Oliver's Twist

Fans of the Daily Show are going through a strange and conflicting experience this summer of 2013.  We've lost our beloved host Jon Stewart for a few months, while we've gained greater exposure to one of our favorite supporting characters, John Oliver.

Both are funny men and their medium is satirical wordplay, but both bring us to laughter with different styles. Stewart is the devilish boy-in-a-man's-body wiseacre, while Oliver plays the disdainfully-witty intellectual with a bit of a chip on his shoulder (or maybe it's just the British accent).

While there hasn't been a noticeable lag in the funny business with Oliver at the helm, the change does emphasize what Stewart brings to the party.  His easy-going, casual, delivery works better in setting up the punch lines and getting the interview guests to relax and open up.  That Oliver's style is more acutely acerbic and therefore not quite as effective as a host doesn't count so much against him as it highlights why Stewart has been so successful at his job.

However, while Oliver may not be the equal of Stewart as a host, if you are a fan of the British style of comic delivery, a la Norman Wisdom by way of Monty Python, you can't help but be pleased by John Oliver's performance.  A little more support from the recurring cast and a few more shots-in-the-arm from Lewis Black won't hurt, but Oliver is capably steering the ship while Stewart is out finding himself.

The Quality Of Justice Is Not Free

As I write this, many Americans are reconsidering their idea of what 'Justice' means as a result of the Zimmerman verdict.

Depending on your point of view with regard to the facts of the case, 'Justice' might mean sustaining the use of deadly force whenever someone feels threatened, no matter the circumstances; while for others it might be that 'Justice' means revenge for a particular and egregious wrong, or of righting the larger societies' wrongs in a single verdict.

We all have our expectations of what 'Justice' means, and they are usually very personal and specific.  Our expectations are based very much on what we 'feel' in our deepest being is 'right' and fair, and these feelings are based on our life experiences and those of others we trust and admire.

But the cold truth is 'Justice' is not a feeling or an ideal; it is a formal process of civil and criminal law that often results in verdicts that don't meet our expectations - and that often don't seen fair or 'Just' at all.

Call it the price of freedom, because that is exactly what it is.

So, if the outcome of the Zimmerman case has left you feeling like there is no Justice, let me assure you that you are experiencing a common feeling when dealing with laws and courts and human frailty.  It's a feeling that will always be with us, since Perfect Justice is known only to the minds of individuals and is unknown to a society as a whole.  And it is society as a whole that our 'Justice' system serves.

Time Keeps On Slippin'

Whether it's from the Steve Miller song, or the Futurama episode, we keep on hearing that time is slippin', slippin', slippin', into the future.

We've also heard that 'Time Waits For No Man' (although it might be more patient with Women.)

Then again, we've heard that 'Time Is On My Side', and also on 'Your Side', so maybe we aren't in such dire temporal straights. Only Time Will Tell.

Whether Time isn't Waiting or is On Our Side, we can all agree that it is slipping away, although exactly what is meant by 'away' is debatable by some scientists and all Freshman Physics majors.

For me personally, Time has sped up to the point I am constantly surprised by where I am NOW as opposed to where I just was WHEN.  My NOWs are becoming extremely short-lived, to the point I feel I'm in that scene in Mel Brook's 'Spaceballs' (watch it for yourself, I'm not telling ...). I barely have any time to savor my SOONs before they become NOWs and then WHENs.  Sheesh!

But perhaps that is a function of age.  Maybe all you kids out there think your NOWs are plenty long enough to savor and your SOONs over the horizon far enough to enjoy the anticipation.  Time may not be slippin' for you as much as, well, unfolding.  Time may indeed be On Your Side.

If so, I am here to remind you that this is just an illusion.  Time is passing, no matter the apparent speed, and with it we see crucial actions not taken, critical needs unmet, and opportunities ignored and lost.  Maybe with us 'elder generationals' the faster perceived slippage of Time makes us more acutely sensitive to its wastage.

High Time, then,  for everyone to take Time and its passing more seriously - and I'm speaking to YOU Mr. President and Your Congressional Sparring Partners.  You are all old enough to sense that Time truly is slippin', slippin', slippin' ...

Independence Day - Waiting For A Miracle

Today we are celebrating our country's independence from the colonial empire which spawned it; and from the taxation without representation that personified that rule.  That, and the goodness of an excellent barbecue with family and friends.

If, between bites of that barbecue, some of us reflect a moment on recent independence movements and their less-than-stellar outcomes, we might wonder why ours caught on.

Were we just lucky?  After all, we had the same elements back then that we suspect are causing problems today: religious extremism, big money politics, foreign intervention.  One thing we didn't have were the communications that could allow disparate factions to unite in protest almost instantly.  Horseback messengers and signal lanterns don't quite equate with cell phones, the internet, and Twitter.  But great communication might have helped as well as hurt.

We did have some things going for us, and those were ironically the British system of laws, courts, and  the colonial governments that had all been in operation for a century before Independence was declared.  So we had a framework backed by expectations based on long experience to help order our post-revolution society.

But those institutions could also have been used against us by unscrupulous power seekers.  We had a few of those, but they always seemed to be defeated at just the right moments.

And some of those parts of the world now experiencing a revolutionary desire for independence also have long civil traditions. Why aren't they working for them?

My best guess is that we were indeed lucky.  So much could have gone wrong that would have derailed our revolution and independence, that we have to consider ourselves the recipients of a Miracle of sorts.

We need to hope that a similar miracle happens in Egypt before civil war begins, and that something miraculous happens in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq as well.  Money isn't the miracle; and neither is foreign military intervention.  What miracle or miracles happen must come from within the people, and we must all hope they find some.