Riveting Coverage on MS-NBC Until

After hearing the news that Michael Jackson had, indeed, passed away, I was glued to the TV for several hours. Keith Olbermann was on earlier, instead of the usual Hardball replay and I watched most of Keith's coverage - up until the helicopter carried MJ's body to the 2nd hospital, the one with the coroner. MS-NBC's cameras were there to get the money shot, the corpse being carried from the chopper to the hospital door. As much as I like Keith and his news-commentary, there was something very unseemly about it, wasn't there? When they started showing that same shot over and over and over, well, I gave up. What had seemed like genuine sharing of a human interest story had become trash tv. It was the 90's all over again. It didn't help that Keith had Diane Dimond there to fake some kind of empathic humanity when she, perhaps more than any other psuedo-journalist, had doggedly pursued the Jackson story for so long. Even before trials which found MJ to be not guilty, and in fact exonerated him as a victim of extortion plots, she had pronounced him guilty. For you younger people who missed the Diane Dimond stuff from the 90's, think of Nancy Grace with a darker hairdo. And, somehow, less charm. Keith, I still like ya, but there's a reason Rachel Maddow is seen as a more serious journalist.

Sad, Bewildering Day

I wasn't a fan of the Charlie's Angels series and I didn't watch The Burning Bed or any of Farrah's other movies. I knew her from talk show appearances, mainly on the Johnny Carson version of the Tonight Show and later on Letterman's late night talk shows. So, it's kind of odd that my most vivid memory of Farrah is that of her sitting on the couch with Ed McMahon - who, of course, also passed away this week.

At this writing, things don't look good for Michael Jackson who was rushed, not breathing, to the hospital after an apparent heart attack. My first album - the first album I ever wanted - was The Jackson 5's ABC. In spite of his weirdness through the years I was always a fan of his work. The J5 song "Stop, the love you save may be your own...." has been running around in my brain the past few days. Less than a month ago I had the most vivid dream that MJ was on a talk show, kind of like a Merv Griffin show, and he was just a normal guy. No sign of plastic surgery. In my dream he looked more like Christopher 'Kid' Reid (of Kid n' Play) than Wacko Jacko - and he was just ... well, normal. Fun. Easy going. I don't know. Maybe it means nothing. But I wonder if I had accidentally picked up on something MJ was hoping he could get to again. Some reports this hour have said it was a suicide, overdose of pills. Others say it was a strain on his heart from working out, getting in shape for a comeback tour. In spite of everything, in spite of all the weirdness, the man brought a lot of joy into a lot of people's lives.

Star Power: Nurse Jackie to the Rescue

WASHINGTON (AP) — Award-winning actress Edie Falco, cable television's no-nonsense "Nurse Jackie," delivered a stern message to lawmakers Thursday: fix health care.

"I'm here because I've traveled through the health care system and there are some holes," Falco, a breast cancer survivor, told a Capitol Hill rally for health care overhaul. "I'm here because I care about the people in this country and I know that we can do better, that we must do better." ... full story HERE.

I've watched the new Showtime series "Nurse Jackie" starring Edie Falco - mixed emotions about it. I'm a long time "E.R." watcher and it's tough for me getting into this show with no real heroes to root for. It's entertaining but I hate thinking about Doctors and Nurses as people who are either too busy to care too much or just too uninterested in their patients to worry about caring. People tell me it's more true to life than "E.R." which, frankly, scares the hell out of me - especially knowing they're probably right.

All that being said, it's good Edie Falco is out there in the real world trying to make a difference. I just hope we don't wind up with a system like the one President Obama campaigned against before he won the election. You know, the system where you get fined if you're not buying your own health insurance. If people could afford it, they'd already be buying it. And yes, the goal is to lower costs so it's affordable to more people - but fining people for not having it seems counter-productive. It seemed so to Candidate Obama, as well, didn't it? That's how I remember it, anyway. It's one of the reasons I was for Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton.

Iran, Peru

As I mentioned in the earlier post, I feel for the people of Iran. I really do. But I'm fearful that some of the outpouring of sympathy for their nation is being manufactured by certain powerful people who want the US to go to war with Iran. I'm hoping this doesn't happen. The US and Britain have tried "regime change" in Iran many times and it's always blown up (sometimes literally) in our faces.

A part of my suspicion of manufactured sympathy is that there seems to be absolutely no attention to the atrocities in Peru. Is it because Peruvians haven't mastered the art of Twitter? Does Iran make a better news story? I hate to sound like a paranoid conspiracy guy but sometimes it's good to ask questions. At least while it's still legal to ask questions.

Update: Here's another excellent article about the Peru situation.

More thoughts on the "Fire Letterman" controversy

I've been watching Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show a lot since he and Andy took over the reigns. One of the recurring funny themes of the show is that they portray Max Weinberg, their drummer (also drummer for Bruce Springsteen's band) as a sex crazed pedo. It's a funny gag. No one really believes Max is this way. They've been doing the bit for many, many years now. If this crowd of people is so, so outraged at Letterman for telling jokes about sex with minors, as they claim to be, why aren't they protesting over at Conan's house? I think they need to own up to the fact that they're only doing this to Dave because Sarah Palin was involved in the joke. Stop lying, people. It's not about morals, it's not about a joke involving young girls and sex. It's because Sarah's not in the White House. And you're just whiny, phony, lying, crybaby brats.

Sam Seder with the "Fire Letterman" crowd

Here ya go, Olive Garden. These are the people you caved to, in all their Palin-lovin' glory.



Watch Sam Seder and Marc Maron on their Breakroom Live internet show, weekdays 3pm Eastern.

Coulter jokes about Dr. Tiller's Murder

I'm not going to embed the youTube video here but if you go to this link you can see Ann Coulter on Bill O'Reilly yucking it up about Dr. Tiller's murder. "He died in his 203rd semester". Gee, golly. I love how these folks cherish and respect every life. Nice example for self described pro-lifers to set.