Notes From D. R.

Weekend Box Office: Get The Message?

The horror flick The Messengers tops the charts.

Love-Hate Relationship

President Bush tries to curry favor with Congressional Democrats. Good luck! More from the Washington Post, Captain's Quarters and the New York Times.

Faith Tradition

To what extent are African-American Christians truly Christian?

For decades, there has been a bizarre disconnect between African-American religious patterns and African-American voting patterns. We are often told that African-Americans are among the most devoutly Christian people in the United States--yet for the past forty years, these devoutly Christian blacks have been voting for some of the most secular Presidential, congressional and senatorial candidates imaginable.

The reasons behind the willingness of black Christians to vote for candidates who are somewhat-to-very disdainful of the tenets of traditional Christianity have been analyzed for years. However, very few pundits have been willing to ask a crucial question: are black Christians who vote for secular candidates really as "Christian" as they claim to be?

It defies conventional logic that those who believe in a religion founded upon such principles as respect for the dignity of life would cast their lot with politicians who advocate the wholesale slaughter of the unborn. It fails the test of reason for those who believe in a religion predicated upon the belief that God intended marriage to be a heterosexual union to vote for candidates who believe that same-sex marriage is a civil rights issue. It is literally beyond belief that those who believe that God created the Earth insist on backing political figures who spit upon the concept of intelligent design.

Yet this dichotomy--"devoutly Christian" blacks supporting pro-secularism political candidates--has been a political reality for over four decades. Just why is it that African-American Christians seemingly fail to take their faith into the voting booth?

I've argued in the past that many black voters, while legitimately devout Christians, also believe in the moral righteousness of big government. However, even this belief fails to survive logical scrutiny. If black Christians truly believe the words of Phillippians 4:13--I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me--then why would they feel that a large, activist government is necessary for them to survive and thrive?

The issue of the extent to which black Christians are truly "Christian" is a sociopolitical third rail. No wonder so few people are willing to touch it.

Family Values

The wife of former Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas considers a run for Congress.

Riding Hood

Remember the "hood films" of the early-1990s?

In the wake of Spike Lee's success with 1989's Do The Right Thing, Hollywood practically tripped over itself trying to appeal to the so-called "urban demographic." Thus, in short order we were treated to John Singleton's Boyz N The Hood, Matty Rich's Straight Out of Brooklyn, Mario Van Peebles' New Jack City, Ernest Dickerson's Juice, and Allen and Albert Hughes' Menace II Society.

With the possible exception of Society, all of these post-Do The Right Thing films were manifestly mediocre, filled to the brim with ghetto stereotypes, bad acting and awful dialogue. Yet, these films were critically praised when they were released, and in fact Singleton received two Oscar nominations (Best Screenplay and Best Director) for Hood in 1992.

Looking back, it's clear that these films received great reviews not because they actually deserved such praise, but because white liberal film critics were either a) unwilling to call the films mediocre for fear of being branded racist or b) agreed with the pessimistic, hard-left, white-people-are-to-blame-for-every-black-problem themes in these films (remember Singleton's mockery of Ronald Reagan in the opening scenes of Hood?).

It's hilarious to watch these subpar films today, knowing that they were considered "new classics" in the early-1990s. You have to wonder if the stars and directors of these films are embarrassed that such mediocre movies were considered excellent entertainment.

Fortunately, most of these actors and directors have moved on to bigger and better things. Singleton in particular has emerged as one of Hollywood's finer filmmakers; his 2001 film Baby Boy, a brilliant criticism of chronic immaturity in young urban men, legitimately deserved the praise that Hood fraudulently received a decade earlier. Black-themed films are far more "diverse" in terms of subject matter than they were a decade and a half ago, and more movie critics are willing to forego political correctness and criticize a mediocre film aimed at the "urban demographic."

Things are certainly not perfect for African-Americans in Hollywood. However, at least the industry's no longer obsessed with making crappy movies set in the 'hood.

THE AVIATOR

If, at some point in the future, Hollywood overcomes its reflexive left-wing political biases and begins to make films featuring Republicans in a less-than-negative light, it would be interesting to see a biopic about the fascinating life of former President George H. W. Bush.

Few Presidents have had experiences as diverse as that of the 41st Commander-in-Chief. Born to the late Connecticut senator Prescott Bush in 1924, Bush served with valor as a Navy aviator during World War II, flying a total of 58 combat missions and earning the Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts. After serving his country, he entered Yale University, started a family and worked for a time in the oil industry.

The desire to serve his country never left Bush; thus, he decided to return to combat, this time in the battlefield of politics. From 1967 to 1970, he served with distinction as a Texas congressman. During the Nixon Administration, Bush served as US Ambassador to the UN for two years before leaving the position in 1973 to become head of the Republican National Committee. In 1975, President Ford selected Bush to be the new head of the Central Intelligence Agency; as CIA director, Bush worked diligently to restore the agency's then-damaged credibility.

In 1980, it appeared that Bush was the "favored" candidate to receive the GOP's nomination for President; however, a courageous competitor, Ronald Reagan, battled him for the nomination. After a bitter primary fight, Reagan emerged victorious; that summer, he would select Bush as his Vice Presidential nominee. For eight years, Bush aided Reagan as the "Great Communicator" stimulated the economy, restored national pride and challenged Communism.

Bush once again ran for President in 1988, defeating then-Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis to succeed Reagan in the Oval Office. Bush proved himself a President of consequence; during his tenure, the Soviet Union collapsed, the Berlin Wall fell, Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was removed from power, and Saddam Hussein was forced to withdraw from Kuwait. Bush also nominated two men who would go on to influence the US Supreme Court in profoundly different ways: David Souter and Clarence Thomas.

Despite his effective leadership, Bush was done in by a poor early-1990s economy and by the media-created perception that he was "out of touch" with the working man's concerns: weakened by such burdens, and by disputes with the GOP's conservative base, Bush was defeated by Bill Clinton in November 1992.

Bush has continued to make his mark upon the world stage in the fourteen years since he left office: he's published two books, received numerous honorary degrees, labored tirelessly on behalf of philanthropic causes, and demonstrated that being past retirement age doesn't mean giving up what you enjoy about life.

A Bush biopic, if handled correctly, would be one of the greatest epics of all-time; his life story covers such a wide expanse of 20th century American history. This is a man who served under two highly influential Presidents, fathered a third, and became one himself. He witnessed the end of the Cold War and defeated a man who would become a major figure in the War on Terror. He was a bold, brave, and brilliant figure, one whose full story deserves to be told.

Unfortunately, a George H. W. Bush biopic won't be produced anytime soon. However, if and when such a film is made, it will be, beyond any doubt, the best picture released that year.

UPDATE: George H. W. Bush's soul-stirring 1989 Inauguration speech. Plus, more on the Bush Presidential library.

Black Sweat

Will the press knock it off with these stupid stories about black voters being skeptical of Democrat Presidential candidate Barack Obama?

Let's face it: if Obama is on the ticket as either a Presidential or a Vice Presidential candidate, nine-tenths of the American black electorate will support him, just as they have supported every Democrat Presidential candidate since LBJ.

The press promoted this same theme last year during Deval Patrick's bid to become governor of Massachusetts. For a time, the Bay State press corps pushed the notion that Patrick would have difficulty wooing black support because a man of his wealth and privilege would be perceived as being "out of touch" with the concerns of "average" black voters. Once it became obvious that most blacks actually loved the guy, the press stopped pushing this theme.

Obama is a left-wing die-hard Democrat. That's all the "street cred" he needs with the "community." Come on--black voters turned out in droves to support the Gore-Lieberman ticket in November 2000, even though Lieberman was an erstwhile critic of certain forms of affirmative action! If that wasn't enough to stop blacks from supporting the Democrat ticket, Obama's lineage certainly won't be a barrier.

The mainstream media need to quit playing. Everyone knows the only thing that would stop the vast majority of American blacks from voting for Obama is if he decided to pursue the Republican nomination.

UPDATE: More from Captain's Quarters, the Washington Post and the Boston Globe.

A Confederacy Of Dunces

They overreacted.

Massachusetts law enforcement officials were wrong to essentially shut down the city of Boston while investigating "suspicious packages" that turned out to be advertisements for a cartoon geared to 18-to-25-year-olds.

I'm all for being vigilant in the post-9/11 era, but part of being vigilant involves using common sense, something that was sadly in short supply yesterday. The "Lightgate" scandal is a huge embarrassment for all involved--from the "artists" who placed the electronic advertisements in various locations around the Greater Boston area to those who weren't wise enough to determine that the items were not dangerous devices.

Spare me this talk about how Boston is concerned about thwarting another terrorist attack. If you took a poll today, 90% of Bostonians would say that we should pull out of Iraq instead of continuing the fight against the terrorists in that region. If Bostonians aren't concerned about terrorism "over there," are they really concerned about terrorism "over here"?

If I were a Time Warner executive, I'd be angry at Mayor Tom Menino for suggesting that my company somehow deliberately terrorized the city. After all the money that Time Warner pumped into the local economy during the filming of Mystic River and portions of The Departed, doesn't the company deserve better than this?

Time Warner will cover the cost of investigating this idiotic incident--and will probably avoid having anything to do business-wise with Boston for years to come. Honestly, can you blame them?

UPDATE: More from Scott Allen Miller, Mass. GOP News, the Boston Globe and Boston Herald.

SECOND UPDATE: More from the Globe.

Race Baiting?

Did Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden insult Illinois Sen. Barack Obama? More from the New York Times, Power Line and Booker Rising.

UPDATE: More on Obama from the Times.

The Last Word II

Syndicated liberal columnist Molly Ivins passes away at 62. More from the New York Times.

Dumb And Dumber

A gigantic embarrassment for Boston Mayor Tom Menino and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. More from Bob Parks, Michael Graham, Bryan Maloney, the New York Times, the Washington Post and Scott Allen Miller.

Where Is The Outrage?

Discrimination in the halls of Congress.

The Last Word

Novelist-playwright-screenwriter-producer Sidney Sheldon passes away at 89. More from the Washington Post and the AP.

Open Season

Is Massachusetts Congressman Marty Meehan on his way out?

Senatorial Privilege

"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not."

-- Robert F. Kennedy

There are times when the call to service must be answered.

There are moments when an individual must look beyond himself and his own interests to do what is right, what is fair and what is best for his country.

There are times when even a reluctant gladiator must step into the arena and fight to preserve the things he holds dear.

Now is that time.

We are promoting democracy overseas while we fail to appreciate it here at home. We have become a nation of broken hearts and broken souls. We are a nation wounded and in desperate need of healing.

Our political system is in shambles. Our elected officials are seemingly devoid of value, of purpose, of decency, of principle. Public service is considered a sordid joke. Today, there seems to be little difference between what is shown on C-SPAN and what is shown on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Someone must stand up to address this problem. Someone must make an effort to mend this broken system.

Now, I don't have all the answers. In fact, I have no plan. However, if you, the voters, put your faith in me...then together, we can.

Today, January 31, 2007, I am officially announcing my candidacy for the United States Senate. With your help, prayers, and plentiful, wallet-busting, checking-account-emptying donations, I will receive the Massachusetts Republican Party's nomination to challenge Sen. John Kerry in November 2008.

Ask yourself: why in Heaven's name is Sen. Kerry in Davos when he could be right here, attending to the needs of folks in Dorchester, Danvers and Dedham? Our junior Senator is so out of touch, he arguably cannot even touch himself.

Kerry may have served in Vietnam, but his Senate career has become a quagmire. He's been missing in action while the residents of the Bay State have become prisoners of the Senate's political wars. It's as if he voted for supporting our interests before he voted against it.

Massachusetts needs a Senator who can think on his feet, someone who can sympathize with the man on the street. We need a graduate of the school of hard knocks, not someone known for flip-flopping, windsurfing and Botox.

Even if you believe he hasn't done much as Senator, we can all agree that he's done everything he can possibly do. Doesn't he deserve an enjoyable retirement?

Kerry has been a voice for the hard-left. I promise to represent everybody: Democrats, Republicans, independents, Libertarians, vegetarians, Unitarians. I'll even represent totalitarians--if Bill Delahunt can do it, why can't I?

Plenty of folks think it's impossible for a Republican to beat Sen. Kerry. However, those who believe in the futility of this fight are merely trafficking in cynicism--and as far as I'm concerned, it is time to put our cynicism down!

I have a charge to keep. I will fight for a kinder, gentler, nation, and I will always stand for the people against the powerful--because I have the audacity to keep hope alive.

I humbly ask for your prayers, your money, your support, your money, your help, your money, your vote, and your money as I embark upon this campaign. I am confident that I will be your next United States Senator after Election Day 2008. After all, it's been nearly 30 years since Kerry's seat was held by a brother--and don't you think it's time that seat was held by another?

Any Major Dude (Will Tell You)

We remember so many things about the year 1972--the release of The Godfather, Richard Nixon's landslide re-election, Diana Ross' film debut in Lady Sings the Blues. Another event of tremendous cultural significance occurred 35 years ago--an event that still resonates with lovers of musical art to this very day.

In the fall of 1972, Can't Buy A Thrill, the debut album from the pioneering rock group Steely Dan, was released; the album quickly became a pop-culture staple thanks to the hit singles "Do It Again" and "Reelin' in the Years." Thrill is filled with grace notes from beginning to end: the elegant moodiness of "Dirty Work" and "Midnight Cruiser," the piercing loneliness of "Fire in the Hole," the humorous chaos of "Turn That Heartbeat Over Again." Very few artists are lucky to create a masterwork right out of the gate: with Thrill, Dan joined that rarefied company.

Less than a year later, Dan managed to exceed their previous excellence with Countdown To Ecstasy, another top-to-bottom flawless album. Every song on the album would merit inclusion on a greatest-hits disc: the manic "Bodhisattva," the jazzy "Your Gold Teeth," the sarcastic "My Old School" and "Show Biz Kids," the romantic "Pearl of the Quarter," the ferocious "Boston Rag." Ecstasy wasn't as commercially successful as Thrill, but the album is one of the most creatively inspired musical works of all-time.

In 1974, Dan released Pretzel Logic, a commercial success thanks to the subversively edgy hit "Rikki Don't Lose That Number." It's a testament to the brilliance of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen that even the putatively depressing tracks on the album (the prejudice allegory "Barrytown" and the drug-addiction chronicle "Charlie Freak") are, in their own way, uplifting. "With a Gun," "Night by Night," "Pretzel Logic", "Through with Buzz" and the Charlie Parker tribute "Parker's Band" are works without flaw or peer.

By 1975, Dan had become a studio-only band; the technical and business complications of touring had become far too enervating for both men. Before the bicentennial, they released Katy Lied, yet another outstanding achievement. Katy Lied depicts an America flirting with derangement: one cannot listen to such brilliant tracks as "Bad Sneakers," "Black Friday," "Any World That I'm Welcome To," and "Everyone's Gone to the Movies" without envisioning a populace "going insane/and... laughing in the frozen rain." "Throw Back the Little Ones" evokes the loneliness of "Fire in the Hole," "Your Gold Teeth II" represents a moment of calm in the midst of a cultural hurricane, and "Daddy Don't Live in That New York City No More" outdoes "My Old School" and "Show Biz Kids" in its sardonic look at life.

Extreme cynicism also defined 1976's The Royal Scam, which would be considered Steely Dan's greatest work were it not for the album Becker and Fagen released the next year. "Everything You Did," "Sign in Stranger," "Haitian Divorce," "Kid Charlemagne" and "Don't Take Me Alive" are harsh, bitter, brutally funny examinations of the worst elements of the human condition. "The Royal Scam" is a furious, expertly crafted denunciation of the exploitation of ethnic immigrants in turn-of-the-century America; the song works because, unlike other "protest songs" by "socially conscious" musicians, it is absolutely free of pretense and self-consciousness. Just as "Your Gold Teeth II" provided a break from the turmoil on Katy Lied, Fagen and Becker supply a bit of emotional relief with the beautiful "Caves of Altamira," a meditation on lost childhood innocence that is perhaps their finest song.

After a year of production, Steely Dan released the iconic album Aja in the fall of 1977. The album can still inspire euphoria even if one has listened to it a hundred times. From the romantic aura of the lengthy title track to the barely concealed anger of "Deacon Blues," from the smooth, sharp cynicism of "Black Cow" to the sexual hilarity of "I Got the News," Aja was, is and always will be a work of genius. The album was a tremendous commercial success, powered by the hit single "Peg"; much like Prince's Purple Rain, Aja represented one of the few times in modern musical history that an album's success was warranted by its creative achievement.

After releasing a greatest-hits album in 1978, Becker and Fagen began work on their next album. The recording sessions were constantly interrupted by personal tragedies, legal disputes, and technical difficulties; for Becker and Fagen, the production of this album was essentially a minor version of the hell Francis Ford Coppola went through making Apocalypse Now. Gaucho was finally released in November 1980; thankfully, it was also a success due to the hit single "Hey Nineteen." The cynicism on Gaucho is far less distinct than it was on The Royal Scam or Katy Lied; songs such as "Glamour Profession," "Third World Man" and the title track have their share of pessimism, but the songs are hardly what one would call end-of-the-world visions. The standout track on this album is "Babylon Sisters," arguably the "sexiest" Steely Dan song ever.

Exhausted from the strife of producing Gaucho, and feeling that they had accomplished everything they possibly could as a unit, Becker and Fagen disbanded the group in the summer of 1981. Fagen immediately went into production on his solo debut, 1982's The Nightfly, an outstanding work that can be considered Aja II in terms of quality; later in the decade, he would match his accomplishment with the musical score for the underrated 1988 Michael J. Fox film Bright Lights, Big City. Becker spent the 1980s producing albums for such artists as Rickie Lee Jones.

Steely Dan reunited in the early-1990s: Becker produced Fagen's second solo album, 1993's Kamakiriad, Fagen returned the favor on Becker's 1994 solo album, 11 Tracks of Whack, and the two returned to touring after nearly two decades (highlights from their 1993 and 1994 tours appeared on the 1995 album Alive in America).

In the late-1990s, Steely Dan began work on their first post-Gaucho album. 2000's Two Against Nature proved that Fagen and Becker had never lost what made them great: the album seemingly picks up exactly where Gaucho had left off, with muted cynicism ("What A Shame About Me," "Jack of Speed") and off-kilter humor ("Cousin Dupree," "Gaslighting Abbie," "Janie Runaway" and the title track). The album deservedly won a Grammy for Album of the Year, although Becker and Fagen should have earned the award for Aja 23 years earlier.

Steely Dan is still going strong today; they followed up Nature with 2003's critically acclaimed Everything Must Go, and embarked on another well-received tour shortly after the 2006 release of Fagen's third solo album, Morph the Cat. Steely Dan's resurgence is one of the better musical developments of the last fifteen years. Considering the deterioration of popular music in the United States over the past decade and a half, it's wonderful to know that Becker and Fagen are back, jack, and doing it again.

Marital Law

Should the Republicans regain control of the House and Senate in 2008, don't hold your breath waiting for the GOP to revive efforts to enact the Federal Marriage Amendment.

Even if the Maryland Supreme Court follows in the footsteps of Massachusetts and decides to authorize same-sex marriage, it's unlikely that the Republicans, if they regain power, will work to pass the FMA. This decision will have nothing to do with principle and everything to do with politics.

It's often been argued that the GOP failed to press forward with a serious effort to enact the FMA in 2006 because same-sex marriage is a "divisive" social issue. In reality, same-sex marriage isn't that "divisive" an issue, because there is very little national support for gay marriage. However, while that is the case now, it may not always be the case--which is what the GOP is anticipating.

Because of increasing American cultural libertarianism regarding homosexuality, it's not out of the realm of possibility that by the 2030s, a majority of Americans could in fact support the idea of gay marriage. If this turns out to be the case, then the GOP doesn't want to be caught "flat-footed." If, a generation from now, gay marriage enjoys wide support, the Republican Party will be looked upon with scorn by those who feel that past efforts to constitutionally forestall gay marriage were homophobic.

While many Americans are currently hesitant to compare the gay rights movement to the civil rights movement, the GOP is apparently concerned that what happened to the party after the civil rights movement will happen to the party again after the gay rights movement. The Republicans suffered lasting damage when Barry Goldwater refused to support the 1964 Civil Rights Act for libertarian reasons during his campaign against President Johnson. Martin Luther King Jr. denounced Goldwater, accusing him of endorsing segregation and declaring that no American of conscience could support either Goldwater or any Republican who backed him. Despite the fact that Republicans such as Illinois Sen. Everett Dirksen were instrumental in the very passage of the '64 Civil Rights Act, Goldwater's actions and King's response allowed the mainstream media to depict the entire Republican Party as a bigoted enterprise--a demonization that continues to this very day. While the GOP has been quite successful despite being smeared as a racist entity in the '60s, think about how much more successful the party would be if it had never been branded with the scarlet letter of racism: for example, had George W. Bush yielded as much of the black vote in 2000 as he did the white vote, he would have blown Al Gore out of the water.

The Republicans evidently fear that, if they were to strongly support the FMA, they would be haunted by the specter of alleged homophobia in the future, just as they have been haunted by the specter of alleged racism for the past 43 years. Social conservatives must understand that, even if the Republicans reclaim the House and Senate in '08, the party will not make a priority of preserving traditional marriage--because the GOP is scared to death that in the future, voters will look at the party and ask for a divorce.

The Safety Dance

Will the GOP embark on a "risky scheme" by nominating either John McCain or Rudy Guiliani for President in 2008?

You'd figure that the prospect of millions of evangelical Christian voters staying home on Election Day 2008 (instead of voting for a nonconservative GOP contender) would encourage Republicans to get behind a solidly conservative, eminently electable candidate such as Mitt Romney. However, at this stage in the game, that doesn't seem to be the case: McCain and Guiliani currently enjoy a level of support that is, from a social-conservative perspective, disturbingly high.

Nominating either McCain or Guiliani is a huge gamble. It's hard to see the conservative blogosphere firmly supporting either man, and impossible to envision talk-radio opinion-movers committing themselves to advocating on behalf of a candidate who doesn't share their core values. In 2000, Rush Limbaugh strongly pushed for Bush, but four years earlier, he barely troubled a soul to help Dole.

While there's been a deep desire in some segments of the GOP to move the party away from a focus on social conservatism, isn't 2008 a little too early for such a desire to be fulfilled? Social conservatives want what they've always wanted: "a choice, not an echo." Why would the GOP seek to deprive them of such a choice?

Guiliani's supporters have defended their candidate on conservative sites such as FreeRepublic.com; these advocates often argue that Guiliani's support of Roe v. Wade should not be a "deal-breaker" for social conservatives, since his position on the War on Terror is more important in a post-9/11 era.

The argument is faulty for this reason: what about those who feel that birth-control-based abortions are, on some level, a form of terrorism against the unborn? Pro-life Republicans believe that they, too, are fighting an "axis of evil"--and would like to see the GOP nominate someone whose commitment to that fight is steadfast. How can these voters accept a pro-Roe Republican candidate?

If the GOP nominates either McCain or Guiliani, it will send a clear message to social conservatives: we don't need you guys anymore. Is that the sort of message the party wants to send? If so, social conservatives will respond with a message of their own...a message that could result in a Democrat returning to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

UPDATE: Scot Lehigh on Guiliani.

The Last Sermon

Robert Drinan, a Catholic priest and liberal Democrat Massachusetts congressman from 1971 to 1981, passes away at 86. More from the Washington Post and the AP.