–Anyone who hasn’t yet watched a White House press briefing conducted by Jen Paski, White House press secretary for the Biden Administration, should make it a point to do so because Paski is the consummate professional, and as such her press briefings are informative and non-combative. She treats the members of the media with the respect they deserve, and this in turn elicits their respect for her. This is certainly a welcome change from the contentious dog and pony shows offered up as press briefings by the previous administration. Psaki brings to her position the experience of having served as Whitehouse Communications Director for then President Barack Obama from 2015-2017. Prior to that she was spokesperson for the United States Department of State (2013-2015), White House Deputy Communications Director (2009-2011), and White House Deputy Press Secretary (2009), all during the Obama administration. In 2017 she became a political commentator for CNN, a position she held until joining the Biden-Harris transition team in 2020. Psaki is a true gift to the White House press corps.
–Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently was a guest on “Morning Joe,” and one of the topics that came up was when we could expect to see the return to a semblance of normalcy. Fauci handled the question with extreme care, and his prediction was punctuated by some very big ifs. IF everyone observes the rules of wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, and washing their hands often, and IF many people are able to get the vaccine, and IF there isn’t some kind of a hitch in the distribution and administration of the vaccine, Fauci said things could begin returning toward normal by summer’s end or early fall. If his prediction is accurate, that means another baseball season of empty stadiums. What a bummer that will be!
— Imagine if you will a motorist from out of town driving into Wheeling’s kaleidoscopic convolution of orange and white striped barrels, closed exit and entrance ramps, and detour signs. It would be enough to make that traveler want to drive off a bridge, after, of course, finding one open. Talk about “The Twilight Zone”!
–The entertainment world lost two iconic stars last week with the passing of 96-year-old Cicely Tyson and 94-year-old Cloris Leachman. Tyson’s body of work comprises 29 films, almost 70 television series, mini-series, and 15 on- and off-Broadway productions. Among her most famous roles are as a sharecropper’s wife in the 1972 film “Sounder,” for which she earned an Academy Award nomination as best actress, and “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” a television production based on the novel by Ernest J. Haines. In this unforgettable story Tyson plays the part of a young slave who lived to be 110 years old and became active in the 1960’s civil rights movement. In the program’s gut-wrenching final scene, Miss Pittman painstakingly approaches a “whites only” public water fountain and, under the watchful eyes of white police officers, defiantly takes a drink. Tyson deservedly won two Emmys for her work in this powerful drama, and her aging process is a masterpiece of acting and makeup. All of Tyson’s awards are too numerous to delineate here, but they include an honorary Oscar, the Presidential Freedom Medal, and the Kennedy Center Awards. Leachman is one of the most prolific television and film actresses in history, garnering 22 Primetime Emmy Award nominations and eight wins during her stellar career. She also won an Academy Award as best supporting actress for her work in “The Last Picture Show,” and she was nominated for a Golden Globe for the same film. During her career Leachman made more than 100 films and television shows, and between the movies and TV she accumulated close to 300 acting credits. Among her films are “Young Frankenstein,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundown Kid,” “The Longest Yard,” and “The Iron Giant.” But she probably will be best remembered for her signature role as Phyllis Lindstrom on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” from 1970 to 1975 and the spinoff “Phyllis” from 1975 to 1977. In addition, her television series credits range from “Gunsmoke” to “Lassie” to “The Twilight Zone” to “Malcolm in the Middle” to “Hawaii Five-O” to a plethora of television movies. Calling her a prolific actress is a gross understatement. Perhaps we should say her prolificity is prolifically prolific. Amen!
–Ponder this: “If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn’t it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, single liners deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked and drycleaners depressed?” ~George Carlin
