Monthly Archive for June, 2008

The Prosecution Of George W. Bush For Murder

I’ve never posted a political blog / bulletin, and I wouldn’t do so now if I didn’t feel it was important – so hopefully, you’ll all forgive me for doing so and read this.

This book was recently published…

…and it’s basically been banned by the mainstream media.

Why has it been banned, you ask?

Because it explains, with irrefutable facts and logic, how George W. Bush deliberately deceived America into going to war with Iraq - and lays out the legal architecture how he could be prosecuted for murder when his term as president ends.

But no one is reviewing it - and no one is talking to its esteemed author, Vincent Bugliosi.

Who? How esteemed?

Vincent Bugliosi is one of America’s finest prosecutors. He’s the man who put Charles Manson and his “family” of creeps in jail for life. He’s won an astonishing 125 out of 126 murder trials. He’s written a number of books, including Helter Skelter (of course) and more recently, a massive 1648-page tome entitled Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, in which he debunks virtually all of the conspiracy theories surrounding JFK’s assassination.

I don’t consider myself the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I try a lot harder than most to keep my brain percolating. I may sometimes envy someone their achievements, their money, their good looks, their girlfriend – but rarely do I envy someone’s mind. Vincent Buglisosi is one of the few.

Vincent Bugliosi is one of our finest intellectuals, and a master at argument – he can build an argument piece by piece, stacking one fragment of undeniable logic on top of another until you simply cannot deny what he is saying. His clarity of mind and common sense are incredibly rare - when he puts out a book, I read it.

So when The Prosecution Of George W. Bush For Murder was released, I picked it up from Amazon. A few days later, I was finished, and sought reviews to confirm my opinion – that it’s absolutely brilliant.

No reviews – none, nada, zip.

In one of the few interviews I was able to find online, Mr. Bugliosi states that he had tremendous difficulty publishing the book, despite his standing as a best-selling author - and is astonished that Time, Newsweek, and every other publication / media outlet in America refuses to even review the book, much less interview its author.

This is America…

Attack it - hate it - write the most excoriating review possible - but you cannot figuratively burn the book, which is exactly what the mainstream press is doing by ignoring its existence.

Yes, the title is melodramatic, and is meant to incite people. Yes, the author cannot disguise his politics, and sometimes undercuts his own argument by attacking President Bush on a personal level.

But Bugliosi’s uncommon clarity of mind is also on display. A few examples…

-As we all know, Iraq never had WMD’s. Sixteen departments of the CIA confirmed this. Bush claimed Saddam Hussein had them anyway.

-Iraq never bought uranium from Nigeria – the CIA also confirmed this. Bush claimed Saddam Hussein did it anyway.

-Bush claimed Hussein was involved in 9/11 - no proof has ever been found. On top of that, Hussein was secular, and Osama Bin Laden is a religious fanatic – how exactly were they supposed to work together?

-If Hussein was involved in 9/11… why wasn’t he brought back to the U.S. for trial? Why was he quickly convicted for other crimes and executed overseas?

-Haliburton was quietly given a 2.3 billion dollar contract in Iraq without any bidding whatsoever– which is illegal. Then they overcharged the U.S. government by 100 million dollars. Bush merely said they must repay the money - no legal consequences whatsoever for what is inarguably a criminal act.

-Our soldiers have been poorly equipped from the get-go – their vehicles are so poorly armored they scavenge for pieces of metal and bolt them onto them!

-And throughout all of this, Bush goes to sleep every night at 9:30, and has spend one-third – yes, one-third – of his eight years in office on vacation, usually five weeks at a shot. An astonishing 908 days and counting!

I’m stunned that our nation was turned upside down by President Clinton getting oral from a dumpy intern, but we stand by idly like a flock of mindless sheep when Bush deliberately mislead the American people into going to war.

What happened in the scant thirty years since Vietnam? Are we really this sedentary, this apathetic?

Part of the problem is that the level of deception we’re dealing with – the level of inhumanity – is simply incomprehensible.

Part of the problem is that we turn a blind eye as long as it doesn’t affect us directly.

And part of the problem - perhaps the most important part - is our unwillingness to bring further shame upon ourselves. The idea of punishing the president means admitting that we elected a man I now believe is, in every sense of the word, a sociopath.

And so much for democracy – the Democrats have done nothing to counter this man, and the supposedly liberal media has quietly condoned all of his crimes, from agreeing not to show footage of flag-draped coffins on television to essentially banning Vincent Bugliosi’s book.

I highly recommend that you seek out a copy and read it. You may not agree with everything in it – I certainly did not - but it will definitely make you think.

If anyone out there wants to borrow my copy, you need only ask…

Trumbo

First of all, if you don’t know who Dalton Trumbo is, you should be ashamed: secondly, let me tell you.

Trumbo was a respected novelist - his best-known book is the horrifying anti-war novel Johnny Got His Gun - and a highly respected screenwriter. He was undoubtedly the most famous of the Unfriendly Ten, and when he refused to name names before the McCarthy committee, he spent a year in jail.

When he emerged, he went from being one of the highest-paid screenwriters in Hollywood to a man hiding behind a variety of writing pseudonyms to earn a fraction of his former salary. Thanks to Kirk Douglas (or Otto Preminger, depending on whose story you believe) Trumbo was finally restored to his former prominence ten years later when both Spartacus and Exodus bore his true name.

The documentary Trumbo is based on a play by Dalton’s son, Christopher, and he also directed it. It follows then that the documentary has the same built-in biases and omissions that a proud son might have when describing his brilliant, complex, ultimately unknowable father. Trumbo is sanctified, his past with the communist party is glossed over, and McCarthy is portrayed as the worst of villains.

Now that’s not wrong - Trumbo was unfairly jailed, and the suffering he endured at the hands of both the government and the studio bosses is reprehensible - but the situation is simply too complex to be portrayed as a black & white good guys vs. bad guys scenario.

But the pluses far outweigh the minuses. We are treated to vintage footage of Trumbo being interviewed, anecdotes from friends and family, and best of all, Trumbo’s clever, insightful, often hilarious letters are read to us on camera by actors such as Liam Neeson, Paul Giamatti, Joan Allen, Brian Dennehy, David Strathairn, etc.

So if you can filter out the Don Quixote spin on Trumbo, and just listen to the man’s own words, the film is extremely rewarding. Trumbo is one of my favorite writers, so for me, it was a real treat to get an insight into what made him tick.

North Dallas Forty (1979)

I picked up a copy of North Dallas Forty expecting a typical 70’s beer-swilling comedy with wild parties, drugs, nudity, and an overall frat-house vibe. And it certainly has those elements - but the film is also a surprisingly serious character study of an aging football player named Phil Elliot (Nick Nolte) who is fully aware of how corrupt the game is, how high the physical toll is, but just can’t bring himself to quit.

Because Nick Nolte has the physical attributes of a rugged leading man, it’s easy to forget that even in roles like 48 Hours he’s bringing all the skill and energy of a dedicated actor to the part. Roles like Affliction, Weeds, Q & A, Farewell To The King, Lorenzo’s Oil - hell, I’ll even throw in Prince Of Tides, which was dreadful, but he’s great in it - are undeniable proof that this guy is one of our best actors.

Which is why North Dallas Forty is perfect for him - it combines both his physicality and his acting skill. And he’s nicely supported by veteran character actors like Charles Durning, Dabney Coleman and G.D. Spradling. Even Mac Davis, who plays his best friend in the film, turns in solid work.

Overall, the film is more drama than comedy, and a fairly grim one at that. So if you’re looking for a light-hearted sports comedy, pass this one by - but if you want a sports film with some substance, you won’t do much better.

It was bound to happen sooner or later…

Like many Angelenos, I live in an apartment, and park on the street…

This morning, as I’m walking to my car, I notice something odd - the gas tank cover on a car belonging to someone else in the neighborhood is open. The gas cap is lying on the ground.

I walk on - there’s another one.

And then comes my car - the cover to my gas tank is open, and the cap is dangling from the plastic cord that attaches it to the tank.

I think - “You gotta be kidding.”

I get in my car, put the key in the ignition, turn the engine over and wait for the fuel meter to rise - sure enough, it’s about a gallon less than it was the night before.

I’ve had a car stolen off that same street and stripped, so I’m not gonna get too worked up over losing five bucks in gas - but is this really what we’ve come to?

In a fine bit of irony, I got my “economic stimulus payment” (translation - bribe to vote Republican) in the mail the day before. Five bucks of it are already gone before I even put it in the bank!

Looks like it’s time to invest in a locking gas cap… and with gas prices continuing to rise, I highly recommend you all do the same…

The Incredible Hulk

1. Ed Norton = Supposedly he’s a pain in the ass to work with, but he’s always terrific to watch. He makes an ideal Banner, far better than Eric Bana (who is a fine actor, but was directed poorly in the previous installment).

2. Liv Tyler = Merely adequate. She’s a pretty face, not much of an actress. I question the need to replace Jennifer Connelly, whose vacuous, astonishingly well-built beauty has intermittently enthralled me for years.

3. William Hurt = Suitably villainous, but again, I question the need to replace Sam Elliot. It took a lot of makeup and acting skill to get Bill Hurt to look like what Sam Elliot simply is.

4. Direction = Louis Letterier did a fine job. The film is crisp and energetic.

5. Script = Merely adequate. It’s all a big setup for the monster showdown at the end.

6. Cinematography = Nothing to write home about, but it’s a good-looking film.

7. Action = It’s big, loud, and well crafted. The monster battle at the ending is just plain old gonzo, but lots of fun.

8. Visual effects = Sometimes good, sometimes kinda cheap. It’s a mixed bag.

9. Music = A synth / orchestral combo deal. It works, but doesn’t stand on its own very well (I know because I have two CDs full of it).

10. Conclusion = A vast improvement over Ang Lee’s pretentious, almost defiantly un-entertaining original, but I think they could have slowed down a bit more for characterization and plot.

The Kalevala

I came across The Kalevala entirely by accident. I was reading about fantasy author Michael Moorcock, whose most famous creation is the albino swordsman Elric, and the article mentioned the influence of The Kalevala - an epic poem of Finnish mythology - on Moorcock’s work.

The following day, I picked up a copy at my favorite taxpayer-funded bastion for homeless people - the Santa Monica Library.

I couldn’t even begin to describe the plot of The Kalevala. It truly is an epic poem in every sense of the phrase. It’s a two-volume set, contains fifty cantos, and cross-cuts between three principal characters.

The main character, Väinämöinen, is a powerful hero born of the gods, and has magical powers stemming from his singing ability! A second hero, Lemminkäinen, endures a violent death, dismemberment, and a painful rebirth when he is reconstituted and resurrected by his mother, a goddess. A third hero, Ilmarinen, competes with Väinämöinen for the Maid of the North, whom they both hope to marry.

And as with any good story where you create three diametrically opposed but incredibly cool heroes, they eventually team up and embark on a quest for a magical object called the Sampo.

As I’ve stated, the material is dense. Sometimes I got lost, and had to re-read a page or two before I got back up to speed - but the degree of imagination it contains is truly inspiring. And for someone who frequently struggles to put a sentence on paper which is merely coherent, I was bowled over by the consistent beauty of the language.

By the way, the translation pictured above, by John Martin Crawford, is the one I read - I recommend it.