Salon.com > Kl http://www.salon.com Wed, 22 May 2013 00:22:48 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Expert Witness: Mac McCaughan http://www.salon.com/2009/09/09/mccaughan/ http://www.salon.com/2009/09/09/mccaughan/#comments Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:18:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/entertainment/video_dog/2009/09/09/mccaughan Open Salon interview.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2009/09/09/mccaughan/feed/ 0 2006 political ads: Santorum’s dud http://www.salon.com/2006/10/26/santorum_25/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/26/santorum_25/#comments Thu, 26 Oct 2006 13:13:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/news/politics//2006/10/26/santorum A struggling Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn., went nuclear Wednesday, with an ad that tries to ally challenger Bob Casey with North Korea and China. Ah, the acrid smell of desperation in the weeks before a congressional election! Be prepared for even more of these terror-filled spots in these glorious final days of Campaign 2006, all of which carry a little DNA from the mother of all scare ads: The 1964 Lyndon Johnson "Daisy Girl" ad against Barry Goldwater (bottom ad, below).

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/26/santorum_25/feed/ 8 2006 political ads: Harold Ford gets smeared http://www.salon.com/2006/10/26/ford_2_2/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/26/ford_2_2/#comments Thu, 26 Oct 2006 12:42:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/news/politics//2006/10/26/ford_2 From Michael Scherer's piece today: "The GOP seems to believe that Ford's appeal to its most reliable voters is working. In recent days, the Republican National Committee has attempted to reverse the troubling polls in Tennessee with a television ad that both attacks Ford's religious credentials and invokes that old standby of American politics, racial fear."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/26/ford_2_2/feed/ 5 2006 political ads: Harold Ford — the “Playboy” http://www.salon.com/2006/10/26/ford_what_kind/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/26/ford_what_kind/#comments Thu, 26 Oct 2006 12:35:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/news/politics//2006/10/26/ford_what_kind This National Republican Senatorial Committee ad against Harold Ford sports an early mention of a Playboy connection that the party hopes will rile Christians against Ford.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/26/ford_what_kind/feed/ 4 2006 political ads: Harold Ford goes to church http://www.salon.com/2006/10/26/ford_18/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/26/ford_18/#comments Thu, 26 Oct 2006 12:21:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/news/politics//2006/10/26/ford Salon's piece on Rep. Harold Ford Jr.'s senate campaign spotlights his appeal to churchgoers, as in the TV spot below.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/26/ford_18/feed/ 2 2006 political ads: The star(?)-studded response to Michael J. Fox http://www.salon.com/2006/10/25/fox_response_2/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/25/fox_response_2/#comments Wed, 25 Oct 2006 15:55:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/news/politics//2006/10/25/fox_response We're a little baffled by this Republican response to the Michael J. Fox ad in support of stem-cell research. Is quarterback Kurt Warner interviewed from jail? Is Patricia Heaton in church? And is a stoned JIm Caviezel, at the very beginning of this ad, speaking in Aramaic? Seriously: What the hell is he saying? Translators, please post in the Comments.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/25/fox_response_2/feed/ 40 2006 political ads: Another Zucker effort http://www.salon.com/2006/10/25/zucker_2/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/25/zucker_2/#comments Wed, 25 Oct 2006 15:28:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/news/politics//2006/10/25/zucker This ad is unquestionably better than David "Airplane!" Zucker's previous, appropriately censored ad that featured the worst Madeleine Albright impersonator imaginable. The idea that Democrats will actually steal babies is, of course, completely untrue! (Except. . . is Madonna a Democrat?) Still, much funnier effort.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/25/zucker_2/feed/ 0 2006 Election Ads: Run! Hide! Vote GOP! http://www.salon.com/2006/10/23/rnc_11/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/23/rnc_11/#comments Mon, 23 Oct 2006 15:44:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/news/politics//2006/10/23/rnc If the Republicans really plan on trying to scare the bejesus out of us in order to stave off their anticipated losses in the midterm elections, they sure need to do better than this ad, which aired Sunday on CNN. Shadowy footage that appears to be from al-Qaida training camps are matched with images of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri -- their threats transcribed in a teeny-tiny type face -- as a clock ticks on the soundtrack. It's such a cliche, it's not far from that Lamont ad that caricatured Bush-Cheney scare tactics. We've been creeped out so many times in the past five years, we've grown inured to this stuff. Next time, maybe they should throw a little Japanese ghost child in the ads?

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/23/rnc_11/feed/ 0 2006 political ads: The Michael J. Fox spot http://www.salon.com/2006/10/23/fox_36/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/23/fox_36/#comments Mon, 23 Oct 2006 13:23:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/news/politics//2006/10/23/fox Michael J. Fox's ad for Democrat Claire McCaskill is moving, and the fact that it's undeniably tough to watch -- a famously boyish American actor suffering the debilitating effects of Parkinson's disease -- probably doesn't weaken its effect as an ad. In fact, in two days on YouTube, it's been watched well over 300,000 times. Fox, a staunch supporter of embryonic stem-cell research, is about as clean-cut, heart-wrenching a spokesman as you could possibly want. Incumbent Rep. Jim Talent, R-Mo., who opposes such research, certainly can't relish being the bad guy here.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/23/fox_36/feed/ 11 2006 political ads: I’m a cheater — not a choker! http://www.salon.com/2006/10/19/sherwood_3/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/19/sherwood_3/#comments Thu, 19 Oct 2006 20:55:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/news/politics//2006/10/19/sherwood In our ongoing survey of political season's weird and wonderful campaign ads (keep sending them in to: videodog@salon.com!), there's really been nothing as weirdly absorbing as the efforts of Rep. Don Sherwood, R-Pa., who President Bush appeared with today on the campaign trail, to get re-elected. How does a 65-year-old, who looks for all the world like an embattled high school principal hell-bent on retirement, explain to his constituents about his 30-year-old mistress in D.C., much less her accusation that he tried to choke her? With one of the most excruciating campaign ads we have ever witnessed:

This, naturally, inspired at least a few parodies:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/19/sherwood_3/feed/ 3 2006 political ads: Morphing George http://www.salon.com/2006/10/18/granholm_2/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/18/granholm_2/#comments Wed, 18 Oct 2006 20:17:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/news/politics//2006/10/18/granholm A sub-genre in Democratic political ads this year has been the commercials that attempt to not only tar Republicans through guilt-by-association with George W. Bush, but to convince voters they may actually be Bush. And the best one we've seen was done by Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm's re-election campaign against Amway billionaire Dick DeVos.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/18/granholm_2/feed/ 7 Political ad contest: The best — or worst? http://www.salon.com/2006/10/17/christy_2/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/17/christy_2/#comments Tue, 17 Oct 2006 21:59:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/news/politics//2006/10/17/christy For the next few weeks, we'll be spotlighting the political ads you send in as we near the release of our lists of the best and worst campaign ads. But first up is this curious spot by one Christy Mihos, the independent candidate for Massachusetts. It's curious because we've received several nominations for it -- as both the best and worst political ad. What do you think?

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/17/christy_2/feed/ 17 Picture perfect http://www.salon.com/2006/10/16/olde_parody/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/16/olde_parody/#comments Mon, 16 Oct 2006 17:21:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/entertainment/video_dog/comedy/2006/10/16/olde_parody A parody of the much loved/derided "Six Years of Noah" video watched by gillions this summer, it also sort of echoes that other phenomenon launched by Matt Harding. We loved both of those, but this inspired bit from the wise young sages at Olde English may just merit its own viral explosion.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/16/olde_parody/feed/ 5 Cereal killer http://www.salon.com/2006/10/16/cuncha/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/16/cuncha/#comments Mon, 16 Oct 2006 14:38:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/entertainment/video_dog/comedy/2006/10/16/cuncha Some of you may find this cereal parody from Invisible Engine in particularly poor taste. But maybe that just means you a need a big bowl of Buncha Cunch!

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/16/cuncha/feed/ 20 Political ads: The good, the bad, the unwatchable http://www.salon.com/2006/10/13/lamont_4/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/13/lamont_4/#comments Fri, 13 Oct 2006 21:00:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/news/politics//2006/10/13/lamont Does Democratic challenger Ned Lamont's run of clever TV ads continue with the new one below, or does it come crashing to an overproduced, overly clever and sort of obnoxious halt? We know what we think, but we're more interested in hearing what you think.

We also want you to send us the best and worst political ads you've seen this season so far. It can be a YouTube link or other (many candidates post their TV spots on their Websites) or a video of the ad itself. Just send it to videodog@salon.com, and we'll spotlight the high/lowlights in these final weeks of campaign season, culminating in Top 10 lists of the best and worst.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/13/lamont_4/feed/ 16 America’s Next Top Traitor http://www.salon.com/2006/10/13/gadahn/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/13/gadahn/#comments Fri, 13 Oct 2006 01:54:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/news/politics//2006/10/12/gadahn Former goat farmer, ex-O.C. inhabitant, and current al-Qaida spokesman Adam Gadahn, 28, became the first American since World War II charged with treason Wednesday. The rolly-polly would-be mass muderer faces a possible death sentence for his (frankly unimpressive) work since 2004 as a public face for the terrorist shop. We unearthed one of his recruitment videos, and supplied some translations where needed, below.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/13/gadahn/feed/ 6 Flash! Lame political ad never airs http://www.salon.com/2006/10/11/spoof/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/11/spoof/#comments Wed, 11 Oct 2006 18:26:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/news/politics//2006/10/11/spoof Matt Drudge plays up this video as the Republican political ad that "GOP strategists all across Washington, DC" have deemed "too hot." Or not. The ad, created by Hollywood producer/director David Zucker ("Scary Movie," "Police Squad!" "Airplane!") allegedly was created for widespread GOP use in the waning weeks of the campaign season, and is now being rejected by all. We suspect the reason has less to do with its purported hotness than its serious lameness. An atrociously bad Madeleine Albright imitator's skirt splits while she's changing a tire for a Middle Eastern dictator. Har! Democrats wish the GOP would've been dumb enough to run this:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/11/spoof/feed/ 9 Foley Berg http://www.salon.com/2006/10/11/scarco/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/11/scarco/#comments Wed, 11 Oct 2006 18:11:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/entertainment/video_dog/media/2006/10/11/scarco This segment on last night's "ScarCo" is a great summary of the great laughs made at the expense of Repbulicans via Mark Foley. We particularly like it when they air the clip of "The Daily Show," and we hear one of the guests (conservative Bob Kohn, we think) moan, "Oh, good lord," right after Stewart says the word "jism." One of the other guests is Salon strongwoman Joan Walsh, who stipulates to TV producers that she only appear on-screen with men sporting lacquered hair.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/11/scarco/feed/ 9 Rakoff on “Daily” http://www.salon.com/2006/10/09/rakoff_4/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/09/rakoff_4/#comments Mon, 09 Oct 2006 18:26:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/entertainment/video_dog/latenight/2006/10/09/rakoff While we were away, we missed Video Dog favorite David Rakoff visiting with Jon Stewart last week, and his trenchant musings on Mark Foley, gay Republicans, and the indefatigable vagina.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2006/10/09/rakoff_4/feed/ 5 First they came for Michelle Malkin http://www.salon.com/2006/10/09/malkin_3/ http://www.salon.com/2006/10/09/malkin_3/#comments Mon, 09 Oct 2006 13:20:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/ent/video_dog/news/politics//2006/10/09/malkin Defending a hopelessly hackneyed baby Coulter isn't our idea of a great time, but really, what was YouTube thinking when it bounced Michelle Malkin's cheesy and (as the New York Times points out here) shabbily thought-out little bit of agitprop below? (It keeps getting re-posted to YouTube quicker than they can delete it.) We were off last week, so are late to this little dust-up. But we did read the news of Google eyeing YouTube, and began to wonder about the value of a site that is entirely user-generated and may, ultimately, require massive amounts of oversight. Malkin's zany conservatism pales compared 99 percent of the political content on YouTube. And that doesn't even begin to take into consideration the massive amounts of copyright violation going on. (Go ahead: Dream up a "South Park" episode you'd really, really like to watch right now in its entirety, and trust me, it's probably there.) We've enjoyed the ride of YouTube thus far -- and certainly exploited its riches -- but its golden era to us seems close to going down the tubes.

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