By Jonathan Miller, on Wed Apr 3, 2013 at 9:00 AM ET
We celebrate this year the 20th anniversary of a very important, meaningful episode of Seinfeld — the “show about nothing.”
Watch a clip, and read an excerpt of my piece about “The Outing” from The Huffington Post below:
It was 1993.
Andrew Sullivan had only recently written The New Republic cover story introducing many Americans to the very idea of gay marriage; it would be nearly a decade before any state would legalize it. The notion of “marriage equality,” furiously debated before the Supreme Court and among the nation last week, was a wholly foreign concept.
Indeed, the gay rights debate that year had concerned President Bill Clinton’s campaign pledge to allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. We all know how that ended: with a terribly flawed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that wouldn’t be repealed for another 17 years.
Along came Seinfeld, initially derided by critics, then ultimately embraced by the show’s writers, as a “show about nothing.”
Yet, in many instances, it mattered a whole lot more.
As I have argued in this space before, Seinfeld’s exposure of Judaism to Middle America — along with a handful of other TV shows such as Northern Exposure, Beverly Hills 90210, Friends — had a significant impact on Jewish Americans. We could now hold our heads up a little higher, feel a bit more comfortable to publicly pronounce our faith. We were now the tellers of Jewish jokes, alternatively wry and self-deprecating, instead of divisive and mean-spirited. It was a phenomenon that Jonathan Alter — in his famous 2000 Newsweek cover piece heralding Joe Lieberman’s history-making Vice-Presidential candidacy — labeled the “Seinfeldizing of America.”
And so too did the show help raise awareness of LGBT issues — and expose the toxicity of bigotry toward the gay and lesbian community. The most memorable example, the 1993 episode entitled “The Outing,” featured a young NYU reporter mistakenly thinking that Jerry Seinfeld and best friend George Costanza were actually gay lovers. It was a charge that both of them furiously denied, followed quickly with the disclaimer: “Not that there’s anything wrong with that…”
Click here if you want to read the whole piece. If you don’t, that’s your problem.
By Jonathan Miller, on Tue Apr 2, 2013 at 11:52 AM ET
Magic Johnson’s Son Goes Public with BF — Parents So Proud
Magic Johnson‘s 20-year-old son hit the Sunset Strip, hand in hand with his boyfriend … and his parents couldn’t be happier for their kid.
Earvin Johnson III — aka EJ — is one of Magic’s 3 kids. The Lakers legend tells TMZ, “Cookie and I love EJ and support him in every way.” Magic goes on, “We’re very proud of him.”
The feeling is mutual … ’cause EJ told us he’s been “hoping and praying” for his dad’s team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, ever since Magic and his business partners took over the franchise.
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Looks like The RP’s 15 minutes are going into overtime. Here is video of his apperance on CNN’s OutFront with Erin Burnett, talking about his piece for Newsweek/The Daily Beast about Ashley Judd’s aborted campaign for the U.S. Senate:
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Apr 1, 2013 at 8:45 AM ET
While my following piece from Newsweek/The Daily Beast is not an April Fools’ joke like my earlier post this morning, it is yet another exhibit of our our political system is constantly playing unfunny jokes on the American people:
“We’d like to have you join us this afternoon for a discussion on the Ashley Judd campaign,” the young national talk show producer chirped into my phone. ”We understand that she will be announcing her candidacy within the next 24 hours.”
“I’d love to join you,” I responded. A recovering politiciannever turns down 15 minutes.) “But, uh, I’m pretty sure, uh, she’s not announcing.”
I looked over to the left side of my desk, at the draft exploratory committee papers that Ashley had asked me to prepare, still missing several items that I had requested from her.
“Oh, no,” the producer responded. “Our reporter has it on good authority from Ashley’s people that an announcement is imminent.”
I thought I was one of “Ashley’s people.”
Before I appeared on the show, I asked another of Ashley’s volunteer advisers, whom I knew had spoken to her that morning.
“Not true. Just another fabrication.”
Another fabrication.
The past several weeks had seemed like a dizzying blur of false testimony, as the national media seized any morsel of news or gossip to sate its ravenous appetite for Ashley Judd stories. As the actress contemplated whether to move back to Kentucky and challenge Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, I was alternating with Congressman John Yarmuth as witness for the defense against a steady stream of salacious recriminations.
Click here to read my full piece from Newsweek/The Daily Beast: “How Kentucky Democrats Duped the MSM and Helped Elbow Out Ashley Judd”
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UPDATED NOON
Get me some antibiotics — the piece has gone viral. Check out the following pieces (h/t Jason Delambre):
An adviser to Ashley Judd said that the decision by the actress to pass on a challenge to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) next year was the result of a calculated effort by a small group of Democrats to stifle her electoral prospects.
In a story published Monday in The Daily Beast, Jonathan Miller wrote that the “most egregious disinformation” about Judd and her would-be candidacy “came from entirely anonymous sources” and helped create an unfavorable narrative. Before she announced last week that she will not run in 2014, reports suggested that Judd told a group of supporters at a private dinner, “I have been raped twice, so I think I can handle Mitch McConnell.” Miller, who attended that dinner, said he “never heard her say anything remotely like that.”
He also highlighted the recent suggestions that former President Bill Clinton had lobbied against a Judd candidacy in the hopes of getting Kentucky’s Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes to run instead. Follow up reports later confirmed that Clinton had no problem with a Judd bid, but Miller said the damage had already been done — and now McConnell may be the ultimate beneficiary of the conniving efforts by Democrats.
What happened to the Senatorial aspirations of Hollywood celebrity Ashley Judd? Some believed that she got chased out of the race after Republicans in Kentucky and the NRSC began launching attacks on her past statements, making her reluctant to spend the time and money. Others think that Kentucky Democrats changed their minds on a celebrity campaign after determining that Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes became interested. Both may be true, but according to Judd adviser Jonathan Miller in today’s Daily Beast, the real proximate cause of Judd’s withdrawal was a dirty tricks campaign not from Republicans, but from Kentucky Democrats — aided by a national media that got easily “duped”:
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UPDATED 1:20 PM
More than 8 hours after its original publication, and the article is still the most popular posting at Newsweek/The Daily Beast. Check out this screen shot:
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Apr 1, 2013 at 8:00 AM ET
LEXINGTON, KY: The Recovering Politician is EXCLUSIVELY reporting this morning that actress/humanitarian Ashley Judd — who just last week announced that she would not be challenging U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in his 2014 re-election bid –has reversed course, and will file her official Senate campaign papers on Tuesday with the office of Kentucky’s Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes.
“Watching Mitch in that ridiculous University of Louisville sweater vest, cheering on those loser Cardinals in the Big Dance, made me want to barf,” Judd, the University of Kentucky Wildcats’ #1 fan, told The Recovering Politician in an exclusive interview. “The next thing you’ll tell me is that we’ll have a Dukie as Kentucky Senator. Oh, wait we do — that curly-headed wing-nut. To quote another Duke alum, Richard Nixon: “[Expletive deleted] that [expletive deleted] sheep-[expletive deleted] [expletive deleted].”
Reaction among Kentucky Democrats was fast and furious, just like the name of the only late 90s’s movie in which Ashley Judd did not appear:
“That’s horse-hockey. No way can we let that out-of-touch Hollywood celebrity run,” shouted political consultant Dale Emmons, the most outspoken advocate of an Alison Lundergan Grimes candidacy. “Those DC elites are not going to get in the way of me running yet another campaign against Mitch!”
“Barack and Steve ain’t gonna be happy,” former Obama and Beshear campaign operative Jimmy Cauley charged, “And I’m headed to Vatican City for a pow-wow with Francis. He’s gonna be pissed.”
“We are opposed to Ashley Judd because we think that Alison Lundergan Grimes will be an outstanding U.S. Senator,” said every person who is thinking of running for Kentucky Governor in 2015. “Of course, if Alison runs against us for Governor, we reserve the right to change our minds about her qualifications.”
The Frankfort political press could not be reached: They were tripping over themselves to be the first to quote Danny Briscoe, Larry Forgy, and a handful of other old white men who haven’t been involved in high-level Kentucky politics for decades.
Read the rest of… EXCLUSIVE: Ashley Judd Reverses Course, Announcing Senate Bid on Tuesday
By Jonathan Miller, on Fri Mar 29, 2013 at 1:30 PM ET
One of my favorite and funniest college memories involved a pick-up basketball game that took place in a small public park near my college dorm in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The game was usually a mix of Harvard geeks and city kids, the latter usually three or four levels of talent above us.
One day, I was encouraged by my teammates to guard a particularly large and muscular player on the other team. After he completely ran over me twice, my teammates laughed and informed me that the huge guy I was guarding was indeed the esteemed small shooting guard for the Michigan Wolverines, Rumeal Robinson, home from a school break.
Later that year, Robinson would hit two of the clutchest free throws in the history of roundball to win the NCAA championship against Seton Hall:
Watch them here:
Today, Robinson is serving a six-and-a-half year sentence for a 2010 conviction on bank bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and making a false statement to a financial institution. Dan Wetzel interviewed him for Yahoo Sports (h/t Tony Cruise):
He strongly maintains his innocence, partly on the grounds that his request for new representation just before his trial should have been granted. He says while he did a poor job of handling sophisticated loans and debts, he is not a criminal.
Robinson points much of the blame on prosecutors and Helen Ford. In an effort to help fund the casino/resort project, his adoptive mother signed her home over to Robinson’s business group – she says unwittingly. The house was eventually lost to foreclosure.
Nearing 70, the now widowed Helen lives in a smaller apartment in the Boston area. Robinson claims she “conspired with the feds” in his case. She also took part in numerous media stories that, he said, made it seem like the lost house was the center of the case. All while, he said, discounting the Mercedes, the mink coat and the other gifts he provided her through the years.
She eventually testified on behalf of the prosecution, a devastating blow Robinson said.
“People are going to believe your mother when she says you were doing things,” Robinson said. “… The damage was done before [I] stepped into court. There’s a lot of misunderstanding about my case.”
There is little regret, plenty of defiance.
Ronald E. Longstaff, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa saw it differently. He criticized Robinson’s stance as a demonstration of “absolutely no remorse, absolutely no acknowledgement of fault. The record is replete with significant fraud.”
As the founder of a site dedicated to second chances, I am hoping that my former court adversary is able to turn things around for his second act upon his prison release in a few years. He inspired a lot of us two decades ago. I pray that he can do the same again.
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Mar 28, 2013 at 2:15 PM ET
Click here for a printable version of the Sweet 16 NCAA 2013 bracket
At The Recovering Politician, we not only believe in second chances; it is the very mission of our site.
So please join our Second Chance Sweet 16 prediction tournament — No Bracket No Pay II Chance II
But this is your last chance — you must sign up AND fill out your brackets by 7:15 PM EDT TONIGHT!!! Just click here to sign up and fill out your second chance NCAA bracket.
It may be too late for the 52 teams already eliminated, but it is not too late for you to win!
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