Re: That Tired, Tiresome 'Both Sides' Con

As my friend Paul Loop explained, regarding false balance: "Explaining Politico (and CNN, the news networks, the Sunday shows, the punditocracy in general, all major corporate-owned news sources): When you assert that 'both sides' are equally to blame, and they are obviously NOT equally to blame after a simple objective analysis, you are essentially covering for the side that deserves all the blame. In Politico's case, it's beyond obvious by now that putting lipstick on the conservative pig is an essential part of its mission."

If Hitchcock did Batman...

Well, if Alfred Hitchcock directed a Batman movie, it would be something like The Batman.  Bart and I just returned from seeing it, and I like it better than any of the Christopher Nolan movies. Like the superb Daredevil TV show, it takes familiar figures from the comic books and moves them several degrees closer to reality without sacrificing their essence (the cast includes an unrecognizable Colin Farrell). 

The movie offers actual mystery and suspense, and builds in its three-hour running time to a spectacular, exciting finish. Robert Pattinson makes an excellent Batman (he certainly has the jawline for it).

As with Zorro (a name Batman is called, ironically, at one point in the movie), the film gives us a somewhat credible reason why Bruce Wayne must dress up. Virtually the entire city of Gotham is corrupt. Only a man in a mask may act freely there.