DRW50

I blame W, and his backers (especially in the media), for much of the anti-intellectualism now rife in both parties. The appeal of W was supposed to be that he was a dumbass. That meant he was just like us. You could have a beer with him. Al Gore thought he was so smart, he thought he invented the Internet, he thought he discovered the Love Canal incident, he believed global warming was a threat (so silly!!!). Ever since then it's been a slow ride to hell in where we are now, where anybody with no brain who just shouts the right words is seen as "real." This is one of the reasons I'll never go along with the people who say W wasn't so bad because he was able to not be as openly disgusting as Trump is. The recent controversy over Ellen Degeneres hanging around with him, and various celebrities like Reese WItherspoon or Kristen Bell rushing to her defense to tell everyone how special it is that she has a big enough heart to be pals with a war criminal, has pushed all my buttons. (the response to this is usually "but what about the Obamas being seen with him" - that's a very different situation than anything with a Hollywood celebrity, but sure, any time I see any opportunity given to make him look like a teddy bear, it turns my stomach)

I think the trust probably went away for good after the way we treated the world following the sympathy and support they showed us post 9/11 - we went on to bully them into war, and shamed and belittled any country that didn't agree. I think Obama knew that trust, and those relationships, were gone, and was pragmatic enough to base relationships on a mutual need. That's the question - do any of these countries need us anymore, after Trump? I doubt it. I think we've turned a corner in terms of isolationism and shutting ourselves off. Unless Biden is getting a second wind, then the Democratic nominee is likely to still want to keep much of the world at arm's length. Not in the same way Trump does, but enough to continue to push us more and more into our own bubble that no one can ever penetrate.

It's the same story, just interesting to see that others were out there trying (he said he couldn't seal the deal because of NDAs).

Ronan looks a bit like Woody to me, mainly in the eyes, but I don't blame him for not wanting to be a part of that man.

He's afraid of losing power, not Trump. He's waiting Trump out.

By people who already know it's junk, true. I just hope the usual easily manipulated voters see through it.

The media is already spinning to make sure people don't blame the rich for our economy tanking: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/08/warren-correction-stevens-20191008-ec.html The saddest part is a lot of people eat this garbage up.

That's a great photo. It looks, as somebody said in the replies, like a character poster from a movie. Probably something from HBO... I hope you're right.

That last tweet is brutal and absolutely perfect. I can't even pretend to be unbiased because I've always gotten bad vibes from Matt Lauer. He represented the bland, flat face of corporate sadism. He makes my skin crawl, and I dread his inevitable return.

This is some of the more entertaining celeb drama in a good while.

They are desperate to retain power at any cost. They are absolutely craven - and they always get away with it, as they will this time too. In other news, Trump is - surprise surprise - stiffing people on their money. https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/08/trump-rallies-unpaid-bills-039631

Gowdy Doody is back to remind us of what monstrous, soulless hypocrites Republicans are.

You have to laugh.

From some of the comments it seems this episode has never aired in repeats.

I shouldn't be surprised at the responses from his cult, but seeing comments like "Now he will be doing as much as everybody else instead of 4 times as much!" just makes me roll my eyes. These people made the mistake of pushing Sanders as a god, not as a man. And they can't accept the reality.

That's sweet.

That was nice of you to try to get people to see their gift. I never felt like I saw Petronia in a part that would showcase her talents. She was so great on AW and GL though.

Oof. To be honest I've never seen RealClearPolitics as "nonpartisan" and I've generally stayed away from their site for that reason. Still, I wasn't expecting this.

Ricky Paull Goldin and Yasmine Bleeth on an Irish chat show.

You may have gotten your wish. https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/emmerdale/a29393120/emmerdale-sally-dexter-confirms-faith-dingle-exit/

I mostly remember Smythe's Peter as a boo hiss baddie. Holder I think was probably a bigger villain, instead of just being under his father's thumb, but I think Holder was able to balance it off with his looks and charisma.

Gabet leans into the hints of scheming and the sparring with Donna - these are Raven moments. The irony being that I think she took the role in part because she didn't want to play Raven all over again. I guess they got rid of Chris Holder to make Peter more of a clearcut villain, but, while I had no real problem with Smythe, Holder was a very good fit for the show - likeable and charismatic, with a bit of an edge. Their loss. The standouts for me were the scenes with Nancy, Ada and Rachel. Nancy is a bit insufferable, but Jane Cameron works so well with Constance Ford and Vicky Wyndham. There's something very natural and very special about Wyndham's interactions with Rachel's loved ones that she never really got credit for. Her scene with Nancy is so natural I almost wonder if parts were ad-libbed. And Ford is just amazing, as always. AW was so lucky to have her and I'm glad, for all the huge upheaval over the years, they always seemed to know that. Petronia Paley was incredibly moving when speaking about Grant. The guy who played Grant also did a good job in those scenes. Hopefully the second half will pop up somewhere someday. Grant feels like more wasted potential, which happened over and over and over with AW and their black cast in the '80s and early '90s. It's a bit sobering watching those scenes in the hallway and remembering how many of the characters were killed off. Acting-wise, Taylor Miller is very good in the marital drama with Catlin, but I can see why viewers wouldn't connect to her. As for Catlin himself - something in the acting and writing has always felt a bit shaky to me about him, to be honest, although I can see why he was so popular.