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Skip this if you don't want to hear anymore politix stuff.

newerEvidently it is Botox. See this devastating review of Kerry's stump performance in Slate.

newRobert Reich riding out of the past in the The New York Times telling us about the Dead Center. We need to be a bit wary of his specifics, though. He fesses up to be advising Kerry. In this piece, Reich cogently reviews why (and a bit how) the Demos have to reinvent themselves and reject the professionals who have held the Party hostage since Clinton left office.

In Salon this morning: Dean Goes Bust. A little early to say so, but stil,l the money is gone and so is Trippi.

Also in Salon (they are hot today) Sydney Blumenthal writes about the rest of the crowd The Democrats Find Their Voice; showing things on the grander, get Bush out scale.

And it is getting so that Andrew Sullivan (click on link at right) is as pro-Dean as I am. Hard to believe, but here he is today:

[Dean's] concession speech was easily the best of the night. It was authentic, uplifting, and red meat to the Democrats. It actually rang true to me as Dean's real view of the world. It isn't one I entirely share, to say the least, but it is genuine, represents a lot of people in this country and deserves a hearing. He seemed more affable than recently as well. He smiled more. He spoke more calmly but not ineffectively. He's real. Kerry is so fake, in contrast, I cannot believe that Democratic primary voters will continue to support him in such numbers. Dean gave arguments. Kerry spoke in packaged Shrumisms[*]. Dean has a vision. Kerry has ambition. If I were a Democrat, I'd vote for Dean over Kerry in a heartbeat. To my mind, this is a battle between the Democratic party's soul and its fear. The exit polls showed how Kerry won by seeming more electable - thus trashing an old golden rule of American politics. But the more you see of Kerry the less appealing he is. I'm not sure he really is less electable than the dreary Kerry. Maybe Dean needed this early drubbing to make him more tolerable as a candidate. Maybe it's too late and Kerry is way too far ahead to be caught. I don't know. All I know is that what I saw in Dean's speech - and the extraordinary crowd that accompanied it - was more authentic than anything I have ever seen Kerry say or do. That must count for something.

[*]Shrumisms? From The Guardian: Kerry won a significant battle before the primary race even began by luring the Democrats' most celebrated speechwriter and political manager, Robert Shrum, from the Edwards camp. The contest for Mr Shrum's services was seen as so vital among Democrats it became known as the "Shrum primary".

DOGGED

Today's film (well, yesterday's film actually--a great birthday flick):

MY LIFE AS A DOG (1985-Sweden).

What a wonderful film. Funny, sad, teary, happy. I don't know how we missed it the first time around. Maybe we thought it was a 'dog picture'--Old Yeller, like that. No. It is a human picture. Warm, nurturing, kinda nutty people enfold a boy into their family and town after a sad crisis in his life. It is all good. It shows rather than tells about the boy and his transformation, about the family and people who take him in, and all the stuff of rural Swedish life. It is one of those movies that are so good they defy description and make this paragraph lame indeed.

It is Lasse Hallström's career starter: GILBERT GRAPE, CIDER HOUSE RULES, CHOCOLAT. That guy.

I gave it a five out of NetFlixfive. And it is one of the NYTimes Best Thousand (in the 20th Century).