Arlen Specter (1930-2012)

My memory of him is the magic bullet theory that allowed the Warren Commission to eliminate everyone in the world but Lee Harvey Oswald from suspicion in the JFK murder. He did some powerful people some awfully big favors in his life. Hope it was worth it.

Yeah my guess is he is in hell playing rummy with Reagan, Nixon, Oswald and keeping a few seats warm for Bush1 Bush 2 and old Rummy.

Darlin Arlen gets points for torpedoing Bork and being the highest profile RINO to call out his party on its extremism.

OT/ Atlas Shrugged Part 2… given another shocker by the invisible hand.

For some reason, Rakes On A Train wasn’t all that popular.

@ManchuCandidate: I saw this pithy one-line mention in hollywoodreporter.com:

“Conservative offering Atlas Shrugged: Part II came in No. 12 in its debut, grossing $1.7 million from 1,071 theaters.”

Curse the liberal media for savaging this film that EVERYONE has been dying to see! The movie that will likely decide the election. Oh wait, it went into theaters unseen by anyone to avoid the liberal movie critics casting their Commie stones at this masterpiece of cinema.

We’re talking Avatar/Titanic blockbuster city here. Let’s see, $1.7 million divided by 1,071 theaters is what, $1,587 per screen? Divide that by $8.00 per ticket and it’s 198 whole tickets per screen for the entire weekend. I’ll bet Paul Ryan saw it twice between workouts.

@Dave H:
It was an awful story. And even more awful to use it as a basis for real world solutions. I like Star Trek, but I don’t pretend that the philosophies in Star Trek offer much if any real world applications.

OT/ Koch Bros threaten to dick their employees if Barry wins.

@Dave H: Divide that by $8.00 per ticket

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Oh. Right. Indiana. Never mind.

@nojo: Sir, I’ll have you know I used the invincible Google-fu to check the national average cost of a movie ticket, which was actually something like $8.12. I haven’t been to a theater for a movie since the arrival of the blessed trinity of on-demand cable, BIG screen TVs and HD, so I have no idea what it costs locally. It’s probably just a couple of chickens or maybe a few hours of plowing, Mr. Snooty.

@Dave H: Twelve smackers for a movie. Don’t ask about gas.

Last time I went to the movies (The Master) in Fa La land it was $7.50 for we in our dotage. However, one was forced to monitor ten minutes of crass “real” commercials followed by another ten minutes of movie previews (also commercials). As it turned out, the previews were better than the deeply depressing movie. It was the first time I ever saw people leave the theater after only ten minutes.

On a related note, George McGovern is now in hospice care.

Specter was GOP to the core, acting on ‘principle’ only when Republicans were going to get their way.

@nojo: $13.5o here for a movie, much more for 3D/Imax, gas is ridiculous, but the cheapest gas in the nation is right across the Hudson in Jersey.

@BobCens: I liked Philip Seymour Hoffman better when he played Sniveling Underlings.

@mellbell: McGovern is still alive?

@blogenfreude: @BobCens: @nojo: Can’t remember the last time I saw a movie in Ess Eff. I think it was in late ’07 or early ’08 and it cost $12.50, and that didn’t count the cost of parking four blocks away from the Kabuki Theater. At least they sell alcohol there.

BTW. Have we all seen the Iranian film A Separation. Superb. Heartbreaking story that spreads and deepens, taking on weight and meaning as it grows from a moment of anger into a tragic situation from which there is no escape. Did I mention it’s not a comedy? Of particular interest to Stinque Law®. On Netflix. Some of the best acting I’ve seen in a long time.

@SanFranLefty: He’s only 90.

@Benedick: just added, will move it up to where it has a chance of appearing in the next decade.