The Boys in the Band

I went to work at CBS in the late sixties a few years after the Bill Paley controlled company decided to enter the "money pit" world of producing Theatrical motion Pictures. There are differing opinions as to why they did this; however for my purposes here, it doesn't matter.

One of their first films was the adaptation of the Broadway play, "The Boys In The Band." The "homosexual" theme and the nature of the content of the film dispelled the notion that their movies were in fact made by CBS for their network broadcast.

There are many lines in the play that I adore, and the one that has little or no relevance to this article is; "One thing you can say for masturbation; you certainly don't have to look your best."

The second line that I have loved and of course have used in one form or another is "Who do you have to fuck to get a drink around here?" My use of this line comes later.

Vice President Cheney (VPC) continues to appear on television fibbing about Iraq. Paranoid that he is, he accuses administration critics, among other things, of aiding Al Qaeda.

When VPC continued his Pinocchio imitation in 2003, by selling Iraq's WMD's and nonexistent connections to Mohamed Atta to America, he was a part of the sales team that sold us a war that kills Iraqi civilians in significant numbers, as well as Americans and members of our coalition to this day. VPC's latest sales pitch promises a new plan for "victory."

We rushed into Iraq in 2003 based on lies and misleads promulgated by VPC. He in particular seems to be the unmitigated champion of "bold faced lying."

It appears that his lying knows no limits. When asked recently why the Administration overruled commanders who recommended against a troop escalation, VPC said, "I don't think we've overruled the commanders." He went on to say that we've made "enormous progress" in Iraq.

VPC said last Sunday about the Democrats, " ... they have absolutely nothing to offer in its place," as if the Iraq Study Group, and the Murtha plans, among many others, didn't exist at all.

VPC was deeply involved in selling the Administrations position of the immediacy of our going to war four plus years ago to save our nation. VPC has also told us that "victory was within our grasp a couple of years ago.
Senator Jay Rockefeller has stated that VPC asked Senator Roberts to stall and delay the investigation of the administrations use of prewar intelligence. WONDERFUL!

There were VPC lies and misleads, all told with a straight face that I need not review like Iraqis being heavily involved in 9/11.

And now ladies and gentlemen I have the temerity to compare an apple to an orange before your very eyes.
Certain portions of our population went ballistic concerning the "Janet Jackson" event at the Super Bowl telecast. (You know who they are.) Let's call that "the apple."

America went to war in Iraq by lies and misleads told to us by the Administration. Let's call that "the orange."
So how come the people who went nuts about a furtive glimpse of a bare breast are so quiet about the lies we have been told, and the death and maiming of so many Americans, never mind the Iraqi's, and the useless spending of well over a half a trillion dollars?

Of course there is the Joe Wilson Valerie Plame "event." Sworn testimony given so far in the Liddy trial should be sufficient for SOMEONE TO DO SOMETHING regarding what VPC has done.

Also, someone should replay the Presidents statements about what he would do when he determined who was responsible for the "Plame" outing. Some media person should ask the President that my Grandmother would ask. "SO NU ALREADY?

I would naively think that ANY American in Government would be jumping up and down concerning all of this.
And now I present another apple and orange situation for your consideration.
First, let's look at the apple.

President Clinton was impeached for receiving oral sex from a consenting adult woman. Even if he fibbed about it to, (or misled,) a grand jury, big deal!

Now let's look at the orange.

LYING TO GET US INTO A WAR AND LYING ABOUT IT LATER IS SOMEHOW MUCH WORSE THEN WHAT CLINTON DID!

"Who do you have to fuck to get a drink around here?" This needs to be transposed to read:"Who do you need to fuck around here to have VPC and his boss impeached?"

It will come as no surprise to anyone that I would make our consolidated Network operators as coconspirators in the matter, and as usual serving their own self interests over the best interests of America. Paley, Stanton, Goldenson, Murrow, and Cronkite, where are you now that we need you?

If CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox held the Administrations "feet to the fire" by pointing out lies and contradictions that are being promulgated, rest assured that they would stop or at least be reduced. Of course if the networks did that, they might just lose their licenses and tens of billions of dollars, but after all, they do want to serve in the public interest, don't they?

Somehow sexual stuff mobilizes portions of our society, yet war and killing somehow do not.

WEIRD, isn't it?

Norman Horowitz