I.F. Stone once described John F. Kennedy as “simply an optical illusion,” and nowhere is that more evident than in “American Visionary: John F. Kennedy’s Life and Times,” the curated showing of Kennedy photographs now at the Bowers Museum. Tracing the life of the 35th president of the United States from his privileged birth to […]
John F. Kennedy
Dallas in the Aftermath: Parkland Can't Quite Honor Life After JFK
“What a shitty place to die.” Whatever your feelings about Dallas, that's a pretty harsh assessment. Then again, the character in Peter Landesman's well-intentioned but unfulfilling Parkland who says it, an aide to fallen President John F. Kennedy, can probably be forgiven for his snotty Yankee attitude. Next month marks the 50th anniversary of the […]
Exclusive: Itzcoatl Ocampo Fixated on Full Metal Jacket Before Alleged Serial Killings, Lawyer Reports
If you want an insight into the bizarre thinking of accused Orange County serial killer Itzcoatl “Izzy” Ocampo, you have to appreciate the impact movies, especially war films, and music lyrics had on the former U.S. Marine and Iraq War veteran. That's the assertion of Ocampo defense lawyer Randall T. Longwith, who believes news reports […]
President Barack Obama Set to Land in Bitter Enemy Terrority–Orange County
Under intense security, Air Force One and Barack Obama landed late this afternoon at Los Angeles International Airport for the president's ninth trip to Southern California and, during a series of fund-raising events, touted his administration's accomplishments, including a repeal of “Don't Ask; Don't Tell.” Obama also blasted Republicans for favoring the ultra-rich. Republicans are […]
Third Party
Network isn't the only special screening this week to predict with eerie accuracy future events. John Frankenheimer's The Manchurian Candidate -with its themes of political assasination, brainwashing and government conspiracies-was released in 1962, one year before the assassination of John F. Kennedy brought these ideas to the forefront of popular culture. The film tells the […]
Weather or Not
Putting a big-worded title on an art show—calling it, say, “Atmospherics/Weather Works” and telling everyone it's a series of works reimagining weather events around the world—makes it sound all high-toned, like you planned it for years. Sprinkle liberally with quotes from Mary Shelley and John F. Kennedy; display in a high-ceilinged room with black walls […]
Thats Our Bush!
In the end 9-11 turned out to be a made-for-TV movie, or rather, the basis for one—a shameless propaganda vehicle for our superstar president George W. Bush. The feature DC 9/11: Time of Crisisis a signal advance in the instant, ongoing fictionalization of American history, complete with the president fulminating most presidentially against “tinhorn terrorists,” […]
Christine Todd Witless
It's an American tradition for incoming presidents to nominate completely unqualified individuals for cabinet posts. John F. Kennedy put Robert McNamara—the father of Ford's Edsel—in charge of the Pentagon. Ronald Reagan was something of a master at this practice, having installed James “I don't know how many future generations we can count on before the […]
Dick of Honor
Illustration by Bob Aul Computers smoked at the Richard Nixon Library N Birthplace in Yorba Linda last week as staff apologists searched far and wide for any reports on how gracious their main man was in defeat to John F. Kennedy 40 years ago. As of its Nov. 16 update, the list of stories you […]
My Guess Is Definitely No
Photo by Joy BastWhatever your opinion of Richard Nixon, well-known president and potty mouth, you have to admit one thing: his Yorba Linda library certainly is lame. From the gift shop that sells Nixon-and-Elvis plastic floatpens ($2.95) to the bronze statues of world leaders that aren't really bronze but rather painted papier-mch, it's a tacky, […]
Primordial Ooze
Wendy Leece, a Newport-Mesa Unified School District trustee, on Nov. 10 refused to endorse the science component of the state's new recommended standards for various subjects. Leece's beef: the standards promote the theory of evolution as “fact” and “dogma,” undermining what “conservative Christian parents” teach their young'uns about this God fella creating everything. “I protest […]
