HBO premieres their new documentary "Being Mary Tyler Moore" tonight, co-starring Treva Silverman. Oh, okay, maybe Treva doesn't co-star, but she's my friend (and won two Emmy Awards writing for "The Mary Tyler Moore Show") and she's interviewed in the film, so I'm biased. Furthermore, she's seen the documentary and says it's wonderful. So, I believe her and consider my bias justified. Here's the trailer. Unfortunately, Treva isn't in it, but since it's only about 2-1/2 minutes, that's really not much of a problem. By the way, my theory is that HBO decided to withhold her from the trailer to build up anticipation. This "Media Alert" has been brought to you by the Let's Do Something Nice for Treva Silverman Today Society. And it is the Society's belief that when Treva reads this, she'll think it's very thoughtful, but much too much since the documentary is about Mary and "I love Mary, so just get on with it and show the trailer already." Fair enough.
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About a decade ago, I wrote a piece here about the Smothers Brothers where I mentioned that few people remember that their first TV series was not their famous Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour variety show that ran from 1967-69 before getting into ongoing censorship problems with CBS. Rather, I noted that they’d had a sitcom called The Smothers Brothers Show that was on for a season in 1965. It was about Tom returning to earth as an angel and getting involved with brother Dick’s life. I mentioned, too, that I even still remembered the theme song and quoted the lyrics. Tonight you'll meet Two brothers who Just happen to be us. Though Tom is slightly different -- A problem we will now discuss. My brother Tom Was lost at sea Without his water wings. And now he is an angel And tries to do amazing things. That's right! Brother Dick, It's no trick If you see Lots of different people Who look a lot like me. An angel on A visit to His brother her below. There's miracles astart But they always come apart On the Smothers Brothers Show. There's miracles astart But they always come apart On the Smothers Brothers Show. Well, it turns out that I’ve found an episode of that show! It’s not a particularly great one, it’s their Christmas episode that has to do with donating toys to Marines. But it’s still fun to see something long-forgotten. The show always began with a little dialogue between the two before the theme song kicks in, and you’ll get to see that I came pretty close. (I think I got one word wrong – it’s “faces”, not “people.) They also sing a number in the opening scene, which I don’t remember if that was always the case or not. Of note, as well, as is that near the end, around the 18-19 minute mark, there’s a scene in a department store, and a very little girl has a smart part and a line. Watching the credits at the end, it happens that she’s Eve Plumb, who four years later would play ‘Jan Brady’ on The Brady Bunch. Also worth mentioning is that the show was co-created by Aaron Spelling, who later would executive produce such series as Beverly Hills, 90210; Melrose Place, Dynasty and Charlie’s Angels. (Well, at least he got one show with angels to succeed…) And it was produced by Fred DeCordova, who would produce The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Anyway, here’s the episode from their other show – This will be of interest to members of the Writers Guild in Los Angeles. Sorry to all others.
Gino’s East is one of the more popular deep dish restaurants in Chicago. A few years ago, they opened a branch in Sherman Oaks, which is owned and operated by longtIme WGAW member Tod Himmel and SAG/AFTRA member Dan Michaels. They sent an email today with a bunch of new specials, but then wrote (and the bold-face is all theirs) -- "We would not have been able to open our business if not for the wages, benefits, residuals and pensions we earned thanks to our guilds’ collective bargaining. "We support our WGAW comrades in the fight for a living wage. Bring in your WGA/SAG card and receive 25% off any pizza during the work stoppage." Well, good on them. They're located at 12924 Riverside Drive,, Sherman Oaks. (818) 788-5050. This is a link to their website. Their Facebook page here has more information about the restaurant. So many things to choose from to write about today, but we’re going with "Meet Ron DeSantis!" Quite the way to introduce yourself to the national public.
Horrific as it was, that’s not the only reason to address his “Welcome to Me” moment, though it’s a good starting point. It was a thorough debacle. However, as awful as it was (and it was really awful), I don’t think it was anywhere near as problematic as it appears. After all, it’s a long race, DeSantis will have a mass of TV ads and a full schedule of events, and then there will be debates, so however dismal as his introduction was, it’s only a small part of his campaign. And there will plenty more hurdles and chances to screw up further. Certainly there will be highs, but Hurricane Trump has barely begun to head in his direction. Where the tech meltdown will have its biggest impact, I think, is if (or when) his campaign hits some road bumps, the news media (and Trump’s team) will likely bring out clips of the debacle as being indicative of whatever his current hiccups are. Actually, I think this was a bigger screw-up for Elon Musk. It was only a terrible “introduction” for DeSantis, though Republicans already have a reasonable idea who he is. For Musk, though, this was his chance to showcase Twitter and perhaps reclaim some interest that’s he’s whittled away through his galling incompetence. Instead, it’s quadrupled down and was a laughingstock for the platform, made worse for pointing to the cutbacks Musk has made. That said, DeSantis has much bigger problems than an incompetent "Hi, Folks, This is Me!" And biggest of all is that, as I wrote a couple weeks ago, I think DeSantis has only one chance to get the nomination. And it’s not if Trump gets indicted (again) on a national security breach with the documents in Mar-a-Lago. Which, you have to admit, is a pretty major deal to not be big enough to help DeSantis. But consider: Trump already has not only been indicted in Manhattan, but he also was found guilty of sexual abuse and fined $5 million. And he’s still leading DeSantis by 31 points! So, what’s one more “witch hunt” indictment to his acolyte base? Even it’s over national security. Indeed, Trump’s base is so maniacally loyal that I think it might take a couple more indictments (Mar-a-Lago and Georgia, perhaps) and maybe even a third -- as well as perhaps adding on a conviction. (Though it seems unlikely that any court case could advance far enough for there to be a conviction before November, 2024.) Consider, too, as I noted previously: Trump doesn’t have to win 51% of the primary votes. He just has to win more than his opponents dividing up the “not Trump” vote in any state race. And Trump is starting with a solid 30% of the Republican base who seemingly would have to be pried from voting for him. And then add on just 10% from the remaining voters, which gives Trump 40% as a starting point. With all the other candidates in the race – and especially if Mike Pence decides to run – then Ron DeSantis will have a lot of support divided many ways, as he tries to top that 40% start for Trump. Certainly, most of the other candidates will drop out. But as they do, Trump will have been picking up delegates. And most of them will be dropping out because of Trump’s attacks on them, which – as happened in 2016 – only made him seem stronger and tough. So, it seems to me that Ron DeSantis has a very narrow, long, thin dirt path to tread to any chance of victory. And that path has nothing to do with how good he does or poorly Trump does. It has to do with what happens in court. And as much as DeSantis is likely counting on that, he’d better be able to count high, because from what we already see, it appears that it will take an earthquake of legal action to crush the earth from under Trump to deny him the GOP nomination. And…and – And if that happens, if Trump doesn’t get the nomination, and let’s say Ron DeSantis does, it’s hard to imagine anyone rational thinking that Trump will go gently in that good night. Even if it’s because he’s facing prison (or even in prison). He will do all he can to bring down the Republican nominee, because it’s no him leading the party, and may even tell his acolytes not to vote because it’s all rigged and stolen from him. This is a long way of saying I don’t know why DeSantis decided to run. He’s only 44 years old. Trump won’t be on the ballot in four years. He’d have had four more years to build up his fascist cred, and show his loyal support for Trump and become Trump’s favorite. But he chose to run. And in running, Trump will do everything he can to destroy DeSantis, who either will be destroyed – for this year and the future -- or he’ll win the Republican nomination, get his chance, and be destroyed by Trump, ruining his chance and future. To be clear, I could be wrong about all this. And even if DeSantis doesn’t get the nomination, he could perhaps come back in four years. That’s a couple of “could’s.” It would have been so much easier, and I think so much better, to have waited, and then have a far more open field in four year. Rather than get sucked into the Trumpian muck. And his national introduction didn’t help. This is unfortunately only the first part of a two-part segment, and I can't find more, but it’s well-worth it. It’s Moe Howard of the Three Stooges as a guest on The Mike Douglas Show. And in this part, he talks about how the Stooges began, and how the trio changed over the years. I may have posted this before, but if so, it was years ago, and fun to see again. If it is "again." Okay, yes, that's a little bit harsh. But only a little-bit. Because it's well-earned by his own hand. Oh, my. If Alan Dershowitz hasn't been getting many party invites before back in Martha’s Vineyard, his Wall Street Journal op-ed on Monday won't help. It's titled, "Elon Musk Is Right About George Soros—and Not Anti-Semitic." And no, I'm not kidding. He really wrote that. Honest. Putting aside other points to debate that Dershowitz want to argue on behalf of some of Musk's statements being "right" and "not Anti-Semitic," what the once-admired attorney much too conveniently is happy to overlook and give a kindly pass to is when Musk says (among other things) about Mr. Soros such deeply anti-Semitic smears as “He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity.” Gee, hmmm, I don’t know, but to me that’s pretty hard to ignore when trying to insist someone is "right" and "not anti-Semitic". But then, hey, that’s me. (I was going to add that after saying that George Soros “wants to erode the very fabric of civilization” and “hates humanity” Musk didn’t bother to give any evidence to explain how he knew this was so. But then I figured the statement was pretty damning all on its own, without even having to add “Oh, yeah?? Prove it.”) There are certain basics in communication that are pretty well accepted, and as an attorney, I’m sure that Alan Dershowitz knows them. And one of the most basic – that I’m sure he's most-especially aware of – is that agreeing with someone on one point does not even remotely mean ALL things that person has said are therefore correct. So, the fact that Alan Dershowitz wants to insist (rightly or rightly) that one point or another that Elon Musk has made about George Soros are true does not even remotely mean all things Musk has said about Mr. Soros are therefore correct and not at all anti-Semitic. Like, for instance, as just a starting point, that George Soros “wants to erode the very fabric of civilization” and “hates humanity.” I am sure there are a great many things that Nick Fuentes – the white supremacist who Kanye West brought to dinner at Mar-a-Lago with Trump – has said about Jews and Black people that were completely valid (like, to make up one, “Jews don’t believe in Jesus Christ.” Or "Blacks work hard"), but to extrapolate that to then say, "See! Nick Fuentes is right about Jews and Black people and not a white supremacist in the slightest" misses the entire point by ignoring all the virulent white supremacist things Fuentes has, in fact, made a career saying. Like telling Jews to "get out fuck out of America.” And "You serve the devil. You serve Satan. ... I piss on your Talmud." As well as complaining about "flooding the zone with "ni**er votes". I am going to guess that even Alan Dershowitz would agree that things like that totally dismiss any – no, sorry, all – of the lovely, accurate things Nick Fuentes has said in his life. And that Fuentes is, in fact, a white supremacist. Yet he gives a pass to Elon Musk because Musk said a few things about George Soros that Dershowitz (rightly or wrongly) agrees with. In fairness to Dershowitz, he has maintained the ability for using hyperbole to make a point, which is always a top quality when trying to explain why someone’s anti-Semitic attacks should be ignored. In fact, his over-exaggerated comment, “The Hungarian-born billionaire has done more than anyone to turn Americans against Israel” was so important to Dershowitz that he made it his sub-headline. ("More than anyone," not bad. If that won't get your cockles up, what will?!) Two things leap out here – First is that I would suggest that America has not actually turned against Israel at all. Some Americans have, but then some Americans are actually anti-Semitic. And some Americans hate foreign aid to any country. And some Americans strongly support Israel, but don’t like the current extreme-right conservative leadership in Israel. But overall, America has very strong support of Israel. Including support from the religious right who absolutely love Israel with a fervent passion, though that’s because of it being the home base for End Times when all Jews will be consumed in flames unless they convert to Christianity. More to the point, even if Alan Dershowitz wants to argue that George Soros doesn’t support the current extreme-right leadership in Israel (which is the case for many Americans having zero to do with George Soros), I would suggest that the extreme-right, Trump-supporting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has done significantly more than not just George Soros, but everyone to turn those Americans who are against the current regime in Israel against it. And second, Dershowitz’s oh-so adorable use of “Hungarian-born billionaire” to describe George Soros not only leaps out in attempting to smear him with images of xenophobic hatred, and outrage against totalitarian Nazis and oligarchs, but also ignores calling Elon Musk the “South African-born one-time richest man in the world.” Gee, go figure. In the end, Alan Dershowitz’s op-ed says far more about the descent of Alan Dershowitz than it does about George Soros or Elon Musk, the man who yesterday helped promote for president of the United States a governor who is banning books, removing Black history from education, undermining women’s health, blocking health care for transgender children, making it illegal to mention LGBTQ people in schools, tricking undocumented immigrants for deportation to other states, using the power of his political office to try to destroy a corporation for disagreeing with his law against gays, and outlawing how people dress when reading books to children...who Alan Dershowitz says is "right" and not anti-Semitic. The one good thing, though, about Alan Dershowitz complaining about not getting invited to parties for his growing outlandish positions is that it means more food for the rest of us. |
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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