AB.com Open Mic Monday.

I'll be back soon. Drop links, write your own posts. You know the drill by now.

Question: What's on your mind today?

AverageNation™ March Madness Standings.

AverageNation™ March Madness is in full effect! We're at the midpoint (sorta). Lots of upsets, but all the #1 seeds are moving forward to the Sweet 16. #GoHeels

Here's the standings, as of today. Perennial leader Jeff Bempong is on top, but I'm on his heels. Pun not intended.

AB.com Open Mic Thursday

With customers the rest of the week. Thus, entertain yourselves. Drop links, write your own posts. You know the drill by now.

Question: What's on your mind today?

#Obama2012's Really Weird, Really Pointless Sarah Palin Ad.

[Editor's Note: Yeah, another Palin post. Deal with it.]

Uhhh, seriously, what's up with this ad? Of all the things the Obama campaign could be attacking the right on, the go find that clip from Sarah Palin's appearance on Fox News, and give it the web vid treatment.

Sarah Palin is charging that President Barack Obama’s just-released campaign commercial is an “absurd new attack ad” in which her comments have been heavily edited and taken out of context.

“The far Left continues to believe American voters are not smart enough to grasp the diversionary tactics it employs to distract us from the issues our President just doesn’t want to talk about – issues that affect us all every day and must be addressed,” Palin wrote on her Facebook page late Monday. “Exhibit A in these diversionary tactics is an absurd new attack ad President Obama has released taking my comments out of context.”

Palin said Monday on her Facebook page, “I’m not running for any office, but I’m more than happy to accept the dubious honor of being Barack Obama’s ‘enemy of the week’ if that includes the opportunity to debate him on the issues Americans are actually concerned about.”

The new “heavily edited” ad is “quite odd,” the former Alaska governor continued.

“It shows that our President sure seems fearful of discussing the economy, energy prices, and all the other problems people need addressed,” she said.

Yes, accusing someone of taking your words out of context, after you've... well, gone on TV and taken their words out of context is the definition of hypocrisy, but hey, this is Miss Sarah. Typical rules, and logic, do not apply. She's a (serial) victim once more. Chi. Ching.




I have a serious problem with this video: it's reactive, rather than proactive. It's also aimed at a person who has the political relevance of a bowl of grits. Seriously, why bother? Where's the "food stamp President" anti-Newt ad? Where's the "he was for ObamaCare before he was against it" anti-Mitt ad? Where's the "hey, look at those racist newsletters" anti-Paul ad? Where's the "this guy is f*ckin' crazy!" anti-Santorum ad?

Picking on Palin, 4 years after the fact? Utterly pointless. I mean, seriously, leave that sort frivolous BS to bloggers like me. All you do is legitimize her (maybe) again, and give her a "look, he's attacking me again!" platform that she can use to sell more books, and maybe get a renewed contract at Fox. Do we really want that? No.

Seriously, #TeamObama, get your stuff straight.

Question: Is this ad totally pointless, or did it need to be said? Does this prove, for once and for all, that #TeamObama is threatened by #TeamSarah? Are you as sick of these #Team hashtags as I am?!?

AB Goes To The Movies - HBO's Game Change.

Maybe some of you with real lives were out having fun Saturday night, but married, 2 1/2 kids having political nerds like me were home watching HBO's Game Change. The movie, much like Recount, is HBO's retelling of an election from a behind the scenes perspective. Whereas the prior movie was about the much disputed 2000 election, Game Change focuses on the 2008 election, specifically the McCain/Palin ticket.

If you saw the movie, share your thoughts below. If you didn't, here's the trailer.



A few things about this movie stuck out.

1) You can try and spin it anyway you want, but this isn't a movie that makes Sarah Palin look good. Perhaps if nothing else, you feel a bit more sympathetic to her, since it's clear she was thrust into a situation she was not prepared for, at all.

2) Then again, the movie confirms everything we already knew about Palin. She's shallow. She's prideful. She's catty.

3) The McCain camp didn't discover her via YouTube. That's a dramatization. She'd been on the campaign's radar for months.

4) The McCain camp, did, however, only spend 5 days vetting her. The book goes into this in more detail than the movie, but either way, it's somewhat scary that the people "vetting" her didn't bother asking her questions about basic knowledge of history, foreign relations, or her background. Perhaps more scary than Vice President Palin is the fact that most of these same people who didn't vet her would have been high ranking officials in a McCain White House. Thank you, Jesus!

5) Ed Harris as McCain... didn't quite do it. He looked the part, but his voice and mannerisms were like 2 decades too young. We don't know enough about Steve Schmidt, but I know the guy's grossy overweight. Which is why Woody Harrellson's portrayal is only about halfway there. As for Palin, well, I don't know what award they give for TV movies (Emmys?!?) but I'm pretty sure Julianne Moore's getting one. She became Palin. It was scary at times.

6) Some on the right are complaining that this movie wasn't focused on Obama/Hilary or could have instead taken on John Edwards' obvious issues. Prolly true, but I don't see anyone stopping Conservatives from making their own movies. Actually, after drivel like Media Malpractice, and The Undefeated, it's probably better that they just stick to trashing Obama via cable news and radio.

Final Verdict - This movie wasn't perfect, but I'm sure it wasn't intended to be. It's a piece of disposable entertainment that probably would have seemed more timely had Palin run this year. Instead, it's just low key pro-Obama propaganda. Not that there's anything wrong with that. 3 Stars (Out Of 5)

Question: Did you see Game Change? Was the movie a fair portrayal? Is there such a thing as a fair portrayal?!?

AB Goes To The Movies - Still Standing

Friend Of AB.com, and founder of the blog Black And Married With Kids, Lamar Tyler presents his latest film, Still Standing. Check it out.

From the creators of BlackandMarriedWithKids.com, Happily Ever After and You Saved Me comes the next installment of timeless love stories. A diverse group of couples provide transparent, insightful conversation about what it takes to have lasting power in current day marriages. Through infidelity, chronic illness, financial crisis and more these couples explain WHY and more importantly HOW they are STILL STANDING. Starring Kindred the Family Soul, Speech (Arrested Development) and Yolanda Thomas and Dr. Sherry Blake.



Advanced Screening Info.

DC Advance Screening 3/24/12
CHI Advance Screening 3/31/12
HOU Advance Screening 4/27/12
DAL Advance Screening 4/28/12
ATL Advance Screening 5/3/12

Still Standing is available on May 1st, and we'll be having a contest for free copies later, but you can pre-order the DVD on sale now.

Sarah Palin Confuses "Civil Rights" With "Civil War". Or Something Like That.

Count your blessings folks. This woman could have been one missed heartbeat away from The White House. Instead, she's on Fox News, talking about things she clearly knows little to nothing about. But what's new about that?

Question: Did she actually mean "Civil Rights Movement", not "The Civil War"? Does either explanation make sense?!?