I’ve written several articles skewering HBO for producing political projects destined to air immediately prior to the 2012 election, where the vast majority of the cast and crew are passionate Barack Obama supporters, and where the content is aimed at the Democrat’s two favorite Republican villains: Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney. So, when I sat down to watch HBO’s Too Big to Fail, I prepared myself for the worst. What I didn’t expect was the big surprise awaiting me.

Too Big to Fail, which premieres on HBO on May 23, 2011, features a star studded cast recounting the events that led to the financial crisis and bailouts by the U.S. government in 2008. It is a mini-series packed into a 98-minute made-for-television movie where several essential characters are quickly introduced and where finance and economics are casually discussed. It may help if one has a baseline of knowledge about the crisis before watching the movie. If one doesn’t know who Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke, and Timothy Geithner are or what Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, and AIG are, it may prove slightly difficult to follow.

Although the Director, Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile), was limited to telling a very long and complicated story in a very short amount of time, he was able to skillfully pull it off. Perhaps this is because the screenwriter, Peter Gould (Breaking Bad), deftly adapted Andrew Ross Sorkin’s 2009 prize winning New York Times Bestseller, Too Big to Fail. (more…)

I was at a friend’s house a few nights ago for a little informal gathering. When we were chatting he had his iPod providing some background music.  One of the songs that came on was from the “Woodstock” soundtrack. So there I was in a kitchen full of conservative upper middle class Midwesterners who were suddenly waxing poetic about how great Woodstock was.

What happened next was the kind of thing I do that keeps me off the party circuit.  I said something to the effect that Woodstock was an unmitigated disaster and a perfect metaphor for the Obama administration. If it were technically possible this is the point where we would have heard a needle scratching across the album and dead silence while the folks stared at me in disbelief. (more…)

As all the politicians, left and right, run around feigning indignation at the bonuses paid to a few AIG executives I am reminded of the scene in the movie “Casablanca” when Captain Renault closes down Rick’s Café American. As his deputies empty the casino in the back room he exclaims with stunned surprise, “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” He says this just as one of Sam’s employees brings him his winnings.

I am not sure what makes me angrier, that absolutely bogus attitude or their overwhelming incompetence, but that’s not what I want to write about today. I’m not going to write about a lot of stuff here. I am not going to write about fact that Chris Dodd wrote the rule that allowed these bonuses and then in perfect Clintonese quasi denied it when he said, “I can’t point a finger at someone who was responsible for putting those dates in. I can tell you this much, when my language left the Senate, it did not include it. When it came back, it did.” Then when confronted with his lie, he owned up to it. I won’t spend time on the fact he took a ton of campaign dough from AIG, headquartered in his state. (more…)

Mainstream media coverage of crucial issues gives us plenty to complain about around here. Much like aerobic exercise, it jacks the heart-rate and makes me cranky (though if I’m going to spill my drink anyway, I’d  rather do it while yelling at Chris Matthews. Call me a junkie). 

But tonight is one of those rare opportunities to kick back and appreciate the fact that not every journalist on network TV is standing around the same water cooler.  (more…)

Ever since Bill Clinton gave us the greatest insight into the modern political mind with the words, “It depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is,” it has become important for the intelligent citizen to closely parse all political speech. I didn’t listen to President Obama’s speech to Congress live because I was busy watching a “Maude” marathon on some obscure cable network. I recorded the speech so I could fast forward through all of the obligatory applause breaks and got his hour and ten minute speech down to forty five minutes. I pulled out a few quotes from the speech so I could break them down and share their deeper meaning. Mr. Obama’s words will be in bold and my explanation will follow. I may have missed your favorite quote, or your take on these may be a little different than mine, so feel free to add it when you comment.

“Nor did all of our problems begin when the housing market collapsed or the stock market sank. We have known for decades that our survival depends on finding new sources of energy.”

So your theory, Mr. President, is that if we would have given out a wind turbine or a solar panel with every bad loan we would be ok today? (more…)

I’ve been out at sea on a working cruise all week and get limited television in my cabin. Two of my five choices are CNN and Fox News so I get my fill of every news cycle, but never more than during this past week when every other talking head on Fox and every single one on CNN was some important Democrat repeating the Obama line of the week: “We have to do something!” Usually this is followed by one of the following sub-talking points: (more…)