fear and hypocrisy in the uk

A Dutch member of Parliament who compared the Koran to Mein Kampf was barred from entering Britain last week because his presence endangered public safety.

Seems the UK has quite the double standard.

Critics of the British action pointed to what they said were inconsistencies in the government’s handling of controversial visitors, notably in allowing the entry in recent years of several Muslim clerics from Arab countries with a history of inflammatory statements on terrorism, women’s rights and homosexuality. They said the Home Office approved a visa in 2004 for Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a Qatar-based cleric who had called suicide bombers “martyrs” and said husbands should be allowed to beat “disobedient” wives, before barring him last year from a second visit.

from the network responsible for “my super sweet 16″

Chris Brown & Rihanna: Love in Trouble airs tonight at 6 ET/PT. MTV News is promoting the program by noting it has “gathered journalists, industry professionals and other experts — as well as an in-studio audience of young fans — to provide insight and commentary about what the incident means for both artists’ careers and lives, and society in general.”

No one does insight and commentary quite like the Evil Empire.

a message for the kids

A good rule of thumb for 17-year-olds: Never ask to speak with the manager, especially after your fake ID has been collected.

My nephew went to a concert this weekend with some friends, one of whom tried to buy a beer with his brother’s discarded license.

The bartender did as requested. His manager proceeded to call the police.

The kid’s dad picked him up from the L5P jail early that morning.

He should be grounded for stupidity — a six-month sentence, if you ask me.

21st century authoritarianism

The useful idiots cheering Hugo Chavez’s permanent takeover of Venezuela know not of what they speak.

Or maybe they concur with Chavez’s assessment of Zimbabwe’s brutal dictator Robert Mugabe:

“I give you a replica of liberator Simón BolÍvar’s sword . . . For you who, like BolÍvar, are and will always be a true freedom fighter [who] continues, alongside his people, to confront the pretensions of new imperialists.”

Perhaps they have no problem with Chavez’s cronies profiting from the country’s socialist revolution:

One of them even drove a Porsche Boxster with a bumper sticker promoting “21st Century Socialism.”

I suppose they agree that the Venezuelan president’s BFF Ahmadinejad is simply misunderstood.

And what of Chavez’s *miserable human rights record?

In the more than twenty years that Human Rights Watch has worked in Latin America, no government has ever expelled our representatives for our work, not even the right-wing dictatorships guilty of far more egregious abuses than those committed by Chávez.

–José Miguel Vivanco and Daniel Wilkinson, Americas director and deputy director at Human Rights Watch

So who’s more credible: Human Rights Watch or Sean Penn, who famously said of Chavez: “It’s true, Chávez may not be a good man. But he may well be a great one.”

*Anyone who questions the veracity of this post will be detained and questioned. It’s what “great” men do.

each bubble you blow could be your last

The headline of Politico blogger Ben Smith’s post about an ad produced by the anti-gay marriage crowd in West Virginia sums up their desperation:

Gay Snipers Stalk WV

He’s not exaggerating. Go to the one minute mark in the clip below to see just how loathsome the fundamentalist right can be.

Their motto: Hate the sin, smear the sinner.

sadie & sonny vs. everyone else

While there’s considerable bipartisan support to allow Sunday alcohol sales in Georgia, one formidable obstacle remains in place.

That would be our esteemed governor, whose religious beliefs allow for questionable loans and conflicts of interest but not for having a cocktail on Sundays.

Is bad hair a fundamentalist requirement?

He’s backed by the fundamentalist right, led by sanctimonious killjoy Sadie Fields.

“That dog ain’t gonna hunt in Georgia,” said the eloquently clever leader of the Georgia Christian Alliance.

Forget that the bill doesn’t mandate Sunday alcohol sales — communities will decide for themselves. Republicans want local control, as long as the locals want what the party’s most vocal constituency demands.

“I think we have to oppose it based on the sanctity-of-the-Sabbath issue,” said Jim Beck, head of the Georgia Christian Coalition.

Codifying religious beliefs — how very Islamic fundamentalist of them.

As long as the Sadie Fields and Sonny Perdues of the world have influence within the GOP, the party will remain at sea. You can’t say you’re for small government one minute and then impose your small-minded beliefs the next.

extras du jour

The nemesis:

the worst oscars ever

This is one prediction you can trust  Consider:

• Hugh Jackman is the host. He seems nice enough, but do we really want to see more garish production numbers? Jackman’s fondness for musicals ensures that we will. What’s staler: Debbie Allen’s choreography or Bruce Vilanch’s one-liners?

  Don’t be surprised if you find yourself longing for Rob Lowe and Snow White’s return.

• The year’s best movie “Gran Torino” won’t win because it wasn’t even nominated. I’m reminded of Kevin Costner winning Best Director over Martin Scorsese (for “Goodfellas”). The awards are still a week away, and already we have our first unpardonable snub.
• Meanwhile, preening snob Dustin Lance Black is sure to win for Best Original Screenplay (“WALL-E” is his biggest competition; it might have stood a chance had Californians voted against robot marriage). Bet on a sanctimonious, self-serving acceptance speech from the “Milk” scribe. Listen carefully and you might hear my teeth grinding.

Hopefully Sean Penn won’t be rewarded for his portrayal as Harvey Milk, though I’m sure he aced the role. He’s a damn fine actor.

I just prefer not to see a fervent supporter of anti-gay dictators rewarded for playing a gay hero. Of course he’ll never be asked about that disconnect.

The following interview, conducted by Charlie Rose-wannabe Tavis Smiley, is typically fawning; Mary Hart would be embarrassed by the worshipful tone.

Tavis: Before my three minutes is up with you – this whole show goes so fast – I want to come back to the close of our conversation by talking about the thing – respectfully, and this is just my own opinion – that I honor about you as much, maybe even more, than your acting gift, which is your embrace of humanity, and I want to know where that comes from.

What is it about you that allows you to stand in your truth, to raise these issues, to not bite your tongue, to embrace humanity? Where does that come from? You’ve always been that way or you grew into that? Help me understand that.

Penn: I think that it relates to acting, in a way. And I appreciate you saying it, but to the degree it’s true with me. I think that the demand inside, if there’s a final demand, it’s to feel your own life while you’re living it, and that’s the demand of what you have to be searching for in a character also, when you’re playing a character.

And so it’s all one thing to me because it all was based on that, and so when you’re not involved in the world, you’re not involved in the movie. When you’re not involved – I get very bored guarding myself from feeling the world around me, and so I do find myself drawn to participate.

Fuck me gently with a chainsaw! Could he/they be more insufferable? 

Hopefully Penn’s buddy Hugo Chavez will offer him a lifetime appointment as Venezuela’s minister of propaganda. The useful idiot appears to be auditioning for the job — no doubt he’d be more convincing as a propagandist than he was as a Southerner in the woeful remake of “All the King’s Men.”