Today's Blogs

Gore Goes Hollywood

Al Gore and Leonardo DiCaprio

Bloggers recap the Academy Awards, pooh-pooh the Christian right’s difficulties in finding an appropriate presidential candidate, and admonish Delta Zeta for asking some minority or overweight sisters to vacate one of its sorority houses.

And the Oscar for best liberal: Al Gore was the surprise “rock star” of Sunday night’s Oscars, providing viewers with the strange spectacle of Ryan Seacrest interviewing Gore about who he was wearing. (A: Ralph Lauren)

Law blogger Ann Althouse has a play-by-play of Gore’s big moment: “And Al wins the Oscar!!!!! …Why did they make the film? Because of the problem of global warming??? Oh, no: ‘We were moved to act by this man.’ So says the director, reaching over to touch the hem of Al Gore’s garment. He’s gasping with awe. It’s kinda embarrassing. He pumps the Oscar weirdly twice in Al’s direction and he says ‘We share this with you.’ The camera goes to Larry David, clapping righteously. Now, Gore speaks: global warming is ‘not a political issue, it’s a moral issue.’ I like Al. He makes his wooden squareness hip and cool.”

Not everyone loved Gore. James Joyner, writing at conservative Outside the Beltway, was on to a left-wing conspiracy: “Gore joins a growing line of liberal political activists to win major awards in recent years: The Dixie Chicks, Michael Moore, and Hillary Clinton come readily to mind in the ‘arts.’… One wonders how long these awards will retain their credibility?  …[T]o so overtly use these awards to send a political message can’t sit that well with the majority of the country to whom that message is being sent.”

Vonnie-K  bestowed his own awards: “Funniest Bit: Will Farrell & Jack Black hitting on Helen Mirren in song, because… wouldn’t you? (…How cool is that the object of collective lust/fanboying was a woman in her 60’s?) Well, tied with Leo DiCaprio’s intense man-crush on Al Gore, which was kind of adorable. Most Cringe-worthy Bit: Celine fucking Dion singing ‘in tribute’ to the poor Ennio Morricone. Seriously, Academy? What did poor Ennio ever do to you?”

Defamer liveblogs both the style and substance of the whole affair: “6:23 [PST]: Oscar Poll FuckageWatch: Upset! Alan Arkin’s cracked out grandpa beats Eddie Murphy for Supporting Actor! The Curse of the Fat Suit is in effect. Five DreamWorks publicists bite down on the cynanide capsules they’d had available for just such a disappointment. J-Hud is feeling a little less sure of herself, sweating all over the tinfoil shrug she was obviously talked into wearing by an insane stylist.”

 Read more about the Oscars. Slate offers a “Dialogue” about the telecast, and fashion writer Amanda Fortini and culture editor Julia Turner dish on the fashion

So few good men: Bloggers didn’t have much sympathy for the New York Timesreport that the Council on National Policy, a secretive organization of Christian conservatives, is struggling to find a worthy presidential candidate.                                                                        

Lynn’s Daughter, a teacher and atheist of late, had a typical reaction: “Give me a moment while I find a reason to feel their desperation.  Nope, still not there. My questions is, is a schism opening between republican rich war-mongers and the christians? I sure hope so. … I’m feverently hoping that the rein of superstitious nonsense is finally over. After all, this is NOT, nor was it ever intended, to be a nation founded on religion.”

Conservative dentist FulloseousFlap looks down the road: “When Rudy Giuliani wraps up the GOP nomination, the KINGMAKERS of the Evangelical Christian Right MIGHT turn to a third party candidate. The only question is how marginalized and irrelevant will they become. No GOP Senator, Governor or Congressman will foresake their political career to become a GOP spoiler in ‘08. Flap’s bet is that these folks will splinter and divide. Some will covertly support Giuliani and some will support the third party candidate.”

John Lowell, commenting at progressive TruthDig, predicted that “both Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson will find a way to support the Republican nominee regardless of his or her attitude on abortion and civil unions just as long as the nominee offers no opposition to West Bank ethnic cleansing. …Typical of the ambitious in any age we have in these three birds - and in Evangelicalism in general - a fascination with bigness, big stadiums rallies, big churches, big name conversions. That a given, you can be assured that no meaningful fuss whatsoever will be raised if a Giuliani, a Romney or a Mc Cain are nominated.”

And Wonkette, who might have trademarked snark, hits the nail on the head: “The Christian RightTM is having a hard time finding a Presidential candidate that hates all the right things.”

Read more about the Christian right’s plight here.

So much for sisterhood: Pretty much everyone agrees that the Delta Zeta sorority has set a new low for shallowness, with the news that the national officers deemed 23 members of DePauw University’s chapter—including all overweight or minority members—as  “insufficiently dedicated,” promptly vacating them from the house. 

At Rudd Sound Bites, a blog on food policy and obesity, Sarah Novak writes, “What frustrates me the most about this story is the way the national DZ organizers place blame on the young women—insulting their level of commitment to the group—instead of admitting their institutionalized pettiness. … Instead of helping to boost recruitment by accentuating the chapter’s strengths, the national DZ organizers have wrought havoc to uphold their preferred stereotype.”

Debbie Schlussel, a conservative political commentator from Detroit, was unsurprised by the whole debacle: “I’m all against kicking out the minorities for the sake of being minorities. But as far as kicking out the looks-challenged members, well what did they think being in a sorority was all about? …Quit whining. That’s life in the campus ‘Greek’ system, and many other places in society. Didn’t they see ‘Revenge of the Nerds’?”

Sailorman, father of two daughters, sees an upside in his comments at feminist Alas, A Blog: “When i saw that i figured it was intelligence, not racism: [the] students were in the ‘smart’ set and unwilling to devote their lives to becoming vapid beautiful mannequins out to get men. … The crucial thing to remember is that being ‘insufficiently committed’ is, in this case, a compliment.”

Read more about the Delta Zeta sorority evictions.