I've had two instances where there have been Republican figures who, years back, got a lot of praise from Democrats and liberals for being at the very least sane and reasonable compared to the core of what's out there -- and I argued that I didn't agree. That they were both sane and reasonable on the surface, but that's only because they were talking about things that were sane and reasonable, and you don't get bonus points for being sane and reasonable, and that I sensed much too often they were actually saying some really thoughtless, nasty and obnoxious things. And as time has passed, I believe I have been shown to be correct.
In the first case, I absolutely know for certain I've been shown to be correct. That's because the person being discussed maybe 20-25 years ago was Lindsey Graham. There was a point back then when he was saying a few things that were not reprehensible (which admittedly is a low standard), and so he came across to many as "sane and reasonable." I just always argued that I didn't think he was a "Good Guy" at all. Because much too often he'd take positions that no "Good Guy" would say, let alone think. The other was Meghan McCain. When her father ran for President in 2008 -- the only reason she has gotten attention and built a career, but that's how life works, so be it -- she got attention for seeming to be an actual moderate among Republicans. My sense, however, was that while she might be "moderate among Republicans," that's like saying "Not as far-right as Attila the Hun" and doesn't carry much meaning. I would argue that I didn't think she was a moderate at all, just that she might be moderate on a small handful of positions and was somewhat sane. Again, a very low standard. But overall, I thought she was fairly right-wing and not remotely as insightful as some people where hoping and grasping for. And this was 12 years ago, long before I had any idea she would marry the publisher of the very far-right The Federalist, who is also one of the co-founders of the very far-right RedState website. [This corrects and updates the original draft.] To be clear: I don't color a person's opinions by who they marry. But when one's opinions so often do overlap those of your spouse, it's not unreasonable to address to think they there is a connecting bond. And in the intervening 12 years, especially since becoming a co-host of The View, Meghan McCain has shown herself to be whiney, privileged, far-right, self-absorbed and not very insightful at all. And when she did criticize Trump, it never came across to me that it was because she was moderate, sane and reasonable, but just because he hated her father and was mean towards him. By the way, that's a perfectly great reason for anyone to dislike someone else, but it doesn't make you moderate, sane and reasonable. So, again, I think I've been shown to be correct. I bring this all up because a video clip of Ms. McCain was posted, which her whining on The View about the COVID-19 coronavirus and the CDC and Dr. Anthony Fauci and how it all affected her and others, though mostly I think her. This isn't close to the worst of Meghan McCain. In some ways, it's a bit benign. But "a bit benign" is in comparison to the worst -- it's not benign at all. And it's very typical of her normal disinformation, selfishness and inaccuracy. It's only about a minute-and-a-half, so check it out first.
“The fact that I, Meghan McCain, co-host of ‘The View,’ I don’t know when or how I will be able to get a vaccine because the rollout for my age range and my health is so nebulous," she said. And then, “I’m over Dr. Fauci."
Man, talk about "nebulous." Pure, unfiltered Meghan McCain. At her most normal. This from Ms. McCain is just filled with "disinformation" (which is the polite term). The CDC & Dr. Fauci have been quite clear on things that can be done safely after getting vaccinations. And further, her complaints of how disorganized the rollout of vaccinations is -- is specifically because it was all ignored by the Trump administration. Next to nothing was done during his time in office -- from having enough vaccine manufactured to setting up the roll-out of distribution to creating vaccination centers to helping fund states to organize it all. The Biden Team is playing catch-up, and doing extremely well trying to extricate from a truly massive Trump screwup. And although one can argue that as subjective (no matter how accurate it is...), her "Get a shot, have a shot" line Ms. McCain tried to use to shame the CDC is actually factually wrong. That line she quotes is NOT about Israel opening bars now that people have been vaccinated, which is the impression she tries to give -- and which (giving her the benefit of the doubt) is what she thinks, as opposed to knowing otherwise and lying about it. The line, "Get a shot, have a shot" was a promotion done in Tel Aviv where a mobile vaccination center was set up at a local bar -- and they gave away a free shot of liquor to adults who got a first vaccination!! That was not the Worst of Meghan McCain. But it was the typical. Yes, people makes mistakes. But some people make them oh-so much more often and some people who appear as a co-host on television show have the responsibility to check out the truth of what you say before you say it to millions of people and end up passing along disinformation. I'd add, too, that if one does do this sort of thing regularly, you should regularly apologize and correct all the untruths. All of them. But The View is only on for an hour each day, and I guess they need that time to also do other things on show...
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On last night's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, his Main Story about about the meatpacking industry. Not about the conditions in processing the food, but the awful conditions for people working there, most especially under the reality of the pandemic. Some of the piece is impressively funny, but what stands out is how it builds steam and angry he gets by the end. I was ready my pal Mark Evanier's website last night, and he wrote a lovely piece here about our mutual friend Mel Sherer who had just passed away. (It's well-worth checking out.) Mel was an absolutely wonderful guy with a long, deeply-admirable career in comedy writing. He also had gotten pummeled by illness 15-20 years ago, and it largely took him out of commission, but he held on for a long time. I last saw him about 10 years when I went over to his house for a visit, and it was tough, but a real pleasure. Because Mel was a real pleasure -- generous and kind. Though we hadn't seen each other since then, we did trade emails on occasion. Too rare. Rather than go into more detail about Mel's work, instead I want to re-post an article I wrote about him back about eight years ago. Among all the other things, it goes into what was probably the most notable writing partnership he had, and reprehensibly the one he got the least-credit for -- working for years with Andy Kaufman. And just to clarify upfront, no, it wasn't Andy Kaufman responsible for the "reprehensible" part. The point was to set the record straight. And to celebrate a great career and terrific guy. Which is quite appropriate today, well, when you get down to it. From May 18, 2013. Pal MelThere was a long, well-researched article yesterday in the Huffington Post that was sort of the opposite-Obama. The point of it wasn't that there are people who won't believe a birth certificate about where someone was born, but rather that there are people who won't believe a death certificate that says someone died. In this case, the someone is Andy Kaufman. But this here isn't to convince the unconvincable of anything. I leave that to themselves. This is to address one minor thing in the article, where it talks about "Kaufman's longtime partner-in-crime," as the article puts it, Bob Zmuda. Every time you read an article about Andy Kaufman, it tends to quote Bob Zmuda. There are books that reference Bob Zmuda, as Andy Kaufman's partner. And all of that is true. What isn't true is the impression all these articles and books give that Bob Zmuda was Andy Kaufman's sole writing partner. What they all leave out is Mel Sherer. Mel Sherer is a friend (and a wonderful, generous guy, beyond the ordinary levels of generosity) who has a long career writing comedy, from sitcoms to variety to stand-up. He's been a collaborator with Kevin Nealon of Saturday Night Live for years. Look him up on the iMDB. Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Married with Children and a lot more. And the very first credit you'll see there is -- Andy's Funhouse. There is a lot of other writing that Mel has done than what's listed in the iMDB, but he's just not taken credit for it. Because of his long, admired career in comedy, many people in the field have come to Mel for last-minute help or tweaks. You know that famous scene in Roxanne, Steve Martin's updating of Cyrano de Bergerac, when Martin's character, 'C.D. Bales,' humiliates an adversary in a bar by coming up with a couple dozen great, nose insults? Well...they needed a couple dozen great, nose insults. And finally, at the last minute, ready to shoot but not pleased with what they had, they came to Mel for help. Some of that scene is Mel. Uncredited. Mel has done a great deal of uncredited work because...that's Mel. He regularly has given away story ideas. "Here's a good one. You can have it." And through all that, Mel was partners with Andy Kaufman. (And Bob Zmuda.) Not just writing, but occasionally performing. You may know there have been times when Kaufman appeared at the same time on stage as his obnoxious alter-ego Tony Clifton, and people couldn't figure out how that was possible. Usually that was Bob Zmuda made up as Clifton -- and so the word has spread that it was always Zmuda. But it wasn't. Occasionally it was Mel. Bob Zmuda had a lot to do with Andy Kaufman's career. But so did Mel Sherer. It's worth noting that on the Andy Kaufman website (which appears to be fan-based), there is a review of Bob Zmuda's biography on Kaufman that praises the biography in part, but criticizes it a good deal for self-aggrandizement, and at one point states -- "Why did Mr. Zmuda conveniently forget the following individuals? Mel Sherer Merrill Markoe Little Wendy" To be clear, it's not that Mel didn't get the full credit he deserves in the book. It's that he didn't get mentioned. It's bizarre and inexplicable. Mel tends to shrug things like this off all the time. He has a Buddha-like outlook on life. Or maybe he's just so used to it that he gave up being bothered long ago. I like the Buddha theory. But at least he was discussed in Bill Zehme's biography of Kaufman, Lost in the Funhouse. And there have been things like the E! True Hollywood Story on Andy Kaufman where Mel Sherer was properly included. By the way, just so you know, I embed these images so that it's clear this is not just a friend speaking up for another friend, but can't support it. It can be supported. There's so much more. Mel Sherer and Andy Kaufman were writing partners for a very long time. Not Kaufman's only partner, but significant, and integral to his career. And for too long, he's put up with being much-too overlooked, and not saying a word about it. I just like the guy so much that every once in a while I like to point all this out, even if Mel is content being Buddha. And this will not be the last time I point it out. I like saying it too much. As a brief addendum to the above article, I want to mention that when it was originally posted, it received a terrific user comment. It's arguably one of the most meaningful I've received. Actually, no, there's nothing "arguably" about it. The person wrote -- "Thank you, Bob, more than I can say here. This is the greatest thing anyone has ever done for me outside of medicine and sex. And it's damn close to at least one of those two. Mel Sherer."
To which I replied -- "I had the easy part. You did the work." On this week’s ‘Not My Job’ segment of the socially-distanced NPR quiz show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, is singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers, who host Peter Sagal describes as “the most NPR-friendly singer-songwriter” and “the most wonderful person ever to write and perform really sad songs.” I can see why – she is hilariously low-key, open and self-effacing, including when she talks about the challenge of writing happy songs about her life that aren’t mundane. And as a side note, she was the musical guest last week on Saturday Night Live.
On this week’s episode of 3rd and Fairfax, the official podcast of the Writers Guild of America, the guest is writer-director Judd Apatow, co-screenwriter of The King of Staten Island as well as Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, This is 40 and much more. He talks about his recent film, career, and creative process.
This week's contestant is Chuck Romportl from Hopkins, Minnesota. I was able to get the hidden song pretty quickly. The composer style, though, is in that area of which I generally have to toss a coin, and didn't get it. And in fairness, it's pretty tough. To my shock, the contestant actually guessed the composer style right off -- but didn't get the hidden song. Only on a second go-round, where pianist Bruce Adolphe brought the song out more, did he guess correctly.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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