R.I.P. Roger Ebert ~ Movie Lover and Progressive Hero

There are really no words. Did you know that Roger Ebert was the FIRST film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize? I think many people forget that because he was a humble person and didn't blow his own horn too much.

I grew up watching Ebert and Siskel on our local PBS station. Back then we didn't have 500 reviews online for every movie. You either read an odd review now and then in the newspaper or you had to buy Newsweek or Time. So thanks to television and PBS, Ebert and Siskel because THE movie critics of America, the only ones who really mattered. I always stayed up after 11:30 to see their show on Sunday nights, even when my husband grumbled or if I had to be at work early on Monday morning. I enjoyed it most when they disagreed and got fired up about movies they cared about - that's what a real fan does, and above all, they were movie fans.

Gene Siskel was more of a macho guy who liked "The Deer Hunter," "Raging Bull" and "Saturday Night Fever", while Ebert was the nerdy, intellectual guy who loved nostalgia and Stephen King movies. I remember his review of "Star Wars" back in the seventies, talking about the "old universe" it portrayed, and the classic coming of age story - I couldn't wait to go see it after hearing his review.



I remember when my kids were little how much I appreciated it that Ebert would seriously review movies like "Babe" and "Free Willy" and "Toy Story." Before there was an internet, he introduced his audience to the work of the Japanese master Miyasaki, showing clips of "My Neighbor Totoro," a movie I would never have chosen for my children at the video store without his review. My kids went on to become Japanese movie junkies, and they may not realize that it all goes back to Ebert.

I also remember when he praised "Dirty Dancing," saying it reminded him of being young and in love, and I used his review to help my husband understand why I liked that movie so much. I remember he usually loved musicals, unless Madonna was the star, LOL.

But Ebert was more than a movie critic. He was also a Kick-Ass Democrat who campaigned for President Obama tirelessly last year on Twitter, and who made time each day to push Progressive causes that mattered the most. That's his most lasting legacy, I think. Cancer had stolen his ability to speak on television, but Twitter gave him a new voice and a platform with millions of new readers and fans. And now we all mourn the loss of a a great writer, communicator and powerhouse Progressive. But above all he was a really, really nice guy, certainly someone you would love to see a movie with, and go for a hamburger afterward to analyze every scene.

And like the movie heroes he loved, he was brave - he stood up for what he believed, and he fought cancer like a boss. R.I.P., Dear Critic from Chicago - I wish we had hundreds more just like you.

Roger Ebert's Last Column: "A Leave of Presence"
 
Fans and Celebrities React to the Death of Roger Ebert 

LA Times Hero Complex: A Look Back at 5 Fan Favorite Reviews by Roger Ebert

Hillary Clinton Hospitalized with Blood Clot

Hillary Clinton was Hospitalized tonight with a possible Blood Clot, and I'm praying she will be all right. Get well soon, Madame Secretary!

Update on New Year's Eve:

From CNN:

The clot was located in the vein between the brain and and the skull behind Clinton's right ear and did not result in any stroke or neurological damage, her doctors said in a statement.
Clinton was treated with blood thinners to help dissolve the clot and would be released once the medication dose had been established, they said.
"In all other aspects of her recovery, the secretary is making excellent progress and we are confident she will make a full recovery. She is in good spirits, engaging with her doctors, her family, and her staff," Clinton's doctors said.
Clinton, 65, was suffering from a stomach virus earlier this month when she fainted because of dehydration, causing the concussion.

From Talking Points Memo

Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines released a statement late Sunday that said the secretary was being treated at New York Presbyterian Hospital and was expected to be kept under observation for two days. Earlier this month, Clinton’s aides said she fainted and hit her head, causing a concussion. She has remained out of the public eye ever since.
Read the full statement:

In the course of a follow-up exam today, Secretary Clinton's doctors discovered a blood clot had formed, stemming from the concussion she sustained several weeks ago. She is being treated with anti-coagulants and is at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital so that they can monitor the medication over the next 48 hours.
Her doctors will continue to assess her condition, including other issues associated with her concussion. They will determine if any further action is required.

Many on Twitter were recalling today that back when Hillary fell and suffered a concussion, members of the right-wing media made lots of jokes about a fake malady that would keep the Secretary of State from testifying about Benghazi. I knew that was total BS - why would Hillary suddenly be afraid to tell the truth to Congress? It was just hateful talk from the hateful side of the country.

Media Matters: Fox Evening Shows Mock Hillary
Washington Post: Those Who Doubted Hillary's Illness

Got a Fever for MORE Lincoln?

If you've seen the Lincoln movie and crave more Lincoln, you can read the book on which the movie is based Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin gives behind-the-scenes details about the White House of President Abraham Lincoln.





Or you can hang out with all the inspired Lincoln fans on Tumblr



Did you know you can follow Lincoln on Twitter?

Spielberg's Lincoln movie just might be the pinnacle of his career.A masterpiece.
— Abraham Lincoln (@Mr_Lincoln) November 20, 2012

I've read several reviews of @lincolnmovie and have yet to see one in which the reviewer wasn't enthralled.Will be nominated Best Picture.
— Abraham Lincoln (@Mr_Lincoln) November 20, 2012

And he has daily insight into our political system today:

Lincoln firmly believed in education and taught himself geometry.How did his party become full of people who think Earth is 6,000 yrs old?
— Abraham Lincoln (@Mr_Lincoln) November 20, 2012

Laughed at an editorial in my local paper, which claimed that Obama "barely" won re-election. Hmm...electoral college 332-206. Decisive.

— Abraham Lincoln (@Mr_Lincoln) November 20, 2012

The man behind the twitter account is Geoff Elliott who runs a blog he describes as "All Lincoln, All the Time."
The Abraham Lincoln Blog


Finally, Director Stephen Spielberg gave the keynote address at the 149th Dedication Day in honor of Lincoln's Gettysburg address. Great speech from the man who says he now has "Daniel Day-Lewis on speed-dial, LOL."

Mitt Romney ~ Upstaged by a Chair

First there was all this anticipation of a "mystery guest" arriving at the Republican National Convention, then there was lots of interest when it was found to be Clint Eastwood. What would he say? Did he bring a cool film with him, as he did at the Super Bowl? Would he say something memorable?

*snort* OMG - did he ever! Dirty Harry came out on stage in Tampa and proceeded to discuss politics with an empty chair where he imagined an invisible President Obama.

No, I am not making this up. The tumultuous skit with the chair even created a furor on both Twitter and Tumblr, and I assume Facebook as well, as people who had been almost asleep after 100 boring speeches woke up and started making chair art.

And two new hashtags were invented: #eastwooding and #invisibleobama

What all this means is that no one was really paying much attention to Rubio's or Romney's speeches which followed Eastwood, even though they were supposed to be the highlights of the evening. It almost . . . almost . . . makes me feel sorry for Mitt. He has the stupidest team in politics and I think that's undisputed now.


Even people who love Clint Eastwood, movies, imaginary friends, and actors in general found the whole thing downright bizarre. Famous film critic Roger Ebert Tweeted:

Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic. He didn't need to do this to himself. It's unworthy of him.
— Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) August 31, 2012

TV sitcom legend Bob Newhart joked that Eastwood was stealing his bit of talking to imaginary people on the phone:

I heard that Clint Eastwood was channeling me at the RNC. My lawyers and I are drafting our lawsuit... #RNC #ClintEastwood #rnc2012 #GOP2012
— Bob Newhart (@BobNewhart) August 31, 2012

Rachel Maddow was rendered almost speechless with shock in a classic Live TN moment:


    And Barack Obama responded with a Tweet of his own that is destined to be remembered forever as an epic one-liner:

This seat's taken. OFA.BO/c2gbfi, twitter.com/BarackObama/st… — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 31, 2012

And look at the other beauties from Tumblr and Twitter ~ this will go on for days and days because the variations are endless. Expect a plethora of chair jokes next week in Charlotte. Poor Mitt.


eatbloganddie.com/        jseeder11.tumblr.com    
amajor7.tumblr.com         G**DAMN IT #EASTWOOD! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO COOK TONIGHT! #Eastwooding #RNC #DNC #political #politics #Republican #Democrat #Putos.  teardropfromnyc on Instagram
    crocktees.tumblr.com

Ryan's Plan ~ Screw Everyone Under 55

Since I just turned 52 a few weeks ago and my husband is 49, Paul Ryan makes my blood run cold. He wants to keep Medicare for his Mom's generation, but destroy it for the late baby boomers who were born after 1959. How conveeenient!

Here it is from his own Twitter account:

Medicare should not be used as a piggy bank for Obamacare. Medicare should be the promise that is kept to current seniors. Period.
— Paul Ryan (@PaulRyanVP) August 18, 2012

Get that? Current Seniors, not Future Seniors. Appeal to the safety of those currently receiving Medicare, since they are more likely to vote Republican, but throw the rest of uf under the bus.

This way our children will always be poor because they have to take care of us, our grandchildren won't thrive because all family money will go to hospitals and big pharma and nursing homes, and the only people who have a chance in the future are those like himself and Mitt with inherited wealth and no need for Medicare. The rich get richer and more powerful on tax cuts, and the middle class ceases to exist.

Ryan couldn't have been more honest and yet more repugnant today, using his mother as a prop for the sympathy vote, promising to save Medicare for his Mama and her friends - wealthy people who don't need help - but cutting the rest of us off with only "vouchers" that we can't afford on Social Security. Oh yeah - he wants to cut that, too.


Candidate Paul Ryan's Florida Speech, via MSNBC

Like a lot of Americans, when I think about Medicare it's not just a program, it's not just a bunch of numbers, it's what my mom relies on, it's what my grandma had. Medicare was there for our family, for my grandma, when we needed it then; and Medicare is there for my mom while she needs it now, and we have to keep that guarantee.

Our solution to preserve, protect, and save Medicare does not affect your benefits. Let me repeat that. Our plan does not affect the benefits for people who are in or near retirement.

. . . bureaucrats will not mess with my mom’s healthcare or your mom’s healthcare.

It’s a promise that was made and it’s a promise that must be kept. To save it for this generation, you have to reform it for my generation so it doesn’t go bankrupt when we retire.

Save Medicare for this generation - not the next generation. You got that, folks??? He truly couldn't give a flying flip about the rest of us.

From the Tampa Bay Times

Behind him hung a big sign: "Protect & Strengthen MEDICARE."

Above him circled a single-engine plane with a banner: "Paul Ryan keep your hands off our Medicare."

The Villages is a massive retirement community about 50 miles northwest of Orlando, and one of the biggest Republican strongholds in Florida.

A fire marshal estimated 10,000 people attended the event, though the crowd appeared smaller. Four years ago, newly minted vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin came to The Villages after the Republican National Convention, drawing a crowd estimated at 25,000 to 60,000.

The seniors holding anti-Obamacare signs and sipping breakfast-hour cocktails Saturday morning in the village square consistently said they applauded Ryan's talk about entitlement reform, and noted that it did not affect anyone 55 or over.

Wow - that's just great. Turn the seniors against the next generation, their younger brothers and sisters and cousins, Obama's generation. Put us in poverty forever.

But we will not thank you.

After today, there is no doubt that Ryan really is a follower of Ayn Rand making an appeal to selfishness. It makes him happy to have Medicare take care of his Grandma and his Mom, but screw everyone else. The 99% are just parasites who deserve to die off anyway.

"Let Them Eat Cat Food"

It's a Darwinian approach that even Sarah Palin would say is right up there with "Death Panels."

Of course, an optimist would say that such speeches may be the death knell of the Romney/Ryan ticket, too, because he isn't mincing words about what he wants to do. He's not as good a liar as Mitt, and that may be his downfall. Hope springs eternal that people hear this stuff and begin to have doubts.

Will the seniors buy what he is selling? Seniors are usually more conservative nationally and locally. They are famous for voting against raising taxes for schools because their own kids are grown and their grandchildren go to private schools. Not one dime for anyone else, they will say, especially for anyone of color.

Sadly, yes, it might work. But we can still fight back while we can.

This guy is the coldest fish to come along in a while. Anyone who is still on the fence after that speech just isn't paying attention.

Great Quote from President Obama

This is one of the best Obama quotes of the campaign so far, in my opinion - great snark! Via Huffington Post

"The other side feels that it's enough for them to just sit back and say, 'Things aren’t as good as they should be and it’s Obama’s fault,'" the president continued.

"And you can pretty much put their campaign on...a tweet and have some characters to spare."