Random Thoughts 2015, Volume 1

Bill O'Reilly at the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia, September 30, 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hillary Clinton used a private e-mail account when she was Secretary of State.  What does this tell us about how the government handles its e-mails?

The Federal Communications Commission declares the Internet to be a utility and sides with net neutrality, which means that the Comcasts of the world can't push its favorite sites onto a faster lane than everyone else.  Be careful what you wish for, because this is the FCC we're talking about.

The same Republican Congress that held the Department of Homeland Security's budget hostage saw no problem in inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before a joint session, without the White House's blessing.  Putting politics before public safety is just par for the course for these guys.

Groups who threaten to blow up civilian targets such as shopping malls, even if they're just bluffing, are enough to keep many potential customers at home.  Same goes for those who believe their Second Amendment rights allow them to carry weapons that have more firepower than the police has, defending themselves against those who are likely to be wearing their bombs.

President Obama has vetoed the Keystone XL oil pipeline.  So which would you rather have?  A pipeline drawing oil from Canada that might rupture and cause untold environmental damage?  Or having oil delivered from North Dakota on aging trains and rail lines, causing explosions resulting in deaths and even more environmental damage?  But hey, anything to ensure more jobs and cheaper gas prices, right?

Bill O'Reilly is not going to lose his TV job just because his telling of how he covered the Falkland Islands War of 1982 as a CBS correspondent differed from anyone else's.  O'Reilly works for Fox News, a trusted source for Republicans and anyone else who doesn't care about being informed.  To paraphrase an old ad slogan:  You expect less from Fox News.  And you get it.

In a new series of promos for WCCO-TV, anchors Frank Vascellaro and Amelia Santaniello sound like they're claiming their station to be the King of Local News.  They're more like court jesters.

We don't know if Dick Chapman, the former WCCO-AM personality who recently passed away, was the first local media person to pronounce the name of Bemidji, Minnesota as "BER-midji" instead of  "BEM-idji".  But now that we're hearing some local media yokels who didn't originally come from the Gopher State pronounce Bemidji the Chapman way, this really needs to stop because it's annoying as hell.  What has Bemidji done to deserve this?

A Little League baseball team from Chicago is stripped of its U.S. championship because they used players from outside its area.  A Minnesota high school won a dance team championship despite allegations of their plagiarizing the moves of another team in Utah, while their opponents stood to one side and refused to accept their consolation trophies.  We lay blame on the adults for manipulating the kids into situations like these.  But how much of it is the kids' fault, and why are they never blamed?  Is that how they think they can get away with anything in life, including murder?

Leonard Nimoy (1931-2015) played a pointy-eared scientist from a distant planet on a celebrated science-fiction TV series, and it defined him for the rest of his life.  Fortunately, Nimoy was talented enough to succeed in other forms of acting and directing so that he could live long and prosper on this planet without always being tagged as the guy with the pointy ears.  Now he belongs in another dimension.

Oscar Night Was For The Birds, Man.

English: Neil Patrick Harris at the 1st Streamy Awards in 2009. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The 87th Academy Awards, held Sunday night at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, went on for nearly four hours, with a lower-than-usual TV audience sitting through three hours of minor awards and montages just to get to the major awards.  But it wouldn't be the Oscars without the bloat, right?

The big winner was "Birdman, or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance" (and we're only going to mention this once), which starred Michael Keaton as a washed-up comic book movie hero attempting a Broadway comeback.  It took home four Oscars, including Best Picture, director (for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu), original screenplay and cinematography.

The Best Actor and Actress honors went to two people whose characters they played had neurological issues:  Eddie Redmayne for "The Theory of Everything" and Julianne Moore for "Still Alice".  And there's your template for Oscar immortality, folks.  Play someone who has an incurable disease.  Better yet, play someone with a British accent who has an incurable disease.

Supporting Oscars went to J.K. Simmons for "Whiplash", and to Patricia Arquette for "Boyhood".  For Simmons, it means that the price of continuing to do Farmers Insurance commercials just went waaay up.  For Arquette, who can spend her newfound capital on working for laws that put women's pay on equal terms with men, she will be going back to TV as the star of the new "CSI" spinoff.

Much has been made of the failure of the Motion Picture Academy to include minorities in the Oscar nominations, giving the impression that there really weren't any noteworthy performances by "people of color" this past year.  To compensate. African-American actors and actresses (some of whom are currently employed by ABC) were used as presenters.  The Academy even threw a bone in the direction of "Selma", a movie about the 1965 civil rights march whose historical inaccuracies hurt its awards chances, with a Best Original Song Oscar for John Legend.  Nice try, but not good enough.

Neil Patrick Harris is a modern day song-and-dance man who has won praise for hosting award shows such as the Tonys and the Emmys.  But he struck out on the big stage.  Lame jokes, showing up onstage in nothing but his underwear, and his "prediction bag" gag all fizzled.  Those "predictions", when they were finally revealed prior to the announcement of who won Best Picture, turned out to be nothing more than what some comedy writer must have whipped up backstage in five minutes.

After Lady Gaga performed a medley of tunes from "The Sound of Music", it's reasonable to ask if she's at a career crossroads.  Gaga no longer has to resort to outrageous behavior for folks to see that she has the pipes to carry off jazz tunes (see Tony Bennett) and show tunes.  Maybe she no longer wants to be the next Madonna.  She might want to be the next Julie Andrews instead.  Or she can put the meat dress back on.

Someday, the Motion Picture Academy will get its act together and streamline the Oscar telecast.  Cut back on the musical numbers and montages.  Move the craft awards to earlier in the day.  Let the winners talk as long as they want without being rudely interrupted by an orchestra performing on the other side of town.  If they don't do something, the Oscars will be as passe as Bob Hope and Billy Crystal.

Brian Williams and Jon Stewart: A Matter of Trust

Jon Stewart (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Brian Williams at the Vanity Fair celebration for the 9th annual Tribeca Film Festival. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Once upon a time in America, back when nobody had ever heard of cable and the Internet, a man named Walter Cronkite had the attention of millions of TV viewers as he and his team of CBS News reporters recounted the events of the day.  There was no time for embellishing the stories that were coming from Vietnam and during the Nixon era, nor could they be found hamming it up on the TV variety shows of the day.  At the end of the thirty-minute broadcast, Cronkite would say " and that's the way it is".  For this, Cronkite was considered the most trusted man in America.

In 2015, Cronkite's torch had long since been passed to Brian Williams of NBC News and Jon Stewart of Comedy Central.  An unlikely pair, yes.  Williams, until recently, was a network news anchor in the Cronkite tradition who occasionally appeared on late night comedy shows.  His "Nightly News" had topped the dinner hour ratings since he took over for Tom Brokaw in 2004, and has propped up a news division that is otherwise in disarray.

Stewart, who is a comedian by trade, is a self-admitted fake news anchor whose nightly takes on the world at large and the media that covers it became gospel for those who have been let down too many times by those same media.  He had been hosting "The Daily Show" since 1999, leading the way for Stephen Colbert and John Oliver to introduce similar shows.

But now, Americans are going to have to find someone else to trust.  Williams has been suspended without pay by NBC for six months because he's been caught telling different versions of what happened to him while covering the Iraq war in 2003, claiming that his helicopter was under enemy attack when it really wasn't.  When some of the soldiers who were with him on that trip complained about his story, Williams did an about-face and made an on-air apology.  There are also allegations that Williams "misremembered" tales of other events he covered, such as Hurricane Katrina.

Stewart, who had just mocked the media's coverage of Williams' troubles on Monday, returned the following night to make some news of his own.  Stewart has chosen to leave "The Daily Show" by the end of the year, giving the reason that his contract with Comedy Central was expiring and that he wanted to do something else.  Or maybe it was because the recent Charlie Hebdo massacre had driven home the point that satire is a lot more dangerous than it used to be.

Lester Holt, usually the weekend news anchor and "Dateline NBC" host, will take over "Nightly News" for the time being.  Who replaces Stewart is another matter.  Colbert will soon become David Letterman's replacement on CBS, and Oliver already hosts "Last Week Tonight" on HBO.  A better question is whether Comedy Central should go in a different direction.

Should Williams ever return to NBC, he's going to face a long road back from the huge hole he dug himself if he is to regain the trust of viewers who turned to him for a straight rendition of what happened today. And that should go for all media, because it is always a good idea to let the facts get in the way of a good story if you want to be taken seriously as a journalist.

That should be the way it is.

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On a somber note, Bob Simon of CBS News was killed in a car accident on Wednesday.  He was 73.  Simon had been with the network since 1967, covering wars, the Middle East and the State Department as a correspondent.  Since 1996, he was a "60 Minutes" correspondent.  CBS News has lost a familiar face and voice, and so did we.

UPDATE (6/2/15):  Stewart has announced that his final "Daily Show" will be in early August.  Trevor Noah will take over when the show returns in late September.  As for Williams, NBC is still deciding his fate.

UPDATE (6/19/15):  NBC has apparently decided Williams is sufficiently rehabilitated enough to go back to work for them, but not for "Nightly News".  Instead, he'll be the "breaking news" anchor at MSNBC, a cable network that has seen its ratings and credibility drop after Keith Olbermann left and took the channel's audience with him.  Lester Holt has been given the "Nightly" anchor position on a permanent basis, but he'll be looking over his shoulder at Williams should the ratings falter.

The 2015 Grammys: The Best That Could Be Found On Record.

Kanye West performing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Back in the 1960s, before the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences began putting its Grammy awards ceremonies on TV, NBC used to air a yearly music special called "The Best on Record".  It was hosted by Andy Williams or someone like that, and featured performers of Grammy-winning songs that had been awarded weeks earlier.  It should also be noted that rock music was barely acknowledged by the folks at NARAS at that time.

Here in 2015, the Grammys have gone back to the future--sort of.  In a three-and-a-half-hour CBS telecast (hosted by LL Cool J, who's taken over Williams' job as the show's perennial host) that was chock full of performances--most of it consisting of made-for-TV collaborations that seldom made sense--nine awards were handed out, with the rest relegated to non-televised pre-show festivities.  What occurred Sunday in Los Angeles' Staples Center wasn't necessarily the best on record.  It was more like the best that could be found on record, or digital stream.

A fellow named Sam Smith took home four Grammys, including Best New Artist, which was more than any other nominee.  His "Stay With Me" also won for Song of the Year (a songwriters' category) and Record of the Year.  Smith, who could be mistaken for any male crooner with a less-than-distinctive voice, earned his trophies despite the following shortcomings:

• "Stay With Me" sounded an awful lot like Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down".  So much so that Smith was forced to add Petty and Jeff Lynne to the songwriting credits, which was part of a settlement of a copyright dispute.
• Smith was outsung on the Grammy telecast by Mary J. Blige, who did a better job on "Stay With Me" than he did.
• Smith has been mentioned as the "next Adele".  So where is his album full of Number One hits that's been played to death on the radio?  Or his next highly-anticipated project a couple of years from now?  That's a lot of pressure to put on a guy.

One major Grammy not won by Smith (though he was nominated) was for Album of the Year, which went to Beck for "Morning Phase".  Kanye West took great exception to the result, almost storming the stage like he did at the MTV Video Music Awards a few years ago, taking away Taylor Swift's moment of glory in support of Beyonce.  This time, West waited until after the show to unload on the Grammy voters for not recognizing that Beyonce, not Beck, deserved the award.  West is entitled to his opinion, but disrupting someone else's triumph is not cool.  Heck, we didn't even know that Beck had a new album.

As for the performances, they varied in quality depending on your tolerance for them.  A brief rundown on some of them:

• AC/DC, who opened the show, turned out to be the only rockers on the telecast.  Unless you count the Target ad featuring a live performance by Imagine Dragons.
• Lady Gaga hammed it up with Tony Bennett, but she wasn't half bad singing jazz.
• Annie Lennox stole the show from that "Take Me to Church" guy with her rendition of "I Put a Spell On You".
• President Obama and a woman who said she's a domestic abuse survivor brought the proceedings to a screeching halt, urging the rest of us to report bad domestic behavior.  Then Katy Perry sang a song that fit the theme.

Maybe someday, the Grammy Awards will simply stop handing out trophies on TV and reward the winners with a prime-time concert.  Those of us who actually care about who won could go online to NARAS' website to see who did, and spare themselves the task of watching the obligatory Taylor Swift reaction shots to almost anything at all.  Only then will the circle be complete.  "The Best on Record" is back on TV.

SOTU: The Era of Wishful Thinking

President Barack Obama, struggling to remain relevant in the seventh year of his Oval Office odyssey, sounded a hopeful note in his next-to-last State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress Tuesday night.

With an improving economy and the combat portion of the war in Afghanistan concluded, the President sought to "turn the page" on the nation being in crisis mode.  The few proposals he made were intended to better the middle class.  Among them:  Increasing capital gains for couples making more than $500 million.  Making community college free to students who have kept their grades up.  Raising the minimum wage.  Increasing workers' paid sick leave.

The President also pledged to beef up cybersecurity, help pass new immigration reforms and take steps to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba.

What the President was talking about Tuesday night came across as wishful thinking to the new Republican-dominated Congress, and to the folks watching at home.  Everyone knows that years of gridlock has created a situation in which every proposal of Obama's is likely to get shot down by Congress.  And every proposal of theirs would be met by the President's veto pen.

Contrary to what the President told Congress, the world is still a dangerous place, as recent terrorist attacks have proven.  U.S. soldiers have been sent back to Iraq because the Islamic State have swallowed up nearly half the country.   Air strikes in Iraq, Syria and other places have done a good job in taking out terrorist leaders, but IS and Al Qaeda have figured out ways to get around them.  And even though combat troops have left Afghanistan, thousands of advisers remain there.

One annoying aspect of the SOTU was the constant breaks for applause by Democrats, which they kept doing even when the President was still talking.  The Republicans mostly sat on their rear ends, except for when it came time to salute the troops.

Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa delivered the GOP response that immediately followed.  It was a smiley-faced attack on Obama's policies without offering any real solutions, while bragging about her Iraq war record.  Then again, what did you expect from a woman who's only been Senator for a few weeks, and was previously known for castrating hogs?

President Obama and the new Republican Congress have both said they'll make every effort to work together for the good of the country.  Maybe that's wishful thinking too.  From this moment on, little will get done as the country prepares for the 2016 presidential election.  Then we'll see who becomes relevant in 2017.

Satire: Handle With Care

By definition, satire (according to Merriam-Webster) is "biting wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose vice or folly".  It is the basis for some of our greatest literature, theater and other forms of art.  It can also result in lawsuits, hurt feelings, accusations of not being politically correct, and even murder, particularly if the subject takes offense to being ridiculed.

In the last few weeks, we've learned that satire is also capable of inciting acts of terror and other international incidents.

Was That You, Charlie?

Two men who police say were Islamic militants went into the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French magazine of satire, and murdered 12 of its staffers.  Its crime?  Publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, which is forbidden under Islam.

Charlie Hebdo, previously unknown beyond France, has apparently been mocking religion for years in a way American publications or satirists never will be accused of doing.  It isn't just the pictures of The Prophet that got Muslims upset.  It's also the sexually graphic images and depictions of Christianity that send the Vatican into convulsions and accusations of blasphemy.

Islamic groups have warned for years that there would be deadly consequences for anyone, whether they're of the faith or not, who dares to insult The Prophet.  And it has happened a couple of times, first to a Danish newspaper for publishing the offending cartoons, then to the U.S. embassy in Libya after an anti-Muslim video was released online.  An American diplomat was killed.

One week after the attack and the worldwide indignation that followed, Charlie Hebdo returned with an issue that had Mohammed on its cover and more risque cartoons inside.  Some people never learn.

Publicity Stunt Gone Wrong.  Or Was It?

Sony Pictures relentlessly promoted their big Christmas blockbuster wannabe "The Interview", which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco as TV hosts recruited by the CIA to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.  Then came reports of Sony's computers being hacked into, releasing a torrent of embarrassing e-mails and other personal information.   There was speculation that the hacks came either from North Korea to voice its displeasure about the movie, or just some disgruntled employee seeking revenge.  Sony ended up pulling "The Interview" from its holiday release after the hackers threatened to blow up any theater showing it, prompting major chains to take a pass in the interest of safety.

But once Sony was convinced by the U.S. government that it was North Korea who was behind the hacking, they went ahead and released "The Interview" to a smaller number of independent theaters and was also streamed online.  Revolutionary?  Maybe.  But most observers wondered if all this hoohah about a film that was critically panned was really worth dying for.

Weeks later, the whole "Interview" controversy was lampooned by Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Margaret Cho (playing a North Korean journalist) on the NBC telecast of the Golden Globe Awards.

Satire, like freedom of speech, reminds us of a certain movie line:  "With great power comes great responsibility", or something like that.  You can't just go ridiculing a subject without first thinking about how that person or institution might react to it.  It is also never a good idea to lampoon or otherwise disrespect a religion just because you think they should be, especially if that religion is backed up by threats of violence.  So, whether you write, draw or hold a video camera, choose your targets wisely.

The New 96.3: Nowhere to Go But Up

The radio station recently known as KTWN (96.3 FM) has in the past few years gone from hip hop and rap to contemporary hits, then to a hybrid of classic hits and alternative rock.  Considering the static nature of music on Twin Cities FM radio, that's quite a progression.

Now the Pohlad family-owned station is changing its tune once again, this time as Go96.3 FM, an alternative rock station that plays the likes of Imagine Dragons, Arctic Monkeys, Tegan & Sara and other locally popular artists while ditching the classic rock of Sheryl Crow and the Doobie Brothers.  The new 96.3 will sound more like The Current (89.3) than Cities 97 (97.1), if that's possible.

This latest format change wouldn't be a big deal if it weren't for the fact that 96.3 is also the radio home of Minnesota Twins baseball, which is also part of the Pohlad portfolio.  What a missed opportunity.  When the change was announced, it was thought that 96.3 would go to a more Twins-friendly format such as sports talk or country.  But then again, there already are three or four stations here with similar programming.

The Pohlads apparently believe that they could bring a younger audience to its baseball broadcasts by putting them on a rock station, even though most Major League Baseball teams' flagship stations have news, talk or sports formats and generally attract an older audience.

So how's that been working out?  Ratings for KTWN have not been good, and part of the reason is that the Twins have lost more than 90 games in each of the last four seasons.  You might say that the Pohlads know just as much about running a radio station as they do a baseball team.

It's fair to say that both the Twins and 96.3 are seeking to improve in 2015.  The Twins have a new manager, and have added some free agents to go along with the young talent they've been promising us for years.  Go96.3 is banking on a new music lineup that they think will be a hit with their listeners.  But the station is still plagued with the problem of programming to two different audiences:  those who like to rock and those who like to listen to baseball. 

In that respect, the Twins and Go96.3 have nowhere to go but up.