For my taste, the PBS Masterpiece mini-series, "Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office" (based on a true national scandal) is every bit as great as its reputation and huge success that it had in England. An ensemble cast, but starring Toby Jones.  Usually he plays offbeat, quirky characters, sometimes villains, but here he's quiet, low-key, down-to-earth.  That's much the way the series is -- but very personal, involving and often-deeply moving.  Crushing at times as you witness deeply-decent and innocent people being rolled, many with lives ruined, some wrongly imprisoned, all for reaso ..read more

Yesterday, the House Republican crack impeachment team marched their Articles of Impeachment over to the Senate for the trial of Department of Homeland Security head Alejandro Mayorkas.   This is one of the stupidest things the MAGOP can do, and it’s my understanding that many Senate Republicans wish this would go away so that they don’t have to vote on it.  If they vote “Yes,” they look like idiots, but if they vote “No,” they risk offending the MAGOP base.   It’s stupid for many reasons.   Impeachment is required to charge someone for high crimes and misdemeanors.  N ..read more

If you didn't see Jon Stewart's day hosting The Daily Show, here's the opening segment.  He covers Iran, Israel and Trump's election interference trial -- along with a debate of which of Trump's claims that he's more like Nelson Mandela or Jesus is the most accurate.  It's thoughtful, pointed and very funny ..read more

One of the great myths being presented by Trump and perpetuated by the media is that all of these trials against Trump are unprecedented.  Now, yes, of course, if he (and they) are referring to a former president being indicted, absolutely.  That’s unprecedented – although, of course, the reason no former president has ever been indicted isn’t because they were former presidents, but because none of them committed felonies or federal crimes or raped anyone.   But to think that it’s unprecedented for former president Trump to be indicted, sued, taken to court – that’s closing you ..read more

This may be among their least-known, most improbable, and yet still funny material.  Probably in the late-1950s, as their comedy career was booming, Mike Nichols and Elaine May took on a major challenge – make funny Public Service Announcements on behalf of national CPA Associations to remind people to file their taxes on time.   In honor of Tax Day today, here are three of them. Hey, they took on death, in their classic and hilarious $65 funeral sketch here, so why not taxes ..read more

We're going to turn this morning's effort over to Jimmy Kimmel for 90 seconds.  This video isn't current, but something he did five years ago.  It's a comparison to how President Obama and Trump announced somewhat similar breaking-news items. It is very funny, but only if you can put aside that he could be elected president again.  And it's substantive, as well, even though five years old, because there's much here that relates to Trump today -- but only tangentially.  I say "tangentially" because while "Trump today" has the same level of ego and lack of understanding ..read more

From the archives.  We have a recent repeat this week, with contestant is Claire Nalven from Waltham, Massachusetts. This is a very florid piece, and the song is extremely well-hidden – and to my shock, I got it.  And while I came close on the composer style, it was two people I find similar, and I guessed the wrong one ..read more

I've enjoyed the first two seasons of the documentary series, Welcome to Wrexham.  That's the show about the low-level soccer team bought by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElheney.  In fact, for the past two years, I've tangentially followed how the team is doing, so I'm more prepared for when the TV show airs, rather than be surprised.  The new season of the show premieres on May 2 on f/X. This year's soccer season ends in about a week, so anyone who watches the show and does NOT want to know how the Wrexham Red Dragons did this year -- you should stop here.  Consider ..read more

​The guest on this week’s Al Franken podcast are Democratic strategists Rachel Bitecofer and Justin Barasky who talk with Al about Democratic messaging.  As Al notes, “The 2024 election is less than 8 months away. How do Democrats defeat Trump? How do they retain the Senate? Our guests say that it all comes down to messaging. It’s important to remind voters that on issues like abortion and the economy, the Democratic Party represents their interests ..read more

Last year, a one-man show played in Los Angeles, called Alex Edelman:  Just for Us.  It got raves reviews, and friends who saw it said it was great.  I'd heard of it -- it began off-Broadway, and then transferred to Broadway, again to rave reviews.  But I didn't see it.  For several reasons, most notably because I'm still not going to the theater as much as before the pandemic. I was sorry I didn't go -- but thrilled when I saw that HBO recorded the show, and is airing it now.  And for my taste, it was as terrific as its reputation.  It’s very fun ..read more