Political Animal  In the spring of 1988, I was work-ing in radio news in Washington, D.C., and often the editor on the desk at the time would send reporters out into the street to get comment on the "issue of the morning." In the business, this pointless, time-filling and uninformative exercise is called the "man on the street" interview, but it has also been termed by some old-timers as a "Triple A"--"Ask Any Asshole." The "Triple A" never produces any news; aside from filling up a space in a newscast that coul ... [MORE]

by Brian Morton | 8/27/2008

Social Studies  According to news reports, actor Julius Carry died on Aug. 19 from pancreatic cancer, and I'm a little broke up about it. The actor had been a staple in Hollywood for 40 years, appearing in a plethora of TV shows, such as The Jeffersons, 227, Murphy Brown, and Caroline in the City, and co-starring in the cult favorite The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. He also had a pretty decent filmography, including The Avenging Disco Godfather, a flick that, coupled with a trough of buffalo wings and a ca ... [MORE]

by Vincent Williams | 8/27/2008

Political Animal  Back before Sept. 11, the main foreign policy priority (and when I say "foreign policy," I mean "money in the defense budget") for the Bush administration was missile defense. No matter that all the experts were telling George W. Bush that missile defense was less of a bother than terrorism--Bush wanted a national missile defense system, and little was going to get in his way to stop it. Never mind that it raised the hackles of the Chinese and underscored how fragile the situation was with Taiw ... [MORE]

by Brian Morton | 8/20/2008

Mr. Wrong  Somebody fucked with my car again. This time some loser snapped the H off'n my grille, the shiny H signifying "Honda," as in Civic, as in 1996, for fuck's sake. I mean, it's almost a Historic car, why you gotta go and snap off my H?" This is the cherry on the ice-cream sundae of my car crapola lately. A few weeks ago somebody actually tried to steal my fucking 12-year old car, the whole car, with a rusty hood and loose bumper and bald-o tires. Look, fucking Car Thief, why the fuck don't you ... [MORE]

by Joe MacLeod | 8/20/2008

Political Animal  It was surprising but not necessarily a surprise when Mother Jones magazine recently uncovered the true identity of a woman, Mary Lou Sapone, who spent the better part of 10 years as a paid spy inside the anti-gun violence movement. It wasn't a surprise to me that the National Rifle Association would do such a thing, because during my two years working for Jim and Sarah Brady, and then a year as a board member of what is now Maryland Ceasefire, I saw the gun lobby's antics up close and in my fa ... [MORE]

by Brian Morton | 8/13/2008

Social Studies  I don't know . . . B. looks a li'l light to me in that picture, too. As I get older, I tend not to jump on these random racialized-complaint things, whether it's LeBron James looking like King Kong or Cristal not wanting to bring down its brand by being associated with hip-hop. But when critics questioned whether or not the fine folks at L'Oreal had lightened Beyoncé's face in their new ad, well, again, she looks damn light, and God knows Beyoncé was never the most chocolate sister t ... [MORE]

by Vincent Williams | 8/13/2008

Political Animal  Here we are near the end of the long, hot summer, and that odor wafting toward you isn't skunked beer or uncollected trash--it's desperation. You can tell when campaign ads talk about "celebrity" and feature Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, both of whom might be hard-pressed to answer how many years are in a U.S. senator's term (quick--somebody cue Jay Leno's "Jaywalking!"). It was around this time eight years ago when the traveling campaign press seized on the "Who would you rather have a beer ... [MORE]

by Brian Morton | 8/6/2008

Mr. Wrong  So I guess there's gonna be a vote, or a referendum, or a Plebecite or something, about these Slot Machines, and I'm pretty sure I've made it perfectly fucking crystal clear in various outbreaks of the Mr. Wrong "column" that I am in favor of all forms of gambling that can be made legal with a minimum of Objections, and even though I personally don't tug on too many one-armed Bandits, I say The People should have whatever form of gambling they deserve, and one thing I know about Our Fair City ... [MORE]

by Joe MacLeod | 8/6/2008

Political Animal  The next time there is a Republican president and Congress--and there will be a next time--they'll have it a whole lot easier. For one, they'll have a complete road map. Richard Nixon started drawing the map back in the 1970s. His mistakes were the grand ones that set off the Watergate scandal: wiretapping, use of government means to achieve political ends, and the failure to complete a perfect cover-up. There were tapes, there were turncoats, and there was the money. But it allowed the GOP to ... [MORE]

by Brian Morton | 7/30/2008

Social Studies  To be perfectly honest, I'm a little distracted while I'm writing this. I'm making a mental checklist. Since it's summer, the grill is clean and running well, and I have plenty of charcoal. Likewise, there's a freezer filled with chicken wings, breasts, and drumsticks that I'll defrost and season starting tonight. I'm going to save Steak Hunt until the last minute and grab some from whoever's having the best weekend sale. After the debacle of this past winter with the whiskey tasting, this tim ... [MORE]

by Vincent Williams | 7/30/2008

Political Animal  "It's a free country." How often do you hear someone say that phrase? Or, does this lyric ring a bell: "I'm proud to be an American/ where at least I know I'm free." You can never go broke selling something if you put the words "freedom," "liberty," or "American" in it. Just look at the "A" section of the yellow pages. Throw "extreme" in there if you want to sell to anyone under the age of 25. I'm waiting to pass the kiosk in the mall selling american extreme freedom liberty cell phones. It's f ... [MORE]

by Brian Morton | 7/23/2008

Mr. Wrong  I could stand to lose a few pounds, so I got a bike, you know? Yeah, I'm gonna ride all over the place to places where normally I would drive my car, right? Yeah, sure, like to work, or to, uh, church and stuff, or possibly like to go buy ice cream or snacks or some refreshing beverages so I can remain well hydrated after almost falling off my bike because the shift-thing isn't the easiest thing in the world to operate sometimes, seriously. Do they have a bike that has an automatic transmissio ... [MORE]

by Joe MacLeod | 7/23/2008

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