Here's an odd article by Tom Junod that makes a case for George W. Bush. It's kind of a weird, not-entirely-flattering case, but it's a different way of looking at Bush that is worth perusing.

If you are repulsed at the sight and/or sound of Michael Moore, skip this item. But if, like me, you enjoy some of what he does, you may enjoy a 43-minute speech which is currently up on the C-Span page. It's an address he made in the last day or three to some delegates at the convention and it's very passionate and at some points, very funny. Defenders of George W. Bush are fond of saying that even if what Bush says is erroneous, he can be forgiven because he truly believes what he says and has only honorable intentions. I don't really buy that and if a Democratic president got caught saying something that turned out to be untrue, I don't think they'd cut him any slack. Nor should they, especially if the inaccuracy relates to something as serious as sending this nation into war.

I am a tad more positive about Moore since I realized how silly it is to fault an op-ed filmmaker for skewing facts when we're going to let the Commander-in-Chief get away with telling us "We found the weapons of mass destruction" and other statements his own administration no longer stands behind. In the best of all public discourses, of course, everyone is accurate and they retract when it turns out they aren't. In terms of distorting reality to make one's case, Bush and Moore may have a lot more in common than either of them would ever recognize…and Moore, since he isn't an elected official sending soldiers into battle, has more excuse for his excesses. He's certainly single-minded and passionate, even when he's been misled as to the facts.

As I said, the Moore speech is 43 minutes and it's up on the C-Span website in Real Player format, at least for a few days. It's difficult to link directly to a clip on that site. This link might do it for some browsers but most of you will have to go to the site and look around to find it. I don't vouch for all the factual claims in it (there aren't very many…it's mostly opinion) but I think it shows Moore at his best and goes a long way to explaining why he's come so far.

Here's the first online newspaper obit I've found for Jackson Beck. I've corrected a few minor errors in what I posted earlier about him.

Watching the roll call of the states casting their votes. Wonder who will win.

Al Sharpton used to be a publicity-seeking scam artist of questionable integrity and zero experience in government, and there are a hundred self-proclaimed candidates I'd vote for before I put an "X" next to his name. A hundred and one if you count Alfred E. Neuman.

That said, he's also a helluva speaker. I hope someday we see some of that from someone who belongs in elected office.

One of the "most-heard" voices in the world, Jackson Beck, passed away this morning, five days after his 92nd birthday. Beck's list of credits was staggering. In the Golden Age of Radio, he was heard on dozens of shows including Easy Aces, The March of Time, Mark Trail, Grand Central Station and dozens more, but he was most identified in the title roles on The Cisco Kid and Philo Vance and as the narrator on The Adventures of Superman. In the world of animation, he was not the first voice of Popeye's arch-nemesis Bluto but he voiced more cartoons in that role than anyone else, continuing on through the years when Bluto morphed into Brutus (as explained here).

He was also the voice of Buzzy the Crow and of King Leonardo and his arch-nemesis, Biggy Rat among many other animation jobs and he appeared in many non-animated films. Woody Allen, for instance, used him as the narrator of his first feature, Take the Money and Run, and in key roles in other films. (In Radio Days, he dubbed the voice of the radio newsman reporting on the little girl who'd fallen down a well.) Mostly though, he did commercials — thousands of them, including long associations with Brawny paper towels, Thompson's Water Seal and Little Caesar's Pizza — in one of the longest, most prolific careers any announcer has ever had. Many who met him at Old Time Radio conventions (where he often participated in re-creations of classic shows) knew him as a friendly, affable gentleman. Many more just knew the sound of him. Want to hear that sound? Here's an audio sample of Mr. Beck doing the opening for a 1966 Saturday morning series. It's a voice we'll all miss.

They're saying that as soon as the Democratic Convention is over, the White House will announce that this year's federal deficit will top $420 billion…a new record. The buzz is that (a) they're waiting to announce this so that Kerry cannot use that statistic in his speech and (b) that this will be spun as encouraging news since they had once forecast a hundred billion more.

The first point puzzles me a bit. How difficult would it be for Kerry to say, "The White House has so mismanaged this economy that they will soon have to announce the highest deficit in the history of this country"? Does he need a precise number to hammer them on this point?

I don't think the "not as bad as we feared" defense will get very far, except with folks who are already determined to support Bush no matter what and need something to say. I think it was Barry Goldwater who once said that you can't leave your supporters without a way to defend you. If the news is bad, you have to give them the "spin" (he didn't use that word) so they don't look too foolish for standing with you. One of the main things that eroded Nixon's support during the Watergate mess was that people who yearned to believe and promote "his side" of it often did not know what it was and were left speechless when his critics attacked. I sure get the feeling that a lot of Bush defenders aren't happy with the excuses they've been given to make for the deficit, the sloppy pre-war intelligence, the claims of torture, etc…

If you want to know why Teresa Heinz Kerry told that reporter to "shove it," you'll want to read Joe Conason.

C-Span has a video of the Barack Obama speech up on their website. There's a slightly better copy and the text on the Chicago Tribune website, though you have to register (it's free) to access it. This link will take most browsers directly to the speech, assuming they have Real Player installed. This link will take you to the page with the text and a link to the video.

To all those who wrote to tell me that Barack Obama was a great speaker and that I should watch him: You were right. I'll post a link to it when there is one.

The article I wrote for Variety about Comic-Con International can be read online here. Contrary to its byline, I am not on the Variety staff.

Ian Brill talks about what he did in San Diego.

Democrat delegates dancing in the aisles to "Johnny B. Goode." Why do we need to see this?

My cleaning lady missed it so I just showed her Bill Clinton's speech last night at the Democratic Convention. I liked it more the second time, though I still don't quite understand one line…

Tonight my friends, I ask you to join me for the next 100 days in telling John Kerry's story and promoting his plans. Let every person in this hall and all across America say to him what he has always said to America: Send Me.

Doesn't that passage contain a little of what that eminent authority, Daffy Duck, once described as Pronoun Trouble? I think what the former president meant to say was more like this…

Tonight my friends, I ask you to join me for the next 100 days in telling John Kerry's story and promoting his plans. Let every person in this hall and all across America take him up on his generous and brave offer, "Send Me!"

But despite that, I liked the speech more this time. And it struck me for months now, we've been hearing that Hillary had this secret plan to swoop down and snatch the presidential nomination (and later, the vice-presidential nomination) or that she and Bill were plotting to sabotage Kerry so that he wouldn't be running for a second term in '08 when she plans to run for president. One reader of this weblog has sent me dozens of Hillary-related conspiracy theories…and I don't see any evidence that any of these alleged plans were ever put into play.

I hope the Democrats send Bill Clinton out to give as many speeches for Kerry as he has in him. He's a much more interesting speaker than anyone else we're likely to hear in this election. Even Bush supporters seem to be urging everyone to look past their guy's obvious discomfort with the English language. Earlier on MSNBC, I heard someone try to spin that as a positive, the idea being that his inability to give a polished speech proves that he's a "regular guy." I don't fault anyone for being born into wealth and privilege — this year, I'll probably vote for someone who was — but let's not get any more ridiculous than absolutely necessary.

(Here's a link to the text of Clinton's speech and a non-C-Span video version.)

Here's a report on the Comic-Con International by Randy Lander. And yes, I've decided to only link to coverage that mentions at least one of my panels.