Bloodless Coup

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Egads. There are utterly predictable movies that are still made within the lines of expectation in a well-constructed and amusing way. And then there are utterly predictable movies that are terrible, silly, stupid, pointless and just plain bad (not bad in a good way). Sadly, this movie falls into the latter category. From it's concept this movie could look good - but it doesn't. The movie has a stunningly appealing cast - Hugh Dancy, Kristin Scott Thomas (the best thing in the movie), Wendie Malick, Joan Cusack, Krysten Ritter, Leslie Bibb, Clea Lewis, Julie Hagerty, John Lithgow, Christine Ebersole, Lynn Redgrave - which it mostly does nothing with, and shoots poorly. It's a loss in pretty much every way. Throw in the things that leave you confused (Ms. Cusack is playing Isla Fisher's mother?), and the things that are just out and out flat (Dancy and Fisher have no chemistry), and the best efforts of Mr. Dancy and the impressive supporting cast can't save this movie. There are a couple of inspired moments - setting a magazine empire in the new Hearst Building, Stephen Guarion's fairy (ahem) godmotherish receptionist who puts the film in motion - but on the whole this thing can't be saved from the writing, the direction (though I liked Hogan's Peter Pan), an unappealing central character, and the fact that one is likely to spend the first half of the movie wishing it really did star Amy Adams since Ms. Fisher is trying so hard to play it like someone thinks Amy Adams might.

WTF?

Sarah Palin resigns as Governor of Alaska (effective, end of July, 2009). I won't link to anything; you can find it everywhere.

I'm listening to her press conference. It is, to be charitable, somewhat disconnected.

I have no idea what she is up to.

Chris Cillizza and Palin's "Rebound"

So I sent a personal email to a friend yesterday slamming, at length, this terribly silly, obviously trolling for links from Halperin and/or Drudge piece by the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza. I mean it's obviously going-against-the-grain for the sake of going-against-the-grain, and contains a laughably obtuse comparison to the Lewinsky scandal that tells us nothing beyond the fact that Cillizza shouldn't rely so much on the talking points of DC's Republicans to understand the tides of public opinion. And as much as it pains me to mock a Hoya ... well, it was dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb. And Mr. Cillizza must be feeling awfully sheepish about it in the wake of this afternoon's events.

The 2009 Wimbledon Championships

So the singles finals are set, and they'll involve the Williams sisters, Federer, and Roddick. The tv network must be thrilled.

Because "The Comparative Politics of White People" sounds like such a fun class

Despite the fact that students who enroll in multicultural studies programs perform better, wingnuts in Arizona want to de-fund schools that teach "ethnic studies:"

The law in question prohibits the teaching of classes that “advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals...“

So...

... by the same standards that would forbid the teaching of Latino history and culture, the teaching of Anglo history and culture is also prohibited by this law.

Not to mention the fact that teaching the history of the Southwest with only Anglo culture represented sure does leave out a whole lot.

Increasing Opposition to a Blair Presidency

Good.

Day Glo

Check it out! KCB's hubby got his book reviewed on boing boing!

The Brothers Bloom

So tonight I finally saw Rian Johnson's follow-up to the terrific Brick. This time out he's got a cast of luminaries, a bigger budget, and a host of locations in Central and Eastern Europe, all used toward telling a con tale, or perhaps the tale about tales. The film, which many have understandably compared to a Wes Anderson work, looks fabulous. The sets, the costumes, the locations - it all gives off a scent of a moneyed yet seedy world that exists out of, or maybe across, time - and it looks wonderful. I yearned to be aboard the Fidele, on that European train, or in those sumptuous yet decaying buildings. And the clothes! The dialogue is fun and snappy. The acting varies from fine to good. I particularly enjoyed Rachel Weisz's awkward heiress who appears to deeply love yellow Lamborghinis and who among other talents juggles chainsaws. Basically, its component parts are great. And yet ... I don't know that it works. The plot I mean. Nonetheless, even if it's not a great film, and maybe it has failings as a whole, its component parts are of such a high quality that I'm quite glad I went out to see it.

The Top 10 "Cougars" in Movies

Fun list. I squealed a little (on the inside) with glee when I saw that #5 and #10 were remembered. But all in all it's a strong list, my considerable dislike for The Piano Teacher notwithstanding.

The Big SCOTUS News of the Day - Will the Supremes Toss Austin?

Ricci will get all the press, but this seems a more startling move. And it could have far-reaching effects.

If Republicans were wondering how their 2012 presidential candidate is going to compete against President Obama's $600 million fundraising juggernaut, the Supreme Court seems poised to provide an answer: unlimited corporate spending supporting the Republican candidate, or attacking Obama.

No Gehry Designs in Atlantic Yards

I missed this news earlier. The mammoth construction project in Brooklyn may be going forward - but none of the buildings will be built to Frank Gehry designs.

Ken Rudin Ranks the Republican Governors

The usual path to the White House is running against Washington. So as the chatter begins about future propsects for the Republican presidential nomination, it makes sense that people are turning to the Republican governors. With that in mind NPR's Ken Rudin ranks the Republican governors who are closest to the White House. I'd say this is more or less on target, though I'd think the only ones with a shot are those in his top 8, plus Sonny Perdue.

Mark Sanford Compares Himself to David?

This is bizarre. Either he doesn't know the Bible very well, or ... he thinks he's a king appointed by the almighty who can have any woman he wants and then have their husbands killed? Or, something like that? And he's looking to David as an example of humility? Ummm, that's ... interesting. This comparison merits much mockery.

Bill Simmons Suffers Through the NBA Draft

I haven't cared about the NBA in years, but regardless, Bill Simmons' minute-by-minute coverage is amusing. And of course it reminds me of why I have no interest in the game.

LSU Ties Texas

Well of course the Tigers drubbed the Longhorns to win the College World Series. The tie noted in the headline is that LSU is now tied with Texas for the second-most College World Series championships. After winnning half of 'em in the 1990s, LSU finally picked up championship #6. Both schools trail USC, which has won twelve.

John Shadegg - "Boycott ABC!"

I realize one shouldn't expect Republicans to be logical, but isn't this freak-out sort of odd given that many Republicans consider the Fairness Doctrine to have been the work of the devil?

10 Best Picture Nominees!?!

The Oscars are going back to a system last used during World War II. You'd think this could lead to less obvious Best Picture winners since winning a competition among 10 nominees will presumably require fewer votes than winning among 5 nominees.

Minimalist? Deferential? As If

Linda Greenhouse reviews some of the latest handiwork of the Roberts Court. So much for judicial minimalism and justices merely serving as umpires. They look much more like baseball owners to me - writing the game's rules and deciding who is allowed to come into the ballpark.

I just want to mention two other cases. One is Gross v. FBL Financial Services, which came down last Thursday and was largely overlooked among the coverage of the DNA case Walter talked about. Why did this 5-to-4 decision (majority opinion by Justice Thomas) provoke just about the angriest dissent I've seen from Justice Stevens since Bush v. Gore? Because of the bait-and-switch game the majority played. The court granted on the relatively narrow question of whether a plaintiff in a "mixed motive" age discrimination case has to present "direct evidence" of age discrimination in order to shift the burden to the employer to show that the adverse action - firing, failure to promote, unwelcome transfer, etc. - would have been taken regardless of the employee's age. ("Mixed motive" simply means that the defendant is alleged to have acted for an impermissible reason among other reasons, and since malefactors rarely declare their bad motives, many discrimination cases require peeling back the cover story to get at the truth.)

Having granted cert on this question, the majority then leapfrogged over it to rewrite the rules for litigating an age discrimination case. The court held that the burden never shifts to the employer to explain itself. Rather, the employee-plaintiff bears the burden throughout the case of showing that age was not simply one factor among others but that it was the "but-for" cause of the adverse employment action. The court took this big step without notice to the parties that it was even under consideration. Once it decided to go that route, the court should have invited supplemental briefing or - as would have happened in earlier years - scheduled a reargument so that all parties could have addressed the implications of a potential ruling that will, predictably, make it much harder for victims of age discrimination to survive summary judgment, let alone prevail on the merits. This was a nasty/lazy/shoddy way to proceed. Justice Stevens said it better: "[a]n unabashed display of judicial lawmaking."

Another case that has not received sufficient scrutiny is Ashcroft v. Iqbal, decided May 18. In this 5-to-4 decision (majority opinion by Kennedy), the court dismissed a suit against the former attorney general by one of the hundreds of Muslim men who were rounded up after 9/11 and jailed under harsh conditions in the federal prison in Manhattan. The question concerned the pleading requirements for such a suit - had the plaintiff, Iqbal, presented enough of a case to be able to get discovery. In holding that he had not, the majority relied on an antitrust case from 2007, Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, which raised the pleading bar in antitrust cases by requiring plaintiffs to show at the outset that their theory of the case was not only conceivable and nonconclusory but also "plausible." Justice Kennedy declared that the Twombly case was not limited to the antitrust area but "expounded the pleading standard for all civil actions." Not so fast, said Twombly's author, Justice Souter, in dissent. He said his point in Twombly was to enable a court to dismiss a case at the pleading stage when the plaintiff's theory (of Sherman Act violations) was consistent with lawful conduct as well as with illegality, taking the allegations as factually correct. In the Iqbal case, Justice Souter said, Iqbal's allegations, if true, showed only illegality, and he was therefore entitled to move on to discovery; this was not a Twombly case. Ah, but by a 5-4 vote, it became a Twombly case, and all civil litigation now has to meet a higher pleading standard than Twombly's author himself intended. Another bait-and-switch. Nice.

Dan Burton's Plexiglass Shield

It goes without saying that it seems highly unlikely the member of from Indiana probably will be similarly innovative when it comes to protecting high-crime areas of the country. Beyond that - why stop there Mr. Burton? Why not throw taxpayer money at developing a Borg-like personal shield for you? Or perhaps you'd like to move the House's business to an underground secret location?

The Proposal

Sure it's hugely predictable, but given that Ryan Reynolds is so watchable this is a nice variation on a traditional theme. Actually that's a good word for this - nice. And for what it's worth, I like Reynolds as a brunette.

Ebert on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Some say that Roger Ebert has reached a point in his career when he'll give a positive review to anything. Today we see that is clearly not true.

Nerd in Chief

Other Matters Relating to the SCOTUS Rulings Handed Down on June 22

TAPPED has a couple of good posts up. In one Bruce Cain and Daniel Tokaji "argue that states with low participation rates should be required to issue 'electoral impact statements,' which would discourage practices that suppress turnout among poor and minority voters." Another considers Couer Alaska v. SAC and the Court's (and the Bush administration's) friendliness to the arguments of certain polluters. The latter also includes a swing at Justice Breyer.

Larry Sabato - Rented (in the John Breaux Sense) by Virgil Goode?

Sabato didn't return our calls, which has to be a first for him.

Quite.

Georgia Theatre

Bummer. The Georgia Theatre has been gutted by a fire.

Wilmot Greene, 38, the current owner of the theater, sat on a wall in a bank parking lot, drinking bottled water and smoking cigarettes while firemen fought the blaze. He said he bought the theater five years ago for $1.5 million and has been renovating it since then. He said he had spent nearly $750,000 on the 1930s-style art deco renovation.

"It was almost completely done," said Greene, his white Oxford shirt covered in soot. "It was really beautiful. It was in better shape than it's ever been in."

I've seen some great shows there. What a shame.