Thursday, June 3, 2004

How low can he go? Already at the bottom of the ratings, Dennis Miller is starting to hit bedrock: Dennis Miller's 9pm CNBC show is still at the bottom of the ratings charts -- and it dipped lower last month. In April, Miller averaged 211,000 households, 263,000 persons age 2+, and 105,000 persons 25-54. In May, the show slumped to 132,000 households, 175,000 persons age 2+, and 66,000 persons 25-54 -- declines of 30 to 40%. I guess the chimp didn't work out. Perhaps there's still time to try a cute child. A co-host named Oliver? [Thanks to Sista CH.] 8:43:23 PM    comment [] Churchill, Roosevelt and Bush When one cabinet member says P, it's an opinion. When two say P, it's a talking point. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice echoed the sentiments of Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi by comparing Bush to Churchill, Roosevelt, and Truman: As President Bush begins a week of foreign diplomacy, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice insists that he will one day rank alongside such towering pillars of 20th century statecraft as President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. "Statesmanship has to be judged first and foremost by whether you recognize historic opportunities and seize them," Rice said in an interview with Cox Newspapers. "When you think of statesmen, you think of people who seized historic opportunities to change the world for the better, people like Roosevelt, people like Churchill, and people like Truman, who understood the challenges of communism. And this president has been an agent of change for the better -- historic change for the better." I would add that like Roosevelt, Churchill and Truman, Bush has also led a fight against an "-ism." 8:28:50 PM    comment [] To Change Cultures In an interview with Christian magazine editors printed in Christianity Today, President Bush explains his understanding of the role of the presidency and the government in American life. At home, the job of a president is to help cultures change. The culture needs to be changed. I call it, so people can understand what I'm talking about, changing the culture from one that says, "If it feels good, do it, and if you've got a problem, blame somebody else," to a culture in which each of us understands we're responsible for the decisions we make in life. I call it the responsibility era. ... I said that when I was governor of Texas. As a matter of fact, I've been saying that ever since I got into politics. This is one of the reasons I got into politics in the first place. Governments cannot change culture alone. I want you to know I understand that. But I can be a voice of cultural change. [snip] The role of government is to help foster cultural change as well as to protect institutions in our society that are an important part of the culture. And I believe this is an issue in the campaign -- how you view the role of government and how individuals view their own role in society. And I look forward to the debate. I'll be glad to answer some questions. You got to know I want to win. I don't mean to politicize this discussion. It's not a given, by the way. It's not a given. You cannot take on the responsibilities of office unless there's something you want to do. It's too important a moment. I mean it is a historic opportunity to change the world and change the country. And I see an opportunity to do so. I know what I need to do. Later in the interview when comparing the War on Terror with World War II, he explains the difference between bad "-isms" and other "-isms." Do you believe there is anything inherently evil in the way some practice Islam that stands in the way of the pursuit of democracy and freedom? I think what we're dealing with are people -- extreme, radical people -- who've got a deep desire to spread an ideology that is anti-women, anti-free thought, anti- art and science, you know, that couch their language in religious terms. But that doesn't make them religious people. I think they conveniently use religion to kill. The religion I know is not one that encourages killing. I think that they want to drive us out of parts of the world so they're better able to have a base from which to operate. I think it's very much more like an ... "ism" than a group with territorial ambition. More like a what? An "ism" like Communism that knows no boundaries, as opposed to a power that takes land for gold or land for oil or whatever it might be. I don't see their ambition as territorial. I see their ambition as seeking safe haven. And I know they want to create power vacuums into which they are able to flow. Hmm ... we are at war with a type of "-ism" that's like Communisim or Fascism -- it knows no boundaries. This is to be contrasted with simply taking land for oil. Let's call that type of "-ism" "Imperialism." See, the problem with "-isms" like Communisim and Fascism is that they know no boundaries -- they reach even into a person's soul. Imperialism, on the other hand, isn't a bad "-ism," because it restricts itself to gold, oil, and other worldly things, and leaves people's souls to Christianity. 11:46:34 AM    comment [] Shoot the J. Shoot it! According to an article on MTV.com, Dave Chappelle's sketches are quite popular with the people he satirizes. "I think the best episode that I've seen thus far is him imitating Lil Jon," Usher said. "That was the craziest one. I don't think that it will ever be done better. It was classic. He got him real good. 'Yeeeaaah! Okaaayyy!' " "This Dave Chappelle sh-- just really put me on a different level," said Jon, who claims to love the ribbing he gets on the show. "He basically has thrusted me into pop culture, and not just urban but white society as well. I was in the airport like three weeks ago, this 60-year-old white lady came up to me and was like, 'Aren't you Lil Jon? ... Don't you do that "Whuuuut? Yeeeaaah! Okaaayyy!" That's you, right?' " It also turns out that Charlie Murphy's "Hollywood Stories" really are based on true stories. For example, Prince really can ball, and really did whup Charlie Murphy. He just didn't wear a purple suit, blouse and high heels while doing so. And Rick James really did get into fights with Charlie. It's just that Rick James kicked his ass, not vice versa. (After all, he's Rick James.) [Thanks to EA.] 12:13:17 AM    comment []

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