August 29, 2021
In a change of pace, I'm diving right in this week. I still haven't covered August 15, 2021. I was planning to do it last week. I had to travel for work so I assumed that I could squeeze an entry in at an airport or at a hotel, but you know, things come up. I think I should be able to get a second entry in but the US Open starts tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.
In travel news, my extreme dislike of the city of Houston, Texas remains unchanged. I'm not a big fan of Texas in general and Houston ranks several rungs below all the other major cities. And keep in mind that during one weekend in Austin, Texas, I got food poisoning and then later had a near miss traffic incident that would have surely put me and a close friend in the hospital. So yeah, Houston fails to even beat out "food poisoning" and "near death experience".
The CBS SUNDAY MORNING POWER RANKINGS
Excluded from consideration this week is the rebroadcast of Anthony Mason's story on Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, covered in a previous post. There was also a little bit of coverage of Hurricane Ida just prior to it making landfall in Louisiana. It doesn't really qualify for consideration because it's really just a news recap. Remember when Sunday Morning episodes started with a minute long rundown of the top news stories of the week?
Anyway, my sincere thoughts and prayers go to those who are affected by the storm. The remnants of the storm my swing near my neighborhood, but to me it probably just means some rain and cooler temperatures. Both are fine with me.
The US Open starts this week so we're just going to lean into the tennis thing ok. Are you surprised? If this is your first time checking in, I've spilled thousand and thousands of words on tennis topics which have little to no relevance to the show and/or the world at large. So, now you're up to speed.
It's quite possible that the sun finally set on the meaningful careers of the past 2 decades. Federer may try to come back from his injury to play a farewell Wimbledon next year. If Nadal doesn't win the French next year (he probably won't), I cannot see him winning another tournament. The only mystery is how many more majors will Djokovic win and thus how much distance can he put between himself and Fedal? I think the ceiling is 6 more, but Djokovic has always been a bit more combustible than the outward persona he likes to project, so I also think there is a slim chance that the pressure gets to him, he semi-loses his mind and wins 0 more. I know that's a stupid hot take, but I did say slim chance.
Both Williams sisters withdrew due to injury. While Venus has been play for fun (and health insurance) for awhile, Serena's days as a contender seem to also be behind. There is a slim chance she could win the Australian or Wimbledon (at 40!) next year, but I would be shocked.
As several of the sport's all-time all-time greats are finally poised to ride off into the sunset, the incessant GOAT debate rages on.
When your are talking GOATs among women, you can choose from Graf, Evert, Navratilova, Court (only because of the dubious majors won record) or Serena, but the answer is Serena. I'd also like to throw out an honorable mention to Monica Seles. What might have been if she had never been stabbed... the fact that she did come back to win a major after the stabbing has to be one of the greatest comebacks in the history of sports, but no one talks about it. I should really read her book sometime. I hope it's good.
And since we tend to divide things by sex, on the men's side the big three are the big three. I'm a Federer stan, but even I get that, objectively, Djokovic's inevitable 3-5 more slams make it hard to argue for anyone else but him. My only leg to stand on is that I just liked watching Federer play more and he's not a freaking anti-vaxxer. Although if it turns out that he is, don't tell me because I don't want to know. There should also always be room for two time calendar grand slam winner Rocket Rod Laver. The what ifs of a career that spanned both the amateur and open tennis eras make you wonder if he could have won 20+ slams if only the open era had come around 10 years earlier.
However, there is no debate on who the most important tennis player of all time time is. It is Billie Jean King. You can make a case for Arthur Ashe. But really, it's gotta be Billie Jean. Her impact on culture at large far exceeds anyone else. And she's always used her platform to fight for everyone, not just women. Everyone's cause is Billie Jean King's cause.
2) Ted Koppel
Baltimore has a gun violence problem. Chicago has a gun violence problem. Cincinnati has a gun violence problem. Pretty much everywhere where there is urban poverty has a gun violence problem.
Sunday Morning's elder statesman delves into why without launching into gun control sermon or even his main soap box, criminal justice reform. Koppel isn't really in search of an answer to the problem, so I'll also refrain from trying to solve the the issue. Because blogs have always been agent of change... and things always work out when affluent white people try to fix things for poor people of color.
Koppel goes to a violent neighborhood in Baltimore, asks some questions, and listens. The answers to his questions are heartbreaking. Whatever the solutions are to gun violence in poor urban neighborhoods, we'll never find them without first listening to the survivors, those who have to live with it on a daily basis.
I recently visited Baltimore - I was mostly hanging out near the Inner Harbor, probably the most touristy part of the city, and even then it was definitely rough around the edges. I don't mind a little bit of grit in a city, but it's hard to see people who are obviously hurting and not know what's going to help. A blowhards on all sides of the political spectrum claim to have the answers, but have they done what Koppel does and actually go talk to the people being affected?
I know I said I wasn't going offer a solution, but if folks to selling drugs or robbery to try and get by because they have nothing else to support them, then it seems a part of the solution is try to keep folks from reaching that point of desperation to begin with. Let's check in again with Saul Williams to see what he thinks should be done about it. (It's reparations.)
3) Lee Cowan
I think Lee Cowan does a good job of telling the story of Zalmay Niazy, an Afghan interpreter who worked with US forces, who was wounded several times, who had to ask for asylum because the Taliban threatened his life should he ever return to his home, whose family had to go into hiding, who was denied asylum the first time he applied because as a child he gave food to the Taliban at gunpoint.
Kudos to the Iowa community that took him in and fought for him to be able to stay. But also, what the hell? Is this what Trump meant by extreme vetting? To screw over people who fought for us to whom we made promises.
But...
I'm sure some people can watch this story and say, "Well, he can stay. He's one of the good ones." And then want to shut the door behind him. There are thousands of stories like Zee's and Lee doesn't have time to do a story on every one. There's a lot of good people we're leaving behind in Afghanistan. A lot of them will not make it out. Best case scenario, they are able to stay under the radar of the Taliban until, hopefully someday, the Taliban recedes back into the mountains.
And I'm guessing that for every one person like Zee, who has done remarkable things to merit asylum and still got a paper telling him that, no, we're going to find whatever technicality we can to try and keep you and people like you out, there are tens or hundreds of other that merely fit the criterion "A person who is not a terrorist and doesn't want to live in constant fear of repression and reprisal under the Taliban". The United States (and countries like it) can afford to do more, but, mostly, we just don't want to. So please do no think of Zee of the one who should get to stay. We made promises that we ended up not being able to keep, so morally and ethically, something is owed on our end.
4) David Martin
Unlike Lee Cowan, national security correspondent David Martin does not have a story about Afghanistan this week. Thank God, because I'm not sure how much more news coverage I can take about the botched departure. Especially after the bombing at the Kabul airport which killed 13 Americans and many many more innocent Afghanis. Sunday Morning briefly paid tribute to the fallen and the saddest part was the ages of the soldiers killed. The oldest was 31. One was 25. Most were between 20 and 22. They're kids. How much training could they have had to deal with the situation they were placed in?
Staying indefinitely was not an option. I don't want to pass judgement on anyone who's making the decisions, because I don't know what the better option is. But right now it seems like it could not be going worse. Biden is trying spin this by saying either we always knew the pullout was going to be dangerous and could lead to this, in which case, then why did he pretty much say exactly the opposite a few months ago, or, all of this was set in motion by his predecessor(s), which, um, the buck apparently stopped before he go into office?
Anyway, the political right, whom are attacking Biden relentlessly, hoping that they can use this as a wedge issue both 1 year from now and 3 years from now, are either team "stay forever" or have failed to coherently show how any plan they might have had was either ignored or would have worked better. It's hard to pass judgement on anyone when you are only presented with bad options. War is always a deal with the devil. There is never a good outcome, only a least bad.
I haven't really addressed Martin's segment about right wing cause célèbre, Eddie Gallagher yet. I don't really want to talk about him because I don't want to appear to condemn the military. I want to be supportive all those who serve our country honorably. But people in general need to stop accepting the bad apples explanation for these things. From the military, to policing, to abuse within the Catholic Church, either the bad apples are emergent property of the system or the system is negligent for not getting rid of them and even defending them. Either way, the bad apples are indicative of something needing to change.
I'm not really expecting someone on the other side of the, "Did Eddie Gallagher commit a war crime?" debate to listen here. But at the very least, Gallagher took actions to lead those under his command into active combat when they were only supposed to be in a support role, which means, at minimum, he disobeyed orders so that he cold have the opportunity to kill enemy fighters. Multiple members of those under his command were then disturbed enough by his actions to report them which launched an investigation in the alleged war crimes.
I'm not predisposed to like Mr. Gallagher because I believe that he believes a foreign life, a Muslim life is worth less than an American life. Many American's do think this way and it's what they mean when they say "America First." I find this frightening. But even if we are going to buy into this virulent brand of nationalism (let's not), what do you say to the other Navy SEALs who were disturbed enough by Gallagher's to feel that he deserved punishment. They also served their country. Should we not listen to them? Do they not deserve support as well?
As always, David Martin's Dragnet style, "Just the facts, ma'am" style of delivery always strikes the right tone for these stories. And they are important stories. But in a perfect world, there wouldn't be a need for David Martin segments.
Ah, the butterfly. Truly a magical creature. I remember coming across a caterpillar when I was a kid (somewhere between 3rd and 5th grade let's say). For some reason, I was really into metamorphosis. Not the literary work of Franz Kafka, but the biological process of a caterpillar changing into a chrysalis and then into a butterfly. Science!
Anyway I caught the caterpillar, put it into a jar (with holes so as to not suffocate it), with grass, twigs, etc. for it to munch on. Lo, the caterpillar did turn into a chrysalis! I remember going to the library to get a field guide for butterflies so I could identify it when it would reemerge with wings. When it did, I remember it being black and yellow. All these years later, I thought I identified it as an Eastern something or other. But going through a few butterfly websites just now and sifting through unreliable memories from childhood, I'm guessing it was a Black Swallowtail:
The emergence should have been an exciting culmination to it all, but the butterfly had a damaged wing, presumably from trying to take flight while still inside a jar. The plan was always to release the colorful, beautiful creature after I had identified it. I did release it, although now with sadness instead of joy as I was pretty sure the butterfly was not long for survival with the tip of a wing bent.
Thus my lepidoptery days were behind me for good lest I incur further Catholic guilt for (inadvertently) harming one of God's creatures. Maybe it was still able to fertilize a flower or two. Do butterfly wings heal? (Did I just inadvertently quote poetry by Jewel?) I don't think insects have souls - at least I hope not considering the number of flies I've killed this past week - remember to take your trash out before leaving town, kids. But if they do, I hope said butterfly does not look upon me angrily in the afterlife, but can take some joy in having sparked curiosity and imagination in a young human.
Also, I miss The Venture Bros.
6) Faith Salie
Padma Lakshmi is very pretty. As a male of the species, I'm not entirely comfortable with commentary that focuses mostly on the looks of a female. But there's a reason that she became a model/actress and it's because she's pretty. I'm not really sure how she parlayed that into Top Chef, but I'm not big into reality TV, which achieved perfection in Season 2 of Project Runway.
Padma is open about going through some stuff in her life. I try not to be jaded when a someone opens up about these sorts of things, but there is a cynic in me that sometimes wonders if a celebrity telling a certain story at a certain time is done with the intent to raise a profile or sell a book. And then I remember the saying, "Men are afraid of women because they think they might laugh at them. Women are afraid of men because they think they might kill them." And then such thoughts are generally purged leaving a little behind a little bit of guilt that I had the instinctual reaction that I did. As a male, I cannot imagine or speak to the trauma that Padma went through in her formative years. While it is part of her story, and there is courage in telling it, it is not the only part of her story.
This is also part of her story:
Also, Faith Salie proudly announces here guest appearance in an episode of Star Trek DS9 in her twitter bio, so there was like a 100% chance Faith made sure they were going to use Padma Lakshmi's appearance in Star Trek Enterprise to highlight her acting credits.
And here's where I cop to having never watched anything after DS9. Although, while canon, find me a Trek fan that thinks Enterprise is much watch and I'll give a Scott Bakula a fair shake.
First timer (I think?) Lilia Luciano gets the art segment about an exhibition of contemporary Latinx art at
Hartman stories always have a formula. I'd say disparate pairings is the most common formula. And the most common sub-genre of "disparate pairing" category is the old-young, which is how you make a segment out of a 93 year old having a "Hokey Pokey" themed birthday.
If you'd like to have a "Hokey Pokey" themed birthday, here is a link to the CD of which Ms.
9) Jane Pauley
Jane Pauley is back from vacation. Yay!
Jane Pauley had no obits to read for Sunday Passage, no Almanac, no news, no nothing except for intro-ing the show and introducing segments. Boo!
(I'm not booing Jane, but rather the paucity of the little extra show touches I've come to miss during the dog days of summer. Looking forward to Sunday Morning's new season episode in a few weeks.)
10) Martha Teichner
If Sunday Morning is looking for stories to reuse as the summer winds down, I'm just sayin' that it's awfully hard to go wrong with a Teichner art segment.
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