September 25, 2017--Megyn Kelly's Joy

If like me you occasionally enjoy indulging in a little schadenfreude--taking pleasure in the misfortunes of the rich and famous--there is an opportunity awaiting Monday morning at 10 a.m. on network TV when NBC launches "Megyn Kelly Today."

In case you have been living off the grid for the past two years you may not know who she is and why this is sort of a big deal.

She was doing pretty well on Fox News as an anchor and talk show host when her aggressive questioning of Donald Trump in August 2015 during the first Republican primary debate brought her national attention and subsequently propelled her career forward into the media  stratosphere.

She witheringly pressed Trump about his many misogynist comments. Her opening comment to him included--

"You've called women you don't like 'fat pigs, 'dogs, 'slobs,' and 'disgusting animals.'

She added--

"Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women's looks. You once told a contestant on 'Celebrity Apprentice' it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees."

His response three days later was to attack Kelly, saying--

"You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever."

The rest is history--

While a normal candidate would have been disqualified as the result of this, Trump went on to be nominated and elected and Megyn Kelly got Fox and NBC to bid for her on-going services. NBC made an offer she couldn't refuse--a weekly show, "Sunday Night With Megyn Kelly" and now the daily "Megyn Kelly Today."

And of course her deal includes a big payday--at least $20 million a year. Almost as much as Alex Rodriquez earned annually as the New York Yankee's third baseman.

But the ratings of the Sunday show have been, well, a disaster and so there is a lot of pressure on her to deliver a successful morning show.  

And as a result there is this opportunity for some guilty-pleasure schadenfreude.

About the morning show, last week Kelly said--

"I don't feel this is a risky proposition because I know myself and know what I can do. I'm about to launch the show that I was born to do. This is what I was meant to do."

 Let's hope so. Actually, let's hope not.

In an interview with the New York Times she said much more. I will share some of it as an appetizer in anticipation of the new show itself--

Though her show on Fox had good ratings, she said-- 

It wasn't bringing me joy anymore. You're going to see the Megyn we know. For me, it truly is all about pursuing more joy. That's the reason we are here . . . . This is my dream job because I am a person who is searching. And always have been. I am searching for my joy and more love and more wellness. Always have been. Finally, my job is going to align with my soul, with my heart, with my reason for being."

Oprah couldn't have said it better.

In the interview with the Times, Megan Kelly said "joy," "joyful," and "joyous" nine times. I will restrain myself from sharing the full list because I am writing this Sunday evening before dinner and don't want to further spoil my appetite.

February 20, 2015--Jeb & A-Rod: Mistakes Were Made

In a speech in Chicago Wednesday, presidential-aspirant, former Florida governor, brother of one president, and son of another, to establish himself in foreign policy terms as his "own man" (to quote him), Jeb Bush said--

Look, just for the record, one more time, I love my brother, I love my dad, I actually love my mother as well, hope that's OK. And I admire their service to the nation and the difficult decisions they had to make, but I am my own man, and my views are shaped by my own thinking and my own experiences.

Then, about his brother's decision to preemptively invade Iraq, he torturously added--

There were mistakes made in Iraq for sure. Using the intelligence capability that everyone embraced about weapons of mass destruction turns out not to be accurate.

He did not say that his brother made a mistake by pressing the CIA to "sex up" the intelligence to justify an otherwise illegal war and then waged war based on that cooked information.

What Jeb had to say represents a little progress from what brother George W said after he left the presidency, as part of his efforts to promote his memoir, Decision Points, when he reluctantly acknowledged, in the very passive voice, that "mistakes were made."

On the same day as Jeb Bush's speech, in his own handwriting, Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez wrote--

To the Fans

I take full responsibility for the mistakes that led to my suspension for the 2014 season. I regret that my actions made the situation worse than it needed to be. To Major League Baseball, the Yankees, the Steinbrenner family, the Players Association and you the fans, I can only say I'm sorry.

Who knows how sincere this is but at least he fessed up.

February 19, 2014--The $44.2 Million Man

In this land of plenty, salaries are outrageous. Especially at the low end.

The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 and hour, which means that if you have a 40-hour-a-week minimum-wage job you make $15,080 a year. Well below the poverty level of $23,550 for a family of four.

At the other end of the spectrum, they are even more outrageous.

Corporate CEOs are among the most extravagantly paid.

Jamie Diamond of JPMorgan Chase, in spite of the fact that on his watch the bank agreed to settle federal lawsuits for $20.0 billion, in 2013 was paid $20.0 million in salary and bonuses. That comes to a neat $9,615 an hour.

Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, in spite of the fact that Goldman was successful sued by the Feds for upwards of $1.0 billion, was paid $14.7 million last year.

Michael Duke, CEO of Walmart, with thousands of stores and hundreds of thousands of employees worldwide, with annual sales topping $470 billion, was paid $20 million in 2013.

The new CEO of General Motors, Mary Barra, will earn $14.4 million this year, partly because GM doesn't want to be accused of sexism if they paid her anything less.

At the higher end of the CEO scale, Tim Cook of Apple, netted a cool $40 million in 2013.

Turning to sports, LeBron James of the Miami Heat is earning earned $19.1 million from the team and will bank much more than that from his various endorsements and TV commercials.

If Alex Rodriquez were permitted to play this year for the New York Yankees, he would have taken home a cool $25 million. Instead, he is suspended for the season because of illegal drug use and will take home zilch. But not to worry, after 2014, the Yanks will still owe him $61 million, whether or not he ever plays another game.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig made less than A-Rod. "Only" about $18 million.

Gary Bettman, National Hockey League commissioner made a measly $8.3 million in 2012, the last year figures were published.

Then there is the $44.2 million dollar man--Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League, where star quarterback Payton Manning makes "just" $18.0 million per.

Not a bad deal for a league that plays a 16-week season and then a month of playoffs, culminating in the Super Bowl.

What does the NFL commissioner do to justify receiving such an annual fortune? How many auto plants around the world is he responsible for? How many trillions in investments does he manage? And for that matter, how many touchdown passes did Goodell complete? How many quarterback sacks? And has he ever had any concussions?

And what are we talking about? Over-steroided post-adolecents running up and down a field in shoulder pads and helmets. To oversee this they give the commissioner more than $40 million a year? How we have lost our way.

To top off the Goodell story, as reported in the New York Times, there is a part of the NFL that is set up as a not-for-profit. All well and good if that is to fund charitable activities; but it also appears that it is a cover-operation to slip tens of millions to Goodell, whose on-the-books, for-profit salary last year was a paltry $3.5. The rest, nearly $40 million, came from the non-profit organization.

As I said--outrageous.

August 21, 2013--A-Rod

There was a kid in the supermarket wearing an A-Rod shirt. It takes guts to wear an Alex Rodriquez shirt these days, especially up in Maine where pretty much everyone is a rabid Red Sox fan and hates the Yankees.

As a closet Yankee rooter myself--at least while here--I asked him if he thought Rodriquez would win his appeal.

The kid just shrugged.

That's the right answer.

Because of allegedly having used banned human growth substances and lying about it, Major League Baseball has suspended Rodriquez for 211 games. That's considerably longer than a 162-game season and, considering A-Rod's age (he'll be pushing 40 when he would be allowed to play again), it is a version of a professional death sentence.

It may be that, but he is owed about $90 million by the Yankees over the last four years of his contract and he would be entitled to it even if his appeal is denied and he never plays another big-league game. He has that good a contract.

On the other hand, the Yankee owners, who have come to despise him and are attempting to cut the total team payroll to $189 million a year, have an interest in seeing him declared medically disabled and incapable of playing, which would mean that their insurance policy would have to pick up the cost of Rodriquez's remaining contract.

Ah, there may be the rub.

During the past two years A-Rod has had a number of significant medical issues that required at least two hip operations. But he is now healed and rejoined the team about 10 days ago. Since then he has hit a couple of home runs and the Yankees have again begun to win ballgames.

From a Yankee perspective this should be a welcome thing. What team really cares if its players cheat by juicing themselves up with steroids as long as they hit the ball out of the park and fans show up and spend big bucks on tickets and over-priced hot dogs and beer.

To make the game more exciting by making it easier to hit home runs, teams have been moving fences closer to home plate and making the baseball itself livelier. Who cares? We're not talking neurosurgery or rocket science but guys running around in knickers and getting paid millions to play a kid's game.

But, if A-Rod is past his peak (with or without drugs, he is) and is costing his team owners tens of millions, would one be surprised if the Yankee's greedy owners engaged in a little hanky-panky to get rid of him?

Like maybe conspiring with team doctors to claim Rodriquez is ready to play when in fact he is not? To put him out on the field before he is fully healed in the hope that he might become permanently injured and thus could be taken off the payroll and be paid through the team's insurance policy?

Rather than taking his suspension passively like the other suspended players are, A-Rod has hired a new team of kick-ass lawyers to represent him. And he has them claiming that this medical conspiracy in fact occurred.

Before dismissing this assertion too quickly (as I at first did--I don't much like him either), take note of the fact that the doctor who most recently treated Rodriquez and deemed him fit to play has thus far refused to comment about this accusation.

If true, this could qualify as one of the biggest scandal in baseball history. And that includes gamblers fixing the Black Sox 1919 World Series.