Where's the Outrage?

I loved this guy. He was a great actor. He appeared in tons of movies and was, of course, Col. Sherman Potter on M*A*S*H. He was also on the long-running TV show, Dragnet.

He was 96.

From WaPo:

Mr. Morgan — billed as Henry Morgan for much of his early career — was slight and balding and had a gravelly voice that could convey menace, irritation or wryness. Such versatility kept him in near-constant demand as a performer, and he became an instantly recognizable screen personality.

He had appeared in more than 100 films since the 1940s and was particularly effective as a witness to a lynching of alleged cattle rustlers in “The Ox-Bow Incident” (1943); a shadowy villain in “The Big Clock” (1948); a businessman who fears outlaws in “High Noon” (1952); and a small-town judge in “Inherit the Wind” (1960), based on the Scopes Monkey Trial.

Starting in the early 1950s, Mr. Morgan was a frequent movie sidekick to James Stewart in westerns (“Bend of the River,” “The Far Country”) and military dramas (“The Mountain Road,” “Strategic Air Command”). He also played pianist Chummy MacGregor in the 1953 musical biography of Glenn Miller, the swing bandleader portrayed by Stewart.

Tags: Movies, Television by ecthompson md
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The Flintstones are 40 years old today. Now the Flintstones are a piece of Americana. If I’m not mistaken they were the first prime-time cartoon.

From Wiki:

The Flintstones is an animated American television sitcom that ran from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966 on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones is about a working class Stone Age man’s life with his family and his next door neighbor and best friend. It has since been re-released on both DVD and VHS.

Critics and fans alike agree that the show was an animated imitation of The Honeymooners with rock puns thrown in. William Hanna admitted that “At that time “The Honeymooners” was the most popular show on the air, and for my bill, it was the funniest show on the air. The characters, I thought, were terrific. Now, that influenced greatly what we did with “The Flintstones”….”The Honeymooners” was there, and we used that as a kind of basis for the concept.” However Joseph Barbera disavowed these claims in a separate interview, stating that “I don’t remember mentioning “The Honeymooners” when I sold the show, but if people want to compare “The Flintstones” to “The Honeymooners,” then great. It’s a total compliment. “The Honeymooners” was one of the greatest shows ever written.”^[1] Its popularity rested heavily on its juxtaposition of modern-day concerns in the Stone Age setting.^[2][3]

(more…)

Tags: Domestic Issues, Television by ecthompson md
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The greatness of Robin Williams should not be understated. Back when cable was new, a friend and I, being in college, were slightly inebriated and we watched Robin Williams’ HBO special, Comedy Faster Than the Speed of Thought. We almost blew out double hernias laughing so hard. It was painful. Unlike some other comedians, Robin Williams has never lost the ability to do standup. He has this stream of consciousness that is simply amazing to watch. Here he is on some show that I’ve never heard of, introduced by one of my favorite comedic actors John Cleese of Monty Python fame.

One of the great lines from this stand up is, “Where did they get Sarah Palin? Did Ronald Reagan and Posh Spice have a child?”

Tags: Television by ecthompson md
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Dear Diary,

I’m trying hard not to hate her or despise her, or vomit when I hear the words “Sarah Palin.” It is not that she has bad ideas. It’s not that she has an odd way of phrasing things. No, it’s more than that. I guess you could say that she is a Robo-Conservative. If you’re going to make a conservative politician, you would want to start with Ronald Reagan because of his folksiness. You then need to add some of the hypocrisy that Newt Gingrich brings to the table. Finally, you need to throw in some of the bullheadedness and stubbornness of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. When you mix all that up, what do you get? Sarah Palin. She is a walking, talking cliché of conservatism. She has no original thoughts. Every question can be answered with tax cuts or by reduding the size of government. It is simply nauseating.

Maybe Jon Stewart said it better:

Tags: Party Politics, Television, The Daily Show by ecthompson md
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• I’ve put a new comment system into place. Let me know if you like it. I think, I hope, I can change back if you don’t.
• I’m gonna consider amount of comments and traffic today about Joe Wilson’s outburst. I guess a right wing blog linked to me because a lot of the comments are clearly off the wall. “Joe Wilson is a true patriot and should be lifted up on our shoulders.” “It’s about time the Republicans said something to this assmaggot Obama. It’s long overdue!!” There are more but they all are about the same. Only a few are thoughtful. There was one person who made a point that I thought was relatively insightful. He/she stated, “there is no method for clarifying whether or not a person qualifies for the plan. If it is not explicitly written into the bill that illegals are not eligible, they will slip into the system.” This is the most thoughtful response of the bunch. The commentor admits, though, that he has not read the bill by stating if it is not explicitly written into the bill. It is. Page 143 states: “Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who were not lawfully present in the United States.” Read and then comment. You sound smarter that way.

Keith has more:

• New census data is out. Since I live here in North Carolina, I was interested in North Carolina numbers. One out of six North Carolina residents lack health insurance coverage. Over the past three years an average of our 1.5 million residents were without health care. The national average was 15.5%. North Carolina averaged almost 17% of its residents without health insurance.
• Median income fell almost $2000 from 2007 to 2008. The median income for Americans in 2008 was $50,303. This is a 3.6% decline in median income which is the largest one-year decline on record (since 1967). I think this completely and totally closes the book on Bush’s tax cuts. Median income dropped throughout President Bush’s tenure.
• After Joe Wilson’s outburst, Democratic challenger Rob Miller has raked in over $500,000 from over 14,000 individual donors. That’s what I’m talking about!
• ACORN continues to have issues.
• I haven’t talked about the resignation/firing of Van Jones. I didn’t talk about it because I didn’t know anything about the man. I would like to think I follow politics pretty closely and I don’t remember ever hearing this guy’s name. Yet when he resigned people like Glenn Beck rejoiced. Why? As I understand the controversy, Van Jones said something crazy eight years ago. I don’t see this as a victory for the right but a capitulation of the Obama White House. I guarantee George W. Bush would not have accepted the resignation under such circumstances — remember Rumsfeld.
• Paula Abdul is out. Ellen DeGeneres is in. Ellen is funny and Paula really isn’t. That is your American Idol update.

Tags: Bush Administration, Countdown, Economy, Healthcare, Obama administration, Party Politics, Television by ecthompson md
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I’ll have more on this later. Cronkite was huge.

From NYT:

Walter Cronkite, who pioneered and then mastered the role of television news anchorman with such plain-spoken grace that he was called the most trusted man in America, died Friday at his home in New York. He was 92.

The cause was complications of dementia, said Chip Cronkite, his son.

From 1962 to 1981, Mr. Cronkite was a nightly presence in American homes and always a reassuring one, guiding viewers through national triumphs and tragedies alike, from moonwalks to war, in an era when network news was central to many people’s lives.

He became something of a national institution, with an unflappable delivery, a distinctively avuncular voice and a daily benediction: “And that’s the way it is.” He was Uncle Walter to many: respected, liked and listened to. With his trimmed mustache and calm manner, he even bore a resemblance to another trusted American fixture, another Walter — Walt Disney.  (more… )

Tags: Domestic Issues, General, Television by ecthompson md
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A very sad end to the very strange and surprising life of reality TV star Jade Goody. I guess the thing that is most disturbing to me is that no one in a modern, rich nation like England should die of cervical cancer. The disease is completely treatable if it is caught early.

From CNN:

British reality TV celebrity Jade Goody died early Sunday morning following a public battle with cervical cancer, her publicist has announced.

Goody, 27, died in her sleep at home in Essex, east of London, just before 4 a.m. (midnight Eastern Daylight Time), a spokeswoman for Max Clifford Associates said.

Goody’s husband, Jack Tweed, who she married last month in a lavish wedding ceremony, was at her bedside when she died, Clifford said. (More…) (even more… )

Tags: Television by ecthompson md
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Listen to ovation that Barack Obama gets on the Tonight Show. It’s outstanding.

Tags: Obama administration, Television by ecthompson md
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Now this is funny but still makes a point. Ron Howard goes back to Mayberry and tries to figure out why Americans can’t seem to get behind change. Andy Griffith shows up to make the skit funny and to the point. But that’s not enough for Ron Howard. He goes back to those Happy Days, too, and chats with the Fonz about this election. Again, funny and to the point. I knew that there was a reason that I admire Ron Howard.

Tags: Election 2008, Television by ecthompson md
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Wow– Senator John McCain stood up David Letterman. Was it so he could go back to Washington to help fix the economic crisis? Nope. He did it to be on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. Letterman simply rips McCain for most of the show. While he is at it, he runs over Sarah Palin also.

Tags: Economy, Election 2008, Media, Television by ecthompson md
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Ed McMahon the long time side-kick for the Tonight Show is trying to fight off foreclosure on his Beverly Hills home. McMahon is reportedly over $600,000 behind in his mortgage payments.

Tags: Economy, Television by ecthompson md
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Who would prejudge a beautiful well dressed blonde? Well, I would for one. I try not to prejudge any one but it happens. Lara Logan is a beautiful woman who has been in Iraq for over 5 years. I just didn’t think that she would bring it. I thought she would sugar coat what’s going on. NOT!! In your face!! She doesn’t pull any punches. When was the last time that the American people has seen a dead American soldier. That was one of her rhetorical questions. Jon Stewart was blown away by her frankness.

Tags: Iraq, Television, The Daily Show by ecthompson md
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Michelle Obama on the View. The thing that I truly like is that Michelle Obama can laugh at her situation. As Fox News goes on and on about her fist bump with Barack Obama (was it a terrorist pump). I think that she come off as real and genuine.

Tags: Election 2008, Television by ecthompson md
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My mother watches The View. I work. I talk with my mother frequently and she told me about The View’s discussion on the morning after Hillary Clinton’s non-concession speech. This is a very good discussion.

Tags: Election 2008, Television by ecthompson md
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• The GREAT director and actor Sydney Pollack has died. He fought cancer for the last six to seven months.
• Dick Martin of the revolutionary late 1960s comedy “Laugh In” died. In the late 60s this country seemed to be falling apart. There were several short-lived comedy’s which really changed television forever and “Laugh In” was one of those comedies. “Laugh In” was to America what “Monty Python” was to Britain.

Tags: Movies, Television by ecthompson md
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Today’s worst persons in the world – Rudy Giuliani finished 3rd for answering a question about whether he is worried or not by, wait for it, invoking 9/11, again. Bill O’Reilly has trouble differing between the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Fox Business Channel seems to be having trouble getting viewers. It is averaging 15,000 viewers in Primetime that’s not in one city but nationwide! Roger Ailes of Fox News announced at the launching of the Fox Business Channel that he wasn’t interested in anything short of a revolution. Oops no revolution here.

Worst person in the world - Roger Ailes [ 2:17 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Countdown, Television by ecthompson md
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In college I recall being turned-off when studying Henry David Thoreau. While I, like all people, have many conflicting impulses, maybe my strongest impulse is against someone separating himself from the whole.

I feel this way despite a strong wariness of the will of the political majority, however it may be defined at any given moment, and despite the atomistic bent of my solid 1980’s Midwestern hardcore punk rock credentials. 

Last week I watched an episode of Hawaii Five-O for the first time in many years. In this episode, top cop Steve McGarrett was asked to test some sort of telephone snooping device. McGarrett said into the phone, “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.”

This spoke to me. I’d heard it before—But for whatever reason it resonated with me very much on this one particular afternoon. I knew the quote was from Thoreau’s Walden.

So today I bought a copy of Thoreau. We’ll see if he reaches me or if my Andrew Jackson “of the people” impulses exert too strong a pull. 

Tags: Books, Television by Neil Aquino
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So, with the latest in signing statements, the White House believes that it can look at your mail. This really should not be a surprise to anyone. The White House has been pushing the envelope for 2 years now. This was really the next step.

Bush peeking at your mail [ 5:26 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Countdown, Domestic Issues, Domestic Spying, Television by ecthompson md
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