DRW50

Probably. I'd like to say Jones being a former prosecutor, and a good one despite what Trump claims, would help him, but that would be a fantasy wouldn't it.

I think it's stuff like abortion which is the main push these days, at least in the South.

Kyle got a Golden Globe nomination for Twin Peaks. The show itself didn't get nominated, which is a shame, especially considering some of the shows they did nominate went way off the rails from what I've read (Fargo, Top of the Lake), but the Golden Globes are mostly trash so I can't say I'm surprised. I guess this reminds me not to expect much for the Emmys either.

Speaking of lasting damage: https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/11/trump-welfare-reform-safety-net-288623 The one good thing I can say is that Trump is so clumsy and so obvious that it helps to galvanize people more than a slicker, more "moderate" Republican would, but I just wish I could believe that anything will change or improve in upcoming elections. I still remember how many insisted Democrats would have landslides because of Trump. There are things that are wrong and inappropriate (like the people who go in for all kinds of speculation about his youngest son). The rest I'd say is par for the course. What bothers me with criticism of Trump is less about extremity and more about how shallow and self-parodying so much of it is. It's a certain smugness that is used a cudgel against those who oppose Trump. All the hee hee and ha ha over Melania's Christmas decorations - I roll my eyes. I saw Chelsea Handler mention Trump as some sort of connection when she was evacuating from her home in the wildfires. To be fair, she's losing her home, so she has a right to lash out, but all I could think was how much it sounded like the notorious, "Thanks Obama!" that so many on the left used to make fun of.

In this case I think the racists are very motivated anyway, but what bothers me is the implication that Obama needs to help come and rally black voters. Yes, black voters should turn out, if voter suppression even allows them, but the truth is that they are a minority in Alabama, and that when most of the white voters are unabashed bigots, they are going to carry the day. There is always a rush to blame black voters and put all the focus on them in instances like these which seems very misguided and simplistic. The media doesn't want to talk about that, because it's not a sexy story, and it also doesn't sow division, which the media loves to do (with Democrats anyway - they see the Republicans as their forever friends). And the Democratic Party goes along with it because it means the elites don't have to question their own methods.

Very brave of them - they know nothing will happen other than even more hate coming their way, but they also know this is the only way to keep it in the news. Meanwhile, we're seeing a variety of men who have been pushed as liberal heroes in recent years in spite of a lengthy history showing just the opposite (Baldwin by...being himself, Judd Apatow by pushing years of TV and films degrading women, and promoting sexist tropes and misogynist men, along with encouraging homophobia), showing their true colors. This is why I hate how insular the media is. Apatow in particular has gotten nothing but gushing and raves (and a whole lot of money) for his trash and for setting up the careers of trash like Lena Dunham and that woman who worked for her who addressed complaints black women had about not being represented in Girls by replying that she'd never been represented in Precious (she is now headlining another Apatow piece the media goes gaga over - Love...also another Netflix show, which tells you a lot about their views). http://www.vulture.com/2017/12/alec-baldwin-thinks-post-weinstein-movement-could-derail.html http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/a14398286/judd-apatow-defends-lena-dunham/ I think someone already mentioned this, but the accusations Lena's pal made against the woman who claims he sexually assaulted her have been retracted. http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/girls-writer-murray-miller-retraction-aurora-perrineau-1202633343/

I remember this was brought up again in 2007 or 2008 but didn't seem to go anywhere. I could see it happening in Virginia if they win a few more seats.

I thought a lot of it was pretty decent (the Alfie scenes and the Leyla stuff).

I guess I was confused as the actor looks a lot like Glenn Scarpelli. Justina's attempts to make the Bonnie Franklin faces are priceless. I wish Bonnie was here to see it.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5163675/Sean-Rose-says-agent-offered-cash-career-ladder-sex.html

She went to work for the UN in 1993. And then the show forgot she ever existed. Liz Hubbard was the only one who bothered to keep a history going for Lucinda. I remember when she said she had a line like, "I have two daughters," and she ad-libbed "three" because of Bianca. They could have brought Bianca back and told all kinds of stories with her in later years, but I guess it's a good thing they didn't, as she would have just slept with Craig.

That really was wonderful...I'm so disappointed Justina didn't jump in the air like Bonnie Franklin did in the first season though. I couldn't figure out if Marcel was supposed to be Valerie Bertinelli or Glenn Scarpelli. I wonder who Ned Nyerson was supposed to be...

Dustin Hoffman represents the certain norm of a Hollywood male (from the last years of when being a man in Hollywood/being a movie star had a certain shine to it), or a New York/Hollywood hybrid, of a certain generation I guess. I wasn't all that surprised to see the likes of Alec Baldwin and Michael Rapaport, who probably idolize the likes of Hoffman (who certainly had a better career than either of them ever did or will, especially Rapaport, who mostly just seems to berate NBA associates on social media), getting so upset at John Oliver for calling him out. (Ron Perlman did too, which did disappoint me). There's an idea that men, especially older men, have paid their dues and that they now feel a bit bad (maybe) about past behavior (if they're called out), so they are like the third rail. Even James Toback, who seems to be a horror story, was given that type of odd sympathy by Baldwin. It's easy to know what to say when cases are clear-cut, but the same liberals who got upset about Trump and assorted Republicans are now queasy with the murkier ground. I read a bizarre article today in the New Yorker, of all places, chastising Democrats for going after Al Franken because this was "rewriting sexual norms" and overstating the seriousness of what he is accused of doing to women. So essentially the New Yorker, of all places, was telling the left not to rock the boat too much, and also basically saying that it's just a liberal thing and they feel pressured to do this because conservatives don't. There's some truth in that, but that isn't enough to keep quiet if someone is accused by 6 or 7 different women. The idea that not keeping quiet is just more of Democrats defeating themselves does nothing but reinforce the same cliquey insider politics that have helped make the party so out of touch. And the misogyny of some of this (with people at "liberal" sites unloading mostly on Kristen Gillibrand, calling her Madame Defarge, so so on) is just another example of the hypocrisy of modern liberalism and why so many people have no desire to interact with the left.

I wasn't going to watch the Roseanne revival anyway, but her recent comments about Al Franken led me to see just what she now supports. I wonder how many people who will be watching the new Roseanne are aware of this? https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-roseanne-barr-abandoned-all-reason-and-embraced-the-alt-right

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mira-sorvino-vindication-aftermath-my-weinstein-story-guest-column-1064701?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR Breaking News_2017-12-08 06:15:00_ARahman&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_breakingnews Sorry for all that ugly text. It's a Mira Sorvino op-ed.

Denis Leary used that [!@#$%^&*] show of his (Rescue Me) to push some kind of hot manly fantasy about men raping women, so I can't take anything he says seriously.

@Roman already mentioned this but Congressman Trent Franks is resigning (safe GOP seat, most likely). Apparently this is not surprising behavior: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/laurieroberts/2017/12/07/roberts-first-franken-resigns-and-now-franks/932874001/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-5154441/Stars-pack-DailyMail-Unwrap-Holidays-Party.html Dorinda looks a lot younger than Lindsay Lohan...

I do think some of this is politically motivated, especially the first accusations. Some of the others I believe. The sad part is that I've heard people blame the women who came forward about Weinstein for starting this that has led to Franken. This is exactly what the GOP wants - it gets rid of someone they hate and also helps people resent women who have been harassed. I'm at the point where I think all the people who will be upset over losing their social safety net will still blame Democrats, or still just vote on hating non-whites, abortion and lgbt. I did laugh at this: http://money.cnn.com/2017/12/06/investing/coal-tax-cuts-robert-murray-trump/index.html

In this case I think it's also the steady stream of women who have come forward about Franken. It seems unfair to push him out without an investigation, when there's no indication that even Blake Farenhold is going anywhere after payments of hush money are all over the press, but in this case it feels like part of the basic principles that Democrats have vs Republicans. The main time that Democrats refused to go along with a drumbeat was Clinton and impeachment, and the general apathy/quiet disdain that many in the party apparatus seem to feel for the Clintons probably makes them regret that all the more. I have a lot of respect for what Al Franken did in his years in office, but looking back, given his past working at a cesspit like SNL and some of the stuff he'd written, I think it was a mistake to clear the way for his run. Many could have beaten Norm Coleman in 2008. Franken likely got more support because he was close to Paul Wellstone, but sadly this is about the worst way to honor Paul Wellstone's memory that I can think of.

Look how much the GOP loves vets: https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/06/homeless-veterans-benefits-trump-207781

I'd think there's still legal stuff involving Kesha. Not really sure why Taylor or Megyn Kelly are there though...

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/06/tax-plan-glitches-mistakes-republicans-208049

I was disappointed, if not surprised given how self-defeating and ponderous NYT has been in recent decades, that they included Lena Dunham making Weinstein all about herself by claiming she'd warned Hillary's campaign and no one had listened. Apparently she's too stupid to see that if she knew, Hillary or many in Hillaryland certainly knew, as many in the industry and the political world likely knew. Apparently she's also too stupid to realize that after everything with her sister and with the Girls co-writers she blindly defended, she's the absolute last person to speak as any moral authority on this issue. And to use this issue for an "I told you so!" is shameful.

Hmm. http://ew.com/movies/2017/12/05/john-travolta-gotti-biopic-release-pulled-lionsgate/