Can You Believe It Hilary? I Cannot!
Hilary once appeared to be the perfect candidate for feminist voters intelligent, determined, and dedicated in her pursuit of valiant social causes like children's welfare and women's equality. Hilary was also the first first lady in American history to have a postgraduate degree and a full-time career.
"There is an assumption that because she's a woman, because of the excitement about the potential of a woman running for president, because of her first lady status, that women will automatically adhere to her in a strong way," said Kate Michelman, former head of NARAL Pro-Choice America, who is currently working to overturn the South Dakota abortion ban. "I don't think that's true. Hillary, along with every other candidate who aspires to this nomination, has to earn the women's vote."
She didn't manage it. Twice! Ouch. Obama picked Biden. So what about the new girl? Perhaps it would be sexist to view Palin as a Hilary replacement, but we can't help but wonder if the force that would invigorate the McCain vote was chosen for just that reason.
Hilary once said of her ambitious nature, "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was fulfill my profession, which I entered before my husband was in public life. I'm a big believer in women making the choices that are right for them. The work that I have done as a professional, as a public advocate, has been aimed at trying to assure that women can make the choices they should make."
No one can accuse Palin of spending too much time baking. Her power-hungry appetite would be better satiated by abusing her position and firing anyone who gets in her way. Anne Kilkenny, Wasilla resident, tells it like it is.
While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palins attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.
This is hardly a one-off case. Sarah seems to have a history of ruthlessness, whilst playing on her gender for sympathy. Too bad she tried to replace her victim with someone even worse.
As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasillas Police Chief because he intimidated her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaskas top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but its pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldnt fire her sisters ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her support.
Her staunch pro-life stance, even in the case of rape, would suggest that she doesn't seem to be interested in assuring women can make their own choices
She's chosen to be a working mother but she would deny other women the right to make their own decisions, and has even used her own underage, pregnant daughter as a political pawn for her own views. She even lied about it. She wants to abstinence-only sex education taught in schools. Because that worked out so well for her own family.
She knows how to spend! (... other peoples' money.) She served two terms as mayor of Wasilla (1996-2002) and left the city with a debt of over $22 million, having increased general government expenditure by over 33%. I've heard she has the decorating skills and moral fibre reminiscent of a young Martha Stewart...
While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office redecorated more than once.
Easy on the gold leaf, Sarah. Damn, that's expensive wallpaper!
So far, she doesn't seem like much of a feminist. But look at it another way. Hunting hardly seems the kind of activity befitting a dull stay-at-home Stepford wife. She used the tools handed her to get what she wanted out of life an education. Sometimes a girl gotta hustle.
Palin hunts, fishes, and was voted Miss Congeniality after winning a beauty pageant, which paved the way for a scholarship to pay her college fees in her small town in Alaska.
For some reason, she spent 5 years in 4 schools getting her degree. Perhaps it took her that many schools to find people she could threaten. Or put her beauty-pageant skills to work on.
And lastly, HERE's a video of Sarah and Hilary (sort of) standing side by side on Saturday Night Live, calling for an end to political sexism. Kinda.
Justin Timberlake's Dick in a Box
Has it already been a year? Last December SNL's Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell made the video that promoted YouTube to household name status, "Lazy Sunday." The Saturday Night Live Digital Short featured the two whitest guys eva rapping crazy delicious about the Chronic-WHAT!-cles of Narnia. The video won SNL a certain 2.0 coolness, and brought the power of the YouTube effect into sharp focus. Natalie Portman was next, exposing her previously hidden gangsta side, but what will be this year's "Lazy Sunday"?
If this last week's host Justin Timberlake has anything to say about it, it's "A Special Box" which debuted on last Saturday's episode. In the SNL Digital Short, Timberlake and Samberg channel an early 90s Color me Badd-type R&B duo and their "special" Christmas presents for their special ladies. It's fucking amazing, have a look.
Also, whether you give a shit if he's bringing sexy back or not, credit rightfully goes to Timberlake who both hosted and was the musical performer this week, he absolutely killed it on both fronts in the best episode of the year. Kudos.
Unedited version
Horatio Sanz Leaving SNL
He managed to laugh his way through every sketch he appeared in, but we loved him in spite of it. Sadly, Horatio Sanz has announced on his Myspace page that he will be departing Saturday Night Live.
Hi my Dear fans and friends alike,
I have decided to not return to Saturday Night Live this season. I wish the best to everyone at the show and expect them to have a great season. It's been a wonderful eight years and I am grateful for all the friends I was able to make and all the great people I had the pleasure of working with. I want to give a big thank you to all my fans for your kind comments and well wishes. I look forward to making you laugh in the future, and hopefully not behind the counter at Burger King. Goodnight my dears!
XO,
H
The rumor mill has it that Sanz was not asked back by Lorne Michaels, along with fellow cast members Chris Parnell and Kenan Thompson. And perhaps we may be seeing Jason Sudeikis in the Weekend Update chair. Just the word on the street...More to come.
Saturday Night Living Dead
Its hard not to be happy reading that six Saturday Night Live cast members are slated to be axed. Comedy-wise, pretty much the whole group is deadweight. The problem is apparently theyre not bringing in any new blood to revive the show; evidently, the most bloated comedy spectacle on American television is getting its budget cut.
SNL producer Lorne Michaels told the Post he thinks everything that was strong last season is back. Great. That means the Lazy Sunday guys job is safe. And how pathetic is it that what was essentially a glorified You Tube clip was the undisputed season highlight?
The show is apparently never going to die; thanks to lack of competition (Mad TV, Im looking at you for a reason) its ratings have been steady even though its been embarrassing for years.
Its largely been supplanted by The Daily Show as the go-to source for current events satire. When the show has done political commentary in recent years, it seems like they do so out of obligation its like they feel they have to and would much rather be making fun of safe pop culture topics like The View or MTVs Video Music Awards.
In Jay Mohrs self serving memoir about his early 90s stint on the show, Mohr painted the creative process on the show as a soul-deadening exercise in desperation. According to the hack comic, the writing process was driven by the kind of fear that permeates corporate boardrooms. Its depressing, especially when compared with the riotous gonzo spirit that fueled the shows early days.
I interviewed Gilbert Gottfried after the suicide of his fellow cast member Charles Rocket last year. The Aflac pitchman (who talked like a normal guy over the phone) was on the show in 1980, when an entirely new cast replaced the original heavy hitters. Gottfried wrote off his time on the show, during a season considered to be one of the worst ever.
As far as bad seasons of Saturday Night Live, its not like thats a rarity, Gottfried said.
In the Post article, Michaels expressed optimism that the show would have a creative resurgence similar to the one it underwent in 1981 when Eddie Murphy was the break-out star.
The show has motored over rough road - most memorably in 1980 and 1995, when the show underwent wholesale cast changes and which, by no coincidence, were the two worst-received seasons ever.
Maybe the show can motor over this. Or maybe were looking at the death of an American institution. Wouldnt that be nice?
Dratch & Fey Depart SNL
Can we even imagine Weekend Update without Tina Fey? Well, come next season, we'll have to.
Fey, who started at SNL in 1997 and has acted as head writer and "Weekend Update" coanchor since 2000, will be leaving along with fellow Chicago comedy alum Rachel Dratch.
"I'm out of the fake news business now," Fey said at the Television Critics Association summer session Saturday. "I am going to focus just on the new show right now. I've been at Saturday Night Live for nine years total. I know I'll never ever not be there in some way. I'm never not going to call up with an opinion or show up on hiatus wanting to write a sketch. But I will not be in the cast next year. I won't be a paid employee of Saturday Night Live next year."
No, Fey will be far too busy writing, executive-producing and starring in 30 Rock, a half-hour comedy focusing on an SNL-type show...which happens to star Rachel Dratch.
But who will replace Dratch & Fey in the SNL cast? Who will host Weekend Update? Andy Samberg is no Chevy Chase - or even Jimmy Fallon - so we remain wary.
"We're going to do a bunch of tests, as we've done pretty much every time we've had to make a transition--different combinations and different people alone," SNL producer Lorne Michaels said. "We'll do that in September and decide then what we think the best approach is."
With foresight like that, we're sure Lorne will have no problem putting together yet another stellar season of, er, unforgettable material.