Looks like Archbishop Timothy Dolan didn’t have to go to Rome to be elevated to a Cardinal, Pope LINnocent VI is right here in NYC. One week ago, The New York Knicks were 8 and 15 and sinking fast. Their coach, Mike D’Antoni was on the hot seat for failing to win gems…READ MORE…
Newt Gingrich fought off what many analysts felt was to be his last stand with a defeat in South Carolina. He punched, clawed, and simply played smart in turning the tides. Dumping two tax issues on Romney while spinning an ex wife’s “open marriage” claims into an advantage. Remaining calm amidst other charges that he is too hot headed to be the Republican nominee. In doing so, Gingrich overcame a ten point deficit days prior to upset frontrunner Mitt Romney by twelve points on Jan 21st. Now as early voting begins in Florida (an estimated 40 percent will have voted by the actual primary date of Jan 31), it is Romney who must come out of his shell and go on the attack against the “Comeback Kid.”
Romney has maintained a well rehearsed smile on debate stages since the first one last Spring. He has kept comments directed towards Barry “the Cigarette” Obama, not the players beneath him in the GOP polls. Why stoop down to their “also ran” level right? Wrong. Not anymore. Forget Rick Santorum’s “win” in meaningless Iowa. Newt Gingrich is the one who won in South Cackalacky. Where they’ve picked Republican Presidents since 1980.
For Mitt Romney’s camp, the “play it safe and run out the clock” approach has to stop before Florida. The Newtster is finding some ryhtym now and momentum can be a dangerous weapon. Especially since the former Speaker is now cementing a consistent message to go along with it. That HE is the Reagan conservative. That HE can beat Obama in debates. That the “three wives” controversy is dated and a left wing media attack. That Romney is NOT one of “us” but instead a moderate elitist. With a bank account too great to have any empathy for the working class.
Romney must go back to those old Bruce Lee karate films, and study them. Symbolically. Preparing to go on the offensive, and counter any moves made by Newt in a more aggressive way. In other words, get ready unleash a few roundhouse kicks. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Challenge the unpredictable Gingrich to remain disciplined and calm. Using whatever means necessary to regain control of a narrative that only weeks back, read that of all the Republicans, only Mitt was the electable one in a general election. That may mean that opening shots and retorts aimed at Newt have to start containing more lethal power once again.
Gingrich was publicly furious about Romney’s negative ads against him in Iowa and vowed revenge. In South Carolina, he got it in the form of a huge win. Mitt helped out however, by taking the bait in not keeping up the pressure on his rival down South. Meanwhile Gingrich counterpunched by raising Romney’s record twenty years back at Bain capital relentlessly leading up to the South Carolina primary. This as he complained about the historic nature of an ex wife’s tales from just ten years ago. While not a peep came from Romney about his rival’s historical hypocrisy of wanting to sideline only his own past. A more recent one at that as well.
Mitt Romney better start to employ some more emotion and fight on Gingrich than Obama starting Monday. There will be plenty of time to go after a sitting President should he be the last one standing. As for now, he is not. Florida is a two man battle thanks to the final score in Carolina. If Romney does not agree, and thus fails to alter the gameplan on Gingrich as a result, he may be in for another Southern surprise.
Tim Miller Interview: We spoke to Tim Miller (@timodc), Spokesman and National Press secretary for Jon Huntsman, who provided insight for why Huntsman bowed out of the race and how S.C, is do-or-die for every one not named Romney.
Author Jody Sabral:“Changing Borders” author Jody Sabral (@jsabral)wondered if Rick Perry was looking for anything more than the far right’s vote with his ”Turkey’s leaders are Islamic terrorists” barb. She broke down Turkey’s relations with NATO, and its view of the GOP candidates and Obama. As for Perry, he’s out, having thrown his ignorant lot in with Gingrich.
Newt: In South Carolina on Saturday, Newt Gingrich needs a win, or a close second to stay in it. With his characterization of Obama as the “food stamp president,” we wonder; since a job for most doesn’t make ends meet, what’s so bad about a few handouts?
Romney: Is Mitt Romney‘s business experience from the LATE 90′s (when he last exited the private sector) really an advantage? …We can already see Romney sending out the national guard equipped with Palm Pilots, Star-Taks, and Creed CDs skipping in Discman players to build a new workforce.
Bitches:Jay-Z reportedly says he won’t use the word “bitch” in a song anymore because he has a baby girl. Are all the aforementioned bitches now exculpated?
SOPA: We hope all of this information gets to you before SOPA shuts the lights off on our site.
When he called his third place finish in New Hampshire a “ticket to ride,” Jon Huntsman appeared ready to fight it out in South Carolina. So much for that. The GOP field shrunk again as Huntsman announced he was dropping out of the field. Endorsing Mitt Romney as the only one capable of taking on Obama, while taking a shot at the campaign vitriol on his way out the door. “This race has degenerated into an onslaught of negative attacks not worthy of the American people and not worthy of this critical time. At its core, the Republican Party is a party of ideas, but the current toxic form of our political discourse does not help our cause.
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TJ and The Tux caught up with the Austrian Electroacoustic Andrew Bird and #artistoftheweek on “Steve Jobs and Wall St. Mobs” in October 2011, Effi, to chat about life without wienerschnitzel, electronic music production and the collapse of the European Union. He plays more instruments than we can name. More importantly he can communicate and translate sounds from Graz without the use of grass. Look for genre jumping, language loving Effi all over Europe sounding like Lilly Allen with The Strokes’ hair and Mozart’s shoes. Eat your heart out Julian Casablancas.
Talk of the Granite State’s GOP Primary centered around the “Gloves Coming Off” but TJ and The Tux wondered what would happen if instead the clothes came off. Would Romney be in solid gold silk briefs made only from silk worms fed a steady diet of truffled kobe beef and free market principles? Would Newt be caught wearing original 1776 Benjamin Franklin Old Glory unsanitary napkins?
Political Reporter Ryan Grim of the Huffington Post told Shock and Awesome that Romney’s “I heart firing people” comment will be used as a trident shaped skewing stick by Barack Obama in the general election to simply hold Mitten’s squirmy body in place while he rapidly and repeatedly plunges a bayonet of envy into his shriveled blue blooded heart. After, of course, he cruises to the nomination as Grim feels he will.
Matthew Spolar, politics and statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor, who has witnessed all candidates firsthand and observed the NH debates up close, mentioned Buddy Roemer as looking as “presidential” as any currently in the field…That NH’s primary may be remembered as one that solidified Mitt Romney as the front runner. Way to go Captain Obvious!
John Hopwood told us that Mitt Romney was a real good looking guy..Pause No Homo, in a Reaganesque way… Hopwood shared anecdotes beyond, from his experiences at primary town halls in New Hampshire since 1976…
Tim Tebow has shocked the sports world with his Sunday miracles but long time Denver sports radio personality Gil Whiteley shocked TJ and the Tux when he told them that ”Tebowmania” has surpassed the era of John Elway in terms of maniacal fandom in football crazed Denver. Maybe evangelical prayer mixed with Coor’s Yellow Belly tall boys at altitude has even Jewish snow bunnies caught up.
Shock and Awesome will appear live on www.eastvillageradio.com for an "Iowa Caucus" special today 2-4 pm. There will be breakdowns, analysis, special guests and of course surprises.. Shock and Awesome style
Doh! Newt Gingrich forgot to apply in time for the March 6th Virginia primaries. That’s alright Newt, we understand. We’ve been there. TJ and the Tux in their lifetime, have forgotten to apply for class at college, forgotten to renew their visas, vehicle registrations, and alot more. Overlooking deadlines for state primaries during Presidential campaigns though? No. Can’t say we’ve done that.
However, who are WE to say this type of behavior is uncalled for, or unacceptable. It’s human. That’s what it is. Better not need those 50 delegate votes when it’s all said and done though Mr Speaker. It would be a shame to lose the nomination simply because you forgot to sign up for something, like a drunk frat kid.
Sue Terry is a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University. She has spent time at the CIA and NSC (National Security Council) and CFR (Council on Foreign Relations) working on policy and political developments in Northeast Asia and North Korea. To put it plainly, she knows enough about the situation on the Korean peninsula that US Presidents seek her advice.
We were lucky enough to track Sue down a few days ago and ask her pressing questions about the passing of Kim-Jong-Il. Mainly we wanted to settle a bar bet. Could Kim-Jong-Il be considered the greenest dictator on the planet? The Tux claims that he could. It is well documented by the reliable German news source Der Sphincter that the man did not defecate. That means that he never personally put any greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Also, Kim-Jong-Il had a fear of flying so he took an armored train everywhere. Again, saving fossil fuels! KJI always wanted to be a movie star but it seems he simply missed his opportunity. Instead of kidnapping US journos Laura Ling and Euna Lee for attention he should have called Albert Arnold Gore Jr. and starred in “An inconvenient truth” as the future of human evolution. Imagine a world without flatulence and irritable bowel syndrome. A world where people are no longer tied to their toilets and you never again have to hold your breath while peeing after being exposed to the most toxic haze of unfriendly gas in a bar bathroom. Forget that North Korea under KJI regularly tormented South Korea and the rest of Asia with its bottle rocket nuclear program. Forget that the man flew in fresh lobsters and caviar to meet his train regularly while his people ate coal for three meals a day. We just lost a man who reached singularity of the colon. Ray Kurzweil, eat your heart out!
On Tuesday, Shock and Awesome interviewed Sue Terry, currently a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute, on the current transition taking place in North Korea. This in light of the recent death of Kim Jong Il and the transfer of power to his 28 year old son, the enigmatic Kim Jong Un. Terry is also a former Senior North Korea analyst at the CIA, Deputy National Intelligence officer for East Asia at the National Intelligence Council, and Korea Japan director at the National Security Council. The complete interview will be available here on Thursday. Read Terry’s piece from the Wall Street Journal on Dec 21st entitled “Containing The Young Kim,” co written by Sung Yoon Lee. Mr. Lee is a research fellow of the National Asia Research Program, a joint initiative by the National Bureau of Asian Research and the Woodrow Wilson Center.
Writer Brian Clark of the Virginian Pilot said “It’s a tradition at Navy homecomings that one sailor is chosen by raffle to be first off the ship to kiss a loved one. Wednesday, for the first time, the reunited couple was same-sex.” It’s about time. We wonder if there will be more labels once seen as fringe behavior, that will become part of the mainstream in 2012. As the U.S tries to finally be what we say we are. A free country that is tolerant of all races, religions, and so forth.
President Prokhorov? Why not? Aren’t you fed up with the Republican field and with Obama signing our rights away I say we give the Russian national a shot. Oh, you mean in Russia!?! Never. Although we fully approve of this Silvio Berlusconi hopped up on Prostitute Enhancing Drugs. He’s got more broads, planes and pads than the Italian Bunga Bunga Champ and he’s the owner of the NBA’s soon to be Brooklyn Nets. What are his policies you ask? Who cares! His candidacy is simply the Kremlin’s plot to deflect the probes of the foreign press after the streets of Moscow became filled with protesters this week furious at the”rigged elections” that may have helped Czar Putin regain control of the country until 2024.
If you think Prokhorov leading the Kremlin is a zany idea, how about Mitt Romney running the White House? Listen to Mitten’s follow up interviews after his opponents painted as out of touch in the Iowa debate. The Mass Blast from the Past tried to deflect criticism from his 10K bet comment by using cartoonish adjectives to describe rival Newt Gingrich. The slapstick vocab fit for an episode of Batman staring Adam West is only the most recent example of Mitt’s un-electability. We need to win the future, not canonize the past.
Natalia Pelevine from the opposition group Democratic Russia phoned in to provide info from the ground in Moscow and explained the mindset of Russians as they head into their 2012 elections.
Programming note: This will be our last live show for the year. We will be releasing a year in review show as well as some artist interviews and show clips so you can get your Shock and Awesome fix over the holidays.
