VodkapunditVodkapunditVodkapundit
This Won't Be Pretty
Posted by Will Collier  ·  22 August 2005

Remember the old "Night Flight" show on USA cable? Ran overnight Fridays and Saturdays, played a great deal of weird and wonderful stuff. One of their best recurring bits was a series of "alternative" animated shorts, and one of the funniest of those was titled, "Bambi Vs. Godzilla."

The Gerald Ford Museum folks could do a lot worse than recycling that title for this debate:

Tribune Media Services columnists Victor Davis Hanson and Arianna Huffington will square off in a debate about whether the U.S. is "internationalist or imperial."

Like the animated version, this matchup promised to be brutal, funny, and utterly one-sided. We can only hope C-SPAN picks it up (although it could well be R-rated for extreme intellectual evisceration).

Comments

I LOVED Bambi Vs. Godzilla. I think either Showtime or HBO used to show a bunch of animated shorts like that as well about twenty years ago.

Posted by: Beth at August 22, 2005 05:30 PM

More like "Celebrity Death Match"

I can't wait!

Posted by: Scot at August 22, 2005 05:45 PM

Bambi v Godzilla represents a classic cinema moment. Ah, memories.

And such an apt metaphor, too! I second the hope that C-Span will carry it; it'd be a must-TiVO.

Posted by: Joan at August 22, 2005 06:38 PM

TO: Will Collier
RE: Bambi & Godzilla

Guys....GUYS!!!!

Can we please get the title correct?

It was...

Bambi Meets Godzilla

Sheesh!!!!

Regards,

Chuck(le)

Posted by: Chuck Pelto at August 22, 2005 06:52 PM

Drat!

I was certain I had turned off the blockquote....

Posted by: Chuck Pelto at August 22, 2005 06:53 PM

Its not fair of VDH to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent.

Shame on him.

Posted by: Am I A Pundit Now? at August 22, 2005 07:24 PM

I'd say take it to Pay Per View but this promises to be shorted than even most Mike Tyson fights...

Posted by: richard mcenroe at August 22, 2005 07:44 PM

Thank you, Will.

I could not remember the name of that show to save my life. The opening guitar riff would be in my head for hours at a time, taunting me.

Anyone remember "Grinning Evil Death"?

Posted by: jason at August 22, 2005 08:28 PM

Remember the other USA show, "Up All Night" hosted by Gilbert Godfrey?

Posted by: MikeTheLibrarian at August 22, 2005 08:29 PM

Which one is Godzilla? Do not sell Arianna short.

Posted by: nk at August 22, 2005 08:40 PM

Oh man I must be spending waaay too much time in the blogsphere. I really would pay money to see this. Seriously, I'd cough up a 20 spot.

Could we throw Bill Maher in there and make it a Texas Cage Match! Last Brain standing! What was that show that had claymation characters battling to the death? Jack Nicholson vs Leanardo Dicaprio was a good one. This would be like a bloggers version of that.

Posted by: Steve Ducharme at August 22, 2005 08:57 PM

Huffington? When she was a Republican I used to refer to her and the Right's answer to Shirley MacLaine. Arianna's first book was about how there was too much reason in the world. It's true, look it up.

Finally, she must have realized that the Republicans aren't the New Age Party - even in California. It took her long enough.

Posted by: Jason Pappas at August 22, 2005 09:14 PM

Jason Pappas -- Huffington is like Bloomberg in New York, she'll join whatever party gets her a good table...

Posted by: richard mcenroe at August 22, 2005 10:22 PM

Up All Night was much better with Caroline Schlitz as the host. I hated it when GG took over, can't stand the guy or his $#@$ voice.

VDH vs. Huffington.
No boxing commission would allow such a fight.

Posted by: rbj at August 23, 2005 06:37 AM

To paraphrase Robert DeNiro as Jake LaMotta after this bout, "She ain't pretty no more."

Posted by: charles austin at August 23, 2005 08:48 AM

nk is right. Don't sell her short. She may be a publicity hound, misguided in her politics and in her choice of confreres, but she's no dummy.

She was head of the Oxford debating team and very effective notwithstanding her screeching voice and heavily accented English.

Why would VDH agree to this debate? He loses no matter how it turns out.

Posted by: erp at August 23, 2005 08:50 AM

I saw her on the debates for the California Governor race, and I thought she was a complete idiot. Every time she opened her mouth, I had to wince.

At least when Bustamante talked, I only felt an uncontrollable urge to fall asleep, not jab pencils in my ears.

Posted by: bugz at August 23, 2005 10:29 AM

Okay, they're right, let's not sell Ms. Huffington short -- she's wily enough to pay a staff to construct a flashy "blog" for her and her chums to sound off in.

Somehow I'm finding myself siding with the camp who thinks that the two are almost comedically mismatched in terms of intellectual capability -- and probably also in terms of grasp on reality. When one of your regularly-billed credentials is "socialite," I tend to take that as a strike against.

Posted by: brogonzo at August 23, 2005 11:36 AM

I loved "night flight" . they had a anniversary special when they were on which I taped and it was the funniest thing i ever saw. that was 22 YEARS ago.

Posted by: Milesl at August 23, 2005 12:02 PM

Jason P. refers to a book AH wrote in which she complains about too much reason in the world. Clearly she's doing her best to reduce this surplus.

Posted by: Bill Chadwick at August 23, 2005 01:58 PM

VDH should have no trouble winning the debate, but he might want to wear some decent body armor--Zsa Zsa Throatstomper is known for hitting below the belt.

Posted by: M. Scott Eiland at August 23, 2005 02:08 PM

I want a radio debate between Huffington and Teresa Heinz-Kerry. Would anyone be able to tell which one of them is talking?

Posted by: Alan K. Henderson at August 23, 2005 09:58 PM

Like ohmigod! Night Flight - now that takes me back. Back to a time when MTV actually played music (and good stuff, too, like Donald Fagen's "New Frontier"). Night Flight's quirky mix of music, short films, and "whatnot" was a great blend for early adolesence.

Posted by: Bob at August 24, 2005 10:59 AM

That has to be a joke. Huffington is the only one they could scratch up for this? C'mon...

Posted by: Major John at August 24, 2005 11:40 AM

We took an Aurora plastic model out to Deer Park in hopes of filming a rematch, but couldn't get any cooperation.

Posted by: triticale at August 25, 2005 09:52 AM

Arianna will show up for the opening of a tea bag.

Posted by: beautifulatrocities at August 25, 2005 02:06 PM

woah, I just walked through the park at the ford museum this afternoon. I'm going to have to check on tickets...

Posted by: marc at August 26, 2005 01:08 PM

Actually, Bambi vs. Godzilla was originally a theatrical warm up for main features. That's where I saw it c. 1972 (it was already a classic)

I swear I once saw a sequel back in the late 70s/early 80's called "Bambi's Revenge" but I can't find any cites.

And yes, VDH vs. Huff'n'Puff is Bambi versus Godzilla, but Arianna's fans aren't real big on context and fact-checking. Just like Arianna versus Arnold, they'll claim victory despite the facts. I know she's not exactly a patsy, but her going up against VDH would be about like the Poles versus the Wehrmacht in 1939. Competent, valiant, and heroic but out-equipped, out-manouevered, and out-organized.

Posted by: Dan Melson at August 26, 2005 11:14 PM

Arianna v VDH would be an unfair fight. He's got brains, & she doesn't.

Posted by: NYgirl at August 28, 2005 02:00 PM



Navigation

MDS - Give Until It Hurts

Terror War Scorecard
Watching America

50 Things
American Cancer Ablation Center
Buy VodkaPundit Stuff



VodkaPundit on Amazon
Vodkapundit for PDA (AvantGo)
Vodkapundit for PDA (Not)
VodkaPundit XML or RDF

Search



Advanced Search



Last Call

The Author

"Even when he has nothing to say, I still like looking at his picture."
-Venomous Kate

Absolut Link

Blog-Iran

Top Shelf

Ann Althouse
Baldilocks
Austin Bay
Belmont Club
Tim Blair
Chequer Board
Command Post
Counterterrorism Blog
Day By Day
Daniel Drezner
From the Bleachers
Hit & Run
INDC Journal
Iraq the Model
James Joyner
James Lileks
Megan McArdle
OPFOR
Protein Wisdom
Glenn Reynolds
Bill Roggio
ScreedBlog
Roger L. Simon
Rob Smith
Steven Taylor
Venomous Kate
Matt Welch
Winds of Change
Michael Yon
Yuppies of Zion


The Usual

Across the Atlantic
Anticipatory Retaliation
Atlas Shrugs
The Black Republican
Blogcritics
Captain's Quarters
Phil Carter
The Daily Ablution
Andrew Ian Dodge
Eye on the Left
Mike Hendrix
In From the Cold
Charles Johnson
Kathy Kinsley
A Likely Story
Brian Linse
Jay Manifold
Neocon News
Frank Martin
QandO
Bill Quick
Rantburg
John Scalzi
Sine Qua Non Pundit
Team Stryker
Mac Thomason
Michael Totten
Jesse Walker
Dr. Weevil
Bill Whittle
Chief Wiggles
Sissy Willis
Cathy Young

Micro Brews

American Realpolitik
Black Five
Boots and Sabers
Capitalist Lion
Scott Chaffin
John Cole
Coming Anarchy
Bo Cowgill
Dr. Frank's Blogs of War
Donklephant
Ed Driscoll
Kim du Toit
Glenn Frazier
Joe Gandleman
The Gay Patriot
Godless Capitalist
Bill Hobbs
John Hudock
Frank J.'s IMAO
Joanne Jacobs
Brothers Judd
Junk Yard Blog
Major John
Davids Medienkritik
Mr. Misha's Rottweiler
Only Baseball Matters
Matt Moore
Jack O'Toole
Peaktalk
Eric S. Raymond
Red Sugar
Resurrection Song
Robin Roberts
Andrea See
Mathew Sheren
Spoons Experience
DC Thornton
Yankee Station

Gin & Tonic

Albion's Seedlings
American Digest
Radley Balko
Paul Berger
Robert Bidinotto
Blogometer
BusinessPundit
The Chicago Boyz
Classical Values
Conrad the Expat
Susanna Cornett
Dave Cullen
England's Sword
Dean Esmay
Horsefeathers
Jessica's Well
Alex Knapp
Legal Spin
Light of Reason
The Lipstick Republican
Moxie
OxBlog
Suman Palit
Punch the Bag
The Pursuit of Happiness
Samizdata
Sofia Sideshow
Natalie Solent
Texas Best Grok
Professor Michael Tinkler
Cal Ulmann
Brothers Volokh

Cosmopolitans

Justene Adamec
Stephen Bainbridge
La Shawn Barber
Moira Breen
Sasha Castel
Colorado Psycho
Clayton Cramer
CrossingWallStreet
Martin Devon
Kevin Drum
Henry Hanks
Diana Hsieh
Jeff Jarvis
Jessica
Sean Kirby
Liberty Belles
Rachel Lucas
Jeralyn Merritt
Philip Murphy
Oasis of Sanity
Andrew Olmsted
Walter Olson
Michael Parker
Popped Culture
Porphyrogenitus
Fritz Schrank
Donald Sensing
Elizabeth Spiers
The Swanky Conservative
Two Blowhards
Michael Ubaldi
Alexandra von Maltzan
Will Wilkinson

Rum & Coke

The Argument Clinic
Below the Beltway
The Bitch Girls
Jay Caruso
Dog's Life
Fire On The Mountain
GeckoBlue
GZ Expat
David Hogberg
John Hawkins
Horologium
Kris Lofgren
Floyd McWilliams
John Moore
PhotoDude
Robyn Pollman
Chas Rich
Silflay Hraka
Geitner Simmons
Skippy
Dave Tepper
Transterrestrial Musings
Trying to Grok
Walter in Denver
Don Watkins
Weekend Pundit
Joshua Zader

Tequila Shots

Todd A
N.Z. Bear
Begging to Differ
David MSC
Gary Farber
Highered Intelligence
Isntapundit
Jonathan and Wanda
Ken Layne
Nick Marsala
Dan Michalski
Sheila O'Malley
Dawn Olsen
Tony Pierce
Raving Atheist
Matt Traylor
Sekimori
WMET Blog
World Wide Rant

Manischewitz

Moe Freedman
Tal G. in Jerusalem
IsraPundit
Kesher Talk
Mike Silverman
Allison Kaplan Sommer
Meryl Yourish

Boozehounds

Allah Is In the House
Dave Barry's Blog
The Daily Sedative
Doug Dever
Daniel Frank
Scott Ott
Large American Penis
Short Strange Trip
Ten Fingers, Six Strings
Jim Treacher

Cyanide-Laced Kool-Aid

Laurence Simon

Sex on the Beach

Body in Mind
ErosBlog
Eroticalee
Just One Bite
Fred Lapides
New York Hotties
SLA
Unablogger

Kegger

Ben Domenech
HokiePundit
Hoosier Review
John Tabin
Nicholas West

Fosters

Duck Season
Mike Jericho
John Ray
Bernard Slattery
Whacking Day

Molson

Banana Counting Monkey
Daimnation!
Dispatches
David Janes
Western Standard

Left Wing Bar Nuts

Ted Barlow
Joshua Marshall
Dan Perkins

Cover Charge

Eric Alterman
Dave Barry
Barone Blog
Austin Bay
Jay Bryant
C-Log
Campaign Desk
Steve Chapman
Dallas News Blog
Matt Drudge
Google News
Nat Henthoff
Hugh Hewitt
Mickey Kaus
Howard Kurtz
National Review Online
The New Republic
The New York Times
Newsweek
OpinionJournal
Kathleen Parker
Daniel Pipes
Virginia Postrel
Roll Call
Larry Sabato
Linda Seebach
Slate
Sploid
Mark Steyn
StrategyPage
Andrew Sullivan
Tapped
Tech Central Station
Time
US News & World Report
David Warren
The Washington Post

Under the Table

American Times
Angry Left
Asparagirl
BitchPundit
John Braue
Shiloh Bucher
Carthaginian Peace
Lorenzo Cortes
Steven Den Beste
Fevered Rants
Scott "Funkadelic" Ganz
Juan Gato
Happy Fun Pundit
Andrea Harris
Scott Koenig
Brink Lindsey
Sue Lizano
Kieran Lyons
Mean Mr. Mustard
Meeshness
Punditwatch
Dennis Rogers
Jim Ryan
Spinsanity
Unremitting Verse
Norah Vincent
Tony Woodlief

Archives

Powered by Movable TypeDesign by Sekimori