One thing about Barack Obama bothers me: he's down wid it African-American-style when its to his advantage to be so, such as when he speaks before a Black church congregation. However, he is also half-Caucasian but that only comes up when its to his advantage, as well...such as when he switches to the Harvardian preppy/yuppie patois of the White liberals. In short, the man is playing to both sides of the aisle. That bespeaks a basic dishonesty, imho.

Are you serious? Do you speak the same way at home with your kids as you do at work? When you have to speak to a board meeting, do you use the same language that you do when you're watching a football game at home? Barack Obama adjusts his speaking style to his audience-- Hillary Clinton does it too, if you contrast her speeches in the South with the Northern ones (as just one example). The important thing is that his (and her) messages remain the same.

Are "good kids." He only picked "good kids" after all.

I suspect those "good kids" are the kind of boys who took to hear the mantra "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." I'm not surprised they're not trashing their former coach on the eve of his retirement. IMO, his actions speak for themselves.

Nice piece, King.

Was one of the reasons for this 'coup.' Very little programming on during the 'family hour' is particularly appropriate for families any more, and more and more families have television in the kids' rooms, so everyone can watch 'their own' shows.

As for what the boys are watching: just from watching TV ads, my guesses involve Ben 10, Naruto, SpongeBob and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Maybe The Naked Brothers Band, but I honestly can't quite figure out what their target demographic is.

And if David Rieff had said, "my mother was a flaming bitch" in this interview, we'd have more respect for him? Not necessarily. I think his reticence is his choice, and I respect him very much for it. He seems very strong and very smart-- not just "book-smart" but "common sense-smart," a rare combination.

Holding onto bitterness gets you nowhere in the end, and I think it's pretty clear that at least publicly he wants to get beyond that. (And leaving things with that one barb at Annie Leibowitz, for example, is a pretty powerful statement as is.)

This was a wonderful interview.

and you're kidding yourself if you think that if you had this power you wouldn't use it to your benefit. I'm not saying you'd be as shallow and callous as the main character in this film but you'd be living a better lifestyle than you are now. And like you wouldn't jump (pun intended) at the chance to visit the Louvre after hours or vacation in Belize without having to pay the airfare.

Seriously! The kid doesn't bother with Customs-- what an asshole! Why not simply note that the character seems shallow, callous, and unlikeable? Does his abusive father seem to have caused this, or is he simply used as a cheap dramatic ploy? Who knows? It's not in this 'review,' which is a series of muddled cheap shots at the movie and at American foreign policy as reflected by blockbusters.

What do you have to say to the fact that the substance of Clinton's speech was not that Obama makes speeches but that those speeches are short of specifics and that when he does mention specifics that they are actually based upon ideas which she raised previously?

You've got two points here:

1. Obama makes speeches that are short on specifics.

I at least could care less. That's what debates (and Obama has agreed to two more), campaign literature, and volunteers are for. Obama is really fucking good at giving speeches that are short on specifics, just as Hillary is good at the wonky details. I'm hardly going to fault a candidate for using a strategy that works for him.

2. Obama is stealing Hillary's ideas-- the "so now he worries about green collars" argument.

Aren't Democrats supposed to be on the same side? If Obama 'steals' a good idea from Hillary and becomes President (or vice versa), don't we all benefit? Hillary's universal health care proposal was apparently influenced heavily by John Edwards' proposal, but I think that's a good thing. Obama has had other original ideas and proposals too, such as his championing of anti-earmark legislation.

Romantic without being lame; sharp and a little cynical, without being soulless. A great article.

Interestingly, fungi are one of the few things that beat our 'we like to eat things that are good for us' instincts. Poisonous mushrooms usually taste delicious, which is why they were the preferred method of the Romans. So I'm not sure there is any hidden nutritional value.

They do taste damn good, though.

Why do you find this behavior acceptable? I'm genuinely curious.

Sounds like the "Clinton did it too" line we've heard for years from right-wing trolls.

So it's okay to ask people to violate their pledges and piss off the people they're supposed to be representing, as long as it's for Hillary Clinton? Okay then.