1. I don't think I sleep much anymore. Not sure why.
2. The Shanin and Parks program, for whatever reason, has proven to be amazingly successful. Mike and I are about to begin our fourth year together. I can't believe it. I never thought this show would work. I hoped it would...but was filled with doubt when it was first launched. Thank you --- Kansas City --- for making a dream come true.
3. When I retire I would like to have a home in Lawrence, Ks. and an apartment in Venice, Italy.
4. Mark Mangino is fat.
5. Facebook may be the greatest and the worst invention in the history of the world.
6. I love Iron Maiden.
7. If a tree falls in a forest...and nobody hears it --- then who gives a crap?
8. Health care reform will pass the House, but won't in the Senate.
9. Cap and Trade is dead.
10. If I had to give up one of my senses it would be the sense of smell....if I had to give up another it would be taste....if I had to give up another it would be sight.
11. If I had to be an animal I would be a tiger.
12. One of my guilty pleasures is watching re-runs of Beverly Hill, 90210 on Soap Net.
13. Joy Behar is the worst ....
14. CNN needs a makeover....badly.
15. I'm out.
Peace of Crap
October 9, 2009
I woke up this morning at 5:50. As I am prone to do, I grabbed my laptop and logged on to my KMBZ e-mail account. There was an e-mail already in my in-box from morning news anchor Ellen Schenk. It read simply, "wake up, we need you on the air". I wrote back that I was awake and enquired as to what she needed me on the air to discuss. The reply? "Obama just won the Nobel Peace Prize".
Thinking that this was some sort of really strange, and not very funny, joke....I logged on to the New York Times. And there it was.
So the crew of European elites who select the annual recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize have been kind enough to bestow such an honor on our new president. A man who promised change --- and sadly, has brought some. But for what? Could someone please explain to me exactly what President Barack Obama has done in the first 10 months of his administration that would warrant being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?
If your answer is he has re-opened talks with an avowed enemy of the United States hoping to forge a mutual peace --- I'm not buying. He hasn't met with Mahmoud....but his envoys have. If your answer is he chaired a recent meeting of the UN Security Council and the crew agreed in principal to a meaningless pact to cut down on nuclear weapons --- I ain't buying that either.
If the criteria for winning the Nobel Peace Prize is to meet with enemies and work toward the reduction of one's nuclear arsenal then riddle me this Batman --- why didn't President Reagan ever win a Nobel Peace Prize? He met three times face-to-face with Mikhail Gorbachev and actually signed treaties with the Soviets to reduce nuclear weapons. Oh wait. I forgot. Reagan was a conserative. Reagan was a republican.
The Nobel Peace Prize lost whatever credibility it had left this morning. Not that it had much in the tank after awarding one to Yasser Arafat in the 90's.
Obama won --- let's be honest --- because he is not George W. Bush. And President Obama would be smart to not accept. Just give the damn thing back.
Perhaps in four to eight years President Obama will have a body of work put together that would warrant awarding him this peace prize. But he hasn't done anything yet. This award has now been politicized beyond repair.
P.
RIP Russ Johnson
October 7, 2009
The news landed on me like a ton of lead this morning. Word in the KMBZ newsroom that former afternoon talk show host Russ Johnson was dead --- the victim of his own hand, and the darkness and despair of his own mind.
Surprised was not my first emotion. Saddened was.
I first met Russ Johnson in the early 1990's. He hosted a talk show on the KU student-run radio station KJHK. He was the talker, I was the news reader. Russ was often touted back then as the next "John Boss", who was his predecessor and had a very popular program. Russ and I would go on to work together in subsequent years at KCMO and KMBZ radio when both were owned by Bonneville and later Entercom.
On KCMO, Russ hosted a Saturday morning talk show. I read the news for him once again. It was during those years of fun and frivolity that I met Mama Pepsi (a Harley Davidson riding grandmother) and was bitten by a pig. Russ was, if nothing else, original.
He was a creature of habit who shook nervously at the mere mention of being removed from his element. He smoked, he cussed, and he laughed. Russ had his routine and hated deviating from it. He rarely used computers. He kept important phone numbers in a Rolodex. He bought newspapers when most people his age turned to webpages.
Russ Johnson was gregarious. He commanded a room when he walked in it. Some people loved him. Others didn't. Russ had a very short fuse and was not one to suffer ignorance well. But he had a huge heart and could be a dependable confidante when necessary.
His voice was booming. Maybe one of the greatest voices ever to grace an airwave. He was fun. He was my friend.
And Russ, you will be sorely missed.
The passing of a political legend.
August 26, 2009
I will take no joy today from hearing about the death of Senator Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. He was, without doubt, an American political legend. A flawed personal characted, but a legend nonetheless.
I struggle to find an occasion where Senator Kennedy and I would have agreed politically. Maybe on the death penalty, and to a much lesser degree, perhaps, a woman's right to choose --- although I support very strict restrictions on the practice of abortion.
But while discussion of what happened at Chappaquiddick in 1969 is certainly warranted, while discussion of his alleged womanizing and alcoholism are acceptable, I would also argue that for millions of Americans Ted Kennedy was a political hero. He pushed hard for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, S-CHIP, and the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1985. That is just a snapshot of the legislation he had a heavy hand in during his 47 year Senate career.
But he made horrible political mistakes as well. He lobbied in 1968 to end the war in Vietnam --- a war I will go to my grave contending was perfectly just and perfectly winnable. He derailed the nomination of Robert Bork in 1987, and he vigorously supported countless liberal causes and legislation over the years.
I am stunned reading some of the e-mails Mike and I have received today. E-mails that refer to Ted Kennedy as a monster, someone worthy of spending eternity in hell, and those who have said "good riddance" upon hearing news of his passing. This sort of hate and venom, sadly, is indicative of the degradation of politics that so sorely hurts this nation. It is perfectly acceptable to disagree with Senator Kennedy, to dislike his political leanings --- but I think to wish anyone, short of Hitler, Stalin, or Osama Bin Laden, is a bit much. Wouldn't you agree.
Ted Kennedy was a legend. He was the last of a famous political dynasty. And to millions he will be sorely missed.
Parks.
Dennis Moore
August 25, 2009
I'm confused --- and quite frankly, frustrated --- by Congressman Dennis Moore of Kansas. I have known him, strictly on a professional basis, for the better part of five years or more. Our conversations have always been pleasant. I find him to be a very likeable man. But lately I think he has done his constituents, and himself, a grave disservice.
Mike Shanin and I have repeatedly offered Congressman Moore the use of our radio show to explain his position on a proposed health care reform bill working its way through the Congress. According to several callers, Mr. Moore was leaning toward coming on the show at some point until he tuned in and heard what was being said about him on the Shanin and Parks Show. Really? A grown man, who is clearly very bright and seasoned in the Congress, is worried about a little criticism? Seriously?
Dennis Moore knows that if he were to appear on our show he would be treated the way he has always been treated in the past: with respect, courtesy, and professionalism. That's not to say the questions wouldn't be tough....but they would be fair. Mike and I are not out to embarass the congressman. We are not out for a "gotcha" moment that other radio flame-throwers in this town would seek. We want answers. The public is demanding them.
That's the problem with this health care reform debate right now. No one seems to really know what it might bring. Would it include death panels? Probably not. Would it signal the end of the Medicare Advantage program? Most assuredly. Would it possibly lead to rationing and maybe even someday a single payer system like they have in England? Probably. But we don't know for sure and Americans from coast to coast are turning to their elected leaders for answers. Answers Congressman Moore, for whatever reason, doesn't seem eager to share. Perhaps it is because he doesn't know the answers we seek. Or maybe even more likely, he is burned out and doesn't really plan to seek re-election.
I really wonder if Congressman Moore has the so-called "fire in the belly" needed to run and win a federal office anymore. The last time I saw him was in our studio just before the election. He looked tired. Beaten down. Uninterested. It was then that I first remember thinking, "this man doesn't want it anymore".
Don't get me wrong. I know Dennis Moore. I like him. But I think I would like him better if he was a private citizen again.
