Steven Slater's 15 Minutes (Too Many) of Fame
The male JetBlue flight attendant lost it when accidentally hit by a piece of passenger luggage from an overhead bin. He grabbed the intercom, gave a profanity-laced rant, grabbed a beer from the beverage rant, deployed the emergency chute and made his exit from the plane.
I am sure every flight attendant whom feels himself or herself abused by obnoxious passengers sees Slater as sort of a folk hero, something they secretly wish they could do if they could ever get the nerve. If you expect me to empathize with this behavior, you're wrong. All of us have to deal with adversity. I'm not going to go into details but I once had to deal with a nightmare situation as a university professor, and I went through the appeal process. I really didn't expect the decision to be reversed. I made my case and then I left the room. I made a strong, positive case for my position, but more importantly, I did not use the occasion to attack certain administrators and faculty. As I left the room, one of the senior faculty members greeted me on the way out and congratulated me on handling the situation with class. I didn't change any minds that day, but I was also determined not to give them ammunition to rationalize an immoral decision.
What I don't like from anyone in a service position (I don't care if it's a receptionist, a flight attendant, etc.) is being lectured about my behavior and threats. I'll give a simple example I was seated in a section with the seat unable to adjust backwards. The guy in front of me decided to fully recline in such a way he was literally in my space--I couldn't use a laptop or read a book or lower the seat tray for refreshments. I pushed his seat back, he escalated the situation to a flight attendant, whom somehow in the wonderland of her mind thought it was perfectly appropriate for another passenger to spend the rest of the flight with his head all but in my lap. There was an implicit threat at one point that I could get taken off the plane, but at some point another flight attendant defused the situation by finding another customer on the full flight willing to switch with me.. Also I'm a big guy (overweight), and often will lean a bit into the aisle. On more than a handful of times I've found myself clipped by beverage carts and after-the-fact apologies.
Amend the Fourteenth Amendment? Thumbs DOWN!
The Fourteenth Amendment establishes automatically an American citizenship by birth. This is not a universal policy; only a minority of countries establishes citizenship with any native birth. First of all, I don't like seeing the Constitution being amended unnecessarily. Second, any existing child would be exempt and I don't think automatic citizenship is a primary motivator I think it has more to do with economic reasons.
America's Got Talent: The Most Amazing 10-year-old...
Jackie Evancho started singing just 2 years ago...
Political Humor
Just wait until next year when Obama turns 50. Oprah is probably planning the festivities and the send-$50-for-50 fundraisers, the adult diapers with the Presidential emblem are on order, and AARP is anxious to sign him up and give him some valuable information on insurance plans from their business partners....
Some of the best from last week:
"Do you know that $8.7 billion of our money has gone missing in Iraq? I didn't even know they had a Goldman Sachs over there." —Jay Leno
[If you think that's something, Jay, the American people are trying to figure out just what they're getting from over $3.5T in spending by progressive Democrats. Have you have any idea what $1T looks like? Where did it all go? But have no fear: Speaker Pelosi assures us we have to pass progressive bills to know what's in them.]
"This week in 1861, the first federal income tax was instituted to pay for the Civil War. These days, we don't worry about that kind of stuff. Our wars are paid for by our grandchildren." –Jay Leno
[In the meanwhile, the top 5% of American workers are expected to pay for the Class War, while Congressmen Grayson and Weiner fight the Uncivil War.]
"Happy birthday to President Obama. Republicans tried to block his birthday but they didn't have enough votes, so it went through and the President was able to turn 49 today right on schedule." –Jimmy Kimmel
[In exchange for their votes, Olivia Snowe and Susan Collins got to host the Obama birthday celebration at the Maine shipyards with a 49-gun salute and all attendees getting a signed copy of the "Best of Barack" CD, featuring his sensational sing along of "Hey Jude" with Paul McCartney.
The NFL San Francisco franchise explained one more time the President's birthday did not make him eligible to play on their team. The owner is still trying to figure out whom sent him a dead fish.]
"In Portland, Oregon, a 7-year-old girl's lemonade stand was shut down by the police because she didn't get a $120 business license. On the bright side, by closing her business, she's now eligible for a $108,000 government bailout. " –Jay Leno
[Not to mention 99 weeks of unemployment and an Obama small business loan.]
David Letterman's "Top Ten Ways Barack Obama Celebrated His Birthday"
9. Read details of his surprise party on WikiLeaks
1. Stuffed Tony Hayward full of nickels and beat him like a pinata
[David, I thought for sure you would mention the popular parlor game, "Pin It All On George W. Bush". Each blind-folded progressive is given a sticker to pin to a life-size portrait of the former President--poverty, war, pestilence, the economy, the twin deficits, freakish weather, the breakup of Al and Tipper Gore, Tiger Wood's floundering golf game, the reason I didn't get lucky last night....]
"Congressman Rangel has been accused of 13 ethics violations, or as they call it in Washington, fundraising." –Jay Leno
[Charlie considered himself pretty lucky until that last one...]
Quote of the Day
A leader must have the courage to act against an expert's advice.
James Callaghan
Musical Interlude: The American Songbook Series
Rudy Vallée, "As Time Goes By"
