Seeing red
Is it possible that Martin Sheen could finally find the sense to shut the hell up? Failing that, could you and the other tabloids stop giving a forum to all the narcissistic celebs for whom it is chic to continue to whine about the electoral outcome? It seems that in Hollywood, if you have no valid claim on media attention, you can always wring out a few more minutes by Dubya-bashing. But get a life! Move on! Vote in the next election for God's sake, but just stop whining about it, and let the 50 percent of us who cast a vote for Bush enjoy being proven right over the next four years. What ever made celebrities think that, just because people pay to watch them pretend, they have a duty to influence us politically? As far as I'm concerned, they're so far removed from the reality of the life of the everyday man as to be virtual Martians. So, enough Mr. Sheen!
-- Laura Niequist, Illinois
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Anger management
The Marc Rich scandal, Part 2: The Senate's GOP-controlled Judiciary Committee holds its hearings into Bill Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich Wednesday, after the House Government Reform Committee, also GOP controlled, had a hearing last week. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., a Judiciary Committee member, said Tuesday: "I'm not trying to undo the [Rich] pardon. I'm trying to find out what happened." But on Sunday, it was Specter who raised the possibility of pursuing, again, impeachment proceedings against Clinton. And as the hearings get underway at 10 a.m. EST, there is likely to be plenty of lively discussion on Table Talk (in the thread "The Rich Pardon Hearings. This is a fucking joke, right?") and on Free Republic ("Witness: Justice Was Unaware Rich Was Fugitive").
To Table Talkers, this new pursuit of Clinton smells like a Republican witch hunt -- or worse. "There is very much about the current climate that reminds one of Nazi Germany," writes Tony Karp. On Free Republic, posters generally are hoping for war, not quite believing President Bush Tuesday when he said, "Let's move on." "I think the 'let's move on' line by President Bush = don't associate me in with this mess but GO GET EM! :)," writes moonman.
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From Tuesday:
Singing the blues
Enough of this "Clinton betrayed me" bull. All that's being betrayed is the traditional liberal taste for self-flagellation, and for impotently parsing moral issues while our enemies grab the main chance. Meanwhile Ronald Reagan, who ran guns to Iran, is on his 90th birthday hailed across the Net as George Washington, and President Bush redirects billions from welfare organizations to "faith-based" Jesus freaks, while we sit around blubbering over a pardon that does not smell of roses. Our high horse is a hobbyhorse, remaining stationary while conservatives ride roughshod. We should get off it, and into the trenches, for the good of the country.
-- Roy Edroso, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Anger management
Could congressional probe vindicate Marc Rich? [Writ]
Richard Nixon counsel and Watergate figure John Dean writes a column explaining why congressional investigators will have a difficult time looking into Bill Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich, and suggests that Rich's case is not as black and white as portrayed in the press. He quotes a brief by another Nixon counsel, Leonard Garment, who represented Rich for eight years, which states: "The case involves many disturbing features, but at its core are transactions, which were not criminal." The column prompts discussion on the legal site's discussion boards, where one poster asks: "What could make the government of that time so bent on throwing the largest grenades they had at this guy? ... Something smells about this like revenge."
Meanwhile, the day's news is that Attorney General John Ashcroft may give Denise Rich immunity to force her to testify about her ex-husband's pardon.
"George W. Bush is like a bad comic working the crowd, a moron" [BBC News]
TV president Martin Sheen pops off, again, about his real-life counterpart, which enrages posters on Free Republic. "Why is this considered news? Who cares what a two-bit actor like Martin Sheen thinks?" asks jherd. Sheen's TV show, "The West Wing," then comes under fire. "This show constitutes issue advertising for the Democratic Party and should be prosecuted as such," writes Carry Okie.
Clinton's Harlem shuffle [Lucianne.com]
Reports that Clinton will relocate his New York office to Harlem prompt eye rolling here. "See how long it stays there. As soon as media attention is gone, so is he," says hoosierblue.
A site for dumb Democrats [Demcrats.com]
While trying to find what the angry "blue" posters on Democrats.com were up to, a typo led us to this site, which hopes others will do exactly the same thing. "The majority of the people that ended up on this site ended up here by typing something wrong. They made A mistake! Just Like Some People Did when they voted. They're not entitled to (ANYTHING) They simply just pushed the wrong key and ended up not getting the web site they really wanted!" the site's home page says. "Can they possible go on living knowing (they) punched the wrong key? Has someone betrayed them? Maybe they should call their Senator or their local Congressman or even hire a legal team!!!" The site then offers several links to Rush Limbaugh's home page.
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