Tag Archives: liberal media bias

Don’t ‘Send in the Clowns!’ (The Looney Clowns are Already Here!)

In the last blog I quoted a line from Shakespeare.  In this blog, I am quoting the name of a composition by Stephen Sondheim which he wrote in 1973 for the musical, A Little Night Music.    Do you remember who first recorded ‘Send in the Clowns?’  Many famous musicians have sung it, including Barbra Streisand, Judy Collins and the most famous version on the ‘Simpson’s’ by Krusty the Clown. But the first person to record the song, after it appeared on Broadway, was Old Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra, in 1973.

But I digress.  I have finally decided that what has changed most significantly during my lifetime, and not in a better way, is entertainment.  For the purposes of this blog, specifically ….comedy (thus the clowns).  What constitutes good comedy today, compared to what was good comedy 50 years ago?

Well, one thing that I have noticed, is that somehow, comedians today think they have transformed themselves into mental giants overnight.  In addition, they have taken it upon themselves to routinely inject their political beliefs into their routines.  They do this with malice, with venom, and with a large dose of aggression that certainly was not present in the comedy of my youth.

Everyone knows what comedienne Kathy Griffin has done recently.  She, in the hopes of having her head sculpted into a memorial atop the Hollywood hills, held up a severed, bloody head of Donald Trump, in pure ISIS fashion.   Besides doing this deplorable act, do you know what the most idiotic part is of this whole ordeal?  It was Kathy Griffin’s surprise about the backlash that occurred by her actions.  She thought she would be beloved by the radical left.  She thought she would become the poster girl for Hollywood and its left leaning politics.  She thought she was being funny.  But then the backlash occurred and it took aim where it hurts the Hollywood elite the most….in the pocket book!  Yes, their god is money and once taken away, they lose faith.  In this instance, sponsors began withdrawing their support and as a result, her New Year’s Eve gig with Anderson Cooper was canceled.  Ouch!  But the idiotic Kathy was not done.  She apologized for doing the act, but she did not apologize to the POTUS or his family.  She did not apologize to Baron Trump who was traumatized by seeing his father’s severed head on national television.  Then she decided to strike back by saying that the Trump family are a bunch of bullies and have “broken her” and ruined her career.  Ruined your career?  You are a D level actress/comedian that has pandered sleazy comedy and sleazy events for years and now you think your career is over?  I sure as hell hope so!  What part of this action on your part was funny?

But wait, another intellectual giant has weighed in to defend Kathy Griffin.  That intellectual giant would be none other than Ace Ventura; Jim Carrey himself!  Here is what he said about comedy: “It’s the job of the comedian to cross the line at all times.  That line is not real and if you step out into that spotlight and you’re doing the crazy things that (Trump) is doing, we’re the last line of defense. The comedians are the last voice of truth in this whole thing.”  Nothing is politically motivated in that statement.  (Yeah, right.)  Exactly, Mensa Jim, is that line that has to be crossed at all times? Respect? (check).  Viciousness? (check).  Politically maligned?  (check).  Common Sense?  (check). Entertaining?  (check).  Funny?  (check).  Are these the components of the imaginary line?  If they are, Kathy Griffin, and your dumb-ass comments defending her are definitely over the line!  What’s this B.S. about the ‘last line of defense?’   I am convinced that the last thing you cowardly wienies would do would be to take up arms and defend this country.  You may defend your country club, but not your country.

Unfortunately, Kathy Griffin is not alone on her ‘cross the line’ diatribes and actions.  Stephen Colbert is so far left politically that it is amazing he can stand up straight.  But….Stephen Colbert has an audience and he uses his platform to spew his malicious venom all in the name of comedy.  Here is a part of one of his monologues when he begins ranting about Trump: “Sir, you attract more skinheads than free Rogaine.  You have more people marching against you than cancer.  You talk like a sign language gorilla that got hit in the head.  In fact, the only thing your mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s cock holster.”  Granted, I do find humor with the Rogaine part of the monologue, but then he ‘crosses the line.’

Not to be outdone, we have Bill Maher.  While on his HBO program Real Time with New York magazine reporter Gabriel Sherman on a Friday night, the 61 – year – old made the incest joke about first daughter Ivanka Trump’s relationship with her father President Donald Trump.  He said: “What do you make of Ivanka and her efforts to sort of humanize her father?  We see all this misogyny at Fox News, we see it in Donald Trump himself.  A lot of us thought, Ivanka is gonna be our saving grace.”  Maher then took it a step further and mimicked Ivanka performing a sex act on her father.

Here is my question.  Why are these two disrespectful, constipated at the mouth morons still on television?  Well, I answered the question earlier in this blog.  Money is the god of Hollywood and these two bring in lots more to their respective networks than Kathy Griffin could ever dream about. She was expendable….they, because of their earning potential, are not.  It would be the proper, respectful, action to take to can both of them, but don’t ever expect something proper and respectful to ever come out of Hollywood.

It is obvious that Ace Ventura never watched or followed the comedy of his predecessors.  During my youth, the comics were extremely funny and they did not have to ‘cross any line!’  Grandma P’s favorite comic was Red Skelton.  He was on TV for over 20 years, from 1951 to 1971.  He ended every show with the words, “Good Night and God bless.”  His shows were hilarious as he was also a talented mime.  His most memorable character was Clem Kadiddlehopper.

I had two favorites.  In the early 50’s and 60’s it was Jackie Gleason in The Honeymooners.  He was a bus driver in New York (Ralph Kramden) and his next door neighbor was Art Carney (Ed Norton), who played a sewer worker.  Their wives were played by Jane Meadows (Alice) and  Joyce Randolff (Trixie).    His ‘get-rich-quick’ schemes provided for a solid basis in humor.

But, my all time favorite comedy show was the Carol Burnett Show.  It ran continuously from 1967 to 1978.  Her supporting cast included Vicki Lawrence, Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Lyle Waggoner, and for a short time, Dick Van Dyke.  The show was made up entirely of skits, and, done before a live audience.  Some of the routines were hilarious.  What made them particularly funny was that oftentimes, there was ad-libing taking place, especially by Tim Conway.  The reactions of the other actors was as funny as the skit itself as they were completely caught off guard by his shenanigans.  I recommend watching the films of this show.  You will see what comedy was meant to be.

There were many other comedians that were extremely funny.  Don Rickles, Ernie Kovac, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno,  Joan Rivers, Phyllis Diller, Phil Silvers, Dick Van Dyke, Lucille Ball, Morey Amsterdam;  these were just some of the funny, humorous comedians of my youth and you know what?  They did not cross any damn line to be funny!  They may have all pushed the envelope on occasion, but they were never disrespectful, crude or vulgar.  They never, ever used their fame for a public political stage.  They knew what their position was in our society, they were there to provide entertainment for the family.  

So the clowns of the present could definitely learn from the clowns of the past.  No one, and I mean no one, is interested in your crude, malicious political commentary.  It is classless humor coming from classless people.

Damn.  I miss the old days of comedy.

The Mystique of Donald Trump

What can be said about Donald Trump.  Controversial?  (Check.)  Politically Incorrect (Definitely!)  Anti-illegal-immigration?  (Absolutely!)  Successful?  (Unquestionably.)  Interesting?  (Better than a soap opera.)  Short tempered?  (Probably.)

So here we are.  After the New Hampshire primary, after the South Carolina primary, the leading Republican presidential candidate is Donald John Trump.  So why are so many people either frightened of a Trump candidacy or attacking the Donald?

I, for one, am not afraid of a Trump candidacy.  Here are my reasons.

Firstly, Donald Trump is not a career politician.  People are beginning to take Grandpa T’s Common Sense Rule #1 to heart, ‘Politicians are more concerned about getting reelected than they are about doing what is good for the country.’  Therein lies the weakness in our political system.  To get reelected takes money………lots and lots of money!  To get that money, the politician must sell their soul and support to whichever individual, group or lobbyist makes that contribution.

In 1960, John F. Kennedy was running for president against Richard Nixon.  As you may remember, Kennedy was a Catholic, which caused much concern about the entire nation being converted to Catholicism.  Many vitriol articles were published about that very matter.  Of course, it did not happen.  I digress.   I was underage, so i asked my father, Big Daddy G, for whom he was going to vote.  Big Daddy G said he was voting for JFK.  I asked why.  His reply?  “Son, it is difficult to bribe a millionaire.”  In a left handed manner, my father had his fingers on the pulse of the effect of big money on politics.  With that in mind….how do you bribe or influence a billionaire?

That in itself is driving the Washington establishment up a wall.  An elected official that did not have to spend 10 seconds with any individual, group or lobbyist attempting to purchase political influence. Would they need to establish a special welfare/unemployment system for underemployed lobbyists?

Admittedly, Trump can be short-tempered.  I would be short-tempered if I were in his situation. He is the leading Republican presidential candidate, which puts a bull’s eye on his back from his Republican competitors.  He gets the same treatment from his Democratic competitors.  He is receiving negative attention from the liberal media.  He is even receiving some flack from the Republican National Committee, which I find amazing…but true.  With all of this adversity, with all of this negative publicity, with all of these debates happening more often than I change underwear…wouldn’t you be a little short tempered if you were the big teddy bear in a one prize shooting gallery?

If you haven’t noticed, some of these people have gone out of their way to goad Donald Trump, repeatedly.  Donald, a very successful businessman, has no time for patty cake politics in his business dealings. He is a man of action and anything that detracts from the mission is superfluous. Washington, and politics in general are all about superfluous.  Why say or author something in one hundred words when two thousand pages will do?  That is politics.

Trump is a ‘cut to the chase’ kind of guy.  I can relate.  In the military, I was responsible for staff functions at the battalion and brigade levels.  Of course, I was surrounded by competent officers and NCOs.   In the military, as in business, there are occasions when time is of the essence and there is no time for extemporaneous BS.  Occasionally, I would get a young officer that thought he was being paid by the word.  This was the antithesis of providing 2000 pages when one hundred words would fit the bill.  I, in a mostly kind manner, would point out to said young officer that indeed, he was not being paid by the word.  My usual slogan was, “Don’t tell me how to build a clock when I ask what time it is.”  When something insignificant was brought up, I would point out: “Quit pole vaulting over mouse turds!”  Thus, I can relate to Trump with his short-temper mantra, ‘get it done’ personality.

So, Donald Trump is not a career politician.  Many are attempting to turn that into a weakness when the majority are finding it refreshing.  I have nothing against Cruz or Rubio except they are both career politicians and former lawyers.  As career politicians, are they a part of the solution or are they a part of the problem?  Both take every opportunity to extol this bill they introduced or that bill they introduced and how they attacked and corrected a specific problem.  If that is indeed the case, why is the country is such a terrible state?  On April 12, 2013, I wrote a blog titled, ‘Lawyers in Politics- Princes or Pariahs?’  Personally, I think attorneys have screwed up this country.  They appear to be more interested in circumventing the law versus upholding the law.  Just sayin’.

According to the liberal media, Donald Trump in controversial because of his stance on illegal immigration.  This would include not only Hispanics but also the Muslims and everyone else from entering this country.  With all of the terrorist events that have happened recently in the US, Europe and the Middle East, it is understandable why American citizens are concerned.  Numerous sources from our present government have indicated that there is no sure-fire way of checking the background of the Syrian refugees.  Like many Americans, my thoughts are, ‘so why are you letting them in?’  If you are so sure that we should just open our doors to non-vetted Syrian or Muslim refugees, then I think they should all be resettled in Washington, D.C.  That way, all the politicians can take care of them directly.  Donald’s position is that until the government can do thorough background checks, no further Muslims should enter this country.  This sentiment rings true with most Americans.  It even makes common sense.

Grandma P has a legitimate concern about Donald Trump.  She is concerned that his ego would get into the way of performing well as the POTUS.  Admittedly, I would have a pretty sizable ego if I had a net worth of somewhere north of $4 billion.  Estimates are as high as $9 billion.  I have always wanted to be so rich that I could afford to hire other people to exercise for me.  My thoughts about Donald’s ego?  I think all of these candidates have egos that would bury the needle on the Richter Scale.  You need to.  I have met town mayors and councilmen that thought they were royalty.  The person that appears to have the smallest ego problem?  That would be Ben Carson and his detractors think he is somewhat wishy-washy.  Hillary doesn’t have an ego problem nor do Cruz and Rubio.  It just appears that Donald’s ego is the largest…but let’s be honest, of all the candidates, he is the most accomplished.  He has made his own money.  The others?  They have mostly lived on other people’s money.

There has been concern that Donald Trump may not be ‘presidential’ enough to be POTUS.  What exactly does that mean?  Does that mean, “I did not have relations with that woman.”  Was that presidential?  Or, “It depends on what the definition of is, is.”  Or, “ISIS is the junior varsity team of Al Qaeda.”  There have been few presidents lately that would fit the bill of being the paragon of presidential.  I am not sure what being ‘presidential’ entails in today’s society.

I do find Donald Trump very interesting.  He made his fortune with a small amount of assistance from his father.  He obtained the education necessary to be successful in business.  He has guided his children to be able to run his business empire.  He had successful television shows, The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice.  He was paid over $250 million for hosting those shows.  When he is giving a speech to a receptive audience, he is charming and entertaining.  Amazingly, even with his wealth, he is appealing to the American middle and working classes.

So, is this article a ringing endorsement by Grandpa T of the GRUMPY (Government Revisions Utilizing Many Practical Years) party for Donald J. Trump?  I have been asked many times if he is my ‘guy’.  Here is my answer:  This country has swung so far to the left with political correctness and liberalism, that Donald Trump may not be the ‘guy’ you like, but he may be the ‘guy’ that this country needs to move the needle to the right and get this country on track.

Here is the boiled down version of the upcoming election:  do you want the country run by a very successful businessman or by more career politicians.  Hmmm….