Ayn Rand a Housewife?… Thanks to Leslie Carbone for sending this along, as it seems TV producer Marc Cherry is coming out of the closet, perhaps "objectively."
In the season premier of Desperate Housewives, the Orson character makes a little, oddly timed, 
"I’m a libertarian; I believe in limiting the power of the state and expanding the power of the individual" (paraphrase) speech. Then, at the end of the episode, as the camera pans across a golf club that’s under development, a sign is shown announcing the name of the club’s architectural firm:
Howard Roark, Inc.
Funny. Call it subliminal TV messaging if you will, but Cherry’s claim to be a "somewhat conservative, gay Republican" seems to pit any of his so-called Libertarianism against reality, as evidenced by monetary contributions over the years to Dianne Feinstein and Emily’s List.
But, at least we can say we saw 15 seconds of something thought-provoking on TV.
No Pages in Dehesa Valley… Jimmy Valentine, producer of the Roger Hedgecock radio show, has for several weeks been having some fun with his daily emailed "FlashFax" by renaming it the "Dehesa Valley Gazette" and touting his own "run" for the mythical office of mayor of rural Dehesa Valley. As Jimmy opined about Foley, Hastert, et al this week he noted the following, while throwing out a gem of a "not me too":
As Foley disappears from the public radar it will be a baboon fest. Cannibalism of the highest order. Burp.
The saga will play out all the way to election day. Which means that talk about issues and matters of great national and international import will be left by the wayside and voters will cast ballots based on whether their candidate touched a page or knew somebody who touched a page or even read something in the Post about somebody touching a page.
For the record, we have no pages here in Dehesa Valley. We do have goats, and despite rumors that rage, I have never touched a goat in an improper manner. "I never had sex with that goat."
SDUT Blogger Rails on "Wal-Mart" Ordinance… The beauty of blogs runs by newspapers, even credible newspapers, is that they often lose the window dressing and can be cutting edge compared to the stuffed-shirtiness of the typical editorialists holed up in the ivory tower of journalism. Consider the Union-Trib’s Chris Reed and his "America’s Finest Blog," a title derived from the San Diego slogan, "America’s Finest City."
Last week, in addressing the foolhardy "Big Box Ordinance" once again being discussed in the City of San Diego, Reed far surpasses in style anything the big daddies at the editorial page would have published:
The news that Wal-Mart intends to offer the generic version of dozens of popular prescription drugs for a mere $4 in parts of Florida, with the goal of taking the program national, is still more evidence undercutting the idea that Wal-Mart is a malign force. Yeah, tell that to seniors on a fixed income.
Nevertheless, City Council members Scott Peters, Ben Hueso, Toni Atkins, Donna Frye and Tony Young think San Diegans should be denied cheap groceries at Wal-Mart Supercenters.
Here’s what Hueso said last month after his vote against Supercenters: “My actions today aren’t intended to hurt an existing business but to prevent the creation of something that could be very detrimental to the residents and the economy of our city.”
Yeah, Ben, cheap food is “very detrimental”! Who needs it? Let them eat caulk!
By any objective measure, Wal-Mart has done more to help Americans, especially poor ones, than all its critics combined. Peters, Hueso, Atkins, Frye and Young could devote the rest of their lives to helping the downtrodden, and they’d never equal the objective good done by the arrival of one Wal-Mart in a working-class suburb. The improvement in standard of living that a family enjoys when it only has to spend $400 a month for basic goods instead of $600 is immense. Only a rich elitist – or a union puppet – can’t see this.
Have a great Sunday!
October 8th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Barry:
For the Uninitiated… Howard Roark is the hero of Ms. Rand’s fine novel, the Fountainhead.
He is an architect who refuses to compromise his professional or personal ideals.
Hollywood did a solid film version, with Gary Cooper as Howard Roark and the great
Patricia Neal as the love interest.
The real-life Ayn Rand was much more interesting, and occasionally scary, than
any TV series character!
October 8th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Well, heck, I thought I was just being subtle….either you get the Howard Roark reference, or you don’t. But, ok, now I have linked his name above to a video of the Gary Cooper summation speech in the 1949 film.