Monthly Archives: August 2016

After I posted the previous item, I saw this. You all know this site called Breitbart, which is so right-wing conspiracy oriented that a lot of conservatives disown it. It's the main site that supported (and may still support for all I know) James O'Keefe, the guy who goes out with hidden cameras and phony names and tries to get people to say things he can edit into "proof" of some right-wing conspiracy belief.

Anyway, the folks at Breitbart decided that the mainstream polls showing Hillary ahead were all bogus so they commissioned their own…and it showed Hillary running five points ahead of Donald Trump, which is the low end of what the mainstream polls say. Most of them have her at around eight. So Breitbart more or less validated the pollsters that show her beating Trump.

But wait. Given the rep of Breitbart, you have to wonder. Might this not be a trick to establish some credibility for their poll? If they came out showing Trump clobbering her, everyone would dismiss it as another Breitbart phony deal like all those claims of evidence that Obama is a gay Muslim or that Planned Parenthood broasts or deep-fries unborn children.

By saying she's five up, they look kinda reasonable. Then next week, they can announce she's three points ahead. Then by the second week in September, they can have them neck-and-neck…and in October, Trump supporters will have a poll they can point to and say, "Those are the real numbers! Trump is twelve points ahead!"

I wouldn't put it past them.

The most telling indicator that Donald Trump is in for an electoral drubbing is that he and his supporters are already selling the idea that if he loses, it can only be because the election is rigged. They'll stick to that rather than admit honest defeat but just as O.J. Simpson never came up with a credible explanation of who did kill Nicole and Ron, Trump will never have a coherent theory as to how, if he was really ahead, Hillary managed to rig not only the outcome but all the polls by the major pollsters.

I've long been a little fascinated by folks who live in a state of angry denial. Back when I was young and foolish — or maybe younger and foolisher — I spent some time around people with wild theories about the Kennedy Assassination. It was a visit to a realm where every conceivable explanation of Who Killed JFK? was worthy of consideration except, you know, that Lee Harvey Oswald did it by himself. There were folks there with detailed (though wrong, I decided) theories backed by what at least looked a bit like evidence. Not all were looneys.

Then there were the looneys, who'd sooner believe Martians offed the President than that Oswald dunnit. What was amazing to me was how committed they were to their versions even though they couldn't even begin to explain how it could have been done. Usually, these theorists would answer questions about their theories by adding on conspirators. It went like this…

"How did the Martians get Kennedy's body out of Parkland Hospital?" "Obviously, the entire Parkland staff was in on it!"

"How did they know that Kennedy would even be taken to Parkland?" "Obviously, the Secret Service and the Dallas Police were all in on it!"

"Well, how did they know Jackie Kennedy wouldn't tell anybody about the flying saucer that you say hovered over the presidential motorcade and sent down the death-ray that you speak of?" "Don't you get it? Jackie masterminded the whole thing!"

At some point, some of them had more people involved in Killing Kennedy than in electing him in the first place. And of course, all of them have kept that secret to this day.

So just how is Hillary going to rig the election? And how come the results will be pretty close to what the main pollsters predict just before Election Day? There will be no explanation other than "they were all in on it." The number of conspirators will probably top the number of votes Trump receives.

Sorry to hear Comedy Central has canceled The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, effective this week. No, it wasn't another Daily Show but these days, The Daily Show isn't another Daily Show. Of the two, I preferred Wilmore's, especially in the last few months as they seemed to have developed a good stable of contributors and a fearlessness about taking on names in the news. I hope all those people land good jobs elsewhere…and soon. No word yet on what the channel is going to stick in its place.

Three more women performing "Up the Ladder to the Roof"…

They don't mean that anyone can vote in each state…though if Trump loses, he'll probably claim that people did. This is a service that will tell you how to vote in your state. Forward the link to anyone you think might need it.

Steve Stoliar sent me this link. In it, author James Kirchick conducts what he calls a "thought experiment." What if Donald Trump were pretty much the same guy only black? (I can think of one thing: He wouldn't want to be photographed eating KFC.)

Politics is sometimes like a big chess game where you make your move after considering all the options you're leaving your opponent. You think you're setting him up to make the wrong move while he's thinking he's doing the same thing to you…and the winner is whichever one of you thinks more craftily ahead. One of the intriguing things about Mr. Trump is that he doesn't seem to be operating that way.

The temptation when he says something outrageous or announces something bizarre is to figure where he's going with it, how this is but one step in a Master Plan. But it also seems like there is no Master Plan; like Trump isn't thinking five steps or even one ahead. All he's out to do is fire up the crowd who comes to see him today and to dominate today's news coverage. It's clear he thinks he can say something newsworthy on Monday, back off it on Tuesday, reverse it on Friday…and pay no real price for it with his base.

So leave Trump out of this: Kevin Drum is speculating what will become of the Merrick Garland nomination if Hillary wins. We know what'll happen to him if Trump wins. Garland will have about as much chance of sitting on the Supreme Court as does Carrot Top. Trump will probably give the seat to some lawyer somewhere who will invariably rule for whatever position will allow businesses to make the most money.

But with Trump now looking like he might not break 200 in the Electoral College, I wonder what would happen if Obama announced that on October 1, he will withdraw the nomination of Judge Garland. In less subtle terms: Confirm him now or you're likely to get stuck with someone you'll like a lot less.

That would mean Obama reneging on some past promises but so what? He's not running for re-election and the folks who hate him already hate him. The folks who love him will love the position in which he's putting Senate Republicans who warn Hillary's going to appoint someone who somehow will single-handedly overturn the Second Amendment, make abortion mandatory and force everyone in the country to marry someone of the same sex.

No one believes Garland is that guy. They just know he's not another Scalia and that's what they want there.

I don't think Obama will do it. This is just one of those "Wouldn't it be interesting?" speculations. But those can be fun…and at least as productive as trying to figure out what Donald Trump is thinking. Or even if he is.

If you're a fan of James Corden's Carpool Karaoke segments, here's a list of all of them to date complete with viewing links. I think they're fun, though most of them go on a bit long for me. I mainly watch them to see if I can spot the ones where they drive by my house. It's quite a caravan.

Three more women performing "Up the Ladder to the Roof"…

At the moment, Hillary Clinton is ahead by ten or more points in enough states to ensure a victory in the Electoral College. She's ahead in enough states to rack up somewhere between 318 and 361 votes if she wins everywhere she's ahead by more than two but if you just look at states where she's in double digits, that's 273 — and it only takes 270.

One assumes her lead will not last. Trump has an awful lot of money to spend on TV commercials — he hasn't spent any yet on them — and there seems to be no limit on how dirty this election can get. Then again, her lead could last. I think some of his more hysterical charges against Clinton have hurt him more than helped — a lesson which, if true, will not be learned.

I wonder how many minds out there are changeable, no matter what new scandal is alleged. I also wonder what happens if Trump chickens out on the debates…or shows up for at least one and gets clobbered. I can imagine him beating her with sheer invective but not by looking presidential and in control of the facts. I can also imagine her smacking him down by not flinging feces and by pointing out how little his economic plan will do for the non-wealthy folks who support him.

86 days until this is over except for the part where everyone who loses charges election fraud.

Eduardo Duran read this piece I wrote about what the crew on a TV show has to do to set up the studio…

Reading your description of the set tear down reminded me of Comic-Con tear down on Sunday night, since most times everything has to be out that night unlike set up taking, in some cases, two and a half days. Having experienced both, just wanted to share.

You know, that thought occurred to me but I didn't mention it. A couple of times at Comic-Con, I've for some odd reason had a badge that allowed me to stay in the hall after 5 PM on Sunday, after it was being cleared of everyone but Exhibitors. It was fascinating.

Like most conventions, there's a rule in place that if you exhibit there, you can't start breaking down your booth and packing to go before the hall closes — but once it does, watch out! It is amazing to see that wonderful, vast display begin to disappear. Displays come down, rugs are rolled up, forklifts start rolling in.

There's a whole group of people who spend much of their lives going from convention to convention with their wares. I've spoken with dealers who do a dozen in a row, criss-crossing large parts of America in a van, being away from "home" (wherever that is) for months at a time. We forget how selling old comic books is not an easy profession. It can be rough the same way moving pianos is rough. I know dealers who have sustained physical damage over the years from lugging around crates of comics and the hardware they use to sell them. Until you see that part of the business for yourself, you just don't realize.

The last time I stayed after in the hall at Comic-Con was a year — a couple back — when another convention was booked to load-in the following day. Everyone and everything had to be out by a certain deadline so everyone was moving at a rapid clip. I was stunned by how much of that Comic-Con was crated and being moved outta there by 5:30…well more than I would have thought physically possible.

I also noticed a lot of camaraderie with exhibitors helping other exhibitors. A couple of guys who'd wound up with a lot of empty boxes were announcing loudly that anyone who needed them could have them and other exhibitors came running and politely divvied them up.

I've heard attendees say that Comic-Con is like Disneyland with so much to see, so much to do. I think a better analogy would be Brigadoon, the fictional Scottish village that disappears and then reappears for one day every hundred years. Since Comic-Con looks roughly the same each year, from the standpoint of an annual attendee, it kinda disappears and then reappears for 4.5 days every year…but it's the same place with the same people roaming about. All that's happened during the past year is that the dealers have marked the prices up.

I've never been there for the setup. Each year, it's hard enough just to get my work done and my bags packed so I can get down there by the time it opens. I occasionally think of going down a day early and watching Brigadoon "appear" but I never seem to be able to finish early what has to be finished before I can go. Maybe one day I'll make it. I'm sure it will be just as fascinating and magical.

Three more women performing "Up the Ladder to the Roof"…

I should have mentioned this when I was writing about why I think Comic-Con International should and will stay in San Diego. As others have noted, the calendar on the San Diego Convention Center website lists an unidentified convention with an estimated attendance of 130,000 for the dates of Thursday, July 19, 2018 to Sunday, July 22, 2018. That's around the time Comic-Con traditionally happens there and that's its estimated attendance. Oh — and nothing else that takes over that facility is ever as big.

So we think we know when the 2018 Comic-Con International will be. We already know that dates for 2017 are July 20-23. In both cases, Preview Night is the night before.

2018 is the last one on the current contract and pretty soon, they'll probably be having the usual renegotiation battles with rumors of the con going elsewhere. I have no idea how the timing of all the dickering will be impacted by the ballot initiative that will be on the November ballot down there to build a $1.8 billion stadium and convention center in downtown's East Village, next to Petco Park. This is to stop the San Diego Chargers from becoming the Los Angeles Chargers. Obviously, even if approved, the venue would not be available for many years.

If the online editorials and such are accurate — and they may not be — ratification of this initiative is not a slam dunk. There is much opposition and a new report throws much icy water on projections of this being great for the economic health of the city. Then again, some people in San Diego would rather lose their children than their Chargers.

It is almost a cliché that those who lecture and scold others about morality turn out to be hiding their own immorality. How many anti-gay politicians and crusaders have gotten caught soliciting others of the same sex in restrooms? How many of those who expressed outrage and called for the impeachment of Bill Clinton turned out of have unclean hands themselves?

Well, add another one to the books.

Back in the late eighties, every TV show that would have him on gave a forum to Dr. Thomas Radecki, a founding member of the National Coalition on TV Violence. He was everywhere attacking sexy movies, videogames and comic books. My friend, the fine comic book creator-publisher Denis Kitchen debated Dr. Radecki once on Larry King Live and did, I thought, a pretty good job of it — though it's hard for someone who isn't a full-time, well-compensated crusader to hold his own against one who is. (You can watch that episode here.) Radecki even testified as an expert witness in many courtrooms, blaming media for…well, just about everything.

Radecki submerged and stopped being a doctor in 1992 when the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation revoked his medical license for "engaging in immoral conduct of an unprofessional nature with a patient." He eventually got it reinstated but surrendered it in 2012 amidst accusations of trading drugs to patients in exchange for sex…and how sick do you have to be to enjoy sex on that basis?

In August of 2013, he was arrested for overprescribing drugs and, again, trading them for sex with patients, one of whom wound up bearing his child. This past June, Radecki was sentenced to prison for not less than 11 nor more than 22 years.

But don't be harsh about the man and don't adopt a smug smile and say anything about hypocrisy. He couldn't help it. I'm sure it was all those sexy movies, videogames and comic books he had to study in order to advocate their banning that turned him into a pretty repulsive human being.

Three more women performing "Up the Ladder to the Roof"…