The Return Of Lawrence O’Donnell

You know, I can’t decide if it’s the annoying way they deliver the bad news with a smile, or that nagging feeling I get that what they are reporting as “news” is actually some carefully contrived bit of “spin” designed to manipulate the politics of the masses, but either way, I am not a big fan of television news. Don’t get me wrong, I do check in now and then just to check on the weather and to make sure I won’t be the last guy on earth to know the world is ending, but, as a general rule, I find the news to be just too damned depressing to watch for more than a few minutes at a time.

But there are a couple of “voices” on the news that I really like listening to, even though we may disagree on so many things. One of them is Rachel Maddow (of The Rachel Maddow Show), and the other is Lawrence O’Donnell (of The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell). I may avoid the heavily left-leaning MSNBC throughout the day as much as I avoid all the rest, but I try to at least check-in once or twice during at evening just to see what’s up with those two.

The thing is, though I’d been checking-in as regularly as usual, I just kept missing Mr. O’Donnell over the last couple of months somehow – that is, until last night…

I am both extremely embarrassed that I hadn’t heard of the accident Mr. O’Donnell was involved in until last night, and very happy that everyone involved in it seems to have come out okay. For those of you who’re wondering how it is that I could have missed hearing about such a big event, all I can do is point you to that F. Scott Fitzgerald quote Lawrence included in his report…

And remind you that, for me, “retaining my ability to function” in a world where “all news seems ‘spun’ to manipulate the politics of the masses” requires me to ignore most of what I hear about the personal lives of celebrated people.

Incidentally, as one who has spent more than his share of time in hospitals, I couldn’t agree with Lawrence more when it comes to praising those who’ve provided my care. Furthermore, my youngest daughter, Sabra, is, in fact, named after the nurse who treated both my ex-wife and myself so well when she was being born. I don’t know if she was aware that the little boy we had had a year or so before had died right after his birth, but the care and sensitivity she showed towards us was just what we needed to get through some very tense moments…

BTW, I so wanted to include a clip of that night’s “The Rewrite” segment too, but I couldn’t find a copy on YouTube to post. The segment not only payed tribute to the late Sandy Frank, but also stands, I think, as a great lesson in how people with even the greatest differences in political viewpoints can still get along quite well – and perhaps, even, be the best of friends. If you want, you can see it at ‘Come on America, we can do this’.

Welcome back Lawrence O’Donnell! 🙂

I want ice water.

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