Marginalia Americana 09.2.0: Well, I Think It's Funny

"I had a million-dollar book deal, and that million-dollar book deal was with Judith Regan, and she didn't like the story that she got," Denise Brown told CNN's "Larry King Live" in 2004.

"She wanted to have the tabloid. She wanted to have the cocaine, the drugs, the dancing, all that stuff," Denise Brown said. "And I said, you know what? Nobody can pay me enough money to write a story like that about my sister."

Two million, maybe?

Marginalia Americana 09: The Bushes Take Cover; and O.J.-Just What the Media Ordered For Christmas

From the People at Newsweek…




The covers from last week's Newsweek: the left one from the US edition and the right one from the international versions:

If I had to make a choice, I'd say the US version was more disrespectful. And we'd never have known if we hadn't had the Internet.

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As did Fred Goldman, the long-suffering Simpson agonist. "Even for him, it's about as low as you could possibly go," he told NEWSWEEK. "This is a guy who is a complete narcissist and a sociopath." Goldman vowed to go after any money Simpson makes from the project.

Go Freddy, go!

She said she gave the cash to a third party, "and I was told the money would go to his children. That much I could live with."

Funny. I heard that too. And I know she made doubly sure, because she wouldn't want to be slapped with a co-conspiracy charge for fraud, criminal or civil, no? Besides, his kids approved, didn't they?

Bill O'Reilly slammed his Fox bosses, said he wouldn't watch the show or look at the book and threatened to boycott any product that was advertised during the interview.

And he swore that all the money he receives from Fox from now o shall go to his children. At least that's what I was told. And I can live with that.

Marginalia Americana 08: West Side Story Reminds Me That I've Grown Old

I caught West Side Story on cable the other day. No it wasn't the tears that came so easily to my eyes that made me feel so old. That's the great songs, the brilliant choreography, working their magic.

No, it was the gentility, the quaintness of it all, that made me feel my best days were long past. For one, it's the grudging deference that the boys show to Officer Krepke. (No backup!) There would be no way that the crowds would even listen to him today. And the double-deaths of Tony and Maria would merely be a prelude to a growing spiral of rapes, drive-bys, and shootouts.

The breakdown of authority is not limited to the American ghetto, nor America alone, and it certainly has had its share of salutary effects. Yet it has also undermined the sense of security and stability that　 social order that an established authority affords. It is then no wonder that what some call the Fourth Great Awakening has taken hold of much of Christian America.

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この間、「ウェストサイド物語」をケーブルテレビで見ました。容易に涙が湧いてきましたが、年をとったなあと思ったのは、別にその勢ではありません。あれは、すばらしい音楽、すばらしい振り付けの魔力です。

いや、年をとったと感じさせられたのは、このミュージカルに感じた品のよさというか、古ぶりというか。ひとつには、クラプキ巡査部長にいやいやとはいえ示す青年達の敬意です。今なら、誰も耳を貸そうとすらしないでしょう。また、トニーとマリアの死も、強姦と射撃のエスカレートする報復合戦の始まりに過ぎないはずです。

権威の崩壊は、アメリカの貧民街に限られたことではないし、アメリカ一国の問題でもありません。また、それはそれで、十分な恩恵ももたらしています。しかし、確立された権威が提供してくれた社会的秩序に根差した安全と安定の意識を突き崩していくものでもあります。とすれば、キリスト教アメリカに第四次の「大覚醒運動」と一部の人々に言われるものが起こっているのも、納得のいくことです。

Saddam Hussein Sentenced to Death; But Is Kerry Any Better Off?

That's a surprise, isn't it? Some people have expressed doubts as to its timing, falling so close to the US midterm elections. I have no way of knowing if that is true or not, but, if the Republican Party had its druthers, I suspect they would rather not have this unpleasant reminder of what got the Bush administration into Iraq in the first place loom large in the public mind. In any case, I suspect this will have little effect on the turnout or the choices of US voters. An irrelevant death: that will be the ultimate irony for Saddam. Likewise, John Kerry's verbal and visual gaffe (he actually paused to look down and check his cue card before he made that unfortunate omission) has had little effect on voter perceptions.

Saddam and Kerry: two has-beens. Politics is cruel.

Dear Reader: Could You Help This Poor Man?

I received the following email the other day. I think this is a serious request. After all, his claim to be a solicitor is borne out by his Hong Kong email address and the telltale, missing period after "Mr".

Unfortunately, indigent that I am, I am unable to oblige Mr. Douglas. Therefore, I beseech you, dear reader (or readers, as I like to think in my more optimistic moments), to come to his assistance in my stead. And who knows, it could prove to be as beneficial as that occasion you came to the aid of the relatives of that unfortunate Nigerian general who came to an untoward end.

Since this gentleman is a solicitor, the legal profession, particularly that in Hong Kong, bears, I believe, a particular responsibility to look into the plight of Mr. Larry Douglas and the estate of the deceased.


From: larry02douglas@yahoo.com.hk
Subject: Greetings
Date: Thu, 02 Nov 2006 19:28:51 -0800 (PST)

Greetings,

Before I start, I must firstly, apologize for this unsolicited proposal to you.I am aware that this is certainly an unconventional approach to starting a relationship, but as time goes on you will realize the need for my action.

My name is Mr Larry Douglas, Solicitor to Gerald Welsh, who died with his wife in an air crash on the 31st October 1999 in an Egyptian airline flight990. Before the death of Gerald Welsh, he maintained a fixed deposit account with a Financial services Company here in Europe(details of which I will disclose to you later).

Based on this discovery, I now seek your permission to have you stand in as a next of kin to the deceased, as all documentations will be carefully worked out by me for the release of these funds all amounting to the tune of(US15,340,000.00) to any nominated account of your choice. Contact me immediately through email.

Regards,
Mr Larry Douglas

Why Now, Just before the Mid-Term Elections with the Reverend's Gay Sex Allegations? Actually, That Shouldn't Be My Question

As James Dobson has duly complained, it is only one man's accusations. But "temporarily stepping aside" to "seek spiritual advice and guidance"? Not exactly alcohol rehab, but considering Rev. Haggard's previous standing, it sounds a lot like "I'm It!" to me.

But before I even start to pontificate about the rampant hypocrisy and moral cowardice in the American leadership, I should wonder why there are no openly gay public figures beyond the entertainment world. Now I'm a loner, and I know I'm emotionally obtuse. Still, in all the years of my school and professional life, I have come across only one or two Japanese in public life whom I even suspected of being gay. On the other hand, we have always had a few openly gay entertainers, and they have had no problems starring on prime-time broadcast TV.

So what's going on here? I am genuinely stumped.

Marginalia Americana 6: Our Fates Lie in the Hands of These People Too

Wyoming elects one House member and two Senators. (Go figure.). Barbara Cubin, the Republican incumbent in this overwhelmingly Republican state is fighting for dear life to hold on to her seat against the no-name Democratic candidate, Gary Trauner. (Okay, he does have a name.). No, this has nothing to do with the Bush administration, and everything to do with her in-your-face threat to bitchslap the wheelchair-bound Libertarian (yes Libertarian) candidate, an MS patient. In a last-ditch stab at negative campaigning:

"The guy's from New York. It's not a good fit. He's too liberal. He's just not familiar with Wyoming's issues," said Cubin spokesman Joe Milczewski.
"For example, in New York City, you don't have a wolf problem. We have a big wolf problem in Wyoming." (New York Daily News, 01 Nov. 06)

I suppose the takeaway here is that the wolf problem in Wyoming is a federal issue. Incidentally, Mr. Trauner has lived in Wyoming for 16 years.

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John Kerry has done it again. I take his word for it that he meant President Bush, not high school dropouts who join the Army and ship out to Iraq. But his demonstration of a total lack of a funny bone and his initial rage at the rest of the world for misunderstanding him were vintage Kerry.

He is the latest in a long, bipartisan line of public figures going back from Al Gore (inventing the Internet) to Howard Dean (the Scream) to Edmund Muskie (the New Hampshire meltdown) to Richard Nixon (uh…) who never fail to elicit the media's enmity. Then there are the people who seem to get a free pass (Condoleezza Rice, in contrast to Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, comes to mind). Likeability is an important factor in determining which way the media will spin a story that can break in either direction.

Marginalia Americana 5: The Entire Monday Colbert Report on the Comedy Central Website?

So I guess my question is: Do we really need cable?

But wait,there's something wrong with this picture. Can you tell?

ADD, Nov. 1 (1:20 PM):
Here's a TIME piece. The squeeze on MyTube and the Comedy Central full monte are clearly related. Though coexistence is still possible, the latter makes it more likely that Jon Stewart and Company want a monopoly.