I have strong memories of the 1960 Presidential debates, when the telegenic Kennedy outshone Richard Nixon and his five o'clock shadow. I don't think these debates have much value in helping to decide for whom to vote, nor do I do I think the Libertarian and Green Party candidates should have been left out simply because they failed to poll some arbitrary number. And though I don't think we need any more proof that Trump is a sleazy con man and serial dissembler, we got it anyway last night.
1. Yes, he was sued for discrimination against African-Americans in the housing market, but then, as he said, so were a lot of other people (as though that makes it okay).
2. Yes, he has called women "pigs" but some of them, especially Rosie O'Donnell, deserved it. When he was asked why he thought Clinton did not "look like a President" he sidestepped the question and said he thought she did not have the stamina.
3. Trump claimed he convinced Obama to produce his birth certificate but offered no reason why he continued for another five years after it was produced it to claim that Obama was not American-born.
4. He continues to state that if you walk down the street in an African-American neighborhood you will be shot and says we need "law and order" without any description of what that means. He did not respond to Clinton's suggestion that we improve our justice system and limit incarceration.
5. He says "hundreds, thousands" of manufacturers are relocating to other countries and we should bring them back, though he has no idea how to accomplish that other than keeping them from leaving in the first place, though he doesn't know how to do that either.
And so on. I did like the TV format of almost always showing both candidates, no matter who was speaking, so we got to see Trump constantly muttering about everything Clinton said and were spared shots of the moderator and the audience. The debate was unfortunately very short on specifics, though Clinton did mention college debt and free tuition, as well as equal pay for equal work, a higher minimum wage and family leave, while Trump blustered about Mexico and China, offering only to cut regulations so that businesses could pollute as much as they wanted to .
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Gary Johnson: Inside City Hall with Errol Louis
Libertarian candidate for President Gary Johnson appeared Friday on Errol Louis's excellent political show "Inside City Hall", on NY1. I'm finding Johnson refreshing, as Trump and Clinton, one demagogic and the other aloof, are less and less appealing. Johnson differs from both major candidates in his support for free trade and his skepticism about the effectiveness and cost of foreign adventures, as we demonstrate over and over how little we have learned from Vietnam. Unfortunately we have a Committee on Presidential Debates that is staffed by Republicans and Democrats and that insists, quite arbitrarily, that a candidate has to have 15% support in polls to be included in the debates, essentially ensuring that few dissident voices will be heard. (If you are wondering whatever happened to the "equal time" FCC rule: it was abandoned in 1960 and abolished in 1983).
When Louis asked about Johnson's position on regime change -- Johnson said regime changes supported by us have never been effective -- Louis suggested maybe this was not true in Latin America. They did not have time for an in-depth discussion of this subject, unfortunately, but the dynamics in Latin America have been different, as our support for right-wing dictators such as Batista in Cuba have led to revolutions such as Castro's. Our support for Somoza in Nicaragua, Pinochet in Chile and many others has been good, perhaps, for United Fruit but seldom, if ever, for the indigenous populations (you can look it up).
Johnson supports legalization of marijuana and when Morris pointed out that people do indeed have problems with the drug Johnson correctly pointed out that making those people criminals and throwing them in jail does not help matters, especially when people of color receive a disproportionate amount of jail time. Some of us have problems with alcohol, too, but Prohibition did not work either.
There were other things that Louis and Johnson did not have time to discuss, especially healthcare., but, in any case, Johnson has a point of view intelligently different from the two major parties and, with his emphasis on choice and inclusion, certainly deserves a hearing.
When Louis asked about Johnson's position on regime change -- Johnson said regime changes supported by us have never been effective -- Louis suggested maybe this was not true in Latin America. They did not have time for an in-depth discussion of this subject, unfortunately, but the dynamics in Latin America have been different, as our support for right-wing dictators such as Batista in Cuba have led to revolutions such as Castro's. Our support for Somoza in Nicaragua, Pinochet in Chile and many others has been good, perhaps, for United Fruit but seldom, if ever, for the indigenous populations (you can look it up).
Johnson supports legalization of marijuana and when Morris pointed out that people do indeed have problems with the drug Johnson correctly pointed out that making those people criminals and throwing them in jail does not help matters, especially when people of color receive a disproportionate amount of jail time. Some of us have problems with alcohol, too, but Prohibition did not work either.
There were other things that Louis and Johnson did not have time to discuss, especially healthcare., but, in any case, Johnson has a point of view intelligently different from the two major parties and, with his emphasis on choice and inclusion, certainly deserves a hearing.
Thursday, September 1, 2016
TV Log
John Stossel last week had on his show on the Fox business network Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson and vice-presidential candidate William Weld. These two candidates made sense in a way that the two major candidates do not, the Republican and the Democrat each being demagogic in their own way. Two important issues that cause one to lean toward the libertarians: they still believe in free trade, abandoned by the two major candidates, and they are extremely skeptical of foreign wars which, going back to Vietnam, have been one moral, physical and financial debacle after another. Both candidates are former governors and neither is a rigid ideologue but both are progressive, inclusive and compassionate. My own instincts have always been libertarian --though I still believe strongly in a single-payer health system, which I believe would be liberating -- and it looks to me as if the Libertarians are the most Burkean, least demagogic candidates.
Howard Gordon, producer of 24 and Homeland, has made Tyrant (on FX), now in its third season, one of the most interesting and involving shows on the air. An American takes over an Arab country --the fictional Abuddin -- and tries to make it democratic. The contradiction is that he has to use authoritarian methods to instill democracy and the country is soon riven by factions and the daughter of the American leader is murdered by terrorists. A new cast member this season is Christopher Noth as an American general, who extracts a high price for American military support.
Richard Price (writer) and Steven Zaillian (director) made The Night Of (HBO) into a gritty story about incarceration, lawyering, police investigation, trial, ethnic and generation divides. Everyone is suffering from moral conflicts and personal difficulties, most of which are subject to compromises which make no one happy. The eerie music of Jeff Russo adds to the downbeat mood.
Steven Bocho continues with the serialized police procedural he pioneered with Hill Street Blues(1981-1987) and NYPD Blue (1993-2005) and the single case per season of Murder One (1995-1997) in Murder in the First (TNT). He uses San Francisco locations effectively and has the two leading detectives in an interracial relationship that is broken up by the boss. Bochco, as in his other cop shows and L.A. Law (1986-1994), emphasizes the personal difficulties of the job.
Howard Gordon, producer of 24 and Homeland, has made Tyrant (on FX), now in its third season, one of the most interesting and involving shows on the air. An American takes over an Arab country --the fictional Abuddin -- and tries to make it democratic. The contradiction is that he has to use authoritarian methods to instill democracy and the country is soon riven by factions and the daughter of the American leader is murdered by terrorists. A new cast member this season is Christopher Noth as an American general, who extracts a high price for American military support.
Richard Price (writer) and Steven Zaillian (director) made The Night Of (HBO) into a gritty story about incarceration, lawyering, police investigation, trial, ethnic and generation divides. Everyone is suffering from moral conflicts and personal difficulties, most of which are subject to compromises which make no one happy. The eerie music of Jeff Russo adds to the downbeat mood.
Steven Bocho continues with the serialized police procedural he pioneered with Hill Street Blues(1981-1987) and NYPD Blue (1993-2005) and the single case per season of Murder One (1995-1997) in Murder in the First (TNT). He uses San Francisco locations effectively and has the two leading detectives in an interracial relationship that is broken up by the boss. Bochco, as in his other cop shows and L.A. Law (1986-1994), emphasizes the personal difficulties of the job.
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Politics 2016
For those who were disappointed that I did not write about the party conventions I just want to say I'm sorry, the debates exhausted me. I offer the following political updates:
Alexandra Pelosi's film Meet the Donors, on HBO, includes interviews with a number of political donors. One is not surprised to hear that they all donate for the good of the country and not because they hope for anything for themselves, except perhaps a chance to give their opinions. One donor had hoped to be offered the job as head of the CIA by George W. Bush and instead was asked if he could take care of the Bush's cat while they were away. Since Citizens United and the spurning of federal financing by Obama and Romney in 2012 donations to presidential campaigns have increased considerably. The person who spends the most money doesn't always win, of course, and I have often wondered why more people don't do what I do, which is to research the candidate's records and speeches and vote for the person you think will do the best job. I agree with Edmund Burke that we should elect the person with the most integrity and intelligence, as well as the ability to think for themselves. The biggest problem is that not too many people of that caliber can make it through the primaries, designed as they are to promote demagoguery.
Jill Lepore has an excellent piece on the conventions in the Aug. 8 New Yorker, "The War and the Roses." About the Republican convention she says, "the rule inside the Convention was: Incite fear and division in order to call for safety and union." At the Democratic convention President Obama's speech was "as boundless in its optimism as Trump's was in its pessimism." As Lepore points our, some have faith in the People, some have faith in progress; both faiths can be misplaced.
Eliot Weinberger has a detailed piece in the July 28, 2016 London Review of Books, "They could have picked..." answers the question: why the world wonders, did the Republicans pick Donald Trump as the nominee when they had so many (in the words of Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus) "well-qualified candidates", including:
Rick Santorum: He says that a child conceived by rape is "a gift from God" and compared homosexuality to "man-on-dog" sex.
Rick Perry, who planned to eliminate three cabinet agencies but couldn't remember what they were.
Bobby Jindal, the former governor of Louisiana who bankrupted his state in an unsuccessful attempt to eliminate all personal and corporate taxes.
Carly Fiorina, who said concern about climate change was like worrying about the weather and repeatedly criticized a Planned Parenthood tape that nobody could produce a copy of.
Dr. Rand Paul, an isolationist who is opposed to the mandatory vaccination of children.
George Pataki, who came out of nowhere and disappeared as quickly.
Scott Walker, who said he could defeat ISIS because he had cut the education budget and stood up to teachers.
Jim Gilmore, who came and went before anyone knew who he was.
Chis Christie, the Tony Soprano of American politics, though not as effective as Tony.
Jeb Bush, "whose demeanour at the debates was described as that of an exasperated substitute teacher in front of a class of unruly high-schoolers."
Mike Huckabee, who says "gun control means you hit the target."
John Kasich, with "a long anti-union, anti-tax, pro-gun, pro-capital punishment, anti-mass transit, pro-impeachment of Bill Clinton, anti-voters' rights, anti-abortion, anti-environmental regulations. pro-privatization of prisons, pro-Creationism in science classes record."
Dr. Ben Carson, who "often seemed like he spent too much time in the hospital pharmacy."
Marco Rubio: "he seemed more like the popular mayor of a small Sunbelt city than a potential president."
Ted Cruz, "Even more than most politicians he suffers from messianic delusions."
Edmund Burke, where are you when we need you?
Alexandra Pelosi's film Meet the Donors, on HBO, includes interviews with a number of political donors. One is not surprised to hear that they all donate for the good of the country and not because they hope for anything for themselves, except perhaps a chance to give their opinions. One donor had hoped to be offered the job as head of the CIA by George W. Bush and instead was asked if he could take care of the Bush's cat while they were away. Since Citizens United and the spurning of federal financing by Obama and Romney in 2012 donations to presidential campaigns have increased considerably. The person who spends the most money doesn't always win, of course, and I have often wondered why more people don't do what I do, which is to research the candidate's records and speeches and vote for the person you think will do the best job. I agree with Edmund Burke that we should elect the person with the most integrity and intelligence, as well as the ability to think for themselves. The biggest problem is that not too many people of that caliber can make it through the primaries, designed as they are to promote demagoguery.
Jill Lepore has an excellent piece on the conventions in the Aug. 8 New Yorker, "The War and the Roses." About the Republican convention she says, "the rule inside the Convention was: Incite fear and division in order to call for safety and union." At the Democratic convention President Obama's speech was "as boundless in its optimism as Trump's was in its pessimism." As Lepore points our, some have faith in the People, some have faith in progress; both faiths can be misplaced.
Eliot Weinberger has a detailed piece in the July 28, 2016 London Review of Books, "They could have picked..." answers the question: why the world wonders, did the Republicans pick Donald Trump as the nominee when they had so many (in the words of Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus) "well-qualified candidates", including:
Rick Santorum: He says that a child conceived by rape is "a gift from God" and compared homosexuality to "man-on-dog" sex.
Rick Perry, who planned to eliminate three cabinet agencies but couldn't remember what they were.
Bobby Jindal, the former governor of Louisiana who bankrupted his state in an unsuccessful attempt to eliminate all personal and corporate taxes.
Carly Fiorina, who said concern about climate change was like worrying about the weather and repeatedly criticized a Planned Parenthood tape that nobody could produce a copy of.
Dr. Rand Paul, an isolationist who is opposed to the mandatory vaccination of children.
George Pataki, who came out of nowhere and disappeared as quickly.
Scott Walker, who said he could defeat ISIS because he had cut the education budget and stood up to teachers.
Jim Gilmore, who came and went before anyone knew who he was.
Chis Christie, the Tony Soprano of American politics, though not as effective as Tony.
Jeb Bush, "whose demeanour at the debates was described as that of an exasperated substitute teacher in front of a class of unruly high-schoolers."
Mike Huckabee, who says "gun control means you hit the target."
John Kasich, with "a long anti-union, anti-tax, pro-gun, pro-capital punishment, anti-mass transit, pro-impeachment of Bill Clinton, anti-voters' rights, anti-abortion, anti-environmental regulations. pro-privatization of prisons, pro-Creationism in science classes record."
Dr. Ben Carson, who "often seemed like he spent too much time in the hospital pharmacy."
Marco Rubio: "he seemed more like the popular mayor of a small Sunbelt city than a potential president."
Ted Cruz, "Even more than most politicians he suffers from messianic delusions."
Edmund Burke, where are you when we need you?
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
A Fond Farewell to A Prairie Home Companion
I can't say enough about how much I will miss Garrison Keillor's show; his last show was July 2 (my birthday) and he went out in style, with a superb monologue from Lake Wobegone -- "where the women are strong, the men are good-looking and the children are above average," an episode of Lives of the Cowboys, words from the Ketchup Advisory Board and lots of singing, mostly duets with women who have regularly appeared on his show and mostly somewhat melancholy songs. The only important thing missing was an episode of Guy Noir, which transfers a fatalistic private eye from the film noir of the forties to the current Midwest, albeit with a fair amount of deadpan humor.
I get the strong impression that many people find Keillor's show too sentimental and folksy, the same reaction they have to Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. To the contrary, A Prairie Home Companion is as full of darkness and irony as Capra's film. Perhaps it takes someone who grew up in a small town, as I did, to truly understand this. Keillor did a wonderful rendition of Greg Brown's (with Sarah Jarosz) "It Gets Lonely in a Small Town" and in his monologue he talked about being a child forced to go outside when he would rather stay at home and read (he constantly refers to writers --mostly American, including Fitzgerald and Hemingway) and then being dragooned into playing right field in a softball game, where every fly ball filled him with fear. The patrons of the Chatterbox Café can be nice, as can the parishioners of Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibilty, but they can also be bigoted, nasty and vindictive.
Keillor was very much influenced by some of the radio personalities who flourished in the forties, when radio was at its artistic peak. I'm thinking particularly of Fred Allen, who hosted a radio show that featured live musical performances, brilliant comic sketches and effectively low-key political satire. Keillor has brought on terrific musical guests, everyone from classical pianists to opera singers to every variety of folk, folk-rock and country music. And for his comedy sketches he has had, since 1992, the talents of Tim Russell (who can imitate almost any voice; on July 2 he did an uncanny imitation of Jimmy Stewart) and Sue Scott. And Keillor has had excellent sound effects men in Tom Keith (who died in 2011) and Fred Newman and a ready-for-anything music director in Rich Dworsky.
Jean Shepherd, who was also a big influence on Keillor, especially his monologues, is gone and Car Talk is no longer. Chris Thile has been picked as Keillor's successor but it is hard to imagine A Prairie Home Companion without Garrison Keillor. I admit that once I had stopped commuting I was not as regular a listener to Keillor's show, but before his shows became available on the internet I tried to find a radio equivalent of a VCR so I could record the show. Maybe some of the guests were on too often and maybe some of the jokes were not as funny as they once were, but at least he had many good jokes and wonderful guests.
I get the strong impression that many people find Keillor's show too sentimental and folksy, the same reaction they have to Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. To the contrary, A Prairie Home Companion is as full of darkness and irony as Capra's film. Perhaps it takes someone who grew up in a small town, as I did, to truly understand this. Keillor did a wonderful rendition of Greg Brown's (with Sarah Jarosz) "It Gets Lonely in a Small Town" and in his monologue he talked about being a child forced to go outside when he would rather stay at home and read (he constantly refers to writers --mostly American, including Fitzgerald and Hemingway) and then being dragooned into playing right field in a softball game, where every fly ball filled him with fear. The patrons of the Chatterbox Café can be nice, as can the parishioners of Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibilty, but they can also be bigoted, nasty and vindictive.
Keillor was very much influenced by some of the radio personalities who flourished in the forties, when radio was at its artistic peak. I'm thinking particularly of Fred Allen, who hosted a radio show that featured live musical performances, brilliant comic sketches and effectively low-key political satire. Keillor has brought on terrific musical guests, everyone from classical pianists to opera singers to every variety of folk, folk-rock and country music. And for his comedy sketches he has had, since 1992, the talents of Tim Russell (who can imitate almost any voice; on July 2 he did an uncanny imitation of Jimmy Stewart) and Sue Scott. And Keillor has had excellent sound effects men in Tom Keith (who died in 2011) and Fred Newman and a ready-for-anything music director in Rich Dworsky.
Jean Shepherd, who was also a big influence on Keillor, especially his monologues, is gone and Car Talk is no longer. Chris Thile has been picked as Keillor's successor but it is hard to imagine A Prairie Home Companion without Garrison Keillor. I admit that once I had stopped commuting I was not as regular a listener to Keillor's show, but before his shows became available on the internet I tried to find a radio equivalent of a VCR so I could record the show. Maybe some of the guests were on too often and maybe some of the jokes were not as funny as they once were, but at least he had many good jokes and wonderful guests.
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Ezra Edelman's OJ: Made in America
Edelman's film, which ran for 7 1/2 hours (not counting commercials) on ESPN, was interesting for what it left out as well as what it left in. I was working at Fairchild during the period of the trial and I was not at all surprised by the reactions of the African-Americans who worked there: many of them felt that the verdict was payback for all the Rodney Kings of the world. Even the jurors who were interviewed by Edelman admitted that. But he was only able, for whatever reasons, to interview two jurors, whose reactions to the trial were more emotional than intellectual. Other jurors may have thought what Alexander Cockburn said in The Nation at the time, that the prosecution presented a relatively weak case and made many mistakes along the way.
The questions Edelman did not address included our corrupt college football system, where a few stars make it to the NFL while many others are used and tossed away, without even an education. Edelman did not address Simpson's class time at USC or talk to any of his professors. It seems that Simpson never graduated and likely attended few classes; he was probably was not even able to read. But none of that mattered, because he was a star football player. Nor does Edelman address the misogyny of sports stars: Simpson carried on numerous affairs of his own but would beat up his wife if she even looked at anyone else.
Simpson was treated with favoritism wherever he went and whatever he did. Director Peter Hyams did not want him in his film Capricorn One (1977) because there were so many other African-American actors who had worked hard and deserved the opportunity; the studio claimed it would be good publicity. Simpson got the job advertising Hertz because, as he always claimed, "I'm not black, I'm O.J." (though it was never clear why Simpson had to run for his car if Hertz was so fast; did it mean service was not so good for those who could not run that fast?). Nicole Simpson received very little support from the police or even her own family when Simpson beat her.
If Edelman's film has a hero it is Fred Goldman, who was convinced that Simpson was the murderer of his son, and sued him in civil court, winning a thirty-three million dollar settlement, of which he collected very little. We did not, however, learn as much as we should have from the Simpson case: policeman should not shoot people because of their color, sports heroes should not be deified and we should not tolerate their abuse of women, colleges should not give athletic scholarships without at least a token attempt to also see that the recipients get a good education, the media should eschew sensationalism. I am not optimistic about any of these changes.
The questions Edelman did not address included our corrupt college football system, where a few stars make it to the NFL while many others are used and tossed away, without even an education. Edelman did not address Simpson's class time at USC or talk to any of his professors. It seems that Simpson never graduated and likely attended few classes; he was probably was not even able to read. But none of that mattered, because he was a star football player. Nor does Edelman address the misogyny of sports stars: Simpson carried on numerous affairs of his own but would beat up his wife if she even looked at anyone else.
Simpson was treated with favoritism wherever he went and whatever he did. Director Peter Hyams did not want him in his film Capricorn One (1977) because there were so many other African-American actors who had worked hard and deserved the opportunity; the studio claimed it would be good publicity. Simpson got the job advertising Hertz because, as he always claimed, "I'm not black, I'm O.J." (though it was never clear why Simpson had to run for his car if Hertz was so fast; did it mean service was not so good for those who could not run that fast?). Nicole Simpson received very little support from the police or even her own family when Simpson beat her.
If Edelman's film has a hero it is Fred Goldman, who was convinced that Simpson was the murderer of his son, and sued him in civil court, winning a thirty-three million dollar settlement, of which he collected very little. We did not, however, learn as much as we should have from the Simpson case: policeman should not shoot people because of their color, sports heroes should not be deified and we should not tolerate their abuse of women, colleges should not give athletic scholarships without at least a token attempt to also see that the recipients get a good education, the media should eschew sensationalism. I am not optimistic about any of these changes.
Friday, May 20, 2016
Megan Kelly and Donald Trump
The only thing I will say about Megyn Kelly's absurd interview the other night with Donald Trump on Fox -- in which each tried to prove how more powerful than the other they were -- is: why ask questions if one is not prepared to follow through? When Kelly asked Trump his favorite movie and Trump said "Citizen Kane" Kelly did not follow up at all, when she easily could have asked what he liked about that movie about a powerful man who was his own worst enemy and treated the women in his life badly (I would not expect any appreciation of its innovative style from either person) When she asked his favorite book he said "All Quiet on the Western Front" and again she did not follow up, when she could easily have asked why someone as militaristic and belligerent as he is liked Remarque's novel about WWI, perceived by many as anti-war. My educated guess is that Trump has not seen Welles's movie or read Remarque's book and, judging by Kelly's non-response to each of Trump's answers she has not seen the movie or read the book either!
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