Lives Up To Its Name

That's your basic review of Kick-Ass.  Best superhero flick I've seen since the terribly underrated Mystery Men.


For you comic nerds out there, it's proof that Mark Millar does his best work when he has a good partner, and John Romita Jr. turns out to be the moderating influence on this one.  The result is a surprisingly good film as well as a good comic story.  Definitely not for the kids, but if you liked 300 and Watchmen, this movie's  worth seeing on the big screen.

Also, in at least half of the final 20 minutes, the scene was stolen by...not the actors, but a bazooka (this IS Mark Millar we're talking about.)  Trust me on this.

4 out of 5.

Finally, I give it until next weekend before somebody in the Wingerverse says this movie is proof that the Tea Party is Kick-Ass, and Obama is the film's villain and it means even Hollywood is turning on him (even though the comic series the movie is based on is a couple years old now and written before the 2008 election.)

Do go see the film, however.

Zandar's Thought Of The Day

Conservative websites call for revolution with scary images and overheated rhetoric to make a point.

Lefty websites call for poultry as currency with cartoon chickens and plenty of snark.

You can make a point without implied violence.  Just saying.

Source Forged

It's telling to see how CNN is using "sources", not "Congressional sources" or "Democratic sources" or "White House sources" or even "Beltway sources" to shoot down immigration reform, just plain old "sources".

The push for immigration reform may be on the front burner for congressional Democrats, but sources say that ultimately, they believe the issue is unlikely to have enough votes to pass.


Democrats say the goal is to try to take it up in the Senate before discussing the Supreme Court nomination this summer and spend the rest of the session before the midterm election on the politically potent issue of jobs.

One big reason for the immigration reform push, sources say, is that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is in a brutal battle to win re-election in Nevada, where a quarter of the population is Hispanic and he has promised to try.

More broadly, Democrats admit, they know that Latinos who voted in big numbers for President Obama are angry that Democratic leaders have not kept a promise to deal with immigration reform.

No bill has yet been through committee but it is believed it would be similar to an effort in 2007 -- improving border security and enforcement with a path to legal status for undocumented workers.

Even better, these same sources...well, "Democratic sources" now are saying climate change is dead too.

Two Senate Democratic sources say that despite a new bipartisan push on climate change, legislation is unlikely to make it to the floor this year.

That would be a blow to Sens. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts; Joe Lieberman, I-Connecticut; and Graham, who are slated to release legislation Monday that would, among other things, set a goal of 17 percent reduction in carbon emissions in the next 10 years.

An energy bill had been stalled in the Senate after the the House passed its version in June by a 219-212 vote, with almost no Republican support and opposition from some Democrats.

Dead.  You know, unlikely to even make it to the floor for a vote.  Like health care reform. It would be nice if the Village did their job once in a while instead of playing the "sources" game, but that apparently involves "work".

Crazy Like A Fawkes

The GOP has taken British revolutionary Guy Fawkes as their newest meme as they ratchet up the "it's an illegitimate government just because we lost" rhetoric against President Obama.  The tale of Fawkes was adapted for the comics by the brilliant Alan Moore in V for Vendetta, which later itself became a hit movie with Hugo Weaving and Natalie Portman.  But leave it to the Republicans to turn a failed terrorist plot to kill lawmakers into a rallying cry against Democrats.  Time's Michael Scherer:

Now, the Fawkes mythology has come full circle. The Republican Governors Association has embraced the symbolism of Fawkes, launching a rather striking website, RememberNovember.com, with a video that showcases far more Hollywood savvy than one can usually expect from Republicans. Again, the Fawkes tale has been twisted a bit. This time, President Obama plays the roll of King James, the Democratic leadership is Parliament, and the Republican Party represents the aggrieved Catholic mass.

The symbolism here is unmistakable, and neither is the call for revolution.  It's very slick and powerful stuff here.

The politics and substance aside, this strikes me as a remarkable bit of political messaging, not just for its cinematic quality. The RGA, under the control of Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, is clearly stepping out of the stodgy, safe territory it normally inhabits. It is aiming to tap into the vast well of anti-government fury now coursing through the nation. Who would have guessed that Barbour would embrace the symbolic value of the same would-be mass murderer as the Wachowski brothers?

It's also an impressive bit of theater that suggests that maybe the Obama administration should be brought down because of the unconscionable sin of his approval numbers being less than 50%, and by "brought down" I mean "by any means necessary."

In all seriousness, this whole Republican tactic of "Obama's administration is illegitimate because he's not doing the will of the 46% of the people who voted against him" is dangerous, stupid, and misguided.  That's how democracy works:  Like Democrats did in 2006 and 2008, you change things at the ballot box.  You then live with those results, and that's why exercising your vote is the most important responsibility and duty you have as a United States citizen.

But just because you lost the election, it does not mean the government is illegitimate.  Bush had plenty of help on that front with Iraq, torture, wiretapping, indefinite detainment, and intelligence manipulation.  But he won the election.  Twice.  For eight years, Republicans said elections had consequences.  Now it's an open call for revolution based on honoring a terrorist.

When I say the GOP is trying to incite rage, fury, and anger, this is what I mean.  And at some point this will lead to unforgivable violence.  America has a long and bloody history of that.  Their entire platform is nothing but Obama Derangement Syndrome and absolution from the guilt of unthinking furious anger.

And in a democracy, those votes count exactly as much as any other vote cast.

StupidiNews, Weekend Edition!

• Doctors in Spain have performed the world's first full face transplant.
• Some truckers are planning a boycott of Arizona after the state's new immigration bill was signed into law yesterday.
• The International Whaling Commission is proposing a new plan to deal with Japan, Norway and Iceland's whaling.
• The G-20 nations are split on the idea of taxing banks for bailouts and want the IMF to study the notion further.
• The only buyer left for ailing PDA-maker Palm may be Chinese computer giant Lenovo.