Olympic Comments

We've recently enjoyed [or been subjected to, choose one] a non-stop barrage of Olympic programming  "on the networks of NBC" lasting in excess of two weeks.  A lot was good about it, especially the variety of events covered and the various delivery systems, i.e., NBC, the NBC Sports channel, CNBC, MSNBC, and most conveniently, on-line to your own smart phones and iPads.  I used them all.

That's the good news.  The bad news is that there were a bunch of non-sports covered.  Of course, that's my opinion.  I, therefore, propose that at least the following events should no longer be part of the Olympics:  water polo, team handball, rhythmic gymnastics (including the ball, ribbon, hula hoop),  dressage with or without horses, synchronized swimming and synchronized diving, and any event that requires judging.  A sport is an activity that self-judges based on scores.  No style points are awarded to the pole-vaulter.  He/she either gets over the bar or not.  No judges needed.  Synchronized swimming is not a sport, nor is dressage, no matter how difficult or interesting it may be.  When the Greeks started the Olympics, I'd be shocked to hear that they awarded style points.

It seems to me we could have a lot more sport without the style events, and maybe we could bring back baseball and softball.  You think?

Bye Bye Miss American Pie...

Last night I indulged myself once again and engaged in my annual ritual of watching Bill Murray live through Groundhog Day again.  And again.  And again... Well, you get the idea.  How ironic that the day he's forced to live through again and again is the day before a day many of us would prefer never to have seen at all:  The Day The Music Died.  I was 18 when the plane carrying, among others, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper met the earth in a corn field near Clear Lake, Iowa.  For me and many of my contemporaries, it was the first deeply personal brush with death and the public mourning that goes with a celebrity death.  For that reason, the date - February 3, 1959 - became a demarkation line between childhood and adulthood.

As more than one op/ed writer has noted, the real irony is that the music never died at all.  And it never will.  Thanks to Don McLean's iconic American Pie, it seems to me that people will pause on this day for decades into the future as news anchors and deejays remind us each year on this date that it is the umpteenth anniversary of that fatal day when American teens shared a painful coming of age, because of the bad news on their doorstep.  We miss those good old boys...

You Say You Want a Revolution...

The words of our title - You say you want a revolution - were famously written by Lennon & McCartney, and became a touchstone for a generation.  About the same time, Pete Townshend wrote, and The Who sang, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." We propose using the wisdom in those words to re-build the seriously broken American Dream.  It's our belief the new boss is not just the same as the old boss, in too many instances the "new" boss is the old boss. And that's the reason we're proposing the opening salvo in our revolution:  Operation Clean Sweep.

 It's clear to anyone who doesn't live under a rock that our government is badly broken.  Partisan bickering has replaced lofty purpose as the guiding principle of both parties.  Our president is ineffective at best, respect for our institutions is at an all-time low and our economy both national and personal struggles for a toehold.  What to do?

Can we trust one party or the other to clean things up?  That's like banging your head against the wall because it feels so good when you stop.  Do we change our system?  Unnecessary and just not doable. No.  Operation Clean Sweep has one political enemy:  incumbency.  In all upcoming elections, we ask you to vote against any and all incumbents regardless of political affiliation.  It's obvious that those who have been elected have no desire or ability to change things.  Will this be enough of a message to those who would use our system for their own gain and ego polishing?  Possibly.  But the second time we do it may just start the congressional fat cats thinking.  After all, The United States is the prototypical democracy.  If we are unable to throw the scoundrels out, who will do it?

So let's get out our brooms and sweep the dirt out of our elected offices!  We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.  Your comments are welcome.