The LuLac Edition #1703, August 5th, 2011

PHOTO INDEX: "MAYBE I'M AMAZED" LOGO.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED

Maybe I’m Amazed………that it is getting darker at night and the days are getting shorter. I was on the phone the other night with a friend and looked out the window thinking it was after 9PM. Wrong. It was 8:55PM. I think we should move ahead two hours in the spring, that will give us more night light into the fall.
Maybe I’m Amazed…….that there are certain elements in the Tea Party caucus that want more from their “compromise” on the debt ceiling. How much more do they want?
Maybe I’m Amazed……that no one in Congress seems to realize the ramifications of cuts in all spending. Not even focusing on the Medicare and Social Security end, how about the economic impact of a base closing in an area. Imagine if Tobyhanna went by the way side. The ancillary effect would be devastating.
Maybe I’m Amazed……that the people that benefit from social programs are some of the staunchest backers of the Tea Party. They want government out of their lives. Fair enough, no food stamps, WIC program for your kids, subsidized housing and clean water for you. Many of my conservative friends tell me the Democrats back social programs because they, the Dems want to keep the obliged beholden to the government handouts. In some cases I don’t think so because some of the recipients are ignorant ingrates who have no clue where their bread is being buttered. They just think it’s there for them because their special. That is the true meaning of entitlement.
Maybe I’m Amazed…….that the Harrisburg press corps was fawning all over Governor Tom Corbett’s new dogs. I understand they might want a bite of a story but I saw so much coverage of those pooches on PCN that I was half expecting Bill Bova to do a live “Journalist’s Roundtable” from Corbett’s back yard.
Maybe I’m Amazed……..that people who have satellite TV are shocked when they lose reception when we have a rain storm. It is satellite TV, the vibes come through outer space. When the atmosphere or the sky above is subject to faulty weather, you get an outage. It’s nothing against you, it is the nature of the beast. And eventually your broadcast does come back.
Maybe I’m Amazed………that some celebrity sang Happy Birthday to President Obama. I respect and like Jennifer Hudson but her rendition of “Happy Birthday” was caterwauling at its best and worst. Like sing the song without emoting. It’s not the “Battle Hymn of the Republic”, it’s “Happy Birthday” for heaven’s sake.
Maybe I’m Amazed……….that it is now coming out that in 2008 when then President elect Obama was given information on the economy, he wasn’t now were any of the economic advisers how close we were to ruin. Historians at the time said the Stimulus was way too small given the conditions. The Economists were hedging their bets, I said it once, I’ll say it again, the stimulus should have been bigger and should have had a job creation plan. In addition, every American that filed a tax return the year before should have received a one time stimulus check of $100,000. But hey, what do I know?
Maybe I’m Amazed……….that there are times when I am actually agreeing with one Dr. Michael Savage. I listen on an intermittent basis like when I’m doing something in the kitchen but that little bit tells me he or I are on the wrong track. Or the right one.
Maybe I’m Amazed……….that people who think writing a letter to Judge Edwin Kosik to sway him either way on his sentence recommendations for former Judge Mark Ciavarella will actually have an impact are wrong. It’s good to vent and give your opinion but I think the Judge has this one already pretty much in hand.
Maybe I’m Amazed………that even after 16 years, Tom McHugh’s documentary on Father Joseeph Murgas is still as compelling s the day it was first aired on TV 44. That was when there was still a church in commission on the grounds where the “Radio Priest” served this community over 100 years ago.
Maybe I’m Amazed………that Sarah Palin is making a serious attempt to be taken seriously in the 2012 race. I personally think if Palin met President Obama in a debate, she’d tie him in knots.
Maybe I’m Amazed……that President William McKinley had a pet parrot he named “The Washington Post”. Equally amazing is that our dog, McKinley (named after the first President of the 20th century) is closing in on age 12.
Maybe I’m Amazed……that after telling GQ Magazine in June that he would appear at the last Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, MDA said “Not so fast”. There's no word on why the MDA made such an abrupt announcement, but at the Television Critics Association summer press tour last week, Lewis told reporters who inquired about his hosting status that "It's none of your business." Lewis had hosted the fundraising telethon for 45 years, raising more than $2.45 billion in that time, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times. Lewis has dedicated more than 900 hours of live television raising money for the MDA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to curing muscular dystrophy. It would be a shame if Lewis was pushed out by the MDA people. In the GQ Interview he said he could say and do anything he wanted at his advanced age. Maybe he did and that’s why he’s gone. One of the great seminal moments of the Lewis entertainment telethon was in 1976 when Frank Sinatra reunited Lewis with his old partner dean Martin after a twenty year long separation. Lewis also brought his son Gary on the show too. He was mushy, he was over the top, sanctimonious, silly, pathetic, patronizing, boring, boorish and crazed. But Jerry Lewis was that Labor Day telethon and it will never be the same without him. Just like moments like this.