We Love Our TV Sociopaths

My new favorite show is "Lie to Me" on Fox. I know Tim Roth has done a lot of stuff in his career, most notably "Reservoir Dogs", but I seriously cannot recall seeing him in anything else. Anyway, I think his character, Dr. Lightman is awesome, mostly because he is yet another eccentric genius who in theory should really piss you off but you can't help loving the guy. There's been a LOT of these guys on television lately. Their acerbic, slashing wit makes their fictional co-workers cringe and you the viewer laugh your ass off. You enjoy how he plucks the answer to the mystery out of thin air but you still can't help but question his sanity.

Welcome to the Age of the Sociopathic Genius on TV.

Dr. Lightman is just the latest example. He has devoted his life to studying the science of body language and can spot someone lying from 50 paces if they rub their neck or commit a "facial shrug". And he's not ashamed to rub it in your face that he got it right. This guy told his teenage daughter he wouldn't be sneaky and try to find out if her date wanted to sleep with her... then he answered the door and ASKED HIM DIRECTLY.

Fox is the home of the sociopathic genius, both fictional and real-life. Let's run down the Fox lineup and look at the similarities:

Dr. Lightman: Presumably British since he speaks with a British accent. Renowned expert when it comes to people who are lying. Can't stand his co-workers or people who understand body language naturally. Drives his co-workers batty but (at least so far) always gets his man.

Gordon Ramsey ("Hell's Kitchen"/"Kitchen Nightmares"): British. Renowned expert chef/restauranteur. Can't stand ANYONE. Drives everyone batty but viewers love him for it.

Dr. House: Not British (but played by a British actor). Renowned expert in all things medical (at least in his own mind, anyway). Can't stand anyone. Drives his co-workers batty but manages to more often than not save the patient's life.

Simon Cowell ("American Idol"): British. Renowned music expert. Can't stand bad singers, Ryan Seacrest, and Paula Abdul most of the time. Drives his fellow judges batty, gets booed at least once a show, but people respect his star-making ability (just ask Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Jordin Sparks).

Dr. Walter Bishop ("Fringe"): Not British (but played by an Aussie). Renowned expert in all things weird. Nice enough fella, really doesn't get bothered by anyone. Still manages to drive his co-workers batty (ESPECIALLY his son), but always finds the reason for the weird phenomena that for whatever reason seems to only happen around Boston.

Jack Bauer ("24"): Definitely not British. Renowned expert in all things anti-terrorism and kicking ass. Can't stand pretty much anyone who gets in his way. Drives any and all authority figures batty but always saves the country.

OK, maybe that last one was a stretch but close enough. For good measure, throw in the numerical experts on CBS' "Numbers" and our favorite serial killer turned crime-fighter, "Dexter". In recent years, we the viewing public (and critics as well) have proven that we enjoy the "flawed hero", the best examples being Tony Soprano and "Mad Men"'s Don Draper. But this goes beyond "flawed hero" and goes straight to "lovable wackjob". I don't know if anyone else has isolated this pop culture trend, but I just find it interesting. It may be getting close to becoming cliched, but let's hope that for now, these shows continue to pump out quality episodes.

That's really what it comes down to, the fact that these shows that feature heroes who live outside societal norms draw great writers and producers. These guys are able to mine these lead characters and find ways to develop them as people as they continue to save the day week after week. The mere fact that some of these people are real people makes them more lovable, but even the fictional dramas retain just enough of a kernel of possibility that even though we couldn't believe people like House, Bishop, and Lightman would exist in real life, we know that if they were needed in real life, we'd wish they did exist.

And now, apropos of nothing, but the Big Game is tomorrow and I have to drop a prediction on you all, so I will remind you that I am 13-8 lifetime with my S**** B*** picks (13-4 if you don't count the 4 Buffalo Bills losses), and I will tell you that Pittsburgh will win, 27-24.

A Peaceful Transition of Power

Today President Bush leaves office, and despite the continuing pleas from the left, he will not be led out of the White House in handcuffs. Of course, it hasn't stopped the continued smearing of the guy that we've seen constantly for the last eight years. As a president leaves office, you always want to talk about legacy, but that of course isn't something we can decide right now. Not that it doesn't stop people from trying, and for the 23% Crowd, that means Chris Matthews attacking Bush's farewell address where he talked about spreading democracy and freedom. Matthews chose to blame Bush for the rise of Hamas in Palestine, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Ahmadenijad in Iran, because all were "democratically elected." When those who still support Bush point to the fact that we haven't had a terrorist attack on American soil since 9-11, the left goes back to their well-worn "Bush knew" line, blaming Bush for the 9-11 attacks.

And of course, when anyone tries to say that history will be the final judge, liberals immediately claim that history already has, and they trot out a (presumably liberal) university historian to tell you that history already has judged Bush. Except that for history to judge someone, his body of work actually has to BE history! Maybe they're afraid that Bush will pull a Harry Truman, leaving office with low approval ratings but somehow rising to respected status decades later when the full effects of his policies played out. Whatever the case, I guess they'll have plenty of time to go over this for the next four years because they will have nobody currently in power to hate. It really makes me wonder if 6 months from now, the front page of Moveon.org's website will resemble the front page of Newsmax.com in 2001: still devoted to attacking the last president while virtually ignoring the one currently in office. Despite the efforts of Democrats like Susan Estrich who are begging their lunatic fringe to back down now that the Bush presidency is ending, it's doubtful that will happen.

Back in the peak days of Bush Derangement Syndrome, one of my back-burner ideas was an alternate "history" that would have played out if Gore had become president instead of Bush. For the most part, it was tongue-in-cheek; I had things like Cheney's shooting incident turning into an excuse for Gore to ban all guns, but there were also items I truly think would have happened like Gore using 9-11 as a reason to raise taxes. But I trashed the idea after I could no longer defend Bush. Let's face it, by late 2007, it had become tiring to constantly defend the guy from the liberal onslaught, so I just wanted to run out the clock. And then the bailout last year lost a lot of us Republicans for good, both for the orgy of deficit spending itself but also because it shed light on the inherent problem of the Bush economic policy of propping America up by spending beyond your means.

Anyway, it's almost over now, so let us look forward. We have a new president coming into office, one who promises change, and we certainly want things to change in this country, although we differ on what things we want changed. But at a time when we celebrate the uniquely American tradition of transfer of power that doesn't come at the barrel of a gun, there are those who just don't want to celebrate, and for the old, tired reasons.

The now-unlistenable Rush Limbaugh is attacking fellow conservatives like Newt Gingrich and Sean Hannity for the unpardonable sin of wishing Obama success. So now we have to put partisanship ahead of wanting the incoming president to do a good job for the good of the nation? That is just plain unpatriotic. Wanting the president to fail just to support your agenda is WRONG. It was wrong when the 23% Crowd wished ill on Bush, and it is wrong for right-wingers to do this now. And I know the reason... "They did it to us, why can't we do it to them?" Because at some point, you have to break the cycle. Sorry it wasn't the Democrats who broke the cycle upon a Republican taking office, but it has to happen. Hyperpartisanship has got to stop. This is as good a time as any.

At the same time, I'm not going to allow myself to get sucked into any kind of Obama cult of personality where I immediately attack anyone who has a disagreement with him. I didn't vote for him, there are issues on which I oppose him. And I will feel free to criticize the president when I think it's necessary. However, as this country is in bad shape right now, we need our president to do well... I just have different standards than others when it comes to what approximates "doing well."

Obama held a dinner meeting with prominent conservatives like George Will last week; that is certainly a welcome change from Jim Webb telling President Bush to shove off at that dinner for incoming senators two years ago. When you actually make an attempt to understand the other side, maybe consensus can be found. There are things that most Americans agree with; use that to make things happen. Now I know there are those on the far left and far right who abhor that approach and will be angry that their side won't just impose its will on the other side, but if it succeeds, they won't have a leg to stand on.

So I will watch the inauguration and Obama's address and we'll have to wait and see how this all plays out. Imagine that, not passing judgment on someone before he does anything...

Time for More Random Thoughts

As I am at work right now, I am being subjected to Laura Ingraham doing an interview with Ann Coulter. I'm thinking of rolling tape on it because I could always use a new car alarm...

Looking ahead at the weather forecast for this week that includes a stretch of three days where the HIGH temperature will not hit double digits, I first think of my classmates from down South who are going to freak over this. I then think of the ESF professor who wrote in to the Sub-Standard, errrr, Post-Standard last week and basically said that this frigid winter is causing us to ignore global warming. He then went through the theory behind this (which is only that, a theory, as it has NOT been universally proven) and of course being an environmentalist put the ultimate blame on the industrialization of America. This is just plain getting ridiculous. To even think that humanity has the power to change the natural cycles of both our planet and our universe just shows the overwhelming self-importance shown by many on the left. And yes, I said universe, as there is just as much evidence that points to solar cycles as the cause of climate change as there is evidence blaming humans, but funny how you never hear about the impact on our climate that comes from the sun. Ya know, the thing that is the earth's major source of HEAT! Now pardon me while I hunker down for the -10 to -15 degree nights we have coming...

As I always say, if you're pissing off both liberals AND conservatives, you must be doing something right. That's what President-elect Obama seems to be doing with this stimulus package. The Dems don't like the tax cuts and the Republicans don't like the size of it. Well, I'm not a fan of the fact that this package exists, period. However, it's gonna happen so why not make it as beneficial as possible. The House swears there will be no pork added to this bill. Hopefully, Obama holds them to this AND sticks to his guns on the tax cuts. There will be other tax battles to fight later, most notably on the possible expiration or revocation of the Bush tax cuts, but for now, it's a good start for the soon-to-be-44th president. That and the fact that Obama was asked by a supporter this morning if he would prosecute President Bush and his administration for all of their supposed crimes against humanity, and Obama said that he wanted to look forward, not back. I had pleasant visions of the 23% Crowd angrily throwing things at their TVs when he said that...

No matter how many times I see the Bridgestone tire commercial with the forest animals screaming, I have to laugh...

Speaking of commercials, I've been seeing all the "American Idol" promos with that show coming back next week, and I've noticed one thing missing: the BAD singers. Every previous year, they sold the show as much with the promising future finalists as they did with the godawful people who couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. Now, it's only the good singers. I wonder if this, along with the trimming of the "pre-Hollywood audition" episodes, is part of a strategy by Fox to re-image the show. It's now all about the best singers, not the Sanjaya types who crash the party (thanks to merry pranksters like "Vote for the Worst"). The fact that Fox feels that it needs to make changes to stop the sliding ratings will at least in the short term cause more scrutiny of the show (if not more viewers), but will it cause the "Worsters" to go away? Not likely...

Let me stay on the commercial topic for a moment while once again mentioning that I am presently stuck listening to right-wing talk shows... it seems like every other network commercial during Rush, Hannity, etc. is for either Irritable Bowel Syndrome products or something that gets rid of colon problems. From this, I can only deduce that people must think right-wingers are predisposed to having digestive issues...

I'm sure by now you've seen the list of "banned words and phrases" that Lake Superior State put out at the start of the year. Of course, it's just silly because there is a little thing called freedom of speech in our constitution, but if I had the power to ban certain words and phrases, I would certainly ban the use of "everyone knows" or "we all know" when making an argument (which I have written about before). Also, I would ban the use of ANY comparison between Israel and Nazi Germany...

Lastly, all I can say is thank god "24" is back... that and "Scrubs". "American Idol"? Eh.

The 5 Little Words Every Politician Needs to Hear

The saying goes "if money were no object". These days, it seems like government is treating our tax money as if it were no object, that is something that wasn't coming from our paychecks, both present and future. Democrats spent years blasting the Bush administration for its deficit spending... but only because it was on the Iraq War. Even as they attacked the size of the deficit, they cried foul that not enough money was being spent on their pet social projects. Now that they're in charge and the economy's broken, they feel they have license to spend all they want. I get the Keynesian principle of deficit spending to jump-start an economy, but when the economic crisis is built on debt, what is running up more debt going to accomplish?

Of course, these people have their heroes, most notably that Nobel Prize-winning economist (*gag*) Paul Krugman of the New York Times. Krugman has said that not only is it right for the federal government to spend like drunken sailors (and as Reagan once said, that's an insult to drunken sailors), state governments should be doing the same. Failure to do so, says Krugman, would make state governors just like Herbert Hoover, who dared to balance a budget during the Depression with disastrous results. Not as disastrous as what FDR put us through for years afterward, but that's another debate for another time. The point is the name "Herbert Hoover" gets tossed around a lot these days and pinned to virtually anyone who tries to be a deficit hawk or to stand in the way of this outrageous spending.

And a few states are taking Krugman's advice, asking the federal government for hundreds of billions of dollars to fix their shortsightedness. I'm sorry, but it is NOT the job of the federal government to fix the problems of individual states; that's not exactly the language in the 10th Amendment of our Constitution, but that's how I choose to read it. They need to balance their budgets on their own.

New York is one of the states that has asked for federal help; we're looking at a $15 billion budget deficit for next year. Krugman might not be aware of this (after all, he only MAKES HIS LIVING in New York), but New York is required BY LAW to have a balanced budget. Yeah, yeah, whoever passed that law is a "Herbert Hoover", whatever. Anyway, Gov. Paterson has chosen to close this deficit with a variety of new taxes and fees. The one that has gotten the lion's share of the coverage is the so-called "obesity tax", where New Yorkers will now have to pay an extra sales tax on regular soda but NOT diet soda. However, there are also new taxes on haircuts, movie theatre tickets, and movie and iTunes downloads (pair that up with the end of RIAA lawsuits and you can expect illegal downloading in New York to skyrocket).

Now this has caused outrage among the populace, with state Republicans claiming that it will cost the average New York family an additional $4,000 next year. However, the alternative is just as bad. Assembly Democrats want that extra tax burden to be dropped on just the rich. Currently the New York state income tax is a flat tax; everyone pays the same rate (what a concept). Some in the Assembly think that's not "fair", so they want taxes hiked on either those who make $250,000 a year or $1 million a year. Their buddies in the unions (whose jobs would be affected if state spending was cut) filled our TV screens with commercials this Christmas season, telling us that if we think our Christmas isn't as merry as in past years, there's one thing we can do to make us feel better... call our legislators and tell them to soak the rich.

Of course, if they were to do this, rich New Yorkers would move to a state with lower income taxes, as they've been doing for years. It's no big secret that we are one of the most taxed states in the country; 22 of the 25 counties with the highest property tax rates in the country are in upstate New York. If you already know your federal income taxes are going up with Obama taking office, you need to go wherever your tax bite will be the smallest; that's just common sense. Interest groups have countered that if state income taxes are not raised, people will leave the state because hospitals and schools will be lousy. I counter back: if they DO raise taxes, people will leave the state, the hospitals and schools will STILL be lousy, and now you won't have any avenues for private investment to improve them!

Another solution Paterson and the Legislature devised has caused more howls of protest. The Indian Nations in New York state have been selling cigarettes tax-free for years; some have done so on reservation land, while others have bought land and tried to claim it as tax-free. The U.S. Supreme Court nixed the latter idea, and now the state has enacted a provision to force wholesalers who supply cigarettes to these shops on reservations to charge state taxes that aren't being collected when the stores sell cigarettes to non-Indians. The response was predictable; the Senecas and Oneidas are indignant over this infringement over their "sovereignty." One small problem with this. They want to be treated as separate nations from the United States; you know, like Canada. Well, when you go to Canada as a "non-Canadian", and you buy items there, you have to declare them when you come back over the border and if they're of any real worth, you have to (gasp!) PAY TAXES. Congratulations! We're treating you like any other foreign nation! Deal with it!

Which brings me to my advice for all of these people involved in trying to get us out of our economic woes through government intervention. It's about time all of these people in government, all of these tax-and-spend types, and all of these interest groups learn 5 simple words:

"Suck it up and deal."

That's it. Times are tough in this country. We the average Americans have to make do with less, and it's about damn time government does the same. It would be so nice to hear the Republicans say to President-elect Obama and the Democrats in Congress, "Yeah, that's wonderful that you want a $1 trillion stimulus package. Last I checked, we have a $10 trillion-plus national debt and a $1 trillion deficit this year. We cannot spend another penny. Period. Suck it up and deal." It would also be nice if Washington then said it to all the governors asking for a handout. Then Gov. Paterson, having learned these magical words, could say it to the Assembly Democrats, the civil service unions, and the Indians.

I'm not saying that everything in this country would then be hunky-dory. After all, we are in a bad recession, and we need to do something to get us out of it. But what gets lost in the mix is that these things are cyclical, and even as we speak, private investors and businesses are finding ways to succeed through new ideas and better business plans. It will take time. I realize time is not expedient when you're a politician who is up for re-election every two years, but patience is a virtue and one that politicians apparently are not good at. It's time to learn. If you don't like it, suck it up and deal.