Whenever Trump-prone acquaintances tried to convince me that there was "massive evidence" that the 2020 election was stolen, they'd cite those two black ladies in Georgia that Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump said had been caught stuffing or altering ballots. Well, Mr. Giuliani just lost a huge defamation suit that those two black ladies filed against him.
Best wishes to all whose lives are being affected by Hurricane Idalia. How many more unprecedented weather disasters do we have to have to convince some people this country needs to do more to combat Climate Change? And that even if we can't change the weather, we need to do more for disaster preparedness?
My piece on Bob Barker brought two e-mails from folks who said, in effect, "He was very nice to me the one time I met him" and a number from folks who worked at CBS who did not like working around him. I was not suggesting that my brief encounter with the man — which lasted well under a minute — was evidence that he was always like that. You should never judge a person by a one or two-minute encounter unless, for example, they use that time to shoot someone.
An anecdote like mine may be just an anecdote and not an overview of an entire, complex human being. I know of prominent folks who I consider treacherous or just plain evil…but they can still be charming and polite for a minute or three, especially if you represent to them a gushing admirer who is in no way a threat to them. Pick whoever you think has to be the worst person who ever lived and insert their name into this sentence: "Even __________ could be a great guy (or gal) for 180 seconds." And of course, the inverse is also true.
I also heard from many who, like me, felt a certain insincerity in Mr. Barker's on-camera persona. That's fairer game for criticism. I just felt he had a little too much delight in himself and a tendency at times to treat contestants like they were fools placed on this Earth for the amusement of others. And I'm probably overreacting because all those folks who won refrigerators and other goodies on The Price is Right when he was hosting probably thought their moments onstage with him were the greatest moments of their lives.
I have writing which must be completed before I sleep tonight. So there may not be much posting here until it's done.
P.S. AFTERTHOUGHT, added after I posted the above: Yes, I understand that Giuliani didn't clearly admit that he had lied about the two ladies in Georgia. He tried at one point to simultaneously admit it and not admit it via some stipulation that the judge decided was gibberish. The point is that he forfeited the case rather than go to trial and defend his remarks. Now back to that deadline…