Candlelighting: Week of May 27, 2011
Candlelighting: Week of May 27, 2011 Read More »
May 27, 2011
Opinion: If Bachmann and Palin Weren’t Pretty
I wonder how much airtime Michele Bachmann (R.-Minn.) would get if she didn’t look the way she does. I wonder how much of Sarah Palin’s political appeal arises from her physical appeal.
I have a feeling that wondering this will get me in hot water, but what the hell.
I think Michele Bachmann is pretty. I think Sarah Palin is pretty, too. I’m not saying they’re smokin’ hot babes. I’d reserve that for someone younger, like Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly. If I were in my 20s, I suppose that having any corporeal thoughts at all about these women would be, as the kids say, ewwww. But from my boomer perspective, they’re real lookers.
Now, given my politics, you would think that my knowing what Bachmann and Palin say and stand for would be a total turnoff, but my familiarity with their wingnut views seems to cause no diminution of my spontaneous appreciation of their assets. Even Dana Perino, who as press secretary defended the indefensible George W. Bush, makes my head turn.
All these ladies regularly say things that are — to use Professor Jon Stewart’s formulation — ” target=”_hplink”>gangster government”; she’s proposed a witch hunt for “anti-America” members of Congress; she’s ” target=”_hplink”>Politifact.com, the independent, Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking site.
But as Michele Bachmann inches toward a bid for the GOP nomination for the presidential nomination, and as Sarah Palin launches a media frenzy about her White House intentions, I have to think that their plausibility as candidates doesn’t simply derive from their Tea Party cred. After all, ” target=”_hplink”>Jean Schmidt (R.-OH) also adhere to the most extreme right-wing positions of the Republican Party’s base, but I don’t see MSNBC lavishing on them the kind of base-riling scorn that Bachmann and Palin get; they’re not asked to keynote all the big creationist-birther-AK47 confabs.
In a politainment era, looks — even sex appeal — matter. On the male side, this could account for Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) still getting mentioned as a presidential contender, even though he’s said he’s not interested, in contrast with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whom nobody is mentioning as a 2012 possibility and whose cheekbones aren’t remotely as chiseled. It also could explain Jon Huntsman’s appeal, and Mitt Romney’s frontrunner standing in the polls. And in an inverse way, it makes the effort by Roger Ailes and Rush Limbaugh to draft N.J. Gov. Chris Christie for the Republican nomination completely plausible (who could be more authentic than a guy who looks like Chris Christie?), and it lent gravitas to the Mitch Daniels’ boomlet (real wonks don’t have great hair). Speaking of hair, Donald Trump could be the outlier that proves the theory.
Let me stipulate, in case any Bachmann or Palin fans are reaching for stones to throw at my glass house, that I am not a 10. I’m not a zero, either. I know that my looks haven’t gotten me anywhere, and they also haven’t stopped me from getting anywhere, though an Abercrombie job interview would likely have been a sobering exception.
If you think my take is nothing more than a nerd’s revenge for an unrequited crush on the prom queen, I’ll be glad to forward your messages to my therapist. And if you think my focusing on their looks is shamefully sexist, I guess that just goes to show that the political correctness cartoon doesn’t apply only to liberals.
In the end, it could be that it’s hard to take my eyes off Bachmann and Palin, not despite their political views but because of them — that is, because the gulf between how pretty they are and how doggie they talk is so shocking. It’s a bit like that character type you sometimes see on a TV show, the sweet little old lady who swears like a stevedore. It wouldn’t be remarkable if some crone had a potty mouth. But the verbal foulness is ironically endearing when it comes from the last person you’d predict. Maybe this is too big a stretch, but I can’t help thinking that the reason Bachmann and Palin don’t repulse me is the same reason I’m so fond of ” target=”_hplink”>Norman Lear professor of entertainment, media and society at the USC martyk@jewishjournal.com.
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Senators introduce enhanced Iran sanctions bill
U.S. Senators introduced an enhanced Iran sanctions bill matching one recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The crux of both bills is a ban on business with any entity that does $1 million in a single trade with Iran’s energy sector, or $5 million over one year. The current threshold is $20 million in business per year.
Like the House bill introduced earlier this month, the bill introduced May 24 by Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) includes sanctions on materials used by Iran to crush its democracy movement and expands funding for democracy groups.
It also requires the Obama administration seek further sanctions through the U.N. Security Council.
Members of both parties say the Obama administration has not sufficiently exploited enhanced sanctions passed and enacted a year ago. Authors of the bills in the House and Senate have said that the legislation is in part a bid to force the president’s hand.
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A fifth of Irish would bar Israelis from becoming citizens
More than one in five Irish people would bar Israelis from becoming naturalized Irish citizens, according to new research into ethnic and religious attitudes in Ireland.
The book-length study, “Pluralism and Diversity in Ireland,” found that 22.2% of Irish people would exclude Israelis from Irish citizenship, while 11.5% would deny it to all Jews.
Israelis as a group also had one of the lowest favorable ratings among Irish people, ranking 44th out of 51 categories.
“There is a real danger that the public image of ‘Israeli’ can lead to an increase in anti-Semitism,” the book’s author, Jesuit priest and sociologist Father Micheál Mac Gréil, told The Irish Catholic newspaper.
The research found prejudice against Jews was most prevalent among young adults in the 18-25 age group. Only 53.6% of this group would accept a Jewish person in their family, versus 60.7% for Irish people of all ages.
Israelis were considered less acceptable as kin, with only 47.9% of Irish people prepared to admit an Israeli into their family.
The Republic of Ireland’s Jewish population is less than 2,000 out of a total of 4.5 million.
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N.Y. gay center rapped for renting space to anti-Israel group
A gay community center in New York is facing controversy again for renting meeting space to an anti-Israel group.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center announced Wednesday that it would allow Queers Against Israeli Apartheid to rent meeting space in its building. The center said it “provides space for a variety of LGBT voices in our community to engage in conversations on a range of topics.”
“The Center does not have a position on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, nor does it endorse the viewpoints of this group or any others that use rooms here,” the center said in its statement. “This is a complex issue, and there is a tremendous diversity of viewpoints within the LGBT community.”
Michael Lucas, a gay pornography producer and pro-Israel activist, responded by calling for a boycott of the center.
“Everyone who believes in the state of Israel, please stop any support for the Center,” Lucas said in a statement. “Please stop your financial support, please stop meeting there. Do not ally yourself with evil.”
In February, the center came under fire from Lucas and some other gay supporters of Israel when a pro-Palestinian group called Siege Busters arranged to rent meeting space. The center revoked the group’s rental, explaining that Siege Busters was “not LGBT-focused” and that the event “began to distract from our core mission.”
The decision also was controversial within the gay community and drew pickets from pro-Palestinian activists.
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Tiki Barber compares himself to Anne Frank, gets slammed by ADL
The Anti-Defamation League slammed retired football player and former NBC broadcaster Tiki Barber for jokingly comparing himself to Anne Frank.
In a recent Sports Illustrated profile, the former New York Giants’ running back discussed living with his girlfriend in the attic of his Jewish agent, Mark Lepselter, to hide from the media after splitting with his pregnant wife. “Lep’s Jewish,” Barber told Sports Illustrated, “and it was like a reverse Anne Frank thing.”
“Holocaust trivialization continues to spread and finds new ways and expressions that shock the conscience,” the Anti-Defamation League’s national director, Abraham Foxman, said in a statement Thursday. “Tiki Barber’s personal behavior is his business. But our history and experiences are ours and deserve greater respect than being abused or perverted by Tiki Barber.”
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1967 lines reference pulled from G8 statement at Canada’s request
A reference to the 1967 lines as the basis for a future border was reportedly removed at Canada’s request from a G8 summit statement calling for renewed Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Reuters cited unnamed diplomatic sources who said that the language was stricken at Canada’s insistence. The G8 summit, which is taking place this year in Deauville, France, brings together leaders of eight of the world’s leading economic powers.
“The Canadians were really very adamant, even though Obama expressly referred to 1967 borders in his speech last week,” a European diplomat told Reuters.
In his May 19 Middle East policy speech, President Obama called for the 1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps to be the basis for a future border between Israel and a Palestinian state. This formulation drew objections from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called the 1967 lines “indefensible” for Israel.
Obama’s call has been praised by some of the leaders of G8 member states, including British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Canada’s leader, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is known for his strongly pro-Israel views.
Reuters obtained a copy of the final G8 statement, which expresses “strong support for the vision of Israeli-Palestinian peace outlined by President Obama.”
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How the “F-word” can trump the “R-word”
If a picture is worth a thousand words, than one video (or two) must be worth even more. This week, I watched two short videos (yes, the links are coming) on the subject of how people perceive people with special needs.
The first was a new Public Service Announcement (PSA) produced by a national joint effort of Special Olympics and Best Buddies to get people to stop using the word “retard” in their everyday language as a synonym for “stupid”. This “Spread the Word to End the R-Word” (http://www.r-word.org) campaign is trying to raise awareness that the current common usage of the R-word is in fact, very offensive to people with intellectual disabilities, and for those who love them.
Their new 30-second PSA is called “Not Acceptable” and it first aired after Glee on Tuesday night, featuring people of different ethnic backgrounds, each of whom expresses that it is not acceptable to call them by what were once common words, but are now recognized as offensive slurs. At the end of the PSA, co-star Jane Lynch joins Glee actress Lauren Potter and together, they ask viewers to stop using the R-word. (This video was pre-screened and endorsed by a number of advocacy organizations including the ADL, GLAAD and the NAACP.)
Watch the PSA here
The second video was shown at The Friendship Circle of Los Angles 8th Annual Evening of Recognition on May 25th, in which I was honored to be honored, along with Mrs. Raizy Brief.
In this video, the letter of choice was “F” as in the Friendship Circle, and their Friends At Home program, which matches teen volunteers with participating children and teens with special needs in their homes. Teenagers receive training and preparation before their first visit. This is just one of a dozen programs offered by Rabbi Michy and Miriam Rav-Noy, along with their dedicated staff and the hundreds of teen volunteers.
Ariel Bernstein, a very articulate high school volunteer, spoke at the dinner, described how she bonded with her teenage “match”, a fun loving Orthodox teenage girl I will call Bracha with whom Danny has attended public school for many years. Ariel spoke that although Bracha can’t speak well, but she is able to use sign language to communicate. At one point, Ariel wrote their names down on a piece of paper. Bracha immediately intertwined her index fingers, making the sign for “Friendship.”
You can watch the Friendship Circle video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riDbc22ftPE
Please, sign the pledge to stop using the R-word, and even more importantly, open your hearts and minds to potential new friends.
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Academy fetes Oscar-winner Arthur Cohn
Swiss producer Arthur Cohn has won an unprecedented six Oscars and he attributes much of his success to a piece of advice Shakespeare put into the mouth of Polonius, “This above all, to thine own self be true.”
Though speaking more colloquially, Cohn cited the rule as one of his guiding precepts while accepting the plaudits of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on May 19, during an evening devoted to his remarkable body of work.
The occasion marked the 40th anniversary screening of Cohn’s 1971 breakthrough success, “The Garden of the Finzi-Continis,” the story of an aristocratic Italian-Jewish family that falls victim to Mussolini’s anti-Semitic purge during World War II.
As Bruce Davis, the Academy’s executive director, noted, among more than 100 films about the Holocaust, “Garden” is one of the few that has maintained its power to this day.
Cohn credited the film’s enduring impact to the avoidance of graphic violence and the characters’ shadings, in which the “good” people displayed faults and the “bad” some virtues.
Drawing lessons from a 50-year career as producer, Cohn elaborated on his three guiding principles.
First, follow your own intuition, don’t listen to objections by others, be true to yourself. By way of illustration, after “Garden” was finished, the film was turned down by 31 distributors –- until it unexpectedly won an Oscar as the year’s best foreign film.
“If it hadn’t been for the Academy’s choice, no one would have ever seen the film,” Cohn noted.
His two other guidelines are “always use authentic settings” and “the audience must be able to identify with the actors.”
After being lauded as “the epitome of the independent producer,” Cohn, observing that there is no school for aspiring producers, shared some additional advice about his craft:
An independent producer must constantly look for “scripts so good, he just cannot pass them up. A good script is 60 percent of a film and cannot be ruined by a bad director, but the best director can’t save a bad script.”
Only slightly less in importance is the editing, which can give a floundering film its proper rhythm.
Gracing Cohn’s home in Basel, the city whose rabbi – Cohn’s grandfather – invited Theodor Herzl to hold the first Zionist Congress there, displays six Oscar statuettes.
Three are for his documentary features, “Sky Above and Mud Beneath,” “American Dream” and “One Day in September.” He garnered the three other Oscars as producer of best foreign film winners, “The Garden of the Finzi-Continis” (Italy), “Black and
White in Color” (Ivory Coast) and “Dangerous Moves” (Switzerland).
Cohn is currently in production on the German comedy “Russendisko,” based on the short story collection by Wladimar Kaminer.
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The Wacky Water Show: Strangest Show Ever (video)
” title=”Water Story” target=”_blank”>Water Story
Thus, here in this park, each evening at the same time, a little piece of this water memory will be revealed out of the Grand Basin, a performance coming along with the water, a story drawn by itself.
A poet, a Lady in black and 29 young people will be waiting for you at dark by the mirror of lights, bringing you beyond the centuries with fishermen, peasants, workers and all kinds of people while the world keeps on moving. You will see water burning, pineapple island, aquatic bicycles, cannibal couch and a desperate baseball player.
Water Story is an incredible dream of life on water, which becomes possible if not by magic, a dream that we recognize as Taiwan.
This was the wierdest wackiest show I ever saw! I am not sure what the story means; I am not sure about the show but I just had to share it with you. I hope you enjoyed the video. Maybe you can explain the baseball player, hamburger to me!! Write to us on our new website: The Wacky Water Show: Strangest Show Ever (video) Read More »