CSotD: Exit wounds
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In the past day-and-a-half, I've seen enough dancing on the grave to appreciate Bob Englehart's more insightful commentary on the resignation of Kathleen Sibelius.
In his commentary on the cartoon, Englehart calls her "something of a scapegoat," which is putting it mildly, and spreads the blame both among the Republican witchhunters and an administration that didn't put a lot of effort into backing up HHS in the first place.
Englehart, by the way, does a nice job of keeping his comments brief and letting his cartoon do most of the talking, which is what he was hired for, after all. It's probably about as much as he might have said in the staff meeting.
And beyond the arrows in the back, I don't know that this story calls for as much commentary as it has spurred. Janet Reno attracted even more intense hatred from the fringe, but they never got to triumph over running her out of town because she was one of four cabinet members who served the full eight years under Clinton.
The other three were Bruce Babbit in Interior, Donna Shalala in HHS and Rick Riley in Education, which is a pretty impressive record for a two-term administration. Seeing the crowing by right-wing cartoonists, I looked it up, because my impression is that cabinet secretaries come and go as a matter of course, and that appears to be the case.
Reagan had 33 secretaries in 13 cabinet positions, with only Samuel Pierce of Housing and Urban Development sticking through both terms. GWB had 34 secretaries in 15 positions, and only Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao made the full eight years.
So far, Obama has had 24 secretaries — soon to be 25 — with (besides Sibelius until this week) Eric Holder (Justice), Tom Vilsack (Agriculture), Arne Duncan (Education), Shaun Donovan (HUD) and Eric Shinseki (Veterans Affairs) having been with him from the start.
(Interesting sidelight: Reagan had 13 cabinet-level departments, but approved the upgrade of the VA to the Department of Veterans Affairs, effective with GHWB's administration, and then GWB added Homeland Security. So much for "the party of small government.")
And, in an even more earth-shaking changeover …
"That Is Priceless" lives up to its name. The Gocomics site is down this morning, but you can catch the feature on Melcher's web site, which doesn't always follow the syndicate schedule and has some edgier pieces, besides.
I'm neutral on the David Letterman thing itself, because people who write blogs at this hour of the morning do not watch TV at that hour of the night, so the relative merits of Conan and Jay and the Scottish fellow* and that funny, preppy wiseass are a bit beyond me.
(Which reminds me: Is that soft-spoken guy still selling Big Sur waterbeds during the Late Movie?)
But as I watch conservative heads explode over the CBS decision, it occurs to me that it's a risky move, and not simply because some conservatives have become hip to the fact that he's mocking them and will never forgive him for it.
For all the joy from mainstream TV fans, I kind of wonder if they're going to like him when he isn't doing the same schtick he's had going on for the last two decades?
A lot of people liked Howard Cosell's abrasive persona, after all. How many remember the results when he put it aside to host "Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell."
About as many, I suspect, as realize I wasn't referring to the NBC late night sketch comedy that premiered the same year but was called "NBC's Saturday Night."
I'm not saying the move won't work. I don't handicap TV shows, most of which I know about from seeing their promos on NFL games. One actor makes a joke about farting, someone else says something about either tits or penises and then the announcer says it's the top-rated comedy in America.
As far as I know, the TV industry was best summed up as "Ted, you're staying. And the rest of you guys, I'm going to have to let go."
Maybe Colbert will be great. He's a bright guy. But it's not the slam-dunk his fans seem to think.
Though I guess that might be enough.
*I do know his name, of course, but there's an age-old tradition in late night television that it's bad luck to say it, so he is just referred to as "The Scottish Fellow."
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