I watched the Curveball interview on 60 Minutes this evening and as I suspected he seemed to fall somewhere between an opportunist and a nut. Just in case you stopped caring, Curveball is the code name for the Iraqi defective who supplied the 'intelligence' which would become the Bush administration's justification for invading Iraq.
For those of you who might be saying to yourself, "damn liberal media, this guy is a hero"not so fast. In response to public criticism an investigative committee (which was launched by Bush) released a report in March 2005 with some fairly damning conclusions about Curveball. His German intelligence handlers found him to be "crazy . . . out of control", a US physician working for the Department of Defense suspected he might be an alcoholic and (my personal favorite) his friends describe him as a "congenital liar."
Yep, this guy was the crux of Colin Powell's argument to the United Nations for the invasion of Iraq.
Why would someone do this? Former CIA agent Tyler Drumheller (who is the former chief of CIA covert operations in Europe) candidly stated that this was a guy who needed a German Green Card and was playing the system.
So it looks like this was our equation for war:
(Dick Cheney + Halliburton) x (George Bush + a score to settle with Hussein) x (an Iraqi who needed a Green Card) = Invasion of Iraq.
If you were a teenager in the late 90s (like I was) chances are you caught the movie Cruel Intentions. Even as a sixteen year old viewer, the film seemed pretty weak to me. First, the character of Cecile (played by Selma Blair) is supposed to be naive, not mentally challenged. Unfortunately, Roger Kumble (the director) and Blair didn't take the time to ensure this distinction was clear. Second, and most importantly, it doesn't matter how wealthy or educated, American teenagers simply do not talk slowly and deliberately.
Despite these obvious oversights on the part of the filmmakers the movie is regrettably somewhat of a guilty pleasure for me. If I come across it on television I'll watch for at least twenty minutes even though I've seen it about fifty times (thanks to a high school pal with a serious Ryan Phillippe obsession).
I've known for some time that the movie was a 'modern' take on the film Dangerous Liasions which stars Glenn Close, John Malkovich, and Michelle Pfeiffer, but I had never taken the time to watch it even though I love each of those actors, especially John Malkovich.
Last night, my husband and I watched Red, which was decent, but left me hungry for more Malkovich. So, I downloaded Dangerous Liasions. What a delicious movie! It's slightly melodramatic, but the dialogue is razor sharp, and much more believable since we're dealing with adult French aristocrats circa 1760 instead of modern day Manhattan teens. It's definitely the kind of movie you want to watch while sipping a bold red wine and occasionally popping a piece of dark chocolate in your mouth. And Malkovich is pitch perfect! Three parts sensual and one part creepy, he was born to play Valmont! Also, I think he's the only man who could get away with hissing at someone he doesn't like.
Here's an interesting little tidbit- playing the parts of Valmont/Sebastian and Madame de Tourvel/Annette must be pretty intense since Malkovich and Pfeiffer ended up having an affair while filming Dangerous Liasions that ended his marriage, and Phillippe and Witherspoon became pregnant and were married after filming Cruel Intentions.
I would like to issue an apology to my flock of loyal followers (most of you know me, but for those who don't, I'm not that grandiose- just really sarcastic). I'm sorry that I've been slacking on the blog this past week. My work duties temporarily expanded, but are returning to normal tomorrow.
As you might have read in my very first post, I won't be discussing my work. But I do feel compelled to tell you all that every once in awhile my job requires that I ask, "Hey did you grab the snakes? What about the babies?"
Why does the U.S. always seem to have some character that we're socially stoning? Does this happen in other countries? Do they do this sort of thing in other parts of the world or are they content to watch our little melodramas unfold and roll their eyes?
I am so tired of this routine: a well known human being makes a mistake that has very little impact on the rest of us and everyone starts weighing in, masking their judgement with "concern." Ugh.
And don't attempt to go against the grain- you will be judged too! I remember last year I told several people that I thought we all needed to lay off Tiger Woods. You would have thought I suggested bringing back ritual child sacrifice.
Maybe I'm crazy, but when I watch this interview it's the interviewer that annoys me, not Charlie. She's so condescending, and he's not having it! "You're proud of that party moment?" Come off it lady! Haven't you ever been proud of a party moment? We've all done crazy things and most of us relish retelling those stories to our closest friends. I'm not saying I would like to talk about stuff like that on Good Morning America, but I'm also not being asked to, thank goodness.
My brother and I were discussing this social stoning phenomenon tonight and he used the words "covert hostility." Take notice during all this Charlie Sheen coverage- everyone is covertly hostile. It's so bizarre. All the commentators are saying stuff like "I hope he gets help before it's too late" but I get the sense that they don't mean that at all. It's like they want something tragic to occur.
Well, I'm going to say it: I like Charlie Sheen and I mean it. He seems fun. I'm not sure I would want to spend an entire evening with him, mainly because I don't think I could keep up, but I bet he could really liven up a happy hour. You know he has some craaazy stories that would keep everyone in stitches!
I'm really excited about the possibility of catching The Civil Wars during SXSW. Their performance on The Tonight Show was awesome and definitely worth viewing. At first glance you might think that the other Bush twin (Barbara) and Johnny Depp got together and formed a band. Nope! It's Joy Williams and John Paul White. I think these two might have some staying power . . .
