GOP Vixen

Mano a mano combat

First, Colombia kills Raul Reyes, a FARC commander and spokesman, prompting a bluster storm from Hugo Chavez and his lapdogs. Now, commander Ivan Rios (on the left, apparently at a FARC tailgate party), who oversaw Juan Valdez's coffee territory in central Colombia, is apparently dead. Or at least looking for an artificial hand:

"A top rebel leader was killed by his own chief of security, who gave Colombian troops the leader's severed hand as proof, the defense minister said Friday.

Thursday night, he said, a guerrilla known as Rojas came to the troops with Rios' severed right hand, laptop computer and ID, saying he had killed his boss three days earlier. Rojas handed himself over to the soldiers.

It was unclear what motivated the killing, but Santos said it was to 'relieve the military pressure' because the rebels were 'surrounded, without supplies and without communication.'

The U.S. State Department has a bounty of $5 million for Rios' capture, although the agency's spokesman, Kurtis Cooper, had no comment on whether the reward would be paid out in this case."

I imagine this like the case of Douglas Neidermeyer in "Animal House," killed in Vietnam by his own troops...

Calling all arbiters of supreme sexiness!

It's been a while since we conducted the first Sexiest World Leader contest here at GOP Vixen, and since then many new, hot faces have sprung onto the global stage (or, as pictured, some of the old faces finally stripped for the cameras). So we're gearing up for another voter, complete with sassy comments (also see our Sexiest Supreme Court Justice pre-John Roberts contest)! Along with recruiting a capable flock of bloggers, we're also opening up the floor to eager would-be judges. The GOP-V judging panel has traditionally consisted of straight women and gay men (just like a Saturday night in West Hollywood), but this time around we'd love to add a straight male judge who's secure enough in his sexuality to concede that Dmitry Medvedev has a nice ass.

Leave a comment here, or message me at gopvixen@yahoo.com if interested!!

A dark day for humanity

Why are these Palestinians, including children, celebrating? Because a terrorist group newly named after fallen Hezbollah kingpin Imad Mughniyeh sent a gunman into a rabbinical seminary last night and opened fire, killing eight and wounding nine as they studied the word of God and prepared for Purim. Thousands of Palestinians celebrated the massacre in the streets.

More from the AP, including the quote of the day:

"Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev harshly condemned the shooting and said the Palestinian government must take steps against the extremists — not just denounce their attacks.

'Tonight's massacre in Jerusalem is a defining moment,' he told The Associated Press. 'It is clear that those people celebrating this bloodshed have shown themselves to be not only the enemies of Israel but of all of humanity.'

...Israeli defense officials said the attacker came from east Jerusalem, the predominantly Palestinian section of the city. Jerusalem's Palestinians have Israeli ID cards that give them freedom of movement inside Israel, unlike Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the attacker walked through the seminary's main gate and entered the library, where witnesses said some 80 people were gathered. He carried an assault rifle and pistol, and used both weapons in the attack. Rosenfeld said police were also searching for an explosives belt.

...Yehuda Meshi Zahav, head of the Zaka rescue service, entered the library after the attack. 'The whole building looked like a slaughterhouse. The floor was covered in blood. The students were in class at the time of the attack,' he said. 'The floors are littered with holy books covered in blood.'"

McCain the Middleman

I'll be on The Martha Zoller Show at 8:20 a.m. Pacific time/11:20 a.m. Eastern this morning to talk about the presidential campaign here on out, specifically my hombre McCain. Listen live here!

Here's a little advice for McCain which won't appeal to some conservatives, but is necessary to win in November: Don't change. Be Mr. Maverick. No pandering to groups or people with whom you've never aligned before just to make CPAC happy.

Because the November win and the White House remaining in GOP control hinges on the middle. That big mass of moderates that seems to grow with every election, that group that stays in the polls' "undecided" column right up until Election Day. Buoyed by her wins, Hillary will now go after Obama at the kneecaps and their respective agendas won't long be shrouded in identity politics or feel-good, happy happy rallies. The left will be struggling to find its core, the left will be exposed, and the middle will be for the taking.

McCain will pick a more dyed-in-the-wool conservative VP. The angry Anybody But McCainers have already used up their 15 minutes of fame and  their calls to boycott the polls or vote for the Dem to teach the GOP a lesson will be regarded as more than silly by the voters in just a few months. Mac is back, and the more important thing he can do right now is not change. Heck, he should emphasize his compromise record. Stress that the real change is reaching across the aisle once in a while to get things done in D.C.

Be yourself, Mac, be yourself. Seize the middle!!

Spidey pal to be at GI Film Festival

So I was on the phone earlier with pal, D.C. correspondent, and GOP-V poet laureate Cheryl Felicia Rhoads earlier, and she was filling me in on the upcoming GI Film Festival on May 14-18 in Washington. (Speaking of that, "Platoon" is on TV right now, the charming scene where they're ordered to empty the latrines... T-minus an hour and a half until Willem Dafoe dies and I start tearing up and sniffling.)  Anyway, Cheryl said that James Franco of Spidey fame (yeah, he won a Golden Globe for being James Dean) will be at this year's fest, getting a Heritage Award for portraying GIs onscreen. Other Hollywood folk there will include Gary Sinise and Jon Voight (hopefully with the white scarf).

The first deadline for submissions has passed, but the late deadline is March 15 and the extended deadline is April 1 (features and docs accepted).

Check out Cheryl's write-up of last year's inaugural GI Film Fest!

(Current "Platoon" scene -- I'm singing along to "Tracks of My Tears"...)

Ruminating on a recycled paper

So it wasn't an easy week at the Daily News -- as most newspapers have met with the budget-cutting ax lately, 22 newsroom employees were let go or took buyouts last Friday. Over the weekend, as I pounded away at my column ("Gaza coverage skips big picture, tragedy in Sderot") and other business as usual, a colleague noticed that someone cleaning out his or her desk on his or her last day had thrown a pristine copy of the Daily News' Sept. 12, 2001, edition on the throwaway recycling stack. "HORROR!" screamed the headline with a six-column photo of the second trade center tower exploding. I immediately claimed the edition, as I keep historical papers, and I was working at the San Bernardino Sun at the time of the attacks.

But after taking it home, I looked at it closer, and thought about what has happened since the day that was printed. I remember rushing into work hours early, staying hours late, and a colleague telling me that things here on out were never going to be the same. I didn't really believe her, at least in terms of considering a faddish America with a short attention span. Plus, al-Qaida existed before 9-11, as demonstrated in the first WTC bombing and the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania; the bulk of Americans just weren't paying attention. Americans have spent the years since the bombing desperately trying to get back to the insular "norm," accusing pundits or politicians who still stress the need for a "new normal" of spreading "politics of fear," blah blah.

Journalism even changed after 9-11. I knew some up-and-comers who left the industry altogether, either feeling stressed at the "new news" or feeling that life was too short to be newsie paupers. I considered running off and joining the CIA (yeah, they'd be stunned by my random knowledge of Turkish) but am immensely fortunate to nowadays be a journalist who gets an op-ed voice through these times. I just wish people wouldn't be so afraid to remember what happened back in 2001, and quit throwing the "politics of fear" label at those who realize we're still very much in the cross-hairs.

I just wish every voter this year could stumble upon a discarded 9-11 issue in the recycle rack. It sure jolts one's memory.

Note to publicist

Today, please re-book me on all radio shows where angry-right hosts unleashed on me over McCain some weeks ago, so I can now gloat.

Thanks!!

Texas Holdem

I just returned from voting and I learned some things that could make this evening very interesting. I come from a precinct that voted six to one republican the last election. Today it looks as if the vote will be pretty evenly split between republicans and democrats in my precinct. A hell of a swing by any standard.

A neighbor of mine that has been posted outside the local firehouse where I vote told me a lot of republicans are crossing over to vote for Hillary. I also heard the one of the democrats saying they expected 100 people to show up at their caucus while the republican told me they had to elect 14 delegates for the local republican convention, and he seemed concerned that 14 people would show.

Stay tuned. We may see some surprises out of Texas tonight.

5:30: Local news is reporting record turnout. Two more robo calls from Obama and his wife. Hillary seems to have more support at outside the polls holding signs that say "We've got your back."

6:00 : Vermont just called for Obama and McCain. News here in Texas is showing McCain's watch party with a sign that shows McCain having the necessary delegates to clinch the nomination. The sign is covered but ready to go. News just reported there seems to be a lot of republicans crossing over to vote for Hillary.

9:00: Just got back from the precinct convention. The democrats had well over 100 people at their convention. The republicans had a scant 13 souls. With our precinct sending 14 delegates to the next level, everyone got to be a delegate including yours truly. I was surprised to learn that Huckabee actually carried my precinct and during the convention, someone got a call and announced that Huckabee dropped out. No one seemed too disappointed since Huckabee had said he would drop out and support McCain when McCain hit the magic delegate number.

Both my wife and son are still at the democrat precinct convention. My wife is a D that voted for Hillary. My son actually liked McCain but crossed over so he could witness the fireworks at the dem convention. I ‘m sure I will learn all about it when they return so I may have an interesting story tomorrow.

9:40: My wife and son just returned from the democrat precinct convention. Here in the Dallas Fort Worth area, lines have been long and the precinct conventions have been packed on the democrat side. Obama took more delegates at our precinct convention. Hillary is taking most of Texas but Obama is taking the cities. The news is showing Texas split right down the middle at 50% apiece so it is going to be a long night.

10:00: Hillary has been just projected the winner in Ohio. Although it’s still anyone’s race here in Texas, Hillary has been doing better as the night goes on and now has a slight lead. She may continue to pull ahead if the rural areas, which she is carrying, take longer to report. As close as it is, I have to wonder if those republicans that crossed the line for her might really make the difference.

Texas Toast

Here in north Texas it looks to me as if Hillary will lose big this Tuesday. Obama mania seems to have gripped many of the more thoughtful people I know. The big Obama rallies are almost embarrassing. People swoon over every Obama utterance. I almost expect the crowd to start bleating, BAAA-RACK, BAAA-RACK. Barack Obama, man of the sheeple. That would make a good bumper sticker.

On top of all the Obama worship, I have received a recorded call from Obama, a recorded call from his wife, and a call from a live Obama volunteer asking for my vote. I have also received calls from Huckabee and McCain but not one call from the Clinton campaign. Oh and I’m sure Ron Paul tried to call but no doubt his calls are being intercepted by…um,….them.

The good news for Republicans is I have yet to find anyone that can give a cogent reason for choosing Obama. Some have told me Obama is for change, but when I ask about any specific change, I am met with dull stares. The best reason for choosing Obama I have heard so far was from someone that told me they hated Clinton. Now that was a reason I could understand.

Oscars Schmoscars

What with all the drama happening in the political arena, the Academy Awards were something of a snooze this year.  In fact, I JUST woke up from the ceremonies, because despite Jon Stewart being the master of ceremonies, it was duuuuull.  But a few comments on this years proceedings:

1.  Despite the fact that two Brits, a dashing Spaniard, and a lovely French lady swept the acting categories, we did NOT get Ellen Degeneres raving how this is the "most international Oscars ever".  When she hosted last year, I wasn't sure if there were difficulties in the broadcast, or if she actually did say that as often as I heard it.

2.  Best acceptance speech hands-down was Tilda Swinton for starting with "Oh, no. Happy birthday, man. I have an American agent who is the spitting image of this. Really truly the same shape head and, it has to be said, the buttocks."  Most gushing and shocked goes to Marion Cotillard, who was almost as shocked as we were.

3.  Diablo Cody:  Totally thrilled that you won, being the spoiler from outside of the establishment rebel that you are, but seriously, hideous dress.  There is a difference between Wild-N-Crazy Dress and Flintstones-Reject Tunic.  Perhaps you thought your leopard trumped Bjork's swan?

4.  Despite being nominated for so many things, Juno was never going to win more than Best Screenplay.  Simply put, any movie that has an adoring 13 year-old fan following is unlikely to make a clean sweep of the awards.  I'm of the jaded opinion that the noms were a ploy to get new blood hooked on watching the show, which did NOT work.

Writers strike or not, this was pretty ho-hum fare, though at least they got rid of the damned shadow dancing  Pilobolus Dance Troupe from last year.  Until they can pare down the ceremony to shorter than three hours, the Academy Awards will cease to be putting anyone asleep, as we'll all be tuned into American Idol.