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Monday, January 24. 2011

Sweet January

What a month it’s been already! Had a birthday, got to order off the Denny’s Senior Menu for the first time. Then, in what many thought was a fit of insanity, off to Colorado I went to visit family, in particular, my younger sister Elaine. Insane because it’s cold and snowy in Colorado at this time of year and we all know how I feel about the cold and snow.

But everything gets crazier! John Boehner becomes the Speaker of the House — and then proceeds to insult the office of the presidency by snubbing invitations to state dinners and other White House affairs.

Then a guy with a gun tries to assassinate Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords at a local meet and greet she was conducting at a Tucson, AZ mall. Fourteen people were injured, including the congresswoman, and six were killed, including a nine year-old girl. That’s probably the most insane incident this month, at least here in the United States. A crazy person was allowed to have a gun, several guns, and used it to commit murder.

In what many think is an act of insanity by MSNBC, Keith Olbermann abruptly quit the network and his top-rated program, Countdown With Keith Olbermann in what was an act of mutually assured destruction: both parties came to an agreement to end their TV partnership. That was the network’s number one show. Why on Earth would they let that happen?

As it turned out Friday, the day of Olbermann’s last show, I wasn’t able to be home to see it. Countdown was a show I rarely missed. Hardball is a good show, as is Rachel Maddow, but Countdown was the cornerstone of MSNBC’s prime time lineup.

Until Olbermann changed up the direction of his program, there wasn’t any counterpoint to the ceaseless Republican mouthpiece that is FOXNews. And it happened roughly thusly: President George W. Bush started a war in Iraq, using a lie to sell it to the American public.
 Actually, several lies, although, when President Bush said, “he tried to kill my Dad,” he was actually being honest.

Then, shocked by the audacity of the Bush Administration’s actions, playing fast and loose with the facts and reality, appalled by President Bush’s wanton disregard for our Bill of Rights and our American Values, Olbermann changed his somewhat light-hearted look at the news and got serious — he became our mouthpiece.

At the time, I was irritated with Chris Matthews, the network’s previous cornerstone program. In fact, for years Hardball was the only opinion show on MSNBC. That I can recall anyway.
 Actually there were a few others, including Phil Donahue, but they never lasted very long.

Matthews appeared to support President Bush and his policies, despite his views on the war in Iraq. In his defense, Matthews looks at politics from the bookie’s point of view: who is going to win and by how much. In that regard, Matthews has been consistently right. It ticked me off in 2004 when Matthews said Bush would win a second term because voters would rather sit down and have a beer with Bush than Senator John Kerry (D-MA). But, I knew Matthews was right. Too many Americans are superficial when it comes to politics.

So, Keith Olbermann became MSNBC’s “go to” guy. His advocacy programming began to have positive effects in the ratings. Eventually the network became the counterpoint to FOXNews. All of MSNBC’s prime time programming, including Hardball, is leaning left.

Hard to imagine MSNBC without Keith Olbermann. He may have been difficult to work with, but he brought the ratings.
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Colorado — and the Rocky Mountains — in the winter! What could be finer? Visiting my lovely sister Elaine and her family, as well as my brother Tony and his family. The flight to Denver was fun; nearly 100 college students on their way to Vail, CO for a snowboarding holiday. Girls comparing under garments, thongs in particular; why would they do this? They started drinking as soon as the flight crew made it possible — at about 7:15 a.m. Ah yes, to be young again!

Nothing more to be said: I love my family. We had a lot of fun and I can hardly wait to return. But, I’ll do it in the summer. Sorry, as beautiful as the Rockies are in winter, they can’t compare to the warm confines of Southern California’s beaches in the winter!
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Once again, for the fifth time, the Green Bay will represent the National Football Conference in the Super Bowl, February 6! Can BJ Raji — the Freezer — score touchdowns? Yes he can! All 337 pounds of him!

Sweet!

Posted by Tim Forkes in Life at 00:01 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

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