Whence Mrs. P.?

Too many people pass away to make mention of here, but there are always exceptions. If you had needed a face to go with American hubris of the 1960's, that face would have belonged to either General William Westmoreland or Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Kennedy appointed McNamara, who stuck around when Johnson took over as president. His advice to both was badly flawed, based on what had happened in previous wars instead of the one we found ourselves in - Vietnam. McNamara left office in 1068, but then, over twenty years later, did something that's rare. He came out with a book that admitted that the whole war had been based on the wrong premise, and he took responsibility. This made him new enemies in the American Right, who had assumed he was one of their own. I mention all this because McNamara died, at 93, over the weekend.

I know you don't know the name Karl Malden, also a fatality (age 97) last week, any more than I would have known about Greer Garson in the 60's. But Malden was in more than his share of good movies, none of which depended on his good looks, since he was actually a homely man. He was a character acter, and a good one. In the 70's he went on TV as a San Francisco police detective, then sort of retained the role for over 20 years as a spokesman for American Express, always hammering home the slogan "Don't leave home without it!" (the AE card). He's the last actor I recall whose looks improved by wearing a hat.

Sarah Palin announced over the holiday that she's resigning as governor of Alaska. Her plans are pretty vague, though she mumbled something about a "higher calling". Don't be surprised if that gets amended by a future spokesman to "higher-paid calling" Since Letterman will probably steer clear of this one, here are the Top Ten Future Jobs for Sarah Palin:
10 TV executive in charge of bringing back "Northern Exposure".
9 Author of "When Cooking the Books Isn't Enough: A Guide to Official Scams".
8 Producer of "Sarah Palin Does the Wacky Characters of Tina Fey".
7 Author of a Tell-All Book on John McCain's mother.
6 Host of TV's "Are You Smarter than a Community College Stoner?"
5 Producer, "Turning Your Roadkill Moose into More than an Insurance Claim".
4 Reveals herself as the real heiress of the Chrystal Cathedral.
3 Owner of local Older Women's NBA team, in which teams don't play each other, but talk trash to the crowd until they get some 12 year-olds they think they can beat.
2. Hostess of ESPN's new gambling show "You Betcha".
1 Sarah, Queen of the Kingdom of Alaska, available for birthdays and bar mitzfahs.
If anyone is interested, my real guess is that Palin will suddenly seem like a journalist to Fox News, and an author to Ann Coulter's publishers. No, she will not be a major party nominee for POTUS, but she'll laugh all the way to the bank.