New ACL Dates; SNL as Political Commentary

Helllllloooooo. I still feel like I have a little lingering ACL Fest mindset in my brain (which mostly means I just feel like doing fun stuff instead of trying to get other stuff done). It won't go away. That probably means I need a real vacation. Right?
Last night I went out and had some pizza with Ryan and Jamie. Brick Oven. It was good. Afterward we went back to the Fortress of Ineptitude and watched an animated Superman movie called Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. It was pretty good. It's kind of funny that Lex Luthor as the American president somehow reminded me of Vice President Cheney.
Cassidy spent last night and today over there so Lourdes can come clean my place without a lot of three legged tomfoolery occurring underfoot.

And it looks like they've already announced the dates for next year's ACL Fest. Sounds like it's going to take place October 8-10th next year. I'm glad they're keeping it in October. As I've said, I prefer a little rain to all of the extreme heat and dust from years past, and hopefully it's pretty unlikely that we'll once again get the sort of deluge that we got during Saturday's shows this year. Anyway, personally I'm glad that they're not moving it to an earlier date.

And there's just not too much going on that I feel like talking about, somehow. The media has been hyperanalyzing a Saturday Night Live skit where Obama was mockingly portrayed as a "do nothing" president, mostly in light of the fact that many of his campaign promises have remain unfulfilled or only partially filled (e.g., closing Guantanamo, allowing gays to openly serve in the military, withdrawing from Iraq, straightening things out in Afghanistan, etc.). Some of the pundits over on Fox have been clearly, obviously enjoying this- seeing this skit as an attack on the president which is finally giving him the same sort of treatment that they believe George Bush wrongfully received. But I think there's a difference between this sketch and the stuff SNL did making fun of Sarah Palin or Bush. Bush was portrayed as a clown because of the things that he did- "Mission Accomplished!!") and the decisions that he made (and because of the cynical nature of his administration and their dishonesty and so on and so forth). Obama is being satirized because he has failed to deliver on the many very good things that he promised to do. To me, the SNL skit was more of an attempt to light a fire under the president's butt and make him get going on some of these initiatives that he promised to progressives during his campaign. A lot of people on the left are starting to get annoyed that the president seems much more concerned with courting people on the right and trying to reach across the aisle (an effort which has been met with almost zero acceptance, by the way) as opposed to just digging in, taking on a few fights, and working to accomplish the items that he's told us are on his agenda. Granted, the financial downturn and economic recovery have taken up much more of the president's time than he probably anticipated during his campaign, but the decisions that he has made so far don't seem to be pleasing anyone (he's kind of making the mistake of trying to please everyone, which, in the end, is pleasing no one).
Progressives have sat back and watched Republicans fight like rabid dogs to advance their own agenda for about a decade now, and we're looking for a fighter of our own. (whereas, I think, the President has thought- incorrectly, I believe- that he could somewhat endear himself to the conservatives by playing things more toward the middle, thereby earning him easy access to the single goal of almost all first term presidents: getting elected for a second term. He doesn't seem to understand that current Republicans have adopted a sort of "all or nothing" mentality, even as they pay lip service to bipartisanship) So I think that's the sentiment the SNL skit was tapping into (the frustration of people on the left), but maybe I'm just seeing what l want to see.
Anyway, personally, I still think the president's doing a pretty good job, but I also think that he's mostly just spinning his wheels by trying to win many of his detractors on the right. Maybe if the Democrats just forcefully won a few battles (we've got Congress and the Oval Office- if not now, when?) the Republicans might actually be a little more receptive to some of this bipartisanship. The Democrats can't seem to get their act together enough to advance their agenda, so why would the Republicans bother to negotiate with them? I'm opposed to the Republicans from an ideological standpoint, but I have to respect the way they come together and get things done in a relatively disciplined fashion when their opportunities arise.

Well, that's about it for now.

Hope you guys are doing okay!