Columnist Joe Conason, in Little Rock this week to follow Bill Clinton for a coming book, dipped into senatorial politics and found an incumbent U.S. Senator, Blanche Lincoln, looking weak rather than thoughtful. He found pressure from Lt. Gov. Bill Halter and a free health clinic and a not-thinly-veiled bit of advice from Clinton, whose political sense is pretty good.
On the very same day that Blanche Lambert Lincoln will finally vote on whether to allow healthcare reform to reach the Senate floor, thousands of the dithering Arkansas Democrat's uninsured constituents will be lining up to see doctors at a free medical clinic in Little Rock. Anticipating this remarkable coincidence, Lincoln may even realize that conservative ideologues and insurance lobbyists are not the only voices that should command her attention during this debate.
Then, recalling Clinton's speech:
Clinton asked his audience, which included hundreds of Democratic donors and activists, to imagine a scenario in which he could somehow run for a third term as president (which drew enthusiastic applause). Then he asked them to consider what would happen if he offered the following campaign promise:
"If you elect me again, the first thing I'm going to do is put a $900 billion tax on you ... I'm going to have the government print the money, and put it on elevated flatbeds, and display it along the national mall. And we're going to broadcast this ceremony on national television. And then I'm going to motor myself from one end of that $900 billion to the other, sprinkling Kerosene on it, and then I'm going to set it afire and watch it burn.
"How many people do you think would vote for me?" he demanded. "If you don't want to reform healthcare, that is your position. That is what you are advocating."
Lincoln wasn't there, but she could have heard the roaring laughter all the way back in Washington.
Rock Candy, our entertainment blog, has details on cancellation of Billy Joel/Elton John concert at Verizon Arena.
Says here that FBI is taking a look at a cop's Tasering of an Ozark girl, 10, who refused to talk a shower.
Jordan Johnson tweets and twitpics that students at the Clinton School of Public Service (above) are getting some words of wisdom from a sure-enough public servant.
State Supreme Court Justice Annabelle Clinton Imber has retired, leaving a position for Gov. Mike Beebe to fill by appointment for a year until an election in 2010.
How's this for an intriguing candidate for that appointment -- Bill Bowen, retired lawyer, banker, gubernatorial chief of staff, UALR law school namesake? He's a spry 86.
The governor's office isn't saying, of course. But his name is going around.
Friday, November 20, 2009 - 14:48:56
INSANE CLOWN POSSE7 p.m., The Village. $22.Reason number 376 that the apocalypse is drawing nigh:
Insane Clown Posse, the Detroit rap duo famous for painting their faces like evil clowns, carrying the torch for horrorcore (dark, largely horrifying subject matter) and spraying Faygo soda on its fans at concerts, pulls in up to $10 million annually. That spit-your-coffee-out-mid-sentence revelation comes courtesy of a recent Detroit Free Press article released not long after “Bang! Pow! Boom!,” the group's 11th album, peaked at number four on the Billboard 200. The report details the rap duo's empire — an artist-owned label, an annual festival that draws up to 20,000 fans, wrestling exhibitions, comic books, features films, a twice weekly Web radio show — without examining the most provocative part of it. Who's buying all this shit? Or rather who are the thousands of ICP fans who call themselves Juggalos and Juggalettes, rap/sing along to bad lyrics mostly about behaving badly, paint their faces and occupy a disturbing chunk of online real estate? Your guess is as good as mine, but I bet they fill up the Village.
ARKANSAS VS. MISSISSIPPI STATE
11:21 a.m., War Memorial Stadium. $45.
Things are looking up in Hogland. Our quarterback is obliterating school passing records. Our defense isn't terrible. And most importantly, we're bowl-eligible for the first time under Petrino (see a fuller analysis in Sooie, page 34). But contentment is not something that comes easy to Razorback fans. Ryan Mallet needs a 500-yard five-touchdown game (why wait until next season to mount a Heisman campaign?). Our defense needs to go one game without giving up a big play. And lest we end up in the Papajohns.com or whatever-the-hell bowl, we need to win these next two games. You can do your part by tailgating when the sun comes up and hollering louder than a cowbell. The game's sold out, but that never stopped anyone who really wanted to go. After all, the Cotton Bowl's calling.
