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MARCH 31,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

NEW, AND DIFFERENT, STUDENT WALKOUT – FROM FOX:   A group of students at a Central Florida high school walked out of class Friday as part of a protest in support of the Second Amendment.  Some of the students who participated in the walkout at Rockledge High School told WFTV that when the movement to honor the victims and survivors of the shooting in Parkland became political, they felt silenced.  “I’m pro-Second Amendment,” Rockledge junior and protest organizer Anna Delaney told the station. "I wouldn’t mind deeper background checks, of course, but the Second Amendment will not be infringed upon.”  Many Rockledge students walked out of class March 14 as part of the National School Walkout that was held in support of the Parkland school shooting victims and to protest gun violence and call for new gun control measures. They stood on the football field and formed a huge heart.  About 75 students participated in Friday’s walkout at Rockledge, Florida Today reported. The protest lasted 20 minutes.  These kids showed guts in going against the tide, and they behaved superbly.  Don't know if CNN will interview any of them.

A GOOD ENDING – FROM FOX:    A Purple Heart medal earned decades ago was reunited with family members of a World War I veteran on Wednesday after it was found at an Arizona pawnshop.  The Tucson Police Department said Officer Jim Caccavale spotted the medal belonging to Leon Elie Lyon a few months ago after reviewing reports from local pawnshops, and contacted the group Purple Hearts Reunited, which helps return lost or stolen medals to veterans and military families.  The person who sold the medal to the pawn shop claimed it came from Ohio about 20 years ago. Glen Lyon, the colonel's grandson, told Tucson News Now his family never thought they'd see the medal again.  "If somebody takes something from you, you never expect it to come back," he said. "The chances, I guess, are one in a million."  This reminds us of what a medal symbolizes.  It is not merely a decoration.

March 31,  2018     Permalink

A CLASSIC IS 75 – AT 1:30 P.M. ET:   "Oklahoma!" is 75 years old today.  It was March 31, 1943, in the midst of World War II, when the show that was to become an American classic opened at the St. James Theater on Broadway. 

The audience didn't know quite what to expect.  "Oklahoma!" was based on a little-known play, "Green Grow the Lilacs," by a little-known playwright, Lynn Riggs.  It was written by two well-known men of the theater, the composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, but they had never worked together, and Hammerstein, who had co-written the brilliant "Show Boat" in the 1920s, hadn't had a hit in 11 years. 

When the show was in try-outs before opening in New York, it was called "Away We Go," not exactly a grabber.  It had no major stars.  And advance word was hardly encouraging.  It wasn't a funny show, it had no chorus girls, and prospects on Broadway were dicey.  One out-of-town critic wrote, "No jokes, no legs, no chance." 

But "Oklahoma!" the name under which it opened on Broadway, had a secret.  From the first moment the audience heard Curly, played by a young Alfred Drake, sing "There's a bright golden haze on the meadow..." something magical happened.  We were a nation at war.  We had taken heavy casualties.  There had been some progress in the almost year and a half we'd been fighting, but victory was far from assured in either Europe, against the Nazis, or the Pacific, against the Japanese.  And here was a ray of light, of optimism, of the real America, of a place where, in Hammerstein's words, "the corn is as high as an elephant's eye."

It was a time when the songs of Broadway played an outsized role in what music was broadcast on radios across the United States.  And the songs of "Oklahoma!" traveled quickly.  Some, like "People Will Say We're in Love," became major hits.  The rousing finale, "Oklahoma!" became the state song of Oklahoma.  The original-cast album sold more than a million copies, and it was truly an album.  The recordings were on 78 rpm easily breakable records, one song to each side.  My family had a copy.  I played it often, with one record plopping down over the other in what was called a record changer.  The cast album was the first ever to include the entire original cast, including the chorus and the Broadway orchestra.

"Oklahoma!" was the lift America needed.  And it was certainly what Oscar Hammerstein II needed.  His simple but heartfelt lyrics, set to Richard Rodgers's superb melodies, captivated the nation.  A genuinely modest man, Hammerstein took out an ad in Variety after the smash opening of "Oklahoma!" and listed some of his flops, writing "I've done it before and I can do it again." 

He rarely did it again.  Rodgers and Hammerstein went on to write "Carousel," "South Pacific," "The King and I," "Flower Drum Song," and "The Sound of Music."  Rodgers went on to write the score for the immortal television documentary, "Victory at Sea." 

"Oklahoma!" produced no giant stars, but Alfred Drake became an important leading man in other Broadway productions, like "Kiss Me Kate."  Celeste Holm, who played Ado Annie ("I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say No") had a long career as a successful actress.  Joan Roberts, a New Yorker with a New York accent, lost the accent to play the female lead, Laurey, who was decidedly Oklahoman.  Joan Roberts did some other work in theater and television before retiring into near-obscurity.

There is only one surviving member of the original cast – the dancer Bambi Linn.  Ironically, she achieved her greatest fame, not in "Oklahoma!" but as one of television's first musical stars.  In the 1950s she and her husband, Rod Alexander, became dancing regulars, with Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca, on "Your Show of Shows."

Many reading this were probably in school productions of "Oklahoma!" or have relatives or friends who were.  It seems it has always been with us.

It always will be.

March 31, 2018        Permalink

THE GOOD ECONOMY – AT 12:44 P.M. ET:  Charlie Gasparino, one of the best business reporters, reports on his findings about the current American economy.  Thumbs up.  From the New York Post:

Follow the volatile ups and downs of the stock market or President Trump’s Twitter feed too closely and you’re bound to think the economy is booming one minute and heading for collapse amid a global trade war the next.

Thank God the men and women who run small to mid-sized businesses aren’t so obsessed. They’re methodically hiring new workers and seeing plenty of green in their future, no matter how intemperate the markets or even the current White House occupant have become.

That was my takeaway after spending some time with about a dozen CEOs and CFOs of these businesses a couple nights ago and listening to what keeps them up at night. The meeting was private; I was asked not to provide names of the companies nor their executives.

Still, no one had a problem with me spreading their core message about the Trump economy, and why — for all the noise about trade wars, market zig-zags, Robert Mueller and Trump’s latest Twitter feud — they’re optimistic about their businesses and the future of the US economy.

And they’re an important group: Their companies have market values of between $1 billion and $3 billion, so they’re big enough to play in the global economy. And any economist will tell you that these are the businesses that account for much of the new hiring. 

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  An economy is based partly on psychology, and the psychology of American business these days is good, and optimistic.

Whether you like President Trump or not, you've got to give him some credit.

March 31, 2018       Permalink

AN INSPIRING QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 11:51 A.M. ET:  It comes from a student who edits a conservative newspaper at a liberal school, Claremont-McKenna, in California.  Please read his entire column, from College Fix.  Much information, much wisdom.  He says: 

As editor-in-chief of the Independent during the 2017-18 school year, I’ve learned many lessons. For starters, when I first came to Claremont, I believed that conservatives and moderates comprised a vanishingly small minority of my peers. Radical progressives held every student senate position, every fellowship, and every position of power on campus. I assumed that these people were representative of the average Claremont student.

After joining the Independent during my sophomore year, I came to know the truth: Only a small sliver of students here are sympathetic to radical campus activism. Even at these rather insular liberal arts colleges, conservatives, moderates, and sensible liberals comprise an overwhelming majority of students on campus.

I can’t count how many times such students have pulled me aside to thank us for covering a story that no other campus publication would report. Even some of the most vocal progressives on campus feed us stories every now and then. “I’m as liberal as they come,” they tell me, “but this is unacceptable. Someone has to cover this.” And we do.

COMMENT:  The words of a true journalist.  I hope he goes into journalism...if anyone will give such a young man a job. 

March 31,  2018    Permalink

MARCH 30,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:49 P.M. ET: 

SIGN OF OUR TIMES – FROM FOX:   Citing a disturbing trend of new soldiers lacking both proper discipline and physical fitness, senior U.S. Army leaders are calling for a tougher and longer basic training program to prepare troops for combat over the next decade.  “We have every reason to get this right, and far fewer reasons not to,” Secretary of the Army Mark Esper said at the Association of the United States Army's Global Force Symposium in Alabama on Monday. “That’s why we are considering several initiatives — from a new physical fitness regime to reforming and extending basic training — in order to ensure our young men and women are prepared for the rigors of high-intensity combat.”  While Esper didn’t divulge any details of what an extended Basic Combat Training (BCT) might look like, the Army has already floated the idea of adding two weeks to its 10-week program. A redesigned BCT is expected to be implemented by early summer.  Yes, our young people too often lack proper discipline and physical fitness.  You don't think that has anything to do with our educational system, do you?

TESLA ACCIDENT REPORT – FROM THE HILL:  Tesla revealed late Friday that the fatal crash in California last week occurred after the vehicle involved was placed on Autopilot.  The electric car company said in a press release after reviewing the Model X’s computer logs that the in-car driver, identified as Apple engineer Wei Huang, had been instructed to take control of the steering wheel but ignored the warning.  “The driver had received several visual and one audible hands-on warning earlier in the drive and the driver’s hands were not detected on the wheel for six seconds prior to the collision,” Tesla said in its press release...The company said it stands by the use of Autopilot, saying that autonomous cars are 10 times safer than non-autonomous cars. Previous crashes involving Tesla vehicles operating on Autopilot have been investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board.   We'll have to get used to reports like this because there'll be many more of them.  Driverless or computer-assisted cars where drivers simply monitor the operation are coming, as are autonomous trucks.  There will be accidents, especially at the beginning.  But I have no doubt that safety will be much greater in the long run.  After all, the computer won't be out drinking, or trying to text while driving. 

I CAN'T WAIT – FROM USA TODAY:  For the first time, an NFL team will have men as part of its official spirit squad.   Quinton Peron and Napoleon Jinnies, named to the Los Angeles Rams squad this week, will be the first ones to perform the same routine as the female dancers. The Baltimore Ravens and Indianapolis Colts have men who perform stunts with female cheerleaders, but don't dance.  Peron and Jinnies are both classically trained dancers and have been performing their entire lives.  But what made them take this groundbreaking step?  "I thought, 'Why not me? Why can't I do this?' " Peron said in an interview Wednesday on ABC-TV's Good Morning America.   Well, okay, I have to admit that there have been male cheerleaders before, especially in colleges.  But couldn't they have given the women of football this one area to themselves?  The NFL has lost viewers this year, in part to their PC tolerance of players "taking a knee" to protest what they saw as injustice.  This just looks like more PC.

March 30,  2018     Permalink

WHAT A JERK – AT 12:35 P.M. ET:  It amazes me how many people, of both parties, get a chance to serve in a high position in government, and mess it up because of their own greed.  If it's someone on our side, we have to take the offense seriously and send that someone packing.  From the New York Post: 

EPA chief Scott Pruitt paid just $50 a night to crash in a condo co-owned by the wife of a lobbyist with clients regulated by his agency — a huge savings over the average price of a hotel room in Washington, DC.

Pruitt paid to rent the room in the two-bedroom condo only on nights when he actually slept there, Bloomberg News reported.

White House officials are freaking out about Pruitt’s living arrangement as well as his foot-dragging before handing over documents about his lease or payments, the news service reported, citing three sources.

According to the website statista.com, the average price for a room at a DC hotel is about $270 — but that includes a medley of lodgings, from one-star dumps to luxe, five-star digs.

The questions follow criticism of Pruitt for traveling first class on airline flights and catering to the energy industry and other big businesses during his first year in office.

In all, Pruitt paid $6,100 to use the room for roughly six months, according to copies of the checks reviewed by Bloomberg.

COMMENT:  The most important part of this story is that the White House is "freaking out" about Pruitt's alleged behavior.  I never saw anyone in the Obama administration freak out about anything involving their own people.  Remember that Obama said there were no scandals on his watch.  Of course he wasn't watching.  The fact that the Trump White House is on this is good.  Let's see if the media gives this alert White House any credit.

If the charges are true, and they appear to be, Pruitt must become history.

March 30,  2018     Permalink

TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY – AT 11:48 A.M. ET:  Russia is going beyond expelling diplomats in its new cold war with the West.  From Fox: 

A new intercontinental ballistic missile hailed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as being able to fly over the North or South Poles and strike any target in the world reportedly was test-launched for the second time Friday.

Russia’s defense ministry released a video purportedly showing the Sarmat ICBM blasting off in spectacular fashion from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in its northern Arkhangelsk province, the move coming just hours after the Kremlin announced it would expel 60 American diplomats and close the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg in retaliation for U.S. measures taken in response to the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy and his daughter in Britain.

The video shows the missile – dubbed “Satan 2” by NATO -- rising out of the ground and seemingly floating in the air for a brief moment before more flames erupt, kicking up massive clouds of smoke and snow.

COMMENT:  Ah, Field Marshal Obama certainly left President Trump a peaceful, serene world.  You see, this launch is Trump's fault!  Warmonger.  Tough guy. 

He...wait a minute, that's not the party line.  He colludes with Russia.  Putin has Trump in his pocket.  Right.  Russia won the election for Trump.  He's soft on...

Maybe I should stop and get the latest line from Nancy Pelosi.  Or CNN.  Or someone who knows.

March 30,  2018    Permalink