Death and Infidelity

I have received a crabby note from a distant relative that she is tired of reading the same old rant about twist-ties. Well, not much has happened in my life of late, while celebrity deaths and scandals and resignations have swirled about the mainstream media.

As I write this Terry Gross is re-running an interview with Robert McNamara who died today. Even after admitting that perhaps the Vietnam War was a mistake, he is still justifying it. I can't listen to that. It's deja vu all over again, as Yogi Berra explained.

So lets look at the last two weeks' last bows: Farrah Fawcett, whose work I enjoyed, and Michael Jackson whose work I enjoyed but not his weirdness as a crypto-human.

I heard Al Sharpton (who really needs to get a life) say that Jackson paved the way and made it possible for African Americans like Tiger Woods and Oprah Winfrey to become what they are. Has this man never heard of Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, or Count Basie? Compared to them, his music is a mouse squeaking in the wilderness. And, of course, there are hundreds more who led the way: civic leaders, writers, actors, educators, comedians, composers, etc., etc.

And I wonder why the contribution of Quincy Jones to his success is not more prominently mentioned. There's the genius behind "Thriller", for instance. Yes, he could dance, but to compare him to Fred Astaire is ludicrous. Geez! He had been an extraordinary singer as a kid and as a young adult but he was not the Messiah. Hell, he wasn't even Sammy Davis, J.!.

One person grateful for Jackson's death had to be that idiot governor of South Carolina. Jacko's death and the concomitant press frenzy did take a bit of attention away from his bizarre tale of infidelity and sniveling contrition. And he has made hiking the Appalachian Trail a new code word for cheating on your spouse.

And what to make of Sarah Palin? Not much I hope. Perhaps she'll just disappear and leave Tina Fey without another career boost. As I wrote on my Facebook Wall, perhaps her husband is on the old Appalachian Trail. Her speech was on a par with the S.C. governor - rambling nonsense about nothing really. Actually, I wish her well. It's not her fault that McCain chose her as a way of discreetly throwing the election once he realized what a complete mess the country was in , thanks to 8 years of his fellow Republicans. I am convinced that he chose Sarah to avoid having to cope with what Obama is now struggling with.

Well, away from twist-ties and into current events, and what have you got? Necrophilia and adultery?