Sarah Palin

Reports coming in that it's going to be her. It shouldn't be that much of a surprise considering how successful the dem convention was. This will complicate the campaign in many fascinating ways, like, isn't the whole point of a VP pick that they're ready to be president if, for example, your older-than-the-pyramids nominee happens to expire a month into his term? She's been governor for two years of...Alaska. Population: 10,000 elk, 1,500 Inuit. The struggles she's had to overcome in this unwieldy state with a diverse population and a massive budget of...right. The Republicans sure love them some tokenism. How many ladies are gonna buy this? That said, she's wildly popular in Alaska, a true reformist, pro-life, a killer of pork (she ended the whole Bridge-to-Nowhere debacle) and a maverick who beat the Republican party's choice in the Alaskan primaries. What a great way for the Republicans to control the news cycle and minimize the importance of Barack's solid speech last night. She'll be dangerous.

Good One Son

From the ever interesting, sometimes wrong, and always conservative Noonan:

"By the way, the best line of the convention so far? Ted Strickland of Ohio, when he echoed the 1988 Democratic convention joke about George H.W. Bush, that he was born on third and thought he hit a triple. Strickland said of George W. Bush that he was born on third and then stole second."

The Right Side of History

Did anyone else get the sense that Biden seems like an inveterate angry drunk? Anyone else think that's exactly what Obama needs as a counterweight to his thoughtful, polite, nuanced, and maddeningly meandering demeanor? Me three. While no doubt shrill at times, the kind of anger Biden exhibited, and the general passion on display from a masterful Bill and an exceptional Hillary Clinton, means this election is America's to lose, not John Kerry's or Michael Dukakis's. We'll see how tonight goes, but Plouffe, Axelrod, et al. have put together the most invigorating and electrifying convention I've ever seen; if we can't pull this one out in the wake of Bush's disasterous policies, it won't be Obama's or the Clintons' fault, it'll be our own.

The Tuesday Morning Piss Fest!

Hi guys, it's Emily. Chris's blog has been invaded! Hello to all Empire Files readers! (Hi, Mom.)

NYC Pissy:



To start off, I'll say that maybe it's just been a bad couple of weeks for my relationship with good ole NY. I spent the last couple of weeks searching for an apartment AND my phone was stolen! I was stupid enough to think that the guy who found it was going to return it. Or maybe he was just stupid enough to pick up my call from my office during his phone call joy ride. I should have realized when he said "yo don't blame me if it don't show up again" that it WASN'T going to show up again. Yes, I blame him.

In the midst of these couple of weeks, the trailer for New York I Love You seems particularly asinine. NY Mag hits it somewhat when they say: "This trailer's constant, pie-eyed refrain — "New York's not such a big place!" "God, I love New York!" — reminds us painfully of a bunch of tourists wandering around Times Square."

Let's stop pretending that NYC (or Manhattan particularly) is anything other than a playground for the rich. Yes, you can lay your head dramatically on the train while shuffling between 59th Street Lexington and your Murray Hill condo. What about the woman with the hour commute from Flushing? Is her story of actually struggling to pay the rent not interesting? Why do NYers have this cuddle-blanket comfort story that we tell ourselves about the types of people that live on the island? Does anyone who has actually paid rent in this city buy this crap? And why is the entire cast white (ooo! look! an Orthodox Jew, how authentic). Yes, Manhattan is full of white beautiful bohemian ARTISTS. Go find them!

Woman Pissy:


I'm not all cynicism. This gal's eyes got watery when Michelle Obama did her thing last night. After watching that speech, I'm particularly irritated by videos like "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here" by She and Him. Yeah Zoey Deschanel is cute but I am SO TIRED OF WOMEN PRANCING. You look cute in costumes and hipster bangs. I get that it's fun and light and I'm just being a kill-joy (this song reverberates on the L train walls) but this video hurts me a little bit inside.

ps: I'm not saying she needs to be dancing around little starving children in Darfur, I'm just exhausted by grown women being trotted out like children for sexual attention (and therefore validation). Sigh.

Essential Reading

Great piece in the NYTimes about Obama's economic policies and the split between Rubin and Reich (now mostly mended).

What?

So, I'm half-way through listening to this on recommendation from Christgau who, if you don't read him, you should, as he's a million years old, still listens to hip-hop, and understands that music and art should be about meaningfully engaging with life as opposed to empty posturing; and all the sudden I get it, this guy, K'Naan, is the greatest hip-hop artist of the last several years. I don't think he'll ever have much mainstream appeal even though he pushes through meaty major-key pop-hooks, but he's successfully fused American hip-hop and Africa in a way that's more compelling than anything any American has done in recent pop music history. He's got a sick flow. He's from Mogadishu.