Slog - Comments on I Can't Even Watch the Commercials http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials Salon on HBO's Recount... "Recount," director Jay Roach and screenwriter Danny Strong's first-rate docudrama about the disputed 2000 presidential election, is almost too painful to watch. I won't watch it—I can't watch the freakin' commercials; whenever they come on I lunge for the remote and change the channel. Laura Dern's creepy incarnation of Katherine Harris is spooky enough to keep me away from the teevee. Knowing how this tragedy ends, knowing that the Bush team would ultimately steal the election (with an assist from Joe Lieberman!), knowing that Bush would run the country off the rails, I couldn't possibly curl... Copyright 2008 Fri, 23 May 2008 09:50:57 -0800 Sat, 24 May 2008 05:35:01 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Balt-O-Matt I'm with you, Dan. My brother was at the inauguration and remembers being yelled at by women in furs wearing cowboy hats. Delightful.

]]> Balt-O-Matt http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030638 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030638 Politics Fri, 23 May 2008 10:09:49 -0800 Comment by Lloyd Clydesdale Plus, what's-his-fuck's in it. I didn't even watch the whole commercial. As soon as they were like, "Let's just count the votes and stuff", I had to get up and leave because I was already punching people.

]]> Lloyd Clydesdale http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030657 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030657 Politics Fri, 23 May 2008 10:21:56 -0800 Comment by Hot Pink Sonja A-frickin-men. It's not even a matter of "too soon." This will always be painful.

]]> Hot Pink Sonja http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030659 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030659 Politics Fri, 23 May 2008 10:23:18 -0800 Comment by konstantconsumer well, if you do watch it, you'll see me in it as an extra!

]]> konstantconsumer http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030662 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030662 Politics Fri, 23 May 2008 10:26:51 -0800 Comment by Bauhaus I hear the movie's so good that the viewer starts wishing for a different ending knowing full well what is to come. Another thing that was hard to get through was Jeffrey Toobin's book, Too Close to Call, from 2002. I remember getting angry all over again reading it.

]]> Bauhaus http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030664 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030664 Politics Fri, 23 May 2008 10:30:54 -0800 Comment by kk It's like reading the Taylor Branch series on America in the King years. Or visiting Manzanar. It's painful, but you have to do it, and you have to keep talking about it so the rest of the country doesn't forget. And to let the perps know that you remember.

]]> kk http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030677 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030677 Politics Fri, 23 May 2008 10:40:41 -0800 Comment by Medina Get over it, he won fair and square under the rules. He had more electoral votes.

The real problem was the razor close vote (thanks Ralph!).

The Supreme Court was in a no win situation. Historically, the court is hands off on political matters. Their holding was predictable.

Maybe there was funny business in Florida or other states, but that is always the case. If Gore would have won, there would have been the same allegations against Dems rigging the vote in other states.

The problem was the vote was razor close.
The system is not perfect, and it was amplified by the close votes. No one stole the election.

]]> Medina http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030713 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030713 Politics Fri, 23 May 2008 10:56:32 -0800 Comment by Cat in Chicago Stop being a pussy. With November 08 upon us with who-knows-what in the mix, people NEED to watch it.

]]> Cat in Chicago http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030723 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030723 Politics Fri, 23 May 2008 11:08:56 -0800 Comment by Bauhuas We're supposed to be living in an electoral democracy, Medina. My vote is supposed to count. It's supposed to mean something. If I'd been living in Brevard County and thought I'd voted for Gore but had actually voted for Pat Buchanan, or if I'd been denied the right to vote because I was on a convicted felons list when in fact I wasn't a convicted felon, or if my punch card hadn't punched through because the tray was filled with chad, I'm supposed to "get over it?"

No, there won't be any getting over it. Sorry.

]]> Bauhuas http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030725 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030725 Politics Fri, 23 May 2008 11:09:58 -0800 Comment by Jonathan Golob This is why I couldn't participate in the Sandra Day O'Connor hagiography upon her retirement. She voted with the five, acquiescing to a terribly anti-democratic decision.

]]> Jonathan Golob http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030752 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030752 Politics Fri, 23 May 2008 11:21:13 -0800 Comment by SeMe salon has a great review of this flick. EVERYONE should watch it. it was basically a coup. only vapid poseurs watch shit like the Real World.

]]> SeMe http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030935 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1030935 Politics Fri, 23 May 2008 11:45:38 -0800 Comment by Lloyd Clydesdale Fucking Spacey.

]]> Lloyd Clydesdale http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1031008 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1031008 Politics Fri, 23 May 2008 11:57:36 -0800 Comment by Toe Tag Who plays Ralph?

]]> Toe Tag http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1031219 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1031219 Politics Fri, 23 May 2008 12:41:26 -0800 Comment by nabridie In Newsweek, they talked to William Daley about the movie. He said basically all elections are screwed up, and we only notice it when it's close. He also said there was almost no chance in hell the Republicans were going to lose the recount since they controlled the state government.

I'm with the "get over it" crowd. I did.

]]> nabridie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1032013 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/i_cant_even_watch_the_commercials#c1032013 Politics Sat, 24 May 2008 05:35:01 -0800