All Over The Place

And it's not even noon here.

• Shakesville has an interesting set of links on Wisconsin, including the fact that there seem to be Republican shenanigans going on and a violated court order.

  Rumor has it that these supporters entered through the steam tunnels. This has been hard to confirm, given that the one reporter who followed up on the story was met with terse men who appeared to be protecting the tunnels.
  
  This is a news story. I know its popular in progressive circles to talk about things like Citizens United and access to government, but what's happened in Wisconsin this week takes things to a whole new level. The governor of Wisconsin appears to be using his power to commandeer law enforcement personnel to keep people he disagrees with from participating in government, while allowing his friends access-- and he's done so in violation of a court order.

• The Daily Howler cites reporter failure in the coverage of Wisconsin's budget. Or, as the movie title went: Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious.
• Fox News lies. And it needs to be broadcast, go viral, and trip off the lips of 3 year olds. That's a potential 11-letter Googlebomb right there.

  Yes, this rotten carcass of a news organization stinks from the head down. Not a shocker, of course. But one wonders how much longer this propaganda machine can keep up the charade or, more importantly, how much longer everyone else in the media will keep up the pretense, as well. I mean really: don't you folks take pride in your work? In your industry? It's almost like the rest of the media universe is purposely pretending that Fox is a legitimate media outlet, but why?

  Many of you are too young to remember the terms Communist propaganda and Nazi propaganda. In fact, I don't think I've heard the word "propaganda" in many years. But there you are. They admit that they lie. Think of Fox News as the National Enquirer with a bigger budget. Believe no Fox News story unless it's been verified by 3 sources (not counting other Murdoch outlets).
• Also via Shakesville, Mark Harris in Gentlemen's Quarterly GQ on the future of movies.

  And no Inception. Now, to be fair, in modern Hollywood, it usually takes two years, not one, for an idea to make its way through the alimentary canal of the system and onto multiplex screens, so we should really be looking at summer 2012 to see the fruit of Nolan's success. So here's what's on tap two summers from now: an adaptation of a comic book. A reboot of an adaptation of a comic book. A sequel to a sequel to an adaptation of a comic book. A sequel to a reboot of an adaptation of a TV show. A sequel to a sequel to a reboot of an adaptation of a comic book. A sequel to a cartoon. A sequel to a sequel to a cartoon. A sequel to a sequel to a sequel toa cartoon. A sequel to a sequel to a sequel to a sequel to a movie based on a young-adult novel.2 And soon after: Stretch Armstrong. You remember Stretch Armstrong, right? That rubberized doll you could stretch and then stretch again, at least until the sludge inside the doll would dry up and he would become Osteoporosis Armstrong? A toy that offered less narrative interest than bingo?

  Yeah, it's marketers again.
• And in Missouri...

  All in all, this theatrical mess highlighted the callous disregard these state Senators have for their unemployed constituents…their complete ignorance over how unemployment funds work…their general wish to score political points with the conservative fringe on the people’s time…and the tragic limits of their vocabulary.
  
  My heart bleeds for their constituents, particularly for their unemployed constituents who should know after yesterday that none of these state Senators gives a flying shit about them.

  Shark-fu reporting for Angry Black Bitch.
• And South Carolina's governor blew off the National Governors Association in favor of hanging out with Republican governors only. Daisy Deadhead has the links.
• The unemployment blues.
• A conversation at Harper's with Zadie Smith.
• I'm beginning to sound like a newscast. Ick.
• So, to lighten things up: Daniel Radcliffe is rehearsing in a Broadway musical. (No, not the Anthroarachnid Play. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.)

[crossposted]