Slamming the Gavel on the Financial Meltdown, and Gaslighting Ingrid Bergman and You
July 30, 2009 |
By Patt Morrison
I’m really looking forward to hearing what Phil Angelides has to say here today – as the head of the new commission that’ll be investigating the roots of the financial collapse, the former state treasurer will have a much bigger platform and audience than he’s ever had before. Think a combination of the Warren Commission, which investigated the Kennedy assassination, and the Pecora Commission, which looked into the causes of the Depression. Wall Street, recalled Chairman Pecora in his memoirs, was ‘’bitterly hostile’’ to any proposal for regulation. It really is true, then – the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Yesterday’s program tried to figure out whether fishing techniques to protect dolphins have taken a toll on other marine life, and our guests thrashed about on the subject like a couple of scholarly barracudas. Suffice it to say, though, that the entire ocean and everything in it is at risk; one pegs the complete collapse of sea-life as just 40 years from now. Vital as the discussion is, it’s more important to put the brakes on everything that affects the oceans, from trash to fishing. Can that happen? Does it snow at the equator? Well, not yet, anyway.
My favorite part of the program was with Ralph Keyes, the author of ‘’I Love It When You Talk Retro,’’ about how we use shorthand references in our language – ‘’drop a dime’’ for turning somebody in, ‘’Mrs Robinson’’ for an older woman seducing a younger man – without always knowing how those phrases came to be. They’re touchstones, common cultural references that deliver in abbreviated fashion a more complex thought. But they also disappear; how long will ‘’dialing a phone’’ still be used? I was glad to help one caller who said someone had told him, ‘’Don’t gaslight me.’’ He didn’t know what it meant, and neither did Ralph Keyes. It comes from the classic Ingrid Bergman/Charles Boyer film, where her husband [Boyer] tries to drive her insane by, among other things, making the gaslight illuminations in their house go up and down, and then telling her she’s going crazy and seeing things. Ever since, ‘’to gaslight’’ someone means to try to drive them nuts.
Am I the only one watching classic black and white movies any more? Maybe there will be fewer of us now that LACMA is closing its classic-film weekend screenings because they’re losing money. Sure, you can watch some of them on DVDs – but not all great films are available that way. But seeing them in a theatre, just as people did when the movies were box office boffo – well, there’s nothing like it.
-- Patt Morrison
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6 months, 1 week ago
I wanted to enjoy Ralph Keyes, but when he didn't know the origin of the phrase 'Gaslighting' someone, he lost his credibility in my mind. There were also several other phrases that he didn't have a clue about, and I found myself shouting the answers as if he could magicaly hear me.
No, Patt, you aren't the only one watching classic movies - with the current movies appealing to teenage boys, they are a welcome alternative for grown ups. I even like silent movies - it's all about telling a story.
6 months, 1 week ago
Please, please, please Pat. Call out the Lewin Group prevarication every time you hear it. A guest referenced it today and it would have been a perfect opportunity to at very least raise the consciousness about this questionable talking point.
The Lewin Group is a subsidiary of United Healthcare according to The Washington Post, July 22, and is sited in every Republican's talking point as a so-called non-partisan critic of health care reform.
Right after I heard this I called in to the station and was told that several people had called in about this comment, as was assured that you'd say something beyond just asking the guest who the Lewin Group was.
If you do know that a guest is mouthing debunked talking points about such an important issue as health care reform I would hope that you would point it out as opposed to just letting such a blatant untruth stand unchallenged.
Disappointingly, though you apparently knew better, you did not follow up and one more Republican was allowed to mislead with fallacious talking points. I don't understand why. I would hope for better from you.
6 months, 1 week ago
I appreciate Pat's ability to remain to remain calm when questioning Mr. Angelides today, but I think he requires a little more offense. This "faceless" meltdown was brought by the same people charged with correcting it. We need an American Revolution 2.0. Too many people are at the end of their rope, and not just those losing their homes, this has gone much further than losing the roof over your head that you all overpaid for. Without the TARP the S&P would be tradaing 300 and this country would be defuct. We gave them billions to "re-lever" their holdings in the market and the fed leaves rates at zirp, but this does little for the American taxpayer who is on the verge of losing their job. Revisiting the past as this comission plans to do is a waste of time. We need to throw those in power out, and start fresh. There is no use in throwing anymore good money after bad. Despite the rally in stocks, we are still on the verge of collapse. Only 2 million foreclosure this year, 3 million next, and estimated 12-15 million by 2012. The cram down is not an answer, changing contract law is to adapt a fundamental function of society to control an emergency. We need real change, we need marches, riots even, or else is Obamageddon 2011.
6 months, 1 week ago
George W. BUSH Was a GREAT PRESIDENT of The United States Of America! He Helped So Many People and Gave Billions Of Dollars To AFRICA!
Yet, many folks trashed his administration because of JEALOUSY, Envy, and Anger Towards His VICTORIES!
Now, We a President Drinking BEER in the WHITE HOUSE as if it's PARTY TIME when MILLIONS of AMERICANS are STARVING for JOBS!
RESPECT The PRESIDENCY!
6 months, 1 week ago
@Julie
Sorry Julie but it's not jealousy, envy or anger towards his victories that have earned George W. Bush the enmity of both the huge majority of his fellow U.S. citizens as well as the rest of the world's citizens.
Indeed the premise of that statement is so ludicrous that I just don't have it in me to make the effort to debunk it. But what is sadly true about your statement is that millions of Americans are starving for jobs.
I wonder how can you square the alleged "VICTORIES" of President Bush with the horrendous mess President Obama is trying to clean up? You seem to be getting exercised about the evils of beer and disrespect for the Presidency while neglecting George Bush's accountability for our current predicament.
Julie, from your use of the terms "jealousy", "envy" and "party time" I hear the implication that you might be insulted by President Obama overstepping his place. Is there any chance that you'd be as angered if the president were white?
6 months, 1 week ago
I am listening to your show on Friday July 31 qt 1:15 PM. It is galling that CEOs and CFOs have gotten another huge bonus from the tarp money. We are loosing our meager savings because of Wall St's blunders and the bankers theivery. We cannot send our children to the colleges of their choice, we cannot travel or eat out, we cannot find jobs, etc. etc. What is the government THINKING? We will vote again someday. If we don't get COMPLETELY DISCOURAGED!