Anyone But Streep

Let me start off with a confession. I am quite able to put aside my political beliefs and praise a great movie, play or novel that I consider to be on the wrong side of the moral divide. As a silent movie fan, I admire Birth of a Nation despite it's racism. I own a DVD of both Triumph of the Will and The Dark Knight. But, The Iron Lady is not a great movie. It's not even a good movie, so it doesn't get a pass. And now that awards season is upon us, neither does it's star, Meryl Streep.

For almost two excruciating hours, this film, a conservative's wet dream, ignores the true legacy of Margret Thatcher. Dame Maggie was a supporter of the far right government of Augusto Pinochet, a friend to President Botha of South African apartheid fame, and an enemy of those fighting for their freedom from right wing oppression. (Why is it that conservatives love to yammer about lose of freedom when liberals talk about banking regulation but get all misty eyed about third world, right wing dictators?) She hated the idea that poor people in her own country should get a helping hand from their government. Cut education, of course. Housing for the homeless, what an absurd idea. Worker's rights, how communistic.

Despite my hatred of all things Thatcher, I concede that a good movie could be made of her life. Thanks to post World War 2 left wing policies, the daughter of a small grocer could go to one of the world's great universities. Why not a movie about how she came to hate the very policies that allowed her the social mobility that the traditional British class system would have denied her just a few decades earlier? Instead, The Iron Lady is all about praising her rise to power, with the opposition to Thatcherism presented as liberal sexism that opposed her because she was a woman, (Talk about getting history backwards.) and the timidity of conservative men who didn't have the backbone to shift the tax burden from the wealthy, to where it belonged, the lower middle class, and poor. Margret Thatcher is portrayed as a lone defender of western civilization, standing against the dark hordes of the unwashed and their unreasonable demands for social justice. How brutish.

As great an actress as Meryl Streep is, she should not be rewarded for this white-wash of a truly despicable person. There are other equally worthy performances that can be given SAG awards and Oscars. Why not Viola Davis for The Help, or the long over due Glenn Close for Albert Nobbs? Please, anyone but Streep.

Occupy Los Angeles

It's a little past one in the morning, I'm tired, and I'm getting ready to go to bed. I've been up watching the news coverage of the LAPD removing the occupy Los Angeles protesters from city hall, and so far, all is peaceful. I don't know what I expected, but I' am pleased that both sides have remained non violent. Unlike Oakland and to a lesser extent New York City, the police in Los Angeles have used a minimalist approach to things. Move a few feet, ask people to leave, and when arrests have been made, it's been done gently. Far better than the reclaiming territory emphasis of other cities.
-
While I support the occupy movement, I've also become concerned that the protesters have become addicted to the political theater of the actual occupations. In the long run, it's only through political action, and in the United States that means registering to vote and elections, that real progress can be made in turning back the tide of right wing success. And that is an illustration of the strength of the right wing in America.
-
Conservatives didn't just arrive, and over night, replace the age of Roosevelt with the age of Ronald Reagan. They made incremental progress, year after year, moving the center further and further to the right fringes of politics. Those of us on the left came out, voted and elected Barack Obama, an early step in reclaiming the country from the clutches of the Allen Greenspans of the world. And when a liberal House of Representatives sent progressive legislation to the Senate, it died there. President Obama negotiated, made deals and saved a lot, but no where near enough, of that legislation. Our reaction to that should have been to elect even more liberals to congress and move the center back to where it was during the Great Society days of the Johnson administration. But instead, too many of us stayed away from the polls. I don't know whether that was the reaction of spoiled children, crying that we didn't get our way, right now, or whether we were just too preoccupied with other things to care. In any case, we gave congress to the Tea Party, and set the liberal movement back a few years. The Occupy Movement is a beginning. I just hope it doesn't become a dead end.

Penn State

I've had a few days for it all to process, and I have to say I'm not all that surprised about what's coming out of Penn State. As far as the child sex allegations go, while disturbing and worthy of harsh punishment, they're also not uncommon. Like it or not, it happens.
-
It's the fact that Penn State sought to cover things up, and in the process, allowed Jerry Sandusky to continue his actions that seems to be the real issue. In our society, we've granted a cult like status to big time college sports. At PSU, there has also been a cult of personality that has built up around Joe Paterno. (I went to Penn State, I'm in my mid-fifties, and it was part of the university's culture way back then.)
-
In the end, all involved moved to protect the church. It's human nature. The obvious parallel is the Catholic Church sex scandal, but it's hardly limited to the local parish. Whether it's the wilful ignorance of Steve Jobs and conditions in Apple's Chinese manufacturing plants or the defense of Roman Polanski, those we deify too often get a free ride.

Labor Day

Remember, it's only class warfare if we fight back. If we don't fight back it's class slavery.

No No Elizabeth

I'm happy that Elizabeth Warren was passed over for the top spot at the new consumer protection agency. Now she has time to run for the Senate, and if she can beat Scott Brown (Not a sure thing.) ...well why shouldn't she be a contender in 2016? Hillary and Biden will both have some age issues, and I can't see anyone else out there making a name for themselves in the Democratic party.

Edge Update

I've got a funny feeling that this fight isn't over, but the California Coastal Commission has made it official and formally nixed U2 guitarist David Evans, a middle aged multi millionaire who rather pathetically refers to himself as The Edge, plan to build five mega mansions on an environmentally sensitive ridge line over looking Malibu and the Pacific Ocean. As commissioner Peter Douglas remarked, "In my 38 years, I have never seen a project as environmentally devastating as this one. An environmentally sensitive person would never pick this site to develop." Law suits to follow.

-

Of course Evans could get back some of that Edge by donating the land to The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, which might help get a Santa Monica Mountains National Park jump started, and in return, in addition to a hefty tax deduction, we can name the ridge line after him. The Edge Overlook. Now that's sharp.

The Weiner

Dare I say it again? People like sex. People, given the chance, will use whatever means at hand to play at sex. Unless someone breaks a law, a person's sex life, and that includes the sex lives of the famous, shouldn't be any of our business. If Representative Anthony Weiner wants to send sexually themed photos to women and they are receptive, who cares? Not me.
-
I've noticed that some Repugs are trying to draw a comparison to Weiner and another New York state congressman, Chris Lee. Their confused logic seems to run along the lines that since our guy resigned, a Democrat should fall too. Well, Rep. Lee, yet another anti-gay marriage Repug, in addition to posting shirtless photos of himself, was trolling for passable CD/TVs for fun and games. Personally, I don't think an interest in guys wearing high heels, dresses, and red lipstick should disqualify a man from being in congress. As I've pointed out on my photo blog, http://www.thenewfoundphotography.blogspot.com/ I spent years working in photo labs, and I never had a week go by where I didn't print amateur, sexually themed photographs, and by far, the biggest category was cross dressing. Hey, what ever does it for you. By now, Repug hypocrisy has been so well established, that I doubt it can do them any harm.