Morning Expulsion
Marc Maron is toast at Air America.
Vacuous blowhard James Wolcott issues a "Call to Arms" that reads more like a mash note:
Today I appeared on the show's final half hour, which was graced by a cameo drop-in by Tim Robbins. A lot of people don't know this but when not writing-acting-directing Robbins bumps off businesses that prey on the weak and defenceless, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. He had just committed an unarmed robbery when he realized he was in the vicinity of O'Neal's and decided to pop in and say hello. That's how much Tim Robbins admires the work Marc and Mark do: he interrupted his getaway from an unarmed robbery to make a gesture of moral support.
See, that's the great thing about being on the side of justice and light. You get to shake hands with cool writer-actor-directors slash secret avengers such as Tim Robbins. Whereas those on the side of power and darkness find themselves mingling with the likes of, well, this guy.
Really, there's no contest.
Note to the editors of The Onion: Your next
Jackie Harvey column is done.
I'll say this; if I were a Frankennet fan, I'd be bummed. Maron was - how shall I put this - their least un-listenable "talent". It verged, at times, on being radio that wasn't irredeemably awful, from a purely technical perspective (leaving politics out).
When Frankennet went on the air, I predicted that one of its major "talents" as of March 31, 2004 would be gone by September (and, duly, Marty Kaplan was demoted from evenings to weekends in plenty of time to safeguard my prediction). Sue Ellicott, Lizzzzz Winstad and Kacklin' Katherine Lanpher have since jumped or been pushed. My prediction was that FrankenNet would be gone by the end of '07.
So far so good.
Posted by Mitch at
January 20, 2006 02:54 PM
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Which Mark is he? The Mark with the daily bits (Confessional, Liberal Talking Points, Bad Bill Clinton) (NOBODY except this guy does DAILY bits - you got to leave 'em wanting more, guy) or the Mark whose palpable dread at the approach of the daily bits used to amuse me so?
Posted by: Brian Jones at January 20, 2006 03:24 PMDude, this news is almost 2 MONTHS OLD; check out the date of the post you link to. "Rapid-response new media" indeed.
Posted by: Tim at January 20, 2006 07:34 PMOf course Big Al will be done with the media juggernaut that is Air America by '07. He will be focusing his considerable wit and energy on his run against Coleman (not Chris). I can't wait. The fun part, aside from hearing all the sound bites of his ascerbic, cutting repartee will be his attempt to present himself as a Minnesotan and not an elitist Manhatten snob. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Posted by: Kermit at January 20, 2006 07:38 PMFor more of the deep, penetrating analysis from the keen, agile mind of Al Franken, read the Playboy interview.
Posted by: Eracus at January 21, 2006 08:48 AM"Dude, this news is almost 2 MONTHS OLD; check out the date of the post you link to."
Er, yeah? I know.
"Rapid-response new media" indeed."
I respond as rapidly as the importance of the news requires.
Marc Maron? Not very important.
Posted by: mitch at January 22, 2006 07:19 PMBleh, just re-read my post, sorry for the typos and truncated thoughts..comes from writing while distracted.
Long and short, throwing money into a highly inflationary system is foolish, the 60's showed the result = massive inflation. However, cost oversight implemented BY the industry receiving the profits also MUST, did, and will fail.
Savings accounts and the Medicare Drug plan both fail to deal with the increasing demand and decreasing supply (ability to pay - except in the very near term). The system is broke, and making it affordable for all is the only solution, but making it affordable by having the government, private citizens or whomever, simply put more money into the system, will NEVER, EVER be a long-term solution.
Market genuflection will not prevent groups who have an interest in following highly profitable systems from continuing, unless public pressure exists, and it won't unless the root causes see the light of day. Obfuscations like Malpractice (and frankly HSA's) keep that from occuring. There is no need to "compete" for patients, patients are coming out of the walls. Further, the issue is both that there are too few paying patients, and that cost features hit the plan payer (employers) or hit patients too indirectly, to bring cost pressure to bear on providers very effectively. The one area they are starting to hit providers (Drugs), the solution appears to be (from this administration) give them MORE money , both patient's own and public, which will of course do what?? Cause MUCH more inflation, and only make the pharmacuticals more money until we hit the breaking point.
Finally, even with cost pressure, the number of "paying" patients is dwindling, and no amount of pressure will allow a physician to operate at a loss.
The only solutions are universality to spread the cost more uniformly and cost containments driven by outside review. I'm not sure what part of a fair days pay for a fair days work seeems so antithetical to good ethics (in the eyes of the ultra-fascists), but selling viagra for a profit of $20 per tab is rapacious, creating a system to PAY that bill is stupid, and arguing that it's a good idea is ludicrous.
Sorry for the typos earlier... too many distractions.
PB
Posted by: pb at January 23, 2006 10:43 AM...?
*shakes head*
Never mind...not worth expending any brain calories on.
Posted by: Bill C at January 23, 2006 02:39 PMforbear rogues:conveyor wildcat?Hebraicize spinoff clicked.
Posted by: at August 16, 2006 11:28 PM