Yes, this is actually from Dictionary.com --
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On this week’s episode of 3rd and Fairfax, the official podcast of the Writers Guild of America, the guest is Darlene Hunt, who developed the series Call Me Kat and is the showrunner. Among her other credits are writing for The Conners (for which she was also consulting producer) and The Big C, which she created and was executive producer. She talks about her experiences with these series and others, and about writing comedy for primetime TV.
Bear with me, it's worth it. Really. Henrik Lundqvist retired today after 15 seasons as the goaltender for the New York Rangers in the NHL. born in Jämtland, Sweden, Lundqvist helped lead the Swedish Olympic team to the Gold medal in 2016. During his years in the NHL, he won the Vezina Trophy as best goaltender in 2012. So, on the occasion of his retirement, it's only proper to honor the 39-year-old Swede with his appearance in a "This is SportsCenter" ad for ESPN, one of the more off-beat and funny, which is saying a lot for the long-running series of ads are very off-beat and funny.
The video is funny on its own, but the use of the music (and timed perfectly) puts it on another level.
Make sure to unmute it --
As Republicans have gone into Full Battle Mode attacking President Biden for the collapse of Afghanistan and the ensuing chaos, my sense is that -- as much as I understood the GOP desperate to find any possible cracks they could attack Joe Biden on -- it struck me as very premature and something that could backfire on them with significant blowback. After all, it's not like the Afghan War was popular. Nor that we hadn't been there for 20 years. And that several thousand American lives had been lost. And that a couple trillion dollars hadn't been spent. And that if a country couldn't or wouldn't defend itself from civil war after 20 years of training, then another year or five or 20 were going to make everything good. So, what was the alternative Republicans were suggesting? Stay in Afghanistan? For how long?
In a new poll just out, people were asked about that very question, the popularity of the War in Afghanistan, and whether the 20 years was worth it. It's not just that a big majority of 62% said no -- but that included 57% of Republicans! (The number of Democrats who said, no, the War in Afghanistan was not worth it was 67%.) From that, it certainly would seem like if the American public feel the war wasn't worth it, then they probably would feel it's right thing to do to get out. As it happens, two additional polls were released, as well. And both of them confirm that sensibility. A poll that was taken during the turbulent and chaotic withdrawal shows that the public supported the withdrawal by 49-37%. And even more notably, a poll taken after Kabul fell, and the Taliban took over the country shows that the public still supports the withdrawal, 40-28%. Keep in mind, those two polls were during the worst period. So, it's hard to imagine that as time passes, more Americans and Afghan personnel are evacuated, and the situation stabilizes, the numbers should have nowhere to go but up. In fact, already there are stories about the Taliban having a difficult time governing, which should only help the perception of Biden's decision. That difficult the Taliban are having may change, but as easy as their takeover was, it's not like they're being welcomed with garlands and open arms. So, for all we know, their difficulty may even worsen. And the more that Republicans try to hammer Biden (and hammer him relentlessly) for his decision, the worse they'll look. To be very clear, the Biden Administration has made some profound mistakes. The planning to get Americans and Afghan personnel out has been poor and tragic. Hopefully plans now will rectify some of that and get tens of thousands more out by the time the U.S. fully leaves. Hopefully. That doesn't excuse the poor planning, but it will lesson the problem. Hopefully. But I don't think that will be the issue to most Americans, because all of that is part of the question of withdrawal, arguably central to it - and since those polls show that Americans are agreeing with the withdrawal during it at its absolute worst, they're not questioning the action or the competence of Biden's decision or the problem with the exit visas. And they will be even less concerned as the situation gets hopefully better. The exit visas situation has been handled poorly. But President Biden touched on that in his speech the other day, saying that many Afghans didn't want to leave their country early, so there likely weren't many visas to process. This doesn't excuse that it was a mess, it should have been streamlined and in place for when the withdrawal finally did take place. But I don't think that's a core issue to the general American public. The core issue to them is "Yes, we should have gotten out after 20 years, and Afghans didn't even defend their own country from themselves." Further, as I said, I suspect the Administration and military be doing their best to get as many Americans and Afghan personnel out before completely departing. So, the mess should improve. And Republicans are pounding relentless on President Biden about this, questioning his competence, calling it the most "humiliating" action in U.S. history. Pounding, pounding, non-stop. But the public is saying in these polls that their concern is just getting out of Afghanistan, and Biden did that. And I think the more the GOP pounds Biden on an issue that will seem like it's contrary to getting out, it will be counterproductive. Further, as time passes, not only will the chaos and exist visas and all the issues be hopefully lessened - but information keeps coming out on the Trump administration support of the Taliban, of Trump releasing its co-founder and soon-to-be president in Afghanistan, of Trump releasing 5,000 Taliban fighters, of Trump praising the Taliban for killing "some bad people," of Trump gloating in June that he forced the withdrawal for May - three months earlier than Joe Biden was able to extend it, but just yesterday Trump's own Director of National Intelligence quoted Trump saying that Afghans wouldn't last "two days" - after a withdrawal that he pushed for and signed. And wanted to do so with the Taliban at Camp David over 9/11. The withdrawal was not handled well, it deserves being questioned and fixed. But the public is saying "We support the withdrawal." And the more that Republican push back against that, the worse I think it will be for them. As I've noted, I'm a big fan of The Dodo, which I think has the very best "adorable animal videos," to the degree that they transcend the concept. In fact, they're so good and such a good organization that they've made several specials for the Animal Planet channel, wonderfully endearing stories about protecting animals. I've collected a lot of videos from The Dodo, and will post them here from time to time. And we'll begin with this, about what might be, as the video says, the world’s most adorable badger. It's a rescue named Billie, and as much as badgers are known to be tough, feisty creatures, Billie is just...lovable. |
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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