Mary Tyler Moore (1936-2017): She Made It, After All

Mary Tyler Moore at the 45th Emmy Awards 9/19/93- Governor's Ball. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How many people in the history of television could say that they've had not one, but two iconic roles on different shows?  Well, it was Mary Tyler Moore, who did more than "turn the world on with her smile", as the song went.  For her, talent was all around and she didn't waste it.

As Laura Petrie on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (CBS, 1961-66), she was the epitome of the 1960s suburban housewife wearing capri pants on a sitcom about the writing staff of a TV variety show.

As Mary Richards on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (CBS, 1970-77), she proved that as a single career woman working as a news producer at a TV station in Minneapolis, there was more to life than being married.  That resonated plenty with the women's liberation movement of the era, and Moore was credited with giving women the encouragement to kick-start their own lives and careers.

Moore won seven Emmy awards, two for "Dick Van Dyke", four for "MTM" and one for a cable drama called "Stolen Babies".  She wasn't as successful in TV after her iconic sitcoms left the air, but did make a name for herself in the movies and on stage.  She earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination for the 1980 film "Ordinary People", which not only won that year for Best Picture, but also Best Director for Robert Redford.  On Broadway, Moore won a Tony for her role as a paraplegic in "Whose Life Is It Anyway?", also in 1980.

Moore has success off camera, partnering with her then-husband Grant Tinker (who died a few months ago) on MTM Productions.  They were responsible for many other TV classics besides "MTM" during the 1970s and 80s, including "Rhoda". "Phyllis", "WKRP in Cincinnati", "Hill Street Blues" and "St. Elsewhere".

In Minneapolis, where "MTM" was set, the show became a source of civic pride.  In certain sections of downtown, you could find the places where Mary Richards lived, worked, and even had lunch.  There was a statue of her on the Nicollet Mall (since moved to a visitors center because of renovations), where she flung her cap in the air just like in the opening credits.

Mary Tyler Moore, after a lifetime of health problems, died Wednesday at age 80.  She leaves behind not only a record of achievement every time you turn on the TV, but also the millions of women (and men) for whom Mary Richards became a role model.

The proper tribute to Moore, so far as we're concerned, isn't the "Chuckles Bites The Dust" episode of "MTM".  It's the final episode.  Not when the cast does a group hug on their final day at WJM-TV, but when Mary was the last person to leave.  She takes a good look around the office, turns off the lights, and goes out the door with a smile on her face.

America in Trump Land

English: The Mad Hatter, illustration by John Tenniel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States almost a week ago.  It came on a cloudy, rainy day in Washington in front of a sea of mostly white faces.  His Inauguration speech was also gloomy, dissing both Republicans and Democrats for their corruption, the "carnage" that's been inflicted on America over the past few years, and other tidbits from his campaign speeches.  All but his adoring fans cringed at the results by the time the new President danced the night away with his wife Melania.

As one circus folds its tent (Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey), a new one is just getting started in the nation's capitol with President Trump as its ringmaster.  He will attempt to tame Congress and his critics by turning the country into a military and economic colossus not seen since the Roman Empire.  Or so he says.

And that's just the beginning of our story.

• Disputes with the media over the size of the crowd and the TV ratings at the Inaugural led to a rough start for press secretary Scott Spicer, leading one to believe he's in over his head.
• Kellyanne Conway, a Trump aide who also happens to be the High Priestess of Misinformation, is on nearly every TV show trying her best to explain herself and the administration.  And struggling.
• Most of the President's Billionaire Cabinet have yet to be sworn in, pending congressional approval.  
• The President is not releasing his tax returns, even when the audits are finished.  Is it going to take somebody like WikiLeaks to do that for him?
• Signing executive orders reversing parts of former president Barack Obama's legacy, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (which nobody liked anyway). parts of the Affordable Care Act (while promising us a new and improved one), and resuming work on the controversial oil pipelines going through North Dakota.  And, of course, there's that wall Trump keeps talking about (and keeps insisting Mexico will pay for) along with new restrictions for immigrants.
• The President's use (and abuse) of a certain social media outlet has earned him the nickname of "The Mad Tweeter".  As such, he's been using the platform to mock and vilify anyone who disagrees with him.  For example:  After an anti-Trump women's march drew millions of protesters around the world, he asked why those people didn't vote.  Also, being the Tweeter-In -Chief, Trump has shown a willingness to shut down government employees' use of social and other media if they don't toe his line.  See:  the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Parks Service because they disagree with him on climate change.
• Trump still has problems with letting things go.  Now he's complaining that he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton because of voter fraud, and is launching an investigation.  There's no evidence of fraud, but that doesn't seem to matter to Trump.  Dude, you won the election.  Now chill.
• There are lingering concerns over how much the Russians had to do with getting Trump elected President.  But it doesn't seem to bother him, so long as relations between the two countries are about to be normalized.  Or so he says.

Trump is going to be President for the next four to eight years, to the disappointment of those of us who did not vote for him.  He's not going to be impeached no matter how far the investigations into alleged Russian election meddling go, because the Republican-led Congress is not going to convict one of its own.  Neither will he be forced to resign because of some obscure Constitutional procedure detailing the removal of a President.  You have one chance, and it's in 2020.  Unless Trump declares himself emperor, or something.

Welcome to a world where, not unlike "Alice In Wonderland" (apologies to Lewis Carroll), reality isn't what it should be.  Real facts don't matter.  Instead, we have "alternative facts", where the truth is spun to such a degree that no one recognizes them any more.  Wrong is right.  Science is disputed.  Figures do lie.  We're going to be staring down the looking glass for the next few years.  It's only going to get curiouser and curiouser in Trump Land.

President Obama: From Hope to Nope

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

In a few days, President Barack Obama and his family will turn the White House keys over to the billionaire real estate mogul from New York City, who promises a fresh start and a different attitude.  Strangely enough, that's what Obama thought he was doing when he took office eight years ago.

Obama had inherited an economic meltdown that became known as the Great Recession.  American soldiers were still fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  And Osama bin Laden was the world's number one fugitive.

Today, with economic policies that were put in place by the President, the Great Recession is but a bad memory to all except for those who still feel its affects.  There are no more troops in either Iraq or Afghanistan, just "advisers" to help their armies fight their own battles.  And bin Laden was killed in a U.S.-led raid, but the Islamic State has supplanted al-Qaeda as the source of worldwide terrorism.

In between, Obama tried to put his stamp on legislation that would transform the country.  But this  was (and still is) the era of hyper-partisanship in Washington, where both the Republicans and Democrats left Congress impotent when they refused to compromise on important issues.  So the President resorted to signing more executive orders than any other in history.

Take the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.  Obama's signature health care law was approved by only Democrats when they controlled Congress in his first term, not Republicans.  Now that he's leaving office, the Republicans who now run Congress couldn't get rid of the ACA fast enough.  And they still haven't come up with an acceptable alternative.

Another example is the blatant disregard for human life shown by that same Congress every time there's a mass gun shooting or terrorist attack, the latest of which occurred in Fort Lauderdale, Florida a couple of weeks ago.  The President could offer condolences to the families of the victims and rail against the injustice, but he couldn't get Congress to pass new restrictions on weapons.  Because the Second Amendment (and the National Rifle Association's money and power) were too sacred for them to mess with.

Barack Obama was the first African-American man to be elected.  Twice.  But in this supposedly "post-racial" era, all the racist yahoos came out of the woodwork, questioning his citizenship and religious background (having the middle name Hussein didn't help), using racial slurs against him and his wife Michelle, among other things.  It was also open season on unarmed black men by mostly white police officers, leading to violent protests across the country.  Add to that the backlash against immigrants (legally entered or not) due to fears of terrorism and siphoning off tax dollars, which was made worse by the devastating civil war in Syria and lapses in the security net.

Obama ends his presidency with high approval ratings, which is what he didn't have during much of his two terms  However powerful his personality was, he couldn't get Democrats to win more seats for a majority in Congress or to elect his party's successor in the White House.  There were also those who couldn't stand the fact that a liberal African-American was President for two terms, so they did everything they could to shut him down.  And, for the most part, they succeeded.  Which is why it's hard to see anyone other than a white male being President for a long time to come, given what Obama had to go through.

Barack Obama had already made his mark in history the moment he became President, but he tried to do so much more than that.  And he would have if gridlocked politicians and unenlightened souls had let him do his job.  Despite his best efforts, much of his legacy will be erased by the incoming Republican President.  But given time, history might treat Obama a lot better than Washington ever did.

Trump Beats The Press

English: Donald Trump at a press conference announcing David Blaine's latest feat in New York City at the Trump Tower. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With over a week to go before his inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump is still fighting the notion that his election in November was anything but legitimate.  That's part of the reason why he held a rare news conference Wednesday at Trump Tower in New York.  It wasn't exactly boring.

Never mind that Trump won the Electoral College vote, but not the popular vote.  There has been evidence for weeks that Russia and its president Vladimir Putin had a lot to do with influencing Trump's win through hacking and other means, and the major intelligence agencies told the president-elect that much.  Putin has denied it and so has Trump, putting him at odds with the intelligence community by claiming it's all politically motivated fake news.

Trump now admitted to the assembled multitude of reporters that yeah, maybe the Russians did do the hacking after all.  But he also lit into reports that a dossier had some damaging information about his personal and business life, pointing the finger at CNN and Buzzfeed for publicizing said dossier that most other news organizations couldn't verify.  This led to a shouting match between Trump and CNN reporter Jim Acosta, who was prevented from asking questions.

The other part of the news conference had to do with how Trump plans to unload his financial dealings before taking office to avoid conflict of interest charges.  Here the proceedings came to a dead stop as Trump turned things over to his attorney, who then described the terms.  Among other things:  Trump's two adult sons would take over the Trump Organization, and the president-elect would have nothing to do with it.  Most of the rest of his assets would go into a trust.  This still doesn't mean Trump won't be making money from this arrangement, however.

Trump concluded by talking in superlatives (as is his wont) about fulfilling some of his campaign promises, such as getting rid of the Affordable Care Act and replacing it with what he thinks is a much better version, building a wall across the Mexican border and keeping jobs in the U.S.A.

Amazingly, Trump's use of Twitter didn't come up.  Nor did his rants directed at Meryl Streep over her critical Golden Globe Awards speech and at Arnold Schwarzenegger for the low TV ratings of "The New Celebrity Apprentice" (for which he's still listed as executive producer).  And not once did he refer to Hillary Clinton as "crooked".  That's progress, I guess.

If the raucous tone of this news conference is any indication, President-elect Trump's plan to handle the media through playing favorites and shutting down all others should tell us that there's not going to be too many more news conferences.  That sure sounds a lot like what Vladimir Putin would do, right?