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Neverland vs. Buckingham Palace in head-to-head ratings competition

by Mark Gisleson

Jacko was more newsworthy than Bush in London.

Yeah, it's hard to know how to react to that one. On the one hand, it's ridiculous to think that a Hollywood sex scandal is more important than a presidential state visit to a close ally, but on the other hand, this is George W. Bush we're talking about. Anyhow, it all put Nightline in a bind, and they decided to go with Jacko's tots over the Beverly Hillbillies invade Buckingham Palace. Somehow the Republic will carry on.

England's not like the US, as the British cover art for Paul Krugman's "The Great Unraveling" makes clear. A bit on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre side, but definitely PC (politically corrosive).

Zouhair Yahyaoui's release from a Tunisian prison is a bit more worthy of a Nightline feature, but chances are pretty good that if you don't click on this link, you won't hear anything else about this cyber-dissident who just spent 18 months rotting in a prison cell for reporting the news. [via Dan Gillmor]

David Neiwert at Orcinus has a pretty thorough post up on gay marriage and the Republican Party's decision to make that their "Willie Horton" for the 2004 election cycle. Neiwert does a nice job of contrasting Donald Wildmon with the Klan and others. He's on to something here. The arguments for racial bigotry eerily parallel those used to denounce gay marriage. Good (albeit intense) read.

Is re-regulation an idea whose time has come? I sure hope so, and I'm glad to see Howard Dean confronting the ignorant claptrap spewed by RNC spinmeisters on this topic. Having spent the '70s in a tire factory, I'm very much an advocate of tight government regulation of the workplace. Dean's perspective, of course, is more on Wall Street, and it's hard to argue against tighter regulation of the big money boys and some of the games they play.

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Short and sweet today. Lots of errands to run, people to see, places to go, yada yada.

Posted by at November 20, 2003 1:06 PM

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