Cunning Bush-Basher Brings Pop-Culture Savvy to Monterey.

In his new book, Sore Winners (And the Rest of Us) in George Bush’s America, John Powers, a renowned film critic for the LA Weekly and NPR’s Fresh Air, deftly dissects what he says is “a culture increasingly goaded to extremes by the media’s bottomless need for something exciting to talk about.”

Powers, who will speak Friday night in Monterey, marshals a barrage of references spanning politics, history and cartoon shows. Helen Knode, a local author and radio host who arranged the event, and a former associate of Powers at the LA Weekly, says he pulls ideas from all over the cultural map to express his point, occasionally even quoting Daffy Duck.

Powers understands the fragments of culture—even its cartoon characters—to express the wishes and direction of the society. With regards to the 2000 election, Powers chastises himself: “I’m embarrassed at how carelessly I’d read the pop culture tea leaves—2000 was the year in which Gladiator was the touchstone summer smash and went on to be named Best Picture, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? became the top-rated TV show, and The O’Reilly Factor dominated the bestseller list, not exactly a trifecta to make one think, ‘the zeitgeist is begging for Al Gore.’”

Powers’ digestible but complicated critique, in a mass culture that thinks in short, uniform and always superficial bursts, is bracing. Published in Rolling Stone and Vogue, Powers wields a hipness that conservatives desperately lack, calling Eminem and Donald Rumsfeld the “two great white rappers,” and snickering at the unintended porn-industry connection when stiff, square Republicans call a good publicity picture “the money shot.”

Though solidly leftist, as a cultural critic, Powers doles out criticism where he feels it’s due, referring to both Bill O’Reilly and Michael Moore as “blue-collar populist millionaires.” And it becomes evident through his critique that he loves America with a complicated, troubling passion. This, paired with his astounding depth and critical power, is what makes him a model for modern critique.

Powers will speak at 7 pm, after being introduced by Monterey County Weekly editor Eric Johnson.