Subject: Blame Canada
Re: ” Readme: Protection Money”
From: A.G.Android
Date: Fri Dec 29 1:08 p.m. PT
So, we pay more for drugs. Think of it as foreign aid, and it becomes a very generous program to help poorer countries provide health care to the masses. The real abuse is when wealthy countries like Canada abuse their power to pay less for the drugs, thus undercutting the subsidy to poorer nations. How heartless, those Canadians, making Third-Worlders sicken so that they can buy cheaper Tagamet. Perhaps we should treat that as an unfair trade practice
[Find this post here.]
Subject: GWB’s Unrecognized Talent
Re: ” The Earthling: Elementary”
From: Joseph Britt
Date: Wed Dec 20 9:24 a.m. PT
The difficulty Bush will face in conducting foreign policy is little different from what Bill Clinton faced eight years ago: as a Governor and then Presidential candidate, neither man was required to spend much time on a subject that did not especially interest him. This can be remedied with time and capable subordinates, both of which Bush has. He has something else, which too few people have recognized—he is much more decisive than Clinton, or for that matter his own father. This may be the most important quality a President can have in conducting foreign policy.
[Find this post here.]
Subject: What Lies Beneath Cast Away
Re: “Movies: Stand and Deliver”
From: Paul Decker
Date: Fri Dec 22 3:51 p.m. PT
David Edelstein opines that Bob Zemeckis has “forgotten how to film a simple interaction.” If the interaction is intended to be male/female, I would say not that Zemeckis has forgotten how but that he never knew how. He has often had successful buddy relationships in his movies: Marty McFly and Doc Brown, Forrest Gump and Lt. Dan, Eddie Valiant and Roger Rabbit, etc. But his male/female relationships have always been awkward. The only reason more has not been written about this topic is that in his best work, such as Forrest Gump or What Lies Beneath, that awkwardness matches the tone of the movie
[Find this post here. David Edelstein answered Mr. Decker here.]
Subject: All Guilty: Some More Than Others
Re: ” Frame Game: Honest Bias”
From: Will Allen
Date: Tue Dec 19 5:09 p.m. PT
Gore-pods claim that they want every vote counted, or that hand counts would be performed without partisan influence, which was manifestly untrue. Bushmen claim that any machine-rejected ballot requires a seance to determine who the vote was cast for, also untrue. While it is expected that the politicians and their handlers will lie, since that is what the electorate generally demands of any person nuts enough to run for major political office, it is unfortunate when political commentators choose to be dishonest of their own volition, with no immediate reward for doing so, other than the psychic security gained by having their biases go unchallenged.
[Find this post here.]
Fray Notes
There has been a lot of Fraymail about star posters. The star appears next to the names of posters who have been noted for especially good posts in the past. So far, four Fray regulars have been awarded stars, and they are those featured above: A.G.Android, Will Allen, Joseph Britt, and Paul Decker. More to come; keep checking.
Don’t miss History Guy’s demographic analysis of the Bush vote here, but make sure you read to the end.
Best Fray Posting by a Slate Writer: From David Edelstein (who else?) who read Chatterbox’s comment that “between [Eugene] O’Neill and [Jason] Robards, the greater genius was very possibly Robards” and was inspired to post this message:
!!!!!!!????*****?????!!!!!!!
Mr. Edelstein gave us a busy week in The Fray: Both his item on beers and his ” Movie Club” produced truckloads of comment. The Movie Club was particularly satisfying, with much interaction between the Clubbers and Fray posters. One recommended thread starts here. Also, let’s hope Simon Parker’s excellent suggestion that posters supply their favorite film moments of the year doesn’t get missed in the crush.
One Fray poster is worried that now the election is over, the Ballot Box Fray may be shut down. What will become of all those regular political junkies? But another has the answer: “In two years we will all be in Washington as freshman congressmen and senators.” We at The Fray are looking forward to saying we knew you when.
