Andy Rooney, Brent Musburger, Dean Martin

Andy Rooney

Let's start out here in Andy Rooney-esque fashion. Bless his memory, though he was a relic of earlier times. Didn't Andy once say "women shouldn't be sideline reporters for football games - they don't know anything about football." 

In a similar vein, the up-in-years Brent Musburger a few years ago caused a stir by how he gushed over the girlfriend of the Alabama quarterback. I paid attention and wrote a post about that. Willie Geist on the MSNBC show "Morning Joe" reminded us of Brent's age and then said in a convivial way, "let's give him a Brent Musburger pass." 

Musburger's little spiel crossed the line for "objectification of women." The late Dean Martin would say "what the hell is that?" The whole "rat pack" would reason as such. You aren't familiar with the "rat pack?" I'm showing my age as is my wont increasingly, it seems. 

So on a day like today, Mr. Andy Rooney could say "have you ever noticed in early fall how you might be at risk of leaving behind a light jacket somewhere?" Hospitality establishments deal with this to be sure. The temperature has a chill when you first rise in the morning. In my case I often ride bike. Ahem - that is especially true with Iowa Avenue all torn up for construction by my place. 

So I bicycle across the U of M field that is across the highway from Homestead/Pizza Hut etc. When it comes time to return home, I need to remember to account for my jacket. It appears I erred with this the other day. And isn't it embarrassing to ask around in various places where you might have left it? 

The clothing item might be easily replaceable, but that isn't the point. Here are two points: 1) I want to figure out why I might have left it in a certain place, and 2) I want to relieve the place where I left it of possessing it. 

It's embarrassing because you can feel stupid for the oversight, eh? It's hard enough to project the image of being totally on top of your life. So we're bothered when the little things go awry. 

If we slip on the little things, might we fear bigger problems? And then it's such a relief if you can eventually retrieve it, right? Relief and a feeling of satisfaction over a matter that seems in the scheme of things awfully tiny. Such is the human condition that we want to have these matters in order, eh? 

Oh, I'm reminded of an old skit in an HBO comedy program - we got HBO for free then - in which a term was offered for "the feeling of panic you have when your car dashboard informs you you're low on wiper fluid." If we're caught low on wiper fluid, can absolute calamity be far behind? 

I think the HBO program was about "sniglets," terms that don't exist but ought to. In that spirit, maybe there should be a term for when older males cross a line and absolutely "step on it" with regard to objectification of women. So easy to have happen, I can state from my perspective. I continue having such thoughts but have learned to keep them private. Well, for the most part. 

Ashley Klingbeil

I begged for a little indulgence recently when I observed that this state senate candidate Ashley Klingbeil was a "knockout blond." I'd like a little Brent Musburger pass, please. Now I'll keep my thoughts to myself. Scout's honor. 

Ol' Deano, Dean Martin, was a throwback not only with how he judged and presented women, he was a throwback with alcohol consumption. He could amuse his audiences by giving the impression he'd had "one too many." Or more than one actually. And our culture found that totally amusing once. Like up through the end of the 1970s. None of this changes overnight, of course. 

I wonder if the whole smack-down of excessive drinking would have happened even without "Mothers Against Drunk Driving." The shift in attitude about this has been truly remarkable. What made us think that "drinking" was such an attractive pastime? It surely was when I was a young adult. 

I remember a PSA done by the actor Art Carney. Man, he stated the obvious: when someone mentions "having a drink," why this assumption that it should be "booze?" He asked about the other beverage alternatives including "water." Why not? I guess the emperor had no clothes. 

I have read that Dean Martin's schtick with "booze" could be mostly if not completely a put-on, that he'd mingle at parties with a glass of beverage that was actually "apple juice." That totally makes sense to me now. A person of Dean's stature and success would need to be focused and level-headed to keep his entertainment skills sharp. Yet he saw the need to acquiesce to the cultural norm of amusement with alcohol consumption. We all engage in ruses, don't we? 

I appreciate what Dean did, now that I'm older. I look back at Olivia Newton-John's old videos like "Xanadu" and realize what a very hard worker she had to be. When we're young, we're more apt to think this stuff just comes naturally. 

Andy Rooney worked harder at his craft than we probably realized. Maybe we should be reminded of the old line "the great ones make it look easy." Brent Musburger spent a portion of his career working beside Phyllis George who was a "hood ornament." Oh my God, I slipped! The poison of misogyny entered my head! Well I do this just to offer an example of an extinct way of thinking.

I wanted to run Ashley Klingbeil's picture a second time here, larger! She's a conservative, which I guess I'm not. But I sense looking at the photo that I would find her ideas most agreeable. She is running against Torrey Westrom. I remember when I was with the Morris newspaper and stopped by Westrom's little celebration room at the old Sunwood Inn in Morris, when he was first elected. I remember him with phone up to ear regularly "pumping his fist" as the numbers came in. I have had pleasant encounters with Torrey through the years. I find him far more agreeable than Jeff Backer. Philosophically though I would not be favorably inclined toward Torrey. And certainly not toward Backer who did radio interviews stating he hadn't been vaccinated for covid. Marshall Hoffman when he was with kmrs pressed him on that. I complimented Marshall on his "stealth questioning." Did Marshall exit kmrs because of complaints? As far as I'm concerned, Backer can go sit under a cow. I could put aside all my own political inclinations and cast my vote for Ashley Klingbeil. Oh, she's an independent, something about "we the people." She would be a fresh voice and certainly a fresh face!
 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com