Planet Abell

I'm not kidding myself: the debates have been less than riveting and sometimes even demeaning. During them the next commander-in-chief has participated in awkward "pick me! pick me!" moments and after them sore losers have felt a compelling need to revise and extend comments that had been limited to 30-second bites -- or just an auction-house twitch. Only today, nearly a month after he joined fellow Republican debaters at the Reagan Library who "do not believe" in evolution, Sam Brownback takes to the op-ed page of the New York Times to explain himself. "As one of those who raised his hand, I think it would be helpful to discuss the issue in a bit more detail and with the seriousness it demands," he writes. Why Bother? Because Nixon went to China So, the debates are not conducive to thoughtful discussion, they favor the well-rehearsed "impromptu" put-down (think Rudy expressing shock, shock, at Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee vs Congress via Jo...

Simpson tells AP he knew 'If I Did It' profits would be 'blood money' "In the course of the interview I said, 'This is blood money and I hope nobody reads it,'" Simpson told the AP. So it's official: the music has stopped and the only person involved with the OJ Simpson book and TV-special deal that hasn't said it was a bad idea yet is Janice Regan, who published the book and conducted the interview that was to have aired on Fox next week. In the AP interview Simpson says the book is no confession but a needed shot in the arm to his finances. "Everybody who has written a book about this has taken blood money; you can't have selective morality," Simpson tells the AP. Oh yeah -- News Corp Chairman Murdoch is getting off easy in the court of public opinion, OJ says, and that's just not fair. "I'm taking heat and I deserve it," Simpson said. "But Murdoch should not be taking the high road either." There m...

Fox TV's schedule for the week of Nov. 26, which did not yet reflect the canceled Simpson programs shortly after they were pulled. News Corp, the corporate parent of the broadcast network that brought you "The Littlest Groom," Temptation Island" -- I, II and III -- and "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancee," has decided that pimping O.J. Simpson's tell-nothing fantasy non-confessional book and Fox TV interview just goes too far . At last, we have found a bottom. "I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project," said Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman. "We are sorry for any pain that this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson." There had been some backlash from some Fox affiliates, who said they would not air the show , and tons of criticism, from expected and unexpected places. With no obvious connection to his life other than his folksy contempt for things vile, CBS ...