THIS I BELIEVE - THE TRUTH ABOUT THE CURRENT AMERICAN POLITICAL SITUATION

 

This I very seriously and sincerely believe to be true - in the history of our country no one single individual has done more damage to America, the American people, American values, and American democracy than Donald J. Trump.

Trump lost the 2016 Presidential election, a fair and honest election, by 2,868,686 (2.9 Million) votes.  Clinton received 48.18% of the popular vote and Trump received 46.09%.  It was clearly obvious that the majority of Americans did not want Trump in the White House in 2016 - 10.7 Million more Americans voted against Trump than voted for Trump.  But he was put in the White House by the outdated Electoral College.

The Electoral College was created for a variety of reasons, some of which no longer exist.  But one of the reasons was to prevent an unqualified and irresponsible demagogue from taking office.  It clearly failed in this purpose in 2016.

Trump also lost the 2020 Presidential election, another fair and honest election, by 7,052,770 (7 Million) votes.  Biden received 51.31% of the popular vote and Trump received 46.86%.   Yet Trump continues to this day to, despite all the evidence to the contrary, erroneously contend the election was “stolen” from him via massive election fraud.  And has, as proven by the January 6^th Committee, waged a campaign to illegally invalidate the election results, by any means, to remain in power.

Trump was the most ignorant, incompetent, corrupt, and totally self-absorbed President in US history.  The main legacy of the Trump Presidency is the emboldening, empowering and “legitimizing” of racism, bigotry and white supremacy.  The damage done by the Trump Presidency will be felt for years to come.

I truly believe that Trump is a totally worthless piece of excrement, completely devoid of intelligence and humanity, who does not possess a single redeeming positive human value or quality.  He has never performed a single totally unselfish positive act in his entire adult life.  He is the textbook example of a narcissist and a sociopath.

Just as he was in business, as a politician Trump is nothing but a con man.  But he is proof that a con man doesn’t have to be smart as long as his “marks” (in this case the “MAMA morons”) are dumber than he is.

I also very seriously and sincerely believe that the greatest threat to the future of America, the American people, American freedom and democracy, and true American values is today’s Republican Party.

Today’s Republican Party and its leadership, at all levels, have embraced Trump and his lies, is controlled by the racist and repressive Religious Right, and has been bought and paid for by the NRA.  It has totally abandoned all honor, integrity and credibility.  And it has totally abandoned true conservative and traditional Republican policy and philosophy.  The current agenda of the Republican Party is directly contrary to true conservative and traditional Republican values, policy and philosophy. 

It is vital for the future of America and American democracy than that EVERY intelligent and patriotic American with a conscience – whether liberal, progressive, moderate, conservative, or libertarian – take the NO GOP PLEDGE:

“I pledge to NEVER vote for ANY Republican candidate for ANY office at ANY level – local, state or national – in ANY 2022 election.”

And we must continue to vote against ALL Republican candidates in ALL elections at ALL levels until the current leadership of the Republican Party is completely replaced and the Party officially opposes, denounces and disavows Donald J. Trump, his lies, "Trumpism", and the agenda of the racist and repressive "Religious Right. 

I, once again very seriously and sincerely, believe that if Republicans gain control of Congress and state legislatures in November it will be the beginning of the end of America as we know it.

The future of America is in your hands!

TAFN

THINGS NO ONE EVER TOLD YOU

 

Here are several things no one ever told you.

There has been a long-standing tradition of making successful television shows out of popular Broadway plays and theatrical movies, from THE NAKED CITY, TOPPER and MR LUCKY to MASH, THE ODD COUPLE, and ALICE.  A while back Hollywood began to reverse the trend, making inferior films based on successful television series.

The first tv series based on a play and/or movie was MAMA, based on the 1944 play and 1948 movie I REMEMBER MAMA.  The show ran on CBS from July 1, 1949 to July 27, 1956.  The cast included a young Dick Van Patten of EIGHT IS ENOUGH.

The second series taken from a play and/or movie was THE FRONT PAGE, starring real life journalist John Daly (who would later become famous at the host of WHAT’S MY LINE) as newspaper editor Walter Burns.  It had a brief run from September 29, 1949, to January 26, 1950.

The third movie turned into a television series was THE LIFE OF RILEY, a successful radio comedy that was made into a movie in 1948.  Both the radio show and the movie, and eventually the tv series, starred William Bendix as Chester A Riley.  But Bendix was not tv’s first Riley. 

Television’s first Chester A Riley was none other than “honeymooner” Jackie Gleason.

William Bendix was supposed to have starred in the initial television version, but Bendix's RKO Radio Pictures movie contract prevented him from appearing. 

The first series was telecast from October 4, 1949 to March 28, 1950.  It won television's first Emmy, for "Best Film Made For and Shown on Television". According to Wikepedia it came to an end because the producer and the sponsor, Pabst Brewing Company, reached an impasse on extending the series for a full 39-week season.

The show returned on January 2, 1953, with a totally new cast that now included William Bendix as Chester A and Marjorie Reynolds as Mrs. Riley, and lasted for 6 seasons.  I remember watching it as a child.

Speaking of first actors to appear in a role and Jackie Gleason – Audrey Meadows, who became famous as Alice Kramden on the iconic HONEYMOONERS tv show, was not the first actress to portray Alice on tv.  The original Alice Kramden, to Jackie Gleason’s Ralph, when “the Honeymooners” first appeared as a regular series of skits on the DuMont Network's "Cavalcade of Stars" was Pert Kelton.

Kelton appeared in the original 10 to 20-minute sketches.  She was abruptly replaced by Audrey Meadows as a result of blacklisting - the practice of denying employment to screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other American entertainment professionals during the mid-20th century because they were accused of having Communist ties or sympathies, a practice that grew out of Joseph McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committee witch hunt.  Instead of acknowledging she was being blacklisted, the producers explained that her departure was based on heart problems.

Kelton is most famous for her Broadway role as Mrs. Paroo, the Irish mother of Marian the Librarian and young WInthrop, in Meredith Willson's Broadway musical THE MUSIC MAN, a role she reprised in the 1962 film version of the show.

FYI – Broadway legend Elaine Stritch played Trixie, the burlesque dancer wife of Ed Norton, for one sketch before being replaced by Joyce Randolph.

And another FYI – Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel and aide in his Communist witch hunt was lawyer Roy Cohn, who later became Trump’s mentor and lawyer when he was starting out in the real estate business and who was a great influence on Trump.

TAFN

IS A PUZZLEMENT

 

OOPS – a day late, but not a dollar short.

 

For years I have found myself faced with many questions – longing for answers.

 

Some answers are self-evident. Why do fools fall in love?  Well, after all, they are fools, aren’t they?

 

I have determined the answer to some questions based on history and experience. When will they ever learn? Probably never.

 

Some questions will probably never be answered. What’s it all about, Alfie? A totally unnecessary remake could shed no new light on the question.

 

With some questions only time will tell. Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm sixty-four?  I found out for me the answer is “yes”.  

 

Some are no longer relevant. Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? Joe went to his “final audit” in 1999.

 

And I have given up on others. Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost over night?  Easy enough to find out – but who cares? Actually, I don’t have a “headboard” as I sleep on a convertible couch.

 

There are still questions that haunt me.

 

I, too, wonder how are things in Glocca Morra.  But I have yet to pay a visit to the Emerald Isle. 

 

I would really like to know what the mama saw. All I know is that what the mama saw it was against the law.

 

I also want to know what Billy Joe MacAllister and friend threw off the Tallahatchie Bridge when they were seen by Brother Taylor.

 

And while we are at it – I always did wonder why Mr. Baker’s secretary had to leave Harper Valley.

 

Since first writing this "bobservation" one question has been answered.  A long-time 1040 clients told me what Billy Joe MacAllister and his friend were throwing off the Tallahatchie Bridge when they were sighted by Brother Taylor.

 

Here is what Bobbie Gentry told an interviewer -

 

"It's in there for two reasons.  First, it locks up a definite relationship between Billie Joe and the girl telling the story, the girl at the table. Second, the fact that Billie Joe was seen throwing something off the bridge -- no matter what it was -- provides a possible motivation as to why he jumped off the bridge the next day."

 

I suppose that, like “what the mama saw” in the Paul Simon song, there was no specific item in mind when the song was written.

 

The song was so popular that nine years after its release, in 1976, Warner Bros adapted it into a movie, directed and produced by Max Baer, Jr (aka Jethro Bodine) and starring Glynnis O’Connor and Robby Benson. In the screenplay, and its novelization, Billy Joe kills himself after a drunken homosexual experience, and the object thrown from the bridge is the narrator's ragdoll.

 

FYI, according to Wikepedia -

 

“The song ‘Ode to Billie Joe’ was originally intended as the B-side of Gentry's first single recording, a blues number called ‘Mississippi Delta’, on Capitol Records. The original recording, with no other musicians backing Gentry's guitar, had eleven verses lasting seven minutes, telling more of Billie Joe's story. The executives realized that this song was a better option for a single, so they cut the length by almost half and re-recorded it with a string orchestra. The shorter version left more of the story to the listener's imagination, and made the single more suitable for radio airplay.”

 

But I still want to know why Mr. Baker’s secretary had to leave Harper Valley.

 

TAFN

WEDDING BELL BLUES

 

BOBSERVATIONS is going back to being a “normal” weekly blog.

 

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I was recently reminded of the time I attended the wedding of Sylvester Stone, the Sly of Sly and the Family Stone, and actress-model Kathy Silva.  I was one of 21,000 wedding “guests”. 
 
Sly and the Family Stone was one of the bands highlighted in the movie of the 1969 WOODSTOCK outdoor concert in Bethel Woods NY (not too far from where I live now).  The band’s hits included “Everyday People”, “Dance to the Music”, “Higher”, and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”.
 
The wedding was held at a Sly and the Family Stone concert in Madison Square Garden on June 5, 1974.  Living across the river in Jersey City NJ I often attended rock concerts at the Garden in the 1970s.  This was the only time my seats for a concert were on the Garden floor.  Folding chairs were set up in rows, with a center aisle, on the floor facing the stage, and I do believe my seat was within the first 10 rows.
 
Soul Train host Don Cornelius was the evening’s Master of Ceremonies.  The opening act was Eddie Kendricks.  As I remember it (it was almost 50 years ago), after Kendricks’ performance and a brief intermission Sly and his family, and a minister and ushers (I do believe Geraldo Rivera was one of the groomsmen), came onstage and bridesmaids, carrying golden gilded palms, preceded Kathy down the center aisle and up on to the stage and the wedding was performed.  The Family Stone’s set followed.
 
I was not invited to the reception that followed the concert at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.  I recently read online that the wedding did not last - Stone and Silva divorced just two years later in 1976.
 
Click here for a short video of the wedding ceremony and some of the reception.
 
I did attend another celebrity wedding (and reception this time) in Beverly Hills years later (that of my cousin Billy to Annette O’Toole) – a normal one with a lot less guests.  But that is another story.
 

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FYI, going forward BOBSERVATIONS will be published every Monday beginning September 11^th.
 
TAFN