The Notion

Carrie Prejean: An All-American Sore Loser

By Adam Howard

Permit me to borrow one our president's most famous turns of phrase--Carrie Prejean's story could "only happen in America." Most of us who don't consume a daily diet of shows like Access Hollywood and TMZ would normally not have heard of Miss Prejean, but now that she's become a regular on Fox News, an author and poster child for "Palinized" conservative women everywhere--she's almost unavoidable. Most recently she appeared on Larry King Live, where she repeatedly snapped at the septuagenarian host for being "inappropriate."

For the uninitiated, a quick recap:

Carrie Prejean was competing the Donald Trump-funded Miss USA pageant, and was representing California. Apparently she was well ahead in points when she reached the question-and-answer segment. Openly gay blogger Perez Hilton, serving as a judge, asked her about her position on same-sex marriage. To which she replied (emphasis mine):

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November 12, 2009

The 'Beneath the Presidency' Routine

By Adam Howard

The far right's latest attack line on President Obama is not as subtle as they think it is. By calling his administration's war of words with Fox News "beneath the presidency" --conservatives hope to add fuel to the fire of a potent and potentially racist, ideological effort to delegitimize the president. They've employed this tactic earlier but less histrionically when Obama became the first sitting president to appear on The Tonight Show and again when he courted the 2016 Olympics for Chicago, but it's really taken off with regards to the Fox News fight.

Whether you believe the president is right or wrong to challenge Fox News (I happen to agree with Slate's Jacob Weisberg, I believe he's right), it's pretty petty and profoundly ironic that the very people who excused George W. Bush's frequent malapropisms, carefree warmaking and authorization of torture as bold leadership now hope to marginalize Obama for publicly rebuking Fox News. As Amanda Terkel of Think Progress points out:

Bush also called a New York Times reporter "a major league asshole" -- and never apologized. In fact, Bush never gave the NYT a single interview throughout his presidency. The White House frequently went after NBC News, and Perino has admitted that they essentially froze out MSNBC "towards the end."

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October 25, 2009

Capitalism: A Love Story--An Early Review

By Adam Howard

Last night I attended a press screening of Michael Moore's new film Capitalism: A Love Story. As with all of his films it made an immediate, strong impression on me and it also surprised me a little, my thoughts are below and yes, this contains some spoilers so beware...

First off, the film in some ways made me realize how familiar Michael Moore's filmmaking has become--this is arguably a detriment to his message and possibly a slight to his directorial prowess but as fan I have come to enjoy his usual gimmicks and this film is chock full of them:

The moving personal testimonials: Families recount learning that companies had profited from large insurances policies taken out on their tragically deceased loved ones--this sequence literally made me want to call my Congressman to express my outrage.

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September 22, 2009