Another time where I (Ty) dip into the mailbag. First up? Ava and C.I.'s "TV: Exclusion empowered by The Water Cooler Set" resulted in a ton of e-mails with most of you agreeing that Sammy Davis Jr. was being held to a standard that a White entertainer would not be. "When has Elvis' support for Richard Nixon been an issue," Andrea wrote and answered, "Never!"
However, Tiffany Waters singled out this section:
"Race" is addressed with Paula Wayne raging against Frank Sinatra for not telling JFK that Sammy had to perform at the presidential inauguration. She doesn't rage against JFK for nixing Sammy. Time and again, the powerful (JFK, corporations like the makers of Geritol which didn't want to sponsor a show with an African-American lead) are let off and the minor are slammed. Major events, like the MLK-led March on Washington in 1963, which Sammy was a part of, are reduced to less than 30 seconds or outright ignored.
Tiffany writes, "I watched and I agree with Paula Wayne that it was Frank's fault. He could have done something to keep Sammy Davis Jr. performing at the inauguration."
"Really?" respond Ava and C.I. jointly. "Evelyn Lincoln is the name you need to learn, Tiffany. She was the incoming President Kennedy's secretary. She called Sammy and told him that JFK did not want Sammy present at the inauguration. How is that Frank's fault? Frank Sinatra went to Sammy's wedding. And when Sammy postponed it ahead of the election, Frank told him he shouldn't and that he was a better man than Sinatra was because he wouldn't do that himself. He postponed it to avoid 'embarrassing' JFK. Tiffany, you prove our point. You'd rather fixate on Frank Sinatra than hold JFK responsible for having his secretary call Sammy and tell him that he wasn't wanted at the inauguration."
Larry wants to know if we'll ever cover comics again and could we do a roundtable on superhero shows? On the first one, probably not. But who knows? On the second one, that sounds like a good idea and I'll propose it next weekend.
Elsie wants to know if we could do more music "by the way." I think we could and I'll see what we can do about that.
Jordan likes that recent weeks saw us publishing not "highlights" but reposts. "I would love to tell you I read everything but I sometimes miss stuff and it was great to see those posts."
Heath wonders if we could get something on broadcast TV? I'm passing that one on to Ava and C.I., Heath, I think they've already got something planned with regards to that.
Randall wonders if we think there will ever come a time when Iraq will be written and spoken of widely? He means the Iraq War. I think this anniversary -- the 18th year since the war started -- might get it a little more attention. Might not, though. It is really sad how so many walked away from the war.
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