A Christmas Surprise

My Facebook page exploded with congratulations this week after I announced my engagement to Linda on Christmas Day. I had a crush on her back in our North Branford High School Algebra II class, but she had a boyfriend at the time. Four decades intervened before we saw each other again at our class reunion. You might think I've been a confirmed bachelor for life, but I never thought of myself as destined to be forever single. We haven't made any specific wedding plans, since she and her two grown children are still absorbing the shock. Yes, it was a surprise. I admit that it still hasn't completely sunk in with me. Recently when I had dinner with my last college roommate, he mentioned how his wife of thirty years was indispensable in keeping him focused and grounded. In many ways I've been drifting through life. We all do that to some extent, but Linda has really added that sense of purpose that has been missing. It's like a missing piece of a puzzle that's taken until now to find.

Parallels in History

Abraham Lincoln,  March 6, 1865

I saw the movie Lincoln the day after the Newtown school massacre.   The movie focused on the drive to get the 13th Amendment to the Constitution passed by the House before the end of the Civil War.   The amendment outlawed slavery.   You might think that after four years of war costing 600,000 American lives with the South in absolute ruins, the abolition of slavery would have sailed through the House after passing the Senate.  Instead, President Lincoln faced daunting obstacles, especially from House Democrats.   There were people close to his own administration who thought his amendment was lost and he couldn't get the votes.   The powerful forces of resistance in the North - as well as the slaveholding border states which did not secede - provided almost as great an impediment to change as the armed uprising of the ten Confederate states of the South.   The permanent nationwide end to slavery was by no means guaranteed.    Lincoln was a shrewd politician, but he was resolute in making sure the end of the Civil War meant slavery anywhere in the United States was gone for good.    If a bloody Civil War couldn't eradicate this shameful institution from our society, what would it take?  There was more than a century of work to be done, but President Lincoln prevailed.

 

We have seen our 2nd Amendment uncompromisingly defended by a powerful gun lobby for decades, led by the leadership and lobbyists of the National Rifle Association.   The NRA typically stays silent immediately after any mass shootings, and that pattern has continued after the Newtown tragedy.   With the murder of twenty innocent young children and six adults, their unfounded fear mongering about the administration attacking 2nd Amendment rights has run its course.   This time, Newtown has changed everything.   Politicians, clergy and other disgusted citizens are not backing down.   Has any rational supporter of gun restrictions advocated outlawing handguns for defending your home or rifles for hunting?   No.   Does anyone think reinstating the assault weapons ban will totally end our problems?   Of course not.   Do we have to look at how we've emphasized the entertainment value of violence throughout our culture?   That's at least as important in addressing the root causes.   We need to rethink our mental health system and focus on personal responsibility.    Addressing our culture of violence should be this generation's call to action.    President Obama is determined to prevail.

 

One more thought... Does government need to "put God back" in our schools, as some suggest?    Look at the beautiful, innocent victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School along with the heroes who worked to protect them and those who comfort their families.   How can you believe in God and think God ever left because of a 1963 Supreme Court ruling on prayer?    We find God where we choose to look.    

What Can We Finally Learn From This?

The tragedy in Newtown brought back memories of 9/11 for me. One difference: Facebook didn't exist eleven years ago. Most Facebook posts have been thoughtful and sensitive. Others upset me to the point where I wonder why I keep checking my page. In the interest of summing up my current feelings and listening to the voices of common sense, I wanted to share these well considered words from Nate Logan, one of my Facebook friends: In the past few days I've seen and heard arguments for more guns, against more guns, for more religion in school, against more religion in school, the need for more treatment for the mentally ill, better parenting, etc. Wounds are still open right now, people are still processing what happened. We're dealing with this each in our own way. It's so easy to cast our own opinions and point fingers, and I'm just as guilty. But maybe it wouldn't hurt if one of the biggest lessons we learned from this tragedy was that we need to learn to listen to each other, be a little more open to hearing other opinions, and giving a little more space to grieve before we start with all of the arguing. Just a thought. The solution to a problem this complex will not be simple, and it's not just one problem, but many. It will take many voices and many ideas to fix it. Keep in mind, action is bigger than a Facebook rant. It means stepping up and acting. In a perfect world I suppose...

Radio Pranks

DJs Michael Christian & Mel Greig

As radio prank calls go, this one seems tame by comparison.   Australian radio personality Mel Greig pretended to be Queen Elizabeth checking with the hospital on the condition of Prince William's wife Kate Middleton and managed to get answers from a nurse there.    After the call was revealed to be a hoax, the nurse later committed suicide.   The DJs involved have been suspended and are obviously devastated.   The suspension may be appropriate, since their careers are not the number one concern at the moment.   Beyond this unintended tragedy, I am reminded of prank radio station phone calls and stunts that have made their unwitting targets look very bad and could have easily led to equally disastrous results.   Here in the New London market alone, there was a DJ who made outrageous prank calls and got people extremely upset - all in the name of shock value entertainment.    In another instance our WBMW morning show was the target of syndicated shock jocks Opie & Anthony, who had an axe to grind with the owner of our station and decided to take it out on me and my co-host.   They'd take audio clips from our show and make fun of us as "whitebread local radio".   A couple of their stooges even prank-called us, joking about something personal to do with my co-host.   At the time we ignored them and they predictably moved on within two days to trash someone else.   As broadcasters, being a target can be a hazard of the occupation, but most are not expecting to be ridiculed in front of a less than sympathetic audience.    Radio personalities repeatedly prove there's plenty of money and ratings in making others look bad, but once in a while there are consequences.

The Phony War

From MSNBC

Merry Christmas? Happy Holidays? I don't really have a preference. I stick to the "holidays" greeting more because it incorporates the New Year than because of any religious observance. If someone wishes me a Merry Christmas, they shouldn't have to worry about offending me if by chance I'm not a Christian. Christmas has been the dominant holiday, and our very secular retail landscape guarantees that fact for years to come. Nonetheless, Fox News claims every year that there is a "War on Christmas" led by the crowd Bill O'Reilly calls the "secularists". Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee found himself on the receiving end of Fox News criticism when he referred to the state "holiday tree". I agree that this is a bit too politically correct even for my left of center leanings. It's a Christmas tree, for cryin' out loud! While Fox and company pounced on the governor with the idea that the state was distancing itself too much from a ceremony based on Christianity, one Providence radio host who said he was Jewish suggested the state should just step aside and let the private sector sponsor whatever religiously connected symbolism they want. Rhode Island was founded by Roger Williams as a place for religious tolerance. Maybe the state should separate itself from something the church and private enterprise are perfectly capable of handling. On Capitol Hill in DC, congressmen can take a break from lighting Christmas trees and stay with the business of giving us all a Christmas present: avoiding the looming fiscal cliff. 







Party vs. Ideology

Since the election, the news has been dominated by talk of the impending Fiscal Cliff and the Benghazi consulate attack.   In both cases, Republicans are increasingly split over how much they should cling to the Grover Norquist no tax pledge and Senator McCain's rejection of UN Ambassador Susan Rice as Secretary of State.    In both cases, the Tea Party House freshmen, right wing radio hosts and Fox News maintain the need to remain ideologically pure and that attempts by Mitt Romney and others to at least appear more moderate were what cost Republicans the election.    I don't see how that could have been the case when the party ran its most right wing campaign in modern history.   This is not even the party of Ronald Reagan these days, much less the centrist party of Dwight Eisenhower.   The right wing, embodied in the highly profitable conservative entertainment complex, sees a threat to its own relevance if compromise no longer remains a dirty word.   Would you expect talkers like Laura Ingraham to urge their followers to move to the center?    The GOP has a fight on their hands, and it's an internal one.   Political parties were never founded to unswervingly promote ideology; they were formed to get candidates elected who were closest to representing their priorities.   The primary system was focused solely on who could placate the most hardcore conservatives.   That doesn't win general elections.   The public wants to know what's in it for them, not the fact that you can push 100% of your agenda into law.   Running almost exclusively on tearing down the opposition party's record of Obamacare etc. won't get you there either.    The speed of change based on a mandate should be a caution to liberals as well.   President Obama's first two years saw big accomplishments for left leaning causes, only to produce a strong reaction the other way in 2010.    Mandates can be fleeting.   Give a little.

Twinkies Will Live On - Will Good Jobs?

It was only a week ago when I stopped at the Hostess thrift store in Uncasville to get a loaf of wheat bread for a buck. Given those healthy intentions, could I resist the temptation of mix-and-match ten snack cakes for three dollars? Of course not. Had I realized the fate that was about to befall parent company Hostess, I would have included the iconic Twinkie in my assortment. I actually prefer the Hostess cupcakes with the vanilla cake, chocolate frosting and signature curl on top. Twinkies cake always had a funny texture without some chocolate coating. That may be why I've missed the Chocodile, the chocolate covered Twinkie that hasn't been sold here on the East coast since the nineties. Chocodiles were junk food heaven! Much like the late night Black Friday shoppers getting on the news annually stampeding each other, it reminds me of how little common sense we continue to display when people start hoarding Twinkies and other Hostess products. For one thing, I can't imagine some of these brands going away permanently. Some corporation will buy most of these brand names and the Twinkie legend will live on.   The sad part of the Hostess liquidation is the possible loss of 18,000 jobs nationwide. The company blames the shutout squarely on the bakers' union strike, but any research reveals a company plagued by problems on many fronts including market changes and big failures in restructuring. I hope some jobs can be saved and these bakeries and distributors will still serve a purpose under another owner. The Hostess saga also highlights how even givebacks by 70% of the unions couldn't keep it competitive with non-union shops that keep things cheap while lowering the average worker's standard of living. I don't begrudge their success, but can we all afford to be working in "Walmart World"?

Setting A Poor Example

OK, call me overreactive. It won't be the first time someone will have done that. I was driving along yesterday listening to the radio. On came this Sears commercial where a woman pretends to call in sick to get out of work. When she hangs up, her husband congratulates her on a convincing act. You see, she wanted to spend the day shopping the early holiday sales. Cute, huh? That is so wrong. What does it say about our society when an ad agency can come up with a radio spot encouraging people to fake illness to go shopping? Did other people find this the least bit disturbing? Kids, I guess it's perfectly cool to lie if it gets you off work so you can go buy stuff. The holiday season gets criticized enough for crass commercialism, but at least I can live with that. We are all capable of lying to some extent, perhaps for some greater good. So many sitcoms feature white lies, but at least the viewer sees the consequences. Telling people to call in sick in order to go shopping isn't very noble. Responsibility is learned in small doses. Someone can start on that path by pulling that Sears ad off the air.

What's Apparent - To Me, Anyway

It was a late night. That wasn't because the results of Election 2012 took that long to become known. It was because yours truly decided to stay up and watch Mitt Romney's gracious concession speech and President Obama's inspiring victory speech. This election has made me more politically aware than any other in my lifetime. Here are a few observations:

• President Obama is not a radical left socialist - not even close.
• Make Election Day a national holiday. If we have to cpombine it with Veterans Day, so be it. Voting should be as accessible as possible. While we exercise our right, we should take time to recognize our veterans who served to make this happen.
• Obamacare is essentially Romneycare. You can run but you can't hide from that.
• Romney never spelled out an original economic plan. His projections for North American energy independence and adding 12 million new jobs are the same as what many economists expect to happen if we stay with Obama.
• Paul Ryan didn't help the GOP cause. The VP choice excited many conservatives who weren't going anywhere else anyway. Romney's debate coach Rob Portman could have helped them win Ohio, while Ryan's home state of Wisconsin has been terribly polarized by its governor's union-busting.
• Mitt Romney's 47% speech video showed his real attitude. It would have been over after that if it hadn't been for President Obama's lackluster first debate performance.
• Ethnic demographic trends are working against the Republican party. Generational changes are hurting them as well. Go with what resonates with the mainstream and not with what the average right wing talk show listener wants to hear.
• Mainstream Republicans - what's left of them - need to stand up to the Tea Party members. As Obama found out in 2010, a wide mandate does not last forever. Achievements through compromise can.
• The primary system has become an ideological litmus test that produces candidates who will say anything to placate their base while dragging more and more big money into a longer and longer political season leaving much of the electorate on the cynical sidelines.
• Money can't buy enough votes. Linda McMahon taught that valuable lesson.
• All in all, America still works!

Storm Coverage: How Essential Am I?

Here we go again.   This time 60 million people could be in the crosshairs of Hurricane Sandy or her effects in a storm that is expected to linger longer than most.   I was asked to man the Mohegan Sun studio of 102.3 The Wolf on Monday evening - at the height of it all.   At first I thought I'd have to evacuate where I live anyway, so why not hunker down in a massive complex where I'm hardly likely to even notice the effects of Sandy?     Then I started to hear revised forecasts calling for strong wind and rain to begin even sooner and the increased likelihood of our station simulcasting everything from the Cumulus New London broadcast center anyway.   That begged the question: Why would I want to risk my safety to watch over live coverage from somewhere else?   I remember too well the drive in to the studio during Tropical Storm Irene last year.  Being a hardcore radio guy, I am normally the first to jump in when there's an emergency.   When the cable and internet go out and newspaper delivery often gets disrupted, radio rules!    If they need me to take part in the active coverage out of New London, I'd be open to that.    It's not my first rodeo with this radio storm coverage thing, but if they're covered at broadcast central I'll opt to stay safe by the time things get wild.   We'll see.   I hope you don't go out in this storm unless you absolutely have to.

UPDATE 11/2: I went in early Monday as the storm was just getting started and pulled a marathon air shift from Mohegan Sun, being there from 2pm to midnight with no regrets. No doubt I lucked out with the storm winds and rain decreasing by midnight and getting my own power back a day later. When I see the aftermath of devastation up and down the East coast, I appreciate what I have.

Hooked on House Hunters

"Reality shows" of every stripe have taken over evening television, with the likes of Honey Boo Boo, Real Housewives, Ice Road Truckers and the History Channel's Pickers.   It's no wonder the younger generation is no longer getting hooked on the old daytime soap operas.    These not always spontaneous "slices of life" and the story lines that develop on danceoffs and singing competitions now provide enough melodrama in prime time.    Even the Weather Channel is getting in on the act with shows about life in the Arctic.   I can't say I'm too fond of most reality TV, but I've found a couple of cable shows that grab my attention on a Friday night when television can become a truly vast wasteland.    Home & Garden TV has House Hunters and International House Hunters back to back.    The premise is simple enough.   A realtor shows a prospective home buyer or buyers three different properties for sale or rent.    There's no host, but an unseen woman is one of my favorite narrators.    As I watch, I learn the popularity of granite kitchen countertops.    I wonder out loud why a couple without kids needs three bathrooms.     Some folks can be so hard to please, while others seem to have no taste at all.     Like any reality show undoubtedly edited to the max, the viewer gets a guided tour of the Househunters' lives as well as the homes.    Unlike  many shows, it all gets resolved in thirty minutes with the househunters happy in their newly chosen homes.    It always leaves me more anxious to put in a granite countertop.   

The Best Money Can Buy?

Rep. Chris Murphy & Linda McMahon

It's a good thing Connecticut isn't a swing state in the presidential race.     We already are being bombarded by political ads in the U.S. Senate race between Representative Chris Murphy and WWE CEO Linda McMahon.   Last Friday I saw Chris Murphy at a campaign stop in Colchester.   The audience posed very thoughtful questions and I thought Murphy gave some reasonable and specific answers.   I wished the overall tone of the race could be so civil.   While at least one well-funded pro-Murphy PAC has done some serious mud slinging, Murphy's own ads have taken more of a high road.    Linda McMahon has financed her own election bid, presenting a more female-friendly image than her last Senate race.    I don't begrudge her wealth; it can be used for a lot of good.    I'll take her word over her opponent's about being pro-choice on abortion, but I don't believe for a minute McMahon would have any effective voice on that issue amid a national Republican party that is so dominated by the far right.    Some of her statements on job creation, energy policy and deficit reduction are full of - as George W. Bush put it - "fuzzy math" talking points big on cuts and short on revenue that VP Joe Biden rightly called into question last week.    The attacks on Murphy's personal finances from 2003 and the endless negative ads only serve to bring the discourse deeper into mud and Connecticut voters lose.   By financing herself, McMahon could have changed the attack ad strategy.    Instead, she made it worse.

The Region Shudders Again

Mohegan Sun, Uncasville

This hits especially hard right before the holidays.    Perhaps the recent layoffs of 300 workers at Mohegan Sun Casino shouldn't come as a complete surprise.    Nonetheless, it is a big blow to an already struggling eastern Connecticut economy.       Revenue is down as out of state casinos and a shaky recovery take their toll, but I can't help but wonder whether massive layoffs should always be the first option.   There is no doubt this region has historically depended far too much on a few giant companies like EB and Pfizer.   This leaves us susceptible to the decisions of too few.    New London County is not a remote market; it is halfway between New York and Boston with a great harbor and tourist attractions.     There is no reason why this region can't diversify.     If I ran a major financial or tech company, I'd prefer New London and vicinity over the traffic and costs that choke growth in places downstate like Fairfield County.    How big a wakeup call do we need?      I appreciate what our resort casinos offer; They are two of the finest in the world and I hope they can thrive for workers and the tribal owners.    That doesn't mean we should bet everything on them.

MSNBC: Try The Decaf

MSNBC's star commentators need to chill out!      By the end of the first Presidential debate, I thought the intense preparation had served Mitt Romney well enough to maintain some traction in his uphill battle to take the White House away from Barack Obama.       I found him changing his tune yet again, forgetting about his party's out of control far right while short on specifics.     He certainly did not hurt his candidacy in this performance.      The President also made his points in a straightforward way.     Neither side delivered any zingers or knockout punches, which is why I was shocked to see how livid the liberal panel was with President Obama for not aggressively ripping apart Romney's twisted logic on Medicare and Obamacare.      You would think Obama had just blown any chance of being reelected.     I heard a caller to the liberal Alan Colmes radio show refer to the MSNBC reaction as "alternate reality."     My own political views are much closer to MSNBC than Fox News, but these guys (Rachel Maddow was the adult in the room) need to understand what both candidates already have had to acknowledge.       "Acting Presidential" means trying to stay above the "my way or the highway" fray by showing those undecided centrists they can reach across the aisle and be President of all the people.       While the MSNBC lefties are boiling over Obama not throwing the 47% comment on Romney's face, Obama's failure to aggressively pounce on Romney's shifting vagaries leaves Joe Biden to be the attack dog in the VP debate against a well-rehearsed Paul Ryan.         The debates confirm what we already suspected: it ain't over.      That's more than we can say about the Red Sox.     Go Yanks!

Bitten By The Radio Bug

This ancient image from the late fifties is the first photographic evidence of my interest in playing records.    The idea of playing records on the radio wouldn't come along until I was in junior high school.  After a brief fascination with tape recorders similar to the ones used in the opening scenes of TV's Mission: Impossible, I received my very own GE AM clock radio as a 1966 Christmas gift from my grandmother.   She had a lot to do with my burgeoning broadcasting obsession.   When I felt like getting away from the world, I would explore the sometimes static-filled dial to find stations seldom heard when my parents had control of the radio.   There was some decent radio close by in New Haven, but Hartford had the classic Top 40 battle between WPOP and WDRC.   New York Top 40 station WABC had Dan Ingram, my favorite air personality of all time, but WMCA's "Good Guys" gave them a run for the money.   At night, CKLW  the "Big 8" would boom in from "The Motor City" while WLS and WCFL could also be heard after sunset from Chicago.   Early personality-driven talk radio on stations like WBZ/Boston caught my attention, too.   I eventually knew the call letters of hundreds of stations.   My grandmother influenced my radio interest in another way in 1970 when she arranged a tour of WELI's Radio Towers Park outside New Haven.   She knew the wife of WELI's music director, a wonderful gentleman named Nick Papp.   He showed me around the studios of one of the classier stations in Connecticut.   I was awestruck.   Still, it would be a few more years before I actually take the plunge.   I fell hard for radio, which is why I still try to keep it in my life.

In His Own Words

It is no political first to disparage an opponent.   Attacking an opponent's constituency is disgusting when you're running to be President of the entire United States of America.   After a week of demonstrating an astonishing lack of facts on foreign policy, Mitt Romney took his campaign to a new low.   Unaware he was being recorded, Romney unleashed this to a group of wealthy supporters.   His own words speak volumes...

 

There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what.  All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement.  And the government should give it to them.  And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.   My job is is not to worry about those people.   I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.

Coach Calhoun Retires

Coach Jim Calhoun

Is it the end of an era? I doubt it. That doesn't diminish the mark that UConn Men's Basketball Coach Jim Calhoun leaves on this entire university upon his retirement. ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd practically made it sound as if the University of Connecticut - "this cowpath in Storrs" - really had little reason to rise to such heights in the NCAA if not for the toughness of Coach Calhoun. While there's no denying how indispensable he has been in leading the Huskies to the big time since he was hired in 1986, the culture he embodied was in abundance throughout the university system which saw major investment and expansion in every aspect of UConn. The university's prestige has been enhanced not only by the extraordinary successes of both men's and women's basketball and the investment in football. That is a telling testimonial to successive administrations in Storrs and Hartford, and it may be the biggest part of Calhoun's legacy. Every department at UConn has been a beneficiary of that prestige. A tour of the main UConn campus will tell the most casual observer that this is - and has been for some time - much more than a "cowpath" in the middle of nowhere. UConn athletics has generated many celebrities during the Calhoun era. There have been countless great moments, too. My favorite was the men's first NCAA title in 1999. What's yours?

9/11 Plus 11

That fateful September 11th, eleven years ago today, was also a Tuesday without a cloud in the sky.   That will make today seem more than a bit eerie to me.   Everything changed that day.   Despite all efforts, I fall short every time I try to sum up what it all means.   Making sense out of such a senseless act is an exercise in futility.   All we can do is remember how it brought out the best in America.   That, and the victims, are worth always remembering.

Morgan Freeman Not Dead

Morgan Freeman

I have developed a healthy skepticism about anything posted on Facebook.   Earlier today, a post from a Facebook friend directed to my name asking me to click on a photo album turned out to be the work of a hacker.   Now I see a post from another FB friend saying Morgan Freeman had died Thursday of "a artery rupture."   The poor grammar was my first clue that the story was suspect.   The cruel post also asked everyone to click "like" to pay your respects.   When I didn't see any other posts from legitimate news organizations (or Fox News), I Googled Morgan Freeman to learn that this was the latest in a series of online celebrity death hoaxes.   One less credible website did give his date of death as September 12, 2012... That was weird.   We can all breathe a sigh of relief that as of now this talented man is still with us and as productive as ever.   I tend to be a trusting person, but anonymous internet misinformation along with the half truths and outright lies our politicians right say into the camera breed more than a hint of cynicism in the most naive of us.

Don't Go There

Republicans hit hard at two themes during last week's RNC convention: "We Built It" and "Are You Better Off Now Than 4 Years Ago?"   The "We Built It" signs may actually be more in synch with President Obama's points relating to the public sector and individual enterprise.   His opponents lie when they take that speech out of context.  

 

With a stubbornly high 8.2% U.S. unemployment rate, you may think the Democrats would want to avoid the question over how we're doing now versus four years ago.   That would be a mistake.   Let's meet the question head on and take a snapshot of September 2008.   According to the Center for American Progress, the United States lost a total of 605,000 jobs in the first eight months of 2008, including 84,000 in August 2008.    In August 2008, the unemployment rate was 6.1%—the highest level since September 2003. Factoring in inflation, hourly wages were only 0.2% higher, and weekly wages were actually 0.8% lower in July 2008 than in March 2001.    The share of people with employer-provided health insurance dropped from 64.2% in 2000 to 59.3% in 2007.    Household debt averaged 132.4% of disposable income in the first quarter of 2008.   New home sales in July 2008 were 35.3% lower than a year earlier.   All prices rose by 24.5% from March 2001 to July 2008.   One in 11 mortgages was delinquent or in foreclosure.  Since March 2001, foreigners had bought 82.6% of all new treasury debt.  In the first 11 months of the fiscal year 2008, which runs through September 30, the deficit amounted to $486 billion, up from $212 billion a year earlier.     

 

Keep in mind that this was just the beginning of a downward slide that culminated in the next six months with millions more job losses and massive bailouts aimed at staving off a replay of the Great Depression.   I remember some very good times leading up to September 2008, when MGM Grand at Foxwoods opened with great fanfare.   Only months later, my radio employer told us cutbacks could be coming and the revenue from my direct mail advertising sales plunged 50%.   That radio company is thriving today and I've recouped much of the advertising losses since then.   There's plenty of room for improvement as public sector jobs targeted by the Tea Party have inflated today's unemployment numbers, but the GOP really doesn't want to paint 2008 as the good old days.   That would NOT make Clint Eastwood's or Mitt Romney's day!

Obama: Moderate Republican?

The orchestrated infomercials that are the Republican and Democratic conventions are getting set to saturate the news channels while most Americans would rather watch football or "reality" shows. When I saw the endorsement of President Obama by Florida's former GOP governor Charlie Crist, it struck me how fitting this was. Tea Party first-termers ruling the US House and many statehouses since the 2010 sweep don't know the meaning of the word "compromise." Now "moderate" has become as much of a dirty word as "liberal" to many right wingers. Has this intractable stance advanced the agenda of the traditional Republican Party? 

 

While Mitt Romney pledges North American energy independence by 2020, the Obama administration already has us on that course with an all-of-the-above approach that includes more oil drilling and natural gas exploration. Obamacare is Romneycare, and many Republicans were originally out front on individual mandates. The GOP can trace health care reform efforts back to Nixon. With the ultra-rich Romney paying 13% in taxes are we really stifling job creation taxes are lower than they've been in decades? By recent past GOP standards, I’d say no. Are "Obama's EPA" and other government agencies really strangling us with regulation compared to previous administrations? No again. In Afghanistan, the troop surge could have been a page out of the Bush/Cheney playbook. Obama constantly gets pelted with the "socialist" label, yet evidence of that is scant. If we were on such a sharply left-leaning trend, why are some hardline liberals less enthusiastic about him now than in 2008? On social issues, President Obama did not exactly lead the charge to accept gay marriage any more than Abe Lincoln started out as a fiery abolitionist, but both knew when the time had come. It took the absolutely outrageous claims of the extreme right and a shift in public attitudes for Obama to "evolve" in favor of it. The radical right wing agenda is driving younger generations, minorities and more women away from the mainstream. Now with pre-election movies slamming his role as commander-in-chief and conspiracy theorists claiming the government is buying up all the bullets to put down its own citizens, President Obama has an even greater opportunity to be the adult in the room.     

Quebec: La Belle Provence

Opposite the Quebec Parliament, Quebec City

Some folks go to the same vacation spots year after year.   I'd rather spend my limited vacation time exploring a different spot each trip, but I made an exception by returning to this beautiful city I last visited back in 1995.  For all its old world European charm, the Quebec City area appeared to have grown considerably.  The heavy traffic and ever present highway construction provided the best evidence of that.   I'm not sure whether or not my attempts at French past "bon jour" made for more confusion than just starting off in English.   In this nerve center of French Canadian culture where Quebec fleur-du-lis flags seem to outnumber Canadian maple leaf ones, it seemed appropriate to at least make the initial attempt.   I never got far in the Francophone world, as they'd hand us English language menus after I said two words.   Most locals will oblige in English.   There's something so high-class about being surrounded by French speakers in even the more moderately priced Quebec chain restaurants like St-Hubert (great chicken and mini desserts!) and Normandin (nice hotels too).   The big attraction is downtown Old (Vieux) Quebec itself, full of cafes, shoppes, live music and historic treasures.   Nightlife in Old Quebec has to be experienced.

Olympic Highs, Political Lows

London Olympic Closing

The games of the 30th Olympiad closed with the same level of well-orchestrated spectacle that ushered them in a couple of weeks earlier. The British hosts were more than capable of seeing it through to success and proving the naysayers wrong. American athletes led the U.S. to the top of the medal count. Coming off a high like that, we now find ourselves in the thick of a very nasty political season on this side of the pond. Governor Romney is hoping his selection of Congressman Paul Ryan will bring him something he has been lacking: credibility among Tea Party conservatives. With the GOP VP selection, the slugfest will only intensify. The negativity spewed by big-bucks Super PACs brought on by the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision has already generated many inaccuracies and even outrageous, bold-faced lies in a barrage of political ads. While Republicans have led the way with bending the facts about taxes and jobs, it only took the distasteful claim of one Obama Super PAC ad to even the score. Equating Bain Capital with a laid-off worker's wife losing health coverage, getting cancer and dying was a disgusting and far flung charcter assassination. Although the ad never aired the Democratic National Committee doesn't control it, the President should have at least condemned it. That would have differentiated President Obama from GOP candidates afraid to anger a very radicalized right wing. I don't see many gold medals being given out for political courage between now and November

Hitting The Trails

At Bluff Point, Groton

This summer of record breaking heat has undoubtedly deterred many would-be hikers from exploring every corner of eastern Connecticut. That may explain why Linda, Oreo and I had an entire park to ourselves this weekend when we decided to check out the Falls River Nature Preserve in the Ivoryton section of Essex. This very walkable and well shaded system of trails must be one of the best kept secrets in the region. As much as I appreciate quiet, it was just a tad creepy being the only humans there. Summer heat aside, this has been an exceptional year for walking the trails, beginning with a long hike around Devil's Hopyard State Park on an unusually mild New Year's Day. Rocky Neck beach also made for an ideal January dog walk as temperatures soared. I head to the state parks more in spring and fall, when fees are practically nonexistent. Groton's Bluff Point trails take some time, but the views along the way are fantastic. Closer to my home, the old railroad trails connecting Colchester and Hebron are straight, level and not so narrow. I'm always struck by how friendly people you see along the way can be when you have an easygoing dog at your side. These walks are welcome breaks from the constant point to point driving I do during the week. The destination is not the big deal.

A Slippery Slope

The hot button issues seem to spring from everywhere in this political season.  Now the President of the Atlanta-based fast food chain Chick-fil-A has brought about the latest storm over same sex marriage with his opposition to it.  These views were probably never a secret. Don Cathy's outspokenness left his company's public relations department scrambling to play it down, but it was too late. While he has a right to his opinions, increasing numbers of potential customers who do not share his views are not comfortable patronizing a business that funds anti-gay causes. The mayors of Chicago and Boston have said Chick-fil-A would not be welcome in their cities. New York's mayor cautions against government officials attempting to ban this company's expansion plans, and he is so right.  Government could intercede if the company clearly practiced discrimnination against the LGBT community, but that doesn't appear to be the case.  Is a private citizens' boycott any better? That would be more appropriate, with several cautions. First, the irresponsible rhetoric by people like Roseanne Barr hoping everyone who eats at Chick-fil-A gets cancer just brings out more out-of-control reactions on the other side. Also, where do the boycotts stop? Do I stop drinking Coors Beer or using Brawny paper towels because their parent companies gave money to candidates or causes I oppose?   Where does it end?

Conservatives have taken up the defense of Chick-fil-A's right to freedom of speech and religion. Fox News and Cumulus Media* commentator/host Mike Huckabee has inserted himself right into the thick of the debate, and the right wing could not have found a more inappropriate leader on this issue. He recently agreed with a caller who characterized gay men as child molesters, giving that false assumption as a good reason why the Boy Scouts are right in not allowing gay scoutmasters. Huckabee's record of homophobic statements is outrageous. An individual's views are one thing, but Chick-fil-A has also put their corporate money where their mouth is. That could cost them a lot of goodwill in what has been an impressive American success story based on some otherwise solid values. It is sad to find them on the wrong side of history this time.

*The above opinions are my own and should not be construed as the opinions of management of Cumulus Media Inc. or its affiliates.

A Common Thread

Aurora, Colorado Shooting Scene

We are at a loss to explain what would prompt someone to carry out a senseless act of violence like the Aurora, Colorado movie theatre massacre.   As time goes by, the background of a disturbed shooter, accounts of survivors and stories of exceptional people will fade from the headlines.  The impact of this tragedy will not go away, given the possibility of a similar incident happening again.   The conversation about violence in America never seems to get far.   Nobody is remotely suggesting responsible gun owners should be totally deprived of a Second Amendment right to bear arms, yet a well-funded effort by the NRA has both political parties afraid to even bring up the topic of a nationwide assault weapons ban.   Mayor Bloomberg is a billionaire and an independent, so he can afford to speak up.   Then there's the issue of increasing levels of violence in movies.   The latest Batman movie was touted as more shocking than ever with an even more dastardly villain than Heath Ledger's Joker.   Of course, the only resolution is total annihilation.   This increasingly dark narrative now runs through all the superhero movies along with other action features designed to top their predecessors.   Does this desensitize a mostly young audience?   Are we to accept this as the new norm because a Hollywood movie raked in $160,000,000 in an opening weekend?    Will we have to pass through metal detectors just to take in movie?   

Look at another sad news headline. The Penn State football sexual assault scandal resulted in  harsh fines on the school along with the disgraced legacy of coach Joe Paterno.   People in power turned a blind eye to protect a multi-million dollar sports franchise instead of doing the right thing.   For all the severity of the penalty,  I can't believe Penn State could still take the field this season.   2012 will stand out as the year we saw the effect of big money having its way like never before.   The Citizens United Supreme Court decision now enables Super PACs to drown out voices who are not as well funded.   When we can't even have the beginnings of a real discourse in the political arena, we are in big trouble.   And how's that drug war going? 

You Didn't Build That

From NY Daily News

Why are Republicans pouncing on a portion of this speech made by President Obama last week in Roanoke, Virginia?   Because they took it out of context to attack it as a slap against private business initiative.   Here's the unedited relevant portion of his speech, most of which never aired on Fox News. You decide:

   

There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me -- because they want to give something back.  They know they didn’t -- look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own.  You didn’t get there on your own.  I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart.  There are a lot of smart people out there.  It must be because I worked harder than everybody else.  Let me tell you something -- there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there. 

   

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.  There was a great teacher somewhere in your life.  Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive.  Somebody invested in roads and bridges.  If you’ve got a business -- you didn’t build that.  Somebody else made that happen.  The Internet didn’t get invented on its own.  Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.

The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.  There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don’t do on our own.  I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service.  That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires.

So we say to ourselves, ever since the founding of this country, you know what, there are some things we do better together.  That’s how we funded the GI Bill.  That’s how we created the middle class.  That’s how we built the Golden Gate Bridge or the Hoover Dam.  That’s how we invented the Internet.  That’s how we sent a man to the moon.  We rise or fall together as one nation and as one people, and that’s the reason I’m running for President -- because I still believe in that idea.  You’re not on your own, we’re in this together.

So all these issues go back to that first campaign that I talked about, because everything has to do with how do we help middle-class families, working people, strivers, doers -- how do we help them succeed?  How do we make sure that their hard work pays off?  That’s what I've been thinking about the entire time I've been President.

Rolling Stones: 50 and Counting

July 12th marked 50 years of the Rolling Stones playing together as a band. Say what you want about the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and all the other supergroups through rock history. When it comes to longevity and consistency, nobody has ever come close to these "Bad Boys of Rock n' Roll". Recently, Keith Richards was asked his secret to such a remarkable track record. His advice was basically "not to work for others." That is not totally practical for many in rock or other lines of work, but I took it as something close to what Rick Nelson sang in his comeback hit "Garden Party" from 1972: "You can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself." The Stones have lived their passion for over five decades. Fans knew that and felt they had joined them on that journey whenever they bought their albums, heard them on the radio or saw them in concert. Given the list of their contemporaries who left us much too soon and the Stones' own wild story, it's not a matter of how they survived as a band. It's more amazing how they even stayed alive. 

Getting Ready for Sailfest

New London will once again play host to 300,000 people over the next three days - the largest annual gathering in Connecticut.    If you've been listening to any of the four Cumulus New London radio stations, you know that we are a sponsor of Sailfest and OpSail 2012 and are set to broadcast the soundtrack to the Mashantucket Pequot Fireworks Extravaganza.   With all the severe weather watches and possible warnings for late Saturday, it's even more important to listen to Q105, 102.3 The Wolf, 104.7 WELJ or News Talk 980 WXLM to find out whether or not this massive fireworks show will go on as scheduled at 9:25 PM.    One thing is clear for anyone going on Saturday: the heat and humidity will combine to make it a day of extreme heat stress.   That's nothing to mess with.   Sunday should be more comfortable.   I've been following the forecast very closely, since I'll be broadcasting live from Custom House Pier on 102.3 The Wolf and on WXLM between noon and five Saturday.   It's been a long time since I've done any radio remote, not to mention one on two stations, so I'm looking forward to it.   Besides being prepared for Saturday's heat and possible storms, I have one other word of warning.   True to my Irish heritage, I don't tan well and my pasty white legs will be on full display!   More info on Sailfest and OpSail 2012 is available at http://sailfest.org/.   I hope to see you there.

Obamacare is Constitutional

U.S. Supreme Court

The Affordable Health Care Act has been ruled constitutional by a 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court.    The Republicans, dominated by freshman Tea Party congressmen, unlimited Super PAC money, Fox News, right wing radio and lobbyists for big insurance and pharmaceuticals, are predictably screaming bloody murder.     I do agree with many in the Republican rank and file who think our representatives should be entitled to no more benefits than the rest of us receive.   Let's see how they'd like the reality of our patchwork health care system.     I hear a lot of fears being spread that don't necessarily hold up under the weight of the facts.   Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who sponsored the Massachusetts health care reform that became the forerunner for Obamacare, is in no position to want it all thrown out.   Some conservative lawmakers had been the original champions of the individual health coverage mandate.   When I think of the way they labeled John Kerry a flip-flopper in 2004 and piled on in favor of the unfunded George W. Bush senior drug benefit that cost billions we didn't have, their collective record on getting government out of health care has been inconsistent at best.    Under President Obama, any reform is deemed socialist and compromise is a lost art.   Medicare is an example of government involvement in health care working successfully with private enterprise.   The Veterans Administration is a noble idea but arguably too much government in light of some scandalous conditions at VA hospitals.   The conservative or libertarian models of just letting the market take care of itself tend to super serve wants more than needs, leading to a wider variety of erectile dysfunction medications while antibiotic research and access to family physicians get less attention.   We already pay twice as much per patient as other developed nations.   The status quo cannot stand    Obamacare is not the last word in health care costs and coverage, but it's a start.   Where's the Republican plan? 

Social Networks Need Social Filters

Someone on my Facebook recently posted about how much they were looking forward to getting out of town for a certain period of time.   They returned from their vacation to find their home robbed, and they think it was done by someone they know.    We're glad you could get away, but please wait to share this information with Facebook friends (or Twitter followers) after you get back home.   How well do you know every one of what may be hundreds of online friends?   I see this inside information posted all the time now that summer has arrived.    There are other forms of posting that may be less dangerous but just as unnecessary.   Now that I can control the Facebook settings, I can't say I miss seeing everyone's progress playing Farmville.  The pictures of the kids, pets, friends and co-workers are fine.   I don't even mind a few opinion pieces, but the relentless angry rants trashing people who may disagree comes across as an assault on my Facebook page.   So you can't stand Obama - I picked that up fifteen posts ago.   At least on this blog you have the option of ignoring my rants; I'm not splashing them all over someone else's personal page.   And please, just because I ignore your request to repost something "if you care" doesn't mean I don't care.   I just don't care to make my Facebook into a chain letter.   Many people lack a face-to-face social filter.   We can't always expect their social network filter to be any better, but I can hope so for my sake and sometimes for theirs.

Day Trip!

The Breakers, Newport

Newport, Rhode Island is an easy day trip from here in eastern Connecticut.  Before you even arrive in town, the trip over the Jamestown and Newport bridges provides an overwhelming view of Narragansett Bay.   Rhode Island really should have been called the Bay State for this reason alone.   Last weekend's trip was no different than previous ones in that you can find yourself in a sea of people as you enter by the Welcome Center or past the shoppes along Thames Street.   Once you get past that, the city itself is quite walkable and drivable.   There are other novel ways of taking in the sights, too.   Trace the shoreline out along Ocean Drive, then take in the Bellevue Avenue mansions as you head back toward the center of town.  My favorite mansion is The Breakers, but the history of most of these properties is perhaps most impressive.   Museums are everywhere.   The Cliff Walk is also nearby.   There are countless places to shop, eat or drink.   O'Brien's Pub is a special place to me - there's something in a name.   Back in the eighties, I managed to catch the Newport Folk Festival at Fort Adams Park featuring Bonnie Raitt among others.   Coming from Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun territory, the Newport Grand Casino fails to impress, but there's plenty in Newport that does.

You're Not Special?

In an age when news organizations often tell us what we want to hear instead of what we need to hear, this speech was a bombshell.   The trophy business may not like what Wellesley, Massachusetts High School teacher David McCullough had to say at the school's graduation ceremony.  News flash: We're not special just because we were put on this planet.   His candid comments have caused quite a stir, mostly because they so richly deserved to be said.    Just ask a school administrator or a police officer when parents say, "My Johnny wouldn't do that", "Why are you picking on my child?" or "Give my kid a break."   Children have learned from their parents and millions of marketing messages to ask "what's in it for me?"    This sense of entitlement isn't a rich versus poor, white versus black, American versus foreigner or even conservative versus liberal issue.   We need to reward character and achievement.   Enough with all the excessive awards and trophies.   Everyone's not a winner - certainly not all the time, and that's as it should be.  If everyone's special, nobody is.  Here is the full text of Mr. McCullough's speech.     It's worth reading!

Walker Prevails

Wisconsin's red-blue recall contest

45 per cent of Wisconsin's voters had their hopes dashed in tonight's recall election.   Republican Governor Scott Walker fended off a challenge from Milwaukee's Democratic Mayor Tom Barrett.   These results are tragic for anyone who believes unions should still have a voice in the workforce or decries the limitless use of funds by mostly out of state Republican organizations.  While disappointing, Walker's win should not be shocking to anyone except MSNBC's Ed Schultz.   A Washington Post article runs down the reasons for the failure to recall Walker.   In addition to their lopsided 10-1 spending advantage, Walker and company have been campaigning with a laser-like focus way ahead of this judgment day he saw coming since last year.   The serious Democratic split in their own recent primary left many labor supporters less than enthusiastic about supporting Barrett, who then had only weeks to campaign.    Voters outside Milwaukee tend to see the Badger State's largest city as its problem child.   That Milwaukee connection did not help Mayor Tom Barrett in the hinterlands, and Walker capitalized on that.   There was also the Washington Democratic connection, or lack thereof.   National Dems never were as enthusiastic about a recall.    Recent polls do not tie President Obama's Wisconsin fate in November to this recall, thus explaining Obama's tepid endorsement of Tom Barrett.    

Democrats in Wisconsin and nationwide would be ill-served by handwringing and finger pointing.    The attack on labor's dwindling political clout had been central to Governor Walker's agenda all along, even after wage concessions by state unions.   If the tide is to be reversed, labor unions (especially state and municipal ones) have to make their case everywhere, since state workers often unfairly get a bum rap as privileged while others suffer to make ends meet.   This unfair broad brush perception played right into the hands of Governor Walker and his "divide and conquer" strategy.  Let's face it; even many who weren't Walker fans were tired of the unending uproar.  Inevitably, Walker's antics will be his own undoing unless he moderates his tone and stops looking like an operative for the Koch Brothers.   It's time for Democrats to use this time to unite, focusing on November nationwide and revisiting the Wisconsin gubernatorial race in 2014.

Downsize Me

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed a ban on soda servings larger than 16 ounces.   The soft drink industry together with conservative pundits have decried this "nanny state" threat to individual freedom.   As with gun control opponents,  this regulatory attempt does beg the question, "what's next?"   You know, they may have a point in their selective outrage, and I'd be willing to make a deal. Let's toss this Bloomberg mandate aside if the soda industry can conclusively prove that there are no significant individual health risks and public health costs to a steady intake of fast food drinks that dwarf the standard sizes of a generation ago.   All that talk about the rise of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes is just alarmist too, right?       Oh, wait, we do know the facts.   Why is it more important to protect subsidies of companies who make high fructose corn syrup than to stave off an epidemic caused by consuming sugar at toxic levels?