Hello:
What a weather weekend. It was beautiful on Saturday morning then we had rain and wind and in some places even tornadoes, and the next thing you know it was freezing. I mean on the bright side I guess this is what mid to late November is supposed to feel like, but it was so nice and warm earlier this week that it was a bit of a shock to come out of the house Sunday morning into the chill.
Anyway onto the news…
TRIAL: Kyle Rittenhouse Case
I have no idea if Kyle Rittenhouse, currently on trial in Kenosha, Wisconsin for gunning down two non-victims during protests of the police shooting of Jason Blake. in August 2020, was putting on a show while he was on the stand the other day, or if he was genuinely having a breakdown. As a fellow human being, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he was truly overwhelmed. I won't sit here and make fun of him for that.
But I will also say that if I were on that jury, I'd vote to convict him and send him to the slammer for a long time.
Rittenhouse went to Kenosha for one reason....to cause trouble. He brought an illegally purchased gun, and not a handgun either, an automatic rifle, across state lines to a place where he knew there were protests going on. That alone should send him up the river...and that's not even what's in dispute.
He's saying he acted in self defense, indeed one of the vict- I mean, one of the people he shot, testified that he was holding a pistol and may have pointed it at Rittenhouse. The other two men Rittenhouse shot were unarmed.
Rittenhouse is most likely going to walk because the judge on this trial is a joke. If this was a movie, he'd be the classic crooked judge, but unfortunately this is real life and he's making an ass out of himself. He has prohibited the prosecution from referring to the people Rittenhouse shot as “victims” and he yelled at the prosecutor the other day for "rolling his eyes" I give the prosecutor credit for not doing this... Out of Order
It's just a sad situation all around. The National Guard is already in place for when the jury hands down the verdict. This is one of those situations where nobody really wins.
POLITICS-Crazy Congressman
So let's say for the sake of argument that Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ) really wasn't threatening to kill Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) or chop up President Biden as he suggested he would in the video he posted on Twitter. Say you were inclined to take him at his word, and say that the video, based on the Japanese Anime series Attack on Titan, was as Gosar stated "symbolizing the battle for the soul of America." Assume he's just your regular, well adjusted, Trump loving Congressman who respects a well thought out debate and respects other people's opinions, who was just having a little bit of fun. (I'm sure I'm not buying any of that-FYI)
Then what on earth, not even a year after a group of domestic terrorists attacked the US Capitol and threatened to kill the Vice-President of the United States, would make you think that creating and posting a video like that was a good idea? I'm sorry man, in this political climate, with this much heat, one of these politicians are going to end up getting assassinated. Does anybody have any idea what that would do to the "soul of the nation?"
They are talking about trying to censure Gosar, because I guess gone are the good old days where threatening to kill one of your colleagues didn't get you kicked out of Congress all together. Aaron Burr must be wondering why he couldn't have been born 200 years later. And I'm sure House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is going to do a whole lotta nothing about it, because well that what he does best.
We are fair and balanced here at WM, so I have no issue with anyone who wants to take House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and California governor Gavin Newsome to task for not masking up during the wedding of oil heiress Ivy Getty last weekend in San Francisco. Vouge reported that the guests were asked to mask up when the Speaker came out to officiate the ceremony-but several pictures from the event show the guests were maskless. Other reports said that everyone attending had to provide proof of vaccination.
I agree though that the Governor has to put his money where his mouth is and mask up in places where he has mandated masks. Of course the folks making the biggest stink about all this are the ones who aren't vaccinated and or don't think they should have to wear masks. It’s funny how ironic irony can really be.
TV REVIEW: Impeachment: American Crime Story
I didn't think I would have to put in Spoiler Alert here because almost everyone on my reading list lived through this, but for some of you young-ins out there who don't know what happened back in 1998 skip between the stars
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This was the third of Ryan Murphy's brilliant American Crime Story Series. The first one The People vs. OJ Simpson was brilliantly done, as was the second one, The Assassination of Gianni Versace.
Now I remember the Versace murder and the hunt for his killer Andrew Cunanan, but I didn't follow that story as much as I did the OJ trial or the Clinton impeachment. I mean, you couldn't get away from OJ or Clinton-Lewinsky if you tried. The Versace story was huge when the murder happened, when the funeral happened, and when they finally caught Cunanan-(who pulled a "warden from Shawshank Redemption" move to avoid being arrested), but I don't remember a lot of what else happened there.
So here are some thoughts about Impeachment
1) Apparently, Linda Tripp made Keith Richards look like C. Everett Koop. Every other scene Tripp was firing up another cigarette. I felt like I was second-hand smoking just watching her. I'm not sure if Sarah Paulson is a smoker in real life, but if she's not, she should get hazard pay. She also played Marcia Clark in the OJ series, and again was lighting 'em up, though not nearly as much as she did playing Tripp. Tripp kept the tobacco industry in business.
to paraphrase Denis Leary.. Of course...she's dead now.
2) Speaking of Paulson, there may be a better character actress out there then she, but none come to mind right now. I thought she looked just like Marcia Clark, I figured no way she could pull off Linda Tripp. It took a big blond wig, fake teeth and a ton of make-up, but they got the look right. Paulson though captured everything else. The walk, the voice, the attitude etc. I saw an interview with Paulson right before the series started where she said "I had to play the part with a certain amount of sympathy towards (Tripp)." I didn't understand how she could show sympathy towards someone who I would imagine most of us feel deserved none. But if you watched the series, you'd see what she meant.
3) Now besides Paulson, you had Clive Owen playing President Clinton. I agree with my sister Katie, he didn't really look like the Big Dog, but he sounded just like him to the point where you forgot the physical differences and could totally believe what you were seeing. Annaleigh Ashford (from the CBS show B-Positive) played Paula Corbin Jones, Taran Killam played Jones's husband Steve, and one of my favorite characters was Killam's real life wife Cobie Smulders (Robin from HIMYM) played a perfect Ann Coulter.
4) Beanie Feldstein played Monica Lewinsky. She was also quite convincing playing the woman who my old friend Hondo from the Post referred to as the Portly Pepperpot* in his weekly football/current events column.
5) Colin Hanks I'm sure is a hell of a nice guy, but I don't think he's that great an actor. Maybe I'm unfairly comparing him to his father. I mean he's not awful, but anytime I see him in something. I always feel like I'm watching Colin Hanks and not the character he's supposed to be playing. He played one of Ken Starr's henchmen um I mean lawyers in this series and again, I wasn't buying it.
6) Edie Falco played Hillary Clinton. She was the perfect choice. All she had to do was channel Carmela Soprano when she caught Tony with one of his Russian goomahs.
7) The actress who played Linda Tripp’s daughter is really good looking. There is no shot any offspring of Tripp would look like that.
8) They also made Brett Kavanaugh, another one of Starr’s lawyers out to be a real jackass. We’ll, maybe that’s in the eye of the beholder.
So as much as I thought the production was excellent, I found this series hard to watch. I know that sounds weird being that the other two series were about murders and this one was about sex in the Oval Office** but I just remember all of this, and more importantly I remembered how I felt when it was happening 20 something years ago.
Monica Lewinsky and I have very little in common, but we were born exactly two weeks apart. When all this was going on, I was just getting started in my professional life, making connections learning the ropes and all that stuff,. But because I was going through the early stages of full time employment around the same time she was, I felt for her. Now. I'm not suggesting I did anything that unseemly to advance my career, (and I'm not exactly sure she was thinking along those lines either, I think she really fell for Clinton) but I think I had some of the same anxieties and uncertainties that come with your first real full time job.
And I'll also mention (and anyone who worked with me from 1998-2001 will attest to this) I too worked with a bleach-blonde, chain smoking loudmouth who thought she was more important than she was. So I felt Monica's pain there too.
And watching as Feldstein's Monica was developing a friendship with that beast, Paulson's Tripp was cringe worthy, because you knew where this was going to lead. And in the 6th episode, where they pretty much held Monica hostage in a hotel room, well shoot, I was up half the night after watching that.
Originally the next installment of the series was going to do with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. But now sources are saying that it will deal with the rise and fall of Studio 54. Not sure I'm that interested in that, but we'll see if/when it comes to fruition.
American Crime Story…. 3 for 3
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I’m not going to get into Aaron Rogers moronic take on his COVID vaccine situation. But I will say that he and his fiancée, actress Shailane Woodley are fast overtaking Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez as America’s most obnoxious couple.
The Daily Mail posted a picture they mistakenly said was the Packers QB. Woodley, who along with Rogers has been slamming the media, did so again, but in the process seemed to be ragging on the poor dude who did nothing more than have his picture taken.
Woodley made fun of this innocent guy’s feet, (and the implications of what big feet are equated to) and his car (Aaron would never drive a car like THAT)
I imagine she was just trying to be funny, but to me she came off mean spirited. And combine that with Rogers pants being on fire after saying he was vaccinated, and now I just want the two of them to go away.
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A couple of things I forgot to mention last week....
November 7, last Sunday, marked the 30th anniversary of the evening Magic Johnson retired from the Lakers because he tested positive for HIV. Every once in a while someone will post a question on social media to the effect of "What is something kids today wouldn't understand?" For me this is was really and truly something you had to be there for. I'll put it to you this way, remember how you felt when you heard about what happened to Kobe Bryant? That's how it felt watching Magic at the podium announcing he was HIV Positive. Back in 1991, you had HIV you were a dead person walking.
I didn't think Magic, who was 32 at the time, would make it to 40. Now if he lives another 10 years, he'll have lived 40 years with HIV. And who wants to bet against that happening?
Also, want to take a minute to wish all of you who have or are still serving our country in the military a happy belated Veteran's Day, and to thank you for your service. It's one of the few things I believe we can still get behind, supporting and celebrating everyone who helped defend our country. I've said many times how lucky I am that both my grandfathers served in WWII, and both of Timmy's grandfathers served in Vietnam. Timmy's kids unfortunately will be S.O.L unless he marries the daughter of Gulf War vets.
Again, thank you all for your service. We are all in your debt.
Stay Safe
and Have a Great Week
*In Googling up Portly Pepperpot, it appears Hondo might have gotten this from Page Six. Until someone tells me otherwise, I’ll believe it was the other way around. I’m biased, as Hondo was one of my favorite people I’ve met at the Post.
**Of course, if you’re one of those folks who think either Bill or Hillary had something to do with the death of Vince Foster (which the series implies that Tripp clearly did) then I guess you can say there was a murder here too. We here at WM believe the official report that Foster committed suicide in Fort Marcy Park.
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