Joe Wilson's Folly

Say what you like, the First Amendment might be set aside in a situation where the President of the United States is giving a speech before a joint session of Congress. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) embarrassed himself, his district, his state and his party by shouting out "You lie!" at the president on Wednesday night.

Wilson is apparently a serial apologizer. He's made hotheaded, even stupid statements for which he has had to apologize, often only when the facts proved he was incontrovertibly wrong.

He was wrong on the facts here as well. Apparently the wording of the House bill declares that there will be no federal payment for health care for illegal aliens. But I guess ol' Joe just didn't know enough to keep from making a fool of himself on national TV.

So give ol' Joe a piece of your mind, if you're willing, and call his office in DC at 202-225-2452. Maybe you support his stupidity and maybe you don't. I don't and I plan to let him know. I also plan to give his Democratic opponent Rob Miller a donation.

Born on August 14

Hey folks,
Did a quick peek at IMDB.com to see who else was born on my birthday. That they're listed on IMDB suggests they've done more from this common starting date than I have but... so be it.
Anyway, born on my birthday were:

Spencer Pratt (25)
Mila Kunis (25)
Ana Matronic (Scissor Sisters) (34)
Catherine Bell (JAG) (40)
Halle Berry (42)
Brannon Braga (Star Trek writer/producer) (43)
Andrew Kevin Walker (screenwriter) (44)
Emmanuelle Béart (45)
Susan Olsen (aka Cindy Brady) (47)
Sarah Brightman (48)
Marcia Gay Harden (49)
Magic Johnson (49)
Jackée Harry (52)
James Horner (55)
Carl Lumbly (57)
Gary Larson (The Far Side) (58)
Danielle Steel (61)
David Schramm (Wings) (62)
Antonio Fargas (Starsky & Hutch) (62)
Steve Martin (63)
Wim Wenders (63)
Lynne Cheney (ugh) (67)
David Crosby (67)
Arthur Laffer (right wing economist) (68)
Earl Weaver (78)
Alice Ghostley (82)
Lina Wertmüller (82)
Russell Baker (83)

Not a bad line-up, hm? Anyway, hope that all of YOU out there have had or will have a great birthday. I'll probably be offline most of the day, so enjoy the weekend!

Grading the Comics: Week of August 10

Okay, let's see what's (hopefully) in the comic book box this week:

• ACTION COMICS #880
• ADVENTURE COMICS #1
• BATMAN #689
• BLACKEST NIGHT #2 (OF 8)
• BLACKEST NIGHT BATMAN #1 (OF 3)
• BOOSTER GOLD #23
• GEN 13 #31
• GREEN LANTERN CORPS #39 (BLACKEST NIGHT)
• MARVELS PROJECT #1 (OF 8)
• RED HERRING #1 (OF 6)
• SUPERMAN SECRET FILES 2009 #1
• ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS #1
• ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #1
• UNCANNY X-MEN #514 DAX
• UNWRITTEN #4
• WALKING DEAD #64

As usual, the italics are for books I am not committed to buying but hope to glance over on the stands. Odds are good that if I like what I see, it'll go home with me.

In the meantime, what are YOU reading? Comment away!

Political Note

I know a few of my readers have, in the past, said they do not like the political stuff. Fair enough (and I'm not even sure if those readers are still reading).

I'll just post these two links and let you read or not.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/25991.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/11/olbermann-slams-palin-for_n_256207.html

John Hughes, RIP

Don't let him be remembered for "Drillbit Taylor," that's all I'm asking.

Perhaps the landmark filmmaker of the 1980s, John Hughes died yesterday at age 59 in New York City of a heart attack. Creator (writer and director) of such hits as "The Breakfast Club," "Pretty in Pink" and "Weird Science," he made stars of Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall, not to mention providing invaluable career springboards to Ally Sheedy, Andrew McCarthy, Robert Downey Jr., Judd Nelson, John Cusack, Alan Ruck, and even John Candy (who knew Candy and Steve Martin could be such a great "dramedic" duo?). He launched the "Home Alone" and "Beethoven" franchises and lent his talents as a writer to a surprising number of movies (including the aforementioned... aw forget about that one).

I was in college when the majority of his films hit the big screen, but I loved his stuff greatly. Even his near-great films like "Some Kind of Wonderful" had something going for them. I was a huge fan of "Weird Science" and "Breakfast Club" in particular, seeing both in the theater more than once.

When he stepped out of the business (or so it seemed), I missed his point of view tremendously. There weren't many (heck, ANY) writer-directors who could capture the essence of being a teen the way Hughes did. Shermer, Illinois seemed like a modern Oz, where Ferris Bueller could bump into Lisa on his way to a party at Claire Standish's house. It takes a special kind of magic to make that happen, and Hughes had it in spades.

RIP, Mr. Hughes, and thank you.