io9 
Enter your username and password.
San Francisco, 5:46 PM
Fri Nov 27
19 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip your editors: tips@io9.com
Editor-in-Chief:
Annalee Newitz | Email
News Editor:
Charlie Jane Anders | Email
Associate Editor:
Meredith Woerner | Email
Assistant Editor:
Lauren Davis | Email
Weekend Editor:
Graeme McMillan | Email
Contributors:
Joshua Glenn
Stephen Goldmeier | Email
Ed Grabianowski | Email
Austin Grossman
Paul Hogan | Email
Lauren Davis | Email
Chris Hsiang | Email
Lynn Peril | Email
Ann VanderMeer
Alasdair Wilkins | Email
Graphic Designer:
Stephanie Fox | Email
Interns:
Tim Barribeau | Email
Julia Carusillo | Email
Alex Eichler | Email
Cyriaque Lamar | Email
Caitlin Petrakovitz | Email
Mary Ratliff | Email
Josh Snyder | Email
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
11/09/09
The White House has BETTER SHIT TO DO than critique a new ABC Miniseries. #v
11/09/09
11/10/09
Kindly go swimming in the ocean, and never come back. #v
11/13/09
Or maybe I am neither a fan of Bush or Obama. Maybe I can actually think for myself. #v
11/08/09
[twitter.com] #v
11/08/09
11/08/09
11/08/09
11/08/09
Oh, and Graeme, Monica Baccarin? Really dude, really? #v
11/08/09
11/08/09
The fact that they commented on it at all? #v
11/08/09
Is this like some sort of meta comment where you're trying to prove a point about the ridiculousness of people like the one you're playing here Cash907? #v
11/08/09
11/09/09
11/09/09
11/09/09
11/09/09
What do you expect? The guy is an asshat. Not even the most Obama faithful reporter takes him seriously these days.
Youtube some clips of Jake Tapper from ABC News cornering Gibbs with common sense questions. It's like asking a five year old to describe quantum string theory. #v
11/09/09
What do you think I'm commenting on? You know how you answer a stupid question? By looking at the person who asked it like they are a moron, laughing, and saying "Next Question." #v
11/07/09
11/07/09
Compare the Vistor leader's manipulation of a TV interview with the angry reaction of Scientology leader david Miscavige during the recent "Nightline" report on Scientology.
The aliens are among us...and Tom Cruise is one of them!
11/08/09
11/07/09
Are you serious? Do we want the White House to respond to all TV shows now?
Should Obama have released a statement when Star Trek came out taking credit for it? This is ridiculous.
Not to mention the whole notion of this being an allegory for Obama is kinda ridiculous itself. I watched it and outside of a few buzzwords this really seemed like a poorly written, but well executed series of alien cliches. Never mind that the whole premise is that the sleeper cells have been here for years fucking up the world meaning that bush and all of goldman sachs are lizard aliens too, so if this were a political allegory (which this isn't smart enough to pull off) it would veer way closer to the 9/11 truthers than the teabaggers.
Regardless, it just seems crazy to me to see this as an allegory when it's just a litany of typical sci-fi tropes rather than a specific attack on anyone or anything. It's completely out of grasp for this show.
But it just makes me so angry that anyone anywhere thinks the president should comment on a tv show. We're such a dumb fucking nation. #v
11/08/09
Hard as it may be to believe, the press office in the White House deals with much more than just "hard" news. There has to be some humor on the job, even there.
Personally, I'd be scared if they only did the serious stuff. ;) #v
11/08/09
There is time for 30 second exchanges of levity among colleagues even in the white house. No one is suggesting they talk about this sort of thing at length, or all the time.
Is the question silly? Yes. Does this mean that the administration is asleep on the job? Not even close. #v
11/07/09
Of COURSE people are going to draw similarities to Americas new administration, that's the genius of Sci Fi. It is by nature an allegorical medium. But you can't separate the lumps in the Cream of Wheat so easily, it has to be taken as one package. If the V's represent Obama or Reagen or whoever, then by proxy, they represent the entire administration of modern politics and government. Who is more alien to the common citizen than the overpaid, benevolent, false-promising, insured stuffed shirt politician? Politicians, like the freakish aliens of V, are a macabre joke. And you can apply that logic to any organization that pretends to be something that it isn't, or that appears to be doing one thing while it's actually doing another.
It's the classic To Serve Man idea, and I love it because I think it rings so true especially in this day and age where people are so used to be taken advantage of by their fellow man and by people who have been sworn to protect and help them, we just accept it as an ordinary part of life. #v
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/08/09
Seriously this is the best tae on the show and everyones reaction. #v
11/08/09
11/07/09
And as an archaeologist, I have to say--if history has taught us anything, it's this: when the invaders show up, kill them all, and burn their ships. Don't mistake them for gods, don't listen to anything they say, don't worship them. Kill them, burn their ships, repeat as necessary. #v
11/07/09
11/07/09
Fetch the electrodes.
I've got one that can see! #v
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
*runs* #v
11/07/09
V is about the Beatles. #v
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/08/09
11/07/09
Of course he has, but he's in a bad situation. He can't acknowledge he's heard of it because that would acknowledge the fact that presidents have legitimate criticizers, and the job of a press secretary is to make any criticism sound laughable and ridiculous. Thus, equating V to Spongebob, without acknowledging V even exists. Like since he didn't see it, it must not be there.
But one thing I learned is that Gibbs watches a little bit of football on saturday, and a little football on sunday, and news every other time.
11/07/09
But my guess is they did hear about it, but the point isn't that V is a legitimate criticism of Obama (it isn't). The point is they don't really want to be discussing a television show about space aliens and whether or not it's about Obama. It's ridiculous that the question was even asked. The fact that the news media think this is so important to ask at a white house press briefing just proves that we aren't a serious country. #v
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/08/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
This show could become event television for people who want to send a "ratings message" to Washington and others who just want to see what the fuss is all about.
This show has potential to be an enormous hit and the comparisons could get even larger and brought up more and more in the national dialogue.
And once again, I highly doubt the show is actually ABOUT Obama, and if I could predict hit shows I would have a high paying job in Hollywood.
But, it could happen. I wouldn't discredit a cultural phenomena that just happens to come along at the right time.
Anyway, here's the actual reporter talking about what happened:
[www.mediaite.com]
11/07/09
11/07/09
Corzine's been a dead man walking for a year, no one anywhere thought otherwise. Governorships are one thing, but the Democrats got two reps and kicked out their Republicans, including the one in NY-23 (traditionally Republican) that can be pretty directly attributed to the schism and carpetbagging by the Republican party.
That being said, I bring it up only to show there's no sweeping change. I also doubt that V is going to be any kind of cultural bellwether and if I were the White House I'd ignore it as well. Possibility I'm wrong on it, but I don't think so. #v
11/07/09
11/07/09
The schism is republicans want real conservatives, not wishy-washy-moderates who have no real core values. Same thing is happening to the democrats, with groups like media matters looking to defeat all democrats who don't like Obama's healthcare proposal. People want their representatives to represent THEM.
There is a sweeping change. Can't predict V though, but my scenario is definitely a possibility.
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/08/09
11/08/09
11/08/09
The point is that the electorate did not choose the candidate, party leaders did. The argument is being made that Scozzafava was the choice of the electorate, and therefore best represented the views of her district. But seeing as it was a special election, the electorate actually had no say in the matter. She was thrust upon them.
And it seems to me they were correct in their assessment of her since after she dropped out, she endorsed the democrat candidate.
So, yes I know how 'voting' works, and if you reread my posts on the matter you will probably see that a personal insult was a little premature on your part.
11/08/09
11/08/09
As far as I can tell this is the first program since Obama has been president that people are thinking is about his presidency. I don't personally feel that was the intention of the writers, but I think it's significant enough to comment on.
Taking an official stand on it is a little extreme and I doubt anyone really thinks there should be a stand on the show. I know I never suggested such a thing. But to act like you've never heard of it just shows how phony the job of press secretary really is.
In a previous post I mentioned that Gibbs is in a tight spot, he can't actually acknowledge he's heard of the show without also saying the president is aware of criticism towards him. When it comes to a press secretary, any criticism either doesn't exist, or it's not something they've really spent much time worrying about, or it isn't keeping the president up at night.
11/08/09
Convince yourself that voters aren't turning conservative, pretend Virgina and New Jersey didn't happen, and when republicans return to Washington in huge numbers in 2010, act like it doesn't mean anything either.
That's the fun of politics, you get to interpret events for your own purposes. #v
11/08/09
11/08/09
11/08/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
11/07/09
Maybe they should comment on the messages Glee sends about homosexuality and teenage pregnancy or whether or not Dollhouse is about rape. #v