The Democratic senators are refusing to listen to tea parties, town halls, callers to talk radio, letters, emails, phone calls to their offices, the march on Washington on 9/12, the rally at the Capitol a few weeks ago - they are determined to rape the American people by foisting this health care bill on us tomorrow morning. And Merry Christmas to you too, Senators!
What does it take to get them to listen? What does it take to get them to understand their job? And what will it take to stop this? I think this should go to the Supreme Court, if the Supreme Court will consent to hear it, because it absolutely is UNCONSTITUTIONAL for the government to force people to buy something (such as insurance). If ever there was a need for the Supreme Court to fulfill the role of checks and balances, this is it.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Are "birthers" just crazy conspiracy theorists?
Some explanation is in order before I get into the heart of my post today. I live in Phoenix, and I listen to talk radio, primarily KTAR 92.3 FM, which is a highly conservative station. (Most talk radio is highly conservative - the liberals can't seem to be successful with talk radio shows of their own.) The morning talk show host on KTAR is usually Darrell Ankarlo, but he has been off the air for several months following a bad car accident, although he is expected to return soon. A number of hosts have been filling in for him over the past several months. One of them is Austin Hill, who has a web site at http://www.austinhill.net/. Now, most of the time, I agree with Austin Hill's point of view. But he and I diverge completely on the issue of the so-called "birthers."
"Birther" is the derogatory name given to those of us who believe that President Obama is being less than forthcoming with releasing his birth certificate, and have questions as to whether or not he was born in Hawaii or somewhere else. Most of us who think there might be any credence at all to this opinion are looked upon as kooks, "just a bunch of conspiracy theorists." But for a conservative talk-show host like Austin Hill to have the same mindset really bugs me!
He was discussing this topic on KTAR this morning, and his attitude and tone of voice left no doubt that he feels nothing but scorn for anyone who dares broach the idea that Obama's birth certificate needs to be released. According to Austin Hill, this is "a waste of time," "irrelevant," and "we need to concentrate on more concrete matters." He says that if we expect the President to release his birth certificate, we are "asking him to "disprove the hypothetical," whatever THAT is supposed to mean.
One caller was trying to argue in favor of the birth certificate being released, and Mr. Hill, in a voice brimming with sarcasm, asked him, "Where do you think Obama was born?" When the man replied, "I have no idea," Hill took off with that and proceeded to ridicule the man with more of this "disprove the hypothetical" nonsense. How is producing a birth certificate "disproving the hypothetical?" Rather, is it not just simply proving where you were born in the first place? And no, Mr. Hill, he has NOT produced his birth certificate already. He has produced a "certificate of live birth," which is not the same thing at all and does not carry the legal weight that an actual birth certificate carries.
Another caller made the mistake of referring to someone who had called Darrell Ankarlo, the very host for whom Mr. Hill was filling in, as "a chick named Orly or something like that," and right away, because the caller phrased it that way, Hill refused to give him any credence. Would it not be the remotest bit possible, Mr. Hill, for you to ask the producer of Ankarlo's show to pull the tapes of past shows and find the conversation this caller was referring to, and listen to it yourself, to determine if "this Orly chick" had any credence, instead of instantly dismissing it with derision?
Mr. Hill's take is that birthers pay too much attention to what they read on the Internet, adding sarcastically that "we all know that everything on the Internet is absolutely true and can be believed." So I guess we all are just getting our information from wacky Web sites and we aren't intelligent enough to figure out what's legitimate and what isn't.
Yet another caller referred to having seen Obama's grandmother interviewed on CNN (is CNN a wacky Web site, or a legitimate news organization?) and she had said she was present at her grandson's birth in Kenya. Hill ridiculed this too (I guess he figured the caller, who by the way identified himself as being African-American, can't tell the difference between CNN and a wacky Web site, or that he just dreamed he saw this on CNN.) The story about Obama's grandmother claiming he was born in Kenya has been around for quite awhile; can't anyone simply check it out and see if his grandmother ever actually did go on record as claiming this? Or is she just a crazy old lady who can't remember where she was when her grandson was born?
It's not just the birth certificate, Mr. Hill. "Birthers" also want to know why ALL of Obama's records - school records, high school and college transcripts, everything - are sealed and not available for public perusal. He claims that John McCain and Hillary Clinton would have investigated all this if there were anything to it. How could McCain or Hillary have investigated ANYTHING if it's all sealed and under lock and key, not being released to anyone for any reason???????
He wants to know if we think the election should be overturned, and wants us to consider what the result would be to the country if we went down that road. My response is - yeah, if the election was fraudulent, then it HAS to be overturned. You can't just shrug off someone who is not legitimately president! You can't just sweep it under the rug! Would it be highly traumatizing for this country? Yes. But are we a country of laws or not? If it's "irrelevant" that Obama is or isn't legally qualified to be president, then the section of the Constitution that dictates you must be a natural-born citizen is also "irrelevant" and should be removed from the Constitution! (That darn Constitution - what a pesky thing!)
By the way, Congress could not impeach him, because if he isn't legally President, then they have no legal right to impeach him. Think about THAT one.
I would email Austin Hill with all of this, but he is SO closed-minded to the idea that there could be any SHRED of legitimacy to what the so-called "birthers" believe that even if he were to read my email, he would disregard it with the same sarcasm and derision with which he was dismissing the callers on his radio show this morning. It's like he locked himself inside a soundproof vault where he can't (or won't) hear anything anyone says to him because we're all "conspiracy theorists" who don't know our heads from a hole in the ground.
Mr. Hill, you are being an idiot about this. Get a clue.
"Birther" is the derogatory name given to those of us who believe that President Obama is being less than forthcoming with releasing his birth certificate, and have questions as to whether or not he was born in Hawaii or somewhere else. Most of us who think there might be any credence at all to this opinion are looked upon as kooks, "just a bunch of conspiracy theorists." But for a conservative talk-show host like Austin Hill to have the same mindset really bugs me!
He was discussing this topic on KTAR this morning, and his attitude and tone of voice left no doubt that he feels nothing but scorn for anyone who dares broach the idea that Obama's birth certificate needs to be released. According to Austin Hill, this is "a waste of time," "irrelevant," and "we need to concentrate on more concrete matters." He says that if we expect the President to release his birth certificate, we are "asking him to "disprove the hypothetical," whatever THAT is supposed to mean.
One caller was trying to argue in favor of the birth certificate being released, and Mr. Hill, in a voice brimming with sarcasm, asked him, "Where do you think Obama was born?" When the man replied, "I have no idea," Hill took off with that and proceeded to ridicule the man with more of this "disprove the hypothetical" nonsense. How is producing a birth certificate "disproving the hypothetical?" Rather, is it not just simply proving where you were born in the first place? And no, Mr. Hill, he has NOT produced his birth certificate already. He has produced a "certificate of live birth," which is not the same thing at all and does not carry the legal weight that an actual birth certificate carries.
Another caller made the mistake of referring to someone who had called Darrell Ankarlo, the very host for whom Mr. Hill was filling in, as "a chick named Orly or something like that," and right away, because the caller phrased it that way, Hill refused to give him any credence. Would it not be the remotest bit possible, Mr. Hill, for you to ask the producer of Ankarlo's show to pull the tapes of past shows and find the conversation this caller was referring to, and listen to it yourself, to determine if "this Orly chick" had any credence, instead of instantly dismissing it with derision?
Mr. Hill's take is that birthers pay too much attention to what they read on the Internet, adding sarcastically that "we all know that everything on the Internet is absolutely true and can be believed." So I guess we all are just getting our information from wacky Web sites and we aren't intelligent enough to figure out what's legitimate and what isn't.
Yet another caller referred to having seen Obama's grandmother interviewed on CNN (is CNN a wacky Web site, or a legitimate news organization?) and she had said she was present at her grandson's birth in Kenya. Hill ridiculed this too (I guess he figured the caller, who by the way identified himself as being African-American, can't tell the difference between CNN and a wacky Web site, or that he just dreamed he saw this on CNN.) The story about Obama's grandmother claiming he was born in Kenya has been around for quite awhile; can't anyone simply check it out and see if his grandmother ever actually did go on record as claiming this? Or is she just a crazy old lady who can't remember where she was when her grandson was born?
It's not just the birth certificate, Mr. Hill. "Birthers" also want to know why ALL of Obama's records - school records, high school and college transcripts, everything - are sealed and not available for public perusal. He claims that John McCain and Hillary Clinton would have investigated all this if there were anything to it. How could McCain or Hillary have investigated ANYTHING if it's all sealed and under lock and key, not being released to anyone for any reason???????
He wants to know if we think the election should be overturned, and wants us to consider what the result would be to the country if we went down that road. My response is - yeah, if the election was fraudulent, then it HAS to be overturned. You can't just shrug off someone who is not legitimately president! You can't just sweep it under the rug! Would it be highly traumatizing for this country? Yes. But are we a country of laws or not? If it's "irrelevant" that Obama is or isn't legally qualified to be president, then the section of the Constitution that dictates you must be a natural-born citizen is also "irrelevant" and should be removed from the Constitution! (That darn Constitution - what a pesky thing!)
By the way, Congress could not impeach him, because if he isn't legally President, then they have no legal right to impeach him. Think about THAT one.
I would email Austin Hill with all of this, but he is SO closed-minded to the idea that there could be any SHRED of legitimacy to what the so-called "birthers" believe that even if he were to read my email, he would disregard it with the same sarcasm and derision with which he was dismissing the callers on his radio show this morning. It's like he locked himself inside a soundproof vault where he can't (or won't) hear anything anyone says to him because we're all "conspiracy theorists" who don't know our heads from a hole in the ground.
Mr. Hill, you are being an idiot about this. Get a clue.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Miss California loses her crown
Well, the gay rights movement gained a very hollow victory when The Donald decided to deprive Miss California of her crown after all. However, Miss California is the real winner. Her bravery in standing by her comments about gay marriage, her refusal to back down in the face of overwhelming pressure, her courage in taking a stand for Christian values, have made her far more admirable than I can put into words. And she has a crown waiting for her that nobody, no gay judge, no multi-billionaire, nobody, can ever take away. Read 2 Timothy 4:8:
"I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not only to me but also to all who eagerly wait for His appearing."
Nobody will EVER take THAT crown away from her. And THAT is the crown that counts!
By the way, when Conan O'Brien joked about this the other night on the "Tonight Show," and he started off by saying Miss California had lost her crown after all, and the audience *cheered* and *clapped* - I think every single one of those people who applauded ought to be *ashamed* of themselves. You would CHEER for a beautiful, decent, moral young woman losing her crown because she dares to stand up for moral values against those who are utterly lacking in moral values? You think this is something to APPLAUD? Every last one of you ought to hang your heads in shame.
"I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not only to me but also to all who eagerly wait for His appearing."
Nobody will EVER take THAT crown away from her. And THAT is the crown that counts!
By the way, when Conan O'Brien joked about this the other night on the "Tonight Show," and he started off by saying Miss California had lost her crown after all, and the audience *cheered* and *clapped* - I think every single one of those people who applauded ought to be *ashamed* of themselves. You would CHEER for a beautiful, decent, moral young woman losing her crown because she dares to stand up for moral values against those who are utterly lacking in moral values? You think this is something to APPLAUD? Every last one of you ought to hang your heads in shame.
Four by Four
I saw this list of questions on the Internet and decided it would be fun to answer them myself, so here goes:
Four Movies You'd Watch Over and Over Again
The Music Man
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Field of Dreams
Superman
Four Places You Have Lived
I have only ever lived two places - Pennsylvania and Arizona.
Four TV Shows You Love to Watch
Maverick (always and forever)
The Waltons
Centennial
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Four Places You Have Been on Vacation
Hawaii
Scotland
Dallas, TX
De Smet, South Dakota
Four of Your Favorite Foods
Cheeseburger
Turkey
Pepperoni Pizza
Chocolate shake
Four Websites You Visit Daily
Bloodhorse.com
ebay.com
IMDB.com
Wikipedia.org
Four Places You'd Rather Be Right Now
Heaven
De Smet, South Dakota
a Diamondbacks game
and finally, right where I am - at home!
Four Things You Want to Do Before You Die
Marry a wonderful Christian man
Take a riverboat trip down the Mississippi River from Natches to New Orleans
See the Kentucky Derby in person
Visit all 50 states
Four Books You Wish You Could Read Again for the First Time
Any of the "Little House" books
Any of the "Black Stallion" books
"A Man Called Peter" by Catherine Marshall
Any of the "Mitford" novels
There you have it!
Four Movies You'd Watch Over and Over Again
The Music Man
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Field of Dreams
Superman
Four Places You Have Lived
I have only ever lived two places - Pennsylvania and Arizona.
Four TV Shows You Love to Watch
Maverick (always and forever)
The Waltons
Centennial
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Four Places You Have Been on Vacation
Hawaii
Scotland
Dallas, TX
De Smet, South Dakota
Four of Your Favorite Foods
Cheeseburger
Turkey
Pepperoni Pizza
Chocolate shake
Four Websites You Visit Daily
Bloodhorse.com
ebay.com
IMDB.com
Wikipedia.org
Four Places You'd Rather Be Right Now
Heaven
De Smet, South Dakota
a Diamondbacks game
and finally, right where I am - at home!
Four Things You Want to Do Before You Die
Marry a wonderful Christian man
Take a riverboat trip down the Mississippi River from Natches to New Orleans
See the Kentucky Derby in person
Visit all 50 states
Four Books You Wish You Could Read Again for the First Time
Any of the "Little House" books
Any of the "Black Stallion" books
"A Man Called Peter" by Catherine Marshall
Any of the "Mitford" novels
There you have it!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Nostalgia for old school days
School ended this week (at least they've gone back to ending it in May; for awhile there, it was ending in June, which just seemed WEIRD.) Every year when school ends, it makes me nostalgic for my own school days, back in the "dark ages" of the 60s and 70s! I have no children of my own, but I still live next door to the school I attended when I was in elementary school (my parents picked this house to buy precisely because it was right next door to the grade school I would attend).
I miss things like "Weekly Reader." I used to really enjoy reading that, and I remember one summer, I think the summer between third and fourth grade, or maybe between second and third grade, I had a summertime subscription to "Weekly Reader," because they were offering it to parents who wanted their kids to be able to read it over the summer.
And I really miss ordering Scholastic Books! They used to have a flyer in the "Weekly Reader" (if I remember right) every six weeks or so, and you'd fill out what books you wanted, get a check from your parents, and bring it to the teacher so she could send it in. Then, a few weeks later, your books would come, and she'd give them to the kids that had ordered them. I loved to read, and while the other kids might order one or two or three books, I usually wound up ordering seven or eight at a time! I still have a few of them, too, that I ordered in those long-ago days.
I miss films. Do kids today even SEE films anymore, or is everything on DVD now? You'd go into your classroom, and sometimes on the teacher's desk was a round metal cannister. "We get to see a film today!" everyone would exult. (It meant you didn't have to listen to the teacher drone on and on; the film HAD to be more interesting than a boring lesson from the teacher!) If the cannister was big, it meant the film would last all period; if it was small, it was only going to last about 10 minutes. (Aw, rats!) Some teachers knew how to thread the film onto the projector, and some had to have one of the boys do it (why do boys always know how to do stuff like that?) Someone would pull the screen at the front of the classroom down, and it made a "shoop" sound as it was pulled down. After the film, the kids would beg the teacher to let us play at least some of the film backwards, and everyone would laugh because it looked so funny to see everything going in reverse. Today's kids are probably so used to picture-search on DVDs and videotapes, it would never occur to them that once upon a time, watching something backwards seemed laugh-out-loud funny.
What ever happened to blackboards? At the school next door to me, they've all been replaced by the newfangled dry-erase boards, those white plastic things that you write on with Magic Marker or whatever and not with chalk. Why are blackboards outdated? Does any school anywhere still have blackboards anymore?
And does any school district anywhere still start the day after Labor Day and end a couple days after Memorial Day? It used to be when you saw the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon, you knew that was your last day of summer vacation. You always got a couple days at the end of May, then ALL of June, ALL of July, ALL of August, and if you were REAL lucky and September 1st was a Tuesday, you got the entire first week of September as well before the fall semester began. Now most schools start in August, and some here in Phoenix even start in (gasp) July! The kids get a week off in October (we just got Columbus Day, which nobody except the post office pays attention to anymore), two weeks at Christmas (we got that too, but we called it "Christmas vacation" and not "winter break" as they do now), and a week in spring (I don't think we even got Good Friday back then). Why do they need so much time off during the school year?
I miss field trips. It used to be so much FUN, to get out of school for most if not all of a day, get onto the school bus, and go somewhere! I have wonderful memories of going to the Mineral Museum at the State Fairgrounds in 1972; you wouldn't think a museum dedicated to a bunch of rocks would be fun to see, but it was.
I miss assemblies (yay! we get out of class for an hour to go to an assembly!) And I miss the yearly ritual of buying books at the campus bookstore in high school. It was always interesting to bring the books home and sit down and look at them to see what we'd be studying that year.
I do NOT miss P.E. (the idea that we need P.E. in schools because it helps kids not be obese is ridiculous; if you're a chubby child, P.E. will not help you lose weight; trust me, I know, because I was a chubby child, and I was NOT athletically gifted, and I stunk out loud at everything we did in P.E. - basketball, softball, running laps, dodgeball, soccer, gymnastics - P.E. was endless torture and misery for me, and I hated it so much that to this day, I'm grateful I don't have to do it anymore!) I don't miss math class (I stunk at math, still do, and I hated that "lost" feeling of sitting in math class, not understanding a word the teacher was saying, because math was like a foreign language to me, and seeing all the other kids "getting it" while I still had no clue how to do the problems and come up with the right answer.)
I often think about all my old teachers and wonder where they are now, and how many of them are even still alive. Most have probably passed away. One of my old history teachers, long since retired, attends my church, and I saw him just a week or so ago and got to speak with him; of course, he doesn't remember me, but I remember him. Although seeing him looking 30 years older is something of a jolt because you remember people the way they were the last time you saw them, frozen in time in your memory.
I miss things like "Weekly Reader." I used to really enjoy reading that, and I remember one summer, I think the summer between third and fourth grade, or maybe between second and third grade, I had a summertime subscription to "Weekly Reader," because they were offering it to parents who wanted their kids to be able to read it over the summer.
And I really miss ordering Scholastic Books! They used to have a flyer in the "Weekly Reader" (if I remember right) every six weeks or so, and you'd fill out what books you wanted, get a check from your parents, and bring it to the teacher so she could send it in. Then, a few weeks later, your books would come, and she'd give them to the kids that had ordered them. I loved to read, and while the other kids might order one or two or three books, I usually wound up ordering seven or eight at a time! I still have a few of them, too, that I ordered in those long-ago days.
I miss films. Do kids today even SEE films anymore, or is everything on DVD now? You'd go into your classroom, and sometimes on the teacher's desk was a round metal cannister. "We get to see a film today!" everyone would exult. (It meant you didn't have to listen to the teacher drone on and on; the film HAD to be more interesting than a boring lesson from the teacher!) If the cannister was big, it meant the film would last all period; if it was small, it was only going to last about 10 minutes. (Aw, rats!) Some teachers knew how to thread the film onto the projector, and some had to have one of the boys do it (why do boys always know how to do stuff like that?) Someone would pull the screen at the front of the classroom down, and it made a "shoop" sound as it was pulled down. After the film, the kids would beg the teacher to let us play at least some of the film backwards, and everyone would laugh because it looked so funny to see everything going in reverse. Today's kids are probably so used to picture-search on DVDs and videotapes, it would never occur to them that once upon a time, watching something backwards seemed laugh-out-loud funny.
What ever happened to blackboards? At the school next door to me, they've all been replaced by the newfangled dry-erase boards, those white plastic things that you write on with Magic Marker or whatever and not with chalk. Why are blackboards outdated? Does any school anywhere still have blackboards anymore?
And does any school district anywhere still start the day after Labor Day and end a couple days after Memorial Day? It used to be when you saw the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon, you knew that was your last day of summer vacation. You always got a couple days at the end of May, then ALL of June, ALL of July, ALL of August, and if you were REAL lucky and September 1st was a Tuesday, you got the entire first week of September as well before the fall semester began. Now most schools start in August, and some here in Phoenix even start in (gasp) July! The kids get a week off in October (we just got Columbus Day, which nobody except the post office pays attention to anymore), two weeks at Christmas (we got that too, but we called it "Christmas vacation" and not "winter break" as they do now), and a week in spring (I don't think we even got Good Friday back then). Why do they need so much time off during the school year?
I miss field trips. It used to be so much FUN, to get out of school for most if not all of a day, get onto the school bus, and go somewhere! I have wonderful memories of going to the Mineral Museum at the State Fairgrounds in 1972; you wouldn't think a museum dedicated to a bunch of rocks would be fun to see, but it was.
I miss assemblies (yay! we get out of class for an hour to go to an assembly!) And I miss the yearly ritual of buying books at the campus bookstore in high school. It was always interesting to bring the books home and sit down and look at them to see what we'd be studying that year.
I do NOT miss P.E. (the idea that we need P.E. in schools because it helps kids not be obese is ridiculous; if you're a chubby child, P.E. will not help you lose weight; trust me, I know, because I was a chubby child, and I was NOT athletically gifted, and I stunk out loud at everything we did in P.E. - basketball, softball, running laps, dodgeball, soccer, gymnastics - P.E. was endless torture and misery for me, and I hated it so much that to this day, I'm grateful I don't have to do it anymore!) I don't miss math class (I stunk at math, still do, and I hated that "lost" feeling of sitting in math class, not understanding a word the teacher was saying, because math was like a foreign language to me, and seeing all the other kids "getting it" while I still had no clue how to do the problems and come up with the right answer.)
I often think about all my old teachers and wonder where they are now, and how many of them are even still alive. Most have probably passed away. One of my old history teachers, long since retired, attends my church, and I saw him just a week or so ago and got to speak with him; of course, he doesn't remember me, but I remember him. Although seeing him looking 30 years older is something of a jolt because you remember people the way they were the last time you saw them, frozen in time in your memory.
Jay Leno's last "Tonight Show"
It's unreal to think 17 years went by so fast! Was tonight really Jay Leno's last "Tonight Show?" Wow! I know it was, of course; it just seems so strange that it's been 17 years since he took over.
I am the biggest Johnny Carson fan in the world; I literally grew up watching Johnny, who began hosting "The Tonight Show" when I was a year old. I remember when Johnny did the show from New York, and I remember he used to come to Los Angeles for two weeks every May to do the show, and I remember in 1972 when he moved the show permanently from New York to Los Angeles because it was easier to get guests in L.A. than in New York (or so he said, although today David Letterman seems to have no problem getting guests, and he's based in New York.) I remember when he cut back from five nights a week to four, and then to three, and I remember when the "Tonight Show" was 90 minutes long, and the last 15 minutes were usually reserved for interviewing some author whose book had just come out. I miss Carnack, Aunt Blabby, the "Stump the Band" segment, and Art Fern with Carol Wayne and the "Teatime Movie". (I remember how much I laughed the first time I visited Southern California and found out that there really is a Slauson cutoff! "Stop, get out, cut off your slauson!" And remember "the fork in the road!")
When I was in grade school, I used to beg my parents to just let me stay up long enough to see Johnny's monologue (the "Tonight Show" airs at 10:30 in Phoenix). And they did! (Thank you, Mom and Daddy!) Fridays and summer vacations were extra special simply because I got to see ALL of the show and not just the monologue!
So I vividly remember Johnny's last show, and then the following Monday, after the local news at 10:00, when 10:30 came, I just kept thinking there was no way we wouldn't hear the familiar "bah bah bah BAH bah" theme and see Johnny come out from behind those multi-colored curtains, same as always. And instead we got this "hipper" sounding theme, and there was Jay Leno with a garish new set, and I watched about 10 minutes and had to turn it off. I had NOTHING against Jay Leno himself; I just couldn't stand seeing the new version of "The Tonight Show" and I missed Johnny desperately!
And it's only been in the past couple years I've been able to watch Leno's version at all. I do enjoy the "Headlines" segment he does on Mondays, and every once in awhile he'll have a guest on I want to watch (Robin Williams, Steve Martin, a few like that). I can't stand "Jaywalking" because I, for one, don't think it's funny that we have that many stupid young adults in the world who apparently slept their way through at least 12 years of school. It makes me cringe.
And now, suddenly, just like that, whoosh! 17 years is gone, and Jay's stint is done. It honestly feels to me like he's only been hosting about five years, like Johnny just retired a few years ago. (My brain just does NOT process the passage of time well at all!) It's not even remotely possible to me that Johnny Carson could be GONE.
Maybe this seems less real because unlike Johnny, Leno will be back this fall with what they're saying will be a very similar show, "The Tonight Show" with a different name and an earlier time slot, but otherwise very much the same show.
Will I like Conan O'Brien as the new host? Heck, if I still miss Johnny Carson, I don't think I could ever fully embrace anyone else as the host. But it will be interesting to see how Conan does. (They're doing the show at Universal and not the Burbank Studios where it's been done since Carson moved to L.A. in 1972? That's unreal too!)
I am the biggest Johnny Carson fan in the world; I literally grew up watching Johnny, who began hosting "The Tonight Show" when I was a year old. I remember when Johnny did the show from New York, and I remember he used to come to Los Angeles for two weeks every May to do the show, and I remember in 1972 when he moved the show permanently from New York to Los Angeles because it was easier to get guests in L.A. than in New York (or so he said, although today David Letterman seems to have no problem getting guests, and he's based in New York.) I remember when he cut back from five nights a week to four, and then to three, and I remember when the "Tonight Show" was 90 minutes long, and the last 15 minutes were usually reserved for interviewing some author whose book had just come out. I miss Carnack, Aunt Blabby, the "Stump the Band" segment, and Art Fern with Carol Wayne and the "Teatime Movie". (I remember how much I laughed the first time I visited Southern California and found out that there really is a Slauson cutoff! "Stop, get out, cut off your slauson!" And remember "the fork in the road!")
When I was in grade school, I used to beg my parents to just let me stay up long enough to see Johnny's monologue (the "Tonight Show" airs at 10:30 in Phoenix). And they did! (Thank you, Mom and Daddy!) Fridays and summer vacations were extra special simply because I got to see ALL of the show and not just the monologue!
So I vividly remember Johnny's last show, and then the following Monday, after the local news at 10:00, when 10:30 came, I just kept thinking there was no way we wouldn't hear the familiar "bah bah bah BAH bah" theme and see Johnny come out from behind those multi-colored curtains, same as always. And instead we got this "hipper" sounding theme, and there was Jay Leno with a garish new set, and I watched about 10 minutes and had to turn it off. I had NOTHING against Jay Leno himself; I just couldn't stand seeing the new version of "The Tonight Show" and I missed Johnny desperately!
And it's only been in the past couple years I've been able to watch Leno's version at all. I do enjoy the "Headlines" segment he does on Mondays, and every once in awhile he'll have a guest on I want to watch (Robin Williams, Steve Martin, a few like that). I can't stand "Jaywalking" because I, for one, don't think it's funny that we have that many stupid young adults in the world who apparently slept their way through at least 12 years of school. It makes me cringe.
And now, suddenly, just like that, whoosh! 17 years is gone, and Jay's stint is done. It honestly feels to me like he's only been hosting about five years, like Johnny just retired a few years ago. (My brain just does NOT process the passage of time well at all!) It's not even remotely possible to me that Johnny Carson could be GONE.
Maybe this seems less real because unlike Johnny, Leno will be back this fall with what they're saying will be a very similar show, "The Tonight Show" with a different name and an earlier time slot, but otherwise very much the same show.
Will I like Conan O'Brien as the new host? Heck, if I still miss Johnny Carson, I don't think I could ever fully embrace anyone else as the host. But it will be interesting to see how Conan does. (They're doing the show at Universal and not the Burbank Studios where it's been done since Carson moved to L.A. in 1972? That's unreal too!)
Monday, May 25, 2009
Open message to Leonard Pitts
Mr. Pitts, I read your column fairly regularly. It's always good for a laugh or two. Sometimes it's good for raising one's blood pressure as well. Case in point, today's column.
Let's see - you make comments in today's column such as "The loose cannons on the right thrive from feeling put upon - last month, they took to the streets en masse, and the governor of Texas raised the specter of secession because it was tax day, for goodness sake!" And you also referred to "extremists littering the streets with tea bags" and compared this to "temper tantrums." As well as the obligatory liberal columnist slam at Rush Limbaugh by referring to "his head exploding on a daily basis."
Ok, have you ever heard the old saying about "better to keep silent and be thought an idiot, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt"? This applies to you, sir. In the first place, the people who participated in the tea parties last month, and those who wanted to participate but couldn't attend, are not "loose cannons" or "extremists," nor were we/they "throwing temper tantrums" like a bunch of recalcitrant children. What you are seeing is much, much more than "temper tantrums." This is an ever-increasing number of everyday citizens who are sick and tired of too much government and too much taxation, and are fed up to the point of wanting to do something about it. I would compare it to the rumblings of a long-dormant volcano where you know it's getting ready to explode and spew lava all over the place. And Tax Day was chosen for the tea parties, and the governor of Texas threatening secession, because what better day to protest having our money taken away by the government than on....Tax Day itself?
Boy, you libs love to make fun of Rush, don't you! If Rush's head is exploding on a daily basis, it's from seeing what has been going on with our country and our government lately, and his is not the only head that is exploding on a daily basis, I assure you. And since his ratings are so high, there sure must be a lot of people listening to his head explode every day! Good! That helps get his message out! The more people there are who listen to Rush, the more people there might be who would realize he actually MAKES SENSE. (Yes, John McCain's mom, this applies to you too, and to you, Kevin Spacey, both of you sitting there on Jay Leno's show last week trashing Rush - Spacey didn't actually SAY anything, but he gestured with a grin to Mrs. McCain after she lambasted Rush, as if to say, "See, the old lady knows what she's talking about!" Sorry, she doesn't. I respect her, but I disagree with her. And Mr. Spacey, your politics suck canal water.)
The sleeping dog has been awoken, and the "loose cannons and extremists" are determined to *do something* about taking our country back before Socialism swallows up everything we hold dear.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mr. Pitts.
Let's see - you make comments in today's column such as "The loose cannons on the right thrive from feeling put upon - last month, they took to the streets en masse, and the governor of Texas raised the specter of secession because it was tax day, for goodness sake!" And you also referred to "extremists littering the streets with tea bags" and compared this to "temper tantrums." As well as the obligatory liberal columnist slam at Rush Limbaugh by referring to "his head exploding on a daily basis."
Ok, have you ever heard the old saying about "better to keep silent and be thought an idiot, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt"? This applies to you, sir. In the first place, the people who participated in the tea parties last month, and those who wanted to participate but couldn't attend, are not "loose cannons" or "extremists," nor were we/they "throwing temper tantrums" like a bunch of recalcitrant children. What you are seeing is much, much more than "temper tantrums." This is an ever-increasing number of everyday citizens who are sick and tired of too much government and too much taxation, and are fed up to the point of wanting to do something about it. I would compare it to the rumblings of a long-dormant volcano where you know it's getting ready to explode and spew lava all over the place. And Tax Day was chosen for the tea parties, and the governor of Texas threatening secession, because what better day to protest having our money taken away by the government than on....Tax Day itself?
Boy, you libs love to make fun of Rush, don't you! If Rush's head is exploding on a daily basis, it's from seeing what has been going on with our country and our government lately, and his is not the only head that is exploding on a daily basis, I assure you. And since his ratings are so high, there sure must be a lot of people listening to his head explode every day! Good! That helps get his message out! The more people there are who listen to Rush, the more people there might be who would realize he actually MAKES SENSE. (Yes, John McCain's mom, this applies to you too, and to you, Kevin Spacey, both of you sitting there on Jay Leno's show last week trashing Rush - Spacey didn't actually SAY anything, but he gestured with a grin to Mrs. McCain after she lambasted Rush, as if to say, "See, the old lady knows what she's talking about!" Sorry, she doesn't. I respect her, but I disagree with her. And Mr. Spacey, your politics suck canal water.)
The sleeping dog has been awoken, and the "loose cannons and extremists" are determined to *do something* about taking our country back before Socialism swallows up everything we hold dear.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mr. Pitts.
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