From: mjenkins@alfred.carleton.ca (Michael Jenkinson)
Subject: Re: Murphy Murphy Murphy
Keywords: Dan Dan Dan
Organization: Carleton University
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 15:38:41 GMT

In <1992Sep1.095535.6402@iscsvax.uni.edu> fay@iscsvax.uni.edu writes:

>(Even as I write this, I know that it is more for fun than elucidation.)

>Okay, Quayle makes some shots at Murphy Brown last spring ( aprogram he still
>hasn't even seen.  One of the first things I was taught was to not talk about
>things you don't know about with anyone other than your friends.).

Unfortunately, too many people, including the media, then criticized
Dan Quayle by lifting the Murphy Brown reference out of context and
bashing him for that. Read the entire speech he gave...it was quite
good, and not at all what people have said it was about. He threw in
the reference to Murphy Brown because he new it would get press.
Unfortunately, that's all the press harped on.

>He actually was on a decent topic, something he doesn't get credit for too
>often.

Correct. He doesn't get a lot of credit. Sure he makes mistakes, but
his always seem to become headline material.

>Unfortunately, he chose about the worst possible way to make his point.  (Even
>IF Murphy Brown promotes bad values, what the heck is the VP going to do about
>it?  And if he's about to go in for the censorship business, can he get
>something done about removing Susan Dey from TV once and for all?)

Again, he did it becuase he knew the media would latch on.

I second the motion about Susan Dey...and could we get her episode of
Saturday Night Live burned?

>So, now Murphy wins a ton of Emmy awards.  (And don't tell me that some of
>those votes weren't from people in TV saying "fuck you Dan".)

Oh, absolutley! But it scares me to think that these...uhh...people
are the cultural elite. Not to sound anti-American, but from up here
in Canada: if *that* (looking at Rosanne's flaming red...whatever) is
your cultural elite...gosh, the apocalypse must be right over the
horizon. <g>


>What does the Vice President do the next day?  Ignore it?  Say, "well, we're
>over-looking the issues here?"

>NO!!!!!!

>He's still spending time on it!

Even better...he repeated that "I'm not going to repeat this: Murphy
Brown, you owe me big time!" He did it once outside the airplane, and
then again indoors somewhere. Both clips I saw he used the same
phrasing, "I'm NOT going to repeat this." Ooops. Sorry Dan.

>Look, I'll even give people my list o'reasons why the last example he should
>have used in the first place was Murphy Brown.

>But on a more serious note.   Doesn't the whole issue indicate that Danforth
>may be more than a little bit of a light-weight.  (and please, I am actually
>looking for some proof to the contrary, not bad jokes or knee-jerk defending of
>him).

My impression from what I've read is that Dan Quayle was a fierce
debator in the Senate...the kind of guy you didn't want to cross or
he'd rip you to shreds. Hmmmm..maybe now that he has "handlers" he
gets indecisive. 

At the risk of flaming my chosen profession, the media has been
relentless in their pursuit of Quayle's head on a platter. From day
one, they've been out to get him. Its gotten patently unfair.

>My disclaimer:  I'm not left of politics, I'm not right of politics.  I'm above
>politics.  (okay, sort it's sort of snide...)

I'm a bit right, but here in Canada, that's left of your right.

Mike








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