Archives for February 2005

James Wolcott puts it aptly in LIPSTICK FASCISM: “Conservatism and sadism have become indivisible.” (The stimulus is Ann Coulter’s comment in re: Gannon/Guckert: “Press passes can’t be that hard to come by if the White House allows that old Arab Helen Thomas to sit within yards of the president.”) Meantime, Bob Herbert reminds us this […]

So, tonight’s the Oscars? Who cares. Coincidentally, here’s a review in today’s Chicago Sun-Times of one Oscar non-winner’s latest memoir. Not exactly heavyweight reviewing, but it pays for a few groceries. “Lauren Bacall, still salty at 80” begins: When Lauren Bacall writes that her singing voice ranges “somewhere between B minus sharp and outer space,” […]

My gut reaction to “Off the Record: An Investigative Journalist’s Inside View of DIRTY POLITICS, HIGH FINANCE, and CORPORATE SCANDAL,” Jason Leopold’s new book, drew this response from the author and led to an extended exchange of messages. From: Jason Leopold To: Jan Herman Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 19:35:11 I respect your opinion. However, your review of my book […]

Jason Leopold, whom I don’t know, emailed me a while ago out of the blue: “Jan, Just wanted to pass this along. Feel free to contact me and call my publisher for a review copy.” This was promotional material for his book, “Off the Record,” with blurbs from various authors and journalists. We all know how hard it is […]

As H.L. Mencken wrote, “It is the national custom to sentimentalize the dead.” By now you’ve probably seen Tom Wolfe on Hunter S. Thompson. If you haven’t, you should. It’s terrific. It was fast. And it doesn’t sentimentalize him. Wolfe makes the apt literary connection between Thompson and Mark Twain. Here’s a connection — my thanks to Roger […]

Two fine little comedies by Matt Haber put me in the mood to pass them on: One, “Be Excellent to Each Other,” features the invaginated Alex Winter on the phone with the invincible Keanu Reeves. The other, “Two Friends Talking,” features Tony Blair on the phone with Dear Leader, also mutually invaginated and invincible. EmailFacebookTwitterReddit

When I first read CIA director Porter Goss’s recent Congressional testimony that “Islamic extremists are exploiting the Iraqi conflict to recruit new anti-U.S. jihadists” and “these jihadists who survive will leave Iraq experienced and focus on acts of urban terrorism,” I intended to post an item about Dear Leader’s Big Lie that the invasion of […]

The suicide of Hunter S. Thompson is a huge, irreplaceable loss. A lot of people didn’t know of the Page 2 column he wrote on the Web for ESPN.com. But Hey, Rube was treasured by many of us who were not necessarily sports fans. His column, “Death in the afternoon,” which was about the meaning […]

And the Lord said, “Let there be escorts!”— David Ehrenstein.Illustration from Billmon’s Whiskey Bar. EmailFacebookTwitterReddit

Some cool postings by Bill Reed: Bird ‘n’ Sassy, a candid photo of Charlie Parker and Sarah Vaughan, which Reed explains in “For the Latest in Be-Bop.” And check out “Next Stop Altoona,” his memories of the 1938 Art Deco Municipal Auditorium still preserved, to his surprise, in his hometown of Charleston, W. Va. Jazz […]

By Jan Herman Apropos of yesterday’s item about googling “Negroponte, mass murder“: Democracy Now! has a top-notch segment this morning, headlined “Promoting the ‘Ambassador of Torture’,” which offers details on how our Dear Leader’s nominee for national intelligence director “played a key role in coordinating U.S. covert aid to the Contras who targeted civilians in […]

We’re all familiar with Dear Leader’s bogus claims, and those of his cronies, that torture of prisoners (or if you prefer the euphemism, abuse) was limited to a few “bad apples” and that systemic torture was never, never the case. Now comes major evidence in a new report in this morning’s London Guardian that “US […]

News bulletin: Dear Leader has nominated the American proconsul in Iraq, John Negroponte, as first U.S. national intelligence director, who will have authority over the budgets of the 15 U.S. intelligence agencies. So what happens when you google “Negroponte, mass murder“? Bill Osborne tried it and got 13,600 entries. Most important: He checked the first […]

Now that the Jeff Gannon/James Guckert story has made Keith Olbermann’s “Countdown” newsquiz, it’s safe to say the mainstream media have taken notice of the latest White House farce. True, it was the last question in the quiz, No. 14: Name one of the other websites registered to Jeff Gannon/James Guckert besides “jeffgannon.com”.+ zombo.com+ hotmilitarystuds.com+ […]

Not too long ago, writing about the death of Nelson Algren, I recalled a scene in Sag Harbor with Roy “Big Blue” Finer, the 6-foot-6 NYC homicide detective, who was Algren’s friend. Another friend of Algren’s, Roger Groening, sent the following message, which — given the stupid controversy surrounding best-picture Oscar contender “Million Dollar Baby” […]

Although many more neo-Nazis marched through Dresden than originally estimated — Reuters now says there were 5,000 marchers, not the initially reported 2,000 — it turns out that 10 times their number of ordinary Germans, “up to 50,000 residents, wearing white roses in a symbol of reconciliation, gathered in the city’s historic heart to light […]