Hearings

As an eight-year old, I hated the McCarthy hearings. It wasn't the politics. They overrode my TV programs Howdy Doody and Time for Beany.

My mother and grandmother believed in McCarthy. There was a communist under every bed waiting to overthrow our country.

At the time there was a program I Led Three Lives about Herbert Philbrick who served as a double spy. He'd written a book about his experiences, which was the substance of the TV series.

In school we hid under our desks in case of an atomic bomb. The government produced a film on how radiation was good for you. Ann Coulter has been known to say this, too.

In bed at night, I would wonder if tonight would be the night, the bomb landed. I also thought somewhere in Russia was a little girl like me, and she couldn't possibly want me dead any more than I wanted her dead.

Over the years, the more I read, the more I learned what a crock of sh-t it all was from the domino theory if Vietnam fell, to weapons of mass deception to bringing democracy to other countries, especially if they had oil.

Today I was watching in Cohen hearing.

No matter what side you are on there is one thing that is clear. Everyone lies. Some politicians lie more than others.

Cohen's truthfulness is on shaky ground based on his history. Full stop. Something it seemed the Republicans, reading from the same script, pointed out and pointed out and pointed out and pointed out. A little originality would have been appreciated.

Many of the Democrats used their time for grandstanding.

AOC was an exception. She's been called stupid and naive. Fill in the blanks for negative adjectives.

Yet despite all that, AOC seemed to ask the most direct questions, picking up where earlier questioners had not demanded answers. This is the second time, I've seen her go to the meat of the problem, the first being when she got an admission of dark money in politics. www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_gxiMTIudA

I would use the term refreshing for her.

It is all theater. Not good theater at that.

I think I would prefer Beany and his friend Cecil, the sea-sick sea serpent. At least they can't damage the country any more than any of the clowns that ask for respect and deserve none can.