More Random Musings on July 8th

I am really tired of coverage of Sarah Palin. Back in March, I complained that Sarah Palin was receiving far too much media attention given that she had discredited herself during the 2008 presidential campaign. The trend continues - now, with her recent resignation as governor of Alaska. On July 3rd, Palin announced she'd resign as governor on July 26th, more than a year before her first term is due to end. This week, her announcement continues to receive enormous attention and commentary. News anchors, reporters and columnists are all speculating about Palin's next move. Will she run for President in 2012? Sorry, but I have to repeat my point from March: Why is everyone devoting so much time and space to Palin when she demonstrated so repeatedly that she is completely unprepared for high office?
Well, the primary explanation, in my view, is that the news business, particularly the networks and cable news stations, know that Palin is entertaining and brings high ratings. Otherwise, this obsession with her makes zero sense. Palin's actions and statements since last November's presidential election have only reinforced just how limited her capabilities are. Todd Purdum's recent Vanity Fair article on Palin notes that former senior members of John McCain's campaign team grew to doubt Palin's readiness to be vice president. "......they can't quite believe that for two frantic months last fall, caught in a Bermuda Triangle of a campaign, they worked their tails off to try to elect as vice presidentof the United States someone who, by mid-October, they believed for certain was nowhere near ready for the job, and might never be.....," said Purdum's article.
If even McCain's senior advisors felt that way, then why does such a large segment of the news media today take Palin so seriously? She has not earned that and I don't think the public rates her that highly. It's all about ratings....but, this is how our political climate gets distorted and tainted. The only way Palin should be taken more seriously, as I said once, is after she pays a lot more dues and proves she has what it takes.

I hope the coverage of Michael Jackson's death can wind down -- at some point. Now that the memorial service was held, one would hope the Jackson story could diminish a bit. Why do I have a sneaky suspicion that new angles to this story will surface and re--surface in the months ahead? I got a bad feeling when I saw the aerial shots of the vehicle carrying Jackson's casket to the service. It reminded me, for a split second, of the coverage of OJ Simpson in the Bronco chase back in 1994. The networks' news divisions went way overboard with the Jackson story, but, we shall see if the story can be covered more in context now. I doubt it. It's too irrestible for the sensational core of cable TV news today.

I hope Joe Biden can somehow suddenly learn to refrain from making impulsive, inaccurate, off-the-cuff remarks that cause potential problems for the Obama administration. We knew Biden had this habit, but, I didn't expect him to have "mis-spoken" on so many occasions in the first six months. Within the past few days, Biden made two verbal blunders back-to-back. First, he said the Obama administration had "misread how bad the economy was." President Obama, in a later attempt to correct the record, said he'd rather say that his administration had had "incomplete information." Then, in a more serious gaffe, Biden said the US would not stand in the way of Israel potentially deciding to bomb Iran's site(s) of its nuclear program. Biden stressed that the US could not dictate to a sovereign nation (Israel) a decision on such a matter. Obama, again, later was forced to clean up Biden's mess by saying the US had NOT given Israel any "go-ahead" and continued to seek a diplomatic solution to the topic of Iran's nuclear capability.
It seems, as time passes, Biden is showing his longtime predisposition for craving headlines and "shooting from the hip" as a way to draw attention. The difference is that now Biden's restlessness and "hot dog" tendencies can undermine the President - and do more damage.

I hope Raphael Nadal's tendinitis in his knees improves so that we all might be treated to a few more terrific Grand Slam finals between Nadal and Roger Federer. After watching the fantastic Wimbledon finals match between Federer and Andy Roddick, the only element missing was Nadal. As someone who just discovered Federer a couple of years ago after many years of not watching tennis, I hope we can all see a few more great Federer-Nadal matches in the next year or two. With Federer "finding himself" again, let's hope Nada returns to full-strength and this incredible rivalry lasts a bit longer.

President Obama may have his flaws, but, every once in a while, I pause and think about the many important ways in which he is a better President than George W. Bush, and, it blows me away. There are a lot of matters for the President to deal with now - both domestically and in foreign policy - and, I think it's helpful to remember what the state of affairs might be if the Bush-Cheney adminstration were still in office.

It will be very interesting to see if Charlie Baker can be a compelling candidate for governor of Massachusetts. Baker, who announced his candidacy yesterday, has very impressive credentials for the job. Unlike many candidates, he has performed impressively in the public and private sector -- having been at the helm of Adminstration and Finance and Human Services when Bill Weld was governor - and as CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. Further, Baker has displayed strength at both big-picture thinking and dealing with details of policy-setting. The question is: Can Baker learn and adjust to the rigors of campaigning and winning over voters in non-stop appearances on the stump? If he can do that, he'll pose a very tough challenge to incumbent Governor Deval Patrick.

I just read a Boston Globe article that suggested many people - including a high percentage of younger individuals - no longer like to use voice mail because it's outmoded and takes too long to play back messages. The article discussed that many people are shifting to using only text messages because it's simply quicker. They feel voice mail is inefficient and limited in what it provides. I guess I'm supposed to accept this, but, I do not. People feel it's a difficult burden to listen to a few voice mail messages? What? What kind of attention span will those under age 30 have as the years go by? I guess "delayed gratification" has given way to "instant gratification" in more & more parts of people's lives. I guess..........

I am amazed that so many big-name rock bands and artists who I grew up listening to in the 1960s are still performing. I'm talking about Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Chuck Berry, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Eric Clapton, John Fogarty and on and on. I just thought more of these performers would have retired. What I'm NOT as surprised by is that I still regard the 1960s as the "Renaissance" of rock and roll. There has never been a period since when original, fantastic songwriting and live music flourished as much.

I'm glad Bill Murray and Harold Ramis have, apparently, "made up" after having a "falling out" years ago --- and, are contemplating making a third edition of the movie, "Ghostbusters" with Dan Ackroyd. Bill Murray is my favorite comic - and Ramis has made some funny movies, himself. I hope they can collaborate more than once because they work well together. (They did in "Stripes" years ago).

Kudos to David Ortiz of the Red Sox, who has come back from the depths of the worst hitting slump of his career and has been more like his old self at the plate in recent weeks. Big Papi looked so bad swinging the bat for the first two months of the season that many people - including me - thought he was "done." Papi may not hit like he did in his prime, but, he has already proved people wrong. He didn't give up and it was inspiring to watch.