(Scroll down for updates)
Ever seen the movie Stroker Ace? Ok, probably not unless you’re from North Carolina (it was filmed right here in Charlotte at Charlotte Motor Speedway - before they started selling Speedway name sponsorships - in 1982/83). In the movie there is a scene towards the end that I was reminded of today when I read about Lieberman opponent Ned Lamont’s big lie regarding his relationship with certain lefty bloggers.
The movie, starring Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Jim Nabors, and Loni Anderson, is about a race car driver named Stroker Ace (Reynolds) who signs on with Clyde Torkle (Beatty) who, in turn, sponsor’s Ace’s car. Torkle owns a chain of southern fried chicken fast food restaurants, and Ace spends most of the movie trying to get out of the contract with Torkle (in addition to trying to get - ahem - closer to Anderson’s character Pembroke) after Torkle makes him do promotional things like dress up in a chicken suit and circle around the track on top of a giant egg. Towards the end of the movie, one of the characters in the movie (name I can’t recall) is asked by Ace to pretend to be a representative of a big company and meet Torkle to negotiate a deal where he (unnamed character) buys Torkle’s company. The underlying goal (which the character doesn’t mention but the viewer knows) is that if Ace’s friend can convince Torkle to sell his company, Ace can get out of his sponsorship contract with Torkle (for Stroker Ace history buffs - all two of you - please correct me if I got any of that wrong [Note: Check the comments section of this post for a clarification - I may have gotten the particulars wrong re: the negotiation between Torkle and Ace's friend - but the main part, where I mentioned Ace's friend lied by acting like he "knew nothing" is correct]).
Before the big meeting, Ace trains his countrified friend to speak just a few sentences, the main one being “I know nothing. I am only the messenger.” So everytime Torkle asks him a question at the meeting, the guy replies “I know nothing, I am only the messenger.” He’s trying to hide the fact that he’s a country boy and friend of Ace’s, as well as the fact that Ace is using him to try and get out of his contract with Torkle.
Now that I’ve thoroughly bored you, here’s the quote from Lamont that reminded me of that line from Stroker Ace. In response to questions from reporters about his relationship with Jane Hamsher, the infamous proprietress of the blog Firedoglake as well as the gal who posted the altered photo of Lieberman in blackface, candidate Lamont answered:
Lamont brushed past reporters Wednesday night in Bridgeport, saying: “I don’t know anything about the blogs. I’m not responsible for those. I have no comment on them.”
Bzzzzt. Wrong answer. As Maguire clearly points out in detail (as does Malkin) candidate Lamont most certainly does know something about the blogs. A lot, in fact. For starters, there was lefty blogstar Markos “Screw them!” Moulitsas aka Daily Kos - who starred in a Lamont campaign ad back in May. Maguire and Malkin note more extensive ties to Kos as well as Hamsher at their respective blogs.
Thanks to lefty bloggers like Kos and Hamsher, Lamont saw his popularity rise considerably. Now, it may be the cause of his downfall, perhaps by being (as I noted in my earlier post on Hamsher) his Wellstone-memorial-turned-political-rally moment. On a more national note, ST reader and friend Les wrote in response to Hamsher’s stunt:
This is the Blue political cult’s Gettysburg moment. If they are defeated in CT, it is as far as they will ever advance.
I think he’s right. Or more to the point, I hope he’s right. Hamsher’s stunt was bad enough, and Lamont’s Stroker Ace “I know nothing, I am only the messenger” lie moment only makes it worse for him.
This has been your Southern-fried recap of the latest on l’affaire de Hamsher.
Sidenote I: I wonder if the NYTimes, who this past weekend endorsed Lamont over Lieberman, will weigh in? 
Sidenote II: Speaking of the NYT, I just read where they actually reviewed Stroker Ace back in 1983. LOL …
Others blogging about this: Outside the Beltway, All Things Beautiful, Liberty and Justice, Sundries Shack, Decision ‘08, Jawa Report, Dean Esmay, McQ at QandO
Friday PM Update I: Welcome, Michelle Malkin readers!
Friday PM Update II: ROTFL - Today, Fox Sports, in honor of the new flick Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (opening today) has posted their list of “must-see” NASCAR movies … Stroker Ace is on the list at number 9 
Prior:
- The war on Lieberman
- As if the moonbat conspiracy theorists couldn’t get anymore “out there”
- Hartford Courant paper excited about Lamont forcing primary
- It’s Democratic nominating convention day today in Connecticut
- Kos in Lamont campaign video ad debut
- Disgruntled Dems are considering challenge to Lieberman
- Joe Lieberman: Shunned in his own party
- More words of wisdom from Joe Lieberman
- Joe Lieberman: the black sheep of the Democratic party
- A Congressional Dem who makes sense
| Email This Post | Print This |
I predict that Lamont’s poll number will actually increase over this - at least, his poll numbers among the Hezbollah wing of the Democratic Party. And that is the wing that is running things now.
Anti-Semitism, anti-black racism, anti-intellectualism, violence directed against perceived opponents - this is starting to sound like early 1930s Germany. So who will be the nutroots’ paper-hanger?
Comment by Mwalimu Daudi @ 8/3/2006 - 2:01 pm
I remember that movie.
I think the deal was that Torkle could only make the big deal if he fired Ace, the guy supposedly buying him out (John Byner I think) did not want an association with Ace. And Torkle would only fire Ace if he was losing, so Ace had to sandbag the race.
Its been a while since I watched it so that could be all screwed up.
Comment by Karl @ 8/3/2006 - 2:05 pm
I think you may be right Karl! That sounds more like what happened … it’s starting to come back to me now
I made a note in my blog post to check the comments for further discussions on the particulars of the negotiation.
Comment by Sister Toldjah @ 8/3/2006 - 2:10 pm
I own the movie.. haha..
The Fastest Chicken In The South
Comment by Ryan @ 8/3/2006 - 2:11 pm
You own the movie? No way!
Comment by Sister Toldjah @ 8/3/2006 - 2:21 pm
Lamont is a true Democrat. When asked a hard question, he lies badly.
Comment by PCD @ 8/3/2006 - 2:30 pm
Yes, I own that movie
Bubba Smith is in it, too!
Comment by Ryan @ 8/3/2006 - 3:00 pm
Don’t forget Jim ‘Gomer Pyle’ Neighbors!
Yes, I’ve seen it. More than nce.
Comment by Brian @ 8/3/2006 - 8:43 pm
“more than once”, I mean.
Darn typos……
Comment by Brian @ 8/3/2006 - 8:43 pm
Hey, Michelle Malkin linked to ST. Expect to get lots more hate mail ST!
Comment by Severian @ 8/4/2006 - 12:54 pm
I was on the set at CMS when they made Stroker. There are many places in CLT that were used to make this classic. The old Holiday Inn Sugar Creek to name one.
They had a caterer brought in from Vegas. Long tables were sep up for lunch in an area by the old garage area. One day I sat across from Ned Beatty and his family family and Jim Nabors.
Comment by Rick @ 8/4/2006 - 1:07 pm
The book - Stand On It, was great.
The movie - Stroker Ace, sucked.
Comment by Bill @ 8/4/2006 - 1:15 pm
as i recall they chose the name stroker ace for the movie because they were unsure if anyone would understand what “stand on it” means.
Comment by Karl @ 8/4/2006 - 2:12 pm
Regardless of politics, how can ANYONE vote for this idiot Lamont?!?!? This is the same guy who basically said “Screw ‘em” about the 4 Blackwater contractors who were murdered, burned, and strung up on a bridge!!! I’m sure their families appreciated that. That’s the most disgraceful thing I’ve ever seen.
Of course, Rangel said he would quit if the Democrats did not regain control after this year’s elections.
OH please, please, please……
Comment by NC Cop @ 8/4/2006 - 2:23 pm
Wonder how Ned Lamont’s WalMart stock is doing right about now?
Comment by Severian @ 8/4/2006 - 2:26 pm
NC Cop,
I can assure you there are plenty of Dunderheads in CT who will vote for Lamont because the Dem Machines say to. I mean in any sane state the Demorrat party would have ceased to exist after the I-95 bridge collapse over the Mianus river because the Democrat Governors Ella T. Grasso and William O’Neill took the toll money not to fix roads and maintain the bridge as the law said but to prop up the Democrat machines in Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, and Waterbury.
Comment by PCD @ 8/4/2006 - 3:00 pm
Severian, I don’t get it. Why would ST get hate mail from a reader of Michelle’s site? I’m a conservative and I don’t do hate mail, hateful comments, and the only thing I hate is confiscatory taxes. From the comments I’ve read at Michelle’s site I doubt if they do either.
I think that ST’s article hits the nail right on the head. Indeed, IMHO, if things continue as they have with Ned he will soon be known as being the divider…
Comment by DannoJyD @ 8/4/2006 - 3:29 pm
Hi Danny - I think Sev was talking about MM’s liberal readers who send her hate email.
Comment by Sister Toldjah @ 8/4/2006 - 3:32 pm
Yup, MM gets no end of really vile hate mail from the oh so gentile, peace loving progressives, so I figured that being linked to MM’s site would bring all the moonbats over here to do the same. MM gets some really disgusting stuff.
Comment by Severian @ 8/4/2006 - 4:02 pm
Perhaps should have said gentle, but it’s a good pun considering how the left hates Israel and the Joooo’s
Comment by Severian @ 8/4/2006 - 4:03 pm
It was fun remembering Reynolds in that chicken suit. The list of NASCAR movies at Fox was fun, too. That Elvis movie was on recently and I watched a bit of it with Nancy Sinatra and Bill Bixby. My husband loves those movies like Stroker Ace, Cannonball Run and his all time favorite, Smokey & the Bandit. I cringe everytime I see one is on, although Jackie Gleason is pretty funny in Smokey.
The Lamont line reminds me of a line Al Gore or Bill Clinton might have said. This was Lamont’s “no controlling legal authority” or his “I did not have sexual relations with that woman,” Jane Hamsher.
Comment by Lorie Byrd @ 8/4/2006 - 4:39 pm
LOL Lorie - I don’t think there’s a house in North and South Carolina that doesn’t have at least one Burt Reynolds movie in it
Comment by Sister Toldjah @ 8/4/2006 - 4:49 pm
Interesting analogy. Somehow that reminds me of the movie’s title track by Charlie Daniels, which includes the lyric:
You could push that car just a little too far any Sunday afternoon .. And if you break your neck in some d*** fool’s wreck they’d forget about you soon
Maybe Lamont needs to downshift.
Comment by A.C. @ 8/5/2006 - 11:33 am
Maybe Lamont needs a brain.
Comment by Mwalimu Daudi @ 8/5/2006 - 12:36 pm
somehow l think this is the bigining of things to come, god help us!!!!, god help us all.
Comment by jan @ 8/9/2006 - 2:12 pm
Cable-TV mini-mogul turned politican Lamont seemed to be an animated version of Neville Chamberlain with his victory speech. ‘Peace in Our Time’ (or some variant thereof) has always been good short-term politics but makes for some of the bloodiest pages in history books.
It is obvious that Democrat politics is drifting to port to a party-line rigidity that would make old Joe Stalin smile. At this rate, we may eventually see a schism reminiscent of the old struggly between Stalinists and Trotskites in which Chuckie Schumer will be deemed a ‘moderate’.
Then again, how many people know enough about history to duck when it comes at them, deja-vu all over again.
Comment by Arthur Downs @ 8/10/2006 - 12:41 pm