I Dream of J.D. With the Unpublished Books

Nattering Naybob: First, my apologies to Stephen Foster about the title of this post. The Red Ranger, I know you are not much of a reader (not that there’s anything wrong with that necessarily), but you may have heard about a new documentary and companion biography that are being released next week about the near-mythic author J.D. Salinger, whose “Catcher In the Rye” is considered by many to be the quintessential story of 20th century teen angst and disillusionment (other than your own real-life experiences in these areas, Red Ranger).

Salinger was probably as famous for his self-imposed withdrawal from public life in the mid-Sixties, as he was for his actual body of work. During this period of seclusion he did not publish any new material whatsoever, despite rumors that he still was in fact secretly writing, with the intention of this work being published only after his death.

He died in January 2010. In the 3-1/2 years since then there has been no indication whatsoever of any such “hidden treasure” of new material, and Salinger fans such as myself had pretty much given up hope that this would ever happen.

However a story in the New York Times (and other media outlets) over the weekend reports that the upcoming book and documentary will reveal that Salinger did indeed finish at least five major works during his seclusion and has left specific publication instructions for their gradual release, starting in 2015. Some of the books’ titles have even been leaked (one such title is purportedly “The Last and Best of the Peter Pans”.)

Just as last year I considered the Yankees’ re-signing of Ichiro Suzuki as the Christmas present you no longer had to buy for me, Red Ranger, consider this spine-tingling announcement as a similar reprieve from your having to purchase a gift for me this coming Christmas. That alone should turn you into a Salinger fan.

The Red Ranger: I am glad to hear that I do not need to buy you a holiday (I want to be PC in keeping with the paradigm of your ilk) present again this year.  My guess is these books will be published and then there will be some battle amongst his heirs for the proceeds.

I am anxiously awaiting the release of some as yet unfound writings of my favorite author, Dr. Seuss.

Nattering Naybob: Thank you, Red Ranger, I’ve always wanted to be part of an “ilk”.

 

How can this be happening?

The Red Ranger: Just another sign that the Obama economy is a disaster.

How can household income be going down since the recession was over?  Shouldn’t income go up in a recovery?  If not what is the definition of a recovery?

I do not solely blame Obama for this but he is a big contributing factor.  Look what Obamacare is doing to jobs in this country.  75% of new jobs are part-time.  Companies are cutting back people’s hours so that they do not fall under Obamacare.  Now companies are starting to cut out spousal medical benefits if they can get them elsewhere.  I honestly believe that the vast upheaval in the medical insurance arena is exactly what Obama and the Dems want.  They want it all to fall apart so badly that a government run and controlled healthcare system looks better and better to the masses.

We are on the long inexorable match toward a fully socialist society.

Nattering Naybob: There are many factors at play here, and I am gratified that you are not blaming Obama solely. One factor that you fail to mention is income inequality. Corporate profits and the salaries and pay packages for corporate CEOs are at an all-time high. And this article from the New York Times (a little lengthy but well worth the time investment) lays out a frightening situation of how poorly these United States stacks up in a host of human metrics. And I do not think any one person as President can make a difference until we find a way to bridge the partisan divide. I think that is the single key issue in all of this that has to be overcome.

Regarding your claim that “Obama and the Dems” want the medical insurance industry to fall apart… I think that is not an accurate characterization. Conversely I believe that a Socialist form of healthcare for people whose circumstances prevent them from otherwise getting access–without disrupting the extant health care coverage and apparatus for people with them means to purchase more comprehensive coverage–is not a bad thing. I think Obama’s biggest mistake in the run-up to his healthcare legislation was not including a simple “Medicare for all” provision, which some have referred to as the “public option”. But Obama thought that excluding this option would signal a willingness to compromise with the Republicans, which would then reap benefits later. But Obama failed to realize that Republicans in Congress now, are generally not sane people.

The Red Ranger: I believe that this income inequality has accelerated under Obama and he has done nothing to reverse the trend.  While CEO’s are an easy target given their sometimes outlandish pay packages I do not think that this is really the root cause of the issue just due to the mere fact that there are so few of them.

In regard to healthcare, I too believe that there should be a fallback for those who cannot help themselves.  But again, like in so many other discussions I have a hard time when those you won’t help themselves or make bad decisions piggyback with those who cannot help themselves.

Natterng Naybob: Unfortunately I think that it has to be considered “the cost of doing business” if any type of assistance or relief program, counts among its rolls those who are truly undeserving whether it be the result of fraud or recklessness. I am all for the vigilant weeding out of these miscreants. But I am opposed to punishing those who are truly needy and have had some honest misfortune in their lives from getting help, because of the (what I regard to be) statistically low instances of the fraud or undeservedness of others.

Was Sarah Palin right?

The Red Ranger: I know that putting her name in the subject line will immediately get your blood pressure up and you will be rifling through your card catalogue of trite remarks about her.  However, it appears that she may have been right when discussing death panels, as witnessed by some recent remarks by one of your favorite economists. While I do not have the audio of the session, I have to believe that what they are saying he said is actually what he said.

Just remember you turn 65 before me.

Nattering Naybob: As you know, Paul Krugman is, if not at the top, very near it, on my list of favorite news / opinion columnists. This is actually something that he has been saying as far back as 2010 and earlier. In one of his New York Times blogs from November of 2010, he himself acknowledges an almost identical comment he made on the previous week’s “This Week” program. He also links to EARLIER references he made to the “death panel” remarks, within the below blog posting. So I don’t know why it took the Breitbart website til now to come up with this. Typical sloppy “journalism”, if it can be dignified with that descriptor, by one of your Right-wing extremist gossip mongering websites.

And to answer your question, it is NOT possible for Sarah Palin to be correct about anything. You are taking the two references to death panels out of context. Sarah Palin claimed that President Obama would be including “death panels” in the Affordable Care Act bill (which was a typically Palinesque misunderstanding of reality), while Krugman chose to use it as a kind of short-hand, tongue-in-cheek label for what he thought was a necessary re-examination of how much we should spend on terminally ill patients with no chance of recovery. There is no scientific way that Sarah Palin could be correct on any issue, just like it is not possible for 2 plus 2 to equal 5. By the way, how is Palin’s career as a FOX News analyst going? Oh, I forgot, they did not renew her contract.

The Red Ranger: Yup, now that Sarah is out of a job she is just going to sit home and collect her unemployment checks, food stamps (oops, sorry Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and sign up for her Obama phone.

Actually, she is probably out hunting a moose now to put food on her family’s table.

By the way, seen any drones lately?

Nattering Naybob: I predict that Sarah Palin will be named host of a Doomsday Prepper reality show on the Nashville Network within the year. That seems to be her niche. Then as they go to commercial, there could be a thirty-second “Sarah Palin Talkin’ Plain” segment where she is sitting in her living room (festooned with wall-mounted mooseheads) and speaks directly to the camera about how “Liberty-lovin’, gun-totin’, wolf-shootin’, momma and poppa grizzlies must band together and stop the Socialist agenda from President Barack Hussein Obama and the Harry Reid Senate, who are propped up by the lame-stream media”. She could have Christine (“I’m not a Witch… I’m You”) O’Donnell on as special guest co-host from time to time.

The only drones I see are the ones from the Republican House of Representatives, when they go on and on with their Right-Wing offal. Do you know what “offal” means, Red Ranger? It was probably on one of our SAT prep guide tests in high school, I’ll bet.

Steve Sabol

Natterng Naybob: Steve Sabol died Tuesday of brain cancer at 69 yars of age. Sabol, along with his father Ed (still alive), were the creative force behind what became “NFL Films”, which became in itself almost as famous an entity as the game itself. The word “visionary” is used probably too often, but in the case of the Sabols, I think this description is entirely appropriate. As this New York Times article points out, NFL Flms was not without its critics who thought that it excessively glorified the increasing violence in the game, but by and large the Sabols were rightly praised for their contributions to American sports and, indeed, culture.

I regard the combination of the Sabols, along with the almost biblical voice of narrator John Facenda and the iconic 1960s background music composed largely by Sam Spence, to be a literally perfect, once-in-a-lifetime artistic collaboration. Watching the NFL Game of the Week, as well as assorted special broadcasts throughout the year, represent some of my truly fondest childhood memories, as I’m sure it did for you and literally millions of others in our age group. Here are two YouTube clips of typical NFL Films of the 1960s, one a tribute to Vince Lombardi, the other (fairly lengthy) from 1966 titled “They Call it Football” (check out 13:28 of the video for probably my favorite all-time NFL Films music). Although I never met Steve Sabol I was truly saddened to learn of his death.

The Red Ranger: Absolutely agree, NFL Films was a fantastic production that certainly was something I fondly remember watching as a kid.  Even today, I see some of the old time classics on the NFL network. Like most I think my favorites were always the follies. Watching the old films certainly make you realize how far we have come with video capabilities over the years. However, the old NFL films have a certain mystic about them with their simplistic approach. Sometimes today NFL games become difficult to watch with all the on screen graphics which show not only the score of the game you are watching but scrolling scores of the other games along with statistics for fantasy football nuts plus a promo for the upcoming premiere of some new TV shows.

Oh the good old days.

What are these people thinking?

Nattering Naybob: A recent national poll by Public Policy Polling has revealed the frightening level of ignorance demonstrated by many voters who control who is our next President. The question was “Who do you think deserves more credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden: Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?” The results showed that 62 percent of Republicans in Ohio, and 71 percent of Republicans in North Carolina, believe that Romney deserved more credit, or that they were not sure who deserved more credit between Obama and Romney. 

Please note that the other choice than Obama, was not George W. Bush, but Romney. Although I would not agree with the theory that George Bush deserved more credit (especially since he famously once said in a press briefing, “I don’t really worry that much any more about Osama bin Laden”), there at least is a rudimentary rationale for choosing “Bush” over “Obama”, perhaps by virtue of the perceived planning or groundwork supposedly previously laid by the Bush administration. But Mitt Romney had absolutely no connection whatever to any arm of Government, the CIA, or the Defense Department during the time that the raid on bin Laden’s compound was being planned. 

Red Ranger, I know you are a stickler for documentation, so below are the exact results of how Republicans answered:
 
Ohio
Obama: 38%
Romney: 15%
Not sure: 47%
 
North Carolina
Obama: 29%
Romney: 15%
Not sure: 56%

I submit that if a Republican President had taken the same action, and under that President”s overall command, the Navy SEALs had achieved the same success, that Republicans in Congress and on Fox News would be clamoring for an additional head to be carved onto Mount Rushmore. Check out this article from the New York Times  that discusses these poll results

I cannot help but be reminded of the classic segment that Rachel Maddow did during the 2010 Senatorial race between Lisa Murkowksi and Joe Miller (remember him?) when she asked some Miller supporters why they were supporting Miller. The two people she spoke to were absolutely convinced that Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama were out to get their guns, except for one small detail: They could not explain what evidence they based this on. This exchange typifies the brand of mis-information that continues to be propogated by Americans who hate Obama. Your reaction.

The Red Ranger: The level of ignorance is equal on the Democratic side.  Please view this video and go to the last couple of minutes to see where these people get their information from. [Note: Some of the user comments contain adult language, as they, regrettably, frequently do on YouTube]

It is truly unfortunate that the vast majority of voters in this country do not take the time to educate themselves on the issues at hand. It is amazing how little people know about basic facts of this country and how it operates.

Nattering Naybob: Nice try, these “Obama voters” were all obviously actors recruited by Andrew Breitbart before his death, and paid for by Karl Rove’s SuperPAC.