Monty Clift Online: The Misfits (1961) Marilyn Monroe's Last Film

Source:The New Democrat

Similar to River of No Return, The Misfits is a very entertaining and good movie, but certainly not a great movie. The writing is pretty cheesy even for the 1950s and early 1960s and especially for a movie that is an action/western movie. But is has a good plot and a great cast. With two women that are essentially drifters, at least in Marilyn Monroe's case who is just recently divorced and not knowing where she is going from there. And they meet two cowboys in a diner played by Clark Gable and Eli Wallach and find that they have things in common and decide to get together.

Marilyn Monroe's character doesn't have a place to stay and the Clark Gable character invites her to stay with him as a guest at her ranch and she more than keeps herself busy there and does a lot of work on the cabin really, a small cabin on a decent size lot of property. And Clarks's partner in the movie played by Eli Wallach tells him that there are available horses up to be rounded up, brought back and sold, but they need another man to do the job. And they take the girls played by Marilyn and Thelma Ritter to a rodeo to find their man and that is where they get Montgomery Clift character to help them out.

Marilyn as usual is as sweet and adorable as can be and plays someone who wouldn't step on nat if if you gave her a thousand-dollars to do so. Clark Gable plays a veteran cowboy who is exactly that living the cowboy lifestyle and making his living rounding up horses and cattle. Eli Wallach plays a very similar character as Clark and Montgomery Clift plays a drifting cowboy along for the ride just looking for work. Thelma Ritter plays Marilyn's friend and tries to worn her about cowboys and how they live. Marilyn being somewhat lost, just looking to find her way and to be useful.

Marilyn Monroe Archives: River of No Return (1954)

Source:The New Democrat

The River of No Return is certainly not a great movie. It is a good movie, an entertaining movie, a fairly well-written movie with a good cast and Marilyn Monroe looks great in the movie. This movie was also ahead of it's time at least when it comes to women's fashion. This movie takes place in the late 19th Century or early 20th Century and yet Marilyn is wearing tight Lee denim jeans in boots for about half of the movie. In an era where that was almost never seen from women. Back then women wore long dresses for the most part and nothing that showed a lot of their physical body.

Marilyn looked great in this movie, her usual hot sexy baby-face adorable sweet self. And this movie was very real to me in the sense that it wasn't about angels and devils. Robert Mitchum plays a single father in the movie who helps out a couple on the water having trouble with their boat. The man in this couple is a criminal or crook on the run. His wife is Marilyn a sweetheart, but not someone without faults. But Mitchum is simply trying to help these people out and the guy screws them and takes his lone horse away from Mitchum and his son and his girlfriend stays behind with the man and his son. And now they are together trying to survive on the River of No Return with outlaws shooting at them.

Source:Marilyn Monroe

Brookings Institution: Thomas Mann: The New Normal in Politics: Response to Gridlock & Gloom

Source:The New Democrat

I don’t feel any sympathy for anyone for Americans who claim to hate the dysfunction in Washington, especially in Congress, but at the same time vote for people who are responsible for that dysfunction. Its like hearing from a football player who played in the NFL for 10-15 years and now suffers from serious knee pain and always complaining about knee pain. Or the driver involved in a car accident who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and now suffers from serious back or neck pain. I mean, what do they have to complain about? They knew the consequences for the decisions they made that lived up to their injuries. And if they didn’t, they are too stupid, drunk or high a combination of all of those factors for me to give a damn about.

American voters all the time in poll after poll say they disapprove of Congress and yet they reelect the same representatives and senators to represent them. So maybe it is that American voters actually like gridlock, but if you look at poll after poll there’s clearly a feeling in the country that Congress needs to act on a series of issues for the country. Like the economy, infrastructure, immigration just to use as examples, but they elect and reelect people who don’t seem to have any interest in addressing those issues. If you want someone to do something for you and you’re talking about politics, you vote for people who are actually interested in those concerns.

If you want Gridlock, vote for Joe and Marry Gridlock running for U.S. House or Senate or reelection to one of those chambers. Because they’ll be more than happy to keep their election promises. I mean seriously how hard is it to do nothing. Even someone in Congress can figure how to do that. You don’t get action on issues by voting for inaction. I know that sounds as obvious as the Earth is round or concrete is hard or the Chicago Cubs won’t win the World Series. But apparently we have millions if not tens of millions of voters who don’t seem to understand that.

We have a lot of people in Congress, especially in the Tea Party Republican Party who are really only there for one reason. To stop President Obama from doing anything, at least anything constructive. If they actually want to do anything, it is to repeal and sit on their ass’s, another way of saying repeal and replace. So if that is what you want, you might have a hundred people on Capitol Hill who’ll do exactly that for you, which again is nothing. Again, how hard is it to do that and if you are still thinking about that, you are too dumb to follow along even for the ride. And then non wonder why what ninety-percent of the members of Congress get reelected.

But if you want people to actually do things in Congress and address your issues, whatever the issues and if you’re a Democrat or Republican, then you need to vote for the people who’ll address those issues. I know, this sounds like basic common sense, but that is a big problem with America and Congress in particular. It is not the budget deficit that is such a huge problem right now, but the common sense deficit up there. Which is why not a lot gets done up there, but why are they there in the first place? Because the voters sent them there to represent them.

The New Republic: Brian Beutler: 2015 Congress Will Shake Up America's Boring Politics

Source:The New Democrat

Here is sort of what the lighter more positive side of a united Republican Congress at least for Democrats, but perhaps bad for the rest of the country.

A party that now doesn't believe in government will somehow have to govern, at least at the legislative level. That means finding ways to fund things they don't believe in. Because the President is still a Democrat, at least until Congressional Republicans finds a way to impeach and convict President Obama. And they'll have to work together to make anything law really. Senate Republicans will have to work with Senate Democrats at least to pass just about anything that doesn't have to do with the budget and appropriations. Unless Harry Reid and Senate Democrats take the cynical route and say, "you know what, go ahead and pass that, we won't stop you, we'll just use it against you and your vulnerable members in the election."

America will truly get to see how divided and childish the Republican Party has become. With House Speaker John Boehner and new Senate Leader Mitch McConnell playing my too dads with their Tea Party anti-government children who hate school so much and just want to stay home and play video games and eat cookies. And mess around on their smart phones. While debating amongst themselves, especially in the Senate about whether they should vote on nominations to government agencies that they believe shouldn't exist in the first place, or voting to eliminate those agencies all together.

Democrats at least in Congress will get the next two-years off and be able to plan their path back to power. With House and Senate Republicans giving them boatloads of material everyday and commercials to use against them in swing districts and swing states. And I'm thinking especially in Democratic leaning states like Illinois and Pennsylvania where Senator Mark Kirk and Senator Pat Toomey who both have been in Congress for a while, will have a choice to make. Figure out how to govern and make government work with a Democratic President and risk a Tea Party primary challenge. Or go with the Tea Party and put their reelection in jeopardy against a mainstream Democrat.

The good news for Democrats, is that now they get the ten-percent or so Congressional approval rating off of their backs and put it squarely on the shoulders of the Republican Party. With a divided Congress they couldn't do that, because they were in the Congressional Leadership controlling the Senate. Now they are essentially along for the ride with 188 or so seats in the House in the next Congress and 45-46 seats in the Senate in the next Congress. With Congressional Republicans having clear majorities and responsibility to figure out how to govern. And to figure out how to govern with members who don't believe in government. At least when it comes to the economy. Good luck GOP!

NFL Films: Era of Excellence - The 1980s

Source:The New Democrat

The 1980s National Football League was an era of cookie-cutter stadiums, concrete hard Astroturf fields, dome stadiums especially for teams who played in cold weather cities, like Minneapolis. And it was basically the birth of the passing age in the NFL. The illegal contact rule and the new blocking rules of 1978 and new offensive-minded head coaches like Bill Walsh, Tom Flores, Joe Gibbs, Dan Reeves, Don Coryell, Joe Walton, Sam Wyche really opened up offensive football and the league has only continued to move in that direction ever since.

It was an era where the dominate Steel Curtain Pittsburgh Steelers were no more and where the Los Angeles Raiders who probably should've taken over for the Steelers as the new dominant team in the NFL, didn't quite live up to that. Even though all in all they had a pretty good decade winning two Super Bowls, but 1986 or so were no longer a championship contender in the NFL. And became a franchise just trying to make the AFC Playoffs every year. And what happened was the San Francisco 49ers took that mantle instead from the Steelers. And became great team on offense and defense throughout the decade.

But what is great about football, it is not what I call arenaball, what is called arena football. As much as Roger Goddell might want to change that and turn the NFL into a total offensive league, there is still two sides of the game, offense and defense. And there were still great defensive teams and players in the 1980s. Like with Chicago Bears 46 defense led by Buddy Ryan, who took that to Philadelphia as the Eagles new head coach. And in New York with their elephant two-deep defense that the Giants played led by head coach Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick.

The 1980s was an era for the NFL where the great teams of the 1970s like the Steelers, Raiders and Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings took a step back and needed to regroup and come back in the 1990s as championship contenders again. And where new teams like the San Francisco 49ers, Redskins, New York Giants, Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns stepped up and either became champions or at least championship contenders. And a decade where the NFL just became more popular and more balanced. Where offenses and defenses were now treated equally under the rules.

CBS Sports: NFL 1978- Week 6-San Francisco 49ers @ Los Angeles Rams: First Quarter

Source:The New Democrat

This really looks like a mismatch on paper with the San Francisco 49ers finishing 2-14 in 1978 and the Los Angeles Rams finishing 12-4 and running away again with the NFC East title as they made a habit of doing in the 1970s. And if it wasn't for the great 49ers-Rams rivalry, at least when the Rams were in Southern California, I wouldn't of bothered to of post this. But this was a great rivalry in the 1950s, 1960s to a certain extent, the 1970s and the 1980s. With a lot of great games with the teams not liking each other.

The Rams were sort of in transition in 1978, with head coach Chuck Knox moving on to Buffalo to coach the Bills and this being the last season for the 49ers before Bill Walsh completely took over the football operations there in 1979. He inherited a bad football team with a few good young players. Like offensive lineman Keith Farnhorse, Randy Cross, wide receiver Freddie Solomon and a few others. But the 1978 49ers season is why they went to Bill Walsh in 1979.

Truman Tucker: A Little History of the Minnesota Vikings

Source:The Daily Press

When you look at teams that should've won championships but didn't, I look at teams that were really the best at what they did in their league for that year. Teams that had everything on paper, the talent, the chemistry, the character, the coaching. Teams that stayed healthy and finally, but definitely not last, teams that lost their big game to a team they should've not only beat, but lost to a team they should've whipped, that's the 1998 Minnesota Vikings.

They had the best offense in the NFL in 1998, running basically (what I call) the Spread Vertical Offense the offense that Sid Gilman invented in the 1950s with Sid Gilman with the Los Angeles Rams, with Norm Van Brocklin, Leroy Hirsch and company. That Al Davis adopted in the 1960s with the Oakland Raiders, where you have at least wide receiver if not two WR running a post-route on every play. You push the safety's back to open up the rest of the field so you can also work passes to your slot-receivers, tight ends and even running backs. Basically forcing the defense to cover the whole field, it takes a great offensive line and quarterback to be successful in an offense like this.

You also need a great QB who can throw deep and accurately, but doesn't get too greedy and who works the rest of the field. You need a solid running game as well to keep defenses honest. But again we are talking about the 98 Vikings here right, they had all of that. Randall Cunningham showing the world how great a QB he could be and not just a great talent. The OL with offensive guard Steve Hutchinson, center Matt Birk, tackle Corey Stringer,all Pro Bowlers, all big strong and mobile. Pro Bowler Robert Smith at RB and all purpose RB, reminds me a little of Marcus Allen, had he not retired early would probably be in the Hall of Fame.

The 1998 Viking had really three deep threats who were all big and tall at WR that could all run. Randy Moss as a rookie Chris Carter the 2nd best WR of the 1990s behind only Jerry Rice and Jake Reed as your third WR. Moss and Reed running post-routes with Carter running the inside routes with a lot of room to run. The Vikings were a speed team playing in a dome stadium perhaps the loudest stadium in the league in the Metrodome.

The Vikings played on turf they had the perfect environment playing the two-gap cover-two defense with four pass rushers up front led by defensive tackle John Randle who'll be in the Hall of Fame. Keeping your safety's deep so even if you don't get the pass rush, you prevent the big play. They didn't have a great defense, but when you're scoring 35 points a game and you give up 20 your defense is good enough. But it wasn't good enough in the 1998 NFC Final to the Atlanta Falcons losing to a team that was 7-9 in 1997, they hadn't made the playoffs since 1995 and went 9-7 that year to make the playoffs. The 98 Vikings were a team that had the total package, kinda like a fast break basketball team that would get some early stops and run you out of the building on offense.

Super Bowl 33 played in January 1999 (with the famous Ally Landry Tostitos Commercial is really the only thing I remember about that game. The best team in the AFC in the Denver Broncos that were I believe 13-3 in 1998 coached by Mike Shanahan with QB John Elway, TE Shannon Sharpe, RB Terrell Davis and company. Against a jump start Atlanta Falcons team coached by Dan Reeves who was a big reason for their success and a lot of players that had career years and didn't do much before or after that. With QB Chris Chandler, WR Tony Martin, TE OJ Santiago and others. When it should've been the Vikings and Broncos in Miami playing one of the best Super Bowls ever.