A Memorial Day Weekend letter on vapid TV political analysis, Dennis Hopper and Art Linkletter

Dennis Hopper

Here is the letter in full. (I choose not to use the regular reader's name, only his initial. Only a select few know who he is.)

I was watching Saturday Night Live recorded on my DVR late last night. After I had "had enough" of it, I deleted it, and the DVR began showing the last channel it was on, namely CNN. At least that's what I thought until I decided to watch the first segment.

It was about "what would happen if a hurricane occurs in the gulf right now". So I thought, that sounds interesting, what would happen to the oil? But here's why I question my sanity, the "analysis" was so lame, I actually kept looking to see if I had not really turned off SNL, and this was one of those "looks real" segments imitating, in this case, CNN. The female analyst, very serious and using a big board, gave these points:

1. The influence on the oil slick will be determined by the path of the hurricane.

2. The oil slick will have "minimal effect" on the intensity and path of the hurricane.

3. It won't cause oil to rain.

No kidding, that's it! Nothing about the normal direction of most hurricanes will cause the oil to move away or towards land, and which state is in most jeopardy, nothing about whether the oil might be dispersed, just three lame points no better than what's contained in a 4th grade science project -- it seemed like it was a joke until I determined it was real.

Then afterward, the male anchor thanked the female analyst, and I wondered, did the guy even listen to her points? Why didn't he just stare at her in disbelief for about 5 seconds, and then shake his head and say "That's it? That's it?".

Or maybe it's me, I've gone insane, and the idiocy that appears prevalent in politics is now infecting journalism and is the "new norm", and I need to either adjust to it, or just go away.

I am sure you can still catch the segment if you watch CNN.

And to top off the insanity, the networks are featuring retrospectives on one of the worst actors and even worse human beings, Dennis Hopper, a guy who lucked into one good movie, and deserves to be forgotten ASAP. His death is getting more air time than that of a true good guy, Art Linkletter. I want this settled with a celebrity death match, Dennis Hopper versus Art Linkletter ... "Dennis comes out yelling, screaming, cursing, but Art mysteriously just continues to stand placidly in his corner, winking and smiling at the crowd. Dennis becomes even more enraged, but Art's plan pays dividends as Dennis decides he needs a quick fix of his latest addictive substance and ends up unconscious and drooling on the mat. Art wins without even breaking a sweat!".

H.

Art Linkletter