Emmy-winning television legend Carol Burnett turns 90 this Wednesday, April 26, 2023.
I am an admirer of Carol Burnett’s. She is the one celebrity I appreciate most. I have always found Burnett, in her overall talent, to also be identifiable. That her acting, in productions like the Emmy-winning ABC telefilm Friendly Fire (which nabbed her a Best Actress Emmy nomination in 1979), was realistic and honest. Her performances have soul.
In 2019, I noted the 86th birthday of Carol Burnett with the inclusion of some Carol Burnett Show (CBS 1967–1978) comedy sketches. (Link: Happy Birthday, Carol Burnett!) Rather than repeat that here, I will include recent coverage of Burnett which also address her 90th birthday celebration. It will, in fact, be broadcast on her birthday on NBC.
I just concluded, over the past weekend, having streamed all nine seasons of Homicide Hunter. (Admittedly, I do not timely keep up with all series of interest. Sometimes, I play catchup. And it took me, say, two months with Homicide Hunter.)
Homicide Hunter, which was on Investigation Discovery from 2011–2020, was about numerous cases from the files of former lieutenant Joe Kenda. The now-retired Kenda, above, born in 1946, was in law enforcement in Colorado Springs, Colorado, for more than twenty years until he became inactive in 1996.
I found this series as I was navigating my subscription to Discovery+. Other series, also about real-life crimes, are not done quite so well. Some are lurid, tabloid types in how they are presented. Homicide Hunter is respectful. (Wikipedia page on the series: Wikipedia — Homicide Hunter.)
As a resident of Michigan, I can say that I consider Colorado my second home state given I have made many vacation trips there to visit with my Aunt. Divorced for years, and turning 80 this year, she has lived in the state since 1981. I get to ask of her recollections of a number of these cases. (Remember this one?)
My interest in this subject matter stems from the fact that I am grateful I have personally not lost someone to homicide. My brother has a childhood friend who did lose his bother to homicide in 2015. (It is not solved.) And, last year, I wrote (‘Remembering the Children’) about the 1976 and 1977 murders in Oakland County, Michigan of four children known to be victims of the same killer or killers. I take to this with respect and sympathy, for the victims and their surviving family and friends, and for the fact this even exists. I also appreciate this particular series due to the experiences of Joe Kenda. He gives much insight from the perspective of a law enforcer (in more than one capacity during his active career) and also with understanding of these crimes. He has a keen understanding of human nature. (He has a particularly memorable quote, explaining what made him interested in this career, in the below video.)
Homicide Hunter produced and broadcast 144 episodes. (Most were 20-episode seasons.) Here are a few episodes which stood out:
➤ “A Killer Always Rings Twice” (Season 01 Episode 03): A 1986 homicide investigation of the rape and murder of one female resident in an apartment complex is followed, weeks later, by a second female victim. Clearly, this is the work of the same person. (Report: A Fort Carson soldier was arrested in the investigation….)
➤ “I Now Pronounce You Dead” (Season 02 Episode 01): This is the 1990 homicide of wife and mother Dianne Hood. At age 32, she was gunned down outside a meeting for patients, including herself, who have lupus. (Piece: 5 chilling details from Dianne Hood murder case.)
➤ “Weapon of Choice” (Season 03 Episode 03): On Memorial Day 1990, divorced mother of two Shaundra Murr is murdered. The culprit uses his car to back into her. (It was an unforgettable case. My first trip to Colorado was just two months earlier. It was outrageous and sick. Source: ‘Slain in Front of Children: Shaundra Lynn Murr’.)
There are a few, not many, episodes in which Joe Kenda was not the lead investigator. One such episode is “Animal Nature” (Season 09 Episode 18). It covers the 1975 murder of Karen Grammer, the sister of Emmy-winning actor Kelsey Grammer, who was abducted, raped, and murdered at age 18 by serial killers. (Source: The Murder of Kelsey Grammer's 18-Year-Old Sister in 1975 Still Haunts Him: 'It's Always with You'. The lead investigator on that case was Lou Smit Wikipedia — Lou Smit.)
The 2022 Democrats won majority pickups for control of both the state House and Senate in my home state Michigan. (First time in 40 years!)
They actually did something they should: Repealed Right-to-Work in Michigan.
In 2010, I sensed Rick Snyder, who that year won a Republican pickup for Governor of Michigan, was a snake. And he proved to be. What with getting a Right-to-Work bill in and signed behind the curtains (so to speak) and then the later coverup with the contaminated water in Flint.
This is important for at least two reasons: It helps…The People. And, from a political and electoral standpoint, it is in a leading bellwether state.
I will be writing more about electoral matters, looking to 2024 (a year from now, primaries are in progress), and this will happen in a few weeks. I will be taking a break the next two weeks from having a specific topic. This will overlap with Easter on April 9, 2023. The next two weeks of Progressives Chat will be on Sundays, April 2 and 9, 2023. Normal schedule will resume on Monday, April 17, 2023.
If you are like me, and am one of the many millions of United States citizens who has been a voter for a good 30 (or more) years, I am certain you want to make sure you have been handling yourself correctly.
Two recent videos, which serve as a Voter Guide for persons who are in need (and for other persons who may not realize they are in need), appear above. (They are a big help.)
I know everyone here at Progressives Chat, and even elsewhere, can and will appreciate the specific instructions from these two sources.
A few years ago, around 2018 or 2019, and while the incumbent U.S. president was Donald Trump, the following quote which has stayed with me was said by Jamarl Thomas.
“Progressives are not Democrats.”
This still resonates.
You are either a progressive—or you are a Democrat.
The reason why this is important to distinguish is because one is an ideological political term, for overall positions on issues, even though that term has been co-opted, and the other one is about continuous loyalty to a U.S. political party.
(Note: Even though the term progressive has been co-opted, for the sake of this blog topic I will continue to use that term given it is understood among the regulars here at Progressives Chat.)
It is also important to distinguish because the U.S.’s two major political parties, Democratic and Republican, have not been exactly the same on the political spectrum throughout the entirety of their histories.
Yes, it is important to be able to distinguish.
The Online Left, as some have described them (they were for Bernie Sanders), who are lately pushing Marianne Williamson for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, are not progressives.
The Online Left, who are pushing Marianne Williamson for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, are Democrats.
Krystal Ball is a Democrat.
Kyle Kulinski is a Democrat.
Mike Figueredo is a Democrat.
All these people, and there are plenty more, are Democrats.
The Online Left Democrats’s push for Marianne Williamson, for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, is really their push to get their viewers (however many) to…Vote Blue No Matter Who (and What).
The Online Left Democrats are not aligned with, nor are they allies of, progressives. They are with the Democrats. They are…Democrats.
