Andy B

Ok, I haven’t seen the movie yet, and most of the press it is getting has absolutely savaged it, but it must have some redeeming qualities to get Sean Penn in such a lather. When I was in Miami last week, I pointed Jonathan’s web browser to the trailers for Team America. I think his exact words were, “What the hell is this? It looks really stupid.” I can’t dismiss something however, that spears every Hollywood loudmouth, while lampooning Kim Jong Il’s staging of a full musical review for the visiting Madeline Albright. The previews may indeed turn out to be the most entertaining 60 seconds of the whole movie, but I can envision this thing turning into a big hit with the 13 to 30 year-old crowd, whilst the Left Coast objects of ridicule shake their collective heads and moan, “Our fan-base, why have you forsaken us?”

Hello all. Just arrived at Jonathan’s via the scenic Florida Turnpike. I am on a 2 1/2 day whirlwind business trip of Palm Beach-Miami-Tampa, and it just wouldn’t be right to not pop in and see the J-man while in town. He has graciously rented me his couch for the rock-bottom rate of $0. About to head out for dinner, then catch the debate, a few hours sleep, then the drive to Tampa, (leased a ragtop with that in mind). There is still quite a bit of water laying about, and many businesses at first glance appear to be closed because of all the blown-out signage. We will post some pics later on if we see anything of interest.

And the early returns give a slight edge to John Kerry for Debate #1. Not only did the Bush InTrade numbers ease, but stock index futures also fell as Kerry eked out a thin margin of victory tonight. Last count: Dow down 20 points and S&P’s down 2 1/2, once again proving that free markets are unbeatable forecasting tools.

“The framers of our nation never envisioned the huge media giants, never imagined what could happen if big government, big publishing and big broadcasters ever saw eye to eye in putting the public’s need for news second to their own interest and the ideology of free market economics. Nor could they have foreseen a quasi official partisan press serving as a mighty megaphone for the regime in power. Stretching from a legion of think tanks funded by corporations to the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal, to Rupert Murdoch’s far flung empire, to the nattering know-nothings of talk radio, there is a ceaseless conveyor belt, often taking its cues from daily talking points supplied by the Republican National Committee, booming the official party line into the public consciousness”

— from Bill Moyer’s keynote address to the Society of Professional Journalists on Saturday.

The frustrations are obviously building. If Bush wins, a large contingent of the country may spontaneously combust.