Real Time With Bill Maher: 'New Rule, How The Left Was Lost'

Source:Real Time With Bill Maher- telling the Far-Left in America to grow up.

Source:The New Democrat 

"Bill slams this ridiculous new era of mind-numbing partisanship, where simply speaking truth to your own party can make you an instant hero to the other side." 

From Real Time With Bill Maher

Because of America's crazy and outdated two-party system, you have two, large, political parties in America, that have two crazy factions in it. Which means you have a Democratic Party that believes in both liberal democracy, quality of opportunity, equal rights, and equal justice, as well as personal freedom is dangerous, capitalism is racist, free speech is bigoted, minorities and women should be treated better than the majority population and Caucasian men. Because the Democratic Party has a Center-Right and Center-Left, that believes in liberal values that I mentioned before and a Far-Left that believes in the crazy values that I just mentioned. 

So America has a Democratic Party that looks and acts like the adults in the room, but only because they are the adults in the room. Who tend to run the Democratic Party and don't need a gerrymandered district to get elected to anything, who can not just get elected statewide in swing states, but who can get elected statewide in Democratic states. (Where Far-left Democrats can't, like in California) And a Far-Left that really should be in the Green Party (when they're not occupying mental institutions) who can't get elected anywhere, to anything, that doesn't just have an overwhelmingly Democratic population, but left-wing Democratic population. 

I'm not saying America should have a parliamentary political system, because that would make me a crazy leftist as well. But the two-party system is why America has a Democratic Party that has two political factions that simply don't agree on much, because the Far-Left has nowhere else to go, because they represent such a small percentage of the country. And the Green Party is simply to small for them to get elected to anything, that's worth anything in America.

Sharon Kauffman: ABC News's 20/20 First Episode- 6/06/1978

Source:ABC News presenting 20/20 back in 1978.

Source:The New Democrat

"From ABC News- As the lead in to this video said ABC News, was a small player if not joke in the network news business in the 1970s. Th..."

As the lead in to this video said ABC News, was a small player if not joke in the network news business in the 1970s. They basically remained that way until the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979-80 that launched Nightline with Ted Koppel and their nightly newscast World News Tonight started drawing real ratings then, This Week With David Brinkley emerged in 1981, 20/20 became a hit when Barbara Walters and Hugh Downs, became the anchors of it. ABC Sports with their NFL coverage with Monday Night Football and their MLB coverage with Monday Night Baseball and their college football coverage and a handful of entertainment shows that they had especially in daytime, were really the only hits that the ABC network had. Back then America had two great broadcast networks in CBS and NBC, as far as entertainment, sports and news. With ABC giving you same type of programming, but without the hits and affiliates that the big two had in the 1970s. And being a distant third to CBS and NBC when it came to news, but entertainment as well.

I sort of look at ABC in the 1970s the way I look at Fox today, but with ABC putting a lot more emphasis on news. Fox still doesn't have much if any impact on network news other than their Sunday morning talk show. ABC was trying to be CBS and NBC at least as far as influence and in size, but until Roone Arledge took over ABC Sports in the 1970s and then later ABC News in the 1980s, they were a distant third. Rooney Arledge with Monday Night Football and then Monday Night Baseball and ABC Sports college football, 20/20 World News Tonight, Nightline, This Week With David Brinkley, is responsible for making ABC the powerhouse it is today. With the ability to compete with CBS and NBC, when it comes to entertainment, news and sports. And have the affiliates to be able to do that. Whatever you think of this version of 20/20 and I'll get to that later, this was the start of ABC becoming a force in network news.

It's a damn good thing that Barbara Walters and Hugh Downs, became the anchors of 20/20. Even for 1978 the layout of this first show with two no-name anchors and one of them not even being an American and the other making his living as a writer and not a broadcast journalist and the cheesy music (even for 1978) and covering stories like how greyhounds are treated, just showed you that ABC News wasn't quite ready for prime-time. CBS's 60 Minutes even though they had already been around for ten years at this point, looked so much better and more professional. It looked like a network news magazine show. And not some weekend morning show that mixes in soft stories with a few real news stories and interviews, to make the show look serious. But they were trying and got much better again when Hugh Downs and Barbara Walters, took over the show in 1979-80. And were together for twenty years and made 20/20 the hit that it still is today.
Source:Sharon Kauffman

NBC News: John F. Kennedy- 'On Meet The Press Through The Years'

Source:NBC News- U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy (Democrat, Massachusetts) on NBC News's Meet The Press in 1958. 

Source:The New Democrat

"From the time he was a congressman for Massachusetts' 11th district, John F. Kennedy took time to appear on various NBC News programs. From Meet the Press to Home and The Huntley-Brinkley Report, Kennedy discussed the most pressing issues of the day on NBC. 

The arc of Kennedy's career can be traced by these appearances, as we see him in the various offices he held, speaking on a wide array of topics. Among these are corruption in the Democratic Party, the United States' relationship with the Soviet Union, an escalation of troops in Vietnam, and his political ambitions through the years. There are some moments, particularly on Meet the Press, in which he is forced to defend his beliefs vigorously. At other times, he leisurely engages interviewers on the joys of public service and speculates on the future of women in politics. Nevertheless, his demeanor is always that of a collected and confident leader. 

This collection spans more than a decade, from 1951 to shortly before Kennedy's death in 1963. In 1952, we see his keen political acumen, predicting four years in advance that Adlai Stevenson would likely be the next Democratic nominee for president. Kennedy has the opportunity to reject the idea that his religious affiliation could be a political setback on Meet the Press two years before his own run for the presidency. In 1960, he shares his view that technology and space travel will be a key factor in "the image of the United States abroad" as it seeks to trump the Soviet Union worldwide. Finally, in an exclusive interview with David Brinkley and Chet Huntley, which would be his last appearance as a guest on NBC, Kennedy displays a modesty that one might not expect from a war hero with a Harvard degree. When asked by Huntley if the office of the President is unmanageable, Kennedy responds that "this country and its affairs are not managed in the real sense in the White House. There's 180 million decisions being made which finally manage the country."

Fifty years after his tragic death, we remember a president that inspired millions and dedicated his life to public service.

Go to NBC Universal  to license any portion of this video."  

From NBC News 

John Kennedy, was perfect for NBC's Meet The Press, because he was so quick. The people there liked him and knew that he could not only answer their questions, but wanted to do it and answer them with depth. Very similar to Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, he was very quick off the cuff and could answer questions with humor. 

Meet The Press liked interviewing JFK because he was likable, popular, well-known, and very funny. The 1950s was a fascinating time and JFK was in Congress the whole time as the country was dealing with the Cold War, post World War II economic boom, the early days of the civil rights movement, and even American women starting to make important impacts out of the home in the American economy. 

Meet The Press had female anchors and questioners. There were women in Congress like Senator Margaret Chase Smith and many others. Jack Kennedy was in his thirties and early forties during this decade and had a great future ahead of him if he wanted it. Which is why Meet The Press loved having him on.

Jack Kennedy, was sort of an absentee Representative in the House. Somewhat bored and loved being a bachelor and enjoying the Washington nightlife when Congress was in session. It wasn't until JFK decided to run for the Senate in 1952 that he started taking his job more serious and making his positions known in Congress. 

There are a lot of things to love about Jack Kennedy and he is my political hero, but he's definitely someone who grew in office. Wasn't a great Representative, but a good Senator at least in the sense that he started taking issues seriously and studying them and not just going to his committee hearings, but knowing the right questions to ask. 

I don't believe JFK becomes President of the United States on his personal appeal and family name alone in 1960, had he not become a serious Senator and taken his job in Congress seriously and getting on the road and getting his political platform out there.

I'm not sure JFK gets into his politics without his father Joe pushing him. But it's clear that once JFK got into politics and ran for the House in 1946 and was elected he loved it and became a natural campaigner and politician. He gave a great speech, great interviews, knew how to excite and inspirer people. 

JFK wasn't a natural public servant and someone who actually loved doing the job that he was elected to do. His tenure in the House is a pretty good example of that. I believe he sort of grew in public service once he was elected to the Senate, especially his second term when he started considered running for president in 1957 or so. 

JFK was someone even though had a fairly thin resume outside of Congress and somewhat of a thin voting record and list of accomplishments in Congress, was someone who was great at expiring people and laying out a vision for how America could be even greater and how all Americans could succeed in America.

David Von Pein: 'JFK With Peter Jennings (1983)'

Source: David Von Pein- JFK With Peter Jennings, from ABC News.

Source:The New Democrat 

"Assassination of John F. Kennedy, mortal shooting of John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, as he rode in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. His accused killer was Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine who had embraced Marxism and defected for a time to the Soviet Union. Oswald never stood trial for murder, because, while being transferred after having been taken into custody, he was shot and killed by Jack Ruby, a distraught Dallas nightclub owner."  

Source:Britannica- JFK and LBJ.

From Britannica 

"ABC-TV produced this documentary (entitled simply "JFK") in 1983, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of President Kennedy's death. Peter Jennings of ABC News is the host and narrator."   

From David Von Pein

I think the biggest tragedy that the JFK assassination had on the Democratic Party is that Jack Kennedy was that last bridge between the Center-Left Liberal and Progressive Democrats and the New-Left that came of age in the Democratic Party in the mid 1960s up to the early 1970s or so. People who were much further left than the Liberals and Progressives in the party and had more social democratic and even communist leanings. Who were anti-American establishment, anti-military, anti-war, anti-law enforcement, anti-government use of force in general, who wanted to bring down the American federal form of government and replace it with a social democratic and even communist government in some cases.

Jack Kennedy was a Liberal Democrat who wanted to use government to carry out many liberal and progressive and even social democratic goals as it has to do with the economy. And creating an economy where more Americans could benefit. But didn’t have a big centralized government solution for every problem. He didn’t want to make Americans dependent on government, but use government to empower struggling Americans of all races to become dependent on themselves and be able to live in freedom. 

JFK is killed in 1963 and less than a year later the so-called Great Society is created by President Lyndon Johnson, with all sorts of new progressive federal programs to take care of millions of Americans. JFK would be what we would call a New Democrat today. A Center-Left Liberal who believed government could help people help themselves instead. And not leave them dependent on government.

JFK was a Cold Warrior, anti-communist, pro-freedom and freedom for all Americans (not just European-Americans) and he did come out for what would be called the 1964 Civil Rights Act in the summer of 1963. Who wanted to create an American economy where all Americans could benefit and live in freedom. With strong investments in education and job training, aid to struggling communities so they could educate their kids as well, job training for struggling Americans who were working, but not able to make enough money to live well, because they lacked skills. 

In many ways JFK was the last great Center-Left Liberal Democrat of his generation that came to power and became President of the United States. We didn’t have another Democrat with similar politics become President who had a successful presidency until Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton in 1993. And I would argue Barack Obama as well and not just because I’m a big fan of both President’s Clinton and Obama.

You could write all sorts of pieces about the JFK presidency and his impact on the Democratic Party and country as a whole. But to cover everything you would have to write at least one great book. With this piece I’m more interested in his impact on the Democratic Party and American politics. 

Post-JFK the Democratic Party moved very Left (if not Far-Left) especially when it came to foreign policy and national security, but criminal justice and law enforcement, where by 1980 or so the Democratic Party was no longer trusted on these issues. 

And it wasn’t until mid 1990s or so when under President Clinton that the Democratic Party was once again trusted to govern and defend the country. The JFK assassination was horrible for the country, but it really hurt the Democratic Party as well. Because again he was that bridge between the Center-Left and Far-Left of the party. 

David Von Pein: Thank You Mr. President (1983)

Source: David Von Pein- President John F. Kennedy (Democrat, Massachusetts) 35th President of The United States.

Source:The New Democrat

Watching President John F. Kennedy’s press conferences makes me want President Barack Obama to do more of them. Because they really do have a lot in common when it comes to intelligence, being off the cuff both in humor and how they talk and being able to give long intelligent answers to a whole host of questions off the cuff and being able to do it with humor. President Kennedy made press conferences fun for the reporters there because of his quick wit, but also because he gave them real information that they could work on a whole host of issues. From civil rights, to the economy, to foreign policy, the budget, the Cold War, nuclear power and everything else. Which gave Americans a great idea about how the President thought and what his administration was working on.

This was Jack Kennedy’s first press conference as President of the United States. Early 1961 with Democrats not just coming to power, but now they had all the power as a party. With the White House and both chambers of Congress with large majorities both in the House and Senate. A big part of that had to do with the Democratic Party having a right-wing Dixiecrat base in the South. Democrats who are and would be Republicans today. So the Republican Party was not just in the opposition in 1961, but were an opposition minority party that was reeling and not sure where they would go from there. I think President Kennedy was enjoying all of this and taking little jabs at the GOP with their current political status and that comes off in come of his answers.
Source:David Von Pein

A&E Investigative Reports: JFK's Sexual Appetite

Source:The New Democrat

1960 might have been the last time that John F. Kennedy could have even ran for president. Even if he lived a normal life in years, because by 1968 or so the media was no longer afraid to investigate and report on the personal lives of politicians. Jack Kennedy doesn’t get elected president if his affairs had got out, but not just the affairs, but where the affairs took place like under his wife’s nose and in the same house where Jackie was then, but also because of the connections that his affairs had. Judith Campbell, for example being a girlfriend of Sam Giancana. The Kennedy Family including Jack, was already linked with the Italian Mafia in America and not just because of the efforts of the Kennedy Administration to crack down on organized crime, but they were friendly as well.

Senator Kennedy doesn’t win Illinois during the 1960 presidential election without Chicago and he doesn’t win Chicago without the Italian Mafia there. The early 1960s was really the last time that national politicians could get away with lets side affairs and shady deals before someone not just knew about it, but then reported it as well. President Kennedy probably gets reelected in 1964, but unless his lifestyle changed his second administration would have been hell for him. Because these affairs would have gotten out and you have heard rumblings at least even in a Democratic Congress that it might be time to remove the President, because of the dangerous lifestyle that he lived and the potential blackmail that came with these irresponsible affairs.

David Von Pein: The Life and Times of John F. Kennedy (1964)

Source:The New Democrat

Another film about the life of John F. Kennedy our 35th President of the United States. This came out in 1964 less than a year after President Kennedy was assassinated. And he was already pretty popular as president in 1963 when he was killed and if anything he became more popular after he died. Perhaps because of all the questions rising about who killed him and did the assassin, or assassins have help is assassinating him in Dallas, Texas. I believe a lot of Jack Kennedy’s support comes from Hollywood. He was really our first hip president and had he been elected in the 1980s, or even in 1976, he would have been seen as a cool president. President Kennedy, did have same major accomplishments in his short time as president, but most of them had to do with foreign policy.

Jack Kennedy today I believe is both very popular personally, but his policies and politics and what he advocated are very popular in the country. He was a true Social Liberal who believed in both economic and personal freedom, as well as a safety net for people who truly need it. And because of this you even have Republicans who say they support Social Security and Medicare, as well as a public safety net for people who truly need it. JFK believed in a strong defense, but didn’t believe that America should, or could police the world by themselves. And again this is where Americans tend to be. We’re not dovish as a country, or neoconservative when it comes to foreign policy. We want to be able to defend ourselves and help people around the world, but not have to do everything ourselves.

So back in the early 1960s I believe a lot of the reasons for JFK’s popularity had to do with the fact that he was hip and cool. That Hollywood liked him and saw them as one of them, that he had friends in Hollywood. And that he was very different culturally from a lot of the president’s that had come before who were very traditional culturally. JFK also had a beautiful young hip wife in Jackie that the country including Hollywood loved and saw her as royalty. They were ahead of their time culturally in an era that was finally moving away from the 1940s and 1950s and into the 1960s which looked almost completely different as a decade as far as the role of women, how people lived and talked, the types of entertainment that was coming out. And these are I believe big reasons for the popularity of John Kennedy.

Hard Copy: February, 1991: 'Charles Manson Pirated Guitat Playing Video in the Jokey Prison Video'

Source:Hard Copy- with a 1991 special report about serial murderer and cult leader Charles Manson.

Source:The New Democrat

"Duping old VHS tapes, stumbled across this Charles Manson segment from Hard Copy. He does his crazy act in a smuggled ja-il video, and plays some guitar.

Please let me know how you stumbled on this video - were you googling Manson after the Tarantino movie or was this link mentioned in a blog? Thanks! Check out Atomic TV too:Atomic TV." 

From Atomic TV

This photo is from a 1991 special report on serial murderer and cult leader Charles Manson, featuring new video footage of Manson and his crime family. But the video that this photo is from, is not currently available online right now.

Source:Hard Copy- with a special report about serial murderer and cult leader Charles Manson, in 1991.

The Manson murders twenty years later. Actually twenty years after The Manson Family murderers were convicted of those evil murders.

I mean when I think of evil serial murderers Charlie Manson and Ted Bundy are at the top of my list at least when you're talking about individuals. The KKK as a group are probably just as bad though. Manson ordering murders of people because they were literally part of the successful establishment. Imagine that as your defense in court. But not only that, but ordering the murders of the wrong people. He wanted Dennis Wilson murdered and wasn't aware that Wilson had moved out and other people moved in. Roman Polanski and his girlfriend Sharon Tate.

Charlie Manson wasn't a dumb person. Certainly uneducated and not educated in the traditional sense. But we're talking about someone who didn't functioned properly mentally. Who lacked moral character, actually didn't really have any. Who believed he was above the law and that somehow these murders was benefiting society or something. Even though again he ordered the murders of the wrong people in the sense that it was Dennis Wilson that he wanted murdered.

And the Manson crew didn't realize that Wilson no longer lived there and that new group of people are now using that home. The Manson Family soldiers I guess who were made up of high school and college dropouts and people who were kicked out by their parents, didn't understand that.

Charlie Manson created a cult of evil an even culture of evil. I guess he was pissed off at society after leaving prison for the last time in his life and was looking for a way to get back at the people that he believed wronged him. We're talking about a man who grew up in prison and at 32 in 1967 had spent more than half his life in prison. And even though prison was always the best and most comfortable place for him in life he now believed he was going to punish the people for sending him there.

And Manson finds his societal dropouts in the Manson soldiers with the young women, Tex Watson and others and now had the crew to commit the evil acts that he didn't have the balls to do himself. Charlie Manson is the perfect example of why we have life in prison and life without parole in prison. Because you don't want people like that living freely ever again

David Von Pein: The Age of Kennedy: NBC White Paper (1966)

Source:The New Democrat

John F. Kennedy's early years as an adult  are not very impressive. He was in the U.S. Navy for a few years during World War II and got out in 1945 to and then ran for the House of Representatives in 1946 and got elected there mostly because of his name and his father literally buying votes and ballots. I think the way to look at Jack Kennedy in the 1940s and 1950s is as a student who is still figuring things out and trying to decide what he wants to do in life. But I don't believe he figures that out until his first term in the Senate in 1953. Jack Kennedy, was a playboy in Congress really the whole time he was there from 1947-61. His six years in the House and eight years in the Senate. He marries Jackie in 1953 and that doesn't make him any more responsible.

Kennedy doesn't figure out what he wants to do and where he's going in life really until he gets reelected to the Senate in 1958. And he writes the book Profiles in Courage where you get to see his political and ideology emerge. As a Cold War Liberal Democrat who sees communism as the biggest threat to freedom and even mankind. As well as someone who wants to use a limited government to empower people in need to get themselves up and live well in life. Kennedy, wasn't a Conservative that today's right-wingers want to portray him as, or a Social Democrat that had a government program to solve everyone's problems for them. That today's so-called Progressives want to see him as.

By the time Jack Kennedy completed his first term in the Senate and decided that he wanted to be President of the United States is where he got serious as a public servant and political leader. That communism needed to be defeated and that freedom needed to be expanded at home. For Americans who were struggling and living in poverty, but also for Americans who were simply denied access in America because of their race and color. Which is just one reason why JFK being assassinated at the age of 46 in 1963 is so tragic. Because the great liberal Jack Kennedy as a political leader was just emerging. He probably gets reelected fairly easily in 1964 against Senator Barry Goldwater. And I think we would have seen one of the best American leaders of all-time.

Active News: ABC World News Tonight (July 10, 1978)

Source:The New Democrat

The thing that people need to know about Marxist states which is exactly what the Soviet Union of Russia was for over seventy-years before the Soviet Union broke with all the non-ethnic-Russian states breaking away and creating their own independent countries, is that they can consider anything that goes against the state as treason. And anyone that says anything in opposition to the central state, is a treasonous. Which is what the fake trial of Natan Sharansky back in 1978 was which was fake. Here’s a man who was simply calling for human rights in a Marxist state where human rights don’t exist. The only rights that exist in a Marxist state all belong to the central government. Which is supposed to use that power to take care of the people.

In the late 1970s you saw Russia get more aggressive with their foreign policy and make moves in North Africa and Central Asia to protect their interests. Like in Ethiopia to protect a Marxist government there and of course in Afghanistan to install a Marxist government there. While at the same time you saw Russian activists and non-ethnic-Russian activists in Russia like Natan Sharansky speak out in favor of human rights in a country where they simply don’t exist. As well as Russian citizens and non-ethnic-Russian citizens including Russian-Jews fleeing their country in hopes of finding freedom and coming to America so to speak because of that. And part of that had to do with President Jimmy Carter making human rights as part of his foreign policy.

1978 was a big year for tax cuts and a bad year for high taxes. As you saw several states with movements calling for cutting taxes across the board. Even in the so-called Republic of California that has always had high taxes and has been one of the most progressive states in the union when it comes to taxation. And yet they had a movement led by anti-tax advocate Howard Jarvis, who you could call a 1970s Tea Party leader who managed to get on the state ballot there a measure that would cut property taxes across the board. And it passed even though California is one of the biggest Democratic states in the union as far as party registration. With a 2-1 Democrat to Republican party ratio. With Democrats controlling both houses of the State Legislature going back to the 1950s.

ABC News: America Held Hostage: The Iran Crisis

Source:The New Democrat

I never make excuses for terrorists and terrorism and don’t respect anyone who does. But the U.S. Government including the Carter Administration and every single American administration going back to Harry Truman, have some responsibility for this crisis. The Iran Hostage Crisis is the perfect example of the weakness and consequences of backing unpopular authoritarian dictatorships. Whatever you think of the Shah of Iran Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and he did have come progressive qualities liked developing the Iranian economy, he was a brutal dictator to his opposition. Both Islamic Theocrats and more liberal democratic factions in that country.

The Iranian people and the Islamic revolutionaries in that country were simply fed up with the Pahlavi Regime there and wanted a different form of government and a different future there. Which is what and whatever you think of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeni, a different future as an Islamic theocratic dictator of Iran is exactly what he represented for Iran. A different future for that country. The Iranian people essentially replaced one authoritarian dictatorship for another one. Which sort of goes to the judgement of that country and doesn’t make them look very good. But perhaps that’s for a different discussion. The United States, backed the Shah of Iran, because they were worried about what type of government would come to Iran instead and because of Iranian oil and gas.

The United States and the United Kingdom, interfered with the governmental operations of Iran for almost forty-years, because they were worried about the Shah falling and being replaced by an anti-Western authoritarian regime. But that is exactly what they got anyway which was an extreme Far-Right Islamic theocratic government to replace a more moderate and reasonable monarchy that they wanted all along. As America also found out with their backing of authoritarian dictator Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, there serious and deadly consequences that come from backing unpopular dictators. And the way you prevent even worst regimes from coming to power is to work with the people on the ground. Not backing unpopular dictators.

Bob Parker: ABC World News January 6, 1987: The 100th Congress & The Iran Contra Investigation

Source:The New Democrat

Early 1987 and really the whole 1987 year was a bad one for President Ronald Reagan and the Reagan Administration. Republicans, lost the Senate in 1986 which gave Congressional Democrats complete control of Congress going into 1987. Just when the Iran Contra investigation was in the news and when both the Senate and House was looking into that. The House and Senate put together a joint Congressional committee to investigate the Iran Contra situation in the summer of 1987. Where people like Marine Colonel Oliver North became a famous name and person and became a main focus of the Congressional Iran Contra Committee.

I was eleven years old and in fifth grade for most of 1987, so I don't remember a whole lot about the politics that year. I remember seeing some of the Iran Contra Committee with my parents on TV. I remember hearing about Gary Hart running for president and then dropping out because he was caught having an affair with a women who wasn't his wife. I remember hearing the name Michael Dukakis and a little about Robert Bork who President Reagan nominated for the U.S. Supreme Court. But most of these things except for Gary Hart and Mike Dukakis weren't good for President Reagan. And all issues that Vice President George Bush would have to inherit as he ran for president in 1988.

For really the first six years of the Reagan Administration, except for perhaps 1986 when Iran Contra became a big issue, President Reagan and his team were always on the offensive. And able to push their issues and get the country behind them in some key areas. They got their military buildup, tax cuts, Social Security reform, immigration reform, negotiations and better relations with Russia, to use as examples. But 1987 was the 1998 for the Reagan Administration. Where they played defense for most if not the whole year. Either answering questions they didn't want to answer, or trying to avoid questions that they didn't want to give the full truth on.

The Mind of Manson: Keith Morrison Documentary On Charles Manson

Source:MSNBC documentary about serial murderer and cult leader Charles Manson.

Source:The New Democrat

Whatever your position on the death penalty is and even if you’re in favor of the death penalty, but agree that forty-five years later not executing the Manson Family murderers other than Charlie Manson himself was the correct decision, I think most of the country can agree that once you intentionally take the innocent life of another human being and are convicted of that murder, or murderers, you forfeit your right to freedom for the rest of your life. I could imagine only anti-use of force at anytime groups, as well as anti-prison advocates, or Anarchists having a problem with that.

Bruce Davis, has never even admitted, or apologized for his role in the Manson murders. The only thing that puts him ahead of Charlie, is that he’s made a productive life for himself while in prison. Which is one of the reasons for having prison. Which is the whole point of rehabilitation which is self-improvement and not just preparing people who have a release date on the outside for life there, but empowering people who are serving life, or very long sentences to make a positive life for them self in prison and allow for them to give back. Which is what she should be doing a lot more with our prisons and would make them a lot more affordable to run. But that’s a different subject.

Once you murder someone, you can’t take that back. Your victim never recovers from that. And because of that why should the murder be able to live freely when their victim, or victims can never live at all? So one should feel sorry for anyone who decided to hook up with Charlie Manson. None of the Manson Family members were kidnapped and all voluntarily joined that group. And they were all eighteen, or older when they got involved and they all knew what they were doing when they committed those murders. And they’re all paying the price for it in prison and will continue to pay that price as long as they’re alive. Because their victims will never recover from their murders.
Source:MSNBC

CBS News: 60 Minutes- Lesley Stahl Interviews Jimmy Carter: The White House Diary

Source:CBS News 60 Minutes Correspondent Lesley Stahl, interviewing President Jimmy Carter (Democrat, Georgia)

Source:The New Democrat 

"Lesley Stahl speaks to the former president about his new book, "White House Diary," in which he admits mistakes and blames Ted Kennedy for delaying comprehensive health care." 

From CBS News

I mentioned this last week, but President Jimmy Carter was not a failed president and I laid out why I believe that. And of course we have the benefit of history now. And the economy was in bad shape when he left and the Soviet Union seemed to be stronger, even though again from the benefit of history their economy was failing with all of their bread lines, unemployment, poverty, shortages, that took them at least twenty years to over. So of course the Soviet Union wasn’t stronger when President Carter left office. Their military was just doing more because they thought America was weak.

There are a couple of reasons why Jimmy Carter wasn’t a great president. One of them his fault and the other partly his fault. His relationship with the two Democratic Congress’s that he had, especially with Senator Ted Kennedy, but Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil and Senate Leader Robert Byrd and many other examples. President Carter, actually had a better relationship with Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker (the ranking Republican in Congress during the Carter years) then he probably had with any Democratic leader in Congress. Including Southern Democrats who he probably had things in common with.

The other issue being all the problems that he had to deal with as president. Not his fault for the most part that they happened. Especially with the economy, but where he comes up short from my perspective at least was his failure to deal with them and gain traction and success in those areas. President Obama, inherited a worst economy then either President Carter, or President Reagan and yet the economy started moving again fairly quickly under his administration. And started creating jobs early in his second year.

I think what you see in the Carter White House diary, is what Americans back then and today really like and respect about the man. That Jimmy Carter, is a person and individual before he’s a politician.
He’s the politician that Americans say they want. Above board, free-thinker, free speaker, above politics, not all the time, but a lot of the time, does and says what he believes and then deals with the consequences. Including about how he feels with people he has to work with. As you see in his White House diary. 

The problem with Americans though and perhaps where Carter’s personality hurt him, is that is just what Americans say they want. They actually prefer bullshit artists who tell them what they want to hear, generally, then free thinkers.

NFL: Remembering Hall of Famer Frank Gifford

Source:The New Democrat

Frank Gifford, was truly one of a kind. I don’t believe we’ve had another Hall Fame football player and Hall of Fame sportscaster in one person. Frank Gifford, was the voice of Monday Night Football. Howard Cosell, was the comedian of that show, but Frank made that show with deep knowledge of the game. As a Hall of Fame player for the New York Giants, his intelligence and his great voice. He was both an announcer and an analyst and did both jobs at the same time. His main role was as the announcer, but the way he would call what he was seeing was from an analyst’s perspective. Because he knew exactly what he was seeing and why he was seeing it.

Growing up as a kid, I couldn’t wait for ABC’s Monday Night Football. Still the best football show on TV, at least prime time show. I couldn’t wait to hear Frank do the intro for that show. Because he brought such passion, intelligence and humor to that show and brought the audience into the show as if you were going to a football party at someone’s house. With the host welcoming you in as you were at home. That’s what it was like listening to Frank call games. It was like as if you were there with him. The only NFL announcer I would take over Frank Gifford would be Pat Summerall and maybe be Al Michaels. But Frank is in the same class as both of those men.

As far Frank Gifford the NFL player, when you talk about hybrid players today, guys who could play running back, or wide receiver and are so good at both you have to use them at both positions, Frank Gifford was the first great hybrid NFL player on offense. He would’ve been a great running back, or receiver. Because he had great hands, quickness, footwork and size. He could’ve played quarterback as well. Very similar to a Paul Hournung with the Green Bay Packers. Frank, was the leader of those great Giants teams of the 1950s that went to five straight NFL Championship’s. But he was also the leader of ABC’s Monday Night Football the best prime time NFL show of all-time.

The Onion: Candidate Profile Donald Trump

Source:The New Democrat

I’ve actually sort of gone out of my way to not comment on Donald Trump for president for several reasons. One, just about everything I would’ve said about him most of it, actually all of it negative has already been said. Even by Fox News to the point that The Donald has added Megyn Kelly to his women’s enemy list. The fact that the Republican Party would have a joke like The Donald whose only able to run for president, because he’s a billionaire, just shows you how big of a joke the Republican Party is right now. I mean, their frontrunner’s last name is Bush. I’m sure Jeb is a good guy and all and probably would’ve been successful in life if his name was Kowalski and he grew up in Pittsburgh the son of a truck driver. But he’s the frontrunner, because he’s a Republican and his last name is Bush.

Don Trump, is not an idiot and he’s not crazy. A big asshole, no argument here. An egomaniac, I’m still looking for a bigger egomaniac. Actually I stopped looking when I first saw The Donald. He’s a guy who simply wants attention and for whatever he’s involved in to simply be about him. He’s a one man entertainment and comedy show who has no idea what he would do as president and has nothing to run on as far as what he’s in favor of and what he would do. I mean the guy is a Republican, who’s supposedly anti-immigration, even though he’s probably hired thousands of illegal immigrants. And those people not being from Ireland, or Britain, but Mexico and other Latin American countries.

How do you take someone like that seriously for president. He wants to be President of the United States and talks about our eighteen-trillion-dollar national debt and two of his companies have gone bankrupt. So ironically that sort of makes him an expert on our bankruptcy laws. What is The Donald’s message on fiscal policy? Don’t run the United States the way he ran his companies. Because it will fail and instead of filling for bankruptcy and being bailed out by taxpayers, we’ll try to get bailed out by China, or Saudi Arabia?

I did see the Republican debate on FNC on Thursday. And actually I think the FNC panel did a very good job questioning the candidates. I was expecting to see batting practice at a home run derby from the questioners. And see them loft up a lot of hanging curves and softballs at the candidates. For them to well hit out of the ballpark and look good. But as I was watching the debate I was sort of thinking to myself how would Saturday Night Live play this. And looking at The Donald, you don’t need to see SNL doing their version of this debate, because what they would’ve done is what we saw on Thursday.

The panel, asking The Donald very tough questions and trying to put him on the spot. With Trump coming back with some wisecrack to get the audience behind him. This is what running for President of the United States the most important job in the world to the The Donald. His own reality show and all about him and nothing else. With every network that covers politics picking up the series. The reason why The Donald is in first place in a single a baseball league as far as the quality of talent when you’re talking about the quality of candidates that they have, is because the state of the Republican Party right now. Not because of how great a presidential candidate that The Donald is, or his qualifications for being President of the United States.

CBS News: The Longines Chronoscope- U.S. Representative John F. Kennedy (1952)

Source:The New Democrat

John F. Kennedy, at this point was Representative John F. Kennedy who was completing his third and last term in the House of Representatives. And was running for Senate against a moderate-conservative Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. Jack Kennedy, was only thirty-five at this point and would become one of the youngest people ever elected to the U.S. Senate at thirty-five. JFK, served a total of fourteen-years in Congress both in the House and Senate and yet he was forty-three when he left Congress for the presidency in 1961. He is someone who wanted to move up quickly in American politics and not stay in one office for very long.

The House, was too small of a platform especially if you’re last name is Kennedy. So it’s a little hard to believe that JFK would’ve been someone who would’ve spent 20-30 years in the House even if it meant being Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, or serving in the Democratic Leadership. I think JFK like his brother Ted, would’ve made a terrific U.S. Senator if he wanted it and served four, or five terms in the Senate after the House and completed his Congressional service and even public service in the Senate. And perhaps would’ve ended up chairing a couple of committees and maybe even becoming Democratic Leader in the Senate.

Jack Kennedy, didn’t have a very good record in the House. He was bored there and had a hard time dealing with being one of 435 Representatives there and a back bencher at that. And wasn’t a very serious Representative who missed a lot of floor votes and committee hearings and not known for passing any legislation. He wasn’t much better as a Senator at least in his first term. But he writes a book Profiles in Courage in 1956, he marries Jacqueline Kennedy and his name is always in the news and starts to draw a serious following in the Democratic Party and becomes serious as a U.S. Senator. Which is how his name starts to get floated around as a possible presidential candidate. Who almost becomes Adlai Stevenson’s vice presidential nominee in 1956. And after that he when he puts most of his focus into becoming President of the United States.

The Michael Parkinson Show: Diana Dors, Kenneth Williams & Desmond Morris (1971)

Source:The New Democrat

From every interview I’ve seen of Diana Dors at least from the 1970s, she reminds me a lot of another great actress who was also as cute as a button, a very big button, but she reminds me a lot of the great Shelley Winters. Someone who always had something funny to say and had an opinion on everything and who also had great comedic timing. Again, as I blogged before, I wish Diana was around a lot longer. She’s only about 40 when this interview was done in 1971 and only had thirteen years to live at this point. Also without BBC and other British television networks, we would’ve had a hard time seeing her doing anything at least in America. Because she stopped working here and rarely came back.

Desmond Morris, was social biologist who studied human behavior. And what he was talking about in this video was how people behave and look in the act of sex. And trying to fit his demonstration in why some women are as he put it sex bombs, or sex symbols. Talking about how people’s eyes tend to close and their lips get bigger in the act of performing sex. With Diana, making the crack that this happens to her all the time. That her lips get bigger. But there’s lot more to Diana Dors in why she was a goddess, or I prefer English Muffin and great English baby-faced goddess. Who was born as a baby obviously, but never lost her baby face even after she got a bit more plump in the 1970s. Which if anything might of just made her cuter.

Diana Dors, reminds me a lot of Shelley Winters as far as stature and personality. Someone who was very adorable obviously. Who was very versatile as an actress, who was also a hell of an actress and someone you wouldn’t forget if you saw her. With a great personality and sense of humor who could always drop the humor and make people laugh. And pull jokes out of nowhere even when others were talking. Who had a tendency to steal the show even when she was on with other comedians, like you see in this interview. But as Desmond Wilcox put it, she was sex bomb, or as we say in America a bombshell. Diana, was a hot baby-faced adorable goddess with a great body that guys dreamed about. And again it would’ve been nice if she was around a lot longer.
Source:Anorak

The Unforgettable Diana Dors

Source:IMDB- English Muffin Diana Dors, is certainly unforgettable.

Source:The New Democrat 

“Short documentary profiling the life of British ‘Blonde Bombshell’ Diana Dors, who died of cancer in 1984. Movie clips and TV footage is mixed with celebrity interviews, including rare appearances by actor Rod Steiger and veteran director J. Lee Thompson. There is some interesting location work at Dors’ lavish Sunningdale mansion and plenty of long-unseen film clips, but the documentary ultimately glosses over her scandalous, and often seedy, life.” 

From IMDB 

Source:Retro TV- English Muffin Diana Dors.

“The Unforgettable Diana Dors.” Originally from Retro TV, but the video has since been deleted or on YouTube.

Source: The New Democrat- The unforgettable English Muffin Diana Dors.

Three famous, big, blonde baby-faced Hollywood bombshells of the 1950s and 1960s, that I’m interested in here which would be Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, and of course Diana Dors,

Diana, ( English Muffin as I call her, ) Diana is my favorite. I just wish she was around a lot longer, at least 25-30 longer. She had it all physically, obviously, but she was also a hell of an actress with a great personality and sense of humor.

Diana reminds me a lot of Shelley Winters physically and personally, as well as Elizabeth Taylor. Women who are great actress’s, but also have great personalities and sense of humor’s and make people around them feel really good.

I also wish that Diana worked in America and Hollywood longer and did more movies here. She wouldn’t have had to live here, but it would’ve been nice to have her in America in longer, because she would’ve had a great career here and become one of the best actress’s of her generation.

Diana was such a great actress who could make people believe she was the person she was playing. Who didn’t have any real personal issues around her like being addicted to any drug whatsoever, including alcohol. The only real issues in Diana’s personal life, were the men she was with and the people she hung out with. But she was pretty professional and took care of herself.

I think the only real issue with Diana and her career, is that she really only worked when she wanted to. Had she worked more and been more active, she would’ve had a bigger career, because there would’ve been a lot of good roles for her in good movies.

Diana was big in the 1950s and take time off in the 1960s and doesn’t come back to America in the 1970s at all, except to do interviews with American media on talk shows, like Merv Griffin. She was someone who made a lot of money early and then spent a lot of it and would come back and work to be able to support herself and live the lifestyle that she wanted.

But I don’t believe Diana is someone who ever believed she had to be in the spotlight and have people thinking about her and talking about her. In order to be happy in life. Diana was a professional entertainer in the sense that he was knew what she was doing and was very good at it and had the skills, but also in the sense that she entertained to support herself and her family, and to live the lifestyle that she wanted, but not to be famous and to always be in the spotlight. And I respect all of that, I just wish she got to see her work more, because she was so entertaining, as well as attractive and intelligent.

Alan Eichler: Merv Griffin Show- Diana Dors (1979)

Source:Alan Eichler- English Muffin Diana Dors on The Merv Griffin Show in 1979.

 Source:The New Democrat

I love it when Diana Dors, first comes to America. Just wish she spent more time here and did more here, because she would’ve had a great career in Hollywood if she wanted it. And not just of been a sex symbol, but someone who was also a hell of an actress and a very versatile as well. But I also love it when she brings out her personality and her sense of humor. Because she had a lot of both. And physically, she might have been the Marilyn Monroe of Britain. But she was better, at least in the sense that grew up and matured. And just looked as cute as a baby most of her life. But she grew up on the inside and took care of herself. Unlike Marilyn, who acted the way she looked.

Merv Griffin, apparently liked panel discussions and brought on several guests at the same time. And in some cases at least the guests wouldn’t know each other and perhaps not have much in common. Which backfired at least one time that I know of. When he had James Brolin and Dennis Hopper on at the same time. And Brolin, accused Hopper of something to the effect of spilling a lot of garbage. I would’ve been nice had Merv interviewed Diana one-on-one and did a ten-minute interview. Because he was a good interviewer and she was a very interesting person and not just great to look at.

Diana, died in 1984 at I believe the age of 52. So in that sense she lasted longer than both Marilyn, who died at 36 and Jayne Mansfield at 34. And Diana, did 34 films and actually had a pretty good career in length and substance. But back then even, when the average American and Brit was living into their seventies, to die at 52 when you’re still a middle-age person, is dying while you’re still fairly young. She still looked great at this point and was still baby-faced adorable with the great body and could still turn young men on. And yet she dies just five years later. It would’ve been nice to of had Diana around as long as Elizabeth Taylor, who with all of Liz’s problems in life, made it to 79. Because Diana, is one of the best stars of all-time.
Source:Alan Eichler