Dan Mirvish, co-founder of the Slamdance Film Festival (Sundance's upstart kid brother), has always been a bit of a trickster. But his latest prank, with his partner-in-crime Eitan Gorlin, has stirred all kinds of trouble.

According to this New York Times article, Mirvish and Gorlin cooked up the story - which ran on Fox News and MSNBC - that an anonymous staffer in the John McCain campaign had said that vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin thought Africa was a single country and not a continent.

Mirvish and Gorlin invented a character, a policy analyst named Martin Eisenstadt (played by Gorlin), to dispense soundbites for reporters and bloggers. Eisenstadt even had a blog and a fictional think tank backing him up, the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy.

"Eisenstadt" also helped foster the story that Paris Hilton's grandfather was angry at the McCain campaign for insulting Paris in an anti-Barack Obama ad.

The purpose for doing all this? To pitch a TV show based on the Eisenstadt character - but also to show the gullibility of the mainstream media and the blogosphere.

It also shows that a hoax succeeds when the source material is wacky enough without embellishment. If Palin hadn't come off so clueless in early interviews, and so stubborn in later appearances, it would have been less plausible to think she didn't know Africa is a continent.

Labels: John McCain, Sarah Palin, Slamdance Film Festival

You walk into the lavish lobby of the Grand America hotel, and you have to look around to find the party going on.

Of course, the Utah Republican Party doesn't have as much to celebrate as the Democrats a few blocks away.

The Utah Republicans defended their two congressional seats, and got Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and attorney general Mark Shurtleff re-elected. But with Utah going for John McCain, while the majority of the nation went to Barack Obama, there wasn't the same cheering and exuberance that the Democrats were feeling.

There was plenty of hand-shaking, like when Huntsman ran into Utah's newest congressman, Jason Chaffetz. But seldom have a group that have won so much acted like they lost.

The vibe was also less gracious. While the Utah Democrats listened - and largely applauded - McCain's concession speech, the Utah Republicans missed a large chunk of Obama's victory speech a half-hour later. Instead, they heard from Utah's newest congressman, Jason Chaffetz, who prefunctorily acknowledged Obama's victory and then made this promise: "I will fight tooth and nail to reject socialism."

That's reaching across the aisle for you.

Labels: Barack Obama, Jason Chaffetz, John McCain, Jon Huntsman, politics

In the main room of the Utah Democrats' election-night party, it's fun to play "emotional rollercoaster" with the crowd noise.

When a new batch of electoral-vote projections flashed on the TV monitors, the yeas and the boos alternated.

"Obama wins Iowa" - "YEA!"

McCain wins Utah" - "BOO!"

More cheers and boos came with KSL's projections in the Utah races. They cheered for Rep. Jim Matheson in Utah's 2nd District, booed for new Congressman-elect Jason Chaffetz in the Republican-heavy 3rd, more cheers for Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon - and a big cheer when Randy Horiuchi, in a close race for Salt Lake County Council, was declared the winner.

But the biggest and longest cheers came whenever a TV crew started shooting the crowd.

Labels: Barack Obama, John McCain, politics

Filmmaker Eugene Jarecki - whose documentary "Why We Fight" won the top prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival - writes on The Huffington Post about how, when the movie was released in 2006, he was hit full-force by the attack-machine of Sen. John McCain.

In the movie, which traces the history of the military-industrial complex and how corporate pressures have influenced how and how often the United States wages war, McCain was one of the most cogent and forthright interview subjects. His outspoken comments about U.S. foreign policy and defense-contractor corruption were true to McCain's "maverick" label.

McCain is also prominent in one of the movie's few funny moments. During the interview, McCain suddenly gets a phone call from Vice President Dick Cheney - and McCain quickly stands up to take the call, as Jarecki leaves his camera on McCain's empty chair.

Jarecki then describes how McCain's chief of staff, Mark Salter, reacted when the movie was released in theaters in January 2006:

When McCain's office voiced their concern about [the Cheney phone call], I expected, if anything, they might fear the suggestion of uncomfortably close ties between McCain and Cheney. When Salter instead declared to me that I was "making it look like John McCain was critical of the Vice-President," and that "Vice-President Cheney has nothing to do with Halliburton," I realized that what he was objecting to was not that McCain might have appeared too close to Cheney but rather not close enough. Mr. Salter demanded that I send him a transcript of the Senator's interview, not just the parts that appear in the film. Since none of the film's more than twenty other interviewees had been provided such a thing, and since I valued the film's independence from political pressure, I told Mr. Salter I would seek advice from other journalists and get back to him.

Salter next resorted to threats, saying that, unless I complied, he would smear my name in the media and exert pressure on the film's principal funder never to work with me again. I said I thought the BBC would be unlikely to welcome such pressure from an irate chief of staff to a senator. Salter then changed gears, appealing to my sense of fairness. "When Senator McCain sat down to talk to you," he explained, "he thought he was talking to a television crew from the BBC." I said that that was true, but that the film had then gone on to win Sundance and secure a theatrical release. But then something troubling about his remark dawned on me.

"If you don't mind my asking," I said, "are you suggesting there are things Senator McCain will say to a British audience that he isn't comfortable saying to the American people?" Needless to say, this didn't help matters. But I wasn't trying to be snide. My question was just the logical extension of what Salter had intimated. But it clearly touched a nerve. He became enraged and, after hanging up, sought to make good on his threat to tarnish my name and career.

Jarecki then extrapolates how the behavior of McCain and his staff then is playing out in the campaign now:

I sense that all the problems of managing McCain's public image are ultimately a reflection of a profound division in McCain's own soul as he runs for the presidency. His awkward manner, his sidekick's rogue behavior, his campaign's erratic relations with the press and public - all this radio static speaks volumes about the deeper insecurity and unresolved persona of the man himself - qualities so glaring no amount of lipstick or campaign theatrics can hide them.

Labels: John McCain, Sundance

- The second presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama, from Nashville, Tenn., starts at 7 on all the major channels. The Salt Lake chapter of Drinking Liberally will gather starting at 6 at Saints and Sinners, 3040 S. State, South Salt Lake City (must be 21 or older). (If you know of a rockin' Republican viewing party, e-mail the Vulture and I'll post it here.)

- Weezer brings its jukebox of offbeat hits - including "Buddy Holly," "Island in the Sun," "Hash Pipe" and "Beverly Hills" - to the E Center, 3200 S. Decker Lake Drive, West Valley City. Angels & Airwaves (fronted by Blink 182's Tom DeLonge), Tokyo Police Club and local band Tolchock Trio will open the show. Doors open at 6:30. Tickets are $39.50 to $42.50, at Ticketmaster.

- Christian rock trio BarlowGirl headlines the "Million Voices" tour, along with Jimmy Needham and Brooke Barrettsmith, starting at 7 at Calvary Chapel of Salt Lake, 480 W. Century Drive (4500 South). Tickets range from $14.50 (groups of 10 or more) to $24.50, by calling 801-814-4645 or 801-264-9999.

- This week's cool band name: A Place to Bury Strangers. They play at the Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, Salt Lake City. Sian Alice Group and Laserfang are also on the bill. Show starts at 9. Tickets are $10, at 24Tix.

Labels: Barack Obama, John McCain, politics, Tonight's schedule

- Finnish power-metal rockers Children of Bodom plays at Saltair, 12408 W. Salt Air Drive, Magna. Also on the bill: Black Dahlia Murder, Between the Buried and Me. Show starts at 6:30. Tickets are $18, at Ktix or at the door.

- A day before the first McCain/Obama debate (presuming there still is one), get your taste of musical political satire with The Capitol Steps, at 7 at the Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South. Tickets are $35, at ArtTix.

- The Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company's newly reconstructed version of Alwin Nikolais' work "Tower" begins a three-night run, at 7:30 at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City. Tickets are $30, or $15 for students at seniors, at ArtTix.

- Outlaw country singer David Allen Coe - the guy who wrote Johnny Paycheck's hit "Take This Job and Shove It" (a song we occasionally hear hummed wistfully in the restrooms at the Tribune) - plays at Bar Deluxe, 666 S. State St., Salt Lake City. Michael Dean Damron is the opening act. Show starts at 8. Tickets are $25, at SmithsTix.

Labels: Barack Obama, John McCain, politics, Tonight's schedule

The words "fun" and "political speech" usually don't go together - unless you, like me, watched John McCain's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention with the members of the Salt Lake City chapter of Drinking Liberally.

The group, which is as dedicated to liberal causes as it is to having a good time, gathered last night at Saints and Sinners, a private club in South Salt Lake, to watch McCain's speech. About 30 or 40 people showed up - including the Democratic challengers for governor and lieutenant governor, Bob Springmeyer and Josie Valdez.

Drinking Liberally was born in New York City in May 2003, and now boasts 293 chapters in all 50 states. The Salt Lake chapter has been around for about three years, according to Heather Culligan, one of the three "hosts" of the McCain event. (The chapter meets regularly on the second and fourth Fridays of the month at Piper Down, 1492 S. State St., Salt Lake City.)

Before McCain's speech (which we watched on one-hour tape delay, because the TVs were tuned to KUED, and nobody realized it wasn't a live feed until it was too late), and I got chatting with Valdez and with Misty Fowler, chairperson of Utah for Obama (who was live-blogging the speech from the bar on her web site, saintless.com).

Valdez and Fowler were both in Denver last week for the Democratic National Convention, and they compared that experience to the show from St. Paul they were seeing on TV.

"It was absolutely amazing," Fowler said, "seeing so many different people gathered in one place from so many different backgrounds."

Valdez remarked on how disorganized and dispirited the Republican rank-and-file looked on the floor of Xcel Energy Center. "We had better sign flow and coordination at our party," Valdez said. Fowler added that the cheering and sign-carrying was all organized by Democratic volunteers, who took the job because it gave them a chance to get into the Pepsi Center and be part of the event.

Once McCain's speech started, everybody was gathered around the TV with their beer glasses ready. Culligan had passed out copies of a drinking-game (devised by Drinking Liberally's Portland, Ore., chapter) to go with the speech. A few people added their own rules, such as taking a drink every time the cameras captured a person of color (which, for the whiter-than-white Republicans, became a sort of televised "Where's Waldo?" game).

Most got into the game with good spirit, though there was one loud angry guy who kept getting louder and angrier as his beer intake increased. I hope he got home OK.

Here's the drinking-game scorecard, as I tallied it:

• Sip when McCain says taxes should be cut: 6
• Sip when he mentions Barack Obama by name: 6
• Sip when he talks about his bipartisan record: 3
• Sip when he refers to his running mate, Sarah Palin, as a reformer: 1
• Sip when he talks about the "surge" being a success: 1
• Sip when he says we have to stay in Iraq until we win: 1
• Drink when he mentions he's a POW: 1
• Drink when he refers to Palin's "executive experience": 1
• Drink when he acknowledges that most Americans think the economy is in bad shape: 3
• Chug when he calls himself a maverick: 2

And we didn't even get to the end of McCain's speech, because the bar's regular Thursday night reggae band, Soul Redemption started playing at 10 p.m. Those who wanted to catch the rest of the speech did so without sound, with the closed-captioning on.

As it turns out, some good reggae music is the perfect way to relax after fiery political rhetoric.

Labels: John McCain, politics, Sarah Palin

If you can't survive listening to John McCain's acceptance speech tonight without alcohol, the group Drinking Liberally is having a listening party tonight - around 7 or 7:30 - at Saints and Sinners, 3040 S. State Street.

According to one member of Drinking Liberally, there will be a John McCain drinking game, in which you take sips or shots when McCain says certain keywords or phrases.

Labels: John McCain, politics

- The Utah State Fair starts its 11-day run today, open 'til 10 at the Utah State Fairpark, 1000 W. North Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets are $8, $6 for seniors and for kids 6-12, and free for children 5 and under.

- The Salt Lake Greek Festival, the city's largest ethnic festival, starts its four-day run today, 5 to 11, at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 279 S. 300 West, Salt Lake City. Admission is $3 at the door.

- The Hinckley Institute of Politics is having a party to watch John McCain (pictured here with his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin) accept the Republican Party's nomination for president. The party starts at 7 in room 253 of Orson Spencer Hall, 260 Central Campus Drive, on the University of Utah campus.

- New Zealand-born singer-songwriter Tim Finn, known both as a solo artist and as founder of the '80s band Split Enz, plays at 7:30 at Bar Deluxe, 666 S. State St., Salt Lake City. Tickets are $25, at SmithsTix.

- Heavy-metal warriors Dokken, on the comeback trail with their new album "Lightning Strikes Again," will rock out at 7:30 at the Murray Theatre, 4961 S. State St., Murray. Tickets are $20, at SmithsTix.

Labels: John McCain, Tonight's schedule, Utah State Fair

TMZ.com, the bottom-feeders of tabloid TV, ambushed Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch at the Republican National Convention, asking if there should be a comparison between Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and celebrity mom Lynne Spears - because they both have had to deal with their teen-age daughters' pregnancies.

Hatch brushed off the TMZ guy politely but firmly, as this video shows.

TMZ is late to the party, anyway. Most everyone - from Barack Obama to Lindsay Lohan (no, seriously, Lindsay Lohan has weighed in on this, and quite intelligently, too) - has declared Palin's daughter Bristol off-limits.

It's not about the politician's family, it's about the politician's policies.

Labels: Barack Obama, John McCain, Orrin Hatch, politics, Sarah Palin

Jay McDonough, a progressive blogger for the Salt Lake City edition of Examiner.com, perfectly pegged the off-the-wall suggestion by Cindy McCain that her husband John's vice-presidential pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, has foreign-policy experience because "Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia." (No, she really said that - here's the YouTube evidence.)

Countered McDonough: "I met Robert Redford so I, therefore, know about acting."

Labels: John McCain, politics, Robert Redford, Sarah Palin

Bad news for all those Utahns who still want to vote for Mitt Romney: Presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain has chosen Alaskan governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate.

Not Michael Palin from "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (pictured at far right), but Sarah Palin from Alaska (pictured at near right).

The pundits are speculating on why McCain chose Palin. I can come up with two reasons: Courting the spurned Hillary Clinton vote, choosing somebody comparatively young, and going after her oil-company ties - three reasons.

Labels: John McCain, politics, Sarah Palin

If you believe, as I do, in Nick Hornby's maxim from High Fidelity, "what really matters is what you like, not what you are like," you will be interested in these twin interviews in Entertainment Weekly with presumptive presidential nominees John McCain and Barack Obama.

In the interviews, the candidates are asked about their personal pop-culture habits. Let us compare and contrast tastes:

Favorite sitcom - McCain: "Seinfeld"; Obama: "M*A*S*H"

Favorite movie or TV president - McCain: David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), "24"; Obama: Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges), "The Contender"

Last movie seen in a theater: McCain: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"; Obama: "Shrek 3"

First movie seen as a kid: McCain: "Bambi"; Obama: Can't recall specifically, but one of the first was "Born Free."

If you could be any superhero: McCain: Batman; Obama: Spider-Man or Batman.

Musical tastes: McCain: ABBA, Roy Orbison, Linda Ronstadt, Usher; Obama: On his iPod include Jay-Z, Frank Sinatra, Sheryl Crow, John Coltrane, Bob Dylan, Javanese flute music, African dance music, a lot of R&B.

Labels: Barack Obama, John McCain, politics

OK, here's the lesson for John McCain: When you start attacking your opponent by comparing him to air-headed blonde celebrities, remember that the air-headed blondes also have access to cameras.

And their writers are funnier than yours.

And they might not be as dumb as you (or, indeed, America) thought they were.

Labels: Barack Obama, John McCain, politics

This is how slippery the slope is for John McCain: He has ceded the moral high ground to Paris Hilton's mom.

Kathy Hilton, mother of the oft-photographed socialite, issued a statement to the left-leaning blog The Huffington Post on Sunday, offering her first reaction to the McCain campaign's ad that knocks his Democratic opponent Barack Obama - using images of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears - for his celebrity status:

It is a complete waste of the money John McCain's contributors have donated to his campaign. It is a complete waste of the country's time and attention at the very moment when millions of people are losing their homes and their jobs. And it is a completely frivolous way to choose the next President of the United States.

An AP story mentions that Kathy Hilton and her husband Rick donated $4,600 to the McCain campaign earlier this year.

McCain's increasingly negative and snarky campaign ads - like an online ad that suggests Obama is comparing himself to Moses - were all the buzz on the Sunday talk shows.

Mike Murphy, McCain's 2000 campaign manager, called the Spears/Hilton ad "clumsy, juvenile, and a mistake" on NBC's "Meet the Press." And David Gergen, who has worked in both Republican and Democratic White Houses, was particularly stinging on ABC's "This Week":

I think the McCain campaign has been scrupulous about not directly saying it, but it's the subtext of this campaign. Everybody knows that. There are certain kinds of signals. As a native of the south, I can tell you, when you see this Charlton Heston ad, 'The One,' that's code for, 'he's uppity, he ought to stay in his place.' Everybody gets that who is from a southern background. We all understand that.

One thing about McCain's attacks on Obama: According to the latest polls, they're working.

Labels: Barack Obama, John McCain, politics

So now the Republicans are playing the celebrity card.

A recent attack ad by presumptive Republican presidential candidate John McCain attacks his Democratic opponent Barack Obama for being - gasp - popular. The ad juxtaposes images of Obama's recent European tour with red-carpet footage of such celebrity airheads as Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

I think calling the ad racist, as some have - because it juxtaposes the African-American candidate with two blond white women - is a bit of a stretch. But it does reveal an intellectual vacuum in the McCain campaign, and some hypocrisy for the Republicans' celebrity bashing.

The point of the ad - vote against Obama because he's being treated like a rock star - is vacuous, and betrays a little envy on the GOP side. As Obama himself said in response to the ad, "Is that the best you can come up with?"

Republicans are adept at bashing celebrities who get political active - note the "Shut up and Sing!" mantra aimed at the Dixie Chicks when Natalie Maines spoke ill of President Bush. But this is the same party that more successfully pushes movie stars as candidates (Ronald Reagan, Fred Thompson, Arnold Schwarzenegger) and get all gushy when somebody like Chuck Norris get campaigning.

Folks in Hollywood, according to this Los Angeles Times article, look at McCain's tactics as desperate. And marketing expert Robert Kozinets says the "anti-celebrity de-endorsement" is likely to boomerang on McCain as it gets run through the Internet.

(Cartoon by Pat Bagley/The Salt Lake Tribune)

Labels: Barack Obama, John McCain, politics