Straight Up | Jan Herman

… and the award for best exploitative photojournalism goes to … … this photo. It appeared yesterday on the front page of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The caption reads: “Panorama Towers is shown in Las Vegas on Sunday as a commercial airliner flies in the distance.” The excuse for running the photo was an FAA […]

The Rick Davis story continues to percolate with this New York Times headline, “McCain Aide’s Firm Was Paid by Freddie Mac Through August.” The disclosure undercuts a remark by Mr. McCain on Sunday night that [his] campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with the company for the last several years. How long will […]

Before it’s too late, three cheers for the lead editorial in The Wall Street Journal on Friday, “McCain’s Scapegoat,” which began this way: “John McCain has made it clear this week he doesn’t understand what’s happening on Wall Street” — oh, wait a minute — “any better than Barack Obama does.” Hmmm … make that […]

… in the wake of yesterday’s Wall Street meltdown … …in case anyone needs a reminder. EmailFacebookTwitterReddit

It was up tonight — briefly. The techs must have been rehearsing.

Here’s a good friend, Carl Weissner, playing Chopin. He hasn’t played for, oh, about 50 years. “This is the schmaltzy version — Viennese,” he says. On top of that he’s combining two different pieces. “But,” he adds, “what the hell.” (Recorded on my new little gizmo, a Flip Video Mino. The image is sharper when […]

I went to the John Cage birthday celebration at St. Mark’s Church yesterday. Big crowd. Awful sound. A couple dozen people mumbled into a bad p.a. system. It was impossible to understand what they were saying, with a few exceptions. This guy came prepared, though, with his own music and his own setup. His name […]

I’ve been calling him the Gasbag, but Thomas Frank has come up with another description for him — the best I’ve read anywhere: John McCain is “a hood ornament on a hit-and-run machine.” Frank writes in his weekly Wall Street Journal column: The man no longer stands for anything. He has transformed himself from a […]

Aug. 12 — Did someone say war profiteers? Check out the top 25 and this private army. EmailFacebookTwitterReddit

The Gasbag’s latest McBullshit gets a review called “Changing Lanes” from Elizabeth Kolbert in this week’s New Yorker. She notes that “he’s opted out of truth altogether.” Really. As if the hype for his so-called “straight-talking days” was ever credible in the first place. EmailFacebookTwitterReddit

I’ve been waiting for Q&A to post a transcript of the Chris Hedges interview on Sunday night. But it’s been two days already. Nada. So click the link and watch the video. It’s stunning. [Aug. 12 — Finally, the posted transcript.] The reason for the interview is publication of his latest book, “Collateral Damage: America’s […]

See this. Postscript: July 30 — The Gasbag Express, aka the Low-Road Express? Of course. As today’s NYT editorial notes, “…it is hard to imagine a worse role model than the one Mr. McCain seems to be adopting: President Bush.” (Objection: seems?) Which brings our Calvin Trillin out of the Straight Up woodwork. BUSH’S PRESIDENTIAL […]

Two of my favorite passages in Naked Lunch are “Dr. Benway Operates” and “The Man Who Taught His Asshole to Talk.” But my favorite description of the book comes from William S. Burroughs’s explanation of the title. “The title” — which Burroughs credited to Jack Kerouac — “means exactly what the words say: naked lunch, […]

Here’s wot got left out: Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency Enjoy the Fourth! EmailFacebookTwitterReddit