quartermainefan

This made me sad watching it. <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Q18eu5BG2k4?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Bob Dole came to fame as Gerald Ford's running mate in 1976 and he was a hyper partisan, nasty attack dog. As the years went on he mellowed and became known as a lovable grouch quick with a wisecrack. He dutifully ran against Bill Clinton 1996 when he had no shot but someone from his party had to, and he was an old pro who had been around washington working with the big names of his era. This is the first time I have seen him in years and it just makes me sad to see what has become of him. His mind is still sharp and he knows what he is saying (and what he is saying is right), but his body is failing him.

And Dick Cheney used public dollars to wage a war as a source of his own entertainment. Did he pay anything back? Newt Gingrich used public dollars to not examine whitewater but to seek out Clinton affairs and then used more public dollars trying to impeach him for having the nerve to lie about cheating on his wife. Did he pay anything back? This is the one guy out of all of them who actually paid the government back. The NJ governor that put his boyfriend into cushy jobs, he didn't pay anything back. The pedo congressman who went after male pages a few years back, he didn't pay anything back. The guy who stored cash in his fridge paid nothing back. John McCain was involved in the biggest banking scandal pre 2008 and he paid nothing back. This guy spent a few dollars on planes or hotels, paid the money back, the woman he ran to see he is engaged to I believe. It is a crimeless crime. There isn't a single victim in his case.

I don't think what he did had anything to do with ethics. This is the guy that ran away to south america to be with another woman? Isn't he now engaged to her? It's not like he was conducting a sleazy hooker binge one weekend. Clearly he was married to the wrong woman, and he felt so strongly about it to the point where he literally ran away. How is that a matter of ethics? He didn't steal money or anything like that. About the worst he did was use public money to pay for his traveling. But lets be real here, if the country wasn't so provincial and puritanical he wouldn't have felt the need to run. He cheated on his wife and therefore you admit you could not vote for him. How does he cheating on his wife in any way impact his intellectual capabilities? And what does any of this have to do with ethics? Who is worse, Newt Gingrich who dumped his dying wife on her deathbed or this guy whose big crime was that he ran away to be with a woman he wanted to marry? Ethics would be a discussion of John Edwards, the scum of the earth. This guy is a saint in comparison. Now if you want to discuss a lack of ethics, look at those republican Oklahoma senators who were against FEMA and money going to NJ and NY but suddenly want FEMA to come in and help Oklahoma, population 3 when last checked. Ethics is we help those 3 people even though they were against helping the millions of NY and NJ people. That was petty and hateful, showed a lack of character and no ethics whatsoever. I would trust Sandford over those jokes from OK crying for help when it was only a few months ago they were willing to let NJ be washed away.

Good episode. You have to love how Joffrey never fails to find new ways to be rotten. He has to be the meanest character on all of TV. All the Lannisters were in fine form this episode. I loved Cersei first threatening to kill her future daughter in law/sister in law, and then dismissing her beloved gay fiancee so nonchalantly. I really don;t understand why Cersei and Tyrion just don't tell Tywin no at some point. The Gendry stuff interests me, but what is it with this show and penises??? This is the second episode they have come under attack.

Charles Dance has emerged as one of the MVPs of the show. His character started out so minor in season 1, but now if Tywin doesn't show up every episode I am disappointed. And he works well with everyone, from Arya to Joffrey and all the adults along the way.

Poor Theon, I have to just hope for his sake this is all being done by renegade rabbis. This story seems so unnecessary to the greater plot, I am not sure why the author felt the need to add it. This episode was sort of so so, not much happened except for Jaime continuing to show his attachment to Brienne. I wanted more from the Tywin/Joffrey scene. I don't know what I wanted, but I guess I wanted Tywin to take charge and not pretend to placate Joffrey and his kingly fantasies about running things. Robb seems incredibly happy so his days have to be numbered.

In 2011 HBO's subscriber fees were $1.3 Billion. HBO as I read this is owned by Time/Warner which has annual revenues exceeding $10 Billion and possibly $15 Billion by now. Assuming each episode costs $6 million, HBO spends $60 million, a paltry sum to T/W who also makes money by showing HBO content overseas. HBO has over 90 million subscribers worldwide forking over their money every month. http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0812/how-hbo-makes-money.aspx I honestly don't think HBO is breaking the bank on these shows. They are rolling in cash, T/W is beyond capable of financing HBO.

I love that there are so many characters. I think the answer is not to cut characters but to have 5 more episodes a year or make each episode 90 minutes. It adds to the sense we are watching this whole world.

well her nickname is The Queen Of Thorns....

I loved this episode. One of my few complaints with the series has been due to the large cast no one ever gets more than five minutes of screentime in these short little eavesdropping scenes. We got a nice extended visit with Jon Snow which was really needed. I wish the show would occasionally showcase a single locale like they did with the war episode last year because this one episode with Jon really served him well and helped establish his relationships with the people he is with. If he isn't seen again until the finale it wouldn't hurt him one bit because the show went into great detail with him this episode. Diana Rigg is great. She's been great for 50 years and the scene with the Queen and Tywin was outstanding. These two should get married! I had to turn away during the Theon scene, it was gruesome. I was a little unclear about who was sailing away at the end but I have to assume it was the gay knight (I forget his name). Poor Sansa. I continue to love Jaime and Brienne and I love how she helped him cut his dinner. These two are an unlikely breakout pair but they just work. And again he is looking out for her.

No, not as a favored child but he does think he is above Cersei as a person (and maybe he is). She thinks she is above him too. And both are impressed with themselves and Tywin is impressed with neither.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has become the best actor on the show, or at least he is a good actor in the best role. His scene retelling what happened at King Landing was just a guy talking and yet riveting waiting to hear what happened and why. I also loved the last bit when he corrected Brienne on his name. Tywin Lannister has to be the toughest Lannister of all, the guy just is relentless. That scene was great too and I loved how it started out brother and sister each thinking they are above the other, and by the end of it they were exactly in the same boat when it came to dear old dad.

No, no individual deserves to die, but the society as a whole deserves whatever ills befall it because of its decisions. If 100 people watch as 2 get shot, and then the 98 decide guns are good, and then out of those 98 watch 2 more get shot, they sort of lose the right to blame anyone but themselves. As long as the US population doesn't object to everyone owning a gun then we will continue to have school shootings. It really is that simple. Maybe my math is wrong but if you check every other western country on earth where they have strict gun control, you will see gun violence is a fraction of what it is here even adjusted for sizes in population. I feel bad for the kids and everyone who wants gun control.

For continuing to elect conservatives who fellate the NRA any time it demands, the country deserves every school shooting it gets. 85% of the country supported improved background checks, but the conservatives just don't care what the country thinks. Then when the next shooting happens we will hear desperate wailing of "why god, why?" and the answer will be, as it ever was and always will be, " because you elected conservatives who whore themselves out to the NRA, that's why"

I didn't now Emily McL was married to Jeffrey Hunter. He was a good actor, I guess most famous as "Capt Pike" on Star Trek and Jesus in "King Of Kings" but if you want to see him in what is universally considered a classic, check out "The Searchers".

Poor Jaime. I don't know what use there is for a kingslayer if he can't slay anyone. He is my favorite Lannister and I love how his character has changed so much since the first episode where total evilosity set the whole show in motion. He didn't have to go to bat for Brienne. The one thing I don't understand is if she was bringing him to King's Landing anyway, why even bother to try to escape? Their sword fight last week was great but it was literally a no-stakes confrontation since whoever won the result would have been the same.

The Queen of Thorns is played by TV icon Diana Rigg. Rigg played Mrs Peel on the 60s show "The Avengers" and the GH character Anna Devane owes a lot to Mrs Peel. She was a bold step forward for women on TV in that in the 60s she was able to take on men in battle and yet look supremely stylish while doing so.

I enjoyed this episode as it featured my favorite Lannister, Jaime. Jaime always talks trash but hidden behind is word games is always some wisdom and truth telling. He is so matter of fact about everything in this cruel world, and perversions or not, he knows you don't get to choose the ones you love. That's more to the point that Cat's silly speech about all the ills befalling her family because she didn't love Jon Snow. I forget all the details now, but a lot of their troubles go back to her taking Tyrion prisoner. Admittedly she thought he pushed her son out the window, but she was wrong. And then when she finally gets the true culprit she sets him free. But desperate mothers will make deals with the devil. I like the new characters. That archer has to be the best archer alive, and he can put Robin Hood to shame. That weird kid with the tough sister I like also. He seems like an incarnation of mystical goodness, and she the show can use a good guy somewhere. Diana Rigg got so old, I need to see more of her character to think more of her as the stock stereotypical shrewd old power player who has seen it all. This looks like a role Maggie Smith could play in her sleep. Diana Rigg doesn't even have to try to have this role down cold.

This song is funny <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1CLCOvZOh1o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

It was a good story. Don't let the alien fool you. There can be good stories in science fiction as much as any other genre.

I had to turn away from the nipple. That was gratuitous and I don't even want to think about it. I liked the premiere a lot. The giant was very cool and I like the dragons are growing up. As for the characters and stories this year, I liked that that guard from season 1 showed up with Dany all these episodes later. That's a good memory on the part of the plot. Jon Snow looks to be spending another year on his own, and whatever happened to his uncle he went looking for two seasons ago? Tywin and Tyrion were great: Lannister Sr is just a mean, mean guy but a lot of what he says is vaguely based on fact. Tyrion would furnish the house with whores. I get the sense Littlefinger has sexual designs on Sansa, and Robb should start being nicer to his mother. I wish we saw Jaime this week and whatever became of Greyjoy but the cast is so big. And I love, love that Jon's wolf is on the job fighting for justice and The Watch.

I was a little disappointed here. First Andrea: The show spent an entire year having us follow her. Previous to that it was established Andrea was a tough customer who would go down swinging. Last week she got her battle but it was more like she was stalked and defended herself, and after the brave way she ended the previous season with guns blazing her story fizzles out thanks to a zombie geek? That was why we watched her this year, to die as an incident off camera and not even in the main field of battle saving everyone a la Merle and dying a hero? Which brings us to the Governor. Here again we spent a year watching as the two tribes slowly march toward war. So what happens? The Governor kills all his own army, he has no one left to fight and the other team wins by default. That is what the build up was for? No Rick vs Gov fighting for their lives, no Daryl being cool with arrows? Just the Governor gets mad at his troops and kills them all? What is that? And then do we even know what his status is? He drove off with the main henchmen I guess to return next year so that basically means this year didn't matter because he will want a rematch. And then who were those busload of women? If the entire town was finished because all the men got killed and all that remained was the women and children unable to defend themselves, why didn't Rick and co. just move into the town instead of bringing the town back to the prison? They had actual beds and baths there. And I don't understand why they even included the character of Tyreese. He doesn't do anything and now that is literally true. Everyone is going to the big showdown and he can pick any side he wants, so he decides to stay home. So why was he added to the show? He didn't save anyone or kill anyone. He and his sister served no purpose. Anyway, love the show but this ended with a whimper, not a bang.

EW,com sort of ripped the episode to shreds in the kindest way they possible could.

This was like the scene where the girl came out of the shed. Merle was so horrible, but he was a great character, it is very sad. I don't know why the show did this; Merle and Daryl (along with Carl) are the best things about the show. This gets my vote for best death of the series so far. Or Best Zombie or something. Michonne is ok, at least she talks a little now. I have no idea what the point of Tyreese and his pals were, they are barely on and contribute next to nothing to the show. Carol contributes next to nothing going on three years now, so I assume she will have to get something big before she dies. And Hershel's other daughter (I don't even know her name) is another waste of time.

Reading that article is funny and I love one of the ways to cure guys of being gay is to man them up and make them play sports. I don't know that the science on that is all that sound, but I am pretty sure if Mr Christie was forced to play some sports himself he might find himself not manning up, but slimming down.