WATCHING:
Messenger, The
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Ben Foster

I’m not even certain what this movie was meant to mean, but it moved me.

The movie was – at base – about the individuals (Harrelson/Foster) who notify the next of kin (NIK) about the death of their soldier son/husband/etc.

I don’t know; I’d rather be in Iraq being shot at than having to – day after day – deliver this news to the relatives of those who were shot at and not missed. And – of course – the relatives of soldiers who open the door and see the two officers…these relatives already know what the news is (but emotionally refuse to process same; completely understandable).

And the movie showed the cost on the messengers – this should require battle pay. Hard to watch at parts, and is was FICTION.

This is not the movie I expected; it still stuck with me. Harrelson, especially, is brilliant here.

It’s not an anti-war movie, but it does bring down to the human, day-to-day level, the cost of war. Powerful; complex.

All movies

Small roundup of some recent political news I found interesting.

Anthony Weiner’s self-immolation

After accusations of crotch-shot posting on Twitter, Weiner said he’d been hacked. Then that he wasn’t completely sure it was/wasn’t a picture of himself.

With the news that more pictures/details were about to emerge, Weiner held a painful press conference in which he said, basically:

• All the current accusations are true; the picture uploaded was him and he uploaded it.
• He lied about being hacked; he lied to everyone but is now going for full disclosure
• This wasn’t an isolated incident, he admits he has corresponded “inappropriately” via social networks a handful of times over the last three years, including after he was married.
• He apologized to just about everyone in the world, his wife especially.

He fell on his sword, and I give him props for that. He says he accepts all the blame; it was not a “drunken” or isolated incident; the females he corresponded with are free to say what they want, and he will not comment and so forth.

For someone who has just ‘fessed up to some really dumb (and potentially career-ending) behavior, he showed remarkable class. Took full responsibility, and had nothing negative to say about anyone but himself.

I liked Steve Benen’s take-away on Weiner’s press conference:

On the Political Sex Scandal Richter Scale, I’m still not altogether sure why this even registers at all. Given what we know, Weiner shared adult content with women he met online. They were adults and the interactions were consensual. He didn’t commit adultery (Ensign), he didn’t hire prostitutes (Vitter, Spitzer), he didn’t solicit anyone in an airport bathroom (Craig), he didn’t pretend to be someone else in order to try to pick up women (Lee), he didn’t abandon his office for a rendezvous with his lover (Sanford), he didn’t leave his first two wives after they got sick (Gingrich), he didn’t have a child with his housekeeper (Schwarzenegger), there’s no sex tape (Edwards), and no interns were involved (Clinton). He’s not even a hypocrite — Weiner has never championed conservative “family values,” condemning others for their “moral failings.

I agree – to a degree (it’s still a “judgment” issue that Weiner repeatedly failed) – with Benen, but I don’t know if the press will agree.

All in all, a remarkable press conference.

Florida Gov. Scott signs law requiring welfare recipients to take drug tests

This issue – which was floated by Utah Senator Hatch last year – is odious, on so many levels. Hey, let’s say you do have a drug problem: Better you die (no welfare = no food)?

And what’s next? Have to prove you haven’t molested any children to get welfare/building permit?

And this is a Republican – you know, loves small government – governor. How is this getting out of peoples’ lives?

Also, Scott’s old company – a health-care firm – could profit from this. That’s a lot of drug tests.

Still, Scott defends this act as providing “personal responsibility.”

Boehner says the revitalization of the American auto industry is “nothing to celebrate.”

President Obama has been touting the recent success of both GM and Chrysler as proof that the automotive bailout was a good choice – good for America, good for jobs and – yes – a good Obama/Democratic talking point.
All three automakers (including Ford, which didn’t ask for funds) are turning a profit for the first time since 2004 and adding job unseen since the Clinton Administration.

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), through a spokesman, doesn’t see it as that big a deal.

“The administration’s auto bailout is nothing to celebrate,” said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican. “The model the White House should be touting is Ford, which, instead of relying on a taxpayer-funded bailout, saw trouble coming and made the tough decisions necessary to preserve jobs and weather the storm.”
– Washington Monthly

OK, I can see the Speaker of the House – a Republican – not wanting to high-five a Democratic president, especially with elections coming up, but still…

At least say something like, “good, but Democrats have not done enough to create jobs…” or whatever.

And the Ford message is total bullshit – Ford testified in front of Congress to get GM and Chrysler dollars. Yes, Ford wanted to keep its competitors afloat!

Why?

Because if GM and Chrysler went under, the entire automotive supply chain would have collapsed, taking Ford – which, yes, had made better choices in the past – down along with GM and Chrysler.

Should GM and Chrysler have made better choices in the past?

Sure.

But President Obama was dealing with what was in front of him: Allow GM and Chrysler to default and effectively end the US auto industry. Or prop up GM and Chrysler and, well, hope for the best.

The best happened. All three turning profits, adding jobs, opening new plants.

Yeah, nothing to “celebrate”…