Bill's Meltdown

Bill melting down with Wallace -- Photo courtesy Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
I saw the television excerpt of ex-President Clinton's interview last week with Fox's Chris Wallace. My own impression was that Clinton lost his cool, and ended up looking decidedly nonpresidential -- in an angry huff. In what has alternately been billed as "Bill's meltdown" or "Clinton's hissy fit", Clinton tore into Wallace when he asked if Clinton could've done more to apprehend Bin Laden, while still President.

The question wasn't really hardball, and it was one that the smooth ex-President would normally skate around with convivial ease. Instead, he glowered and fumed -- insisted that he had done much more to kill Bin Laden than W. Bush. He accused Wallace of being part of a "FOX hit squad" and further accused Wallace of wearing a smirk. Some mostly liberal pundits thought that Clinton was behaving this way on purpose -- to serve as his wife's campaign attack dog and to put the GOP on notice that Dems will not be characterized as soft on defense in 2006 mid-terms. The sense was that Clinton was trying a "look-tough" strategy.

But the feeling from here is that Clinton was having a bad day and it showed up on camera. The glowering rage, the sarcasm and the overreaction all belie any kind of planned attack campaign. A smooth operator doesn't let people see him rant or sweat, ever. Clinton has been characterized by former aids as having a finely sublimated temper, one that sometimes finds expression in private strategy sessions -- seldom in front of press or cameras.

Flaming liberal that I am, I'll let Clinton have a pass on this one. Content-wise, he was mostly correct in his statements about Bin Laden. Other politicians have done as bad or worse in the presence of press. Bush has twice been caught speaking improprieties when he thought the microphone was off (once calling a news writer an "asshole" at a campaign rally, and at the UN speaking frankly about how to deal with a hostile country). Then there was his interview with Bryan Williams where Bush described his reading list as "epileptic" when surely he meant "eclectic". OK, everyone gets a pass today. Who among us would have perfect composure or grammar all the time, when living in a media fish bowl? Bill, take a chill pill. And George W, what can I say -- learn some words, both new and old.

© 2006 blogSpotter.

Is Bush the Devil?

Bush on Air Force One -- Photo courtesy Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
Before I broach the title topic, I have an off-topic sidenote. Just figured out how to display iPod photo slideshows ands videos on my TV screen. All that was needed was a $19 AV cable, and some patience to understand that (1) it works only w/ the video iPod, not the nano and (2) you must set 'TV out' to ON. The guy at the Apple store was going to have me buy an entire home entertainment kit for $99. For a 'gee whiz' type of experiment, $19 is a much better price. But I digress...

Is Bush the Devil? Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela suggested so last week in an address to the United Nations. Charles Rangel and Nancy Pelosi used it as a political opportunity to show that they're red-blooded patriots in spite of extreme liberalism. They sharply denounced Chavez. I myself will entertain thoughts from any source, and pondered ... what would an actual Prince of Darkness do, masquerading as President? Here are some things ...

o He might propose torture. The Great Satan might even propose doing away with Article 3 of the Geneva Convention, thereby opening the gates to Hell all the way. We torture you ... and oh, a footnote -- you can torture us too.

o He might propose full-scale eavesdropping and wiretaps. The Devil is nothing if not inquisitive for knowledge. Even if his methods are ham-handed and wrong, the ends pretty well justify the means.

o He might prevaricate (that's a $10 synonym for 'lie') about mass destruction weapon's threat to start a war that Neocons have been chomping at the bit to fight for 10 years.

o He might run up the national debt, robbing Peter (our grandchildren) to pay Paul (ourselves). He's nothing if not short-term and expedient in all his calculations. The Prince of Darkness trades thoughtful strategy for immediate gratification of one sort or another.

Now, one other thought about Satan. Satan can probably pronounce 'nuclear' and he has a certain method to his madness. Bush can't enunciate even simple words -- paging Professor Higgins. Bush has really shown few fox-like qualities -- no real mendacity or shrewdness. His six years in office are more like watching a 15 year old boy drive a stick-shift muscle car for the first time, without Driver's Ed. He has bumbled and bumped and bruised everything in site. Bush isn't the Devil or even a demon -- he's an unfortunate historical event, unfolding before our eyes. I don't know of any real 'dates' on which to focus, for when W gets out from behind the wheel. January 1, 2007 -- this date signifies Bush's last year to get much done. 2008 will be consumed by the noise of a new election and 'where Bush went wrong'. Devil, no. Boob, yes. Now in the meantime --- maybe an iPod video can distract me from the sad spectacle on our political stage.

© 2006 blogSpotter.

Quelle Heure, Estelle?

Sun worshippers at the Place des Beaux Arts -- Photo from blogSpotter's collection

by blogSpotter
I don't really do travelogues, so I'll just talk a bit about my recent trip to Montreal, without going into stultifying dull trip details. Eric, my good friend from college, and I went to Montreal for 4 days this September. Following are some observations.

Profiling

At the Montreal airport, all visitors have to go through customs where you hand over your visitor card; it states that you're not bringing livestock or more than 10K dollars in cash. It's usually a rubberstamp procedure that takes 5 minutes. I was very tired and got tripped up on where I was going (Hotel Bourbon, Rue St. Catherine). Could remember neither at first and then confused them -- Hotel Catherine on Rue Bourbon? The agent thought I was suspicious and sent me to the Immigration services line. This line was mostly populated by Middle Easterners and other ethnic minorities. Of 50 people in line, maybe 5 were Anglo. Hardly anyone spoke English. The one customs official who spoke Arabic was fully occupied the whole time. When I finally got up to the window after 1 hour in line, I was asked a few additional questions about whether I had ever been before a judge for crimes in the United States. (Answer "no"). I was out of there after 5 minutes, but not so fast for the others -- it looked like they were getting searched on Interpol, asked into the next room, and maybe having cavity searches. I could only remark that this is liberal Canada doing all of this. Note to self -- remember name of hotel next time.

Montreal

This was my 2nd trip here -- last one was 6 years ago. Must say, the thrill is gone on the 2nd time around. The city is beautiful but there was really nothing going on. We did repeat views of the Old Port district, Mount Royal itself and the fashionable MacGill shopping area. I think that the profiling event set me on the wrong foot for the whole trip. Eric was very sympathetic. "They should profile anyone who stammers and can't recall the name of his hotel". Thank you, Eric.

French in Quebec

A bar patron told me that French Parisians are horrified by New World French. They suspect that Quebecois are actually speaking English. Such snobbery from Paris -- it's to be expected. Quebecois are actually fiercely proud of their French heritage. They really have to fight for it considering that ...

1) Their national government speaks English
2) They have a giant Bush-loving neighbor to the south that speaks English
3) Half of their TV stations are English language
4) Half of their popular tunes played in bars are English language

Mon Dieux!

Food Poisoning

I capped off the trip by contracting food poisoning at an Italian restaurant. One plate of fettuccine alfredo wreaked extreme havoc. I threw up for 2 hours on Saturday night, had Montezuma's revenge for the next 2 days, and am still not completely back to normal. I have to remark that this trip was rather awful in retrospect. Profiling and food poisoning will do it to you. Next note to self -- when you've already been to a city and seen its wonderful sites, they won't be so full of wonder the next time around. Will I ever go there again? Maybe, for a conference or something. I'll skip the French course (all the hospitality people speak English), remember my Hotel, and stay away from that certain Italian bistro that gave me the heaves.

© 2006 blogSpotter.

9/11 Retrospective

Trade Center Remnant -- Photo courtesy Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
When I think about 9/11, I'm boggled by the long list of improbabilities that in fact took place:

• 19 Arab hijackers commandeered 4 large airliners in flight. 4 out of 4 hijackings were successful. It's not known for sure, but it's suspected that the pilots and other cockpit personnel were killed or severely maimed with box cutters. Not one of the 19 hijackers was held or detained by airport security for any concerns.

• At the very least 4 of the hijackers completed flight and navigation training and were proficient enough to turn the planes back towards DC and NY, and aim them at specific targets.

• 3 of the 4 planes struck their designated targets in a very close time frame; the only reason the 4th one missed was due to a probable passenger rebellion. The plane that struck the Pentagon was surely inside 'secure' airspace that is subject to extra monitoring; it still made it through successfully.

• 2 airliners struck the World Trace Center towers with such exactitude and force that the steel shells of the buildings were weakened and both buildings collapsed after approximately one hour of fire from airplane fuel.

If prior to 9/11, Dino DeLaurentis or Steven Spielberg were to conceive a movie outline with such a plot, people would say, "Get real. That's more unrealistic than Speed or Jurassic Park.” And yet it is real -- it did happen. If you outline the terrorists’ action items, they succeeded at 95% of their goals, with little resistance from trusting airline personnel, passive passengers (except Flight 93), clueless security agents and a slow-to-react military.

Now five years later we ask, "Could it happen again?" I don't think it would happen exactly the same way -- "fool me twice, my fault" as the Indian proverb goes. Hijackers wielding fake bombs or box-cutters would get taken out by a passenger mob. Cockpit doors are reinforced and TSA is wise to box-cutters. If the terrorists wanted simply to blow a plane out of the sky without guiding it to a destination, they could probably come much closer to that objective.

We still have vulnerability, and terrorism certainly hasn’t been eradicated in 2006. Something tells me that the worst of this particular menace is past. Maybe it’s that the "infidels" now have positioned 150,000 more troops in the Holy land. There is also the knowledge on the part of peace-loving Muslims that all of Islam will suffer if fanatics have their way. In a part of the world where reason takes a back seat to religious extremism and violence, maybe the unreason of an oppressive occupation will also hold sway.

© 2006 blogSpotter.

Why Everbody Loves Raymond

Raymond on DVD -- Photo courtesy CBS

by blogSpotter
I am one of the 'Everybody' who loves the TV show Everybody Loves Raymond. Now, I can tell you up front, why I didn't have it on my Top 5 TV shows of all time (which were: I Love Lucy, Seinfeld, Mary Tyler Moore, All in the Family and Bob Newhart -- all covered in previous blogs). Raymond is a superb, witty show with a first-rate ensemble cast. The only thing keeping it off the all-time list is absence of ground-breaking material. The idea of a put-upon family man getting tongue-lashed by a harpy wife or pushy in-law is as old as TV itself. The Honeymooners mastered it superbly -- even The Flintstones covered the territory. So, now that we've said why it isn't so special, why is Raymond special?

In the quality-starved 00's, there have been very few good sitcoms. Raymond filled a gap that was barely being plugged by other fare such as Two and a Half Men or Will and Grace in its last season. The premise of the show is an affable sports writer living in a Long Island suburb with his wife, daughter and twin boys. Right across the street is his intrusive mother, tact-impaired father and resentful, older live-at-home brother. The situation itself is unremarkable, but the plot lines are very believable and credibly acted. Sometimes the end result is serious and even touching. Ray Romano is a stand-up comic, but is very competent at coming across as vulnerable and real -- never comes across as just a comedian doing a gig. Brad Garrett is hilarious as the hulking, jealous never-married policeman brother and Peter Boyle is a consistent laugh-getter as the gruff, mean-mouthed Dad. But --- and you knew there was a but coming, the women hit this show out of the ballpark. Doris Roberts was instant gold in Season 1 as the pushy Italian mother. Her meddling and judgmental remarks are a comic gold mine. Patricia Heaton, as Ray's wife Debra was the best find of all. During the first season, Debra was mostly sweet and demure -- nice but tepid. During the second season, comic electricity was discovered in Debra's ability to be peeved, exasperated and otherwise outraged by the insensitivities of Ray et al. Whether her rage is on the surface, or smoldering underneath, she is a delight to behold.

Three shows stand out in my mind for different reasons. In one show, Debra and Ray attend Ray's high school reunion, where Debra hits it off with the "in" crowd. Ray is jealous of Debra's social acumen, but they handle the situation in ways that are simultaneously funny and heart-wrenching, as Debra makes Ray understand that he's her cool, Number One guy. In another episode, Alley, Ray's daughter is upset when she sees her Granddad yell at a supermarket clerk. The show deals a good deal with swallowing one's pride, admitting wrongs and making apologies; I've never seen it dealt with more sensitively, or adeptly. In a last episode, Debra becomes upset with Ray's mom and 'drinks at' her. Debra is found sleeping inebriated in her nonmoving SUV, and arrested for public intoxication. What follows is a hilarious reenactment of Women in Cages on a smaller scale. Patricia Heaton comes thru in any situation.

Everybody Loves Raymond is out on DVD now, and a person couldn't do any better than rediscovering why Raymond is so loveable.

© 2006 blogSpotter.

The John Karr Show

Karr's mug shot -- Photo courtesy Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
When I first went to the State Fair of Texas back in the 80's, my guiltiest pleasure was probably the Freak Show. There, we could look at Fish Boy or the world's shortest man. This unholy fascination was brought to an end by political correctness; sometime in the mid 90's, the Freak Show was discontinued -- our waning freak fascination would have to be quenched with tabloid headlines. Now comes John Karr, a fragile wisp of a man, confessing to the decade-old murder of 6-year old beauty queen Jon Benet Ramsey. John Karr's bizarre traits ratcheted up interest much as the OJ trial stirred race, sex, money and violence into a spicy brew. We had a beautiful blonde child victim, pedophilia, wealth, possible incest, lingering mystery and sexual ambiguity to top it all off (Karr was considering a sex change and appeared to be wearing layers of make-up when arrested).

Right off the bat, there were problems with Karr's confession. Extradited from Thailand, a Gulag of the child sex trade, he gave accounts that didn't wash. He said he drugged Jon Benet -- there were no drugs in her system. He said he picked her up from school the day she died; that day was a school holiday. Moreover, his family in Alabama was fairly certain he was with them all thru Christmas of 1996. Several media watchers were surprised there was even an arrest, given the shaky legs of this case. The charges were dropped on August 28th, although Karr still faces child pornography charges in Sonoma, California.

"Step right up, right this way. Come see the miraculous fish boy!" ... All we lack with Karr is the carnival barker. It matters not a whit that more important things are happening in the world. We have Hezbollah, gas prices and mid term elections to start with. And your point is? People want to know about that 'nice boy' down the street who has a screw loose -- the Eagle Scout who cannibalizes or the altar boy who kills 33 with a high power rifle. What vagary of nature causes the brain's neurons to fire in the wrong way? Other than knowing the psycho is finally apprehended, it's not even so important whether they get jail or a life in an institution. All that matters is the lurid reality, the horrific knowing that a monster has run freely in the streets. Before apprehension, maybe one of these monsters could snatch us away too.

John Mark Karr was interesting in his own right -- he combined the sexual androgyny of Michael Jackson with the creepiness of Roman Polanski. Had there been a DNA match, the feeding frenzy would've turned the journalistic eddy blood red. But no -- Karr's oddities stop well short of a sensational murder. You'll have to 'appreciate' what there is, no less, no more. Then proceed down the midway of the Fair -- cotton candy over here, turkey legs over there.

© 2006 blogSpotter.