Nobody Asked Me But....... by Leonard Balaban

As one who for years has been obsessed withed the misuse of the word
conservative, I recently sent a missive to update my years of frothing
at the mouth. Rereading it brought to mind a Bob and Ray skit in which a
“man on the street” reporter is interviewing a farmer who is having
trouble selling cranberries by the basket because folks tell him
“they’re bitter.” The reporter suggests making them into jelly, biscuits
or a sauce which “triggers” the cranberry man who takes notes, asking if
“there’s an e in sauce.” While this trivia is going on major police
activity is taking place with gun shots, sirens and lots of shouting,
while the reporter continues the interview.

Reviewing my letter reminded me of that reporter. Here I was, using
subjects either theoretical or dated to make a valid semantic point. At
the same time news was breaking daily about the biggest financial
disaster since the Great Depression and, in the process, providing prima
facie support for my case.

Our economy is verging on collapse because of the steady erosion of
safety measures created during the New Deal to prevent another
Depression. This erosion is the consequence of a combination... [More]

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Posted at: 07:29 PM | Permalink

At one point in the Democratic primary season Barack Obama’s description
of Ronald Reagan as a transformative figure in American politics drew
harsh criticism from Hillary Clinton. This seemed to me like a
reasonable statement on his part, not necessarily involving praise. He
could have said the same about Napoleon, Lenin or Mussolini, the latter
being a euphemism for you know who.

In my opinion, and possibly Obama’s, Ronald Reagan’s place in history
may sink to a level only slightly above that of George W. Bush. One
difference is that Reagan’s place will be more the result of domestic
considerations. He may have been guilty of unwarranted muscle flexing in
Grenada and various sins in Iran Contra, but he had the sense to abandon
Lebanon when circumstances warranted it. Bush has remained stubbornly
wrong in both areas.

The current predicament in which we now find ourselves, is similar in
many respects to the one that began in l929, for which blame has been
placed on Herbert Hoover. It also properly belonged to his predecessors,
Harding and Coolidge, in the way our current problems, book ended by
Reagan and “W,” belong to a lesser extent, to George H.W. Bush and Clinton.... [More]

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Posted at: 07:26 PM | Permalink

Some years ago Joe Muranyi and I had some fun with a political poster in Dutch Sint Maarten that read “Restore Honesty to Government. Reelect Claude Wathey.” Wathey was the island’s representative in the Dutch West Indies parliament, and his influence there, in the Dutch section, was greater there than that of our president in this country. It may not be hard to guess where this is going. John McCain is not trying to succeed himself. But he is the nominee of the party that has held the presidency for eight years. He has supported virtually every controversial position taken by our current president; the Iraq War, making permanent a regressive tax code, opposition to regulation of financial institutions, violations of the Fourth Amendment and resistance to environmental protection. If his presidency would be different from that of his predecessor, as he claims, the burden of proof is on him. So far he has less than a day to provide it. “What about Claude Wathey” you ask? I’m glad you asked that question because I know the answer. He was reelected. But in his attempt to “restore honesty to government” was eventually sentenced to jail.

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Posted at: 06:44 AM | Permalink

One of the few things on which the four major candidates agree is the
sanctity of the “middle class.” They disagree on what qualifies as
middle class. I wouldn’t presume to define it. But I’m sure it’s
something considerably less than a two family income of $250 thousand.
Sorry, Senator McCain.

For the statistically minded, the median average income for a family of
two is $50,233. Median average is the midpoint of wage earners. The mean
average is something about which you don’t need to know. Wall Street
Republicans would be only too happy to tell you because it includes the
astronomical incomes of people whose names are beginning to make news,
although not in the way they might have hoped.

According to Obama’s plan those earning nearly five times the median
income are taxed to that point at the same rate as lesser wage earners.
The excess is charged at an additional 4.6%. Simple arithmetic is
evidence this “penalty” is not on the middle class.

John McCain keeps saying that this marginal increase would discourage
small businesses. I don’t know at what point a small business becomes a
big one. Having been an owner of one of the small... [More]

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Posted at: 06:49 AM | Permalink

John McCain finally got his wish, a town hall with Barack Obama..
Earlier in the campaign he challenged Obama to do this on a weekly
basis. Try to imagine a movie in which Laurence Olivier slaps Basil
Rathbone in the face with his gloves and then defiantly says “I
challenge you to a duel sir. I’ll choose the weapons.”

* *

The more I think of Sarah Palin’s verbal gymnastics the more fun I have.
Her reference to belonging to a “team of mavericks” is either an
oxymoron or a hell of a good idea for a comedy. A definition of a
maverick is “a person of independent thought and action.” Being part of
a team, usually makes one a conformist. The “independent thought” part
would have the McCain team making a variety of contradictory arguments.
Come to think of it the Senator has done this by himself and, on
occasion, in a very short time. As to the “action” who knows? Ms Palin
just might find herself in Russia.

I think it’s fair to say that her field of knowledge could do with some
expansion. My suggestion is to enroll in a civics course, high school
for now. If... [More]

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Posted at: 04:09 PM | Permalink

During the l978 World Series Jim “Junior” Gilliam, coach for the Los
Angeles Dodgers, suffered a fatal stroke at the age of forty eight.
Having played for the Dodgers in both Brooklyn and L.A. and having been
physically active as a coach, his death was unexpected. Vic Dickenson,
the great trombone player with whom I had the privilege of working at
the time, made a remark which has stayed with me. Vic, then in his
seventies, whose life style had been the antithesis of Gilliam’s, said
“whatever you enjoy doing, do it till it hurts.”

I find this comment analogous to what is happening in America. There is
a striking similarity between many of today’s symptoms and those that
brought on the Great Depression. Unrestrained speculation was the major
cause in both cases. Regulations installed during the New Deal have
helped in preventing a recurrence. But too many of them have been
removed or emasculated in recent years. Neither political party has
clean hands. But based on the arithmetic of Congressional votes, those
of the Democrats are the cleaner than the Republicans’ and Barack
Obama’s are unsoiled compared to those of George Bush and John McCain.
Ronald Reagan’s “morning in... [More]

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Posted at: 04:08 PM | Permalink

I’m a bit embarrassed at spending time on someone as uninteresting as
the current Republican vice presidential nominee. But it’s hard to
ignore a person who, with the combination of two reasonable
possibilities, could become president.

There are certain things to be said about her with which any reasonable
person would agree. By most standards she is a physically attractive
woman who showed at the Republican Convention that she can read and
deliver a speech well. On the pother hand she is grossly under informed,
and hence unqualified, for the job she is seeking.

This should be evident from her answers to Katie Couric. Granted, the
question of how being Governor of Alaska for less than two years
qualifies as foreign policy experience was impossible to answer. But it
would never have been asked if she hadn’t made that claim. Rather than
citing the proximity of a most barren part of Alaska to a most barren
part of Russia, she could have claimed to be well read on the subject.
Of course, as we now know, that wouldn’t have worked out well either.

The idea that her “debate” performance showed improvement can be
dispelled by reading the transcript. It was... [More]

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Posted at: 04:07 PM | Permalink

It’s not often that a presidential election provides as many laughs as
this one and, if it ends up as the comedy I hope, four names should
stand out in their contributions to the lore of political humor, Sarah
Palin, Michelle Bachman, John McCain and Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher.
They have already given us more laughs than we are accustomed to and
should be good for more before the curtain falls on November 4.

Not since the days of Professor Irwin Cory have we been treated to such
a display of on sequiturs as Ms Palin delivered in her interview with
Katie Couric. Her comedic touch lost something in the subsequent debate
because, unlike Ms Couric, Gwen Ifill didn’t ask the requisite follow up
questions. But even then Ms Palin showed an uncanny ability to string
together a group of phrases apropos of a large variety of issues and, on
occasion, even the one in question. Her reference to the “Palin/McCain
ticket was a nice touch. I suggest that the host close her shows with
“say goodnight Sarah.”

Michelle Bachman’s humor is of a more angry nature. “Anti America,”
rather than “anti- American,” as she has been misquoted, left no... [More]

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Posted at: 04:05 PM | Permalink

Thursday, October 2, was a sad night in the field of comedy for what
remains of the year. It was the first time we heard the new Sarah Palin
and the result was a major disappointment. The traditional dramatic
component of possible tragedy has now been added to comedy to round out
the story.

In the little time we have known her, she has been a breath of fresh air
in the world of humor. Hilarious comic fantasies, like Putin sneaking
into the United States over the Bering straits, had us in stitches.
Alas, those nemeses of entertainment, agents, have taken over the show.
Their decision seems to be that too much of their product was being
given too quickly and too cheaply. I guess their calculations came from
that old business of supply and demand.

I wish they’d have left the format of the Katie Couric show intact.
There the informality led to relaxed open spaces. The sequences of non
answers to questions were hilarious by themselves. But the response to a
follow up usually brought down the house. The availability of unlimited
time gave Ms Palin room to fill with non sequiturs reminiscent of
Professor Irwin Cory and... [More]

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Posted at: 06:49 AM | Permalink

This past weekend I wrote that I was undecided about the proposed
bailout, but opposed to any plan that had no oversight. The ambivalence,
which was moving toward approval, was a consequence of Bush’s speech on
Friday in which he said “it should establish a bipartisan board to
oversee the plan’s implementation.”

Evidently oversight meant something akin to escorting Treasury Secretary
Paulson to his office. As I learned tonight after the bill’s defeat,
part of the text was identical to what was first presented by Mr.
Paulson. It read “Decisions made by the Secretary pursuant to the
authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency
discretion, _and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any
administrative agency._”

Wow! I share the belief that some radical measures may be necessary to
save the economy from complete collapse and if they may be necessary
then they are. But not this radical. Allowing the executive branch
unfettered authority over the disbursement of $700 billion during its
final four months is something bad waiting to happen.

In a situation this serious the Bush administration should be expected
and willing to give in on the matter of unfettered control. From... [More]

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Posted at: 06:45 AM | Permalink