I have noticed the market surging upward in such a way, I almost wonder if it's a function of the TV set. We see those little green arrows with perhaps a triple digit figure next to them. Months go by and it seems the stock market might reach the stratosphere. It sure wasn't like this when I was a kid or a young adult.
Early this week we saw a snap back. But we can't be sure what it means. The stock market by definition defies any coherent predicting. Is this really where we want our life savings? I suppose I'm a dinosaur in that our family savings are in the local banks. One of them informed me recently that the interest payment on a five-year CD is one percent. But I'm still not tempted to veer into the stock market.
I have heard the Republicans' tax cut bill blamed for the current volatility. The tax cut, it is explained, is good for main street but might not facilitate Wall Street. We should cheer for main street I suppose. How can you not? But what about President Trump's pronouncements that his presidency has been so good for the stock market, i.e. people's 401Ks?
The economy may now be heating up. Wages are going up. We may be seeing a whack-a-mole situation where what's good for the goose may not be good for the gander. I had no problem buying bank CDs back in the Jimmy Carter years! How could the same nation that elected Jimmy Carter, a gentle, uplifting man, now elect Donald Trump, a cruel, course cad of a human being?
"Joe and Mika" have started my day for a long time now. I remember when Joe Scarborough had an evening program which I think was called "Scarborough Country." There was an opening that showed him playing touch football. Prior to Joe and Mika (Brzesinski) in the morning, we had Don Imus whose show famously and sadly crashed and burned because of some inartful comments that were intended as satire. Satire is very risky. There has been a publication on our UMM campus that has to come out and tell people that it's satire, which means of course that it isn't very good satire. Either that or the "satire" explanation is just a "cover" for some mean-spirited stuff that it dispenses.
I don't know if the "Northstar" still exists on the UMM campus. I generally find it unacceptable to visit the UMM campus because it seems like a nervous place. There are people associated with the radical/reactionary "Northstar" who apparently can get access to video surveillance footage to see if anyone is taking multiple copies from their newsstand. I don't even want to show up on UMM video surveillance footage.
What if I were a student and simply wanted to take an extra copy of the publication for my roommate? They say that each additional copy costs $5. But where would you pay for it?
The University Register which is the normal, sane UMM student publication has no charge. The expansion of free circulation newspapers is actually causing confusion or potential confusion. One must keep track of the free ones like Senior Perspective as opposed to the ones that extract money from you, like the Forum-owned Morris and Willmar papers.
Why would a publication be free? That's elementary - they get money from advertisers. We can look forward to the day when there is a Morris community paper that is free.
My late father and I used to rise for the Don Imus show. It was sort of an acquired taste. Nothing like it has really come along to replace it. I guess Imus had a resurrection, first on RFD TV (of all places) and then on the Fox Business Channel. But he was never the same after his flame-out on MSNBC. Scarborough credits him for laying the foundation for "Morning Joe," in that Imus had a topical show connected very much to the day's news. I remember the guy who imitated New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagen so well.
Imus flamed out because of satirical comments that I guess you could say were directed at hip-hop culture. The problem was that the comments took in a college women's basketball team, Rutgers. "Nappy-headed hoes," remember? I understood the humor but could also see how it was going to torpedo the show. I was sad to see it end. I'm glad that Scarborough gives Imus some credit.
Watching "Morning Joe" seems like the type of thing an educated, interested person would do. But there's an element of the show that might be described as "Beltway gossip." I wonder is that's the lure for me.
The show probably had the effect of helping Trump ascend. He was the "shiny object" in the presidential race. Surely he stood out among the ridiculously large field of Republican candidates (17?). How could anyone not be more interested in Trump? But look at the situation we're in now.
For good or bad, I have to watch Joe and Mika in the morning, and I pray for our country. I have written a song about this pillar of morning topical television. It's called "I'm Watching Joe and Mika." I don't know if I'll have it recorded. Here are the lyrics. Thanks for reading as always.
"I'm Watching Joe and Mika"
by Brian Williams
I'm watching Joe and Mika
With hot coffee at my lips
They give me all the headlines
The words they will never mince
We turn to them for wisdom
When D.C.'s out of whack
I'm watching Joe and Mika
Because they're like mom and dad
With Katty Kay beside them
They sift through items of note
And Willie Geist is handy
To make his comments and jokes
It's like a morning beacon
That reaches through the fog
I'm watching Joe and Mika
They're always up to the job
They analyzed Obama
Through eight years he was the man
They ridiculed the birthers
And all the hate that they fanned
And through it all they realized
The press is here to stay
I'm watching Joe and Mika
To get my start to the day
It landed like a circus
When Trump got the nod to lead
It started as a punchline
But turned into something real
The talking heads were busy
They dipped into the well
I'm watching Joe and Mika
They always answer the bell
They talk about a tweetstorm
From our commander in chief
It overloads the senses
When he unleashes a tweet
We recollect the old days
Decorum was the rule
I'm watching Joe and Mika
They just are nobody's fool
Consider Rachel Maddow
A voice from the feisty left
She deconstructs the big lies
And makes GOPers sweat
And then I hit the pillow
Alarm set for the dawn
I'm watching Joe and Mika
They make me feel I belong
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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