DRW50

I can't say I'm surprised to hear about longtime State Department officials being targeted, or that the ever-loathsome Newt was involved, but it still makes my blood run cold. https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/state-department-white-house-targeting-career-staff-dem-letter Speaking of cold-blooded, Trump is still pushing Duterte's plans about killing drug dealers. Anyone with any sense would realize the door this opens, but no one with any sense runs our government. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/15/exclusive-trump-finalizing-opioid-plan-death-penalty-418488

Another reason to avoid "liberal" MSNBC - one of their people, Kasie Hunt, spent yesterday pushing a baiting question to Conor Lamb (and making him seem petulant and childish for not wanting to talk about Trump and Rex Tillerson on Election Day). She was also playing word games with Tom Perez's statements on the DNC's funding for this race, even when she was called out. You can always tell when a Democrat does well because many in the media, both liberal and conservative, get very unhappy, and in some cases, go out of their way to remind us of how terribad it all is. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-democrats-should-worry-about-conor-lambs-victory-w517866 They must think Democrats are going to do well in November as they're already setting up the pro-GOP narrative, many months in advance. They're going to be giddy if/when the public lets the GOP coast through yet again.

Alicia's was Miss Match - I think I may have watched that. I believe it was one of those canceled after one episode. In a way I think it's sad Alicia only really had one hit, but she is such a unique presence and also so rooted to the '90s that she was probably lucky to have that one. Dolly's show was a big, expensive flop, yes. She also had a brief show in the late '70s that was just her singing - I think it ran a year or two. Probably the biggest success of the second one was that it started Tyne Daly's musical career. The Nathan one I was thinking of was Encore Encore. I'd forgotten he had a later one... I know she got her start in TV, but I guess given her main success was in films, we should count Lee Grant as well, especially since it only stayed on as long as it did because she called the network out on Johnny Carson. I've always felt reluctant to say it because everyone loves her and I also felt so bad for her when she suffered those horrific injuries on The Good Wife, but I've never really "gotten" Chenoweth.

The main thing I remember about Bette was the awful publicity surrounding it - I think her husband (on the show) blasted her to the press. The sad part is it didn't take much for me to believe the worst surrounding her... In the early '70s, the networks were getting desperate, so they gave a ton of aged-out film stars their own shows. Jimmy Stewart, Glenn Ford, Henry Fonda. Shirley Maclaine. None of these ran past a season (and Shirley's World became a bit of an infamous bomb) Nathan Lane had his own sitcom several times over, but the one that came after he'd had film success must have stung him when it flopped.

China gives a glimpse of press 'freedom' likely on the way here... https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/14/asia/china-viral-eye-roll-intl/index.html

I saw someone wondering if Trump may drop the tariffs out of spite to voters in that district. I wouldn't even be shocked if he did. Brian Williams, whose continued employment shows why NBC is garbage, was tut-tutting over Lamb declaring victory. I don't really see what the big deal is. They really did pull out all the stops (the GOP), even passing out things talking about how Lamb was 'too conservative' to try to get liberal voters to stay home. I don't have any expectation of this meaning anything for November but for tonight I'm proud of all the people who worked hard and showed everyone there's no such thing as an unwinnable district.

I guess I wonder how much accolades are worth in terms of what generates revenue for Netflix. I heard a lot of hype in season 1 but season 2 I mostly saw people talking about historical inaccuracies, that there was much more focus on Philip than Elizabeth, etc.

Wouldn't they still have about the same level of fame? I also read a lot of complaints about the second season... They probably had her on a contract which she couldn't renegotiate.

Wasn't she much less known than Matt Smith at the time?

The most concerning part for me is that so many insane and dangerous things happen per day now that they just get ignored. If not for social media we would not even know about most of them. So that makes me wonder how long we will have any semblance of a free Internet.

I'm sure she was, I just think it's a road to nowhere. There is nothing more toxic and soul-destroying than wading into these primary fights. I agree with her about Democrats and about the delusions of many Warren and Sanders supporters, but it isn't worth focusing on, especially when she will now always have her political card marked by some of those crazies so if she ever wants to get involved in US politics again they will give her a hard time.

I hope the rest of the world doesn't spend their capital wading into a tedious Democratic primary navel-gazing contest that is the least of our concerns right now.

She was interviewed in the late '90s by SPW but I don't think she talked about her stint. I think she had a somewhat tense interview with the press in her last months as producer. I didn't realize she didn't even last a year until I saw the timeline above.

Sounds great. Thank you again for sharing this material with us.

A great 60 Minutes from 1972, on Nixon's trip to China, and interviewing a Russian man about their view of America.

She's such a natural - so understated. It never feels like a cameo. I'm glad they brought her back.

The Good Place has a following among some prominent conservatives, which probably helps their numbers along with the other fans (of Kristen Bell, of NBC sitcoms, what have you). W&G was a show of 15-20 years ago, and focusing so much on Trump early on likely didn't help matters either.

Thanks for these.

More efforts to do away with the refugee program. https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/08/andrew-veprek-state-department-refugee-admissions-448210

And not that long ago the NYT gave an op-ed to Prince. He really does have deep ties.

The blame game is starting if Republicans lose their special election in PA-18. (given that he is known as a mini-Trump, I wonder if one of the reasons Trump is pushing the tariff stuff is to try to drag him over the finish line) https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/07/republicans-pennsylvania-special-election-445221 In other news, I see that Tucker Carlson is doing a "the decline of men in Western civilization" series on his show. One part was about lower sperm count and testosterone levels. Will Faux News actually talk about things like all the pesticides in our food and everywhere around us, which is one of the big culprits for these issues? Given that the GOP money men are one of the main culprits in rolling back any attempts to address these issues, I won't hold my breath.

This is a few days old but it's an interesting article about fashion and America and politics. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/03/05/melania-trump-dress-fashion-1968-fashion-show-217232