I know this is a little like inviting you over to my house for dinner and then serving leftovers, but I have to get this darned desk cleaned off:
A lot of people think that Hollywood celebrities are getting way too involved in politics. The real problem is they are not involved enough. They all should follow the lead of Alec Baldwin, who issued a statement that if George W. Bush is elected, he and his wife Kim Basinger will move out of the United States. Tony Danza, Kathie Lee Gifford, Shirley McLain, Kenny G, Rosie O’Donnell, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and every rap singer should make similar pledges. Assuming they are equally divided among Democrats and Republicans, America could have cause to celebrate an election for a change, no matter who wins. * * * * * * * * * * * *
Speaking of politics, watching the television coverage is a lot like having a canker sore. Even though it hurts, something just makes you want to keep touching it. So I sat through the entire debate between Hillary Clinton and Rick Lazio. I’m glad I don’t have to choose between either of them, but I couldn’t help but cringe when Clinton referred to "my eight years in the White House." * * * * * * * * * * * *
You’d think people who were concerned about the aesthetics of Washington, D.C. might have better things to worry about than the placement of the long-overdue World War II Memorial, such as all the shooting victims lying about all over the place. * * * * * * * * * * * *
And though inclusion is a good thing, the World War II Memorial organizers might be going a bit too far. They have established a registry for names of people who contributed to the war effort – both in the armed forces and on the home front. To be sure, lots of men and women worked pretty hard to make the planes and tanks our boys needed, but the Memorial also established a category for those "who participated in the recycling effort." It doesn’t seem right to list people who saved the tin foil from cigarette packages alongside the names of soldiers who were at Normandy, Iwo Jima, Anzio, Bastogne, or Bataan, among lots of other places. * * * * * * * * * * * *
The $100 million WWII Memorial is being paid for by private donations and money given by most of the 50 states. Pennsylvania ponied up $2 million. Connecticut is listed as a donor of $100,00 - $250,000, the same category as Alabama and Mississippi. That’s less than the state spends every year maintaining the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women ($540,000). It seems redundant to label any state commission "permanent, " and as far as I can tell, the status of women is such that they will be around for quite a while as well. * * * * * * * * * * * *
I have to figure the television ratings for the Olympics are so low because NBC shows us so little of the actual events. I watched for two hours the other night and all I saw was the last 4 or 5 points of men’s beach volleyball, parts of the fourth and fifth game of women’s volleyball and some sort of gymnastics event where the athletes [italics] repeated [end italics] the performances which won them medals. That last thing also included the floor exercise of a woman Australian gymnast, who apparently wasn’t good enough to make the finals in the real events, but deemed good enough for prime time. Mostly I saw Bob Costas. * * * * * * * * * * * *
The men’s beach volleyball wasn’t half-bad, and the American pair beat a couple of talented Brazilians for the gold medal. One of the American winners, Dain Blanton said that they were sustained through the grueling match by "all of the millions of people watching at home." I guess no one had the heart to tell the guy he had won the gold almost two days before (or is it after?) we got to see it on TV. * * * * * * * * * * * *
Health-conscious folks all over America thumped their chests with pride as activists pressured Kraft Foods to recall from the supermarkets Taco Bell taco shells which had been made with bio-engineered corn. What I haven’t been able to figure out is how many health-conscious people eat Taco Bell shells, anyway? It’s all fine by me, but they better not go after the barbecued pork-rind industry. And they’ll have to pry the Slim-Jim out of my cold, dead fingers. * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lastly, the Clinton administration released a list of the 404 overnight guests at the White House and Camp David, 40 % of whom were (shockingly) large contributors to the President, Mrs. Clinton or the Democratic party. What should be troubling to Americans are those names who weren’t on the list – specifically, me. Or you. You know we’d have better advice for the President than Danny DeVito (yes, he’s really on the list). Though I have to figure we will get our chance – Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger’s reservation might be opening up soon. * * * * * * * * * * * *
September 26, 2000
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