Oh, fuck. That's what the advisory was for!

A rather scary article--Rolling Stone looks at the evangelical Christian political agenda.

From the article:

This movement is no more about following the example of Christ than Bush's Clean Water Act is about clean water."

snerk

Nipsey Russell is eternally linked with "Match Game," Gene Rayburn, and Brett Somers in my head.

Also Charles Nelson Reilly.

Which takes me to Alec Baldwin on SNL, playing Charles Nelson Reilly to Will Ferrell's James Lipton in an Inside the Actor's Studio skit. Funny stuff. I'm impressed with how well Alec Baldwin can ape people. He also does a really good Tony Bennett.

He did good imitations of Sean Connery and Fred Dalton Thompson in Hunt for Red October. I liked that the writer and director made sure to have Jack Ryan mockingly imitate other characters during the film. Baldwin's Ryan is still the best one on film, so far--I'm interested to see if Affleck does any more young Jack films (Red Rabbit, maybe?).

From the Rolling Stone article:

"Our job is to reclaim America for Christ, whatever the cost," Kennedy says. "As the vice regents of God, we are to exercise godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government, our literature and arts, our sports arenas, our entertainment media, our news media, our scientific endeavors -- in short, over every aspect and institution of human society."

I really am naive, because I still can't quite accept that there are people who really, truly believe that shit, who believe they are the handpicked to shape society.

Wow, that Rolling Stone article was some shoddy reporting. Who let that get into print? The amount of unsupported assertions and vague, acontextual evidence was staggering. Actually, it read like propaganda.

I've read a number of "let me alarm you" articles about the nutty kind of Christians, but I expect better journalism than that, in the mainstream press. Also, there was no life to the article. None of the people were distinguishable from one another; none of them got any descriptive details; at no point was the reporter interested in the personhood of the people he was chronicling. Feh.

I'm impressed with how well Alec Baldwin can ape people.

A character actor trapped by circumstance into leading man roles. I think he's best when he's out of the "I am the good guy" strait-jacket.

Wolfram, suh-nerk. Sigh, but suh-nerk. I do love Mel White's way with words (a gift he's passed on to his son, Mike White, who wrote School of Rock, Chuck and Buck, The Good Girl and I can't remember what else).

This probably means nothing more than Bush's press secretary is afraid of saying anything that might be controversial, but.... (transcript from a press conference):

Q: There are news reports this morning that parents and children who were guests of the President, when they visited Congress, wore stickers with the wording, "I was an embryo." And my question is, since all of us were once embryos, and all of us were once part sperm and egg, is the President also opposed to contraception, which stops this union and kills both sperm and egg?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think the President has made his views known on these issues, and his views known --

Q: You know, but what I asked, is he opposed -- he's not opposed to contraception, is he?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, and you've made your views known, as well. The President --

Q: No, no, but is he opposed to contraception, Scott? Could you just tell us yes or no?

MR. McCLELLAN: Les, I think that this question is --

Q: Well, is he? Does he oppose contraception?

MR. McCLELLAN: Les, I think the President's views are very clear when it comes to building a culture of life --

Q: If they were clear, I wouldn't have asked.

MR. McCLELLAN: -- and if you want to ask those questions, that's fine. I'm just not going to dignify them with a response.

[link]

Nipsey Russell is eternally linked with "Match Game," Gene Rayburn, and Brett Somers in my head. Also, for some reason, Rodney Allen Rippy (possibly the similiarity of "Nipsey" and "Rippy", as well as the fact that they are both 1970s icons).

That's the Nipsey I knew. My favorite part about Match Game, in retrospect, is that one of the regulars was Jack Klugman's raspy voiced, snarky, alky ex-wife. She wasn't even an actress. She was just an ex-wife.

I really am naive, because I still can't quite accept that there are people who really, truly believe that shit, who believe they are the handpicked to shape society.

You were in a FAC. This should be less news to you than it is to me.

Also? Those people make my fucking skin crawl. I'm still convinced I'm in the Wishverse and after we smash the power center, Gore was elected.