August 10, 2004

Hey Everyone

    First of all, thanks for all the birthday wishes. My 30th year started off crappy and ended up
awesome. I hope year 31 will continue to be as much fun as the end of 30 was. And I hope you'll all
continue your support and encouragement as I hope to do the same for all of you.
    I kicked off my weekend Thursday night with a few drinks with Timmy at Metro 53. I had a blast there
and there were plenty of hot looking women there. I knew I had to split because the guys from the Post
were having a going away party for Eric Lenkowitz at Siberia bar on 40th. Lenkie's leaving the newspaper
business to teach in South Korea of all places. God Bless him, I couldn't do that.
    So I hung out talking politics with Timmy and getting a good load on. I left about 11 and headed over
to Siberia. It's a hard place to find, there's no signs outside. I walked by it a couple of times before I
figured it out. Then I staggered in there and announced it was my birthday and resumed my boozing. I
had one embarrassing moment.
    Under normal circumstances, I probably would have stayed home. I had a sore throat all day
Wednesday and it had spread to my chest on Thursday. So anything I swallowed felt like fire as it was.
Then I did a shot and that did it. I started gagging. I ran into the bathroom and continued to cough and
stagger.  I heard Clemente yelling "I think Gallagher's throwing up", but I DID NOT TOSS MY COOKIES.
The thing was, the bathroom door was open and everyone could see me, including all the girls that were
there. Its one thing to choke on your drinks with the guys, but I looked like a major league wimp in front
of the ladies.
    I drank some more and then at the relatively early hour of 3 AM, we went and got something to eat.
Eric told us that Saturday was his official last night at the office, we were going to do this again on
Saturday, with after hours.
Heaven help me.
    Friday was booze free, but I still had a late night. I was all set to head home when Billy and Clemente
sent me to Cornish Avenue in Elmhurst to check out where that old lady was robbed and killed. Every
neighbor I talked to said they didn't know her. But it was 2 AM, and I was grasping at straws as it was. Of
course, the next day I found out she helped out at St. Bart's, where Katie went to school and mom used
to work.
    Saturday we did exactly as Eric had said we'd do. We started out with some champagne at the office,
then headed to O'Limmey's around the corner. I made up for my poor performance at Siberia by downing
a couple of shots. At 4 AM, it was time to head to after hours.
    I managed to escape around 5:30, with Billy and Clemente. We had breakfast and headed home. I
highly recommend watching the sun rise as you are coming over the 59th Street Bridge on a Sunday. Its
very nice and peaceful. I also heard Breakfast with the Beatles on Q104 and 90's rewind on Z-100. But I
recommend that you do it after a night of sleep, not a night of drinking.
    Sunday I went to Brooklyn to interview the family of the baby bit by his neighbor's pit bull. It was one
of my better efforts. The photographer and I actually got into the apartment building and got the baby's
grandmother and father to talk, as well as some neighbors. The story was on page 3 of the Post
on Monday. Then Monday I covered the fire on 171st Street and St. Nicholas Avenue. It didn't make the
paper, but I got to BS with Lou Young of Channel 2 and Aimee Nunzo of Ch 4. That was fun.

OBITUARIES

Bob Murphy    As a die hard Met fan, I felt bad when Murph decided to retire. But as a human being, I
was really saddened by the news of his death. I mean, after devoting 50 years of your life to your work,
you should be able to enjoy your retirement for a few years. Poor Bob Murphy didn't even get a whole
year before he passed on last week at age 79.
    Howie Rose and Gary Cohen have done an excellent job on the Met radiocasts since Murph hung it
up. But Murphy was the voice of the Mets, in a day and age where teams go through broadcasters like J-
Lo and Britney go through husbands. And like I said when he retired, no matter if was Game 7 of the
World Series, or a blowout in August with the Mets 20 games out (like last season for example) he called
the game with the same zest and professionalism.  You don't get that anymore either.
So RIP Murph, and thanks for making being a Met fan more bearable.

Rick James-    I was at work Friday when I heard the SuperFreak himself checked out at age 56. A few
guys were like "Oh my God, Rick James is dead?" I was like "Oh my God, Rick James made it to 56?"
If you ever saw the VH1 Behind the Music with Rick James, and saw all the booze, blow and broads this
guy went through, you'd know why the coroner called his death at 56 "by natural causes"
Apparently James made a comeback of sorts on Dave Chapelle's Comedy Central TV show. Another
fact you may not know is that he produced and sang backup vocals on Eddie Murphy's only hit (and
Eddie Ski's favorite song) Party all the Time.


    Weekly Mail is taking its annual summer hiatus early this year so it can come back and report on the
Republican Convention here August 30. A few of you have asked me to add some people to my mailing
list. I'll take care of that. I need to be careful and divvy up the mail because if I send it to too many
people at once I may get flagged for sending SPAM! Who would call my work of art, crafted every week,
spam?
In any event, I leave you with the following thoughts.

   Several weeks back, I was at a friend's house, and as we were sitting there chatting, she asked me if I
heard that Rush Limbaugh had called the Abu Gharib prison scandal "no more than a college prank" I had
not. (I would a few days later) I did read the next day, that someone on the Air America radio network had
said that Abu Gharib was "worse than Auschwitz."
    A couple of weeks after that, I was asked at a party how I felt "now that my hero was dead" My hero,
according to this gentleman was Ronald Reagan, and anyone who knew me when he or his successor
George HW Bush was President knows I was no fan of either.
    A couple of other people who read my Weekly rants have said to me "you're Conservative" and that
doesn't really bother me, I'm proud of the conservative values I hold. But its just not exactly true.
    At work the other day, I saw a copy of Al Franken's book, Lies and the Lying Liars who tell them. I
read the chapter devoted to ripping the Fox News Channel, and Rupert Murdoch (which being that Rupert
was just 2 floors down and FNC 6 floors below that, gave me sort of a reading Playboy in Church
feeling) I want to read the whole thing before I get into it, but judging on what I've heard, it seems
according to Franken, there is no such thing as a good Conservative.
    Actually, the real point is that you are either a Bush hating liberal, or you are evil. The middle ground
has been eliminated. And the truth of the matter is, the middle ground is where I really stand.
    No, I don't think George W. Bush is the devil incarnate. No, I don't think he let 9/11 happen so that he
could declare war on Iraq and control all of the world's oil. I also have said ad nauseum, that the world
didn't start hating us the day Bush took office, that has been a long time coming, and that it's mainly
jealousy over the fact that we are the world's remaining superpower.
    I also think that Bush's economic plan has been a disaster for many middle class families, that his
trickle down economic plan was the same disaster that it was for his old man, and that he based his plan
for Iraq on false information and unrealistic goals, without a sound exit strategy, while taking away
resources from fighting Al-Qaeda.
    But of course because I don't come out screaming that the war was a terrible idea and a catastrophic
failure, that makes me a total conservative, or according to Al Franken a lying liar, or to Michael Moore, a
stupid white man.
    John Kerry is a brilliant man who served his country bravely in Vietnam and who has plenty of
experience in all aspects of the government. However, I disagree on some of his votes in the Senate, I
didn't like how he kept changing his story about what he did with his war medals, and although he has
criticized Bush on Iraq, I haven't heard what he would do differently, besides it seems, apologize to the
world.
    The things I like about liberals is that to me anyway, they are more compassionate by nature, more apt
to come up with plans to help those less fortunate. (I'm speaking in general terms of course.)
Conservatives seem to have a tendency to tell people to "get to work" without really providing any jobs.
    One of the scenes in Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine that really struck me was the scene
where he was on that bus going from Flint to Auburn Hills Mich. with those welfare workers. I'm not
suggesting that those people not work, but there had to be a better way for them to get ahead. Liberals
historically have come up with better ways for people to make a living. From FDR, to Kennedy to Bill
Clinton.
    But sometimes I feel that being Liberal means having to apologize for being an American, which is
something I wouldn't do in a million years. For all the good points a man like Michael Moore makes, he
ruins it by saying that Americans are "the dumbest people on Earth", as he told a British newspaper.
Stupid, lazy, spoiled with no morals. I've been hearing that for years, and I'm sick and tired of it.
    In the days following the 9/11 attacks, American flags were flying everywhere, on cars, outside
houses, office buildings. It wasn't uncommon to hear God Bless America on the radio. The media ate it
up too, but they warned that eventually all this would pass and things would return to "normal" And to be
honest as much as I wanted things to get back to normal, that was one thing I hoped would stay. The
feeling of pride and togetherness that was so prevalent in those days.
    But it didn't happen. Eventually, we went back to being stupid, lazy, and spoiled. And hey, I realize
that were not perfect, we can always improve our education and get in better physical and spiritual
shape. But this is still the best place in the world to live  
by far.

And it makes no difference who occupies the White House. Because we can always vote them out. You
have the right to go into that voting booth on November 2nd and pick anybody you want.
So do I
   
    I've been eligible to vote in 3 previous Presidential elections, and I've voted Democrat all 3 times. In
1992 and 1996, I knew straight away I was going to vote for Bill Clinton. In 2000, it took a little more soul
searching, but I felt Al Gore would be better equipped to handle the economy, which was already starting
to falter.
       I was so anti-Bush the 41st, that I would have voted for almost anyone besides him. I remember
Jerry Brown and Paul Tsongas were running along with Clinton that year. Brown they called Governor
Moonbeam and Tsongas inspired nobody. And I know that if anyone told me they were voting for Bush, I
told them they were nuts. And I tried to get anyone on the fence to vote for Clinton. So I know a little
about the politics of anger.
      But never like this. Here in 2004, there's no such thing as on the fence, and the anger directed at me
by all these anti-Bush people is unreal. When I tell people I'm undecided, they're like "What do you mean
you're voting for Bush?" though no such words ever left my mouth. I knew people who hated Clinton, but
not with this much passion.
      Election Day is 2.5 months away. I may not make up my mind until I walk into the booth that day, I
may make up my mind tomorrow. Or sometime anytime in between.
      But I'm not going to be bullied by a bunch of yahoos who are only hearing one side of the story.
Whether it be folks that do nothing but watch The O'Reilly Factor, or the Al Franken Book of the Month
Club, my decision will be researched, well thought out and come from my heart. I refuse to be typecast,
generalized or labeled. You want put a label on me, call me an undecided.
We still exist.

Unless something HUGE happens, see you all in 3 weeks
Bill G.