It took a Little Old Lady in Vista, CA

I am a great fan of Media Critics, both in the press and on the telly with the esteemed Howard Kurtz.
Lately, they all missed one of the amazing stories of the year.
In the latest Congo Rebellion, it was not Condi Rice who negotiated with the rebel leader. She was probably playing the piano in Crawford. It was, of all people, Kyra Phillips, the afternoon anchor on CNN. She got the guy on the little camera phone, asked him if he'd heed a cease fire, and he said yes. Here's what the State Department is missing: These guys love to be on TV. They know what CNN is. They probably watch it in their opium dens in living color. Obviously, Kyra Phillips has more clout than Condi Rice. Condi Rice hasn't won an Emmy. Kyra Phillips has.
But that's just the CNN beginning. During the election, which they covered so splendidly they even time travelled Jessica Yellin, it was beleaguered money man what's his name (see; I'm old) who manned the complaints nationally about election irregularities. He even had a magic map which showed the thousands of calls and their locations. He even trouble shot with state and local election officials in those complaint areas. He even resolved complaints. (Oh, God, I know his name as well as I know my own. I watch him on Your Money and admire him enormously. My advice: don't get old.)
Barack is already on to it. He has his fireside chat on You Tube. He probably has the power to move the CNN government to his purposes by posting his government on Twitter or even his webpage. To think this through, he praises accountability and what could be more transparent than taking over a TV network for his governing. I propose Fox. And I think Keith Oberman, with his 30 million dollars, should be his interlocutor.
Damn, I still can't think of the CNN anchor who handled the complaints. I know I could look on their website but I'm on a roll.......

Prohibition and my role in irt

John and I sat in a microbrewery in Naples, CA yesterday for an iced tea. Woe is us. Anyhow, on the wall was a picture of protesting beer lovers during Prohibition
So I told John of my favorite tale of what happened to me then when my parents, a partying pair, couldn't get their booze.
First, you have to understand that we lived in a two story house. You have to get it that my nursery was directly above the kitchen. Then you have to see that their home brew required agitation.
The cradle that formerly sheltered their newborn (moi) became a brewery and I was relegated to the floor. A rope connected the cradle to a kitchen window below and it was rocked every time mama washed her hands at the kitchen sink.
They said at 4 months of age I didn't differentiate between the floor and the cradle, but that's a likely story.
A likely story, indeed.

Oh,yeah. They forgot

In the endless disection of the McCain loss, everyone has forgotten what I believe was a seminal moment: He didn't know how many houses he had. He left all that to Cindy (or more likely, her secretary.)While some comic derision followed his answer, McCain really lost his credibililty on the economic issues, which he admitted were his weak suit.
But what did he do to compensate? He cozied it up with Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Senator who was deregulator #1 in the congress, and thus primarily responsible for the non-insurance of most of the mortgage securities.
When Obama added his four stipulations, formed by his economic team of Buffet and Volker etc, which included no inflated CEO bonuses, etc., McCain sat like a stone in the planning meeting according to observers. That was the meeting he suspended his campaign to attend. Stunt #1.
Stunt #2: Sarah Palin, an empty-headed Miss Wasilla who had lucked into the governor's chair in Alaska after falling into the hands of a tactian who sensed she could be a fine figurehead for his program of a gas pipeline. Like Bush who had so little understanding of women of accomplishment he nominated Harriet whats-her-name for the supreme court, McCain evidently thought that since Palin had reproductive equipment, she would steal the disgruntled Hillary vote. How thick can he be?
Let me digress: A few years ago, when Tiger Woods won the golf scene, a well-known columnist lamented that "they have taken over baseball and football; now they have golf."
He He He. I wonder what that guy is thinking now???????