Thursday, August 26, 2004

Today's Political Rant

This evening around 8:00 Eastern time, C-Span will be running John Kerry's 1971 testimony before Congress with regard to the Vietnam War. I recall watching this when it first aired, which was at a time when I was making a difficult transition. I had been a supporter of that war, or at least a person who felt the protesters were misguided and not helping things. By '72, I was one of those protesters, even working with the leadership of a group that was more or less behind all the marches and demonstrations within a few miles of U.C.L.A. I don't recall Kerry's speeches or his appearance before the committee having any impact on my conversion but when I saw excerpts of it a few weeks ago on some channel (probably C-Span), what struck me was his restraint and maturity. Since it is now divorced from all the other Vietnam rhetoric of 1972, it may seem exaggerated and excessive. My sense is that on the topic of that war, darn near everything said on either side in 1972 was drenched in hyperbole and overstatement, and that Kerry was calmer than most. I also suspect that he was more accurate than will ever be admitted by those who are still angry at how Vietnam ended and somehow want to blame it more on Jane Fonda than Robert McNamara.

I think some people have forgotten — or are in denial — as to how much government wrongdoing has been uncovered and even admitted. McNamara started his book, In Retrospect, by saying, "We of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations who participated in the decisions on Vietnam acted according to what we thought were the principles and traditions of this nation. We made our decisions in light of those values. Yet we were wrong, terribly wrong. We owe it to future generations to explain why." It was a stunning confession when he made it, as were many in that volume, but almost no one wanted to hear McNamara cleanse his conscience and "explain why." Everyone on both sides had long since made up their minds about the history of that unfortunate war and there was no room in anyone's version for new evidence. I wish more folks would follow the example of Kerry and John McCain when they worked together to try and put Vietnam behind them. In fact, I wish they'd do more to follow their own example.

In a way, I'm sorry C-Span is running Kerry's testimony now since it won't be viewed as an important part of history, nor will it be judged against things like McNamara's confessions of ineptness and deceit. It's just there so the anti-Kerry voters can use it to promote the notion that it was treasonous to say what he said, and so Kerry's backers can see what it is they have to defend. I believe Kerry's testimony is completely defensible and depending on your definition, maybe even heroic. But in the current environment, it will just be a question of whether sound bites are being taken out of context or whether what actually occurred is being accurately summarized. So far this year, the past has just been something that can be judiciously excerpted and spun, one way or another, to maybe win an election.

• Posted at 2:07 PM · LINK

12/7: Day of Expense

December 7 may turn out to be a date that shall live in infamy for animation buffs trying to not spend money on DVDs from the Warner TV animation library. That's when they plan to release boxed sets of the complete run of Top Cat, the second season of The Flintstones, Volume 1 of Superman: The Animated Series, Volume 2 of Batman: The Animated Series and a one-disc release of the movie, A Man Called Flintstone. How much will all these run you? Well, let's do some math. If you pay the manufacturers' suggested retail price for Top Cat, The Flintstones and Batman (which you won't), you'll spend $44.98 apiece. The Superman set is $26.99 and the Flintstones movie is $19.99. So right there, you have $221.90 if you pay sticker price which, like we said, you're not going to do. Not unless you're a dum-dum. Based on usual discountings, I'd say these six releases will run around $130...and there's a special rebate coupon where you can get five to ten bucks back if purchasing multiple volumes.

Should these sets sound expensive, let's note that the Time-Warner video folks have lowered their price structure. The Jetsons collection released a few months ago contained 24 episodes and a few extras for a list price of $64.98. The Top Cat set has 30 episodes and more special features for twenty bucks less.

Now, the bad news: You may remember appeals on this website (here and here) to locate prints of the original Top Cat end titles. A number of you responded and the people assembling the DVD located and received a few nuggets of the lost footage. For reasons I'm not sure I can explain, this material will not appear on the set. It has something to do with lawyers and legal problems and I'm just as annoyed about it as you are. But there will be some other wonderful bonus goodies, including interviews with all the surviving members of the voice cast and a look at a storyboard drawn by the late, great Harvey Eisenberg.

Lastly, I should note that the second volume of Garfield and Friends is also scheduled for a 12/7/04 release. This will give DVD patrons an ample chance to get sick of yours truly. A Superman episode that I wrote is on the Superman set, I'm heard on the commentary track of the Top Cat set, and I wrote or co-wrote everything on the Garfield collection. Last few times I've been with Leonard Maltin, I've razzed him about how he is now on more DVDs than Jimmy Stewart. If this keeps up, he'll be able to use my own line on me.

• Posted at 12:08 AM · LINK