Who cares

Rielle Hunter, the former mistress and current baby-mama to moral cripple John Edwards will be Oprah's guest next week. I would have thought that by now enough was said about the whole tawdry mess. But then, it is the beginning of the May sweeps.

Maybe Hunter and Edwards are planning June nuptials and think an appearance with Oprah will salvage what's left of Hunter's reputation as a videographer. I can't imagine that any of that matters now that Edwards' political career is dead. Who knows? But Hunter seems to be following in the stiletto heeled footsteps of other women who hope to parlay their misadventures into what passes these days for media celebrity.

Michelle "Bombshell" McGree, one of the many women with whom Jesse James dallied is on record as wanting a face-to-face with betrayed wife Sandra Bullock. Although Bombshell claims that want to apologize to Bullock, I bet her real agenda is to paint herself as the one who was betrayed by James and not Bullock who married that creep in the first place.

Once upon a time, being a mistress did not automatically catapult into national prominence--unless you were Wallis Simpson or Camilla Parker-Bowles. But Rachel Uchitel, the first of Tiger Woods' many lady friends, has gained a gig as a correspondent on Extra. But then, unlike Jaimee Grubbs, she didn't share the sordid details of her e-mails with the public.

These women gained their 15 minutes of fame by sleeping with another woman's husband and then claiming they were innocent victims duped by a lying, cheating, bastard. Well, Woods, Edwards and James may all be lying, cheating bastards, but I don't think their various paramours were innocent babes in the woods. Moreover, unlike the former Camilla Parker-Bowles, I doubt that their charming princes can offer them a title, other than round heels of the year.

Personal Responsibility

There was an interesting story this morning on the Web about a man whose jaw locked as he prepared to bite into a large sandwich and it stayed locked for 14 hours. The interesting part is his refusal to seek legal redress for his appetite for an overstuffed sandwich or the physical anomaly that caused his jaw to lock. His acceptance of personal responsibility is refreshing in our law-suit happy society.

Whenever you read a weird product warning you can be sure a weird lawsuit has been filed somewhere. You wonder who it was that attempted to iron an piece of apparel while they were wearing it? Or who was it that tried to drive a car with a cardboard windshield screen in place?

Sometimes products are defective or food is improperly prepared and a person does not receive the appropriate attention from the manufacturer that the negative results warrant. But it seems to me that most people look at the law courts as a response to a problem that has occurred because of something they did or did not do. In my mind this extends to the issues of overeating and smoking, both of which are issues of personal choice. If I smoke for 40 years, I shouldn't be surprised if I develop a smoking related disease and then go to court claiming I was unaware of the ill-effects of smoking so give me money. Smoking was linked to cancer way back in the 1930s but was certainly in the public domain in the 1950s when my dad, who started smoking at age 14, stopped. There's the difference. When we know something is bad and we do it anyway, who should be held accountable?

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods continues his apology tour but I wonder if he has really accepted that his actions is what caused the problem in the first place. On the other hand California lawyer Gloria Allred is representing one of the mistresses who believed she is owed an apology for having entered into a relationship with a man she knew was married.

Maybe Shakespeare had a point when he had one of the character's in Henry V say, "The first thing we do is kill all the lawyers." Well, maybe not ALL the lawyers, just the personal injury attorneys who have turned the legal system into a lotto for the seriously irresponsible.

Sieg heil,comrad

Yesterday, our quiet Midwestern suburb was visited by three men and a sign. The sign, held by a tall African-American with a football players build, was a picture of President Obama on which was drawn Hitler's mustache. The two White men assured me that Obama was a socialist just like Adolph. There's not much I can do, or want to do, to deny anyone their right to free speech, even if, as is the case with this trio, they are woefully undereducated and clearly into scare tactics.

Adolph Hitler has been dead for 64 years, or officially dead if you discount the numerous theories that he survived and lived in obscurity in Argentina. Still, the very sight of his Charlie Chaplin mustache is enough to conjure images of terror, war, genocide and the loss of civil liberties, the hallmarks of German fascism. You cannot be both Fascist and Communist or Socialist at the same time. "But, but, but," interjected the older of the White protestors, "It was called the National Socialist German Workers Party." Yeah, well, it could also have been called The Official Shirley Temple Fan Club and it would still be fascist and still diametrically opposed to socialism. And I am not defending socialism here, I just wish people knew the difference or at least respected the difference.

The difference made no difference to our friendly local tea baggers, for that is what they were, with sign up sheets, literature and smarmy smiles. I cannot believe that there is this much anger simply because our government passed a law that made it difficult for insurance companies to deny coverage to those who need it most. The economy tanked before Obama and while I do not agree with everything he has done and proposes at least he is doing something other than nationalizing the banks and establishing Socialism for the wealthy.

I just wish people were educated enough to know what they are talking about when they take to the streets and level insane charges against a man who clearly won the majority vote for the presidency.

Can't win an election with votes? Try intimidation!

Vandals broke windows in the offices of representatives who voted in favor of health care reform. Bart "baby killer" Stupak is receiving death threats on his home phone. The photographs of an Ohio Democratic lawmaker AND HIS DAUGHTERS was published in a newspaper along with an advertisement suggesting that the lawmaker rethink his position on health care. Mike Troxel, an organizer for the Lynchburg (VA) Tea Party posted what he believed to be the home address of Rep Tom Perriello (D-VA). Unfortunately, the address was that of Perriello's brother, which was subsequently vandalized. The address remains on the Tea Party Web site and will remain there until someone gives Troxel the representative's proper home address.

Of course Troxel will not be involved if and when the perpetrators are found. After all, he simply suggested that his followers drop by and express their thanks for Periello's pro- health care reform vote. Fortunately, no one was killed--this time

If we are to use the actions of the anti-abortion activists as an example, this is just an opening salvo that will probably end in blood shed. In 1993, Dr. David Gunn, Pensacola, FL, was the subject of wanted-posters distributed by Operation Rescue. He was murdered by anti-abortion activist Michael Griffin. A year later, two receptionists were killed by followers of Human Life International. The list goes on, but you get the point.

Last year, Catherina Wojtowicz, organizer of the Chicago Tea Party, openly mocked Dan and Midge Hough at a town hall meeting as they recounted the story of how their daughter, Jenny, and unborn child died because Jenny could not afforded pre-natal care. Wojtowicz claims the Hough's fabricated the story.

Tea Baggers are armed, dangerous and attempting the overthrow of the US Government through violence and terrorism. If this were the 1960s, the FBI would be all over them. The Tea Party movement emerged in early 2009 partly in response to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act but their ire knew no bounds once the Republicans lost the presidency and control of the Congress. The consider themselves real Americans and the rest of us as Stalinist Liberals (although Stalin would be surprised and insulted to know that some one considered him a liberal). They claim to support the US Constitution but are dedicated to repealing those parts of the Constitution with which they do not agree.

They are out in force and in a neighborhood near you goaded in part by the Republican Party, still smarting from their election losses and out for blood. Where Homeland Security is when you need them?

What's interesting in that those who advocate violence are rarely those who actually do the violent act. They will never be held accountable. They will never be tried for the murder and mayhem they advocate. They are simply suggesting that protesters take aim at those legislators with whom they disagree, said Sarah Palin, who will be shocked and appalled when some Democratic legislator is carried on it a body bag.

On a lighter note, Rep. Randy Neugebauer claims he was misunderstood when he yelled "baby killer" as Rep. Bart Stupak spoke in favor of the health care bill. Neugebauer clarified the matter by explaining that he was calling the legislation a baby killer not Stupak, for whom Neugebauer has the highest regard. I'm glad that's been cleared up.

War is never healthy: A movie review (of all things)

I've never been a great fan of Japanese film, but there are Japanese films that I like. The Seven Samurai figures high on my list, which was remade in the United States as The Magnificent Seven. Throne of Blood, a retelling of MacBeth, is another of my favorites. But down there among the usually forgotten is a gem called Fires on the Plain, which asks the question: Is there a point beyond which civilization and humanity is no longer possible?

I was reminded of that film this week while watching HBOs The Pacific, which tells the horrendous story of the Marines who fought World War II on one miserable island after another. It's a good series, brought to us by Stephen Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who also produced Band of Brothers.

As might be expected of American film, The Pacific is expensively and beautifully produced with an eye to the small details and the kind of in-your-face battle scenes that place you in the midst of the action albeit with a magnificent soaring score. However, it lacks the kind of grit that Clint Eastwood managed to imbue in his two movies on the same subject and Fires on the Plain. I think, oddly, that the problem, if it is a problem, is that The Pacific is in color, while Eastwood bleached his colors so that his film had the feel of old photographs or news film. Fires on the Plain is done in stark black and white. It is also an anti-war film and not as overtly manipulative as Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (which is really a buddy-road film with explosives).

The film follows the grim progress of one Japanese soldier through a doomed wasteland of desperate men caught in the losing battle for the Philippines. If a bullet doesn't kill the protagonist his tuberculosis will. There are no victors in this film, also no food, no medicine, and no way out. There is the relentless reality of what war means and the ends to which men will go to survive. The ever advancing American soldiers are the least of their problems.

No one has ever survived a war without carrying some permanent scar on his or her soul. Warriors return home either in victory or defeat and are required by society to resume their antebellum life without exploring how this experience has forever changed them. We prefer the John Wayne approach in which warriors are cosmetically grimy without ever being shown as filthy, always heroic, everlastingly cheerful, and unscarred by what they've seen or done. And yet how does a man embrace his family with the same hands that carried a gun and killed people? Don't we, as the people for whom these warriors ostensibly fight, have the responsibility to accept them as irrevocably changed?

My father, a World War II veteran, confined his stories to what was amusing (including his characterization of Patton as "that SOB who tried to get me killed"). It was only later, as he lay dying, when he told us one horrendous story that I realized that his war was always with him. To a large extent his experiences created the man who was my father and it explained a great deal. Like most of the men of his generation, my dad returned home, settled in and lived out his peaceful life. But he had terrible dreams for a time and terrible memories for the rest of his life. Although my dad initially supported the Vietnam conflict, his attitude changed when my brother's number rolled to the top. "I've been to war," he said, "and it is not for my son."

It doesn't matter whether the war is popular or not and it certainly doesn't matter who won. Victor or vanquished form a brotherhood of men and women who have seen the worst that man has to offer and survived. We who have never been to battle cannot possibly understand. Perhaps it is easier to accept if you are a victor because then everything you have experienced or done seems worthwhile. Or maybe not.

Yes, most people who survive a war, whether as civilians or soldiers, move on. But I don't think they ever recover from the savagery and depravity that they have seen or maybe in which they participated. There is a reason why some US Marines covered the portholes of the ships that took them home from the Pacific. They did not want to look back.

War is not good. All it does is destroy real estate and kill people. It rarely resolves the issue, because the problems remain under different names and in different times. I suppose I must accept that war is sometimes unavoidable and inevitable. But I cannot help but think that there are other ways of dealing with problems.

In any event, if you are interested in gritty, unrelenting, and grim, grim, grim war films I recommend Kom Ichikawa's 1959 war classic Fires on the Plains. The action in this film is strictly from the Japanese point of view. The actions are taken by Japanese soldiers against Japanese soldiers. It is not possible nor will this film erase memories of Japanese atrocities but you will be haunted by the story and its vision. You may need to watch it more than once to ingest the story.

Baby Killer

Randy Neugebauer (R-Tex) shouted "baby killer" at Rep. Bart Stupack (D-MI) when Stupak spoke on Saturday in favor of health care reform. Neugebauer is concerned about the tragic consequences to the unborn as a result of a health care reform bill. Neugebauer is not, apparently, equally concerned about children who receive little or no care because of a pre-existing condition or because their parents cannot afford health care. No doubt Neugebauer will be made to apologize to his colleagues in Congress. No such apology will be forthcoming to uninsured people who stand to benefit from this bill. Neugebauer, like most who oppose a woman's right to choose whether or not she will have an abortion, is not concerned about children. Not in the warm hearted way he regards the unborn.

I doubt Randy Neugebauer goes around kicking small children, but he has done nothing to help small children who need it, or their parents who cannot afford health care. And why should he? He is, after all, covered by a nifty little health care plan paid for by the taxpayer. These are the same guys who had no problem when it came to nationalizing banks on the backs of taxpayers. Socialism apparently is good when it helps the wealthy but health care reform is NOT socialism and is not a step toward socialism regardless of what conservative attack dogs say.

I'm not sure what health care reform will do but I do know that the system needs to be changed. As it now stands, some faceless bean counter makes life and death decisions. This may be an ideal arrangement for health benefit programs and for their investors, but it is not so good for the rest of us.

The Republicans may be down, but they are not out. We can expect an increase in the inflammatory and often specious claims made by the right about health care. John McCain promised that Republicans "will challenge [health care reform] every place we can." No doubt it will figure prominently in campaign rhetoric as the Republicans campaign to increase their power in the Congress.

Subsidizing health care has been around since Theodore Roosevelt's Administration. And while it remains to be seen how much good health care reform can do, it is better than doing nothing.

Roughly 25 million people in the United States are underinsured. Underinsured and uninsured people do not receive adequate care. Do not take comfort in the myth that the uninsured have access to adequate care because in the United States emergency rooms have an open-door policy. Who do you think absorbs the cost of that care? You, the comfortably insured pick up the tab through higher premiums and increased hospital costs. It's actually in your best interest to have the uninsured covered. Moreover, it costs more to treat advance disease than it cost to treat an illness in its early stages.

Health care reform will not impose rationing because insurance companies already ration care. This is particularly true when it comes to pre-existing conditions including congenital problems. Health care companies can, and have, denied coverage for people who need life saving procedures.

I have no idea where the idea sprung that health care will result in death panels. Have you, as I have, already discussed with your physician advance care planning? You don't have to and the reform bill does not demand that you do so. But somehow this common sense approach to end stage disease has been transformed by the rabid right wing into a death panel.

Health care reform will not cover undocumented immigrants. In fact, if you read the bill, or even parts of the bill, you will discover that it specifically stipulates that those who are in this country unlawfully may not receives subsidies to purchase health care coverage.

Finally, and perhaps most important to some, health care reform does not ban private individual insurance. If you are happy paying ever increasing premiums, you are free to continue to do so.

Although we don't know how much this will cost, we do know that the cost of early care will reduce the billions spent when people become seriously ill, assuming they have access to care in the first place.

Health care reform is not socialized medicine, which worked well in the UK until Margaret Thatcher declared war on the poor and began to eliminate funding. Conservatives like to trot out the "socialized medicine" scare, knowing that they are speaking to a public that doesn't understand the issue or doesn't actually care as long as they have theirs.

Oddly, those most vocal against health care reform claim that although they are happy with Medicare, they do not believe that the government can run a health care program. Makes one wonder if Medicare is managed by elves who live in magical trees. The reality is that Medicare cost have risen but more slowly than private insurance. If Medicare is as bankrupt as some would have us believe, maybe we should look at those administrations that used Medicare funds to fight wars in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Despite President George W. Bush's best efforts, the VA system remains an leader in quality and safety. Again, I suppose, at the behest of those magical elves in their magical trees.

We in the United States do not have the best health care system in the world if that care is not available to all. People get sick, some because they live unhealthy lifestyles, some because of genetic imperfections, and some because as we age, our bodies begin to wear down. Should health care, like luxury cars and high priced real estate, be available only to those who can pay the ever increasing price?

Insurance companies and for-profit health institutions are partly to blame for this mess. And if you don't think it can get worse, take a look at the UK as it dismantles its own National Health System. Medical costs are huge because drug companies, hospitals, their executives, insurance companies, and doctors are greedy. Health care reform cannot change that, but it might curb this greed.

As I said, if you like things the way they are you are free to pay increasing insurance premiums and escalating hospital cost. But should you find yourself unemployed and uninsured you might be thankful that someone thought to vote in favor of health care reform.

The Black Agenda

President Obama was the target of some barbs from black leaders meeting in Chicago this weekend who believe the president has not address the "black agenda" of increasing employment and educational opportunities. I thought that as president of the United States he was suppose to do that for all of us.

Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan said that as President Obama received the support of African-Americans, "we have a right to expect something of the brother." Well, the president was elected by a majority of people in the United States and not by one voting block. And we ALL have a right to expect that he will deliver on some of what he promised.

The racial divide in the United States continues, helped by racists of all colors. That famous slave holder Thomas Jefferson may have had it right when he said of slavery, "It's like holding a tiger by the tail. You cannot hold on forever and you dare not let go." Abraham Lincoln's initial plan was to free all the slaves and send them to Liberia. During the American Civil War, Lincoln negotiated contracts with businessmen to colonize freed slaves to Panama and to a small island off the coast o Haiti. He understood that scar of slavery might make it impossible for freed slaves to live in the United States. It appears that Lincoln was on to something.

Slavery continued after the Civil War in the South and Southern voters eroded any inroads Blacks made to assimilate into the whole of life in the United States. It really wasn't until the 1950s when the Caucasian population joined the struggle for Civil Rights that Black people became full citizens of the United States. People died in that struggle and some of them were Caucasian.

So, I understand why, 50 years later, the black community views the rest of us with a jaundiced eye. But the fact remains that Barak Obama, for whatever reason, appealed to a wide audience and was elected president. But he is president for all of us and no one group should expect special treatment or considerations.

The problems confronting the United States effect all of us. We all have a right to expect that as president, Obama will address these issues. He cannot and should not be expected to fix everything for everybody. It just doesn't work that way. But harkening back 50 years to the way things were and asking for special treatment now does not seem to me to be particularly helpful to anyone.

Unless, of course, the real issue is for a small cadre of Black activists to keep their agenda and names in the press.

Dead or alive Diana sells

I was never a friend of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Something about her rubbed me the wrong way from the get-go. During her life, Diana did nothing more, and considerably less, than the family into which she married. And yet the public continues to see her as a lady bountiful rather than the well dressed grasping media hound that she was.

Okay, that last statement was probably over the top. But I really believe she did what she did because she liked the publicity and the public love that she missed in life. Diana profited from her bad marriage although she never seemed to understand that her children should have made it impossible to regret her matrimonial choice. I believe that she believed that her marriage was a forever thing. Not just because that's what all brides think but because she married into a family for whom at the time divorce was anathema. But to give Diana her due, when she was fed up with her role as one-half of an unhappy union, she determined to obtain that divorce, although she seemed ambivalent about it until the end. Maybe she thought that the Queen would intercede and demand that the Prince of Wales love his wife.

I don't know and that really is not the reason I am writing about Diana.

A new book by Australian journalist John Morgan charges that Diana and Dodi Fayed were murdered. Not new charges. Not new evidence.

I do not know if driver Heni Paul was drunk. But I do know that while driving at an unsafe speed, Paul lost control of the car. I believe that might have saved Diana's life. I suspect that her condition worsened because of the poor roadside assistance she received from the French ambulance service, but I am not convinced that Diana would have survived even with the best medical care in the world.

I am convinced that the controversy continues because Diana sells books, magazines, and made-for-TV movies. Morgan may be the latest in a long line of men who used Diana for their own purposes, including Tony Blair who first proclaimed her the "People's Princess."

The French may well have bungled the medical care Diana received and Henri Paul's autopsy but that doesn't mean they were in the pay of British secret service or that the Royal Family launched an assassination plot to rid themselves of a woman who wanted out and then refused to go quietly.

Two things were shaken when Diana died: A good part of the dignity that has for so long surrounded the Royal Family and the world's belief in happy endings.

No doubt had Diana survived into middle age, she would have done herself in. She may even have appeared on Dancing with the Stars. But she didn't, so, she remains in our memories as a beautifully dressed, attractive young woman who occasionally did photo calls with small but needy children. That she emphasized with the disenfranchised may have said more about her own inner needs than her desire to improve the lives of others. Her former sister-in-law, the Princess Royal, has devoted her life to a number of charities and causes that have real effect. But no one thinks of her as a "People's Princess."

's been awhile

I haven't posted in quite some time not because I have nothing to say but because I didn't care as much. Not sure I do now, but some things have gotten on my nerves.

The other day Betty Broderick was refused parole, which is fine by me. Betty crept into the house her former husband shared with his new, young wife and shot them both dead as they slept. It was an end to a long period of harassment and the double murder was probably foreseeable. Betty's children testified against her. It isn't as if I haven't some sympathy for the old wife, mother of five, who, after years of an unhappy marriage, is replaced by a younger, more attractive younger woman. On the other hand, Broderick seems to have been a virtual harridan before and after the marriage ended. However, Betty believed she should be allowed to walk free because her former husband's behavior provoked her. Some of the members of the first jury agreed and that trial ended in a hung jury. The second trial resulted in a guilty verdict. The murders have been topics of at least two made-for-TV movies and the trials were beamed to one and all on Court TV. It made for fascinating viewing.

Twenty years later, Betty remains bitter and hung up on that bad ending to an unhappy marriage. She has learned nothing and seems unwilling or unable to acknowledge that she murdered two people in cold blood. Her supporters think that Betty is no menace to society but who knows what else might set her off? More importantly, she killed two people for which she received a sentence of 32 years to life. Her children are divided: Two believe Betty should be paroled and two do not. I'm with the latter two.

How much is a life worth these days? At age 19, Leslie Van Houten helped murder Leno and Rosemary Labianca at the request of Charles Manson. She was sentenced to death for her crimes, but later received a life sentence when the death penalty was eliminated. Now, Leslie wants out. In fact, she's wanted out almost since she realized she would be in jail for the rest of her life. I have no doubt that Leslie will never murder again, but she was sentenced to life for her part in killing two strangers in their own home not for money but for kicks. I suppose that she, as the least objectionable to the Manson Maidens will sometime in the near future gain a parole. But she participated in the murder of two people. Susan Adkins recently died in prison and frankly I think Leslie Van Houten should also die behind bars because it seems to me that two lives are worth at least that much,.

I guess now I'll have to turn in my card as a warm hearted liberal.

Bright Shiny Objects at Disney World

I figured out why the United States is in such a mess, and I have Walt Disney to thank for the insight. I just returned from an ill-fated trip to Disney World. Ill-fated for a number of reasons, but the trip left me wiser about life, friendships, and Americans in general. Who said you can't teach old cats new tricks was never on a death march  through the happiest place on Earth.

Like my friend with whom I was traveling, for most Americans the main attractions are the endless and elaborate fireworks available every night at every park and resort area at 9 p.m. My friend was not interested in attractions, rides, or educational opportunities as much as she wanted to see the park illuminations, eat at specific restaurants and partake of the endless shopping opportunities. This was not a match made in vacation heaven and I suspect the last time I will be invited to travel with her. Although she complained bitterly about the whining hoards of children, it never occurred to her that the kids should have been in bed, instead of being dragged by Disney attired parents from one fireworks extravaganza after another.

Every single activity she had planned for us was designed around a major fire work event. We could have enjoyed a peaceful fireworks display from our comfortable digs at the Boardwalk Hotel, or we could have been pushed and shoved into a stadium of more than 70,000 people where the spectacular fireworks/laser display paled in comparison to the fact that as part of the finale they set the lake on fire! The heat was so intense that I felt it, way up there at the top of the bleachers. I then had to drag my exhausted carcass down the incline from which I puffed and limped my way up to the boat transport back to our hotel fighting stroller wielding, wild-eyed parents intent on getting to the head of the line no matter what.

Our second must was the illumination at Epcot, for which there is no seating but there are thousands of people milling around the lake waiting for the 9 p.m. show. But we  had to be in place by  8--that's right we stood in one spot for a full hour waiting for the nightly display of brotherly love, in which, yes, you guessed it, someone sets the damn lake on fire--but not as spectacular as the night before. I was made to stand as the man next to me and his wife saved an entire bench for the two of them.

Eventually, the man relented and offered me a corner of his bench, which I gratefully accepted--but about which my friend felt compelled to complain loudly and repeatedly. Yes, it was rude of him to have reserved the entire bench, but he did relent and my bad knee was grateful and I saw no reason to complain loudly and relentlessly.

And then there's this endless trek to find the boat back to our hotel. Now, it is virtually impossible to be lost at Epcot as the whole thing is built in a circle, which did not stop my painfully geographically impaired companion from shrieking about how we were going the wrong way as I trudged in what I knew was the correct direction. Next time I'm hiring a scooter, which assures you of priority seating for the Epcot fireworks extravaganza and, as it happens, the right to cut off and run down anyone in my path.

We did not make it back to the shop in which she found some made-in-China travel crap she could not live without. And as I listened to her bemoan the fact that all the shops were closed, I restrained myself from reminding her that had we gone there first, as I suggested, instead of standing around waiting for the illuminations, she would have obtained her heart's desire. 

Anyway, the previous night's Fantasmagoria, she insisted, was far better than these illuminations anyway--and if that is  the case why did she insist we go back to Epcot in the first case.

And now we come to the final illumination in the Magic Kingdom (which we never got to visit), which, I was assured was best viewed from the California Grill--only we were unable to obtain reservations BEFORE the fireworks. Now my friend is nothing if not relentless, self-absorbed and, in this case, downright mean spirited.

She badgered, cajoled, browbeat, harassed, and generally made life miserable on a three-time-a-day basis any concierge who had the bad luck to cross her path. At one point she was able to obtain a reservation at the California Grill (a cancellation) but she would have to give up her reservation at the Brown Derby and that was unacceptable. But finally, she found some poor fool who actually went out of his way (and clearly called in a favor) to not only get her an early reservation at  the California Grill, but to guarantee it with his credit card--for which he was not thanked but was soundly brought to task for using his credit card to obtain the reservation and now her's  (which California Grill had on file) and when we arrived, the hostess was given a tongue lashing because although we had a 7:30 reservation, the original 10 reservation was not cancelled and she certainly had no intention of paying for two reservations--which was easily corrected and wouldn't have happened anyway. She complained bitterly and halfway through dinner noted that "Madonna would not have to wait months for a reservation. They would find room for her." Having had more than enough, I pointed out that (1) She was not Madonna and (2) the concierge who got her  the damn reservation in the first place deserved a thanks if not a tip (he received neither).

Which brings me to what I think it wrong with the US. We like shiny objects, we are easily amused and distracted from things that matter by bombast, pretty lights, false sentimentality, and our insular version of our own and world history (don't even get me started here). But we make no effort to understand other people. Why is that clotheshorse Diana, Princess of Wales celebrated along with Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Gandhi? We think we are the center of the universe. We have no understanding, compassion, or empathy for anybody who gets in our way. We complain about people who break the rules to get what they want and then break the rules when it works in our favor. We have a contempt for anybody who is not us. It reminds me of my first trip to Europe when for the first time I saw us as others saw us and have tried ever since to be a better guest when visiting another country.

I've always been conflicted by the whole Disney religion. Some of my fondest movie memories are Walt Disney Products, including Fantasia, Lady and the Tramp, and Peter Pan. I still remember the chill when I heard those fearful words: "MAN (long pause) is in the forest!" You knew the bad guy had arrived and you knew his name. I still cannot talk about Dumbo without blubbering like a infant. I didn't just watch Mickey Mouse Club--I had home made costumes and I danced and sang along with Annette, and Cubby, and Karen and all the rest. At the age of 10, I called  the Walt Disney Studios to see how I could get a job there! I can wax rhapsodic about the artistry of Disney Productions and yet...

Disney has always presented a sanitized, fictionalized version of US history that is accepted by too many people as gospel. Long before Joe McCarthy, Walt was branding people with whom he did not agree as Communist spies and he once accused the Screen Actors Guild of being a Communist front. And yet be built a basketball court so that his employees could blow off steam during a day's work. The atmosphere at the Disney Studios when Walt was alive was conducive to artistic endeavors and the marriage of music, movement and darn good story telling: Bambi's mother dies; Dumbo is separated from his mother and forced to work in a Circus; Old Yellow gets shot! Somehow there was a happy ending--the beast, unlike the beast in real life, becomes a prince. 

In the 1960s, Walt unveiled plans for Disney World and Epcot, which would feature golf courses and resort hotels--but I don't think he envisioned the vast empire that now sprawls over 45 acres in Orlando and employs 50,000 people. He died in 1966, so he saw none of it and Epcot, the Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow, has become a massive shopping mall. There are four major parks with assorted resorts, some low end and some high priced villas offered for sale to Disney Vacation Members. The Disney Complex is a city of perfectly manicured lawns, little girls attired in expensive Disney Princess Costumes, and Disney wares everywhere. In fact, I think that there is some kind of law that requires  the wearing of Disney attire by all--except me, until the unfortunate event at Animal Kingdom.

Which brings me to the highlight of the trip. A long-time smoker, I have, of late, been made aware of some unpleasant medical facts. But I don't let these things stop me and I honestly believed I had the stamina to march through four parks in two days. Apparently not. And to make matters worse, my companion was less than thrilled with my slow but steady pace. Also, even as a child, heat was my enemy and the sun is not the friend to those of us who  have fair skin.

On Sunday, I did  the best I could to keep up--but keeping up meant rushing around Hollywood and Epcot from one shop to another and one grudging stop at the aquarium, which I wanted to see, and Soarin, which I did not get to see because she didn't want to wait. I was exhausted and having trouble breathing and what I should have realized was that I was on the threshold of a panic attack (which, for those who have never had one, is no fun).

So on Monday I really wanted to go to the Magic Kingdom, but, knowing she wanted to do the Mt. Everest roller coaster, and I love roller coasters, I suggested we go to Disney's Animal Kingdom--another shopping mall with restaurants and two maybe three rides and several animal experiences. She rushed the full length of the park toward Everest, which  had a waiting time of 90 minutes (all the fast passes are taken), and she doesn't want to wait, so we rushed (she rushes, I creep along) to the water ride, in the hot Florida sun, I am not wearing a hat, I can't breathe, and I lose track of her in this mass of humanity. It was at this point that my mind went into sensory overload and I have a full tilt boogie panic attack. What this means is that I cannot breathe, my heart is beating a mile a minute, my blood pressure is so high that my face feels numb, and my knees are week (I think there was a little sun stroke mixed in because I am not wearing a hat).

Knowing that I am in trouble, maybe deep trouble, I spot a sweet park employee and ask for help. She's young, efficient, and cool. She recommends that she walk me to the first aid station which is right over the bridge and someone will help me get out of the park and back to the hotel.

This is all I want.

At this point me friend calls and demands to know where I am because she is waiting for me at the rapids ride, which is near. I make the wrong decision and walk to the rapids ride, now impeded because the park is setting up for the three o'clock parade. I arrive, here my friend is bitching out the park attendant because the wait for the ride is more than an hour and there are no fast passes left. However, she notices that I am now pale and looking faint. Things begin to move too fast because this park attendant calls the EMT, and that IS bad news. No, I don't want to be hospitalized in Orlando. It takes some doing, but I convince one and all that what I need is a wheelchair ride to First Aid, and maybe something cool to drink. (I dismiss thoughts of Natasha Richardson whirling about my overheated brain.)

However, the Animal Kingdom Parade is seconds away from starting---so a park attendant wheels me down the center of the street with the Parade in my wake. What could I do? I waved and nodded to the crowd, which amused the park attendant and infuriated my friend.

I am somewhat surprised that in a departure from the African/Asian decor of the park, the first aid station is bright, modern, and air conditioned--all of which serve to calm me--and if I didn't think  this would get me in deep EMT trouble, I'd have asked for a low level tranquilizer. Instead of joining the parade to its conclusion, we agree that I will watch from a shaded sideline. I do buy a hat, now much too late (so now I too have Disney attire), and make it back to our luxurious hotel, in time to rush out for the Epcot fireworks. My friend is less sympathetic that I had hoped. But in the end I fork over $150 for meals I would never have ordered on my own, saw nothing of the parks, and miraculously begin to feel better when we finally part, she for her airline and me for mine--which was delayed 2/ 1/2 hours and which cost me an additional $60 cab fare to get home (I was in no mood to argue with the cabbie, but he overcharged me and could have at least dropped my bags at the door). I did call him a thief and a moron, but only under my breath.

I do not regret the cartons of cigarettes, gallons of Coke, or tons of brownies that have brought me to this low level.  Life has changed, I was unceremoniously dumped from a job after 17 years, money is tight, my computer is screwed up and I am not the the person who was hopeless lost in the Ardenne Forest, only to find my way back to await my erstwhile rescuers with a cigarette and some smart ass comments. But you know what they say, it's not that the glass is half full or half empty, it's that damn glass just ain't big enough. And if you are going to Disney World, make sure it's someone who wants to enjoy the attractions and not the shopping.

However, you have never eaten a Cobb Salad unless you have the Cobb Salad at the Brown Derby. The Brown Derby restaurant was a famous LA eating spot, shaped like a Brown Derby. Clark Gable proposed to Carole Lombard there and the Cobb Salad was invented by chef Bob Cobb and believe me  you have never tasted a Cobb Salad unless you have the one served at Disney's Brown Derby. The restaurant closed in 1985 but the name has been franchised and in 1987 one opened in Disney's Hollywood Park. I recommend it and the grapefruit cake. But I warn you that you may need to make reservations nine months in advance. 

Peace out.

The Penultimate Spot in the Funeral Parlor

I've been thinking about death a lot lately. Not necessarily mine, but death--you know in general terms, as it applies to someone else. First, of course, is the lengthy illness, during which the condemned diminished before our  unbelieving eyes--and because we are in denial, we don't see this.  This is followed by more  than one precipitous slide. Now, the problem with that is that usually the condemned plateaus out, to which we become accustomed only to be shocked when it happens again., So, we accept as normal the final, ultimate, last, omega precipitous slide until we belatedly realize this its it, the big show, the whole enchilada, the final curtain, finis. Death catches us by surprise because we think that it's something that happens to other people.

We recently had a death in our family. A painful passing of a once vital someone who was ground down by disease. She lived a long life, as if that makes a difference. I resented it when well meaning people said about my own deceased father, "He lived a long life." Oh yeah? Says who? The prospect of becoming an orphan terrifies everyone regardless of age, and, usually, regardless of the kind of relationship we have with our families.

As an adult, I should, somehow, not have felt as deeply as I did that abandonment when my remaining parent died leaving me in the penultimate spot in the funeral parlor. But we are no longer someone's daughter (or son), there will never be another person who will love is (or at least like us a lot) regardless of what we have done, and there is no longer a home to accept us. We orphans are on our own. And, need I say it, in the penultimate spot in the funeral parlor.

Because I don't believe in a hereafter, I think when is over, we are over. If we're lucky someone will remember us. But it will be strange not to know. I can't imagine that but then I don't suppose when one is in the ultimate place in the funeral parlor one imagines anything. 

Dumb Stuff

US Rep Steve Asutria (R-OH) believes that the Obama stimulus package will have a negative effect on the US economy. Said Asturia: "When President Franklin Roosevelt did this, he put our country in a Great Depression." The depression began with the stock-market crash of 1929 and Roosevelt took office in 1933.

John McCain announced that he is planning to run for another term as US senator and the current economic crisis is the clincher. McCain will run as an obstructionist, having already voted against the Obama stimulus package, which, he said will saddle our "children and grandchildren with a staggering debt." Unlike the shenanigans of  the past eight years.

The treasury department announces a new stimulus package and the Dow falls like a rock.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) attacked President Obama for not being bipartisan and a bad leader and threatened to further obstruct bills that might come up as the administration attempts to dig out of the mess caused by the GOP.

The Mattel Company on February 5 unveiled a new Barbi doll depicting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

President for less than a month, Obama's approval rating has dropped by 10 points since the first week of February.

Ann Coulter is being investigated for vote fraud--again. In her new book Coulter says that unwed mothers are a bigger threat to the United States than smoking.

Semantics

Bristol Palin and Levi Johnson quit school so that they could shoulder the responsibilities of teen parents. He's someplace "up north" doing an apprenticeship as an electrician and she's just given birth to their first child. They are not high school drop outs and she is not an unwed mother. According to her mom, Sarah Palin, they are working their butts off to become self sufficient, high school educated parents. Unwed teen parents who drop out of high school are the children of somebody else. Yep, they are working, or will be, working to obtain a correspondence GED, just like the many thousands of kids who drop out of high school every year. But in Sarah Palin speak they did not drop out of school, although they no longer attend, she Bristol is not an unwed mother just an engaged girl with a baby. It's a matter of semantics.

According to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, he is a "casualty of the war on terror." Mr. Gonzales is writing a book about his experiences as Attorney General even though he remains under investigation for alleged political meddling at the Justice Department.  Unlike other members of the Bush Administration, Gonzales has been unable to land either a job or lucrative speaking engagements. Could be that most people know the difference between mild physical discomfort and physical torture that causes excruciating pain and death. Maybe people don't put much store in the musing of a man whose final act as Attorney General was to lie about his intention to resign after he had already informed President Book of his intention to resign. Is he a lying weasel looking for an opportunity to explain away some of his less stellar moments or is he a victim of the wild out-of-control liberal press? It's a matter of semantics.

Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh is advising his listeners that the current economic crisis was not the end result of Reaganomics, but a conspiracy masterminded by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY). It's not that George Bush was a bad president, but that he was a victim of bad luck. It's not that appointments were made to repay party operatives for their loyalty, as opposed to finding the right person with the appropriate qualifications to full the job, but that unexpected events derailed what should have been a terrific eight years.

It's all in how you look at things. 

We've been told that it is a very dangerous thing to have one party in charge of all three branches of government--and now we have the past eight years to stand of an example of just how bad it can get. I have no idea what the next four years will bring, but can it be any worse than the reign of Kid Bush and the GOP gang? His response to the crisis on the Gaza Strip? Let Obama handle it.

I read in the Washington Times that some RNC officials what to pass a resolution accusing Bush of embracing socialism.  I'm not sure when the bail out became what it was, socialism for the wealthy, but I am sure  they are simply preparing their response to any all all of Obama's proposed, imagined, or feared public initiatives. The RNC has never come to terms with Social Security. Again, its a matter of semantics.

And finally, just to be on the safe side, Bush has written a memo specifically suggesting how those who toiled in the White House lo these past eight years should remember him. Some would say he is attempting to revise history, others claim he is just being helpful.

It's simply a matter of semantics.

...and a happy new year

Christmas week was wildly insane, finding me in the car every day and exhausted at the end. It was fine, I could have been a better person, but I wasn't. Anyway, it has been a hellish year, who knows what fresh hell 2009 has in store?

Perfect movie moment

The Bishop's Wife is one of my favorite movies. It's a romantic comedy that was released in 1947 with David Niven as the harassed bishop, Loretta Young as his unhappy wife, and Cary Grant as a very suave angel. Originally, Niven was the angel, but after some casting problems, Cary Grant agreed to appear in the movie on condition that he could be the angel--which leads to the perfect movie moment. All three are in the back of a taxi, Niven seething with jealous rage as Grant seems to be wooing (and winning) Young. There's this great moment when the two men indulge in some low key, subtle, verbal fisticuffs which is perfect, for what is not said, and what is said with only a look.

Movie making at its best.

Dana Young was originally cast as the bishop, which would have made for a less enjoyable film.

The movie has since been remade (what isn't these days) as The Preacher's Wife with Denzel Washington as the angel, Whitney Houston as the wife, and Courtney B. vance as the preacher. It's not as good, although the soundtrack (song by Houston) was  nominated for an Academy Award. They kept the skating scene, but, well, it's pallid. There are no perfect moments in The Preacher's Wife.

Which makes me wonder why perfectly good movies are remade and perfectly awful ones are not. I guess turning a pigs ear into a silk purse is more difficult than putting lipstick on a pig.

A box of rocks

That beleaguered Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich is in trouble is no surprise, that he is dumb as a box of rocks might be. He was swept into office in the back draft of Republican George Ryan's spectacular flame out. Ryan, you may recall, won re-election even though he was being investigated for the illegal sale of government licenses, contracts, and leased--and for which he is now doing time. Blagojevich, the first Democratic governor in 30 years, promised he was different, honest, and ethical, which really annoyed his father-in-law, Chicago Alderman Dick Mell, who incorrectly assumed that with a relative in the Governor's office, Mell's own questionable dealings would remain untouched. And when they were touched, Mell took the "moral high ground," claiming that his son-in-law was engaged in that great Chicago tradition of "pay-to-play." The family argument died down, but the Feds were listening. Reminds me of those long ago Nixon days, when the president believed that he could do what he wanted because he was president.

Fast forward to 2008, when Blagojevich KNEW he was being scrutinized by the Feds, knew that someone on his staff had turned on him, and went ahead and tried to sell President-Elect Obama's senatorial seat. He may be little, but Blagojevich has enough nerve to light the city of Chicago for eons. Meanwhile, although he is estranged from his wife's family, Dick Mell is considering entering the fray to defend his daughter who is apparently as unethical as her husband--and, if the truth be told, as unethical as dear old dad.

It's difficult to predict what will happen now. Blago, as he is known here in the city of the big shoulders and bigger hubris, is as combative as he is short. The man has made enemies everywhere and can only count on Emil Jones, the kingmaker who is behind Obama. And why is Jones so loyal? Does he admire Blago's political acumen? Are they buds from the hood? Do they share the same political vision? Hell no, Jones wants to be senator, and would follow Blago into hell if it meant Jones would become the next senator representing  the great state of Illinois.

Meanwhile, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., who learned political blackmail at his father's knee, is shocked--shocked, I tell you, AND appalled, because he would never, ever offer to pay Blago for the right to be called Senator Jackson. Jackson has PR problems of his own, with foes in the House and at home. Clearly, Jackson believes that he deserves the vacant Obama seat and now we will see if he made financial promises to see that he gets bumped from House to Senate.

Ahh, Chicago politics--the days when Dick Daley would shut off the mic of any alderman with whom he disagreed--nice to know it's alive and well in Springfield. The problem with a cheap Chicago pol is that sometimes they don't know when to shut up--even when the feds are listening in.

58 days and counting

It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it and since no one seems to want to, George W has been patting his own back on a job well done.

He is content with the occupation of Iraq. Bush likes to see it as the liberation of 50 million Iraqis--none of whom asked us to liberate them, and few who welcomed the US and the coalition of the greased palms. Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator, but his removal has made Iraq a magnet for suicidal Islamic warriors. And while our casualty count is in the hundreds, thousands of Iraqis have died since the US occupation. The United States has yet to bring democracy, peace or prosperity to the region. But Bush is happy with the outcome of the occupation, which, by the way continues--so how can it have an outcome?

However, Bush did tell ABC's Charlie Gibson, "I think I was unprepared for war." But it wasn't his fault because the 9/11 attack was unexpected.

Bush is also pleased with No Child Left Behind, which any teacher will tell you is an educational disaster. Teachers now teach the test upon which schools are judged and through which they receive federal funds. For example, if  the teacher knows that the test focuses on simple addition, they will not invest in teaching their students anything other than simple addition. The system of incentives and penalties provide strong motives for schools to lie or manipulate data. No Child Left Behind forces schools to ration education guaranteeing mandated skills in reading, right and arithmetic--which pretty much guts programs for gifted children.

Bush is very proud of No Child Left Behind, regardless of what educators say are the serious drawbacks.

George is also very sorry about the financial downturn, accept no responsibility for refusing to crack down on "no money down" mortgages, for ignoring warnings that a financial meltdown was coming, and for knuckling under to the pressure brought about by the same financial institutions who are gobbling up government handouts. Apparently, the banks knew in 2005 that the house of cards was, well, a house of cards and they fought any attempt for regulation. Too bad someone didn't tell Bush--but he's sorry now.

George Bush wants you to drink poisoned water

Not content to have reduced the United States to third world nation status, Dubyah has decided to salt the earth behind him. There is no end to the evil this man will do.

According to an article in the New York Times (Nov. 29 by Robert Pear), the Shrub is "racing to complete a new rule" designed to make it "much harder for the government to regulate toxic substances and hazardous chemicals to which workers are exposed on the job." The proposed 20 new rules will deal with abortion, auto safety and the environment. The plan is to make it more difficult for the Obama administration to protect workers. Another rule would allow coal companies to dump dirt from mountaintop mining operations into streams and valley. And for those of us struggling to keep our heathcare coverage, states will be authorized to charger higher co-payments for physician office visits, hospital care, and prescription drugs provided to low income families under Medicaid. And the topper: Protection for healthcare workers who refuse to perform abortions because of religious or moral grounds.

How is this a good thing for the country?

And what does the administration say to its critics? We/they misunderstand the proposal. This is the same man who dared people to attack us--"bring  it on." I don't believe Obama walks on water; I don't believe he can accomplish half of what he has promised. But he's not George W. Bush and that's good enough for me. 

It must suck to be the Shrub

Last week there was some online video showing George Bush at the end of the G8 meeting being dissed by everyone. Well, that's how it looked. You know, there was that end-of-game handshaking line and everybody shook everybody else's hand except W's. Not one person shook his hand and it seemed to me that no one would even make eye contact. I thought it must be wishful thinking on my part, until I saw this picture of the Shrub at the end of some heavy duty PR tour of Peru, standing alone in his poncho looking forlorn and forgotten. For a moment I felt some sympathy for the little guy, until I remembered just how little sympathy he had/has for me and my kind, the vanishing and vanquished middle class.

Barak Obama talks economic recovery as Dubya pardons a turkey. I suppose it's always the same for a lame duck president, and Georgie boy is the lamest duck ever, but couldn't he have found the time to utter one more of his platitudes about how he's working for our economic relief? We wouldn't have believed him, but it would have sounded as if he knew what was happening and was concerned.

I'm sure that in time the picture of George in a flight suit strutting before a Mission Accomplished banner will be replaced by something more dignified. I mean, he did get some things right, just not during Katrina or in Iraq or during our rapid decline to third world status. He could, I suppose, save his legacy by funding transit projects already approved by Congress. He could release those fund for the green-jobs program to insulate public buildings. But he won't do either I suppose because strutting around in a flight suit is the best George could do as president. I guess we can't expect more of him now.

So while Barak Obama holds press conferences and creates a recovery program for the nation, George, who could stimulate the economy now by providing jobs--and green jobs at that--stands around looking uncomfortably out of place on the world stage and pardons turkeys.

Tossed Salad

You'll be pleased to know that unemployed, unlicensed Joe-the-plumber Sam Wurzelbacher has a job. He's taken time out from writing his political biography to shill for VelocityStore.com, one of those stores that sells whatever it is you will need to convert your TV to digital. He will be doing a series of "educational" videos to explain why the conversion is taking place, how to connect the converter to the TV, and where you can get your government handout to help pay for the transition.

When the government started throwing money at failing banks and mortgage companies nobody, but nobody, made an issue of how much money AIG pays in salaries. But auto workers are another matter. For some reason, the New York Times reported, and everyone else is repeating, that auto workers make upwards of $70 an hour. I realize this is the favored mantra of auto industry executives and their conservative friends, but it is as bald faced a lie as a lie can be. These are the same jerks who insisted that the reason the built big trucks and SUVs is because that's what the public wanted and now they are crying poor because nobody bought the crap they were selling. I find this whole thing so personally offensive.

Auto industry executives had the unmitigated gall to fly by private jet to Washington, DC, so that they can beg for a hand-out without having to sit three across in coach--and now they are placing the blame for their failures on the UAW. Give me a break.

For the record, auto industry workers earn about $28 an hours, which is slightly less than workers earn at Toyota. In short, auto worker salaries are average. Now, the Big Three Fat Cat Honchos will tell you that when they say $70 an hour, they include benefits such as vacation, health care insurance, and retirement. But what these miserable liars do not tell you is that when they average out the per hour cost of making a car, they include the pensions of retired workers as well as other costs, you know, like electricity and real estate taxes. So, no, auto workers really do not earn anything near $70 an hour, although it does cost $70 an hour to make a car.

Surely, the Big Three Fat Cat Honchos would love to stop paying retirement benefits, want to reduce health care premium contributions, and would like to roll back salaries to 1927 rates--but what they are not willing to do is to reduce their own multi-million dollar annual salaries or travel by public conveyance to Washington, DC, or make a car that people will want. Oh, wait, I forgot the Chevy Volt is due out in 2010 or maybe 2011.

Meanwhile, like pigs to the trough, AIG is back for a third helping. Do you get the feeling that the entire $700 billion will be spent by the end of the year and where to get the rest of the cash will become the other guy's problem come January 20?

Citicorp CEO Vikram Pandit said that management did a bad thing when it dove willy-nilly into real estate. He even allowed as how he understood why people are so angry. He did not fly to Washington, DC, in a private jet, but he did accept the government's plan to rescue him from the management mess with a timely injection of $20 billion. Pandit also said the error was caused by prior management so apparently he feels no need to resign or reduce his salary or stock options or Christmas bonus. The Saudis are expressing their support by increasing their stake in the bank. If this continues it'll be called Riyadhicorp.

In other news, Ann Coulter's jaw has been wired shut. No word on who or what broke her jaw in the first place or how long we will enjoy the silence. Her book, Guilty: Liberal Victims and their Assault on America, is available for pre-order on Amazon. So, I guess she will be doing the talk show circuit some time in January. Enjoy the peace and quiet while you can.

Sarah Palin is back on the campaign trail. She's in Georgia lending a helping hand to the shuttering campaign of Sen. Saxby Chambliss. You have been warned.