Three stories were dominant on US television today:
1. The US city of Chicago, Illinois lost its bid for the 2016 Olympics. Those Olympics are to be held at Rio de Janeiro, Bazil.
2.David Letterman, Comic and TV show host, announced on his Late Show that he had been victim of a plan in which a man attempted to extort and believed he had extorted for two million dollars. The man who allegedly did the extorting and is under arrest is named Halderman and is a CBS News producer. The facts Dave Letterman was to have paid to conceal indicated that he had engaged in sexual activity with women on his staff during his long television career. Letterman admits this did occur.
3. The five committees in Congress most entrusted with healthcare reform legislation have passed versions of bills or a bill which will be going into some kind of redrafting to produce a House Bill and a Senate Bill presumably. Then when these pass they will go to a conference commitee an ammendment will be passed to reconcile the bills in each house and then they will go to the President to be signed. Even that path I have described may not be the route the bill actualy takes on its way to become law. YET, IN A REAL SENSE A MAJOR STEP TO PASSAGE OF HEALTHCARE REFORM AS PROPOSED BY OBAMA WAS TAKEN TODAY.
Chicago has already begun to move on and go forward but there was clearly widespread disappointment that they had finished last out of four bids. We do not know how this will affect Obama’s political clout. We can rejoice for South America however, this is that continent’s first Olympics. Atlanta’s Olympics were marred by a bombing and has been overshadowed in several ways. It will be less than the best memory Committees consider. In addition, Americans have an Olympic commitee known for too much change to suit others in the world Olympic community. So we will have to move on with the future as best we can see it.
So Letterman has found a way to move on and go forward. He has protected the identity of his lovers, tried to work things out with his new wife and cooperated with law enforcement. He has worked it into his show. He has shown a capacity for survival in his career that goes well beyond the normal. It will be interesting to see how this goes forward.
The healthcare legislation is already a disappointment to many. Many people believed that they would stop it, or have a stronger public option, or have a bigger set of new dedicated funds or have stricter cost controls. Whatever people wished for and did not get they are now having to deal with in terms of disappointment. Political figures and others will regroup and move forward.
I am often pessimistic in these blog posts but really we are a resilient species. There is no reason for me to abandon all hope just yet. Like everyone else I look at life’s disappointments readjust and move forward.
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