Sunday Media Notes

* News to me:   Just heard on CNN's "Reliable Sources" that Alec Baldwin soon could be hosting a prime-time talk show on MSNBC.   My first thought is "Great!"  The second is "Who will be cut?"  Maybe the 7 pm repeat of "Hardball."  Guess we'll find out soon.

 

* Of course there's abundant speculation about how Amazon founder Jeff Bezos might change his recent acquisition, The Washington Post.  One observation has been that Bezos is extremely consumer oriented.  And that he's not shy about innovation.  He's smart, bold and creative.  New approaches, coupled with some of the Post's fine veteran reporters and columnists—hmmm.   The safe bet today is that the post-transition period will be interesting.

 

* The embassies and consulates that were closed this past week have reopened—except for the one in Yemen.   It was yet another "damned if he did, damned if he didn't" situation for the President.  I join the security experts who were glad he acted out of an abundance of caution.  Can you imagine if he hadn't and there had been an attack during this time?

 

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I thought I couldn't endure listening to Louis Gomert (R-Congressman from TX) on "This Week"—until I realized one person was obviously more tortured than I was:  George Will.   Sharing the "round table" with this fellow Republican must have seemed surreal.  He doesn't suffer idiots gladly.  Turns out I got a chuckle from watching the unflappable Will, determined to remain "unflapped" as he reasoned as if with a well-balanced, thinking person.

 

I couldn't sit still for much of the Donald Trump interview.   It wasn't surprising that Trump blew off the fact that presidential wannabe Ted Cruz (R-TX) was born in Canada.  No mention of a birth certificate.

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On the Facebook feed this morning Rachel Tabachnick, a diligent researcher whose work I respect, posted this :  One of Rick Perry's largest donors, James Leininger, is now funding Ted Cruz.   You know who else Leininger has funded - Cory Booker - and that was in his first campaign. . . . 

 

 This post took me back to the Newark, NJ mayor's appearance on "Meet the Press" during the last presidential campaign.   That morning Booker sounded like the PR guy for Bain Capital—which, at that time, the Obama campaign was demonizing at every opportunity.  It was a jaw-dropping moment when Booker went into that praise monologue.  I believe Mayor Booker gave some explanation/apology? on Youtube shortly thereafter.   Now he's a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Jersey—special election.   Apparently that race, with Booker leading the Democrats, is heating up.   I wish I were feeling better about Booker.  We don't need a Democrat whose progressive/liberal philosophy is wobbly.  Or whose campaign funding comes in larger-than-usual proportion from big Republican funding sources.   I want to learn something about the other candidates in the Democratic field, too.   Let's hope,  if Booker wins this fall, that he was the best candidate.  If not, there will be another Senate race before too long, for a full term, after the winner of this one finishes out Sen. Frank Lautenberg's term.

 

Now, something else about Rachel Tabachnick:   She has done extensive research on the New Apostolic Reformation and unearthed significant information on that movement over time.   Those who cherish church and state separation and who like living in a Democracy (as opposed to a Theocracy) will find her posts about the NAR fascinating.  And troubling.  Find her at http://www.talk2action.org/story/2011/7/13/03334/8216