Round the Horn. An Irwin J. McIckleson Production

Good morning all. This is Irwin J. McIckleson, fictional 1910's plutocrat, providing a review of the Liberal Coalition for the week. As you know, there has been a terrible disaster in New Orleans. I have visited New Orleans on a few separate occasions - most recently to arrange a warehouse for storing my products on their way to South America. I've always found it a beautiful city. I generally dislike the south due to their baffling racial mores (Frankly I don't care whether a working man is black, white, or green; I'm ready and willing to exploit his labor), but New Orleans is a bit different.

Plus they have the most lively music there.

I guess I'm saying that even though I'm fictional, I still wish the people of New Orleans courage and strength to face this tragedy, and I hope their country men will come to their aid.

Anyway most of the posts reviewed will do with this tragedy.

Iddybud has a good collection of thoughts on how the Bush administration has failed to plan for this particular disaster and is not doing very well at responding to it. Which is a shame.

LEFT is RIGHT has more on President Bush's disingenuous claim that "No one could have foreseen the levee's breaking" or words to that effect. I must say such a claim strikes me as the worst kind of nonsense. Even in our day we knew what could happen if those levees broke.

Apparently Mr. Bush has responded to these criticisms by asking American's not to play politics right now, according to Sooner Thought. That's an interesting response because the way America deals with problems is to play politics. That's what democracy is all about. I should know, I've purchased enough politicians in my life.

archy has the news that one of the two relief organizations suggested by the Governmental Site on Helping Disasters (FEMA?) is headed by the same blackguard who called for the assassination of the President of Venezuela.

First Draft has some information on how other nations are coming to the aid of the United States, which is heartening.

The Countess has the story on a gentleman who is in New Orleans in some kind of hideout who is posting on what he sees around the city. It is very interesting.

The Fulcrum has other information on what is going on in the city. Apparently the army tried to use some kind of flying machine based on Di Vinci principles to rescue some people, and were shot upon. The author asks why we are not ready to deal with such banditry?

Words on a Page has a letter by a former supporter of President Bush confronting him on his failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina. I must say, I'm all for Presidents being shamelessly pro-business (as it appears this Bush fellow is), but there's something to be said for general competence as well.

Gamer's Nook has the words to a song, which are quite poetic and meaningful. But the song does not contain any reference to Turkeys or Straw.

And that is it for another week. Please do what you can to help those suffering people in New Orleans. I would commit my entire fortune to the rebuilding and rescue efforts, but my fortune is, like me, fictional.

Liberal America Doesn't Give a Damn About the South

This is the message of Matt Towery's latest article. Doubt me? Here's the last of paragraph of said article.

But this week, I speak the words no one else wants to say: The South has been hit with the equivalent of a nuclear bomb. And too much of America didn't want to notice until it had to.

There's a lot I could say about this, but too much of it would be mean-spirted and hurtful; so I'll just suggest that Mr. Towery stacks the deck a bit in his presentation in order to reach this answer.

Thoughts I didn't Think

Hello all! : )

We have installed Bloglines around the office, and it is proving very useful in keeping track of the various members of the Liberal Coalition and other friendly blogs. Anyway I saw a post at Pen-Elayne on the Web which crystallized a lot of how I'm feeling, so thought I would link to it and suggest you go read it.

What is an American Liberal?

Yes this question has been puzzling us for generations, but Emmett Tyrell has the answer in his latest article.

What is the American liberal? I conceive the American liberal as a fat, florid-faced archbishop from some declining episcopacy in New England waiting around the buffet table late in the dinner hoping to scoop up a few extra desserts, another bon bon to put in his pocket or her purse, an extra glass of sauterne, and to burp when no one is within listening range.

Now a further question presents itself. What is Emmett Tyrell? Well let me tell you . . .

I'm sorry, the rest of this post has been deleted. While I (this is Cheery) appreciate Mr. Bryant's passion, this is a family site. Have a nice morning all. : )

I hate my Generation!!!

I offer no apologies.

I am a bit down today, and a bit pissed off. I was driving around at lunch listening to Rush Limbaugh (as is my wont) and he was going off on how this tragedy in New Orleans is largely the Environmentalists and Leftists fault. If environmentalism Whackos (his term, not mine) hadn't prevented New Orleans from building better leevees, New Orleans would be safe (or something like that).

Of course, in part, he was responding to leftists, like posters at Democratic Underground, who spent all yesterday castigating President Bush for not immediately returning to Washington DC to head up relief efforts. Many Democratic Undergrounders also seem to be of the opinion that we need to abandon New Orleans, and that the ensuing catastrophe will mean the end of the American Economy and/or American Imperialism.

Meanwhile hundreds have died and the toll will probably go into the thousands as hunger and disease take their toll.

A tragedy on this scale, well, it's just another reason to bash our political enemies.

And, if I'm honest, exactly the same passions I'm bemoaning in others are in me as well. I want to use this tragedy as a club to hurt those I disagree with politically. If I am going to hate Rush Limbaugh and a few at Democratic Underground (which, under normal circumstances is a wonderful discussion board) I have to hate myself as well.

At any rate it's very depressing.

Bill Murchinson Knows What People Want!

Yep. And one thing people don't want is comic book movies. I know you might be thinking, hey didn't the X-Men and Spiderman and Batman movies do pretty good at the box office? Even Fantastic Four did alright. But you'd be wrong. In truth the movie going public wants adult movies (not that kind of adult movie, but movies made for adults), like they used to make.

Adults tell stories; juveniles crash cars and fixate on their childhood heroes and hang-ups. Juveniles, in terms of maturity if not chronology, run the motion picture industry, telling the "stories" juveniles enjoy -- not about life but about hang-ups and rude noises and bad language.

And comic books! If 10 percent of the money spent on bringing comic book characters to cinematic life found its way into the telling of honest stories about the human condition -- love, fear, ambition, hatred, sacrifice, etc., etc., etc. -- half-empty theaters might fill once more.

Well first off, Mr. Murchinson doesn't know much about Comic Books if he thinks they don't cover ambition, hatred, fear, and sacrifice (although, admittedly, comic books don't do as good a job with love (superhero comics I mean)).

The truth is that in every generation a lot of crappy movies get made. That's kind of the way it is. The other truth is that since the 70s (at least) movies appeal to a younger generation. There are plenty of smart films that older people can enjoy, but they aren't the target audience anymore.

I think Murchinson assumes that if a significant number of movies were made that catered to older generations, those generations would start going to the movies as regularly as the younger generation. I don't think that's necessarily true. The older you get the more you value your time; it takes more for a movie to get older people in the theater. And even then they are less likely to see a movie multiple times and more likely to say "well that looks good but I'll wait for it on DVD." So which generational group do you aim your movie for? Assuming you want to make a profit of course.

Also how do you tell a story about rude noises or bad language?

We're the Bestest and Anybody who Disagrees will get a Clout on the Head!

Good Morning everybody!!! : )

I've been reading Ben Shapiro ( :( ), and this seems to be the message of his latest article. America is the bestest and all the rest of the world should act like us. And anybody who questions our bestestness, well, just listen to how he describes Cindy Sheehan.

Sheehan's words are despicable. Dissent is valuable and necessary. Demeaning American values, slandering the President of the United States, openly sympathizing with the murderers of American soldiers -- none of it is valuable or necessary.

You see what happens if you don't acknowledge American Superiority.

I love America, as I think we all do here at Make me a Commentator!!!, but this is a very childish way of loving America, in my mind. I love America so I critique it and try to make it better. That means that when our invasion of Iraq hurts a lot of people and doesn't seem to accomplish a lot, I criticize that decision. Poor Ben Shapiro can't see the difference between such critiques and attacks on America.

Updates to the Site

First of all we discovered a few problems with our Logo Gallery, so we have fixed them. Also we are adding links to the stuff section over there on the right.

Hurricane Katrina

Hello all!

Just want to say that the thoughts and prayers of all of us here at Make me a Commentator!!! are with the poor people suffering along the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans. We will be providing places you could donate to later on - for right now we recommend the Red Cross. Please keep that in mind.

Good News for White Males

It's hard being a white male these days. I should know because I am, in fact, a white male. Well, now there's relief, in the form of an easy to read 7,500 word article with over 70 footnoots. Something with that many footnotes has to be good. Check out this fascinating selection.

Since we live in an age when students are likely to hear more about Marie Curie than about Albert Einstein, it is worth beginning with a statement of historical fact: women have played a proportionally tiny part in the history of the arts and sciences.4 Even in the 20th century, women got only 2 percent of the Nobel Prizes in the sciences—a proportion constant for both halves of the century—and 10 percent of the prizes in literature. The Fields Medal, the most prestigious award in mathematics, has been given to 44 people since it originated in 1936. All have been men.

The historical reality of male dominance of the greatest achievements in science and the arts is not open to argument.

See I'll bet you didn't know that most of the scientists and artists you studied in history were males. Is that due to women not being allowed to participate in such works before 1900 (and not all that much since then)? Nope. Apparently, according to Charles Murry (the author of this wonderful article (wonderful for us White Males of course, not for the rest of you)), women's brains are smaller. Mr. Murrey also talks about how we White Males compare to other races (basically Blacks), and, surprise surprise, we come out ahead there too.

So why is it so important to recognize the supremecy of the White Male?

Elites throughout the West are living a lie, basing the futures of their societies on the assumption that all groups of people are equal in all respects. Lie is a strong word, but justified. It is a lie because so many elite politicians who profess to believe it in public do not believe it in private. It is a lie because so many elite scholars choose to ignore what is already known and choose not to inquire into what they suspect. We enable ourselves to continue to live the lie by establishing a taboo against discussion of group differences.

The big problem is that brave scholars like Charles Murrey are not given huge research grants and allowed to appear on talk shows constantly to explain the dominence of the white male. See if we didn't have political correctness all the women and non-whites would naturally rise to their appropriate place, and we white males would run everything as genetics intended!

So to sum up, all hail the White Male! That rhymes, and you know it rhymes!

Note: if some of you do not recognize B.S. when you see it, you should maybe start here. Enjoy!

The Gallery

For those interested, here is a Gallery of logos that have appeared on the site. Kind of fun to take a look back - particularly since our recent redesigned overwrote all our previous designs. Anyway hope you enjoy.

Monday Mail Bag

Hey you crazy cats! It's me Space Lobster, here to crush you in my mighty pincers! Or Captain Starfaller.

I know you read this blog Captain Starfaller - it must just eat you up inside to know that I'm on my way back to the top and you are dong dinner theater in Hamburg! Ha ha ha! I'll have you know that, due to my increased popularity due to my involvement in this site, I am up for the roll of Polonius in a touring company of Hamlet!

Think about how great it will be when Hamlet shouts out those immortal words "Dead for a ducat, Dead" and his sword shatters on my mighty carapace. Then I will come out of the curtains and, you guessed it, crush Hamlet between my mighty pincers!

Anyway let's look at the comments and mail bag this week and see what we have.

Someone named Justin made a very wrong headed comment I'm afraid, in reference to last weeks Monday Mailbag.

Ummm... lobster at a sushi joint??? Didn't that make you a smidge uneasy?

Well for one thing they serve lots of things besides Lobster at a Sushi Joint. Sushi doesn't mean Lobster even. It means Fish and Lemon Sauce and Rice and sometimes Seaweed (Japanese is a very economical language).

Secondly, for those of you wondering, I had the tempera vegetables! I was pretty drunk (as a person named Caleb helpfully pointed out), but I was still able to tell the difference been deep fried carrots and Uncle Fester!

I seem to have a lot of energy today!

On to comment number 2. As you all know Pat Robertson called for the death of the President of Venezuela, which just shows he's an amateur. When I was scuttling with the Gang of Four Evils, we planned to assassinate the High Lord Abraxis, supreme ruler of Venus (in episode 3F11 "The Jackal of Venus"). See how that grabs your attention? Just the name itself commands your attention. Now I'm sure this Venezuelan President is a good example of nobility and all, but assassinating him lacks flair.

Anyway Grumbly Muffin wrote on this and her comments provoked a response from Lisa.

Look, this guy is not crazy about us, but he is NOT a terrorist nor has he EVER made any threatening statements. He is really popular in his country and hovers at 70% approval ratings (twice what our glorious leader is at in the polls).

This guy is a socialist who is all about taking the money from the oil companies and the wealthy elites and spreading it around. Whether you agree with that kind of policy or not is beside the point. He is NOT a terrorist or a dictator. He is a democratically elected leader with the support of MOST of his country. And he has NEVER threatened anyone (he called bush the Spanish equivalent of an asshole, but so what).

Well, Ms. Lisa, it wouldn't be very villainous to kill a terrorist or a dictator, would it? If this guy is popular and is helping his people as your comment (and the one by Jody seems to indicate), well that in itself makes him a good target for evil super-villainy!

Also the third in a series of e-mails from gentlemen with Oesophageal cancer (spelled many different ways, I note). Our first victim of this dread disease was from The UAE, and our second was from Iraq. The latest victim describes himself as "A Bahrain national." In a twist apparently he no longer trusts his family.

I once asked members of my family to close one of my accounts and distribute the money which I have there to charity organization in Bulgaria and Pakistan, they refused and kept the money to themselves. Hence, I do not trust them anymore, as they seem not to be contended with what I have leftfor them. The last of my money which no one knows of is the huge cash deposit of Eighteen Million dollars($18,000,000,00) that I have with a finance House abroad. I will want you to help me collect this deposit and despatch it to charity organizations.

N/B:KINDLY NOTE THAT 20% of this funds must go to the tsunami victims and another 10% for your effort and time.

Two questions present themselves to my mind. One, you find you can no longer place trust in your family members, but you can place trust in people you send random e-mails too? Does your brain work properly? Or is it possible that Oesophageal is another word for Brain?

Also this is quibbling I know, but you claim you want the funds to go to charity except for 10% to me, and 20% to tsunami victims? Maybe your Oesophageal failed to note that giving money to tsunami victims is, in fact, a form of charity.

At any rate I need to get out of here, the audition is in a half hour. Have a nice week all and send in e-mails and comments so I can respond to them!

Good morning

Hey slow posting today. Cheery is at the dentist and I am being held by work. Grumbly was given a weeks suspension after the incident last week, I'm afraid. The monster phoned in from Zhanjiang, China, and, after listening to Cheery's tearful complaint mandated that Grumbly Muffin be suspended for one week or until she had "got me one hundred squirrels!" Me being the Monster.

I assume Grumbly will wait out the week.

Anyway since I can't post much, here's a few links.

Echidne of the Snake has a nice story that refutes the whole "why don't peaceful Muslims ever protest against the terrorists?" So naturally this will be ignored by conservatoids.

Bark Bark Woof Woof has a story on how Cindy Sheehan Did get to meet with an American President. Kind of nice.

The Goblin's Lair has a selection on why we shouldn't be ashamed to be "liberals." Damned inspiring, if you ask me - go read it and see what you think.

Anyway hopefully we'll have some more later on, if things quiet down.

New Format, New Quote

Good morning all!!! : )

By order of the Monster we are going back to the old format. The new format looked nice, but it wouldn't let you linke to specific posts, and we decided that was a hassle. So we are using this format. We have gone ahead and made all the old pages look like this as well. That's why we are using this dark grey color - it should make it so most of the colored quotes will show up ok - it won't stay this color for more than a week though (I think it's kind of dingy : (, but I can see why we made it this way).

Also we have a new Quotes Page. Anyway hope you are all having a nice weekend.