Funnyman Dennis Miller in his weekly spot with Bill O’Reilly weighing in on everything from the Florida Republican Primary to Occupy Oakland and Sunday’s Super Bowl.  Too bad this thing aired Wednesday night – before the Trumpster endorsed Mitt Romney.  Guess we’ll have to wait for next week’s segment.

A couple of great lines before we get to the video…

“I say one man’s saving the world is another man’s vagrancy charge.”

“There are people in the world that want to do something about everything but don’t want to do nothing [sic] about anything.”

“What are they doing?  What’s the task?  It’s just so nebulous.  They might as well come out and say we want free rent.  Because they’re squatters that don’t do squat.”

HBO has released its first full-length trailer of Game Change – the movie based on the book that told the tale of Barack Obama’s historic rise.  You know, the one that – if we’re judging books or this movie based on this trailer – appears more about shaming and humiliating Sarah Palin than retelling the Hope and Change narrative in a 2012 world that now knows too well that Hope was a fantasy and Change will only be appreciated when there’s a new resident in the White House.

I don’t think I need to prove my not-a-fan-of Sarah Palin bona fides to anyone, as I’m anything but.  That said, if this trailer is truly reflective of the rest of this movie, I do believe I may find myself in the unfortunate position of having to become something similar in her defense.  Palin fetal on the floor in a bath robe?  Palin “breaking down” in a stairwell?  A Russia from Alaska scene?  Two dozen wardrobe changes and a scene with her actually choosing her wardrobe?  An “I’m not sure how much she knows about foreign policy” voice-over?  An near-crying “I miss my baby, I miss my baby, I miss my baby” and an angry “I wasn’t prepped” scene?  And the thing’s only a minute 47 seconds?  Really?  Looks like a hit-pic, sounds like a hit-pic, it’s probably a hit-pic.

In fairness to HBO, Julianne Moore is a dead ringer for the former Governor.  I’m sure she’ll butcher the accent in other scenes throughout the film, but the resemblance in this trailer is certainly impressive.

Ed Harris as John McCain is another story.  I mean, I know why they chose him – because Harris plays an excellent former soldier – but he looks twenty years McCain’s junior and his voice and mannerisms are way too steely to ever come off McCain-ish.

And the biggest beef of all?  Where’s the President?  The dude that won the election can’t even get a cut-away?  Are they saving his first appearance for the premier like an uber-creepy monster in a horror film?

Probably not.  I think the more likely scenario is that HBO is selling this movie primarily to those who despise Sarah Palin and those that worship her.  It’s not about Barack Obama.  It’s a movie that tells the story Palin-haters want told about the former Governor; and the upside for HBO is that Palin supporters will probably among the first to watch it.   Palins’ a deeply polarizing figure, so folks on both sides will want to see how she’s depicted – for decidedly different reasons, of course.  My guess is that the folks behind this put far less care and thought into the actor who’d play Barack Obama than they did in choosing Moore.  Thus, Moore gets tops billing, and some other guy gets to wait for the second or third full-length trailer to hit YouTube.

I’m not going to lie.  I’ll probably be one of those poor souls watching Game Change the night it premiers on HBO.  I’ll leave to you what that means about where I stand on Sarah Palin.  Funny thing, though.  I watched this trailer three or four times; and by the end of that painful exercise, I found myself getting angry and wanting to defend her.  Maybe that means HBO nailed it.  Maybe that means they missed their mark.

Donald Trump on Face the Nation – what’s the worst that can happen?  The Trumpster once again weighing in on presidential politics and flirting with a run at the White House.  Double awesome, right?  I’ll wait for the laughing to subside…  But yes, Donald Trump is back at it yet again.  He says he’s still not ruled out a presidential run and says he’d probably still be in the race if not for his television show The Apprentice - because you know he was “doing pretty well in the polls.”

He’s still on message saying things like this that grabbed the attention of desperate republicans on more than one occasion last year “This is a very critical time for the country; and the country is going to hell in a handbasket.”  And he thinks the GOP primary race is getting downright “nasty”; going so far as to say “the level of hatred is unbelievable.”

Unbelievable!!

What I find hard to believe is how or why anyone could think this guy is presidential material.  Now I know the bar has been set relatively low, but seriously?  President Trump?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again just in case you missed it.  There are few things in this world I would like to see more than Donald Trump running for president as an independent.  I’d love it.  Pure entertainment on every level.  And once he pulled down less than half a million votes (mostly from stoners, morons, and idiots) nationally, we’d never again have to hear about Donald Trump considering a run at the White House.

Rarely do I get excited about this kind of news as I rarely hear about it, rarely understand what they’re talking about when I do, and even more rarely notice the side effects of whatever cataclysmic event they purport to warn us about.  Because of that reality and my limited understanding of such things, I share this story with the caveat that I have absolutely no idea what they are talking about beyond what I’ve seen in movies and have learned about from watching theoretical physicist Michio Kaku on the Discovery Channel.  Either way, here you go.

Conservative columnist George Will made his regular appearance as a member of ABC’s Rountable discussion Sunday and coined a phrase that is sure to catch fire this week as people attempt to evaluate Mitt Romney’s sharp decline in South Carolina – ROMNEYNESS!  It’s kinda catchy.  I think I’ll probably use it.  Consider this my attempt to give Will credit every time I throw it around going forward.

Will also had a few other observations worth mentioning beyond the Romneyness turn of phrase…

1.)  Throw out the old rules of Republican primary contests:  ”The old pattern has now been broken.  For five consecutive times beginning with  Reagan in 1980, candidate A wins Iowa, candidate B wins New Hampshire, and either A or B wins South Carolina and the nomination.  That’s over.”

2.)  Mitt Romney’s much better at losing than he is at winning – electability problem for Mr. Electable?  ”Mitt Romney’s going in trump card was electability.  If you go back now to his 1994 Senate primary, his record is 6 wins and 19 losses.”

Someone else on the panel joked – “That’s like the Red Sox in September.”  Indeed.

3.)  We all thought going in that the big problem for Romney might be his Mormonism; it might be the Massachusetts health care plan.  That’s not it.   “Mitt Romney’s problem is somehow his “Romneyness.”  There’s something about him that’s not connecting.”

I’ll spare you the “The reason Newt Gingrich can save America the world because Chuck Norris said so” lines and cut right to the chase.  Chuck Norris endorsed Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich for president.  Awesome, right?  Yeah, I didn’t think so either.  Don’t get me wrong, my lack of excitement really has very little to do with Chuck Norris.  I hate celebrity endorsement regardless of where they may come from.  I’m sure a Chuck Norris endorsement would excite me if even an ounce of me cared what actors thought about politics – well, that and if Chuck Norris wasn’t old before I could even see an R rated movie.  For some of you, I’m sure this (and denim-on-denim) is really really cool.

I think he gave it away there, but he still went through the effort of explaining a ten-question process that led to his selection.  You can read the whole thing here… if you’d like.  Norris has a regular column at World Net Daily; so if you like what you read, at least you now know where to find him.

“For my wife, Gena, and I, we sincerely believe former Speaker Newt Gingrich is the answer to most of those questions and deserves our endorsement and vote.

We agree with our friend and governor of the great state of Texas, Rick Perry, when he suspended his campaign and endorsed Gingrich, that Newt “has the heart of a conservative reformer.” We believe Newt’s experience, leadership, knowledge, wisdom, faith and even humility to learn from his failures (personal and public) can return America to her glory days. And he is the best man left on the battlefield who is able to outwit, outplay and outlast Obama and his campaign machine.”

US Soccer is set to kick off its 2012 campaign today in an international friendly with Venezuela at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.  A second match with Panama will follow on Wednesday in Panama.  The Venezuela match also marks the start of the first full season under former German National standout and newly minted National Team Head Coach Jurgen Klinsmann – who had a somewhat unimpressive start to his tenure with US Soccer.  Arizona has been friendly to the Men’s side historically, and the side will certainly need any boost available with a roster Klinsmann has described as a group of second-tier players competing for positions backing up the back-ups.

To be fair, I don’t think Klinsmann means/meant that as a slight to any of the players that have been in camp since the beginning of January.  Perhaps more accurately, he sees it as an opportunity for the mostly domestic pool of players to prove they deserve a place with the regular squad – most of which are either playing with their club sides abroad or on winter break and not called into camp.

But don’t think for a second that this group is without talent capable of playing at this level or elevating their status with the new skipper.  There are a few names in camp that probably should have been on Klinsmann’s radar months ago…

Revolution midfielder Benny Feilhaber is in camp for the first time under Klinsmann and is looking to impress by demonstrating the skill set and attacking mind ability that made him a constant in former USMNT Head Coach Bob Bradley’s plans.  I’d look for big things from Feilhaber and I fully anticipate the match against Venezuela will prove to be the “hey remember me?” moment we’ve all been waiting to see from Feilhaber.  I’m not sure where he will fit in Klinsmann’s plans going forward with Dempsey, Donovan, Shea, and Beckermann seemingly having locked up spots in the midfield; but he could find his way into a Dempsey-Donovan replacement role for much of the 2012 campaign.

Ricardo Clark is in camp and probably has even more to prove that Feilhaber.  Bradley love, love, loved this guy – in spite of a few rather suspect performances on the big stage.  If this camp and these matches are truly meant to be trials for later call-ups, he’s likely to get playing time in the sitting role that Klinsmann seems to be holding for Kyle Beckermann.  Maybe a bit of athleticism from Clark can change that.  God I hope so.

Jermaine Jones will also be competing for a place in the more than cramped midfield and he finds himself with a lot of time on his hands these days while serving a suspension from his club side Schalke.  At times, Jones has appeared miscast in roles that don’t allow him to demonstrate his strongest talents.  One can hope that the absence of some regulars will give him the opportunity to play a more sitting role where his ball winning talents can take center stage.  Dude’s a dog and we need a dog on this team.

Geoff Cameron is possibly the luckiest guy called into this camp as he was set to be the afterthought in a group attempting to cement a place as a fill-in for the aging center of the back line.  With Omar Gonzalez or George John exploring opportunities abroad (Gonzalez getting injured on his first day of training with Nurnberg), he’s going to get the opportunity to start and/or get time anchoring the back line in both matches.  With Klinsmann desperately needing wins in 2012 to turn the tide of momentum in his favor heading into World Cup qualifying, I don’t think it’s a long shot to say this may be one of very few chances to find playing time with captain Bocanegra, Goodson, and Onyewu likely to be Klinsmann’s first choices.

The forwards: Teal Bunbury, Juan Agudelo, C.J. Sapong and Chris Wondolowski: Someone in this group has to emerge as a legitimately viable compliment to Jozy Altidore.  With Agudelo reportedly carrying an injury into Saturday’s match, it could be an opportunity for Bunbury or Sapong to claim the role of second-choice stiker.  I’ve seen the Wondolowski show before and was more than unimpressed; so if this isn’t his last chance, I may lose all faith in the talent pool and/or Klinsmann’s ability to filter through it.

The wildcard: Graham Zusi.  The Sporting Kansas City midfielder reportedly fared pretty well in training and looks to get playing time beside Benny Feilhaber in the middle.  I know I’m going with a bit of a long shot here; but if he can find a way to link up with the positive playing midfield partner, he could shine on the big stage.  Someone has to emerge from this group as a viable alternative to crossing our fingers waiting for Stuart Holden to get healthy.  Why not Zusi?

—

The match with Venezuela kicks off at 7PM MT – that’s 8pm CT and 9PM ET for those of you that don’t really “get” that whole Mountain Time thing.  The game will air on Galavision and ESPN3.  So, get the computer ready for the play-by-play and the television set to 634 or wherever you can find it for the video on your flat screen.

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A scrimmage video of the squad matching up with the US-23′s – just in case you need a little taste…

Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart have officially taken their political comedy bit to unprecedented levels releasing an attack ad targeting Mitt Romney in South Carolina entitled, “Attack In B Minor For Strings.”  Courtesy of “Americans For A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow” the Colbert-turned-Stewart-run super PAC known as “The Definitely NOT Coordinating with Stepehen Colbert Super PAC” is launching a full-scale attack on Republican front-runner Mitt Romney as the pair of Comedy Central comedians continue their mission to shed light on how utterly ridiculous campaign finance laws have become in the wake of Citizens United and Congress’s absolute dereliction of duty in failing to address the problem with a permanent and workable solution.

The ad (narrated by John Lithgow) focuses on Mitt Romney’s much-scrutinized comment that “corporations are people.”  The video was released on The Definitely NOT Coordinating with Stepehen Colbert Super PAC’s website and was accompanied by a press release and a letter from “President For Life For Now” Jon Stewart (both posted below).

And just in case you still haven’t got your fill of fake politicians mocking ridiculous quasi-non-political political organizations and the candidates they represent but have absolutely nothing to do with… Mr. Colbert – who just last week was polling better than Jon Huntsman in South Carolina – was also on This Week with George Stephanopolous Sunday morning.  Enjoy.

And a press release…

When I heard that Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert was going to make an appearance on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.  But I’m not going to lie; I was more than a little intrigued.  Colbert’s insanely funny, extremely intelligent, and just about as quick-witted as anyone out there.  I don’t always agree with everything he puts out there, but even much of that still makes me laugh.  Add to that the fact that we’re in the middle of a Republican primary that at times has been more ridiculous than informative and the fact that George Stephanopoulos has just rejoined/taken over the hosting duties at a struggling This Week; and you have all the makings of potentially great television and hilarious political comedy.

Too bad this interview fell woefully short of living up to expectations.

Just in case anything Comedy Central related is foreign to you, Stephen Colbert is a make-believe Republican superhero designed to make fun of republicans and politics generally who has over time “evolved” to actually involve himself in American politics – testifying before Congress, starting his own “super PAC“, and even running for president.  If that sounds crazy or hard to follow, go here.  It’s a NY Times piece that asks the question “How Many Stephen Colberts are There?”  Essentially, he (Stephen Colbert) has taken his character (Stephen Colbert) outside of the Comedy Central world and has begun using the ridiculous world of American politics as part of his act.

But back to the Sunday morning interview…  Colbert just seemed to be pressing a bit.  His relentless commitment to staying in character that seems so effortless on his Comedy Central program came off looking like a corny last-minute exercise; Stephanopolous as the “straight man” was anything but up to the task of playing along with the Colbert fiction; and the whole thing was really just painful to watch.

Colbert played the angle that he’s merely a man flirting with a run at the White House still only in the exploratory committee phase of things.  When “pressed” by George to make a firm commitment to running, Colbert responded by saying, ”I’m a one man Lewis and Clark.  I’m just looking for my Sacagawea.”  That may have been the best line of the whole charade.  And I don’t think I have to tell you, it wasn’t up to his usual standard.

I’ve posted the video below – just in case you were as interested in seeing the interview as I was; but I’d recommend passing unless you’re really just in the mood for a disappointment.  Maybe tune in for Colbert Monday night and watch Stephen Colbert making fun of Stephen Colbert’s performance on The Colbert Report instead.

While I’m willing to bet you tuned in for the Broncos-Patriots Game on CBS to see Tim Tebow and Tom Brady going head-to-head, if you’re like me, you probably lost interest somewhere on or around the first quarter and began wondering how bad the beating could be before the final whistle blew.  While my mind drifted off to other things whilst watching said beatdown, I pulled up Google Trends to see how much of the top 20 was dominated by Tebow, Brady, Denver Broncos, NFL, playoffs, etc.  And just as I expected, the list was overrun with Tebow-Mania and topics related to the NFL and the last-minute finish between the 49ers and the Saints… save for one.

An ad by Focus on the Family.

Look for this adorable lil girl right after the lil boy powerfully and poignantly utters the word that brings the entire commercial full-circle… “LIFE!”  Her response was equally game-stopping.

I don’t know Mr. Tebow, but I’m fairly certain he would agree.