A Death In Southfork

English: Larry Hagman attending the "Night of 100 Stars" for the 82nd Academy Awards viewing party at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills, CA on March 7, 2010 - Photo by Glenn Francis of www.PacificProDigital.com (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When the primetime soap "Dallas" premiered on CBS in 1978, Larry Hagman was best known for playing an astronaut who kept company with Barbara Eden as a genie in the 1960s NBC sitcom "I Dream of Jeannie".

But the character Hagman played on "Dallas", a conniving oil baron named J.R. Ewing who constantly battled for control of the family-owned petroleum business, was worlds away from that astronaut.  It made him and the show a worldwide phenomenon.

J.R. was an entertaining villain, a man viewers loved to hate.  He double-crossed his business partners, his family, wives and lovers to get to the top.  So it was natural that everyone wanted to take a shot at him.

In the spring of 1980 on the final episode of the season, somebody did.  All summer long, it seemed the whole world wanted to know "Who Shot J.R.?"  On November 21, 1980 before a then-record TV audience, it was revealed that Kristin Shepard (played by Mary Crosby)--another in the long line of J.R.'s spurned lovers--pulled the trigger.

Hagman and J.R. survived the shooting to create more mischief in the Ewing household for the next decade, until CBS canceled "Dallas" in 1991.  This past summer, Hagman returned to the role when TNT brought back the show.

Finally, Hagman was brought down by an old foe even J.R. Ewing could not beat--cancer.  He was 81.

Most actors are fortunate to have had one career-defining role in their lifetime.  But there are very few of them whose role defined an entire genre of television, and so iconic to millions around the world--even if it was for a bad guy.  Larry Hagman was that man, and he had J.R. Ewing to thank.

The Twinkie And Its Fate

Box of Twinkies (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Israelis and Palestinians are at it again.  Two generals are caught in a sex scandal.  Washington is teetering on a "fiscal cliff".  And all America seems to care about is the fate of Twinkies.

Hostess Brands, the makers of Twinkies, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs, Wonder Bread and other such products is on its second bankruptcy and having trouble staying in business.  They have threatened to shut down the company, putting 18,000 people out of work.

This has led to the Twinkie and its cousins (okay, maybe not Wonder Bread) becoming an endangered species, flying off store shelves.  Some are hoarding the products, charging up to millions of bucks for them online.  If the original "Law and Order" were still on TV, this sounds like an episode waiting to happen.

Twinkies and the other brands will survive, even if Hostess does not.  In that event, they would likely be sold off to other companies, putting a dent into the profits of all those newfound entreprenuers.  But aficionados would soon complain that the taste of a Ho Ho isn't what it used to be.

We must not forget that 18,000 jobs are at stake.  Their union is locked in a struggle with Hostess over wages and benefits.  If the company goes under, so do the jobs.  Then who's to blame?  The economy is fragile enough as it is.

Both sides have just gone through a court-ordered mediation to settle the dispute, with no progress to report.  If this works, the company and all those jobs would be saved.  If not, well . . . where else could you make a living wage making snack food?

Of course, anything that Hostess makes probably isn't good for you.  Twinkies and Ho Hos and the others have high fat and calorie counts, making them Public Enemy Number One in America's war on obesity.  But we eat them anyway, doctors and do-gooders be damned.

They say that Twinkies, with its yellow breading and creamy middle, can survive just about anything.  Even a nuclear holocaust, when presumably cockroaches would be the only ones left to eat them once they figure out the plastic packaging.

Whatever happens to the Twinkie, we know one thing:  Never underestimate Americans' love for junk food.  Even if it kills them.

The Petraeus Affair: All Out

English: Official photo of David Petraeus, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Until now, David Petraeus was a revered (by official Washington) four-star Army general who led America's most recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, then serving for the past year as director of the CIA.  Today, Petraeus is fighting to save his reputation.

Petraeus resigned from the CIA Friday after admitting to an extramarital affair with Paula Broadwell, who authored a biography of him titled "All In".  Both are married, but to other people.  Reportedly, the relationship had been going on for the past several months.

Then it was learned that a friend of the Petraeuses, Jill Kelley, had allegedly been getting anonymous e-mails warning her against flirting with the retired general.  The FBI later traced them to Broadwell.

Drawn into this is General John Allen, who succeeded Petraeus as commander of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and is in line to head NATO in Europe.  Allen is being investigated by the FBI for exchanging at least 20,000 e-mails with Kelley.  Again, both are married, but to other people.

The whole thing smacks of curious timing.  Petraeus' resignation came days after President Barack Obama's re-election, and days before a Congressional probe into the deaths of a U.S. ambassador and others in Benghazi, Libya.  Petraeus was supposed to testify, but now that will be handled by acting CIA director Michael Morell.

No national security was breached, so far as we are allowed to know (this being the CIA).  Still, Petraeus did the only thing he could do in resigning.  It's one thing to cheat on your wife of 38 years.  It's quite another to betray your country, especially when you're in charge of its secrets.

There will be more to come, we're sure.  There's nothing like a juicy sex scandal to take people's minds off what's really important.  Such as the so-called "fiscal cliff" that threatens to send the country into another recession, unless the President and Congress somehow comes up with a budget deal by the time the ball drops on Times Square New Year's Eve.

In Minnesota, A Deeper Shade of Blue

Amy Klobuchar, member of the United States Senate (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

All in all, Election Day was a good day to be a Democrat in Minnesota.

The DFL Party (as Democrats are known in Minnesota) wrested control of both houses of the Legislature from the Republicans for the first time since 1990.  President Barack Obama won the state and its 10 electoral votes.  Both constitutional amendments--voter ID and prohibiting gay marriage--were rejected by voters.

Most of Minnesota's congressional delegation--Senator Amy Klobuchar and Representatives John Kline, Keith Ellison, Erik Paulson, Michelle Bachmann, Betty McCollum and Tim Walz--won re-election.  Most, that is, except for Republican Chip Cravaack.  He lost to Democrat Rick Nolan in the Eighth District.

Bachmann just barely beat Democrat Jim Graves in the Sixth District.  We wonder if she now realizes that not everybody in her district loves her and her publicity-seeking views that sometimes border on the outrageous.  Whether this will be her cue to dial it down a notch remains to be seen.  Frankly, we doubt it.

Neither Obama nor Republican Mitt Romney campaigned much in Minnesota, as it was widely assumed that the state was in the President's back pocket.  But then the polls tightened up, and for awhile Minnesota was considered a swing state just like Iowa and Wisconsin.  The amount of TV ads from both campaigns and other groups increased.  While the Obama campaign sent former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden to stump for them, Romney's people kept sending us his running mate Paul Ryan.   The GOP is kicking themselves for not bringing in Romney during the final stretch.

Though the new DFL-controlled Legislature will be under some pressure to get gay marriages legalized in the upcoming session, it'll be awhile before Adam and Steve or Amanda and Eve get to tie the knot in Minnesota.  Unlike what the Republicans did last session, the DFL isn't going to go overboard on pet social issues at the expense of more pressing ones such as balancing the state's fiscal problems.  Though with DFL Governor Mark Dayton halfway through his term, there's little chance of gridlock this time.

According to Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's office, 76% of Minnesotans voted in these elections--a new record.  There were some reported glitches, but voters seemed to find their polling places (some had been moved due to redistricting) just fine.  It's been reported that the amendments, more than the presidential race, were the catalyst for the record turnout.  But it's also possible that, if the Voter ID amendment passed, some of the folks who voted this time might not have had the chance to do this next time.

Politically, Minnesota is considered a blue state.  If the Democrats somehow manage to mess things up in the next two years, people will be seeing--and voting--red.

Four. More. Years.

Official photographic portrait of US President Barack Obama (born 4 August 1961; assumed office 20 January 2009) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Despite lingering doubts over whether President Barack Obama could really improve the economy when he's had the past four years to do so, the voters gave him a second chance Tuesday, defeating Republican Mitt Romney.

The only surprise was that this supposedly close election ended as quickly as it did, with the networks declaring Obama the winner as soon as the results from Ohio were known, with some of the votes in the swing states still being counted.  To date, Florida has yet to finish its vote totals.  Not that it mattered.

The margin of victory for the President was smaller than it was in 2008, when he defeated John McCain.  It was not as historically significant as it was back then.  But a win's a win, right?

Romney lost because the Democrats successfully painted him as an out-of-touch business executive, fronting for what is now an extremist Republican party.  That, and the GOP's failure to make its message more palatable beyond an overwhelmingly white (and male) constituency.

Romney becomes the third Massachusetts-based politician in the last 25 years to lose a presidential election, joining Democrats Michael Dukakis in 1988 and John Kerry in 2004.  The latter two lost to members of the Bush family.  For Romney, it was different party, same result.

For all the talk about change in Washington, the cast of characters remains the same.  Besides Obama, Congress will once again be presided over by Democrats in the Senate and Republicans in the House.  Be prepared for more gridlock.

Before Obama's second inauguration, he and Congress must come up with a federal budget deal that would keep the government solvent and not lose any more points in its bond rating.  If they don't, they risk putting the economy into another recession by sending it over the "fiscal cliff", sparking automatic tax hikes and spending cuts.

Then there's the ongoing problems of immigration reform, Syria's civil war, Europe's debt crisis, Iran's nuclear program, China, Afghanistan, and any vacancies that might come up in the Supreme Court.  So no matter who was elected, that person would have his hands full over the next four years.

They say that a President's second term is never as good as the first, because something always comes along to ruin his reputation.  For Richard Nixon, it was Watergate.  For Ronald Reagan, it was Iran-Contra.  For Bill Clinton, it was Monica Lewinsky.  For George W. Bush, it was . . . everything.  President Obama has had a so-so four years, so one has to wonder if the next four will see any kind of improvement for him and for the country.  Or will he go the way of the above-mentioned Presidents?

So that's it for the 2012 presidential campaign.  Hope you've enjoyed it, because the 2016 campaign should begin shortly.

Is It Election Day Yet?

PHOTO) In this composite image a comparison has been made between US Presidential Candidates Barack Obama (L) and Mitt Romney. The November 6, 2012 elections will decide between Obama and Romney who will win to become the next President of the United States. ***LEFT IMAGE*** SPRINGFIELD, OH - NOVEMBER 02: U.S. President Barack Obama addresses a campaign rally at Springfield High School November 2, 2012 in Springfield, Ohio. With four days left until the general election, Obama and the Republican presidential nominee, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, are racing from swing-state to swing-state in an attempt to change voters' minds at the last minute. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

It has all come down to this.  Two men vying for the most prestigious, yet harrowing job in the world:  President of the United States.  One man already holds that position and is seeking another term.  The other is a former governor from Massachusetts looking for higher office.

President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have been crisscrossing the states that matter in this election--Ohio, Florida, Colorado, Virginia--making final pleas to the voters as Election Day nears.  The polls show that both candidates have slight leads in those states, but Obama seems to have enough of a lead in the Electoral College.

Lately Romney, whom the ever-so-conservative Republicans reluctantly named to be their nominee, has been sounding a more moderate tone in order to appeal to women and independent voters.  So have other GOP candidates across the country, even the most conservative ones, who now claim how 'independent' they are and are capable of 'reaching across the aisle' to Democrats to get things done in Washington.

 That's all well and good, but there's two problems with that:  (1) If most of those legislators are still bound to Grover Norquist's anti-tax promise, how independent can they really be?  (2) Relations between Republicans and Democrats have been so chilly that the few remaining moderates in Congress have been heading for the exits.

Truth be told, the smartest thing the GOP could have done was to keep former President George W. Bush out of the loop during the campaign.  The last thing they wanted was to remind folks why they voted for Obama in the first place.

The President has been getting a boost for his handling of the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, with the unlikely occurrence of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (Republican) and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (independent) rallying to his side.  He's recovered nicely from the disastrous first debate with Romney, but there's still the perception that--in spite of the recent semi-upbeat economic reports--while the recession may be over, hard times haven't.

Having said all this, we think President Obama will be re-elected.  However, if the election is as close as everyone says it might be, don't be surprised if Romney comes out on top.  If the totals are in dispute, Romney has a conservative-majority Supreme Court and a Republican House of Representatives in his corner.  Just like in 2000, when Bush was the recipient of all this help.

So, in answer to your question, this is far from over. 

Despite Sandy, The Show Goes On

WEEHAWKEN, NJ - OCTOBER 30: Much of the New York City skyline sits in darkness after Hurricane Sandy, on October 30, 2012 in Weehawkin, New Jersey. The storm has claimed at least 40 lives in the United States, and has caused massive flooding accross much of the Atlantic seaboard. US President Barack Obama has declared the situation a 'major disaster' for large areas of the US East Coast including New York City. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Superstorm Sandy left the East Coast battered and bruised with hurricane-force winds, blizzards, and heavy rains that flooded low-lying areas.  The hardest-hit areas include New York City, Long Island, and the shores of New Jersey.  Nearly 90 are dead (as of November 1), millions are without power, and Sandy is on track to be the most expensive storm in U.S. history next to Katrina.

In spite of all this, what's true for Broadway is also true about politics:  The show must go on.  By that we mean the presidential campaign, which has a few more days to go before Election Day.

You could say that, besides President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney taking a break out of respect for the victims, the campaign never really stopped even when the TV networks went wall-to-wall with Sandy.  Both candidates sent surrogates to argue their cause in front of adoring supporters in the battleground states, although they did have to skip Virginia.

But here's an important distinction.  While Obama got to act presidential during a crisis, promising federal aid and visiting the stricken areas, Romney was forced to soften his message and turned his campaign stops into fundraisers for storm victims.

Romney would have gotten a lot more votes if he and his rich pals had gotten together to spend part of their fortunes on relief efforts, instead of having his less-well-heeled supporters give up their spare change and their unwanted canned goods.

Perhaps Sandy was payback for the candidates' lack of attention to climate change during the campaign.  But why alienate the energy companies and the manufacturers, some of whom are your biggest campaign contributors?

How will Sandy affect an already tight election?  People in the affected areas will have to make a special effort to get to their makeshift polling places.  Since some of those areas seem to be in Obama country, the President's chances could be hurt if not enough of those people can make it to the polls.  Results could take days.

Once there, voters will have to decide whether Obama was enough of a leader during the crisis to warrant another four years in the White House, or if they had already made up their minds long before Sandy came to town.

The opening basketball game at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn between the Nets and the New York Knicks has been postponed to November 26.  New Jersey has postponed Halloween until Monday, November 5.  The New York City marathon is still a go.  And the power should be back on in lower Manhattan by Saturday.  Life is slowly returning to normal in the Northeast.  We'll soon see if that's enough for Barack Obama to remain President, or if Mitt Romney rolls in with the tide.