"Shows leadership."

In the New York Times, Alessandra Stanley hails the launch of "The Living Room Candidate," an online exhibition at the American Museum of the Moving Image: "It is a truism that political campaigns nowadays are fought and won on television, but it is also true that at this point in the campaign some of the most talked-about ads are being shown only in swing states like Ohio or Florida. The Web site allows New Yorkers and Californians to see how the other half are being wooed."

The site is also a major, time-consuming diversion. Right away, I was hooked by the 1952 spot for Adlai Stevenson, "I Love the Gov," the sexiest political ad I've ever seen anyway. Stanley also describes another eye-popper: "A 1968 Nixon ad reveling in Democratic Party chaos, for instance, is a wordless montage of the Chicago convention, Vietnam and civil unrest, set to a daffily jaunty rendition of 'Happy Days Are Here Again.' It is a strange, and strangely effective ad that [curator David] Schwartz described as 'very avant-garde' and stylistically close to a popular variety show of the time, Laugh-In."

I lost a good solid hour to this exhibition today and expect to give up a few more when the day winds down.

Meanwhile, the latest Web ad for Bush sparks a few thoughts from Slate's William Saletan: "Leadership used to be the noun form of a verb. A leader was someone who led. Now a leader is someone who 'shows leadership.' Politicians don't lead. They show."

Via Movie City News, the Boston Globe's Mark Jurkowitz on the way the whole series of docs you've seen mentioned here again and again are not only filling the major gaps in the media's version of post-9/11 history but also critiquing the media's complacency and complicity.

Objectivity? It's overrated, says Brian Clark.

With Fahrenheit 9/11 set to roll out around the world, indieWIRE's Anthony Kaufman surveys the global prospects... and finds them very good indeed.

Barbara Ehrenreich in the NYT: "My point is not to defend Moore, who - with a platoon of bodyguards and a legal team starring Mario Cuomo - hardly needs any muscle from me. I just think it's time to retire the 'liberal elite' label, which, for the past 25 years, has been deployed to denounce anyone to the left of Colin Powell."

Robert Davis: "I suppose this is the problem with Michael Moore. He's so polarizing, that the legitimate questions he raises are often shrugged off by those who should answer them." Nevertheless: "Fahrenheit 9/11 is a concentrated reflection on some of the most important arguments against recent US military action, far less vindictive than emotional, and worthy of - demanding - a response."

Here's one: Andrew Sullivan at the New Republic's site. It's more of a response to William Raspberry's column in the Washington Post than to the film, but it is also a sober critique rather than a frothing rant, a conservative pan that has no need to resort to labels like "fascist" and, wonder of wonders, Moore's weight isn't even mentioned. Whether you're blue or red, left or right, pro- or anti-Moore, and for that matter, usually pro- or anti-Sullivan, this is a response worthy of serious consideration.

Posted by dwhudson at July 1, 2004 12:53 PM