Book Review: Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin
Recently I’ve been a little nostalgic for the British Election. I get that way after a really good race, filled with gossip and in-fighting, big headline turning points, meticulously planned photo-ops, and a snide press to provide commentary. While the campaign is alive, there seems to be no end to the freak parade, and it’s easy to become properly obsessed. After the election, I feel like a kid on Boxing Day. With all the anticipation and excitement of the season gone, you don’t even enjoy your new shit. In Game Change, Heilemann and Halperin have given everyone the opportunity to relive what will likely be the best election of thier lifetime. The book flaps promise an “untold story”. That’s flatly wrong. ...
Read MoreQuick Note on the Site
It’s been almost a year since I decided I might want to try writing a blog. Since then I’ve been able to find a name, a slogan, a design (although I’m pushing for another change) and a niche I’m pretty happy with. Despite all this, I haven’t really given the blog the attention it needs, and that’s sort of shitty, because I’ve actually become much more ambitious about the whole blog thing and I want, you know, readers. Besides you, Mark. (Funny story: What I wanted to type was “besides you, Mum” but then I remembered that my Mum doesn’t read my blog anymore because she has things to do… but my sister’s boyfriend in New Zealand probably still does. He’s a fucking...
Read MoreIrrelevant Post About Rielle Hunter on Oprah
I’ve never watched Oprah before, and this has always been a small point of pride. Yesterday, however, I left three of my dearest friends with wet primer in their hands to run off to some stolen cable to see John Edward’s decrepit baby mamma on daytime T.V. I’ve got to write a post to justify these actions. The people must know I watched Oprah for a reason! Politically, the interview was a big waste of time. Considering that Rielle Hunter actually worked on the campaign, she has surprisingly little to say about the consequences of getting pregnant with a married Presidential candidates’ love child beyond “it was bad timing”. Well shit, really? In fact, she doesn’t say anything about John Edwards...
Read MoreStop Apologizing, Gordon Brown
I know that Gordon Brown has never really been the guy with the smooth words and the marketable image. In fact an article about the last leadership debate in the Daily Mail was headlined “Gordon Brown looked white, wan, with a blueish tinge… like Stilton cheese”. The fact is however, that Gordon Brown has had a rough time of it as PM, and I can’t help but believe that he has been bearing an unfair burden with the best intentions. If Cameron and Clegg make leading the British government look easy with their relatively elastic skin and identical hair cuts, it’s because they have not yet been swimming in shit-river. Cameron will get there soon though, it looks like, and after three months he’ll be...
Read MoreNever Under Yulia’s Watch…
Yesterday a bunch of Ukrainian MPs properly lost their shit when discussing Russian ships in Ukrainian waters. Please watch the following video. http://www.huliq.com/1/ukrainian-parliament-fight-over-russia-relations-869.html To fully appreciate this compelling collage of human shame, I’d like to pull out a few particularly touching elements. Not unlike the 1942 film Casablanca, this incident, I feel, will be best remembered as a collection of great moments, rather than as one cohesive story. The Umbrellas: Not two seconds after the first egg is thrown, POOF! An umbrella is found, and the speaker defiantly continues the meeting under the cover of first one, then two, then three identical black umbrellas. I get the impression that these...
Read MoreVoting in the Land of Reality T.V
Nick Clegg... or is it David Cameron? Reality television might have been invented in the United States, but it was perfected in the United Kingdom. Nothing proves this more than the recent twists in the British election. Since I last wrote about the situation in the U.K, the far-third candidate, Nick Clegg, and his Liberal Democrats have experienced a surge in popularity due entirely to a good performance in the first televised debate. Cameron must be a bit gobsmacked by this. Not just because the Liberal Democrats are the true parents many of the ideas which he has adopted into the Conservative Platform, such being pro-diversity, pro-EU, pro-environment and, well, being liberal. The true problem is that Nick Clegg has taken the David...
Read MoreAbout the Site
Polonoscopy is a site devoted to political fluff. While I do appreciate that there are important issues out there… with respect… eh… don’t really care. Not here anyway, not now, that is not what Polonoscopy is about. Fluff. It’s all about image and perception in politics. Rather than vote for someone based on a record of public service and commitment to the meaningful issues of the day, wouldn’t you rather vote for someone who’s personality seems similar if only slightly more impressive then your own? Of course, we all would.