Aaron Sorkin is Awesome

So I know this isn't supposed to be a blog that reviews movies, but when Aaron Sorkin gets involved in a project, exceptions become the rule. And "Charlie Wilson's War" is a brilliantly crafted, and of course well written, movie. In true Aaron Sorkin form, the film is witty, smart and thoughtful while also remaining viscerally entertaining.

If you haven't seen the film and don't know anything about the history of American involvement in Afghanistan then stop reading now, the following spoils some of the story.

"This is what we always do. We come in with our ideals and we change the world. And then we leave. We always leave." Tom Hanks as Charlie Wilson

This quotation sums up the message that Sorkin delivers at the close of the movie. And it is a valuable lesson derived from the history of American foreign policy. When America intervenes in a military situation, we sometimes lack the fortitude to rebuild the country once the conflict ends. When we behave in this manner, we traditionally make ourselves enemies. Cuba, Vietnam and Somalia come to mind. But when we are willing to spend huge amounts of blood and treasure to ensure not only victory but also prosperity, we make allies. Japan, Germany and Korea are good examples. Afghanistan unfortunately, falls into the former category. And after we pulled our support, the Taliban stepped into the breach. Along with one of our former allies by the name of Osama Bin Laden.

Being America is expensive to begin with. And when you add in the cost of conducting a foreign war, it can become seemingly impoverishing. But if we insist on involving ourselves in the military situations of other nations, and doing so less for our own benefit than for theirs (and I am very proud of this tradition) the cost of reconstruction must be factored in. The cost of not doing so is very steep.

What would they say?

So describe this election to your average well-off citizen in 1800.

A governor of what was not even U.S. property then who everyone loves because he lost a lot of weight because in the future there is too much food,

A black man, Senator from a state that also did not exist then,

A woman, Senator from New York, wife of a former President from a non-existent state,

A lawyer from the Carolinas(ok, that one, they would be fine with) whos main issue is alleviating poverty!,

An Italian!,

An elf!

Some wacko who thinks its important to listen to the Constitution!

A Governor of Massachusetts whose largest perceive hurdle is adherence to a faith that does not exist yet.

A former Senator from Tennessee whose main recognition comes from the fact he is an actor(o no) on a play transmitted through magic weekly into a box powered by lightning.

A war hero Senator(they like) from a state that doesn’t exist yet(they get confused) who flew giant machines(wow) and was shot down and captured in the far east!(Don’t they have dragons there?)

More MC.....whats a good MC nickname for McCain?

A little more on my thoughts on McCain. The average Republican looks at the fact that the surge is working and feels some sense of partisan satisfaction. “We said we should do this, you guys said it was a bad idea, we did it anyway, and things are better. Not great, maybe not even good, but better. Yay us.” Then you notice McCain has been pushing for more troops for years. Then you wonder how many are dead who would not be if we listened to that wise old man. Like I said yesterday, shame and inadequacy.

The Only Writing On The Golden Compass Whose Title Does Not Contain A Pun

Given the furor and controversy that was supposed to surround The Golden Compass due to its anti-religious message, the movie would seem to be headed towards a flop. And that is exactly as it should be, because this movie was bad.

As a fan of the Philip Pullman novels, it was probably inevitable that I would see this film at some point. And while adaptations such as the Lord of the Rings are some of my favorite movies, this one left me feeling glad that I had some free passes. The intellectual underpinning of the novel was stripped away, as was the character development. And the imagery of the movie was as comic as the dialogue. Every cliché was pulled out in an effort to make a well written, and cheerfully atheistic children’s story into an epic tale of bravery and meaning. The goal was to turn it into that tale without, of course, any actual bravery or meaning.

I was curious for moment after I finished watching, why Pullman would have allowed the movie to be made. I had read an interview with the author, where he admitted to having met with the director, read the script and seen early screenings of the film before production was complete. He pronounced himself satisfied with the product. I had to ask myself: why? Was it simple avarice? Did he possess strange need for widespread approval? None of these traits seemed likely given the novels. Then it dawned on me. He must have found the film hilarious.

Though I disagree wholeheartedly with the message of His Dark Materials, I think that the books are thought provoking and largely harmless. Only in responding to the series in the way that some American Protestants did is Pullman’s point truly made. If you fear ideas that you disagree with, then you are not truly secure in your faith. Pullman would argue that no one truly can be secure in this way, and so the religious will always seek to purge the world of ideas they dislike.

By allowing a version of his story to be released without the theological components, Pullman was able to make the point that the soul of his work was not the imagery but the ideas. The story doesn’t hold together without them. Thus if the movie flops, it must be that his popular series of books was popular because of his ideas and not in spite of them. And he gets to make the forces of political correctness in Hollywood live with the possibility that they could have made more money by rocking the boat then by pandering to fools. Ouch.

I can picture him laughing right now.

Theory.

My theory is that John McCain will never get anywhere in the presidential race because any serious examination of his life and most of his policy ideas will fill the examiner with great feelings of inadequacy and shame.

A touch of sanity?

CAROLYN WASHBURN, DES MOINES REGISTER: I want to take on a new issue. I would like to see a show of hands. How many of you believe global climate change is a serious threat and caused by human activity?

FRED THOMPSON, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not doing hand shows today.

WASHBURN: No hand shows?

THOMPSON: No hand shows.

WASHBURN: And so does that mean--is that "yes" or "no" for you? Do you believe that global climate change is a serious threat and caused by human activity?

THOMPSON: Do you want to give me a minute to answer that?

WASHBURN: No.

THOMPSON: Well, then I'm not going to answer it.



-Whatever you think of the guy, that was cool.

Clinton Debunked

http://nationaljournal.com/taylor.htm

Enough said.

The World is a Little Depressing Today

A 31 year old woman kills her five children in Germany:
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/12/06/germany.deaths/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

A mall shooting in Omaha:
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/12/06/mall.shooting/

A father in the UK fakes his death, not even letting his sons in on the scam:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aGUYQiE4mA6o&refer=uk

Police shot a woman in New Jersey:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/nyregion/06chase.html?ref=nyregion

And we're all depressed post-Katrina:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/health/research/04katr.html?ref=science


I think I'm going back to bed. Let me know if there's any good news.

Obama and Volunteering

New York Times posted a blog about Obama's plans to increase volunteerism among the youth in America http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/obama-issues-call-for-public-service/. I think this is really great, and really gets to the root of the problem in this country... people don't do things for people anymore. That's the whole idea behind liberalism, that if you just create government programs to do things for you, you don't have to do them yourselves. I love to see a candidate first of all speaking so people who were born after the '60's, and making a cry for people to become involved in their communities. How ANYONE can see poverty and become only outraged enough to wait until the next election to vote for someone more liberal instead of doing something themselves is completely beyond me. If this is something that you care about, how can you not do something about it. I wish that some of the Republican candidates would talk about ideas like this! Republicans don't want people to be cold, hungry, lonely, or poor. They just think that you should probably do something about it instead of asking the government to create a program to ease your conscience. Do you know that conservatives are more likely to donate to charity than liberals? They're also more likely to donate blood. http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2682730 I seriously love this kind of commitment to actually making America a better place to be in, instead of ranting on and on only about how awful the war in Iraq is, or how awful rich people are, or how awful President Bush is, or how awful Christians are, or how awful everybody is. But read the comments after the NYT blog, they are truly sickening.

Hello

I was going to break the ice by saying some mean things about Senator Hillary Clinton. But instead I'll just say that I love the snow. And for the best reading of your life, read the comments from the Caucus blogs on New York Times. They are sometimes funny and sometimes frightening. I think I'll post some of my favorites here. But I especially love the ones where someone is talking about how much smarter they are than everyone else (These people almost always support Clinton or Biden) while making spelling mistakes all over the place. If you can't spell 'canidate' correctly, you should probably think twice for telling other people that they don't know how to select one. True?

Basic rules.

Our one rule on this blog is that you must, from time to time, plug anti-asteroid technology. Other than that, do not be a bum.