Tuesday, September 27, 2016

RANDOM THOTS ON THE FIRST DEBATE

Hillary wore RED (state) dress; Donald wore BLUE (state) tie.

Here ended the surprises.

It was pretty much as predicted…HRC came well prepared with specifics (often too long answers) on her views and policies; The Donald was overly broad in his vision for America, backing off of specifics, even when asked several times for them by moderator Lester Holt, NBC News.

(Holt I think did a fairly good job under trying circumstances, only twice asking for proof of the candidates' statements, both times to Trump, and both times not getting it.)

The best political fact checker I know, the Washington Post, summarized this important aspect of the debate this way: "Her misstatements paled  in comparison to the list of Trump exaggerations and falsehoods.”

That included his support for the Iraq war (though he vehemently insisted there were 2 sources to support him and challenged the media to check them,) the “birther” controversy, the IRS audit,  and others.

HRC hit him hard on why he won’t release his tax returns (“what is he hiding? Maybe he paid no taxes”..as he did in several years of state returns. Trump’s response: “that just shows I’m smart”) Trump said he would “if she will release her 30 thousand DELETED e-mails.”  Kinda hard to do so Trump is safe here.

One surprise: other than that exchange he did not hit Sec. Clinton about her e-mail problems, which polls show is a big negative for her.

Overall impression, a broad one, is...no real news, both repeated their basic positions, but I have a general feeling this one went to the lady. (Near the end Trump made the mistake of challenging her “stamina” for the job, when it appeared he was rather tired, this being his first 90 minute debate.)

At the start of each campaign “the media” tell us debates don’t matter. Then, in many of them, as events move along, suddenly “the media” realizes “this time” they “could” be important.  They are always important.

As Jason Robards opined in “All the President’s Men”, “only the future of the republic  is at stake.”

I'm just sayin'...

Monday, September 19, 2016

NOTES ON FOOTBALL BROADCASTS...AND COMMERCIALS

While I was watching UK win its first game, I was gritting my teeth because the SEC network crew/broadcast was so bad!

Let me confess that I never liked the idea of an SEC network, feeling it was just another way for the most cash rich conference of all to squeeze more money out of fans. I was especially afraid each local cable system would charge extra...and I wasn’t going to pay that, even if it meant not watching the Cats. (which, given their record that year wasn’t a bad decision.) But, bless you TWC, you didn’t and you deserve credit...just as UK doesn’t for hiking ticket prices.

Anyow ,the broadcast team last Saturday was badddd. So were their graphics, when they had them. (They lost the ability to show how much time remained to get the ball snapped, and other non-important items...with nary a mention that they had, the cause, or why they suddenly came back...but just for one team. This coming after the failure of the headphone system left viewers with many questions, all UNanswered.)

But back to our stellar broadcast crew.  Try these..."The pass was caught…it’s incomplete”   ???

Or Mark Stoops jawing with several officials for a lonnngg time without any explanation of why or what.

Or 2 crucial occasions when the clock didn’t start…with no explanations.

Or “The flag is down...on the ground.”  Darn if it wasn’t.

And those stupid commercials...OK, broadcast  crew has nothing to do with that, but:

Does anyone know why Chase Bank would use some small porker in its ads, or what that voice is saying as the white piglet ambles along, or when the last time was that you saw a pig, or any animal in a bank?

Then there’s the milk of magnesium lady, who appears on a plane, without TSA screening...or those 2 Drivetime harridans who yell at people (losing my business righht there!)..or the non-funny Dr. Pepper salesman who has outlived his time…I could go on and on...

Some Uk games are bad enuff; we shouldn’t have to settle for lousy broadcasts, and their stupid commercials.

I'm just sayin'...

Sunday, September 11, 2016

ANNIVERSARY THOUGHTS

The tragedy of 9/11 is very fresh to most of us, and I wished we had learned more lessons from it than we have. Saw one list in the papers about “things you have probably forgotten” about those events.

Let me add one of my own.

The almost immediate desire of Congress to shield the airlines and others guilty of the most horrible breaches of security from being sued. Before the twin towers many different media had pointed out major lapses---showing how easy it was to smuggle arms, explosives, knives and box cutters (!) on board.  After each story the airlines promised to improve---but did not.  (Similar stories have run periodically since 2001, btw.)

Then came 9/11..and nearly 3000 people died. Remember the video tapes of the hijackers going easily thru security in Boston and other cities? I do. Congress did, but acting with enormous speed---which Washington can do when its interests (not ours) are threatened—it said the airlines couldn’t  be sued. Once again, Big Business, which had contributed to members of Congress in major ways---their identities often protected behind weak election laws (and now totally so by the Supreme Court’s infamous “Citizens United” decision) got its way…and the families of the victims never got their day in court—against U.S. firms..although Congress last week allowed them to sue Saudi Arabia because most of the hijackers came from there. (And we wonder why American Muslims feel threatened.)

There was another recent anniversary observed by the news media…of our bombing of Laos in the Vietnam war (never declared by Congress). More bombs fell in 2 years on this NEUTRAL nation that on Germany & Japan during WW2 combined. Some stories called the bombing “covert’ or “secret.” It was also illegal, Congress never declared war here either.

30% of the bombs failed to explode. An estimated 80 MILLION un-exploded bombs are there...many little “bomblets” which look like baseballs, and which have killed and maimed Laotian kids ever since.

On his visit there last week, Mr. Obama announced a tripling of aid funds to help find and defuse them. About time.

These are some of the things all Americans should remember about our past wars and why we should follow the Constitution and go to war legally and carefully.

I'm just sayin'...