written pieces of eloquent outrage demanding action and decrying the Pope's apparent attitude, which is that the Church can handle this matter internally...and would probably handle it by doing not the right thing but the least embarrassing.
Not being of that faith, I won't pretend I fully understand its internal policies and if there's any remote justification for dealing with the crimes in this manner. But I sure can't imagine what they might be. Pope Benedict XVI may well have to resign over this...and if he doesn't, he's going to have to do something big to tell the world that the Church is changing; that it cares about its followers more than about its own officials. I don't have an idea what that might be — but Sarah Silverman does...
Frank Rich discusses how these days, no one takes responsibility for anything.
Quick question to ponder: He quotes Alan Greenspan, who's basically been in charge for our economy for many years now as saying, "I was right 70 percent of the time, but I was wrong 30 percent of the time." Would you entrust your body to a surgeon who admitted he was right 70 percent of the time but wrong 30 percent of the time?
April 11, 2010
