I got the latest ABA E-Journal and found myself reading the latest The Rodent column. Now, I know he’s supposed to be humorous and sometimes he is funny. He’s more like smile-funny rather than laugh-out-loud funny, with his out-takes on the law profession and how screwy it is. The latest column is no exception. His column photograph is the weirdest thing for me, though. Despite being called “The Rodent” (no doubt meaning to evoke the negative stereotype of the law profession), his “photo” is not of the weasel-like form. No, it’s of a sweet looking, fuzzy head (mouse? chinchilla? definitely not chipmunk) atop of a decent looking suit. Huh? Stereotype bent over backwards – the Rodent not trying to chew you out of hearth and home; he’s your kid’s lovable cartoon figure. Gee whiz, had the column been by The Shark, would we have had little Nemo’s head stuck on?
Ooh, the big Entertainment Weekly Special Double Issue/Year Ender! This is going to be fun to flip through!
Bill Moyer’s Now news magazine on PBS is an enjoyable, informative show. Last week’s interview was with NYS’ Attorney General Elliot Spitzer; this week was a fascinating couple of minutes with former Governor Angus King of Maine (a fierce independent, he told the interviewer that the best time he had was antagonizing both parties; a man who spent his adult years in Maine, he accepts the ribbing about not being a native Mainer with good humor). I like watching the series; it has such a Bill Moyers flavor, gentle but not without toughness. There is an unveiled liberal sense to it, from the way he criticizes big businesses and brings in stories that mainstream media wouldn’t really spend much time on (Moyers was once a member of the Lyndon B. Johnson White House, which may explain the liberal feelings; and, as a longtime news veteran, Moyers knows what the mainstream media isn’t telling us). “Now” has a pretty interesting website too.