Monday, March 3, 2008

Today's Political Comment

Accusing a candidate of "flip-flops" only goes so far with me. I'm more leery of a guy who never changes his views, even in light of (often) evolving situations and new evidence, than I am of one who might appear to be consistent over the long haul. Maybe this isn't a great analogy but in my personal life, I've seen more destruction done by inflexibility than outright malice.

The thing is though that one needs to be honest that one is changing one's view. This need not be done by admitting one was wrong, though that doesn't hurt if you don't do too much of it. The world changes, things evolve, hitherto unknown facts become known...and it's not a sign of weakness or incompetence to say, "I believed X three years ago but now I believe Y." What bugs me and loses my backing is when a candidate isn't candid about moving from X to Y, and also when it seems obvious that the shift to Y is just because that's where the votes are at the moment.

Which, of course, brings us to John McCain, a man who has disappointed more human beings than the last three Rob Schneider movies, combined. Were we all wrong to believe he was such a man of character and courage? That when he called Jerry Falwell an "agent of intolerance" and apologized to all clowns for having said Rush Limbaugh was one, he actually meant it? Whatever, that sure isn't the John McCain who's going to be on our ballots later this year, no matter how hard he may try to shift to the left and distance himself from George W. Bush after he has the nomination and whatever cash he can extract from the far right.

Steve Benen itemizes some of the issues on which McCain has been on both sides. You get the feeling that'll be a much longer list by November and that it'll include a return to a lot of positions he once held and recently abandoned?

• Posted at 1:44 PM · LINK

Today's Video Link

Speaking of odd acts that many people ripped off, a gentleman named Lou Goldstein made a very good living for a long time playing "Simon Says." He did it for years at Grossinger's, the famous Catskills resort, and developed an amazing repertoire of tricks and ways to entrap players. From the 'net, I gather he's still around but I haven't seen him anywhere for a long time.

For several years, he did the bit on those Battle of the Network Stars specials in the seventies and early eighties. I was present for one of the tapings (not the one in today's clip) and watched as he did about fifteen hilarious minutes which were edited for broadcast down to about six semi-funny minutes. The stars got very frustrated — one, even genuinely angry — as he bounced them out, but I think they all respected the skill and precision timing he brought to the routine. Here he is doing what he does/did best. Keep your eyes on Shatner and you might catch him cheating a little.

• Posted at 1:40 AM · LINK