"Mission Accomplished"? Not Really.

Image via WikipediaPresident Barack Obama took to the airwaves in a not-quite prime time address (someone on the White House staff must have known "Dancing With The Stars" was on), attempting to explain to a confused public and members of Congress why the United States and its allies have jumped into another war, this time in Libya.

Obama said the main reason why he thought intervention was necessary stemmed from Libyan strongman Muammar Gadhafi's willingness to violently retaliate against his own people, through the use of his own armed forces.  A U.S.-led bombing campaign and a no-fly zone helped to avoid a massacre, the President said.

That has emboldened the opposition to Gadhafi's regime inside Libya, as rebel forces took back much of the territory they lost as they move west toward the capital of Tripoli.

Having all but declared "Mission Accomplished", the President said the U.S. would be handing off major combat operations to NATO, and concentrate on their other two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama and other European leaders say they would 'prefer' that Gadhafi be removed from power, but are not going to be the ones to do it themselves.  Instead, they say they'd rather see the rebels come out victorious and do the job themselves.  Which is wishful thinking, given that Gadhafi and his supporters are well-armed and battle-tested while the opposition is not.  Besides, what kind of government would replace Gadhafi?  Didn't we just go through this in Iraq?

There are too many questions and not enough answers concerning this new conflict, which has been less than two weeks old since the Americans got involved.  Such as:  How long will it last?  What will be an acceptable outcome?  And how much will all this cost?  (ABC News' web site reports that, according to the Pentagon, the cost of the first week of American military intervention is estimated at $600 million.)

Does this also mean that Obama will send soldiers into countries such as Syria and Iran to back up the "freedom fighters"?  No, says the President.  After what's been happening in North Africa and the Middle East, you'd think that the dictators would have figured out a way to deal with the rebellions by now.

With three wars going on thousands of miles away, all claiming to defend our national interests and our so-called freedoms, there's one glaring omission:  Who's left to defend the shores that run between Alaska and California, and from Maine to Florida to Texas?

Geraldine Ferraro (1935-2011)

Image via WikipediaYou hear lots of stories about the first woman who did this or that, as if we're supposed to be surprised that they could accomplish something that they've never before been given the chance to do. 

Geraldine Ferraro, who died Saturday at 75, was one of those women.  She was the first vice presidential nominee from a major political party, because someone thought enough of her to give her the opportunity.

In the 1984 presidential campaign the Democratic Party, four years removed from President Jimmy Carter's failure to secure a second term, were becoming marginalized in the face of the conservative revolution spearheaded by Ronald Reagan.  Now Carter's vice president, Walter Mondale, was making his own run at the White House and needed a game-changer.  So he turned to a little-known congresswoman from New York, and Ferraro became the trailblazer. 

After initial curiosity over the novelty of a woman running for such a high office, Ferraro was done in by questions about her husband's tax returns and the patronizing attitudes of her political opponents.   But what neither Mondale nor Ferraro could overcome was that voters just seemed to like that gosh-darn Reagan so much, with his promise of "morning in America", that they overwhelmingly gave him a second term.  Mondale won only his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia.

After that, Ferraro ran and lost twice for a U.S. Senate seat from her home state.  She also served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations' Commission on Human Rights under President Bill Clinton.  She also gave TV a try, as political commentator for CNN and Fox News.

The last time Ferraro made any kind of headlines was while working for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.   Apparently upset that her daughter planned to vote for Barack Obama, she disparaged his candidacy to a California newspaper, claiming he wouldn't have gotten all this attention if he were white.  Ferraro soon left the Clinton campaign.

Geraldine Ferraro was an example to women that maybe they could break the political glass ceiling, and not just because a man gave them the opportunity.  It hasn't happened yet, because no woman has been elected president or vice president.  Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin, who was John McCain's choice to be his GOP running mate, had the chance in 2008.  Maybe 2012 will bring a different answer.

Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011): Better Than Fiction

Image via WikipediaThe story of Elizabeth Taylor could also have been a novel that turned into a Hollywood screenplay.  It had everything you could ever want.  Stardom at an early age.  The romances.  The marriages.  The scandals.  The health problems.  And all the triumphs and tragedies in-between.

Except this was no novel.  It all happened to Taylor, and now she's gone.  She was 79.

Taylor started attracting attention at the age of 12 with her roles in "Lassie Come Home" and "National Velvet".  Moving into adulthood, her roles in more than 50 films including "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", "Giant" and "Suddenly Last Summer" eventually led to two Best Actor Oscars for "Butterfield 8" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

Offscreen, Taylor became much better known through extensive coverage of her love life.  She was married eight times to seven different men, ranging from a business mogul to a U.S. Senator to a construction worker.  Most of them ended in divorce.  Third husband Michael Todd was killed in a plane crash.

Two of those marriages grew out of scandal.  Taylor emerged victorious in a love triangle with Debbie Reynolds over her then-husband Eddie Fisher, then tossed him aside for Richard Burton.  They met on the set of "Cleopatra" (a humongous flop that nearly sank a movie studio), then made their own history through two tempestuous marriages.

While Taylor's friendship with Michael Jackson raised eyebrows as well as made her relevant to the pop culture mainstream, it was the death of Rock Hudson (another close personal friend) that spurred her to do more important things in her later years.  Taylor's work on AIDS-related organizations led to many honors, including a 1993 Oscar for the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and a Presidential Citizens Medal from President Bill Clinton.

Whatever Elizabeth Taylor did with her life, whether it was in her relationships, her personas on the big screen, or in just selling her fragrance, you can't help but be amazed at how much we were privy to it.  She may not have planned it that way, but that's how it turned out.

You just can't make this stuff up.

Another Mideast War. Here We Go Again.

Image via WikipediaOn the eighth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the United States and its "coalition of the willing" have launched another military assault on another Middle Eastern country to take out another hated dictator.

This time it's Libya and their leader Muammar Gadhafi, who was this close to defeating a poorly trained and equipped band of rebels who dared to oppose him, while the rest of the world was preoccupied with the disaster in Japan.

French warplanes and American missiles have destroyed some of Gadhafi's air defenses in and around Tripoli, the Libyan capital.  That has allowed opposition forces to move west from its besieged stronghold of Benghazi.  The Pentagon says plans are in place to implement a 'no-fly zone' in western Libya, so they could make it more difficult for Gadhafi's forces to move around.

President Barack Obama, who made the decision after getting the United Nations' blessing while visiting South America, has said (in so many words) that he couldn't stand back and watch Gadhafi use his military to punish his countrymen.  Isn't this sounding a tad familiar?

We are told that this would be a military operation with limited American participation, and that they are not going to try and take Gadhafi down.  However, as we have learned in Iraq and Afghanistan, limited wars have a way of turning into long-term conflicts.  American soldiers are still in both countries thanks to poor planning, failure to put down an emboldened insurgency, and lack of an exit strategy.

So what makes President Obama think Libya is going to be any different?  After all the airstrikes, soldiers will still have to be sent in for mop-up operations.  And who knows what kind of government will emerge if the rebels are somehow victorious?

Then again, the usually unpredictable Gadhafi will try to find a way to retaliate and keep himself in power.  He could, for example, order a hit on a plane full of passengers.  That's been done before, and the relatives of those who were killed in the skies over Lockarbie, Scotland are still trying to deal with it.

What does all this say about Obama, who was elected to undo the damage caused by the previous President?  Well, with two wars still going and a third on the way, President Obama is rapidly becoming the Democrats' answer to George W. Bush.  How disappointing.

Cloudy Skies Forecast for KQ, Love 105

Image via WikipediaCitadel Broadcasting, the owners of KQRS, KXXR (93X) and the three Love 105 stations in the Twin Cities, has been sold to Cumulus Media for $1.7 billion.

Should the deal go through, Cumulus will pick up Citadel's radio stations and its syndication division Citadel Media (the former ABC Radio Networks).  Combined with Cumulus' own stations, the new company would have 572 radio stations, which is second only to Clear Channel (they have more than 800).

Those stations include such legendary AM signals as WABC in New York, WLS in Chicago, KABC in Los Angeles, KGO in San Francisco and WJR in Detroit.

Since Citadel bought the ABC radio properties from Disney a few years ago, they've been having financial problems.  Like nearly every other business during the Great Recession, they've been cutting payroll and laid off plenty of staff.  The difference is that Citadel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and they're just now coming out of it.

So what does this mean for the local Citadel stations, which will soon join Cumulus' counterparts in southern Minnesota (including KDHL in Faribault and KROC in Rochester) if the sale goes through?

For KQRS, which is still a very popular classic rock station even though it no longer dominates the market, the future might center on what top-rated morning host Tom Barnard wants to do.  He's flip-flopped on the issue of whether he should leave the station when his contract expires at the end of 2012.  Now that new owners are coming in, Barnard should have a better idea.

Love 105's oldies format is heard on three separate signals (105.1, 105.3 and 105.7) that are individually pretty weak, but has been doing well enough for them to stick around.  Some people who know radio believe Cumulus might try to split them up and put in other formats.  If so, they're making a mistake.

Those same radio people believe that the newly-acquired stations will have their budgets slashed, personnel looking for work, and programming more centrally located.  That's typical of how radio works these days.  Fewer commercials.  More (of the same) music.  More conservative and sports talk.  And your hometown DJ might be doing his airshift from Timbuktu, for all we know.

The cavalier way media companies treats its listeners on what used to be known as the public airwaves has resulted in a revolt of sorts, one that's richly deserved.  Now just about anyone can program their own little radio station on their computer, which they can download onto their mp3 player.

Come to think of it, the deregulation of broadcasting might just be the worst thing ever to happen to the industry.  Sure, they're making tons of money.  But if radio doesn't care about us, why should we care about radio?

Pacific Disaster Times Three

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThey say bad news comes in threes, and that's what's going on in Japan right now.

First came the major earthquake that struck in the middle of a Friday afternoon in a region northeast of Tokyo, which now registers as a 9.0, according to officials who measure these things.

Next came the tsunami that was caused by the quake, sweeping away massive numbers of people and property.  The death toll was originally believed to be 10,000, but has since been whittled down to over 3,500 with many more unaccounted for.  Waves from the tsunami caused minor damage on the U.S. west coast.

Now comes a nuclear nightmare that rivals Chernobyl and Three Mile Island.  Explosions at the Fukushima  Daiichi plant near the city of Sendai have increased the possibility of a meltdown that could contaminate the region.  The Japanese government has ordered people in that area to stay indoors if they haven't been evacuated already.

The Japanese are being praised for the calm manner in which they're handling this disaster, setting an example for the rest of the world.  But what about reports of people making runs on stores for emergency supplies, or crowding airports hoping to get the heck out of the country?

Well, you say, that's Japan.  What does all of this mean for us on this side of the Pacific?

For one thing, it means that you can forget about nuclear power as an alternative energy source.  There are simply too many question marks surrounding the safety of the plants that are already operating.  What happens if an earthquake, computer glitch or a terrorist attack damages the plant?  And just what are we supposed to do with the waste that might take thousands of years to dissipate?

There is also the question of what would happen if "The Big One" were to occur somewhere in the U.S.  California isn't the only place where there are fault lines.  They can also be found along the west coast of North America, and in an area of the Midwest known as the New Madrid fault.  Experts warn that the timing for a major quake is long overdue.

So how come certain politicians want more money for nuclear plants, and less for a system that's supposed to alert people in case of a tsunami or an earthquake?

The disasters in Japan has succeeded, if nothing else, in getting the Libyan civil war and the trials and tribulations of Charlie Sheen off the front pages.  Also, it has shone an unwanted light on those who choose to make tasteless comments on various social media services.  Gilbert Gottfried, for one, lost his job as the voice of the Aflac duck after tweeting jokes about Japan.  Seems Aflac does plenty of business there.

But never mind all that.  What Japan and the rest of the world want to know right now is what further horrors await a country that's already seen more than enough of them.

The Decline and Fall of WCCO Radio

Image via WikipediaStick another fork into the legacy of Minnesota's most powerful radio station.  WCCO-AM and Goldy Gopher have parted ways for the first time in what seems like forever.  Actually, it goes back to 1924 when the station was known as WLAG.

The University of Minnesota and Learfield Sports, which owns the broadcast rights, made the decision to take their business elsewhere starting next fall.  For the next three seasons, KFAN-AM and KTLK-FM will take over Gopher football broadcasts, while KSTP-AM (1500 ESPN) becomes the new radio home of Gopher men's hockey and men's and women's basketball.

One of the reasons why the 'U' and Learfield decided to change stations is that they wanted a younger audience.  WCCO's audience can best be described by two of its advertisers:  Washburn-McReavey funeral homes and the Cremation Society of Minnesota.

This must be a sad time for Sid Hartman, who for most of his life has been as big a supporter of Gopher sports as could be without sacrificing his journalistic integrity.

The NHL Minnesota Wild are the only sports property WCCO has now, where once they cornered the market.  The Vikings have been on KFAN for over a decade.  The Twins moved to KSTP in 2007.

Sports isn't the only place where WCCO has fallen on hard times.  For years they were the flagship station for a weekly radio show hosted by the Governor of Minnesota.  This year, there won't be one.

Governor Mark Dayton rejected all offers to host his own show because (A) the stations and websites who bidded were inadequate, and (B) he was offered lousy time periods.  WCCO, which aired Governors Jesse Ventura's and Tim Pawlenty's shows at 9 a.m. Fridays when they were in office, wanted Dayton to appear at 7 a.m. Saturday mornings.  The Governor called the offer insulting.

Longtime listeners share the feeling as they watch the Good Neighbor slide into irrelevance.  Though ratings have been picking up lately, they're a far cry from the glory years.  Too many familiar voices such as Charlie Boone, Eric Eskola and Don Shelby were either let go or retired.  In their place are polarizing personalities such as Chad Hartman (Sid's kid), Michele Tafoya and Tom Mischke.  Its news coverage, which used to be second to none, has now been surpassed by Minnesota Public Radio.  And there seems to be commercials every five minutes.

Gone are the days of full-service radio stations like WCCO, where you could expect to be informed and entertained without ever having to go anyplace else.  Competition from other stations and new technology changed all that, not to mention budget cuts by owner CBS.

We take no pleasure in always beating down on a legendary radio station that has seen better days.  Management made its bed, now it has to lie in it.  But listeners shouldn't have to suffer the consequences if their favorite station gets treated as if it belongs on an episode of "Antiques Roadshow".

"Good Time Charlie" Gets The Axe

Image via WikipediaOK, we've avoided this long enough.  One man has been in the headlines more often than the rebellion in the Middle East and the budget standoff in Wisconsin.  We'll give you three guesses.

Time's up.  Today, our subject is Charlie Sheen.

Sheen has just been fired by Warner Brothers TV from his long-running CBS sitcom "Two and a Half Men".  Because he's been playing the same kind of role in real life as the character he played on TV, only with more serious consequences.

To date, Sheen has been in and out of jail and rehab, his three marriages have ended badly, and his kids are caught in a custody dispute.  His alleged treatment of the women in his life leaves something to be desired.

Sheen's reportedly wild behavior has apparently been going on well before "Two and a Half Men" went on the air.  CBS and Warner Bros. had been raking in high ratings and profits from syndication.  They saw no reason to rein in their biggest star until they finally realized they had a PR disaster in the making and did something about it.

Sheen has reacted to all this negative publicity by going on almost every talk show that isn't on CBS, blasting his producers, defending his lifestyle, and parading porn stars in front of TV cameras.  He has also threatened to sue Warner Bros. for getting back the money he's owed for the final two years of his contract.

Sheen's enforced departure has cast a cloud over the future of "Two and a Half Men".  Production has shut down for the remainder of the season, leaving several episodes unfilmed.  No one knows if the show, which has been on CBS since 2003, will return next season.  There's been talk of a different actor taking over for Sheen.  Failing that, maybe the network will just move either "How I Met Your Mother" or "The Big Bang Theory" into "Men"'s time period on Mondays.

It is not a pleasant sight to watch Charlie Sheen go down the tubes as he apparently has.  Having been fired from TV's top-rated sitcom, this should provide him with the opportunity to get his life back together.  If he doesn't, he can look forward to ending up like other Hollywood stars who lived fast and died young.  Let's all hope he makes the right choice.

Cutting The "Public" Out of Public Broadcasting

Image via WikipediaRight now, your local PBS station might be showing music specials for baby boomers and motivational talks  from self-help gurus instead of "Masterpiece Theater" or "Nova", punctuated by 15 minutes (or so) of nobody you'd know urging you to give up some of your hard-earned money to help pay for the channel you're watching.  That's right, folks.  It's pledge time once again.

This year, there's more urgency to the cause because of what Republicans in Congress are trying to do to public broadcasting in the name of paring down the federal deficit.  The GOP-led House of Representatives passed an appropriations bill that would eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and federal support for public media altogether.  The measure now goes to the Senate.

It's no secret that conservatives loathe public broadcasting.  It takes up too much of our precious tax dollars, they say.  The programs are too liberally-biased, and so on.  Instead, in a manner that would make Marie Antoinette proud, they would say "let them watch cable".

That's really not an option for people who are on limited budgets, or just don't want to pay for more channels in the first place.  PBS and NPR are for them bulwarks against biased news, reality shows, infomercials, limited playlists and right-wing talk shows on commercial stations owned by a few corporations.

Which isn't to say public broadcasting is perfect.  The informational shows are too dry.  Most documentaries are great cures for insomnia.  Those announcements for corporate underwriting sound an awful lot like commercials.  The Juan Williams thing could have been handled better.  Did we also mention pledge drives?  Is "Barney" still on the air?

Also, in some places, some public broadcasting outlets have become so powerful that smaller stations are literally gasping for air, not to mention donations.  If you live in Minnesota, you know what we're talikng about.

Love it or hate it, public broadcasting has become an indispensible part of our culture.  "Sesame Street" still teaches and entertains little kids after more than 40 years.  "Antiques Roadshow" has been popular enough to spawn imitators.  And NPR is really the only place where you can find in-depth news coverage on radio.

So, as you watch another salute to pop singers of the 1950s and old episodes of "The Lawrence Welk Show", ask yourself how and why we benefit from public broadcasting.  And also ask why there are people out there who are hellbent on taking it away.

Another Dictator Bites The Dust?

Image via WikipediaMuammar Gaddafi has been running Libya since 1969, sometimes into the ground.  Over 42 years, he has antagonized the rest of the world with his actions, while keeping a tight lid on the movements of his fellow citizens.

Now Gaddafi is in the battle of his life, fighting to retain his power as opposition forces move in on the capital of Tripoli.  He has vowed to stand and fight as onetime allies of his desert him.

Libya has become the latest Middle East country whose people finally had had enough of a decades-old dictator, yet do not have a clue as to what comes next.

Granted, Gaddafi has always been the epitome of the tinhorn dictator.  Lately, though, he's been making rambling speeches from inside bombed out buildings (courtesy of U.S. airstrikes during the Reagan era), assuring everyone that everything was under control when it really wasn't.

Now that most Americans who wanted to leave Libya have been evacuated (with the exception of a few hardy journalists), the United States is putting out the word that they're ready to help get rid of Gaddafi if the people there so desire.  Besides freezing financial assets, no such request has been made so far.

In a classic case of "be careful what you wish for", those who are cheering the overthrow of oil-rich Middle Eastern governments will soon be paying for it.  Price hikes in gasoline and food due to the unrest are threatening an already-fragile economy.

Whatever happens in Libya will be interesting to watch.  Because Gaddafi has dominated the political landscape in that country for so long, crushing any kind of formal opposition, the people there will have to start from scratch.  Just like the people in Tunisia, Egypt and who knows where else.  Throwing off the chains of dictatorship is one thing.  Forming a new nation out of the ashes is quite another.