Is the "Dieting" Al Gore Preparing to Enter '08 Race? Bloomberg Urges Him to Run

Like bookmakers watch the Vegas odds, political pundits have been closely following former VP Al Gore's weight as a barometer into his presidential ambitions. The theory is, if he sheds the weight he enters the race. On "The Chris Matthews Show," former CBS anchor Dan Rather said "Al Gore is thinking seriously about running. He's beginning to lose weight." Matthews replied, "I hear he's made a commitment to a friend for a crash course to lose 40 pounds right away." Said Rather, "Well, the prosecution rests, your honor." Gore has recently said that his desire to lose weight came after he saw himself at the Oscars and concluded that he was overweight. But as I've been saying on this blog for a year and a half now, Gore will be running, and the sudden emphasis on losing weight is a clear indication of his intention.

The prospect of a Gore candidacy is continuing to garner the attention of prominent politicians. Earlier in the week at the opening ceremony of the Tribeca Film Festival, New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged The Goracle to run. "I hope Al Gore enters the race. I think it would be good for the country." And a new Quinnipiac poll shows Gorefaring better than front-runner Hillary Clinton in key states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. "Mayor Rudoph Giuliani remains the front-runner, but he and the entire Democratic field should wonder if Al Gore will become an inconvenient truth in the 2008 presidential race and go for the biggest Oscar of them all," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Gore's been playing it real coy while doing everything humanly possible to set his campaign table...from his Nobel Peace Prize nomination and Oscar award to his many engaging TV appearances and fiery anti-Bush political speeches. Factor in his four terms in the House, two in the Senate, eight as VP, his Vietnam service and his positions on the Iraq war and global warming--both of which resonate highly with the majority of voters right now--and he clearly becomes the Democrats' most electable choice for president. And he knows it.

Given the colossal foreign and domestic policy failures of the Bushevik Monarchy, this is the opportunity of a lifetime for Gore to capture the big prize. He's already gone through the vetting process in 2000 and he's skeleton-free. He's the only Democrat who can enter the race at virtually the last minute, with massive funds behind him, and shoot right to the head of the pack. And let's not forget the most important thing from 2000: he's already won the popular vote once before, and, as many believe, the election. Mark my words, Al Gore will not only run, but he will be re-elected.


On another subject......we could use your help at The Adrienne Shelly Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated in my wife's honor to help carry out her spirit and passion, with the goal of assisting women filmmakers. As you may know, Adrienne was brutally killed in NYC on November 1, 2006. Through the Foundation, her commitment to filmmaking lives on. We've finalized a scholarship with NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/Kanbar Institute of Film; and grants with Columbia University, American Film Institute, NY Women in Film and Television, the Independent Feature Project, and the Nantucket Film Festival. Other initiatives will follow. Please visit our website to learn more about our mission and to make a donation. Every little contribution helps preserve Adrienne's legacy, and to help create something positive out of this horrible tragedy. Thank you.

Adrienne's film "Waitress" will hit theatres May 2nd. Early reviews have been terrific. A link to the trailer is below. Enjoy.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/waitress/trailer/

It's Time to Bring Down the Bushevik Monarchy

The recent debate over the Iraq war and the Democrats' push for a withdrawal timetable has made it perfectly clear that George Bush and Dick Cheney are dangerous and delusional, repeatedly defiling the Constitution and ignoring the will of the people. To bolster the Busheviks' reckless war policies Cheney, aka Dr. Evil, tried this week to engage Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) in a pissing contest, but the feisty Democrat fired off the perfect opening and closing salvo: "I’m not going to get into a name-calling match with somebody who has a 9 percent approval rating." Bravo, baby, bravo. It's time to bring down the House of Bush. The Bushevik Monarchy must come to an end.

Back in November the American people sent a loud, overwhelming message to Washington that it disagreed with the Monarchy's foreign policy strategy and that it wanted an end to the war. It kicked Republicans out of office and handed control of Congress to Democrats. Since then, support for the war has dwindled to a small minority of kool-aid drinking Repugs. But does any of this matter to King George and his faithful Court Jester Cheney? Not a chance. They so arrogantly and defiantly march on in Iraq, slandering and maligning anyone or anything that gets in their way. Cheney accuses of Reid of "defeatism" for his recent comments that "the war is lost" but the simple fact is that Reid's statement resonates with a majority of Americans....as well as the facts on the ground.

Message to Bush and Cheney: America is not a Monarchy, and George Bush is not King. They've created this war under false pretenses, and have subsequently botched it on every imaginable level since day-one. They refuse to accept responsibility for the debacle that exists there now, and they ruthlessly attack the patriotism of anyone who dares come out against this military disaster. It's the Busheviks who are the unpatriotic ones. They're nothing but a vicious pack of self-serving, power-hungry draft-dodging cowards who are using the uniforms and bodies of our brave soldiers to prop up their own lack of real testosterone. I still find it mind-blowing that a battle-fearing wimp like Cheney can, on any conceivable level, attempt to smear a true war hero, patriot and military expert like Rep. John Murtha. But alas he will try, and keep trying. Because that's what these cowards do in their quest to hold onto their precious Monarchy.

The Busheviks shamelessly defend their exploitation of our men and women in the military by saying that we on the left who don't support the war therefore do not support the troops. This is irresponsible and reprehensible political rhetoric. The Busheviks and the GOP prides itself on its military prowess, and its support for, and of, our soldiers. Well, what about sending troops to die four years ago in an unjust war? What about failing to properly arm and equip them? What about increasing their tours of duty to 1 1/2 years? What about the outrageous health violations and living conditions at Walter Reade Hospital? What about the lies and cover ups involving Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch? What about the consistent cutbacks of veterans' benefits? You call this support?

The war is lost and the Monarchy needs to accept that and stop blaming everyone but itself for it. How many soldiers have to die before we bring this conflict to an end? How many years must pass before, like Vietnam, we throw our collective hands up in defeat and say it's time to bring our brave troops home? How long must we as a nation endure the desperate, delusional rein of Bush and Cheney before we can get back on course to being the greatest nation on Earth?

On Tuesday Ohio Congressman and presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich introduced articles of impeachment against Cheney. This came ahead of a series of protests planned for this weekend calling for the impeachment of both Deadeye Dick and King George. Let's just hope this is just the start of something much bigger.


On another subject......we could use your help at The Adrienne Shelly Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated in my wife's honor to help carry out her spirit and passion, with the goal of assisting women filmmakers. As you may know, Adrienne was brutally killed in NYC on November 1, 2006. Through the Foundation, her commitment to filmmaking lives on. We've finalized a scholarship with NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/Kanbar Institute of Film; and grants with Columbia University, American Film Institute, NY Women in Film and Television, the Independent Feature Project, and the Nantucket Film Festival. Other initiatives will follow. Please visit our website to learn more about our mission and to make a donation. Every little contribution helps preserve Adrienne's legacy, and to help create something positive out of this horrible tragedy. Thank you.

Adrienne's film "Waitress" will hit theatres May 2nd. Early reviews have been terrific. A link to the trailer is below. Enjoy.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/waitress/trailer/

The Bushies Lied About Tillman and Lynch

She was the petite war hero. The "Little Girl Rambo from the hills of West Virginia" who was critically injured in a blaze of gunfire in Iraq and was subsequently rescued by American troops from a hospital in Hollywood-like fashion. He was the NFL star-turned-war-hero who actually looked like Rambo and was killed heroically battling the enemy in Afghanistan. At least that’s what the lying Bush administration wanted us to believe since 2003. In Congressional hearings that began Tuesday, testimony and evidence was put forth reinforcing charges that the White House intentionally misled the public over the details of the ambush of Pfc. Jessica Lynch and death of Cpl. Pat Tillman in an effort to keep Americans behind the Iraq war.

Henry Waxman, (D-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, accused the Bushies of inventing "sensational details and stories" about these two highly publicized incidents. "The government violated its most basic responsibility," said Waxman.

As we now know, the dramatic stories put out by the Bushies about Lynch and Tillman were 100% false. Lynch in fact was taken prisoner after her maintenance convoy went astray and she was ambushed. Tillman met his untimely death at the hands of friendly fire. Lies, lies and more lies by the pathological lying liars who’ve been running our country since 2000. This was government propaganda at its best.

"I am still confused as to why they chose to lie and tried to make me a legend when the real heroics of my fellow soldiers that day were, in fact, legendary," said Lynch. Well, I can answer that one for her. Since it stepped foot into the White House, this administration has been lying through its collective teeth and breaking law after law in order to further its aggressive, reckless right-wing agenda. The amount of lies and misdeeds has been mind-blowing: WMD; Saddam and Al Qaeda connections; yellowcake uranium purchases; nation-building; the real cost of the war; the war’s progress; and illegal wiretappings to name a few. Is it any real wonder why Bush would lie about Lynch and Tillman in a shameless effort to exploit them for partisan political purposes? To use them as pawns in his delusional campaign to keep the public behind the war? This is an administration that was founded on lies, for Pete’s sake.

The real question is, what will the Democratically-controlled Congress do about it now? Will it merely wrist slap these liars as Congress has in the past when Republicans were in charge or will it finally demand accountability this time around? It’s time the legislative branch of government starts doing its job and stops enabling our liar-in-chief. Can you say…impeachment?


On another subject......we could use your help at The Adrienne Shelly Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated in my wife's honor to help carry out her spirit and passion, with the goal of assisting women filmmakers. As you may know, Adrienne was brutally killed in NYC on November 1, 2006. Through the Foundation, her commitment to filmmaking lives on. We've finalized a scholarship with NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/Kanbar Institute of Film; and grants with Columbia University, American Film Institute, NY Women in Film and Television, the Independent Feature Project, and the Nantucket Film Festival. Other initiatives will follow. Please visit our website to learn more about our mission and to make a donation. Every little contribution helps preserve Adrienne's legacy, and to help create something positive out of this horrible tragedy. Thank you.

Adrienne's film "Waitress" will hit theatres May 2nd. Early reviews have been terrific. A link to the trailer is below. Enjoy.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/waitress/trailer/

Harry Reid is Right About the Iraq War

Last week Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) caused a ruckus in Washington by saying that there is no military solution to the Iraqi conflict. That it’s over and it’s time to get out: "I believe myself that the secretary of state, the secretary of defense -- and you have to make your own decision as to what the president knows -- that this war is lost, and that the surge is not accomplishing anything, as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday." Republicans were quick to pounce, calling the Democratic leader unpatriotic and unsupportive of our troops, 3300 of whom have died fighting this debacle.

What Reid said is 100% true, and he is not alone. For example, conservative columnist William F. Buckley is also on record saying that the war "has failed." It’s no secret that Iraq has been torn apart and gutted as a result of the Unites States’ March 2003 invasion. The country is mired in civil war, and the violence worsens with each passing day. Let’s face it, Bush is not sending in an additional 20,000 troops because things are going well. Our soldiers are getting killed daily; the troops are forced to do longer tours of duty; and our National Guardsmen are being sent back into battle before they even have a chance to unpack here at home. It’s a disgrace.

Bush and his war-mongering cronies took it upon themselves to invade a sovereign nation under the guise of (a) retaliating against 911; (b) protecting America and Britain from WMD "mushroom clouds;" and then (c) building a stable Democracy in the Middle East. As we now all know, there were no WMD in Iraq; there was no connection to bin Laden and Al Qaeda; and true, sustainable Democracy is but a fantasy. Failure, failure, failure. And the insurgents have been empowered and emboldened by this failure, not weakened. And Bush’s desperate "troop surge" is not going to make one bit of difference in changing Iraq’s military and political landscape.

The Republicans don’t like Harry Reid and his assessment of the war. But too bad. This is not Harry Reid’s mess. This military disaster belongs 100% to Bush and the Republican Party. This is their war. If they don’t like it being called a failure, or that it is "lost," then they should demonstrate its successes and spare us the incessant partisan rhetoric. Stop regurgitating all this BS about progress and success and show it to us.

Bush and the Republicans, in their supreme arrogance, are choosing to ignore the will of the electorate; choosing to forget that a majority of Americans voted for a change in leadership last November, and that the administration’s failed Iraq policy was the primary reason for this changing of the guard. Harry Reid is doing what the American people asked him to do: exercising greater Congressional oversight than when the GOP foxes were the ones guarding the henhouse. Bush and his Iraq War Mob don’t get to run amok in Iraq, causing tens of thousands of deaths, and then expect a free pass here at home on the PR front.

What’s worse, saying those who are against the Bushies’ failed Iraq war are therefore against the troops, is a shameful, despicable political calculation. Sorry George, Sen. Reid and the Democrats just don’t believe that the way to support the troops is to send more of them to die in an unjust, miserable failure of a war that you and you alone created. Kudos to Reid for having the courage to stand up and say what needs to be said.


On another subject......we could use your help at The Adrienne Shelly Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated in my wife's honor to help carry out her spirit and passion, with the goal of assisting women filmmakers. As you may know, Adrienne was brutally killed in NYC on November 1, 2006. Through the Foundation, her commitment to filmmaking lives on. We've finalized a scholarship with NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/Kanbar Institute of Film; and grants with Columbia University, American Film Institute, NY Women in Film and Television, the Independent Feature Project, and the Nantucket Film Festival. Other initiatives will follow. Please visit our website to learn more about our mission and to make a donation. Every little contribution helps preserve Adrienne's legacy, and to help create something positive out of this horrible tragedy. Thank you.

Adrienne's film "Waitress" will hit theatres May 2nd. Early reviews have been terrific. A link to the trailer is below. Enjoy.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/waitress/trailer/

ImusGate Demonstrates What's Really Wrong With America

I've always been fascinated by the phenomenon known as "media frenzy." Why is it that just as one sensational case seems to be in its last throes there's always another that steps right in to take its place: Anna Nicole Smith, meet Don Imus. Is it that the media itself helps create the fodder for the frenzy in some highly manipulative attempt at self-preservation? Just as the dope pusher keeps his users perpetually stoned? I am aghast at how much attention both the media and its trash-addicted public will dedicate to perhaps the least important matters in the country. When there is so many more important issues to report on and stir public debate, the media deftly obfuscates its responsibilities by feeding the beast with diversionary crap. It's sickening. And it's getting worse.

This week the vultures are feeding on ImusGate. The frenzy is out of control. It's hard to imagine that there's any more room on the bandwagon for anyone else to pile on and take a swat at the pathetic shock jock. To be sure, the poor blathering idiot Imus brought this mess on himself last week when he made a moronic, highly offensive comment about the Rutgers women's basketball team, calling them "nappy-headed ho's." As a result, he's been publicly flogged and dragged over the coals non-stop, despite a constant chorus of what I consider to be very heartfelt, genuine apologies. But the vultures do not want apologies. They do not want redemption. And they offer no forgiveness. They want Imus' head on a black platter. MSNBC announced Wednesday that they're canceling his simulcast show. And several major advertisers--including Sprint, GM and American Express--have pulled their sponsorships.

Most people who know me know that I am as liberal as they come. I am a true lefty Democrat, and I champion the rights of women, gays, minorities, the poor and the oppressed. Nothing pushes my buttons more than bigotry, prejudice, ignorance and intolerance. I abhor racism and racists. But I am truly disgusted by ImusGate. The double-standards are mind-numbing. We allow shameless racial-antagonists like the Rev. Al Sharpton to destroy people's lives (Steven Pagones) and then reward them with the honor of running for U.S. president. Rev. Jesse Jackson is still a media darling and respected civil rights leader despite his 1982 "HymieTown slur. We slap the wrists of on-air bigoted criminals like Rush Limbaugh because he's part of a much bigger political machine. Ann Coulter, the right-wing SpinWitch, calls presidential candidate John Edwards a "faggot" and continues to sell millions of books and do talk shows. William Bennett can say that aborting "every black baby in this country" would reduce the crime rate, and he somehow still has a thriving media career. It's ok for MTV and network television execs to poison our children's minds with garbage programming. Corporate America capitalistically attaches itself to gangsta rappers who extol the virtues of drugs, violence and misogyny--where the terms bitches, ho's, muthufucka and nigga' make up just about every lyric--and then in a fit of supreme self-righteousness and sanctimony punishes Don Imus in order to publicly self-cleanse. None of this excuses the racist comment Imus made, which may ultimately result in his firing, and perhaps rightly so. But this hypocrisy is enough to make ya sick.

What's worse, as a society, we allow George Bush and his cronies to rape the constitution. We allow our government to lie about war and kill our young men and women in the process. We allow Republicans to cut funding for programs that benefit the poor and minorities. We allow voters in minority areas to be disenfranchised and their rights violated. We allow the oil companies to push fuel prices to record levels. We allow Republicans for ten years to keep the minimum wage at $5.15 per hour. And no one seems to give a shit because they're too busy obsessing over Anna Nicole Smith, Britany Spears and now Don Imus.

Wake up America. Nothing is going to change in this country until we get our priorities straight and demonstrate some consistency.


On another subject......we could use your help at The Adrienne Shelly Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated in my wife's honor to help carry out her spirit and passion, with the goal of assisting women filmmakers. As you may know, Adrienne was brutally killed in NYC on November 1, 2006. Through the Foundation, her commitment to filmmaking lives on. We've finalized a scholarship with NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/Kanbar Institute of Film; and grants with Columbia University, American Film Institute, NY Women in Film and Television, the Independent Feature Project, and the Nantucket Film Festival. Other initiatives will follow. Please visit our website to learn more about our mission and to make a donation. Every little contribution helps preserve Adrienne's legacy, and to help create something positive out of this horrible tragedy. Thank you.

Adrienne's film "Waitress" will hit theatres May 2nd. Early reviews have been terrific. A link to the trailer is below. Enjoy.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/waitress/trailer/

The True Racism Behind the Don Imus Saga

Racism in 2007 America is no less shameful than it's been at any other period in our nation's 231 year history. There is simply no excuse, ever, for racial prejudice and intolerance, and that holds true for entertainers like Don Imus, who last week on his nationally-syndicated radio program referred to female basketball players from Rutgers University as "nappy-headed ho's." Was this comment despicable? Yes. Extremely inappropriate and highly insensitive? Of course. Just plain stupid? Without question. But are we to surmise from this comment that deep down in his core Don Imus is truly a racist? I think not. But the public outcry from people like the Rev. Al Sharpton serves to hold a mirror up to what is the real racism in America. The double-standard that exists between whites and blacks; the rules of engagement that are imposed upon us by the PC Police. Don Imus, reprehensible and irresponsible behavior aside, is now the victim of an even bigger racism.

Let me say first that I am no fan of Don Imus. I never listen to his show and I don't think he is funny. In fact, his incessant mumbling makes anything he says unintelligible in my opinion. But I have been listening these past several days only because of the incredible controversy surrounding him and this story. During this period, Imus has been taking a pounding from just about anyone who's gotten in line to have a swat at this alleged poster-boy for racism. As a result he's been on the receiving end of perhaps the biggest bitch-slapping in media history. And his personal mea culpas have been non-stop. On Monday he was pilloried for two hours by Sharpton on the black leader's own radio program. It was brutal. It was relentless. And it was wrong. What's really wrong with society today is that someone like Sharpton is allowed to capitalize on a stupid remark and exploit it to death to further his own racist agenda. Society says it's ok for a black man to publicly crucify a white man so long as that white man even skimmed the racism surface. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember Jesse Jackson being subjected to a two-hour on-air skewering after his infamous 1984 "HymieTown" comment. Was this anti-Semitic ccomment publicly condemned? Yes. Did Jackson pay a huge price politically for it? Yes. But did he have to sit through a two-hour flogging, which is what Sharpton perpetrated on Monday? No. That would've resulted in public cries of racism from the black community.

What about Sharpton himself, and his own highly checkered racial past? How did Rev. Al somehow end up as the standard-bearer of high morals and racial equality? How did someone who plays the race card to exploit every possible situation for his own self-aggrandizing selfish interests--as he did back in the late '80's with the sensational Tawana Brawley case--become the official voice of the racially oppressed? As Slate Magazine wrote in 2003: According to the Associated Press, Sharpton and Brawley's lawyers asserted "on 33 separate occasions" that a local prosecutor named Steven Pagones "had kidnapped, abused and raped" Brawley. There was no evidence, and Pagones was soon cleared. Sharpton then accused a local police cult with ties to the Irish Republican Army of perpetrating the alleged assault. The case fizzled when a security guard for Brawley's lawyers testified that the lawyers and Sharpton knew Brawley was lying. A grand jury investigation concluded in late 1988 that Brawley "was not the victim of forcible sexual assault" and that the whole thing was a hoax. The report specifically exonerated Pagones, and in 1998 Pagones won a defamation lawsuit against Sharpton, Brawley, and Brawley's lawyers. Sharpton was ordered to pay Pagones $65,000. Johnnie Cochran and other Sharpton benefactors subsidized the payment.

And what did white and black America subsequently bestow on this racial firebrand? The opportunity to run for U.S. president. Furthermore, Sharpton never subjected himself to the kind of public castration Imus himself was foolish enough to volunteer for.

Look, Imus is an idiot. We all know that. Just like Rush Limbaugh, who makes fun of handicapped people like Michael J. Fox. These babbling blowhards suffer from the kind of foot-in-mouth-disease that most of us never experience because we somehow know better than to make such moronic comments. But I do agree with Imus that there's a contextual element that needs to be considered here. Imus is not a journalist. He is not a politician. He is not an educator. He is a comedian. What Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Don Rickles, Lisa Lampanelli, Sarah Silverman, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock and countless others have taught us is that under this comic umbrella certain people get to use the N word, make shit jokes, Jew jokes, aborted-baby jokes and mock the handicapped. That's what comedians do. They make fun of life and the people in it. Do they push the envelope? Absolutely. And they sometimes go too far. But does it make them racist? That's a tall order, and I'm just not buyin' it. Sorry. Imus' highly offensive remark needs to be viewed within the context of a comedian making a joke, albeit a horribly racist one, within a comedy program.

Imus is a bonehead. And he should be disciplined. He's been suspended for two weeks, and he's promised to tone down the insensitive rhetoric and use his radio show as a platform to help mend the racial divide. He deserves that chance. He's got a 35-year broadcast record that is not representative of that one stupid comment. As he's pointed out in his own defense, his charitable work on behalf of children with cancer (many of them black) and in finding a cure for sickle-cell anemia is well known. We live in a country where the punishment fits the crime. Firing Don Imus over his mistake does nothing to fight racism. To the country, it only fuels it in a much bigger way by giving inciters like Sharpton a much bigger voice, and a much stronger hand, in spewing their own racism. One could even ask the Rev. Al, a follower of Jesus and the Bible, about "forgiveness." That he fails to practice what he supposedly preaches only makes his ulterior motives even more suspect. Don Imus...Tawana Brawley...only the names have changed. For Al Sharpton, it's the same old story.

RuPaul Giuliani Says He's the Ultimate Tough Guy to Fight War & Terror

Former NYC Mayor RuPaul Giuliani would like us to believe that when it comes to fighting terrorists and Iraqi insurgents, he's best suited for the job. And he may actually be right...at least when it comes to pumps and Bob Mackie gowns. The NY Times on Saturday reported from the Giuliani campaign trail that the would-be Philanderer-in-Chief told supporters in South Carolina: "What they say in Washington is not going to affect the fact that there are terrorists around the world that are planning to come here and kill us. It is something I understand better than anyone else running for president."

Really? Just because he happened to be at the World Trade Center that fateful morning, running for his dust-covered life on national TV, qualifies him as a 911 hero? This is something I will never understand. Back in September 2001, Giuliani was nothing more than a lousy, racially-insensitive, mayor-turned-opportunist who exploited the nation's worst tragedy for his own political self-interests. Who will ever forget his shameless land-grab when he attempted to have the November election postponed so that New Yorkers could bask in his alleged greatness for several more months?

And now, the guy who never met a lacy beaded gown that he doesn't like, wants to be president and lead our military forces. Where is the outcry from Democrats? Giuliani is the GOP's frontrunner (and this writer's bet for most likely nominee), and the Democrats are so far looking a gift horse in the face and saying "no thanks." When the Repugs desperately wanted to win in '04, it didn't matter to them that John Kerry was a highly decorated enlisted Vietnam war hero. It didn't matter to them that Kerry had also been a successful prosecutor, like Giuliani. No, they chose to SwiftBoat his ass into oblivion. Think about that. Our guy was a decorated war hero and the ruthless Rovians convinced Americans that he wasn't tough enough to fight Iraq and Al Qaeda. And to discredit his bravery, his medals and his overall patriotism they rolled out a bunch of lying scum who claimed to have fought with him, and who claimed he was a military fraud. It was despicable. The Repugs also vilified Kerry using repeated film clips and sound bites from his emotional 1971/72 Winter Soldier anti-war testimony. They even showed him windsurfing, as if somehow this should disqualify him from office. One election later, their frontrunner shows every indication of being a closeted drag queen for Pete's sake, and Democrats refuse to fight fire with fire. They have multiple photos and film clips of RuPaul Giuliani dressed like (and I might add looking like) Shelly Winters and what are they doing with them? Nothing. It's infuriating. How do you think those photos would play in the Heartland? In the South? Across middle-America? Republican voters would likely be horrified, and it would instantly derail the whole tough-guy image that's propping up his candidacy. Just imagine what Rove would be doing with drag photos of Barack Obama or John Edwards. There'd be bloodshed.

If the Democrats ever want to inhabit the White House again, and if they truly want to show Americans that they are tough enough to handle war, then they need to start proving that they have the cajones to start battling their own enemy right here in Washington. And they can start by sending RuPaul Giuliani for a little SwiftBoat ride down the Beltway.


On another subject......we could use your help at The Adrienne Shelly Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated in my wife's honor to help carry out her spirit and passion, with the goal of assisting women filmmakers. As you may know, Adrienne was brutally killed in NYC on November 1, 2006. Through the Foundation, her commitment to filmmkaing lives on. We've finalized a scholarship with NYU's Tisch School of the Arts/Kanbar Institute of Film; and grants with Columbia University, American Film Institute, NY Women in Film and Television, the Independent Feature Project, and the Nantucket Film Festival. Other initiatives will follow. Please visit our website to learn more about our mission and to make a donation. Every little contribution helps preserve Adrienne's legacy, and to help create something positive out of this horrible tragedy. Thank you.

Adrienne's film "Waitress" will hit theatres May 2nd. Early reviews have been terrific. A link to the trailer is below. Enjoy.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/waitress/trailer/