Monthly Archives: November 2017

Two news stories today…

Roy Moore, the Republican nominee for the open Senate seat in Alabama, is facing an accusation from a woman who says that he initiated sexual contact when she was 14 years old and Moore was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney.

Comedian Louis C.K. has been accused of sexual misconduct toward several women, including masturbating in front of them to their horror and embarrassment, according to a report in The New York Times.

What do these two men have in common apart from the fact that neither one of them should be in a position of trust and leadership? I would say it's that neither one of them should come as a surprise to us. That is, assuming they're true. In Mr. C.K.'s case, I've yet to see a denial from him or even a single friend coming forth to say, "I know him and he would never do that kind of thing." I suspect no matter what happens here, he's Guilty Forever.

Judge Roy Moore? When someone devotes his life to scolding people about their personal morality, demanding they adhere to his, you gotta figure at least a 50% chance that that guy is hiding something way worse than those he condemns. That doesn't mean Moore's guilty but none of the folks taking sides really care. The opinions I've seen expressed so far are pretty consistent with whether the person expressing that opinion wants to see that Senate seat remain Republican. This would apply to both those who think he didn't do it because they want him to win and those who think it'll cause the G.O.P. to lose so he should step down for the good of his party. And of course, there are those who want to see the Democrats grab the seat so Moore must be guilty.

Moore's "friends" who are urging him to get out of the race are sure not doing the man any favors, especially since it appears to be too late for that. Absentee ballots have already gone out with Moore's name on them for the special election on December 12 and it seems to be past the deadline to put someone else on the regular ballot. I especially don't get statements like Mitch McConnell saying, "If these allegations are true, he must step aside." If you want him out of the race, Mitch, don't frame it so if he does get out, it's a confession. Leave him some wiggle room to claim he's innocent but for the good of the party and/or to devote his full energy to clearing his name, he'll step aside for now and run next time.

I do wonder if any Republicans are worried that if they have Trump in the White House and Moore in the Senate, their party will get branded as a safe haven for sexual predators. If it were me, I'd be more worried about becoming the party that wants to increase taxes and/or lessen the safety net for the poor and middle class so that rich people won't pay very much in taxes.

• Okay, how many people had Judge Roy Moore and Louis C.K. in today's pool?

My pal Bruce Kimmel is directing a new old musical that's about to have its world premiere in Los Angeles. The Sherman Brothers — Richard and Robert — once wrote the score to a show called Levi, which was based on the life story of Levi Strauss, a German immigrant who came to America in search of a better life and wound up inventing better pants. The show was not produced in Robert's lifetime but his brother Richard is still (happily) with us and he entrusted the show to Bruce. It opens for a limited run here in Los Angeles on November 17 after a preview performance on November 16. I'll be there opening night. Tickets for the run are still available and they're real cheap. Read about the show here. Order tickets for it here.

I think Democrats are overcelebrating their victories yesterday. Then again, at least they're overcelebrating wins. They used to overcelebrate not losing too badly.

The animated Donald Trump figure who appears often on Stephen Colbert's show is getting his own series. That's two shows starring Trump parodies, the other being The President Show on Comedy Central. I finally got around to sampling The President Show, by the way, and it's pretty good.

Kevin Spacey recently completed a film called All the Money in the World that's scheduled for release just before Christmas…but he won't be in it then. They've refilmed all his scenes with Christopher Plummer. Hey, filmmakers! While you're at it, could you refilm all of George Lazenby's scenes in On Her Majesty's Secret Service with a younger Sean Connery, all of Barbra Streisand's scenes in Hello, Dolly! with Barbra at her current age and all of Steven Seagal's scenes in anything with anyone? Thank you.

Here's eight minutes of a recent conversation with Jerry Seinfeld.

I like Jerry Seinfeld and can't think of one person I've ever met or heard of who disliked him. I know a lot of people don't care about him but no one seems to actively dislike the guy. That's one of the things I like about him — that he always seems like such a nice guy. Another is that he seems to genuinely love the job of stand-up comedian. A lot of guys who do it don't. They see it as shitwork they have to do to become a movie star or get on a series. Seinfeld is one of the few who does it out of joy…

I'm watching today's televised car chase, not to be confused with today's mass shooting. The California Highway Patrol is chasing a guy who's doing 100 on the 605 freeway in a stolen 1999 Ford Taurus.

Why does anyone steal a 1999 Ford Taurus? Isn't the penalty the same if you steal a 2018 Infiniti?

I'm just watching to see how many times the news anchors can say, "This person is showing no regard for the safety of others" and "This is an extremely dangerous situation."

• It was a mistake for Twitter to double the length of tweets. Don't they know no one reads anymore?

• Remember, everyone: If you get a selfie with a famous person and you post it online, it means you're just as important as they are.

This is a group called Voctave and they sing real good…

Comic-Con International for 2018 runs from July 19-22 with a Preview Night on July 18. If you already have a badge or are darned sure you're going to get one, you might be interested in the Early Bird Hotel Sale which is now on. It's for lodging in hotels that are generally cheaper because they're some distance from where all the action takes place…but most are reachable by shuttles. Read all about it here.

And a reminder: I am not your best source for info on the convention and when to sign up and how and stuff like that. I may miss vital info. Your best source is to keep your eye on this here page.

Brendan O'Neill authored this article entitled, "Kevin Spacey is Innocent." It seems to me to be mistitled because what it really argues is "We Don't Know If Kevin Spacey is Guilty." That's not the same thing.

The article is very critical of those who think he might have done it even though Kevin Spacey seems to think he might have done it. His statement, after all, said "I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over 30 years ago. But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior."

That's not "I didn't do it." That's "I might have done it."

And so what if it was over 30 years ago? I think most of us can say with great confidence whether we tried to molest an underage boy at any period in our lives. There's something deeply wrong (or at least suspicious) with someone who isn't sure…and here's where my personal prejudice against drunks might be kicking in. If Spacey did it, obviously he is a bad person for that. But I also think that of people who get so shitfaced drunk or stoned that they aren't in control of their own actions. A dear friend of mine was killed by a drunk driver who actually tried to argue that he was "not guilty by reason of temporary insanity" because, after all, he was drunk at the time.

If people are now convinced Spacey did it, that's mainly a function of his inability to deny it. If he'd said, "I absolutely did not and would never do such a thing," we'd now be having a different discussion. There would still be people who thought he was guilty but most would not be as certain, and the rest would be giving him the benefit of some skepticism.

One other point. When I first wrote about this, I said…

I also kind of wonder if a smart lawyer vetted that admission. When you confess you might have tried to rape a minor but you can't remember for sure, aren't you just inviting others to accuse you of doing other things you might not remember? Aren't you kind of disqualifying yourself as a witness to your own life?

Let me take that back. Mr. Spacey is a very wealthy man who is at the center of several enterprises that involve large sums of cash. What is happening to his reputation will impact the future marketability of House of Cards, any films he's made that have yet to be released and the films he's made which may have their future value affected. There is a whole industry out there of lawyers and consultants who specialize in what we might call Career Crisis Management. You go to them when there's a scandal and you need to minimize what it does to you in terms of legal jeopardy, and to you and those around you in terms of image.

It also scrambles to head off future accusations and/or revelations. One thing we've learned from the Cosby and Weinstein matters is that one accuser can lead to many others. One person claiming victimhood comes forward and that emboldens others who figure there's a certain safety in numbers and a greater likelihood of their charges being taken seriously.

Mr. Spacey's statement didn't make a lot of sense to me but then I realized: He and his advisors are not just concerned with the one accusation but with others…and indeed, there have been others. Presumably, Spacey was not too drunk for thirty years to know of others who might emerge. The strategy of a guy in his position might not seem logical to us but we don't know what he and his people are worried about…and it may not be other charges of child molestation. It might not even be other illegal activities. It might just be things that he simply doesn't want to see come out.

You know, I'd love to see Kevin Spacey somehow clear himself of all charges. He's someone I've always respected as an actor and an activist. I'd like to be able to respect him as a human being, too. More significantly, I love when an innocent person is cleared of suspicion. I don't think they all are. As I've written here before, I think our prisons are full of innocent people, in part because once our legal system convicts someone, it does all it can to discourage parties from proving that conviction was wrong.

It would be great if a court or even an investigative reporter who really dug into the matter could say, as the article said, that "Kevin Spacey is Innocent." But I don't even see Spacey saying that. I just see a lot of Damage Control. It is, to quote the noted philosopher Donald J. Trump, sad.

On YouTube and similar services, one finds a surplus of videos taken by folks who seem to enjoy seeing a turtle or tortoise being unable to bite into something it wants to eat. Here we see a turtle or tortoise unable to wrap its mouth around a tomato. There are plenty of these videos but in this one, a decent human being comes along to help the poor creature get a bite…

Jonathan Chait reveals the shocking fact that under the G.O.P. tax plan, the richest Americans get most of the benefits. Is there a human being on this planet who didn't think that would be the case? Seriously? If there's a bedrock policy in the Republican party today, it's that the government exists to serve the wealthiest people first and everyone else as necessary.

Kevin Drum meanwhile notes that the Republican plan also takes from those who vote Democratic and gives to those who vote Republican. Yeah, that's going to bring us all together.

Drum also notes a new report on how Russians sure did their darnedest to help Trump defeat Hillary. It's amazing how many people who voted for Trump because they felt he'd be tougher on Russia aren't bothered by that.

Donald Trump seems to be amazed and frustrated that the powers of the presidency do not permit him to order his political opponents be jailed or even prosecuted. As Ezra Klein notes, one of the things working against this man is that he seems broadly incompetent to use the powers he does have. And we can only imagine the Republican outcry if Barack Obama had wished aloud for the dictatorship that Trump wishes he was commanding.

Daniel Larison wonders if Congress has the guts to limit Trump's war powers, especially with regard to North Korea. I would say the answer to that in on a sliding scale somewhere between Absolutely Not and Definitely Not.

And lastly for now, we have Jeff Goodell on "The Climate Report President Trump Thinks You're Too Stupid to Read." Well, maybe Trump feels that way but it seems to me that what he believes is that there are enough people in America who don't want to believe Climate Change is happening to sustain his core principle that nothing should ever get in the way of a company making money. Those people don't really care what experts say. For them, a homeless guy screaming on the street corner that it's all a Liberal Hoax cancels out any number of actual researchers. Reality can be whatever you want it to be if you only listen to those who tell you what you want to hear.

The Usual Gang of Idiots over at MAD offer their Do-It-Yourself Constantly-Reoccuring Mass Shooting News Story. I'm afraid they'll be able to post this over and over for a long time.

This posting is, of course, about the mass shooting in Texas yesterday but it'll also be about the mass shooting somewhere else later this week and the one next week and the three the week after. It's nice when people write or say "Our thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones" or "Our prayers are with them" but we all know that's become just another way of saying, "Let's not actually do anything about this kind of thing." I'm starting to get more annoyed at that than I am at the inevitable Alex Jones theory of how it's all a phony story concocted by the government to push its anti-gun agenda. If he hasn't announced it yet, he will.

I continue to believe that there are laws that could be passed that without infringing on legitimate Second Amendment concerns would lessen (not eliminate but lessen) this kind of thing. And I continue to believe that they'll never be even seriously considered until such time as we can say, "You know, X number of Congresspersons and Senators lost their seats in the last election because they opposed Gun Control." And X will have to be a high number. I do not expect this to happen in our lifetimes especially if the almost-unrestricted access to guns shortens those lifetimes.

The big song from Wicked sung by a whole bunch of women, most of them painted green and some of them in store windows…

• Mass shooting in Texas. It's the price we pay for freedom and it's not the time to discuss doing anything. Unless the shooter was Muslim.