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Monday, November 22, 2010

JFK - Murdered 47 Years Ago Today

The team from my advertising agency was making a major presentation to the regional managers of Alitalia airlines who were meeting in Cincinnati. I was point man for the team, responsible for MCing the presentation. I spent the night at the Hilton and delivered our presentation at 10:00 AM on the morning of November 22, 1963.
The presentation was well received and we could count on the Alitalia business-at least for a while. (In advertising like the restaurant business, you're only as good as your last meal or campaign). The team and I headed to an upscale Italian restaurant for lunch to celebrate our victory. It was a two martini eventl that lasted over two hours, just at coffee, a waiter came to our table and told us that the President had been shot.
I left the restaurant and returned to the Hilton where I picked up my bag, checked out and headed to the airport. I don't remember the flight back to New York but I do remember going home and watching the news on the TV for several hours seeing Caroline "John John" and Jackie, Johnson and Oswald. I saw Ruby shoot Oswald and I knew that Camelot was over and that it had all been a fantasy - a dream.
For the 43 years I ignored politics completely. I had worked hard on JFK's campaign but after that, politics was a fool's game as far as I was concerned. In 2007 I saw Obama at a rally here in Austin and I thought that maybe JFK had a successor.
But Camelot ended a long time ago and Obama is no JFK.

Friday, November 19, 2010

TIME GOES BY | Social Security and President Obama

During Steve Kroft's interview with President Barack Obama on 60 Minutes, here's what the President said about the budget and Social Security:”You’re still confronted with a fact that the vast majority of the federal budget are things that people really think are important. Like Social Security and Medicare and defense.

“And so, you then have to start making some tough decisions about how do we pay for those things that we think are important. And you know, we're not gonna be able to balance the budget just by slashing the National Parks budget... “I mean, we're gonna have to, you know, tackle some big issues like entitlements that, you know, when you listen to the Tea Party or you listen to Republican candidates they promise we're not gonna touch.”

Richard Eskow, writing at Campaign for America's Future on Monday, commented on Obama’s remarks on 60 Minutes:
“That doesn't just sound as if he's preparing to cut the Medicare and Social Security 'entitlement' programs,” wrote Eskew. “It almost seems as if he's taunting the Tea Party and the GOP for not being tough enough to cut them.


“When a Democratic President sounds like he wants to outflank the Tea Party by running to its right, we're in deep trouble.”

Thursday, November 04, 2010

TIME GOES BY | REFLECTIONS: On Conflicts of Interest

TIME GOES BY | REFLECTIONS: On Conflicts of Interest: "During a broadcast of 'Open End' a TV panel show moderated by David Suskind in the late 1950's, Susskind tried to divert the panel's focus away from some very parochial gossip about the (mis) behavior of New York's 'litteratti' by broaching the subject of the Soviet Minister of Trade's unprecedented visit to the heartland of America. The panel appeared almost stunned by Susskind's non-sequitor, but then Norman Mailer responded by saying 'Mikoyan's just another poiltician and politicians are all whores. We're not discuss whores in front of a family audience are we?'

Like they say 'politics make strange bedfellows' and it looks like the political whores and the media whores are now sharing the same mattresses."

Monday, November 01, 2010

Jon Stewart Rally Attracts Estimated 215,000 - Political Hotsheet - CBS News

Jon Stewart Rally Attracts Estimated 215,000 - Political Hotsheet - CBS News: "An estimated 215,000 people attended a rally organized by Comedy Central talk show hosts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert Saturday in Washington, according to a crowd estimate commissioned by CBS News."
My youngest daughter was at the rally and she voted my proxy.
Are we winning? Not yet and unfortunately many of the people who did attend the rally may not even vote in this election. The "enthusiasm gap"
strikes again. I did vote (the Green ticket with two exceptions for Deomocrats I have confidence in) but I can empathize with the 60% of the electorate who probably won't get to the polls this year. The whole election "scene" is ugly and decidedly unpleasant. We're all going to need some serious catharsis when it's finally over.