Straight Up | Jan Herman

The news media’s pretense that the Maximum Leader actually said something of value Sunday in his interview on “Meet the Press” was one more confirmation that the United States is being turned into a Banana Republic. So said I as straight-faced news stories began pouring in with headlines like this from UPI: “Bush defends actions […]

Continuing our theme about irresponsible news media, here’s Paul Krugman on recent reporting of the Maximum Leader’s budget proposal: “You don’t want the news section to read like a partisan attack, but in the very first few paragraphs, you should say something like this is a budget that raised eyebrows around Washington, or something like […]

The mere thought of watching the Grammys Awards was puke-making. For a minute-by-minute wrap of Sunday night’s show, we left it to summa cum laude student of pop culture Ryan McGee, who traditionally records his impressions online in real time at Wading in the Velvet Sea: 8:02 pm: So lemmee get this straight: The producers figured the […]

This morning’s “Meet the Press” on NBC should have been called “Meet the President.” If only Tim Russert had said: “Yes, Mr. President, but you didn’t answer the question.” The first exchange set the tone for all the rest: Russert: On Friday, you announced a committee, commission to look into intelligence failures regarding the Iraq war […]

My staff of thousands is taking the day off. For your amusement, we recommend the recent oeuvre of Belle de Jour, the diary of our favorite London call girl, which reads increasingly like a serialized Proustian novel. (Scroll to the bottom entry –jeudi, janvier 29 — and read up. Also, we don’t really think of […]

Exhibit One: “The Passion of Christ,” Mel Gibson’s take on the last 12 hours of Jesus Christ’s life, to be released nationwide later this month. It purports to be an accurate historical depiction, complete with bloody whippings, nine-inch nails, subtitled Aramaic dialogue and, let’s not forget, the actual soundtrack (dolorous music, portentous drums) that accompanied […]

My favorite Australian-born TV critic once wrote: “What the junk journalist doesn’t realise — or does realise, and waxes more aggressive so as to shout down his vestigial conscience — is that he’s not really a party to the star’s fame, which is based on solid appreciation and would still be there even if the […]

From the Maximum Leader’s bonkers budget to biochemical terrorism in Washington, the news is too depressing today. So here, for what they’re worth, are laughs from Lara. I don’t know who Lara is. She’s just a forwarding agent. But I do know she has a sense of humor, even though her women’s collection of photos […]

Ah, Vienna. Such a wedding cake. How gemütlich. So warm and cozy. But when you look closer, you discover the tarnish beneath the charm. Consider Austria’s major cultural export, the world-famous Vienna Philharmonic, which performs later this month at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Seiji Ozawa. Seven years ago, after being criticized and pressured […]

We saw Janet Jackson’s breast-cum-starry-nipple bared by Justin Timberlake, reportedly an accident, then we saw a streaker. We saw the Budweiser donkey, the get-an-erection ads and the geriatric tug-of-war over a potato chip. We heard lots of noisy rock and crotch-grabbing rap. Did we see “Child’s Pay,” the moveon.org ad? Nope. Did we hear Willie […]

The big “if.” It’s the only reason to tune into the Super Bowl pre-game show this Sunday, as far as I’m concerned. If Willie Nelson sings his war-protest song, “Whatever Happened to Peace on Earth,” it might even make up for the craven CBS refusal to air “Child’s Pay,” moveon.org’s 30-second commercial, during the Super […]

Paul Krugman and Bob Herbert deliver a one-two punch this morning. Krugman wants to know: “Where’s The Apology?” He doesn’t see any: “George Bush promised to bring honor and integrity back to the White House. Instead, he got rid of accountability.” Two key grafs: As far as I can tell, nobody in the Bush administration […]

CBS won’t budge. More than 340,000 emails and phone calls since Friday have had no effect. The network is still refusing to run moveon.org’s 30-second ad “Child’s Pay” during the Super Bowl on Sunday. Yet it’s “allowing the Bush White House to run an advocacy ad of its own,” moveon.org says. Apparently that’s the CBS version of fair play. […]

Hailed as the latest big deal from the art world, John Currin’s first solo show at a U.S. museum is still at the Whitney in New York. The show’s roughly 40 figurative paintings, many of them satirical, wowed the critics for their cartoonish sensibility, their provocative take on female beauty, and their technical brilliance. (Click on […]

It’s hard to know which is the bigger news-related activities program: the Oscar nominations, the weapons inspector David Kay, the Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, or the author Carrie Fisher? And that’s not counting Martha Stewart. Let’s see. … In the wake of Sunday’s Golden Globules, this morning’s Oscar nods seem slow off the mark, […]

The staff thought you’d be interested in this darling guitar tidbit from Jim Washburn’s Lost in OC column, The Music Industry Descends on Anaheim and Gives it a Hickey: “The 171-year-old Martin company unveiled its one-millionth guitar, a commemorative model so ornately resplendent with mother of pearl and jewels that it could double as a […]

What NASA didn’t tell us: Here’s the first Mars photo from the Opportunity showing signs of a primitive life form that apparently migrated to Earth. Puzzled scientists are still trying to figure out how to explain what they’ve seen. I would offer more this morning, but my greedy Internet Service Provider — TimeWarner’s overpriced RoadRunner, […]