"Going Up River" opened today. Check it out this weekend if you get the chance:

Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry is a feature length documentary about character and moral leadership during a time of national crisis. Loosely based on the best-selling book Tour of Duty by Douglas Brinkley, Going Upriver examines the story of John Kerry and the key events that made him a national figure and the man he is today. The film places particular emphasis on his bravery during the Vietnam War and his courageous opposition to the war upon his return.

Here's a list of theaters where it's being shown.

Check out this picture of Bush and Kerry at Fox News.com. Does anyone else remember them being almost the same height? Hint: Kerry is 6'4" and Bush is 5'11. [hat tip to TL reader Paul]

LA Weekly reports on SonyGate:

L.A. Weekly has learned that CBS, NBC and ABC all refused Fahrenheit 9/11 DVD advertising during any of the networks’ news programming. Executives at Sony Pictures, the distributor of the movie for the home-entertainment market, were stunned. And even more shocked when the three networks explained why.

“They said explicitly they were reluctant because of the closeness of the release to the election. All three networks said no,” one Sony insider explains. “It was certainly a judgment that Sony disagrees with and is in the process of protesting.”

Sony protested, with limited success:

The benefit tonight for Colorado Democrat Ken Salazar, running against Pete Coors for the U.S. Senate, was the best concert ever. If you are not a concert-goer, or an Eagles or Henley or Frey fan, stop reading here and go do something else. This will bore you no end. There was little to no politics involved, just a great, great show.

First off, the venue was perfect. The Fillmore on Colfax and Clarkson in Denver. It's more like a huge nightclub than a concert hall. There are no seats on the main floor which means you can dance to the music. First up was Leo Kottke. Then Big Head Todd and the Monsters. Then Ken Salazar came on stage to introduce Don Henley. By now the place was packed and ready to party.

From Mark Crispin Miller:

This week we're releasing the DVD of A Patriot Act, the piece I've been performing at the New York Theater Workshop all this year. That show was a great success, getting people all fired up to fight the Bushveiks; and this new movie version is terrific. It is the joint work of a highly skilled and gifted group of filmmaking professionals, all of whom put in their time for free.

We want to set up screenings everywhere, so that every rational American (hey, every rational person) might see it prior to Election Day. We'll have it screened at indy theaters, social gatherings, at campus rallies and on public access cable channels. (And if Bush & Co. steals the White House for the second time, we want the movie to stay on the public radar screen, because if that does happen Patriot Act will be even timelier.)

[link fixed.]

To get your copy, send an email to info@patriotnation.us

Wow. Five weeks before the Presidential election and Bob Dylan makes the cover of Newsweek.

Dylan's memoirs, The Book of Bob, are about to be released. You can read an excerpt here. The Newsweek article is here.

Billmon of Whiskey Bar has an op-ed in today's LA Times, Blogging Sells, and Sells Out. He argues that blogads and their financial gain to bloggers will result in them being controlled and co-opted by the same mainstream media from which they pride themselves on being different. As the money and media attention goes to a handful of top bloggers, the rest will get lost in the shuffle:

Even as it collectively achieves celebrity status for its anti-establishment views, blogging is already being domesticated by its success. What began as a spontaneous eruption of populist creativity is on the verge of being absorbed by the media-industrial complex it claims to despise.

In the process, a charmed circle of bloggers — those glib enough and ideologically safe enough to fit within the conventional media punditocracy — is gaining larger audiences and greater influence. But the passion and energy that made blogging such a potent alternative to the corporate-owned media are in danger of being lost, or driven back to the outer fringes of the Internet.

As the elections get closer, more musicians are stepping up to the political plate, donating their time, energy and music to getting out the vote. Here's a wrap-up of rockers and singers for both sides. Look how smart the Bush partisans are:

The Republicans also boast support from Jessica Simpson, who, upon meeting Interior Secretary Gale Norton, told her "You've done a nice job decorating the White House," and Britney Spears, quoted in Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" saying, "Honestly, I think we should just trust our president in every decision that he makes."

Bush's favorite music is country, and it seems to like him, too. Although Toby Keith is a registered Democrat, he took the Bush-Cheney line with the post-9/11 rallying cry, "We'll put a boot in your a**, it's the American way."

On the other side, for the Democrats, here's Bruce:

These questions are at the heart of this election: who we are, what we stand for, why we fight. Personally, for the last 25 years, I have always stayed one step away from partisan politics. Instead, I have been partisan about a set of ideals: economic justice, civil rights, a humane foreign policy, freedom and a decent life for all of our citizens. This year, however, for many of us the stakes have risen too high to sit this election out."

If you're wondering why you're not hearing your favorite protest songs on the radio, it's because of the corporate takeover of the airwaves by conservative Clear Channel. As Don Henley explains here,

Anyone know a good defamation lawyer? Bill Burkett wants to go after CBS and Dan Rather for damages. His first lawyer feels conflicted due to having negotiated with CBS and his second lawyer feels the stress of such a case would be too damaging to his medical condition.

Calling Lin Wood. Nope, no relief there.

Lin Wood of Atlanta, who represented former Olympic Games security guard Richard Jewell in a successful defamation suit against several news organizations, said yesterday that he had declined a request from Quintanilla to take the Burkett case. Wood pleaded "time constraints" as well as his "high regard for CBS News."

"It appears highly questionable that he has a legitimate defamation claim" against CBS, said Wood, noting that his opinion was based on news reports about the case rather than privileged information.

Lin Wood successfully represented John and Patsy Ramsey in several libel suits. He is now representing the accuser of Kobe Bryant in her suit against the basketball star. He likes publicity. He doesn't hesitate to represent unpopular clients.

Maybe Burkett should write a book on Rathergate and how he was misrepresented in the media and his impressions of Bush's guard service. He'd probably get an advance and offers of a ghost writer. That is probably more than he'd get in a lawsuit.

C.B.S. has announced the names of those it has hired to review RatherGate. They are former Pennsylvania Governor and U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and retired Associated Press Chief Executive Officer Louis Boccardi. Their report will be made public.

If you're in New York, previews are now going on for the new political satire show "George Bush is a MotherF***er." which opens September 25 at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre at 307 W. 27th St. in Manhattan. Ticket information here. The show will run through the November election.

George Bush is a MotherF***er. What has our President given us besides a failing economy, an ill-advised foreign policy, out of control gas prices and a nation that’s living in constant state of fear? For one, lots of ideas to put together a sketch comedy show. The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, along with Adam McKay and director Jake Fogelnest, presents a new stage revue that won’t tolerate any more bulls**it. There’s just no polite way to put it: George Bush Is A Motherf**ker. Produced by Adam McKay. Directed by Jake Fogelnest.

Congrats to Jake Fogelnest, who is a friend and the immensely talented son of criminal defense lawyer Bob Fogenest, whom we wrote about yesterday for his dedicated and spirited representation of one of the three Americans just convicted of torture in Afghanistan.

Jake has always been one amazing kid. When he was 14, he got his own tv show--it was on Manhattan public access and called Squirt-TV. The show took place in Jake's bedroom and moved to MTV in 1996--where it stayed in his bedroom:

Out Monday....Get your copy now.

Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib by Seymour Hersh

In Chain of Command, Hersh takes an unflinching look behind the public story of President Bush's "war on terror" and into the lies and obsessions that led America into Iraq. He reveals the connections between early missteps in the hunt for Al Qaeda and disasters on the ground in Iraq. The book includes a new account of Hersh's pursuit of the Abu Ghraib story and of where, he believes, responsibility for the scandal ultimately lies. Hersh draws on sources at the highest levels of the American government and intelligence community, in foreign capitals, and on the battlefield for an unparalleled view of a crucial chapter in America's recent history.