President Barack Obama announced the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq last night in this Oval Office address. He also discussed the future of Iraq, the Afghan War, and revitalizing the U.S. economy. The large Remington bronze to the right is called “Bronco Buster.” Perhaps “Wicked Pony” would be more appropriate.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … ENTER THE MOONBEAM.
** QUICK HITS. The principal independent expenditure committee helping Jerry Brown’s gubernatorial campaign, California Working Families, touting a new poll showing Brown with a slight 45% to 43% edge over billionaire Meg Whitman, announced today that it has accomplished its goal of helping prevent Whitman from opening a big lead over the summer with her record-shattering spending and is moving out of broadcast advertising mode into online advertising mode, with a contingency plan to ramp up again if need be. … Brown himself is about to spin up his campaign with introductory TV advertising — he’s yet to run an ad in the entire campaign — and a round of personal appearances. … I’ll explain it all in a big piece tomorrow. … Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in a wide-ranging late morning appearance at the Capitol, refrained from laying into the Legislature for accomplishing little and being ultra-late once again on the state budget. He made a strong case that heavily increased spending on public pensions, occasioned by the stock market failing to reach lofty heights envisioned in long-ago legislation, is responsible for a growing chunk of the state’s deficit, and that chronic lateness in dealing with the budget is responsible for even more. … After a day of separate talks between Middle East principals and President Barack Obama, they all come together tomorrow to meet with one another at the White House.
** MAD MEN MAKES THE ALL-TIME TELEVISION PANTHEON, AND UNSPOOLS ANOTHER FINE EPISODE. As if it weren’t clear before, Mad Men has entered not only the current cultural pantheon but also the all-time television pantheon. As always, there be spoilers ahead.
Before we get to Mad Men’s third straight Emmy Awards win as the best dramatic series and what that means, as well as the details of another fine episode in “Waldorf Stories” and what that may mean, let’s get one thing out of the way right now. We finally know how Don Draper got hired at Sterling Cooper. He didn’t!
How perfectly Don Draperesque is that? But before we return to that, and the rest of the latest episode, let’s look at Mad Men in the pantheon. …
** CALIFORNIA 2010: A GREAT SENATE DEBATE? Senator Barbara Boxer and her Republican challenger, ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, go at it tonight at 7 PM at St. Mary’s College in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Moraga.
It’s the first statewide debate of the general election in any race, and the only debate scheduled thusfar in the Senate race.
I give Boxer a slight but real edge in the race, as I have all along. She’s not popular, and Congress is quite unpopular. But she has the backing of President Barack Obama, who remains quite popular in California and Fiorina is continuing to run to the right of the California electorate.
In addition, billionaire Meg Whitman, the top of the Republican ticket in California, is stalled in her race against Jerry Brown, despite having already shattered all non-presidential campaign spending records in American history.
And Fiorina, though quite rich, has nowhere near the self-funding ability of Whitman. In fact, Boxer presently has the financial edge in the race.
The debate is carried by Fox’s Bay Area affiliate out of Oakland, KTVU, and will air on only a handful of TV stations around the state on this late summer night.
You can watch it live on ktvu.com.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Having ended U.S. combat operations in Iraq, as promised, he is pivoting immediately today to Middle East peace. The talks were complicated yesterday by the murders of four Israelis, which in turn prompted Jewish fundamentalists to vow to go ahead with further settlements in disputed areas.
Obama participated in an early morning call from the Oval Office with FEMA Administrator William Fugate on Hurricane Earl preparations in the Gulf of Mexico.
At 7:45 AM Pacific, Obama holds a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu of Israel in the Oval Office.
At 10:30 AM Pacific, Obama holds a bilateral meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority in the Oval Office.
At 11:45 AM Pacific, Obama holds a bilateral meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan in the Oval Office.
At 1 PM Pacific, Obama holds a bilateral meeting with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in the Oval Office.
At 2:20 PM Pacific, Obama delivers a statement to the press from the Rose Garden.
At 4 PM Pacific, Obama and visiting leaders deliver statements to the press in the East Room. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, special envoy of the Mideast Quartet, joins the aforementioned figures.
Blair’s memoir, incidentally, is formally published tomorrow. It was this book that featured — in fictional form, of course — in the recent Roman Polanski film, The Ghost Writer.
At 5 PM Pacific, Obama hosts a working dinner with visiting leaders at the White House in the Old Family Dining Room.
Obama is monitoring geopolitical crises in Korea, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq.
Speaking of Iraq, that’s where Vice President Joe Biden is today, for the third day in a row.
In Baghdad, Biden today joined Defense Secretary Bob Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen to preside over the formal handover of security arrangements to Iraqi leaders.
Biden’s purpose is to bring together the disparate factions of Iraqi politics to at last form a new government, nearly six months after national parliamentary elections.
Vice President Joe Biden, seen here in Tuesday activities, today presided over the handover of security arrangements in Iraq. He is also there to press the factions to at last form a new government, nearly six months after national parliamentary elections.
I believe this is Biden’s third trip there for this purpose. Sunni and Shiite factions are refusing to work together, which is no surprise since it was only Saddam Hussein’s autocratic rule that kept Iraq together prior to the U.S./U.K. invasion in 2003.
FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles and Sacramento today.
At 11 AM, Schwarzenegger will discuss California’s chronic budget crisis in a Capitol press conference. He will call a special session to deal with the budget, which is now over two months late.
The event will be webcast live on www.gov.ca.gov.
Schwarzenegger will also hold private talks, much of them around the now very late state budget.
In the last day of its regular session, the Legislature held votes on competing budget plans which can’t pass.
They, of course, failed.
This isn’t anything that couldn’t have been done months ago. In fact, it’s hard to think why it wasn’t. Perhaps legislative leaders wanted to save the best for last.
Meanwhile, the Legislature dealt with other significant bills, including a ban on plastic bags in grocery stores, virtually all of which also failed.
There are reasons why I provide very little coverage of the California state legislature.
… THE CALIFORNIA AS FIRST “FAILED STATE” DEBATE: SCHWARZENEGGER, DAVIS, WHITMAN, AND JERRY BROWN. … From my March 2nd column.
Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate in fall 2008, prior to the global economic meltdown, with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included. You can listen to my video webchat last year with Schwarzenegger here. It covers most of the major issues and also reveals his cameo in the latest Terminator movie.
** HARSH REALM: THE MEG WHITMAN PROGRAM FOR FUTURE CALIFORNIA. Billionaire Meg Whitman keeps plugging what she says is a program for California’s future as a key reason to make her governor of the nation’s largest state. She must be counting on people not paying attention to what her program actually is.
For quite awhile, Whitman, still struggling to develop any momentum in her race for California governor against Jerry Brown despite having already broken all spending records for a non-presidential candidate in American history, has touted her program as the reason to vote for her as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s successor. Namely, that she has one and Brown doesn’t. Or didn’t. Lately, Brown has released a lot of program points, none of which are a surprise since they reflect what he’s been doing and saying throughout his decades in public life.
But that didn’t stop Whitman from trying to have what she calls her “book” — it’s actually a 40-page pamphlet, with big type and many pictures and graphics — placed in California’s public libraries. Virtually all of them turned her down, since it’s campaign advertising and decidedly not a book. Nor did it stop her from using it as one her many excuses to avoid debates with Brown (I have a policy book and he doesn’t have one yet), or from mailing it around the state, or from having it lovingly photographed for one of her incessant TV ads.
For quite awhile, the much diminished state press corps bought into the whole Whitman-has-a-program thing. No one really took a look at what it is. Which is interesting, because the program makes no sense. … From my August 30th feature.
** MAD MEN REVIEW: ANOTHER FAMOUS ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY. The reports of Don Draper’s descent into chaos have been greatly exaggerated.
“The Chrysanthemum and the Sword,” a distinctly odd title for those who were not students of anthropology, sociology, or history, is a significant improvement over last week’s episode. Much more happened in this episode, and there was a sense of greater forward motion. There be spoilers ahead, as usual.
Let’s get the title out of the way first. It’s a direct reference to a famous book, published in 1946 by anthropologist Ruth Benedict, a close associate of Margaret Mead. Benedict, sadly, died not long after, but her work lived on. In particular this book, which drew from a series of papers Benedict prepared during World War II for American intelligence. Their purpose? To understand the Japanese, with whom we were then engaged in a war in the Pacific far more brutal than the war against Germany. … From my August 25th review.
** MAD MEN REVIEW: “THE REJECTED” IS A ROUTINE EPISODE, BUT BETTY DRAPER HAS JOINED THE X-MEN! … From my August 18th review.
** HARSH REALM: MEG WHITMAN AND THE C.E.O. MYTH. … From my August 17th feature.
** MAD MEN REVIEW: “THE GOOD NEWS” IS SAD YET VERY GOOD. … From my August 9th review.
** HARSH REALM: THE LEGACY THAT MEG WHITMAN INVOKES. … From my August 7th feature.
** MAD MEN REVIEW: “CHRISTMAS COMES BUT ONCE A YEAR,” EXCEPT FOR THESE THREE WISE GUYS. … From my August 3rd review.
** HARSH REALM: THE POST-PRESS ERA AND MEG WHITMAN. … From my July 30th feature.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil is trading around $74 per barrel.
This is up about $40 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
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| Comments (47) |
President Obama’s speech ending the war in Iraq is very good.
I hope Biden gets the agreement in Iraq.
Barack nailed it with his speech last night. He was very presidential, he showed he carried out his promise to end Iraq War operations, and he moved on to the economy.
I hope he does, too, for their sakes…
Jonas Blane says:
September 1, 2010 at 8:31 am
I hope Biden gets the agreement in Iraq.
What a joke.
BB:In the last day of its regular session, the Legislature held votes on competing budget plans which can’t pass.
They, of course, failed.
This isn’t anything that couldn’t have been done months ago. In fact, it’s hard to think why it wasn’t. Perhaps legislative leaders wanted to save the best for last.
Meanwhile, the Legislature dealt with other significant bills, including a ban on plastic bags in grocery stores, virtually all of which also failed.
There are reasons why I provide very little coverage of the California state legislature.
A real waste of time.
Obama was good not great last night. Do you think he’s getting shy about showing off his speech chops?
He must be. He hasn’t delivered a stirring address in a long time …
That’s why I don’t waste mine.
> Len says:
September 1, 2010 at 10:03 am (Edit)
A real waste of time.
An amazing yet dull spectacle …
> Capitol Boy says:
September 1, 2010 at 9:11 am (Edit)
What a joke.
BB:In the last day of its regular session, the Legislature held votes on competing budget plans which can’t pass.
They, of course, failed.
This isn’t anything that couldn’t have been done months ago. In fact, it’s hard to think why it wasn’t. Perhaps legislative leaders wanted to save the best for last.
Meanwhile, the Legislature dealt with other significant bills, including a ban on plastic bags in grocery stores, virtually all of which also failed.
There are reasons why I provide very little coverage of the California state legislature.
I wouldn’t count on it. I see now that the Sunnis are starting to splinter.
> Capitol Boy says:
September 1, 2010 at 9:10 am (Edit)
I hope he does, too, for their sakes…
Jonas Blane says:
September 1, 2010 at 8:31 am
I hope Biden gets the agreement in Iraq.
It was a good speech, good messaging, but workmanlike.
Unfortunately for Obama, the country and the media got bored with Iraq a long time ago.
> Capitol Boy says:
September 1, 2010 at 9:08 am (Edit)
Barack nailed it with his speech last night. He was very presidential, he showed he carried out his promise to end Iraq War operations, and he moved on to the economy.
Where’s Schwarzeneger?
I wonder how few people are gonna watch the Boxer/Fiorina debate…
I missed it yesterday, watched it here. I think it’s pretty good. It gets the job done on Iraq, shifts to the economy. I wish he’d talked more about the screw up of going in there in the first place…
Bill Bradley says:
September 1, 2010 at 10:42 am
It was a good speech, good messaging, but workmanlike.
Unfortunately for Obama, the country and the media got bored with Iraq a long time ago.
> Capitol Boy says:
September 1, 2010 at 9:08 am (Edit)
Barack nailed it with his speech last night. He was very presidential, he showed he carried out his promise to end Iraq War operations, and he moved on to the economy.
He won’t. The Shiites keep the government as long as they keep stalling.
Jonas Blane says:
September 1, 2010 at 8:31 am
I hope Biden gets the agreement in Iraq.
Heh.
Bill Bradley says:
September 1, 2010 at 10:41 am
An amazing yet dull spectacle …
> Capitol Boy says:
September 1, 2010 at 9:11 am (Edit)
What a joke.
BB:In the last day of its regular session, the Legislature held votes on competing budget plans which can’t pass.
They, of course, failed.
This isn’t anything that couldn’t have been done months ago. In fact, it’s hard to think why it wasn’t. Perhaps legislative leaders wanted to save the best for last.
Meanwhile, the Legislature dealt with other significant bills, including a ban on plastic bags in grocery stores, virtually all of which also failed.
There are reasons why I provide very little coverage of the California state legislature.
“A GREAT SENATE DEBATE?”
All Boxer needs to do is run commercials featuring the families of the HP founders. They HATE Fiorina. Her only qualification for the office is that she ran a large company. Unfortunately for HP shareholders, she nearly bankrupted the company.
More video today?
Very good article by Garry South on why Boxer will win in November, in Politico. Garry makes many points that Bill makes here.
More importantly, wheres the Mad Men review? I love the show and this past episode was wild!
BOND ALERT!
The Aero in Santa Monica tomorrow night screens Roger Moore’s first two outings. Then Wednesday the 8th they have On Her Majesty’s Secret Service with George Lazenby in person for a discussion after the screening.
http://www.americancinematheque.com/archive1999/2010/Aero/OneNightEvents_SEPT_Aero_2010.htm#LIVE%20AND%20LET%20DIE
Sounds great. Way to go, Working Families!!!!
** QUICK HITS. The principal independent expenditure committee helping Jerry Brown’s gubernatorial campaign, California Working Families, touting a new poll showing Brown with a slight 45% to 43% edge over billionaire Meg Whitman, announced today that it has accomplished its goal of helping prevent Whitman from opening a big lead over the summer with her record-shattering spending and is moving out of broadcast advertising mode into online advertising mode, with a contingency plan to ramp up again if need be. … Brown himself is about to spin up his campaign with introductory TV advertising — he’s yet to run an ad in the entire campaign — and a round of personal appearances. …
Can’t wait…
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … ENTER THE MOONBEAM.
Can’t wait to actually write it …
The darn thing actually worked …
> Capitol Boy says:
September 1, 2010 at 5:03 pm (Edit)
Sounds great. Way to go, Working Families!!!!
** QUICK HITS. The principal independent expenditure committee helping Jerry Brown’s gubernatorial campaign, California Working Families, touting a new poll showing Brown with a slight 45% to 43% edge over billionaire Meg Whitman, announced today that it has accomplished its goal of helping prevent Whitman from opening a big lead over the summer with her record-shattering spending and is moving out of broadcast advertising mode into online advertising mode, with a contingency plan to ramp up again if need be. … Brown himself is about to spin up his campaign with introductory TV advertising — he’s yet to run an ad in the entire campaign — and a round of personal appearances. …
George Lazenby’s agent told him to quit Bond, that the ’60s would destroy the franchise.
> Dana says:
September 1, 2010 at 1:56 pm (Edit)
BOND ALERT!
The Aero in Santa Monica tomorrow night screens Roger Moore’s first two outings. Then Wednesday the 8th they have On Her Majesty’s Secret Service with George Lazenby in person for a discussion after the screening.
http://www.americancinematheque.com/archive1999/2010/Aero/OneNightEvents_SEPT_Aero_2010.htm#LIVE%20AND%20LET%20DIE
Garry had to get something right during this two-year election cycle …
The Mad Men review is on the front page of Huffington Post right now. I have regular access to it, but pieces have to run through a cycle, and in front of Mad Men was a little feature about the California governor’s race.
And I also have to actually go various places at times.
> mitchell says:
September 1, 2010 at 1:49 pm (Edit)
Very good article by Garry South on why Boxer will win in November, in Politico. Garry makes many points that Bill makes here.
More importantly, wheres the Mad Men review? I love the show and this past episode was wild!
Sorry, no.
> Jonas Blane says:
September 1, 2010 at 12:55 pm (Edit)
More video today?
Yes, that is a bit of a problem for Fiorina …
> Brasky says:
September 1, 2010 at 12:45 pm (Edit)
“A GREAT SENATE DEBATE?”
All Boxer needs to do is run commercials featuring the families of the HP founders. They HATE Fiorina. Her only qualification for the office is that she ran a large company. Unfortunately for HP shareholders, she nearly bankrupted the company.
Indeed.
> Jack Aubrey says:
September 1, 2010 at 12:25 pm (Edit)
Heh.
Bill Bradley says:
September 1, 2010 at 10:41 am
An amazing yet dull spectacle …
That’s true.
> Jack Aubrey says:
September 1, 2010 at 12:24 pm (Edit)
He won’t. The Shiites keep the government as long as they keep stalling.
Jonas Blane says:
September 1, 2010 at 8:31 am
I hope Biden gets the agreement in Iraq.
That would have made it more political.
> Jack Aubrey says:
September 1, 2010 at 12:24 pm (Edit)
I missed it yesterday, watched it here. I think it’s pretty good. It gets the job done on Iraq, shifts to the economy. I wish he’d talked more about the screw up of going in there in the first place…
Bill Bradley says:
September 1, 2010 at 10:42 am
It was a good speech, good messaging, but workmanlike.
Unfortunately for Obama, the country and the media got bored with Iraq a long time ago.
VERY few …
> Jack Aubrey says:
September 1, 2010 at 12:09 pm (Edit)
I wonder how few people are gonna watch the Boxer/Fiorina debate…
He was about 12 minutes late. And YOU were about 12 minutes early …
> Ann says:
September 1, 2010 at 10:48 am (Edit)
Where’s Schwarzeneger?
MadMen- Are you sure Roger didnt drunkenly hire Don? The way Don drunkenly stole the ‘kids’ idea at the Life cereal pitch? Also, it will be interesting as to how they cover the riots of 1965. Ive read that the Watts riots werent covered in the NY Times for 5 days.
Garry South-When he isnt flacking for his clients, and bragging about his victories, he is a very smart political guy who knows Cali history and numbers.
That’s not true at all. Garry South ragged on Jerry Brown for months after he had NO CLIENT in the race. He made a complete ass of himself and was completely wrong.
His problem is he’s nuts…
I am very happy to see that Jerry Brown is doing so well against Meg Whitman’s Big Lie Spending without half trying.
There is some justice in this world.
Capitol Boy….Im not going to defend Garry. I didnt like what he said about Jerry. It did seem over the top and it looked like sour grapes because he wasnt hired. But…Garry is very smart. And…a bit nuts.
I hope President Obama progresses with peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.
Have I really been that transparent and demonstrably obvious, Bill? In any event, it’s not as bad as all that.
Seriously, though, if we are to keep Secretary Clinton on the straight and narrow she should have a project that is worthy of consuming the bulk of her time. And, at long last, the myriad variables that impact upon the Middle East peace process may be aligning in such way as to make this a monumental achievement for her. I hope that is true.
Bill Bradley says:
September 1, 2010 at 7:57 pm
I think you can’t stand her, Liz.
> Elizabeth Miller says:
August 31, 2010 at 7:42 pm (Edit)
I don’t know her well enough. I wish her success in all of her efforts to move the Middle East peace process forward.
Bill Bradley says:
August 31, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Because you don’t like Hillary?
> Elizabeth Miller says:
August 30, 2010 at 7:50 pm (Edit)
Smart is putting Secretary Clinton in charge of that file.
Okay, I’m sorry … I couldn’t resist. I’m not that strong.
What new video today?
Obama on yesterday’s meeting, and Hillary on the start of today’s peace negotiations.
Why, yes, you have …
> Elizabeth Miller says:
September 2, 2010 at 7:55 am (Edit)
Have I really been that transparent and demonstrably obvious, Bill? In any event, it’s not as bad as all that.
Seriously, though, if we are to keep Secretary Clinton on the straight and narrow she should have a project that is worthy of consuming the bulk of her time. And, at long last, the myriad variables that impact upon the Middle East peace process may be aligning in such way as to make this a monumental achievement for her. I hope that is true.
Bill Bradley says:
September 1, 2010 at 7:57 pm
I think you can’t stand her, Liz.
> Elizabeth Miller says:
August 31, 2010 at 7:42 pm (Edit)
I don’t know her well enough. I wish her success in all of her efforts to move the Middle East peace process forward.
Well, they’re talking.
> sergei says:
September 2, 2010 at 6:25 am (Edit)
I hope President Obama progresses with peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.
Whitman is now seriously off-plan, as anticipated here all along.
> marcos leon says:
September 1, 2010 at 8:17 pm (Edit)
I am very happy to see that Jerry Brown is doing so well against Meg Whitman’s Big Lie Spending without half trying.
There is some justice in this world.
Yep, I’m sure that Don scammed his way into Sterling Coo. That’s what his look as the elevator doors closed means.
As for Garry South … When his facts are correct, he is knowledgeable. His fact are not always accurate.
I happened to be running around the California Democratic convention in LA last spring with Jerry Brown, and suggested that he drop by a private press dinner during a break in his schedule.
When we walked into the restaurant, Brown spied South, who had been trashing him up and down the state despite having no apparent financial interest in doing so, and sat down next to to him.
I heard South make a number of comments that made plain his animus for Brown, and were frankly in the area of being not only wrong, but rather deranged.
> mitchell says:
September 1, 2010 at 6:35 pm (Edit)
MadMen- Are you sure Roger didnt drunkenly hire Don? The way Don drunkenly stole the ‘kids’ idea at the Life cereal pitch? Also, it will be interesting as to how they cover the riots of 1965. Ive read that the Watts riots werent covered in the NY Times for 5 days.
Garry South-When he isnt flacking for his clients, and bragging about his victories, he is a very smart political guy who knows Cali history and numbers.
Why would JB hire Garry South??
mitchell says:
September 1, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Capitol Boy….Im not going to defend Garry. I didnt like what he said about Jerry. It did seem over the top and it looked like sour grapes because he wasnt hired. But…Garry is very smart. And…a bit nuts.