12 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, July 31, 2006
President under
fire i 'Articles'
By Bobby Gruenberg
For the Daily
FINE EARTS REVIEW
Mark Twain once said "patriotism is
supporting your country all the time and
your government when it deserves it."
We are in an age in which our lead-
ers have all but declared martial law and
seem to be abus-
ing their power
like Superman in The
an arm-wrestling Articles of
match. In the film Impeachment
"glow to Impeach Against
a President," one George Bush
lawyer exclaims,
"the principal At Shaman Drum
enemy of democ-
racy has been in the White House"
The video was part of an awareness
presentation at Shaman Drum that
accompanied the release of "The Arti-
cles of Impeachment Against George
Bush" written by the Center for Consti-
tutional Rights.
The CCR are constitutional crime
fighters, a 40-year-old non-profit group
of high-ranking lawyers that's gained
notoriety for its landmark cases against
the government.
Speaking on their behalf at Sha-
man Drum last Wednesday was deco-
rated Michigan defense lawyer Doug
Mulkoff, who illustrated four articles of
impeachment presented objectively in
the small 100 page book - warrantless
wiretapping, misleading Congress on
the reasons for the war in Iraq, violating
Geneva Convention laws against torture
and subverting the Constitution's sepa-
ration of powers. The CCR has sent a
copy of the book to each member of the
House. It avoids the more sentimental
issues like the blundering of the Katrina
response because they don't carry the
same sound legal base as the rest of the
arguments.
The strongest arguments come from
the recent reports that since Sept. 11
the government has conducted illegal
wiretaps. But the outcry for impeach-
ment is almost mute. "It just depends
on how many seats are on which side
of the aisle," Mulkoff said. The fifth
and final step of "How To Impeach a
President" is take action. And these
"teach-ins" taking place across the
country are a self-proclaimed "grass-
roots movement" focused on invoking
discussion and action.
You can find plenty of people com-
plaining about the government on any
corner or coffee shop in Ann Arbor, but
here it was spurring action. The spirited
locals took control of the meeting, plan-
ning a rallying cry. There were people
volunteering to go talk to city council
members, set up protests and plan for
future meetings.
These are the old activists, people
who have Impeach Bush signs in their
yards and protest on weekday after-
noons at the federal building.
On the way out of the bookstore,
two older women were talking about a
recent sit down at a high school in which
the principal told the students to dis-
perse: "These kids don't know how to
do things right,"they complained.
Those ladies might be right.
But according to Mulkoff, we can
accomplish something just by creating
more "educated and sophisticated vot-
ers" in the upcoming election. "Keep
the editorial pages full. Keep the debate
going," he said.
a
I
'Tucker' has pretty faces,
lacks everything else
By Mary Kate Varnau
Daily Arts Writer
The premise of "John Tucker
Must Die" involves several teenage
girls plotting to
ruin the social
life of the most John Tucker
popular guy in Must Die
school. When the At the Showcase
credits roll, the and Quality 16
audience with 20th Century Fox
a maturity level
at or above a 15
year old will reflect back on the last
90 minutes and think, "Why? Why
did I come here?"
"John Tucker Must Die" joins
the ranks of the high-school, battle
of the sexes genre. It's the story of
a girl named Kate (Brittany Snow,
TV's "Nip/Tuck") whose mother has
made a lifestyle of fleeing unsuc-
cessful relationships, resulting in the
repeated uprooting of Kate's social
and love life. In her newest alma
mater, Kate finds her niche among a
group of girls drawn together by an
unusual uniting factor: They've all
been screwed over by John Tucker.
Tucker is the school's basketball
captain, admired by guys and fawned
over by girls from every clique. He's
the classic playboy. From locker room
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boasting to well-rehearsed "you're
the only one for me" speeches, Tuck
is as smooth and deceitful as they
come. Kate's new circle has come
together for one purpose: to destroy
John Tucker's image, his popularity
and his appeal to women.
Let's not even broach the subject
of the film's depiction of women. The
scheming trio of wronged ex-girl-
friends take on Kate as their prote-
gee. They know Tuck's weaknesses,
dress her up and instruct her accord-
ingly, acting as puppet-masters for
her social debut. Kate wins over
Tuck's affections by becoming him.
She creates a callous, flaky persona
and works her way into Tuck's heart
strategically, blowing him off repeat-
edly, then appearing indifferent.
If taken seriously, "John Tucker
Must Die" is an abomination. It's
socially irresponsible, perpetuat-
ing male/female hang-ups and ... no
more. You'll have heart palpitations
just thinking about what high school
girls will glean from the film's exam-
ple. Anyone who feels strongly about
feminist issues runs the very real
risk of keeling more than 20 minutes
into the movie.
But you know what? If you can
let go of the social baggage (and
your ethical beliefs) for 90 minutes,
the film is actually kind of fun. It's
bouncy and entertaining, well-paced
and full of eye candy. The genre
to which this film belongs - the
"Down to You," "Ten Things I Hate
About You," "She's All That" (any
Freddie Prinze Jr. film) variety - is
generally abysmal, but in a secret,
Tuesday-night indulgence sort of
way. "John Tucker" falls just above
mediocre in the spectrum of bad
teen movies.