I agree with most of this article by one of my favorite political writers, Gene Lyons. I agree (and have probably written somewhere on this blog) that we don't know as much about the private lives of political figures as we think we know...and by the way, how many times now have the tabloids headlined that Bill and Hillary (or George and Laura) were but hours away from the messiest divorce ever? The private lives of public officials are rarely reported accurately and even when they are, those matters are rarely the public's business.
Where I'd take issue with Mr. Lyons is in one gigantic leap. I agree that the whole Monica Lewinsky matter was a trumped-up, none-of-our-biz scandal and that every person who cheered on the "investigation" deserves to have their most intimate, private secrets made public. But I wouldn't theorize that but for it, we'd surely have had President Gore and that if we'd had President Gore, we wouldn't have had 9/11. It's possible but that assumption seems to me about as solid as most of what people assume about the off-stage marriages of our elected officials.
Last August, I posted the following press release...
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- An amateur home movie has been discovered recently which apparently contains the last known film images of comedy legend Stan Laurel, once celebrated as half of the most famous comedy duo in the world: Laurel & Hardy.
The rare and historic eight millimeter film, which captures a playful Laurel displaying his trademark impish smile while scratching his head, is just two minutes in length and was taken at his Santa Monica apartment by James and Irene Heffernan, a Los Angeles couple who were acquainted with the film comedian in his final years.According to Laurel's daughter, Lois Laurel Hawes, the film was made in late December of 1964, just two months before his death. A letter from Laurel to the Heffernans, dated January 15, 1965, mentions their yuletide visit when, apparently, the footage was shot.
Also featured in the brief home movie segment is Laurel's honorary "Oscar" award for Lifetime Achievement which was presented to him by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) in 1961.
Apparently lost and forgotten for decades among the numerous entertainment and travel home movies made by the active couple during the 1960s, this final footage of Laurel was not known to exist until several months ago and has never been viewed publicly.
However, the film's present owner plans to arrange for the landmark footage to be seen by Laurel & Hardy fans worldwide on June 16, 2010, which happens to be the comic's date of birth. According to actor/producer Tyler St. Mark, who purchased the remarkable footage from the Heffernan estate, "Stan Laurel performs a special gesture at the end of the film clip which was clearly intended for his millions of fans worldwide and so we will help him deliver his message 46 years later - on the 120th anniversary of his birthday."
Okay...June 16, 2010 is next Wednesday. Let's see what happens...
Paul Starobin on what we expect of our presidents. Frankly, all I expected of Barack Obama was that he not be George W. Bush. And so far, he's only letting me down about a third of the time in that regard.
Years ago, a friend of mine and I were thinking of starting a company called Time2Go. Here's the idea: Let's say you're a celebrity...most likely, a performer. This is primarily intended for the older celebrity but since we came up with this concept, I've noticed a number of younger ones who could have benefited from it.
You sign up with us, pay us a reasonable fee and then we monitor your public appearances and interviews and talk show guestings. If at some point, we feel that you're getting embarrassing and starting to undo your reputation, we come to you, tap you on the shoulder and tell you in a gentle but firm way, "It's time to go." In other words, get off the stage, retire, bow off gracefully. And you can set different levels of embarrassment. You can say to us, "Tap me when it gets as bad as Groucho near the end." Or "Tap me when I hit Milton Berle level." You could even specify how many shreds of dignity you wish to maintain, all the way from 10 (George Burns) down to 1 (George Jessel).
I think we can all name a lot of folks who could have used this service. Some of them are still alive and doing their best to obliterate all remnants of past greatness. It's like they're determined to leave the lasting image of that old, not-completely-coherent spotlight hog who can't do what he or she used to be able to do that made them famous in the first place.
Such a service would also serve politicians well. There are a lot of different opinions as to when Ted Kennedy should have retired but I don't think there's anyone who thinks he didn't stay around at least a term or three too long. And all this is leading up to me discussing Helen Thomas, the veteran reporter who was recently forced into retirement when she said something stupid about Israel. Even people who agree with her about Israel were uncomfy with how she said it...and I'm afraid that may be the enduring memory of what was once a darn good reporter.
I'm reminded of something once said about her by Dan Rather...another individual who could have used this service, by the way. He said — this is approximate — "Helen always drives the White House mad because she's so totally unpredictable. Before a press conference, Richard Nixon could and probably did have his aides draw up a list of one hundred possible questions he'd be asked and he'd be prepped to speak on any of them. Helen's question would not be on that list...ever. If anyone at the press conference asked something that totally stumped the man at the podium and left him looking uninformed, it would be Helen."
I love the concept of someone playing that role. After I heard Rather say that, I started following her and he was absolutely right. If you got a job as a White House Correspondent, wouldn't you be proud to have that reputation?
And she did it to every president. She was obviously Liberal but no one asked Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton rougher questions than Helen Thomas, who never lobbed a softball in her life. There were those who complained she was "biased" in her reporting but the complainers were always the kind of person whose idea of "fair" is to hammer the other guy and make their side look good. She gave it to everyone.
I'm not sure when she should have been tapped...obviously, well before her Israel comments. Maybe some time in the last decade or so when she wrote a highly-charged, read-by-almost-no-one political column. I agreed with much of what she wrote but found myself wishing we had a more effective, persuasive columnist out there saying those things. Actually, if she'd retired sooner and moved into Elder Stateswoman mode instead of trying to mix it up with the current rabble of pundits, someone might have listened to her now and then.
I am not suggesting that everyone should retire when they reach any certain age. I have nothing but admiration for folks who can go on doing what they do — acting, writing, lecturing, breakdancing, whatever — into their eighties and nineties and I intend to do my darnedest to be one of them. But a guy who pole-vaults for a living reaches a point where he has to accept that he can't do it anymore and he wisely, you can only hope, will reconfigure his life minus that activity. With something like writing or appearing before the masses, it's a little harder to tell when that time comes, which is why my friend and I dreamed up that service we never launched. Some people simply need to be told before they do what Helen Thomas did and end their careers, not with a triumphant march into retirement but with a shamed slink to the sidelines.
About every twenty minutes, someone announces a new plan to link Los Angeles and Las Vegas. No one actually goes much beyond the announcement stage and I'm kinda skeptical any of 'em will. Some propose to use existing rails. That means they'd be slow and clunky and a lot of those rails apparently need major repairs. But the proposals that plan to lay new tracks would cost zillions. So none of the ideas look too promising...and it's also worth noting that some wouldn't even connect L.A. and Vegas. They'd link Anaheim or Victorville to Vegas. Even after reading this article, I don't understand why no one can make L.A. to Vegas work.
Josh Marshall explains the current Boehner-related controversy over the liability of British Petroleum for the spill. Looks like if certain folks have their way, American taxpayers are going to pay a lot of money for damage done by the spill.
June 10, 2010
