The Huffington Post (or "boy I didnt think retirement from Blogging would come this early!)

The Huffington Post | The Front Page

Yee-gads.

::"Welcome to the Huffington Post, which, as our motto says, has been delivering news and opinion since, well, a few hours ago."::

Oh lord stop, your just trying to kill me with your irony. I hope to hell she is not writing this herself.
Ms. Huffington has gathered some "notable names" from Hollywood, all of whom so obviously needed a platform like this so they can be heard over the din of those ignorant slobs who arent from Hollywood. But that aside, I respect some of these people. I think Harry Shearer is one of the funniest men around since Robin Williams went sober. I think John Cusack is a very talented actor, who can raise you up or cast you down with the subtle change of his face. Walter Cronkite - god who can stand up to him in terms of groundbreaking reporting?

Thats the A-list. Very notable. People who I have always respected and somewhat admired. Unfortunately Arianna herself is B-list. I know little about her, and sure I could google her, but to what end? I have no interest. Then theres Larry David - creator and writer for Seinfeld. It had its moments, but I do not understand the "genius" tag applied to this man. His whole comedy is Irony. And Irony is only funny in moments. Irony gets tiring. Sorry Larry.

Sen. John Corzine. Ok - google this if you must check it for yourself. This man is a walking scandal sheet. Corzine is a Jersey politian, with a real nose for scandal. Im suprised anyone would want to be associated with him. Tina Brown. Who? Seriously, I know Ive heard the name before - but once again, Im uninterested. I dont believe she has ever done anything that doesnt involve some big name celebrity, and from what I do vaguely remember - she is very talented at gossip. Or getting into parties. One of the two.

Moving on down to the C-list now, those wonderful people who make things happen on occasion. Rep. Ed Markey. I have no idea who this is.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Brad Hall Ok.. now explain to me why I should be listening to "Elaine" when all her best lines were written by Larry David (see above)? A sample from these 2: "gay marriage destroys real marriage. Now, when I come home to my wife, I feel nothing. How could I? SHE COULD BE A MAN. Thanks a lot, gays. " Umm.. yeah. This is how you set about to make a point about Gay Marriage being ok by you? Pinky and the Brain you two are not.

Who the hell is Mike Nichols, and is he any relation to Terry Nichols? That was my first thought.

Ellen DeGeneres Say what you want about her, she made herself a nice little career. Then she got a daytime talk show. Maybe you should have just stayed in obscurity, nothing personal. But seriously now - your whole gimmick is dancing. Oh and your a what? OH, thats right.. Your a comedianne. There was something else - but I can't remember what. The repetitive hearing and memory part of my brain was damaged during the last election with the whole "I have 3 purple hearts."

David Mamet: Film maker I think. I think being the operative word. Yep - he's a film maker. And writer too. Too bad I havent seen anything he has made. Although friends of mine have. Friends who glow under blacklight, the black lint on their black outfits glowing a phosporescent blue. I remember them talking about him. Of course, that was back in NYC.

David Frum, Michael Issikof, & Laurie David: Well I dont know a thing about them, havent heard their names before. No idea what could make them so noteworthy.

Now heres the kicker - Ms. Huffington started this "blog" so all of you lucky "fly-over country" people could hear their opinions.

And I for one say thank god! Because we didn't have enough places that we could hear Hollywoods opinion on things, the industry "group-think" that we all should follow. Wait - theres one perfect example.

Barbara Streisand Quote: "The Bush administration, capitalizing on the horror of 9/11, had the perfect opportunity to wage a war under false pretenses and four years after 9/11, get away with failing to properly secure our borders, ports, airplanes and nuclear power plants."

I can't tell you how excited I get waiting for the next "Horror of 9/11" t-shirt to come out. Hey Babs, were YOU able to roll over in your warm bed - reach out and open the blinds on the window next to you - look out, and see the smoke rolling off the Towers while your girlfriend (wife now) screamed and cried on the phone? Were you living 1/2 a mile from JFK airport, all you could hear were sirens, and you sat cold and shaking on a warm sunny September morning? Did you have an uncle who lived 2 blocks away, a NYC Fireman - who no one could contact for hours because he doesn't really ever use his cellphone? And did you watch as 3 NORAD fighters escorted a flight from Canada into JFK airport, with news media training their cameras on them no more than 20 feet from where you stood?

Oddly enough - I dont think so. Plus - lets look at the date. Today is May 10th, 2005. The election was Nov. 2nd, 2004. Its time to get over it, and go on with your life.

And I say this to anyone who has the "not my president" bumpersticker. Yes, he is. And too damn bad if you dont like it. Thats what a democracy does - even a Republic like us (you find me one, ONE, true democracy anywhere), we go with the majority. And dont give me that crap about "Chimpy McFlightsuit" and how he and Rumsfeld and Halliburton conspired with Diebold to cheat the American People. It's a self-serving delusion. Im not saying one party has the lock on honesty, or one party is 100% right. Im saying grow up. Its because of people like Babs, Arianna, Bruce Springsteen, Ashton Kutcher (yep), and Bill Clinton that we keep hearing Hollywoods opinion. I am tired of it. Ive got a brain, Ive got eyes and ears - and Im not as easily decieved as Babs would like us to think we are.

I dont think any of us are.

But thanks Arianna, for giving us a look at what it will look like when the world of Blogging comes to an end. Collections of people trying to teach us something, for the greater good. I dont do this because Im trying to show you all something, I do this because I want to. Because I feel better when I do it. Because it becomes another resource for someone looking for information on Roanoke.

Its one thing to have pretty pictures of an area, its another to feel the area out through someone elses eyes.

Ms. Huffington - when all blogs become as preachy and impersonal as yours, then I shall call you Vanguard.