So, the headline should read “Democrats lose, Republicans win,” as four of the six Republicans up for recall held on to their seats and Democrats need to win three to gain control of the state legislature. But I’m not sure I see it that way. Because… 1. The Fact There Even Was a Mass Recall:…
Author: Alabama Liberal
Petty Issues
I keep hearing all this talk about how Ed Shultz should be kicked off MSNBC because he got his start on right wing radio. And? All of them are personalities that might not believe what they’re really saying to keep a job. Bill O’Reilly got his start on tabloid trash like Inside Edition, Keith Olbermann…
Working Class Economist: Why the Tea Party is Happy to Get Downgraded
Sometimes I enjoy impossible tasks like squeezing blood from a turnip. So today I attempt the near impossible task of trying to make Standard & Poors (that stalwart watchdog company that was totally on top of the mortgage crisis and has never had any questionable calls before…sarcasm dripping from computer screen) credit downgrade sexy. Well,…
Mom Jokes: Moms in Group Therapy
A psychiatrist was conducting a group therapy session with four young mothers and their small children. “You all have obsessions,” he observed. To the first mother, he said, “You are obsessed with eating. You’ve even named your daughter Candy.” He turned to the second Mom: “Your obsession is with money. Again, it manifests itself in…
Entertainment Editorial: Does Spielberg’s Name Carry Weight for Younger Audiences?
In a way my nerves answer that question, but Spielberg is (by my own admission) so powerful writing anything remotely unflattering about him is cause to worry. He actually could snap his fingers to ruin someone’s life if they’re in the entertainment industry, so I just have to hope he won’t take this article as…
TV Review: Falling Skies
Continuing our Alien Invasion day takes the genre from the cinema, where it’s exhausted (Super 8, Battle LA, Transformers, Cowboys and Aliens) to TV, where it’s just getting started. Last night saw the ending of the first season of TNT’s Falling Skies, which stands out on the network by being one of only two shows…
Monday Morning Movie Review: Cowboys & Aliens
It’s “Alien Invasion” Day on Alabama Liberal and so that includes a review of this movie which tries to join two genres: alien invasion movies (which have been almost exhausted) and westerns (which have been almost entirely ignored for two decades). I can’t say it’s entirely successful, but I absolutely appreciate the effort. In a…
Movie Review: Attack the Block
Alien invasion week day continues in this scrappy upstart horror film that manages to be more fun and just as scary as Cowboys & Aliens on less than one tenth the budget. In this movie the aliens attack a housing project in inner city London, and our “heroes” are a “gang” of wannabe toughs that…
Movie Review: Another Earth
Continuing Alabama Liberal’s alien invasion day, is a movie that isn’t really about alien invasions. Another Earth is essentially two movies. One of them is a ponderous, unrealistic drama about a young woman (Brit Marling) who kills a man’s (William Mapother) family in a drunken car wreck and then strikes up a relationship with the…
Larger Editorial: The Democrat’s Real Enemy Number 1 is Liberal Infighting
So the Mongol Horde, I mean, SS, I mean, Tea Party got everything they wanted this past week and saw the three branches of government bow to them in an unprecedented way for a group that is 1. Not a major political party, 2. Only been around 3 years (tough break Green Party!), 3. Not…
Petty Issues
I leave for a week and Amy Winehouse up and dies on us. Why is it always someone talented that dies like her or Heath Ledger? Kim Kardashian will live forever and her biggest talent is breathing while being filmed. The debt ceiling was finally raised after a month of stagnant, tedious bickering. This is…
WCE: Why Republicans Should Immigrate to the “Small Government” Haven of Somalia
“I don’t want to eliminate government. I want to shrink it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it.”–Grover Norquist, current Republican “thinker”/former Confederate soldier. Over and over again, we’ve been told by Republicans that government is inefficient, wasteful, harmful, dangerous, a thief, and pretty much everything but a…
Entertainment Editorial: Do Stars Still Matter?
When I say stars, I mean big name actors. And when I say big name actors, I don’t mean Kim Kardashian. Now this item isn’t meant to ask if actors are still necessary–I still remember all those articles saying actors were now irrelevant in the wake of completely CGI animated movies like Final Fantasy…which promptly…