1000 Wessays at the Crossroads

1000 Wessays at the Crossroads

The one thousandth of these is before you.  Seven years of... of... whatever this is.  It started as an extension of a feature from “Bloomberg on the Weekend” in the spring of 2000 and the internet version began five years later.

A great many changes have taken place since then.  We have a guy in the White House who proves you don’t have to be old and white to have your head up your butt.  We have a major recession.  We have a “tea party” that is missing only the Mad Hatter.  It’s harder than ever to get a laugh when writing about the world around us.

There is nothing funny about the Arab Spring or Trayvon Martin or Casey Anthony or the health care bill.  There’s nothing funny about Israel’s likely attack on Iran or Putin’s return to the Russian Presidency or the crisis in health care or the crooked banks.

There’s nothing funny about killing people at some obscure northern California school of Asian Medicine and Religion.  There’s nothing funny about the Today show fudging the tape of the 911 call in the shooting by George Zimmerman of Trayvon Martin.

Oh, sure there are SOME things that are amusing. Cheney getting a heart -- like the Tin Woodman.   Wal-Mart.    Al Gore firing Keith Olbermann.  Clear Channel Radio not firing Rush Limbaugh.  Rick Santorum, George Romney, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.   The second best prospect on American Idol in years getting bounced off the show because there are warrants out for his arrest.

Oh, and the new two-for-one offers for everything “as seen on TV.”  Two “Aluma Wallets” for the price of one.  Two “Orgreenic Frying Pans” for the price of one.  (Just pay separate handling charges.)  Well, they must do an awful lot of handling, because by the time you pay for it, you’re not getting two for one, but 1.5 for one.

Someone should start a brick and mortar retailer called “Notsoldin Stores.”  It would get free ads on everything that says it isn’t sold in stores, but is.

The pool of funniness is close to fished out.

So here we are 1,000 posts into the game and we are not amused.


Shrapnel:

--What idiot disgraced NBC News by editing the George Zimmerman 911 tape to make him look like a raving racist?  Internal investigation ongoing. Many of us veterans of the Today Show news operation are appalled. Of course, Zimmerman still may be a raving racist, but you can’t conclude that based on a full hearing of the recorded telephone call.

--Off the sick list, sort of.  Former defense secretary Cheney out of the hospital, proud as the tin man and for the same reason.  Former NY, Boston, Orlando, Baltimore and present San Francisco talk radio host Gene Burns, one time Libertarian Presidential hopeful, is recovering from a stroke which has left him more or less speechless.

I’m Wes Richards.  My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.com
© WJR 2012