Here is my statement.  Everyone eligible to vote SHOULD vote.  Like paying taxes, it is your duty as a citizen.  NO EXCUSES!

Fortunately, the nonsense of term limits has faded away, mainly because the Republicans are now in charge of the federal government.  However, I still think that there should be NO TERM LIMITS. 

Voters should stop complaining, "Stop me before I vote again!"  I'd even repeal the 22nd Amendment.  Like Harry S Truman, I find it downright silly that "no person shall be elected to the presidency more than twice, nor serve more than ten years".  Voters should take responsibilty for their duty.  If you don't like your representatives, vote them out!

 

They work BECAUSE YOU LET THEM WORK!

If any ads trashed a candidate, and because of the negativity, that candidate actually gained vote, those ads would stop.  Politicians seem to say what you want to hear for two reasons:

1. They actually pander to your prejudices.

2. You hear what you want to hear.

 

I am for strong parties, because they help get the vote out.  Voters actually feel some of the power they themselves ignore.  Politics without parties for the last few decades has been a disaster.  As David Broder noted, good government needs strong parties, for they know their craft.  Voters should check them to see whether the parties are working for the best interest of society as a whole.

More parties just make more work.  I favor no changes in winner-take-all.  First, it's how life works.  Second, mutiple parties make it harder to govern, and then they split into two sides anyway.  Why not get the dirty work done first through parties?

In a sentence, voters get what they deserve.

I am deciding where I should put this essay.  It will be rather long and detailed.

 

Fri 26 Nov

Now the killer and accomplice speak.  Who speaks for Matthew Wayne Shepard?  I do agree that Russell Henderson does not deserve the same fate as Aaron McKinney, but then, I want to execute McKinney!  I will be commenting on this ABC 20/20 after it shows, and I will do so also on my diary, when I fantasize about being a freckled blond with gelasins and cleft.  I will be as unbiased as possible, but I feel that I must defend Matt, whom I've come to know over the past five years.

It looks as if I'll be posting "I told you so"'s over the next four years.  I will take each strand of the Schrubbish and pull them out one by one!

 

Note: I'm moving this entire piece to its own site over the next few weeks.  https://buddybest.tripod.com/anf

As part of the contest of humorous speeches for my local Toastmasters, I am writing a script where Buddy Overstreet stumbles upon Phyllis Pruitt in Long Island, with Mr D and his boys still chasing him.  I will place it here when I have it finished.  Do CBS and ABC still have a copyright on series from fall 1966?

Well, I finally received that video of those four episodes.  They were in "below average" quality and the sound was the poor monaural of the era.  I will place my observations here later.  For now, I'll just note that the videotape came the same day as Schrub's speech, so I didn't even think of how I was going to avoid it.

 

RUN, BUDDY, RUN

The reemergence of an interest in a short television series has my waxing philosophically.  Why is it such an anchor?  What is its appeal?

"Run, Buddy, Run" brings me back to 1966 in a hurry.  For one, I was toying with an idea for a similar character with my George Król series.  I find Buddy Overstreet a very sympathetic character.  My maternal uncle, who was born the same year as Jack Sheldon, looks like the character -- and his nickname was Buddy (but he prefers his given name).  Furthermore, he lives in Germany, where this series seems to have a following.

I had never thought of the character as I do now.  Buddy is an accountant.  I have visions of the old-fashioned books and sliderules.  Back in 1966, I wasn't particularly interested in professions.  I also had a vision of the ideal age of the 20's, although Jack Sheldon is 34 during the series.

Taking me back to 1966 resurrects some unpleasant memories of living with a mean grandmother and a drunken teacher.  No wonder I wanted to escape!  The last show I saw on Monday, 26 December 1966 involved a runaway, although my life would improve in 1967.  

My grandparents watched what they wanted on their set, and they were gaga about westerns.  To see "Batman" we (my sister and I) had to go to the neighbor's.  On Monday nights, the grandparents had little choice to watch.  The "Monkees" were on NBC, then "I Dream of Jeannie", and they condemned the Monkees.  My grandparents watched Walter Cronkite every night, then the local news on CBS.  Therefore, they watched "Gilligan's Island" and "Run, Buddy, Run" until 31 October.  Then it ended, being the only time in the three years we lived with them that they changed shows in the middle of the season after I became interested in the show. 

I came home the following Monday early from trick-or-treating (Halloween), and to see the end of "I Want a Piece of That Boy", Buddy Overstreet in boxing gear.  Then the  following Monday, 7 November, they switched to "Iron Horse" on ABC at 7:30, bypassing "Gilligan" as well.  As I've written, the last time I saw "Buddy" was 26 December, when we were visiting my cousin, who graciously forewent "Jeannie" after her favorite "Monkees".

 

So here I sit nearly thirtyeight years later, only to find not only several sites on "Run, Buddy, Run", which includes two clips of the intro and a scene plus twentyone pictures, but also I had a video - delivered 2 September -- of four of the thirteen episodes, especially the pilot in color.  I expect another videtape of three more episodes in October.  Unfortunately, none of them are the finale, which I've never seen, "Come Home, Buddy Overstreet"  Still, I am reconnecting with myself in 1966!  I also am revolting against my grandparents and their arbitrariness.

What was the attraction?  After all, CBS canceled the show the following Monday (2 January 1967), putting Jack Sheldon out of work.  No, I think I had an empathy back then which manifested again with Matthew Wayne Shepard.  Buddy was on the run through no fault of his own.  I imagined how horrible such a life would be.  Buddy effectively was in the wrong place when mobsters were planning a hit.  Matt was in a bar on the wrong night.  The only difference is Buddy Overstreet never existed, and the story had a happy ending.   Isn't the internet wonderful?  It took almost thirtyeight years for me to find out the ending!

"Run, Buddy, Run" really crossed the parody of spies called "Get Smart" with the adventure of "The Fugitive".  Check out the websites for the explanations.  "Sorry about that, Chief", as Maxwell Smart would say, but I don't want to explain what's available on the internet.

 

I question why I enjoyed watching any situation comedies in the 1960's.  I didn't find them funny.  "Bewitched", "Jeannie", "Gilligan" and others stimulated my imagination and took me to other places.  It explains why I don't watch much television now; the stimulus is simply not there.  I have yet to analyze the significance of this find of "Buddy".  Perhaps I, too, want to run away.  The thought of an autobiography kept haunting me the week after I made this discovery.  I can recall events far in the past, so why not try to make money on it?

I have submitted the following to my local newspaper in response to "Ellen Goodman: Take Focus off Religion":

 

Wed 23 June

I have submitted the same again, only changing it to Dan Thomasson's "Lethal Mix: Bishops Interfere with Election Process":

 

Kudos to Dan Thomasson's column about the prelates who threaten to deny Communion to any prochoice Catholic politician.  They have placed themselves at a dilemma.  Either they continue to allow Communion -- which makes their threats empty -- or deny Communion -- which boosts prochoicers among Catholics.  

 

 John F Kerry is following Catholic principles individually and privately.  Should the Catholic prelates demand every Catholic politician vote the state burn heretics and ban books on the Index?  The Vatican says nothing about Catholic politicians who support the death penalty; the prelates decide which issues to use in their cafeteria of values.  Shall we illegalize divorce, contraception, and masturbation, too?

  

John F Kennedy quelled fears that every Catholic politican walk in lockstep with the Vatican; now the Vatican demands that Catholics politicians walk in lockstep with them.  Politicians do not represent their own religion, but rather a diverse public.  Prelates have no right to demand politicians in their flock enforce their religious philosophy on the public.

 

Their bullying by hammering consciences spells anathema to American individualism.  They should concentrate on their own legal and pastoral problems instead of inflaming anticlericalism in this country to levels seen in Europe and Mexico.

Marco Hofschneider (means courtyard tailor) plays Salomon Perel, a German Jew who survives World War II in Europa  (pronounced oy-ro-pa), orignially call "Hitlerjung Salomon".  Made in 1990, the main character appears at the end (at age 65).

There are many symbolic scenes: Solek takes on another identity as a "full-blooded German" (Völksdeutscher).  He appears rather Celtic with dark hair and light, freckled, and rosy skin.  Not only was he born on Hitler's birthday (Monday, 20 April 1925), but some German woman pretends he is Hitler when having sex with him.

One aspect I noted was the contradiction of both Naziism and Communism.   Both claimed opposing doctrines and use the same arguments of scientific authority.  Both  totalitarianism and authoritarianism are two sides of the same coin.

One should have some knowledge of the history of World War II to follow the story.  First, there's Kristallnacht, then the invasion of Poland, then Hitler's invasion of Russian itself.  Of course, the Perels were unwelcome in both Palestine and the United States at the time, so they really had nowhere to go.

 

Some of the symbolism shows Hitler and Stalin in a dance between two baleful ideologies (only Mao was missing as another mass murderer).  More subtile symbolism shows the two blond, blue-eyed and handsome boys die while Solek lives.  The only problem I could find on the disc is the lack of subtitles in German and Russian.  Anyone who knows only one of these languages won't understand the other.  French  is available in both audio and video, but somehow it seems so incongruous.  Why would anyone speak French in eastern Europe?

Solek goes through enormous lengths to hide his Beschnitt (circumcision), a dead giveaway, for Europeans don't have that barbaric practice, while it's common in America.  I could not tell if  the actor is circumcized, although I suspect he wasn't.  Why would they circumcize him for the role?  I enjoyed "Europa, Europa so much that I am looking for other foreign films.