… and when all else fails, blame the media.
Archive for September, 2008
The Shrieking Continues!
Friday, September 26th, 2008The Times-Dispatch Op Ed Page: Let the Shrieking Begin!
Thursday, September 25th, 2008“Bush: ‘Entire Economy’ Is in Danger,” the front page headline informs us.
And on that note, isn’t it about time for one of those compelling Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial page diatribes on how great the U.S. Economy is faring under the Bush/Cheney administration?
Some previously-published words of RTD wisdom (Caution: Do not handle hot beverages while reading the following):
“For those of you worried about the health of the American economy, it’s officially time to relax.”
“An economic boon has already bloomed and it seems likely to last a good, long time.”
Cue the shrieking…
Drink and Thrive
Friday, September 19th, 2008You say you want to help downtown Richmond not be like “Bosnia”?
You say you love the arts?
Like to have the occasional drinky-poo?
Then you need to drink up, man, drink up. Curated Culture is celebrating its 5th Anniversary with a special fundraising promotion. And funds are very much needed. If you weren’t aware, the City of Richmond and its satellite business consortiums do little or nothing to help support the organization’s monthly Artwalk, despite this event’s considerable — and measurable — success. At the same time, city officials do seem to have long-term MILLIONS to throw at stuff like this. (Are you starting to understand why some people refer to Richmond as “Bizarro World”?)
Ingeniously, CC and participating downtown galleries, restaurants and businesses are making it very, very easy for arts supporters and downtown boosters to help them continue their valuable work — in spite of the city. If you want to stop downtown Richmond from becoming exactly like a wartorn former Yugoslavian republic, all you have to do is drink.
Enjoy “Artini” cocktails at ten of some of Richmond’s best restaurants now through September 27, 2008. $1 of all Artini sales benefits Curated Culture and its First Fridays Art Walk program.
And those best restaurants where you can buy the potent, Bosnia-blocking drinks are:
Avenue 805
Cabo’s Corner Bistro
Can Can Brasserie
Down Under Cafe
Helen’s Restaurant
Julep’s New Southern Cuisine
Kitchen 64
Lucky Buddha
Nile Ethiopian Restaurant
Rendezvous Restaurant/Lounge
The White Dog
Of course, you can always donate more to the cause and Curated Culture is even making that fun. CC’s “Artini Gala” on Sunday, September 28 at the Renaissance Conference Center will feature a live performance by the Upper East Side Big Band (featuring Samson Trinh) and there will also be a spirited round of Artini judging and sipping (thankfully, certain mayoral candidates will not be performing their biggest dance “hits” at the affair). Tickets are $65, and worth it, because it is much-needed scratch that will go toward keeping the Artwalk alive. Grab them at this address.
And if you want to know why we are such big fans of Curated Culture here at Save Richmond, and why we think the city’s priorities concerning “the arts” are so ass-backward and non-sensical, you can read here about the successful, but under-appreciated, role that the street-level arts community plays with this successful monthly “Artwalk” and its special side events.
Country and western punk rock… Bottoms up!
Eric Cantor: See How He Runs!
Thursday, September 18th, 2008I agree with John over at Buttermilk and Molasses — this clip of GOP Congressional “punk” (and John McCain spokestooge) Eric Cantor having his weasel-y head handed to him on national TV by MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews is put-it-in-a-time-capsule priceless!
“Must-See TV,” as the saying goes:
“Congressman Cantor, you’re trying to change the rules now and saying, ‘oh, if we take off our uniforms and don’t say we’re Republicans this week, the people will be fooled.’ I’ve never heard of that happening in politics…. You have to take responsibility, sir, for the policies of this administration that have gotten us into this mess. You can’t walk away and say, ‘oh, we had nothing to do with this,’ can you? Say it if you want to. It’s your right.”
As you view the clip, don’t forget to keep telling yourself that this is the man — Style Weekly once called him “The Champion of the Overdog” — who represents a good portion of Metro Richmond in the U.S. Congress (lucky us!), a pol who has the full support and backing of many of the bigger wigs of our “business community.”
When you are finished watching Cantor squirm like a worm in soiled britches, treat yourself to this Save Richmond flashback that details the way the 7th district rep does “business” with his best friends in the lobbying industry (all while claiming to be against “earmarks”). Cantor’s list of supportive BFFs includes the notorious Jack Abramoff.
When you are done with all that, make a financial donation here in honor of Congressman Cantor and the amazing political courage he’s shown in defending his party during this campaign season.
… and for extra giggles and groans, take a peek at Cantor lying on CNN about GOP Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s record as a “reformer” — and getting caught out.
This guy represents you in Congress, people. Feeling proud yet?
John McCain & Herbert Hoover: Separated at Birth
Tuesday, September 16th, 2008“The economy is fundamentally sound” — GOP President Herbert Hoover, 1931, at the beginning of the Great Depression.
“The fundamentals of our economy are strong.” — GOP Presidential candidate John McCain, yesterday, speaking after the Dow Jones Index dropped 504 points and the Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers went bellyup.
Feeling optimistic yet?
How strong are these economic “fundamentals” McCain speaks of? Let’s ask a certified investment whiz like Richmond’s own S. Buford Scott, of Scott & Stringfellow, who states in today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch that the American financial situation is in the worst state he’s seen in fifty years. “There will be some more pain with banks and financial institutions in trouble,” he said.
But maybe we should cut the Arizona senator some slack — he knows he doesn’t know what he’s talking about (and he’s hoping you don’t either). “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should,” McCain had infamously uttered earlier on the campaign trail.
At last count, McCain was feverishly trying to spin yesterday’s Hooveresque comments into something positive (good luck). And, lo and behold, it turns out that we all misunderstood the “fundamentals” that he was speaking of — he was actually talking about American workers, small businesses, that kind of stuff. And how DARE his opponent Barack Obama try and besmirch American workers and small business owners by pointing out how bad the U.S. economy is!!!
You couldn’t make this stuff up, folks. Here’s McCain, in full spin-to-tilt mode:
“People are concerned about our economic future. But let me say something: this economic crisis is not the fault of the American people. Our workers are the most innovative, the hardest working, the best skilled, most productive, most competitive in the world. My opponents may disagree, but those fundamentals of America are strong. No one can match an American worker.”
We now have a new Gold Standard for the definition of the word, “Pathetic.”
Find out why Republicans are mostly to blame for our disasterous economic turn right here.
Read how President John McCain would “help” America’s small businesses here.
Read how the actions of McCain’s chief financial advisor — the guy who was quoted saying that Americans who complained about the lousy economy were “whiners” — can actually be blamed for much of the economic instability gripping us today.
To get a sense of how “American workers” have flourished under the watchful eye of a Republican president, and how they would do under a McCain administration, click here.
To find out how to put lipstick on a pig, click here.
15 Days Later
Saturday, September 6th, 2008As the city grapples with the ugly ramifications of the Rodney Monroe VCU degree scandal, the Richmond Times-Dispatch has finally posted the contents of David Baldacci’s letter to the VCU Board of Visitors… more than two weeks after Save Richmond scooped the daily and provided Baldacci’s scathing missive in full to area readers.
So how about a new slogan idea to match the RTD’s new cover price of 75 cents?
The Richmond Times-Dispatch: When you absolutely need to “know stuff” that is already known… fifteen days later.
To read the complete official report on the Rodney Monroe investigation from Virginia Commonwealth University to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, click here.
To read about how former Richmond Police Chief Monroe is shaking things up in his new position as Charlotte’s top cop, click here.
How to Be a Republican Hypocrite
Thursday, September 4th, 2008
Hopefully you’ve all been watching the amazing dog and pony show that has been occuring in Minnesota this week. The Republican party has been holding a prime-time master class in Hypocrisy. According to the GOP, this is how a winning political candidate and his party make a serious and substantive case to the American people:
1. Criticize members of your party for caring only about divisive right-wing social wedge issues… then choose a right-wing culture warrior to be your running mate.
2. Make a claim that the governor of the 12th most populous state in America, the former mayor of a city with 200,000 people, would be too inexperienced to be vice president… then make a claim that the governor of the 47th most populous state, and the former mayor of a city of 9,000 people, is a wise pick to be vice president.
3. Remark about the courageous “choice” that a member of your family has made in electing to carry an unplanned pregnancy to term… while you actively work to deny the rest of American women that choice, even in the most extreme cases of rape or incest.
4. Push the teaching of “abstinence-only sex education” as public policy… while your very own daughter gets knocked up at age 17, presumably because no one told her or her boyfriend about birth control.
5. Make a big deal about how you much you are against pork-barrel “earmarks”… even when it is a matter of public record that you have no problem asking for, and accepting, pork-barrel “earmarks”
6. When you’ve got your official partisan pundit face on, you say one thing… and when you think the cameras are off, say another (adding profanity)… when caught, attempt to explain it all away as a misquote by the so-called left-wing media.
7. Make fun of so-called “celebrities” dabbling in politics who don’t know what they are talking about… and then take the advice and counsel of “celebrities” dabbling in politics who (literally) don’t know what they are talking about.
8. Talk a good game about how experience in foreign policy matters… then choose a running mate with no foreign policy experience.
9. Fully embrace your reputation as a so-called populist “maverick”…Then forget how many houses you own… and also neglect to mention that you spend $275,000 annually on butlers and maids. At the same time, make sure to try and paint your political opponent out to be an “elitist.”
10. Have harsh words to say about female politicans who “whine” about being heavily scrutinized by the media… then have your campaign turn around, and with a whine, play the gender card when you are heavily scrutinized by the media.
Stunning, simply stunning.
… and all the rest of us have to do is pretend that these same people haven’t been in power for the last eight years, and responsible for aiding and abetting the worst presidency in American history.
Are you up to the challenge of short-term memory loss, America? Unfortunately, I’m beginning to think you are.