Happy Birthday to Christopher Newman, 58. Nope, I never heard of him, either. But he was on the crew -- assistant director or some such on...ready? Match Point; Sense and Sensibility; Much Ado; Brazil; Return of the Jedi; The Great Muppet Caper; and Supermans II and III. Also, Rome -- and he's a producer on Game of Thrones. And lots more. That's not bad! Enough to even mean we should forgive whatever contributions he had to, alas, The Phantom Menace.
Good stuff:
1. Sean Trende on the possible electoral effects of passing immigration reform.
2. Okay, there are lots of good reasons not to like Dilbert, but the basic point of Dilbert is one worth knowing. Kevin Drum doesn't talk Dilbert, but makes a good point about real government waste.
3. Reid Wilson has a good overview of Senate 2014 recent developments.
4. And no Medicaid expansion for Montana...because a state legislator hit the wrong button. Stochastic universe, anyone? Sarah Kliff has the story.
Just to clarify, being an assistant director doesn't really have anything to do with directing, it's more of a scheduling, picking background extras and making the crew move faster sort of thing. Not that it isn't a very tough job, it is terribly hard and the hours, oh the hours. But it's not very glamorous and contributes little to the actual artistic content of a film. It'd be like offering congratulations to an assistant communications director for the success of a campaign.
ReplyDeleteFair enough, but: still, there he is on lots of terrific stuff. Even if he's just the good luck charm, well deserving of birthday wishes, no?
DeleteThe five presidents gathering today at the opening of the Bush library appears to tie the record. There are some really great photos of presidents gathering together here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/04/here-are-all-5-living-presidents-together-at-the-george-w-bush-library/275296/
On the political consequences of a 13-year path to citizenship: To me it is extremely dubious to speculate on the voting behavior of people who will not be eligible to vote in presidential elections until 2028. It would be like extrapolating from the easy victory of Bill Clinton in West Virginia in 1996 (which he had also easily carried in 1992 and which even Dukakis had won in 1988) and assuming the state would also vote for the Democratic presidential candidate in 2012. Or to assume that because white women voted 56-44 for Nixon in 1960 while white men gave JFK a slight edge, therefore women would always be more Republican than men. Or that because African Americans voted heavily for Hoover--not just in 1928 but even in 1932--they would be heavily Republican in 1948...
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