Old Friends We Lost

Memoriam tribute to those we lost in 2009

Sarah Palin: Is She The Doomsday Device?

By

Bobbie L. Washingtonã

There was a television series called The Dead Zone, which starred Anthony Michael Hall as a clairvoyant who could foretell a person’s future by touching certain objects. In its final season, one of the plotlines to the show was an impending doom to the nation by the hands of a U.S. Senator who would become Vice President after the elected Vice President was assassinated. He manipulates his rise to power by orchestrated events and after shaking hands with the Anthony Michael Hall’s character; he sees the future where the Vice President is now the President and is the cause of the destruction to America through a nuclear incident. And although this scenario is fiction, does there exist the possibility that Sarah Palin is that political figure that could achieve that goal?

Former Vice Presidential candidate, former Alaskan governor and now published author, Sarah Palin has been making the media tour rounds with her new book, Going Rogue. She, at one point, had methodically and stealthily receded into the background a few months ago from the political arena after she resigned from her position as governor to Alaska but had not technically gone away. By using the portals of the Internet via Facebook and Twitter, she was able to stir up the political discourse by making her opinions known about the health care debate by creating the false caveat of the “death panels” into the bill. Her followers latched on to it as the cause de jour. Noted Republican members also took to the “death panels” like Ivan Pavlov’s drooling dogs to a bone. Her followers spoke with authority on this imaginary issue and it went on in debate with logic being tossed aside when told that it never existed. But the believers continued undeterred with the truth.

Palin emerges from the safe harbor of Facebook and slowly begins speaking tours but without the imposing glare of the news media. Each speaking event stipulates that it will be closed to journalists and news organizations. Her speaking fees are in the high six figures as her cocoon shell breaks away. Some of the things she speaks upon do leak out to the media as ramblings but without actual tape, it stays below the fold.

Now come the book tour and the media circus that follows. Pre-sales to her book helps with the promotion as she does her first sit down with talk show legend, Oprah Winfrey. It is a safe interview because nothing is said that hadn’t already been surmised in the generality of the questions and it is her point of view. But as more pages from her book is revealed in the coming days, there is a problem with the truth. She attacks the McCain staffers for her troubles as well as late night talk show host, David Letterman, CBS News anchor Katie Couric for “ambushing” her with questions about what newspaper she reads and the rest of the liberal gotcha media. She never blames herself for her own behavior during the campaign and the race-baiting rallies she held.

She finally sits down with a journalist, ABC’s Barbara Walters, and one would hope that the venerable Miss Walters would do a better job at digging into some facts. Alas, Palin handles Barbara. The rules were in play going into this interview like the rest of her media circus. Her handlers made it quite clear as to what will be asked and who will ask and how the settings will be. If Walters wavered from it, it would be politely but sternly dodged. Palin’s weakness has been her brain in dealing with hard-hitting or complex questions. This became evident when Walters asked her opinion on the Israeli-Palestinian situation when it came to Israel continued unabated housing settlement. Palin’s response was a hint to the danger she poses should she ever gain any power.

She said that Israel should not stop with the settlement because they need the land because they are growing. She said nothing about the Palestinian people and their plight; nothing to the fact that they are systematically being forced out of their homes to live on the streets to make way for these settlements; nothing to the fact that many of the radical Israeli citizens are ignoring the law and occupying Palestinian homes; nothing to the fact that this continued land grab as been condemned by the United States and the United Nations. This continuation of events is not furthering the cause for a peaceful solution in the Middle East. And Walters did absolutely no follow up with Palin’s response or the ramifications to what the Palestinians are going through. Not all Palestinians are militant extremists.

But with Palin, it was such a flippant response to a much more complex dynamic that it begs to wonder how much she is lacking in the realm of foreign policy? Andrea Mitchell attempted to interview Palin outside at one of her bookstore signings. Palin was asked to respond to the McCain camps response to her book that they had proof she was lying about several items she stated in her book. She glided over the question and was swiftly taken into the building by her bodyguards. And at the book signings, the rules are in play, no outside media and no questions from the public.

Of course she does have her comfort zones with Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. While on Fox with Sean Hannity, she kept referring to Iran as Iraq. Hannity did not correct her. If he had corrected her, it would have shine the unflattering light on her thinking process. I have noticed that Palin is making every effort to pretend like she is intelligent as she struggles to find the right words, preferably big words, to say. She also has the habit of injecting the word “Americans” in all of her interviews as she wrap herself around the flag and the troops. Clearly this is from the campaign. If all else fails, talk about American values, the American way of life and the troops even while everything else you said is about nothing.

If some vapid, blowhard, pompous, semi-attractive man is called an “empty suit”, Sarah Palin is the equivalent to an “empty dress”. She continues to stir up the masses while saying absolutely nothing of substance. She is the empty calories of a politics. And although Hillary Clinton may have been a polarizing figure during the campaign, she has at least redeemed her image for the better. Palin has exceeded Clinton tenfold in the world of polarizing figures. She protest too loudly as being the victim of sexism, misogyny, etc. and she is extremely thinned-skinned when it comes to justifiable criticism. If she thinks that what she experienced during a campaign and being interviewed by journalist is tough, what makes it possible for her to deal with some foreign despot dictator without taking it personal? Or could she possibly deal with the litany of economic problems both foreign and domestic without folding? She couldn’t finish out her four-year term as governor so what would make her a viable candidate to the highest office in the land? Her claim of being a “lame-duck” governor was hollow and inaccurate. She was not voted out of office and she was not being forced out due to term limits, as she was serving as a first time governor in a two-term state. She quit to make more money.

It was easy for Palin to attack Barack Obama during the campaign with some of the most vicious attacks ever in a season. Her rallies had ratcheted up to the point that they were hate speeches. She accused Obama as being one person shy of being a terrorist. She questioned his patriotism. And her followers shouted “kill him” at her rallies and she did nothing to discourage that behavior.

So, is Palin that politician that, if allowed, has the capabilities to place her finger on the button? She is a woman of myopic vision. If there ever were a doomsday scenario like the one in the disaster movie, 2012, it would be seeing Palin at a seat of power. Perhaps the television show, The Dead Zone, was not too far off in what could happen if the wrong person is allowed to have power.

Are We Watching Too Much Junk News As a $5,000/year Airline Mechanic Repairs Your Plane?

By

Bobbie L. Washington

I have watched, not in fascination, but with perplexing disbelief over the amount of coverage over the media tagged tale of “Balloon Boy”. This Balloon Boy started off as a nail-biting news lead of a supposed six-year old boy trapped in a saucer type weather balloon sailing across the Colorado sky in an uncontrollable glide. It was breaking news as the major networks went live with the story. There were speculations that something had fallen out of the balloon from an image that was captured on a digital camera. Those who watched began to pray for this child and when the craft finally landed as witnessed by the millions of eyes who were enthralled by this climatic adventure. And in true gripping drama, there was no boy in the balloon and the speculation grew more intense on the whereabouts for this innocent child. Had he actually fallen out? If true, nobody knew where to begin the search for his body. And as scripted for television, the boy was found safe and at home. But wait, there’s more. It was a hoax. And the next level of the news cycle began, but why? Why is this story still having legs after it was revealed to be a hoax? Why is the news giving this legs knowing that it was a publicity stunt?

This was a legitimate story that turned into junk news. What is junk news, you may ask? It is the stuff that obscures real news. It is pointless and mundane. It is the 15 minutes of fame in the pursuit of “at all cost”. It eats into your brain, the sensible common sense portion that asks, “Why are we wasting time on this”? Richard Heene and his wife, Mayumi, are just an example of the junk news cycle. But how did it start? They are just the latest of a trend on how the news media has been forced to play a game of ratings obsession.

The Jon and Kate Gosselin saga is another example of junk news. Why is Kate Gosselin on morning shows like the Today Show or is guest hosting The View to discuss her impending divorce and all of the maudlin details of her failed marriage? A network created a show around her family because she had multiple children. Having a family is now entertainment. The money they offer you is a great incentive to do the program but the parents seem to have abdicated their personal responsibilities by not having a legitimate job. And when they decided to air their personal drama to the public, why must the viewing audience who do not watch this circus be subjected to the impending divorce? It was a cable show so let them be on the cable show and be interviewed by their core audience. Why take u p my time and the news cycle time with your theatrics? It is junk news.

The David Letterman extortion case started off as a legitimate story about a man trying to get $2 million dollars from the late night host. It turned into junk news when the sex angle began to overtake the criminal complaint. Speculation ensued about who, what, when, why of Letterman’s sex life. There were other stories to play but this ate into the news cycle for four days.

But there are news stories out there that are not getting the needed coverage that could be detrimental to your safety. One news story that National Public Radio is covering is on the airline industry and what they are doing in repairing and maintaining their aircrafts. In a news article entitled Crossed Wires: Flaws in Airline Repairs Abroad by David Zwerdling, he discusses what many major airlines are doing to cut cost by having their airplanes serviced by a company in El Salvador. This company, Aeroman, is utilized by such noted airlines like U.S. Airways and Jet Blue. The article goes on to state that the mechanics that repair these planes make around $5,000 to $10,000 per year and that some of them can’t read the English written manuals. The mechanics are told to substitute certain parts if they do not have the right type or just ignore the FAA standards on repair techniques. As this report is being discussed, he interview some of the mechanics who are afraid to be recognized for fear of getting fired, they reveal what they are mandated to do just to keep their jobs. It is not like they have the federal whistle blower program to protect them when they are aware of some improprieties with the company.

The airlines are required to inspect the facility but the intervals are too few and too far in between to catch any flaws and there have been flaws. It is fortunate that there have been no accidents in the servicing of these aircrafts. But why is this not on the news cycle?

You will have to go back a few years and see the erosion of the news business and those who were the stalwarts of the business starting to erode some principles. Walter Cronkite remained the benchmark of journalism. You would not see him going gently into that night by interviewing the likes of Paris Hilton or Spencer and Heidi. When Barbara Walters made her one of the Top 10 fascinating people, you questioned her credibility. What did Paris Hilton do to garner such prestige? She made a sex tape and refused to go away. She parlayed that into TV shows, personal appearances, movie deals and book deals. Was she the problem or just the vehicle for getting ratings? It was the ratings that fueled the interview just as Monica Lewinsky did when Walters interviewed her.

The news industry has been taking some severe body shots for what they have been doing and for what they have not been doing. They all claim that because the business is now a 24/7 news cycle now that they cannot afford to let anything slip by. The network news divisions are forced to compete with the cable news division. Newsprint is in free fall. Network news has cut jobs to reduce their budget. The Internet has forced the traditional form of newsgathering to change the game plan. Well, these are just the evolution and dynamic change with anything in a progressive society. It does not mean you schlep off the quality of newsgathering to placate the ratings beast. People are honest in their assessment of what they want to see but of late, we are being held captive by what is being presented. The remote control and the mute button is the escape mechanism for the audience. I don’t care about Kate’s hairstyle. I don’t care about Letterman’s personal sex life. I don’t care about your reality shows. They are not news. We throw away tons of junk mail per year. Unfortunately, we cannot easily dispose of junk news. Like the old mantra from The Outer Limits TV show, “Do not attempt to adjust your dial, we control the horizontal, we control the vertical”, they may still think that. In the age of bit streaming, data packets and the like, there are other voices and venues to satiate the need for real news over junk news. Please talk about the airline industry putting your life in jeopardy by repairing airplanes on the cheap, NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, etc.

The Troubles at The Peacock Network

By

Bobbie L. Washington

As humans, we fall down, pick ourselves up and brush ourselves off. And if there are any abrasions, place the proper bandage on the knees. This cannot be said at NBC. There has been a falling down of late with plenty of abrasions and little healing. The latest abrasion was the cancellation of the drama series, Southland. What made this cancellation stand out from other cancellation was the manner in which it was dropped, while still in production and never returning to air. And the reasoning behind this was that it was “too dark and gritty” in the real estate next to Jay Leno. Apparently, the powers that be felt that the content and graphic nature of Southland would conflict with Jay’s show.

Southland was in the makings of becoming one of the better police dramas in television history. By comparison, it had the same tenor as another NBC series, Homicide: Life on the Street. That show, from this point of view, had ugly people in it. No pretty boys or girls to become pinups posters just gritty realism in the Baltimore Police Department. It did not get great ratings but it did get accolades and a variety awards for the quality of writing and acting. It did not follow the formulaic center of your typical cop shows that resolved itself in a neat bow. It ended after seven seasons. It was a different era as the landscape of network television has been restructured for the worse. And NBC is struggling to figure out what to do and part of the problem is what they have decided to program, let’s take a look at what they’ve offered up.

Trauma, a one-hour drama about some emergency medical workers and their personal lives is not a ratings blockbuster. It began with a dramatic helicopter rescue scene on the rooftop of a skyscraper that leads to a midair crash with another helicopter. Fast-forward a year or so later and the survivors of the crash are dealing with the aftermath of the incident. There is scene on a highway where a man is recklessly driving while texting on his phone. In the immortal words of Johnny Carson, “if you buy the premise, you buy the bit”. The premise wasn’t bought when you see the scene unfold. It was reminiscent of the olds Chips TV series where you had these staged accidents on an abandon stretch of highway. The texting driver passes a tanker rig to telegraph the fact that it will be part of the accident. When the accident begins, the pileup begins and the tanker rig, that had plenty of time to stop, is struck in the middle causing fuel to leak out. Of course there is no drama or emotional dread with this scene. It is as phony and unrealistic and an insult to the viewer. To the rescue comes the team by land and by air. The survivors from the rooftop helicopter disaster are there. The helicopter pilot is cocky and arrogant. He does not need to be because it is a vehicle that doesn’t make any sense along with the rest of the behavior of the cast.

Mercy, another one-hour drama set in a hospital about an Iraqi war veteran who has a hard time coping with civilian life after returning from her tour of duty. She is gruff, she has a hard edge and she is suffering from posttraumatic distress disorder and she is constantly angry with her superiors. You would think Saturday Night Live would be doing a bit on this. The rest of the cast is rounded off with the usual suspect but does not lend itself to any one person having any stand out appeal.

On NBC’s returning shows, Heroes is still in decline. The magic is gone from the show after the honeymoon season. It’s like New Coke versus Old Coke. What happened to the formula? There seems to be no progressive development with the characters. Hiro, the time shifting mutant, is by far the most disappointing in character development. He has regressed after having such a dramatic beginning and he seems not have learned from his experience. He ended with a purpose as he wielded a sword in the battle with Sylar. But in the past season and now, he’s not interesting anymore. It is as if none of the life threatening events had left a stronger impact on him. He still was this naïve person in last season that took every person’s word as face value even after being duped many times over. This was an annoyance to many of the followers of Hiro. And the cheerleader has no focus either. What happened to some of the most interesting of mutants from the first season? There is no enemy or perilous conflict that would invite the audience to care. NBC has tinkered it into blandness. The fans of this show have left in large numbers. I had hopes for this show to come by stronger than last year but it has not been the case.

NBC has replaced five-hours of dramatic television with a two-year commitment with Jay Leno. Many producers and writers were not happy to put it nicely. If the economy wasn’t bad enough for Hollywood, the Jay Leno show displaced many actors, hair and makeup people, set dressers, extras, all of the below the line production people out of work. And this drop in the economic pond had the ripple effect on other industries that were dependant on these production jobs in various locales. The decision makers at 30 Rock made the call and the bleeding is not letting up. Why was it necessary to give up five hours to Jay? Southland was a good show that ended on a decent cliffhanger. Will the viewers get to see the six episodes already finished? No. Would it have been simpler for NBC to give up at least one night for this type of drama and let Jay have four nights?

NBC was boldly taunting the competition by making the claims that Jay was winning his timeslot before any other the other networks premiered their shows. And NBC also boasted that Conan was beating its competition by claiming him the new king of late night. After two weeks into the new TV season, those claims were being eaten with bad pie by NBC. You can’t fool the viewing public so easily with smoke and mirrors as this disaster of programming continues. By placing Jay in that timeslot, other shows in that former position are suffering as well. The Law and Order series has moved up by one or two hours depending on which one you watch. That show has some dark and gritty moments as well. Do you cancel them as well, NBC? And you forced Medium off the network but they were fortunate enough to land on CBS with better results.

NBC has promised its advertisers that Jay Leno will make money because its will run in the off-season while other shows are in repeat. Well, that type of logic is working in a vacuum. The summer months have become the new season to give new shows a first time look. There have been summer shows that have fared well in those times and if NBC thinks that Jay will have an easier time during that time, they are underestimating the other networks. NBC has also underestimated its audience, totally dissatisfied with what they are getting and is wondering what has happen to the network that Grant Tinker and Brandon Tartikoff turned into “Must See TV”.

Maybe Mr. Spock Should Run the GOP

By

Bobbie L. Washington

Maybe there is too much reality television that’s on the air or what s perceived as reality but I’m starting to miss the fantasy world of the Star Trek TV series. This real world has gotten tougher and tougher to maintain a sense of equilibrium as common decency is taking a back burner. A young president is trying to make his country a better place for everyone by offering up health care but there are mass protests based on lies and unfounded assumptions. He wants to give a speech to schoolchildren and the unseen speech is immediately called into suspicion as the first phase in creating children of the corn. He gives a speech in front of members of Congress and for the first time in history he is shouted at with the words “You Lie!”. The look of disbelief on his face was there for the history books. What in the hell has happened to the GOP?

In that fantasy world of Star Trek, Mr. Spock, the half-human, half-Vulcan hybrid was taught the lessons of logic. Perhaps the GOP needs to take a lesson from Mr. Spock and start ruling with some logical points and stop this idiotic rants of fear and loathing for the president.

Sure, you have every right to stand up for the causes you believe in but if you have no solutions to the problem, don’t just call a press conference and whine about what is proposed without offering an alternative. The GOP leaders of Eric Cantor, John Boehner, Chuck Grassley and company have apparently had some sort of microprocessor installed in their heads to automatically reject sound design to America’s burgeoning problems that were created during the last Republican controlled administration. They surreptitiously ignore those eight years that created two wars that are still in play, the looming financial disaster that lead to bank failures, the housing crisis that fostered corrupt practices in major brokerage houses that begat the Bernie Madoff’s of the world that lead to other failures in this political house of cards. They collectively ignore these failures as they scrub their hands with anti-bacterial hand gel in hopes of leaving no trace of their party involvement.

And although the president’s poll numbers have declined, the GOP leadership’s numbers are at an all time low. What the American people are fed up with is the same old tired rhetoric from these individuals who are not providing solution of their own. John Boehner has had more face time at the microphone talking about what he feels is wrong with just about everything that has been proposed by the White House to fix the economy, remove the troops out of Iraq, repair the bailout of banks and with the automobile business and with health care. When asked by reporters as to what his solution is, he and his cronies make the claim that they have provided alternatives but where is the proof? Why can’t you turn over what you have to the news organizations so that they can review your side of the solution? Logic, Mr. Spock, is needed.

And what compounds the GOP’s problem is the number of surrogates that is draped under your wings. The lists of people representing the GOP are Michael Steele, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and Fox News. Beck has become a true representative of fear and spreading of hate when describing this president. He has made up enough make-believe stories it is a wonder he hasn’t been tapped to replace Hans Christian Anderson or Mussolini? Rush Limbaugh spares no feelings as he advocate the total failure of this president right at the start of his inauguration. Michael Steele is an example of total buffoonery and plays into the caricature and stereotype from a D.W. Griffith movie.

And then there are the fringe elements of the GOP. These are the ones that are still promoting the phony birth certificate nonsense, the teabagger protesters, and the death panel lunacy. How could the leadership of the GOP fall this far to this humiliating low? You used to represent power and class. You have allowed your esteemed leaders to fall into scandal. You were the ones holding a firm grip on family values. Instead, some of your most staunch colleagues were mired in of all things, sex scandals.

You did yourself no favors by allowing the town hall healthcare debates to denigrate to the point of civil war. Citizens resorted to screaming at one another with enough misinformation about what the government does and does not do, you would have to wonder how other countries viewed this debacle of a democratic process. You sat on your hands and said nothing to dissuade these followers of the GOP from carrying weapons to these events and in one case, the vandalism of one congressman’s sign defacing it with the sign of the Nazi swastika. And Eric Cantor sat on his hand and did not condemn this act.

Why has the GOP become the party of complacent temperamental losers? They have completely lost focus on the fundamental principles of what the American people want. It is not about their needs that are apparently entwined with their egos. Their party lost the election and now the American public must suffer the slings and arrows of their misery. Should the American public become even more economically stagnant because you have a predisposed ax to grind with the opposing party? And it is not because what they have to offer is radically outlandish it is merely because it is a Pavlovian response to the conditioning. There is nothing wrong with what is being presented in any of the packages the Obama administration is proposing. It is not the GOP’s idea even though an open door policy is in place for them to offer up any viable alternative. The Obama administration intended purpose is to fix this country. Why is that particular edict such an obstacle for the GOP to get around?

It is pure and simple logic that needs to be in play with the GOP. Mr. Spock and his society lived by the rule of logic. It’s a simple concept. Rethink your base. Disassociates yourself from the radical movements of the Hannities, Limbaughs, Becks, Coulters, and Palins. The American public is not complete morons regardless of the tempest flare up from the town hall meetings in the summer of 2009. You allowed the worst of the 2008 GOP presidential campaign tactics to linger on into the New Year. It was described as political fair play and was colored in veiled hypocrisy, race baiting and fear mongering of false allegations. Now you’ve allowed continuing in the same manner. And at what price did you pay?

You’re election into was a hiring of the people to do a job. You were not hired to pay favor to the lobbyists and major corporations. The millions of people who have lost jobs, homes, and health do not have the afforded luxuries that you have with the tax dollars that pay for your salaries and health care. The GOP has moved past the point of no return if you continue to pursue this direction.

Spock tells us that time is not on the American citizen’s side in his world of logic. We cannot be placed in a state of suspended animation as this crisis continues unabated. How much time have we wasted on this? Deadlines have come and gone and what is there to show? Voices are raised in anger and for what? Just to be heard or show the folks back home that you made a point? An early diagnosis of cancer is being missed right now because you called the president a liar and you’d rather continue to fund the military complex and two wars costing billions of dollars just to carrying on the legacy from eight years in the past.

Invite Spock to the party. Live by his principles. Comport yourselves to understanding that we are not in a civil war and discontinue fanning the flames of intolerance and hate from your narrow-minded allies who are getting paid a fortune for doling out bad advice while they hide their own superior short-comings.