Category Archives: Uncategorized

The term "mixed feelings" cannot begin to describe my reaction to the death of Senator Edward Kennedy. An awful lot of the legislation he backed did things I thought should be done and had to be done. Not only that but he generally achieved those things the hard way: Though they were Liberal initiatives, he nearly always managed to enlist at least one prominent Republican as a co-sponsor or strong supporter. Given how Washington works these days, he may have been the last elected official who knew how to make bi-partisanship happen.

Against all that, of course, were his personal failings. A lot of us wanted to admire him, respect him and cite him as a leader. He certainly didn't make that easy. Even now, when some might want to mourn him unreservedly, you have to wonder. He's been in dreadful health for months now. Why oh why didn't he step down last year so that his successor could be in or near office today? The Democratic push for Health Care Reform (his pet issue) didn't need this additional complication.

I met him once…in 1979. He was thinking of challenging incumbent Jimmy Carter for the presidency. A supporter of his in Hollywood gathered together a band of comedy writers for a dinner party/sales pitch. The pitch was that if Kennedy ran, we should write jokes for him to punch up his public appearances and help him win the White House.

Late in the evening, Kennedy himself appeared at the party, looking very presidential indeed. When he entered, the mood went electric, and he proceeded to give a brief, utterly mesmerizing speech that captivated everyone present. But he'd already won us all over before that when he circulated around the room, giving every person one of those two-fisted handshakes: his right hand grasping yours, his left hand grasping both right hands, refusing to let you go. Then he looked you in the eye, asked you who you were…and said something to you, pointedly using your name and acting like he'd remember it forever. I guess all politicians master this but he's still the "biggest name" I've ever met in his line of work, so it's the encounter I remember most vividly.

I remember agreeing to join his joke-writing squadron. In that room after that speech, it was physically impossible to decline. But I also recall a certain relief a few months later when he decided not to run. I just didn't want to invest that much time and emotion in a guy who seemed so likely to disappoint us on some level. Since then, of course, they all have.

Someone is bound to write to me and say that the body isn't even cold; that at this time, we should look only at the many great things he did…and they were many. I admired his career and achievements in the Senate and I really admired him that night at the party. I just find it impossible to write about Ted Kennedy and pretend that all that other stuff never happened. Wish I could.

Daniel Gross reminds us that the majority of folks who are out there now demonizing government-run health care are themselves receiving or otherwise benefiting from government-run health care..and don't seem to be eager to change that. You get the feeling that while some of these people may be campaigning against it because they have legitimate concerns (or maybe bribes from the private insurance industry or Big Pharma), a big objection is just that it would be a "win" for Obama.

In the meantime, the Republican National Committee has issued something they call the Seniors' Health Care Bill Of Rights. Among other points, it insists that Medicare must not be cut. You all remember Medicare. It's that plan that the Republican National Committee would get rid of if they could.

As you all know, I'm impressed with the on-target batting average of author Fred Kaplan, especially when writing about things like military budgets and foreign affairs. The guy's not infallible but he seems to have a better track record than anyone we ever elect to handle those things. Anyway, I just wanted to mention he'll be a guest this Thursday evening on the Tavis Smiley show on PBS. I'll be watching. Well, I won't be watching…I'll be TiVoing. But later, I'll be watching.

Sammy Petrillo's obit made The New York Times. Nice to see the notice.

I'm going to bed. I've been writing and writing, but I've reached the point where ideas are getting scarcer than Glenn Beck sponsors. See you in the morning.

I have occasionally directed you fine folks to the political writings of a gent named Kevin Drum, who strikes me as one of the most sensible and well-informed people on the Internet. He writes for the fine magazine called Mother Jones and his blog for them is a must-click for me each day. He is also the inventor of Friday Cat Blogging™. Kevin and I struck up an e-mail acquaintance some time ago and I am just back from what turned into a three hour meal/visit with the guy.

We discussed all sorts of stuff…but mostly I wanted to talk about politics and he wanted to talk about comics. So we did both. Occasionally, a conversation on one topic had eerie parallels to the other. Our big disagreements turned out to be that he likes the Legion of Super-Heroes (or at least, he used to) more than me, and I'm a bit more optimistic that Barack Obama will deliver a meaningful Health Care Reform package. Other than that, we got along swimmingly and had a good time. The cuisine was, of course, barbecue.

I mention all this just to marvel at how wonderful the Internet is at connecting people who would otherwise never have crossed paths. If not for blogs, I might well read Kevin in some magazine but we'd never have met, never gotten to have a one-on-one discussion. I meet a lot of people because of this here weblog. It's one of the reasons I do it. It goes right along with the huge blogging salary.

Anyway, when you get a chance each day, go read Kevin. It's not as good as having lunch with the man but at least you won't get barbecue sauce all over your shirt. Unless, of course, you websurf while eating ribs.

Just got this in from Don Roemer, who's with the Ambassadors of Harmony…

As a long time member of the Ambassadors of Harmony chorus, I thank you on the behalf of all the Ambassadors for including our performances on your blog.

One quick correction, above the La Mancha video you identify us as the Masters of Harmony rather than the Ambassadors of Harmony. There is, by the way, a very good chorus in California with that other name.

The "76 Trombones" was one of two songs we did at the 2009 Barbershop Convention at the Honda Center in Anaheim in early July. We won the contest with a record high score and beat a chorus from Texas which had not lost a competition in thirty years.

If you like, you can learn more about us at www.aoh.org. Thanks again!

Thanks, Don, and my apologies for the name confusion. As the kind of singer who couldn't join in the National Anthem at a baseball game without throwing the entire performance off-key, I have only admiration for the talents and obvious dedication of a group like yours. Someone else posted a link to mine and headlined it, "A four minute smile from Mark Evanier." That's a great way of putting it except, of course, that I deserve little credit for passing it on.

How does health care in the U.S. stack up against health care in other countries? It's hard to find out these days because so many folks are exaggerating, one way or the other, to make some biased point for or against Health Care Reform. I'm especially annoyed by the people who seem to figure that because we're America and America is better at everything than anyone else, naturally it follows that our health care must be the best.

This report from the Urban Institute attempts to provide a realistic assessment. Its conclusions are a mixed bag. We're good at some things, not as good as we want to be at others. Its compilers lean towards what might be called a Liberal viewpoint but they seem to back up their conclusions with solid sources.

Many of you have ordered copies of June Foray's autobiography, advertised here and available through www.juneforay.com. You oughta know that this coming Wednesday, June will be signing all the copies ordered so far and they'll be tossed in the mail immediately after that. So if you're eagerly awaiting yours, that's the timetable.

If you haven't ordered yours, now is the time. Get your order in before Tuesday night so it can be included in this week's signing. Thereafter, she'll be autographing them every ten days or so.

In the meantime, above is another photo from June's files that didn't get into the book. It's a shot of her in the early eighties with Ray Bradbury and the great animator, Grim Natwick. Grim left us in 1990, two months after he turned one hundred years old. Ray, we're happy to say, is still with us. In fact, he's celebrating his 89th birthday today. So Happy 89 to the world's greatest writer of fantasy tales and an inspiration to many, many generations.

My favorite interviewer, Paul Harris, had a nice chat the other day with songwriting superstars Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It's online and you might like to listen in.

A company called Urban Outfitters is now selling Polaroid cameras and film…the last ever, it's said.

Last night, Jon Stewart's guest was Betsy McCaughey, a former Lieutentant Governor of New York who keeps popping up in health care debates to spread what even some who kinda side with her describe as misinformation. She's been given a lot of credit for crafting lies — and I'm convinced they were, pure and simple, premeditated lies — that sank the "Hillarycare" initiative. She seems to have helped launch the "death panels" whopper about the current proposals. The interview ran long and was truncated for air but you can watch the whole thing over at the Daily Show website. (I'd embed it but they're probably getting so many hits over there than an embed here would move like you were connected to the Internet via a Dixie Cup and string.)

It was one of those interviews where your reaction will depend a lot on what you want to believe. If you think, as I do, that we're in a place where some people will say (and even convince themselves of) any stupid thing that will kill "Obamacare," then Stewart eviscerated her. If you want to see the proposals nuked, then I guess she held her own in a hostile environment. There were many spots throughout the discussion where I wished that one had let the other finish a sentence that was already in progress.

James Fallows points out some of the flaws in her argument…and Mr. Stewart came close to a point I think should be made in all this. Even if you can somehow parse and twist some clause in the bill to seem to say that doctors will be rewarded for forcing patients to adhere to advanced directives if they change their minds, that's not anyone's intent. There is, in any doctor-patient relationship, a certain amount of minimal trust that has to exist. They all hinge on the presumption that your doctor, whoever he or she is and whatever the laws may be, isn't sitting there thinking that they can make an extra $25 if they prescribe what's bad for you. If your doctor's thinking like that, you're in big trouble, regardless of how the laws are written…or even if nothing gets changed.

This story is on the wires now…

Former US homeland security chief Tom Ridge charges in a new book that top aides to then-president George W. Bush pressured him to raise the "terror alert" level on the eve of the November 2004 US election.

Gee, Tom, thanks for telling us about that now. Any other evidence of wrongdoing you withheld until no one could be held accountable and you could use it to sell a book?

A new poll from the Public Policy Polling People (who I suspect used to make Clean Copper Clappers) confirms something I've suspected since this whole silliness began about Barack Obama's birthplace. A number of those who say they don't believe he was born in the United States say that because they don't believe Hawaii is part of the United States.

You all know about the Monty Python Reunion, right? Okay, so it's only one night of being honored and questioned. It's something.