"Science Fiction...Politics.....Real Thin Line..."

Psst!...To have the most fun with this one, read the piece before you watch the video...



Political pundits come in all shapes and sizes.

You gotch ya Rush Limbaughs and Donna Braziles, your James Carvilles and Mary Matalins.

And then, of course, there’s yer George F. Wills, Gloria Borgers, Keith Obermanns and Paul Begalas.

Oh…and Rod Serling.

Say what?

Well, let’s just stop and think about it for a minute.

Consider some of the political doctrine disguised as sci-fi episodes of “The Twilight Zone”

And, btw, if you’re a fan, you’ll likely nod your head in agreement as I rattle off a few titles here.

If you’re not or you’re too young to remember “The Twilight Zone”, just Hulu or You Tube a few and you’ll join the head-nodding group shortly.

“The Obsolete Man”.

“The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street”.

“In Praise of Pip”.

“He’s Alive”.

And assorted others that were more subtle in their subtext but, nevertheless, timely commentaries on the body politic of the times.

Then, of course, there’s “The Howling Man.”

Short synopsis:

An old man tells, in flashback, the story of how, as a young man traveling on foot in the “old country”, seeks shelter in a monastery on a rainy night, only to discover that the monks have a man under lock and key, a man who howls at night in distress at his plight, a man who begs, pleads and bargains with the young man to set him free, even though the monks, seemingly good guys, have made it very clear to the young man that the howling man is NEVER to be turned loose on the outside world.

Don’t take a Rhodes scholar to see what’s coming.

The young man frees the howling man who….well, the classic payoff to the tale is the video included.

Give it a watch and have a chuckle and then come on back to this place in the blog.

I’ll wait.



Admittedly not one of the more classic episodes, in fact, one of the more ham handed fables from the Serling stable, I nevertheless found this oldie but goodie popping into my head like today’s toast first thing this morning.

Just about the time I checked in to see what the world was up to and came across this back story ala’ Begala.


WASHINGTON (CNN) — Longtime Democratic strategist Paul Begala hammered former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Friday — calling her "flaky and an intellectual lightweight."

Begala was asked on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer" to respond to a Politico story in which former House Speaker Newt Gingrich outlined several ways for Palin to repair her image.

Although Begala called Gingrich "a brilliant political strategist," he said giving advice to Palin is an exercise in futility.

"Here's the problem," said Begala, a CNN contributor. "He is trying to treat her like a serious person. She is not. OK? She is about half a whack job. She does not have the intellectual heft of Newt Gingrich or almost anyone else in the Republican Party, and I think she has proved that."

He continued: "I admire Newt Gingrich for pretending that she is a serious person. But Sarah Palin has proven herself to be flaky and an intellectual lightweight."


And therein lies, for my money, proof positive that Rod Serling could have held his own with any of the pundits prattling political these days.

Because the story just recently repeated itself.

All it requires is a modern day tweak or two.

To wit:

Until August of 2008, nobody outside the overwhelming but obscure state of Alaska had ever heard of Sarah Palin.

And, if the legend is true, John McCain was warned, even by some of his own, not to turn her loose on the outside world.

John McCain, like the young man in Serling’s story, thought he knew better.

Oops.

Don’t misinterpret me.

I don’t, for a single second, mean to imply that Sarah Palin is the devil.

Ann Coulter has that locked up for the foreseeable.

But I hold fast to the notion that Serling’s sharing was spot on as it related to what can happen when common sense and good advice get trumped in favor of political expediency.

With one other little tweak.

It ain’t the hottie doing the howling.

It’s a lot of us.

Every time she opens her mouth.