This too is Yonkers– by Eric W. Schoen
I’m not a big television watcher. I happened to be home the other day viewing the fourth hour of the Today Show. That’s the hour featuring Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb. After the news of the day in the first 2 hours followed by Megyn Kelly’s hour of surprise topics, the fourth hour is what I call the ‘time to relax’ hour. It features for the most part positive stories and plenty of wine drinking.
Wine drinking at 10:00 a.m. In the morning? We will leave that for another day. On the particular day I was watching, Kathie Lee joined by a host filling in for Hoda was broadcasting from London. The topic was the premiere of the new ‘Mama Mia’ movie in theaters as we speak. Interviews with Cher and her fellow cast members, excerpts of the movie, all in all the show was quite entertaining.
My guess is that Mama Mia is going to be the ”Feel good’ movie of the summer, something we all desperately need. Fifteen minutes before the end of the show, it was unceremoniously ‘preempted’ by a Breaking News Bulletin from Finland. Yes, the breaking news was the Trump-Putin press conference.
My sister happened to be home, turned on the View on Channel 7 and it too was preempted by the Trump-Putin press conference or ‘Presser’ as we call it in the newspaper business. There are way too many ‘preemptions’ for breaking news bulletins on television nowadays. The television manufacturer or cable company that comes up with a way for us to turn off the breaking news alerts or special reports and go back to the regularly scheduled programming is going to make a lot of money one day!
As a news junkie I watched the Trump-Putin Press Conference. Putin’s words were interpreted pretty much in real time, so you didn’t have the long pauses we have grown accustomed to in the past. I could not believe my ears when I heard President Trump, asked whether he believed Russia had tried to influence the 2016 election and whether he believed Mr. Putin over American intelligence agencies state, ‘He just said it’s not Russia. I will say this. I don’t see any reason why it would be.’
All President Trumps advisors, appointed by him have said that Russia intervened in the 2016 Election. As did a Senate Committee led by Republicans. So basically President Trump threw everybody who advises him and Members of Congress ‘under the bus.
Democrats, Republicans, Socialists, pretty much people from the whole political spectrum were furious at the President embarrassing our country so publicly. Republicans have had to cover up for his verbal boo-boos in the past, but the President hit the ball out of the ballpark with this blunder.
Realizing that most Americans including his most fervent supporters were furious with him, a day after his return to the states he said that it was a “would” that should have been a “wouldn’t.”
Trump said on Tuesday that he had misspoken about whether Russia had tried to influence the 2016 election. “The sentence should have been, ‘I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia,’ sort of a double negative. So you can put that in and I think that probably clarifies things pretty good.”
So now we have not only a Commander in Chief but also an English teacher in Chief. You know the Press Office staff in the White House stayed up real late the night of the President’s return from Finland to figure out how to spin this one!
President Trump has got to stop doing things like this that embarrass the American people. Particularly when he is comparing the ethics of a former KGB Officer to those he appointed to office and relies on for intelligence. Make America Great Again? Embarrassing us on the international stage sure ain’t going to do that!
And please, television manufacturers, cable television companies, whatever entity has the power, devise a system so that we can click off these Breaking News Alerts and return to our regularly scheduled programming!
Eric’s Briefs
According to Katy Perry, ‘Baby You’re a Firework!’ Fireworks should be in the hands of professionals. When I was young a neighborhood kid lost an eye playing with illegal fireworks.This past 4th of July I passed a Yonkers house that had a driveway full of various things that I knew in short order were going to be lit up! So kudos to the Westchester County Board of Legislators for proposing legislation to ban sparklers in Westchester. Let the professionals light up the sky!
$31 million in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s campaign coffers. Imagine what good could be done with all the money? Most of it was coming from large donations but now, following his Democratic opponent, his campaign is trying to increase small donations. One Cuomo supporter made over 60 $1 donations. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (of Facebook fame) donated $130,000 to Cuomo’s reelection campaign weeks before New York State issued their firm a license to trade bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies.” Cryptocurrency? Is that like Superman’s Kryptonite? Different spelling. But maybe if I am trendy I can donate a $1 and get Schoencurrency?
Father and son Skelos were again convicted and are on their way to jail. This as the New York State Legislature stalls on ethics reform. When will the doors to the paddy wagon in Albany close? How many more folks will have to walk the perp line before the state adopts ethics reform. Can’t our electeds in both political parties see a. problem with campaign donations flowing in from companies doing business with the state? Among other ethical issues that need to be addressed!
Kudos to New York City Comptroller Stringer for criticizing the MTA for the lack of accessibility of subway stations for handicapped patrons. How many of us in Westchester have picked up friends from the #1 or #4 subways in the Bronx, the start of the respective lines where they have had to schlep down a long line of stairs with baggage and packages.
A Girl Scout badge for cyber security? Among the new merit badges announced this week by the Girl Scouts. Maybe the Scouts can help Mueller or track foreign intervention in our elections?
MGM Resorts suing the victims of the Las Vegas concert shooting? Guess I won’t be staying in any MGM resorts in the near future!
Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericyonkers. Listen to Eric Schoen and Dan Murphy on the Westchester Rising Radio Show Thursday’s from 10-11 a.m. On WVOX 1460 AM or download the SIMPLE RADIO app for free from the APP STORE
