From the LA Times obituary of actor Roscoe Lee Brown:
He…recalled that early in his career, a director told him that his speech sounded “white.” Browne’s response was simple and to the point: “We had a white maid.”
17 Responses to “Quote O’ The Day”
It’s unfortunate timing that RLB died the same day as Vonnegut.
Re: the Iraq war in general
(also see this post)
Ever since the months prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, there have been a few reports in the newspapers that the Central Intelligence Agency was casting aspersions on the intelligence the White House was relying on to justify the war. The CIA has never given a position on whether the war is needed or justified or said that Bush is wrong to go to war. But doesn’t it seem much more likely that the CIA is an extremely right wing organization than a left wing one? After all, even if the people working for them and at least a lot of the leadership really wanted a war for their own reasons, there are a lot of reasons for them to not want to tie their credibility to what they know is faulty information. They and their personnel, present and former, could use other means of promoting the Iraq war, and still be motivated to make the statements in the media. If the CIA got behind faulty information, they would have to make a choice between whether they would be involved in scamming the American people and the world once the military had invaded Iraq and no weapons were found- so: 1) Imagine the incredible difficulties involved in pulling off a hoax that weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. Imagine all the people you would have to be able to show the weapons to- the inspectors from the UN / the international community, the American press, statesmen, etc. Then imagine the difficulties of substantiating that story to people who would examine it- the lack of witnesses to a production plant that made the weapons or to transportation operations or storage of the weapons during Hussein’s regime of them. 2) If the story fell apart upon inspection or the CIA tried not to hoax it at all, imagine the loss of credibility they would suffer. The CIA, it is safe to bet, does not want to be known to the American people as a group that lies to them to send them to war. Even within the CIA there could be disagreement among people about how involved they should be in promoting the war or the neo-con agenda more broadly, so the CIA would have to worry about lying to and managing its own people after trying so hard to get them to trust their superiors in the agency, and perhaps there simply might be too many people in the agency who knew enough about what was going on in Iraq to know if someone was deceiving people to promote this war.
So there is a lot of reason to be cautious against being seen as endorsing what they knew was false intelligence even if they were very strong supporters of going to war.
Granted, it’s certainly possible the CIA could have changed their minds about the war, as a lot of people have, and could now be trying to move the nation closer to withdrawal.
(also see this post)
Ever since the months prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, there have been a few reports in the newspapers that the Central Intelligence Agency was casting aspersions on the intelligence the White House was relying on to justify the war. The CIA has never given a position on whether the war is needed or justified or said that Bush is wrong to go to war. But doesn’t it seem much more likely that the CIA is an extremely right wing organization than a left wing one? After all, even if the people working for them and at least a lot of the leadership really wanted a war for their own reasons, there are a lot of reasons for them to not want to tie their credibility to what they know is faulty information. They and their personnel, present and former, could use other means of promoting the Iraq war, and still be motivated to make the statements in the media. If the CIA got behind faulty information, they would have to make a choice between whether they would be involved in scamming the American people and the world once the military had invaded Iraq and no weapons were found- so: 1) Imagine the incredible difficulties involved in pulling off a hoax that weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. Imagine all the people you would have to be able to show the weapons to- the inspectors from the UN / the international community, the American press, statesmen, etc. Then imagine the difficulties of substantiating that story to people who would examine it- the lack of witnesses to a production plant that made the weapons or to transportation operations or storage of the weapons during Hussein’s regime of them. 2) If the story fell apart upon inspection or the CIA tried not to hoax it at all, imagine the loss of credibility they would suffer. The CIA, it is safe to bet, does not want to be known to the American people as a group that lies to them to send them to war. Even within the CIA there could be disagreement among people about how involved they should be in promoting the war or the neo-con agenda more broadly, so the CIA would have to worry about lying to and managing its own people after trying so hard to get them to trust their superiors in the agency, and perhaps there simply might be too many people in the agency who knew enough about what was going on in Iraq to know if someone was deceiving people to promote this war.
So there is a lot of reason to be cautious against being seen as endorsing what they knew was false intelligence even if they were very strong supporters of going to war.
Granted, it’s certainly possible the CIA could have changed their minds about the war, as a lot of people have, and could now be trying to move the nation closer to withdrawal.
Oh, Saunders.
Just a sec, I can fix it…
…Granted, it’s certainly possible the CIA could have changed their minds about the war, as a lot of people have, and could now be trying to move the nation closer to withdrawal.
Left by Spam on April 12th, 2007
That should get it. Incidentally, sir or madam, if I spot you doing this routine on one more blog (and god forbid mine), I’m fixing you up on a date with my sister.
You’ve been warned.
…Granted, it’s certainly possible the CIA could have changed their minds about the war, as a lot of people have, and could now be trying to move the nation closer to withdrawal.
Left by Spam on April 12th, 2007
That should get it. Incidentally, sir or madam, if I spot you doing this routine on one more blog (and god forbid mine), I’m fixing you up on a date with my sister.
You’ve been warned.
[spit take]
WTF?!
Oh, and Mr. Brown’s passing is a darned shame, too.
WTF?!
Oh, and Mr. Brown’s passing is a darned shame, too.
I’ve noticed that this Spam character has been hitting ALLLL of
the blogs that I visit, and I’m kinda skeered that I’ve drawn a new
psycho-stalker, like Psycho Sue From CT or worse. Maybe it’s not me,
maybe there’s a different common denominator, but it’s working on my
last fucking nerve. Fucking parasitic waste of oxygen.
Now, back to Mr. Brown: I loved that man. He was the epitome of “droll.” Urbane, smartassed, funny as hell, and could lance an enemy to the wall with but a look. And that VOICE! Pure brilliance and esoteric grandeur.
Now, back to Mr. Brown: I loved that man. He was the epitome of “droll.” Urbane, smartassed, funny as hell, and could lance an enemy to the wall with but a look. And that VOICE! Pure brilliance and esoteric grandeur.
Roscoe Brown, Kurt Vonnegut, et al. – our loss, eternity’s gain.
But I can’t help fearfully wondering if they all know something we
don’t.
I still remember that AITF episode. Two acting greats
shoehorned into a tiny space. There was a scene where the lights went
out, and when they came back on, Browne was leering over O’Connor, who
reacted in disgust; Browne’s line was something like, “What’s the
matter, Bunker? Afraid of the face of the future?”
Vonnegut’s dead? I didn’t know that.
hi nice site.
Anyone remember when Mr. Brown did an episode of Barney Miller?
Ah, for the days when there was mature(not Adult!) sitcoms on the telly.
Ah, for the days when there was mature(not Adult!) sitcoms on the telly.
Crap. I lose my Internets connection for a week (possibly longer,
it isn’t back today and I’m posting this from my mom’s house), and
somebody goes and dies? Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.
Mr. Brown was an excellent actor. I remember his work on “Soap”, and “All In the Family”. RIP, RLB.
Mr. Brown was an excellent actor. I remember his work on “Soap”, and “All In the Family”. RIP, RLB.
I loooooooved “Barney Miller”!
Of course, back in the ’70s, (Pre-PMRC, I might note), TV shows were still actually PRODUCED for ADULTS, instead of making everything in the fucking country Disney-Sanitized and Baby-Safe.
“All In The Family”
“Soap”
The early years of “MASH”
Pre-sanitation “Happy Days”
“Mary Hartman Mary Hartman”
“Maude”
I’m sure that I’m missing quite a few of the classics, but I was, after all, the youngest spawn (step-spawn, if you ask The Dick), and didn’t get to control the TV by any stretch of the imagination. 1970 wasn’t just a shitty year for the Tet Offensive and the Beatles.
Mr. Brown also did a few really good episodes of “Benson,” before it became a “family” sitcom, revolving around the Gold child and all things pseudo-”innocent”, back when (like, maybe the first season) it was a biting sociopolitical satire. They ruin all of the good shows — “Welcome Back, Kotter” went from being a light-hearted “Blackboard Jungle” to a stultified cliche-riddled kiddy show with the same lame-ass catch-phrases and caricatures. Just like they’ve done to “House” and “Bones” after their first seasons. They have to ruin EVERYTHING with soap-opera-y bullshit “plots” instead of keeping them about what made them good in the first place: QUALITY WRITING, GOOD PLOTS, AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.
All TV networks should be emptied of every single executive and rebuilt from scratch, keeping only the “talent” who prove that they can hack it in REAL acting/writing/producing. Same thing for “The L-Word” and “Huff”. No, I don’t have cable anymore, and Huff was cancelled, but it was a damned good show the first season, and they ruined it for no good fucking reason.
Of course, back in the ’70s, (Pre-PMRC, I might note), TV shows were still actually PRODUCED for ADULTS, instead of making everything in the fucking country Disney-Sanitized and Baby-Safe.
“All In The Family”
“Soap”
The early years of “MASH”
Pre-sanitation “Happy Days”
“Mary Hartman Mary Hartman”
“Maude”
I’m sure that I’m missing quite a few of the classics, but I was, after all, the youngest spawn (step-spawn, if you ask The Dick), and didn’t get to control the TV by any stretch of the imagination. 1970 wasn’t just a shitty year for the Tet Offensive and the Beatles.
Mr. Brown also did a few really good episodes of “Benson,” before it became a “family” sitcom, revolving around the Gold child and all things pseudo-”innocent”, back when (like, maybe the first season) it was a biting sociopolitical satire. They ruin all of the good shows — “Welcome Back, Kotter” went from being a light-hearted “Blackboard Jungle” to a stultified cliche-riddled kiddy show with the same lame-ass catch-phrases and caricatures. Just like they’ve done to “House” and “Bones” after their first seasons. They have to ruin EVERYTHING with soap-opera-y bullshit “plots” instead of keeping them about what made them good in the first place: QUALITY WRITING, GOOD PLOTS, AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.
All TV networks should be emptied of every single executive and rebuilt from scratch, keeping only the “talent” who prove that they can hack it in REAL acting/writing/producing. Same thing for “The L-Word” and “Huff”. No, I don’t have cable anymore, and Huff was cancelled, but it was a damned good show the first season, and they ruined it for no good fucking reason.
RIP Mr. Brown! Your appearances anywhere in teevee, movies and stage were a treat.
Anntichrist…the “Kotter” phenomenon you refer to was also evident in the final days of M*A*S*H; I call it the “We’re All Stars and Need our Face Time” Syndrome, and it is self-explanatory. I saw a documentary on M*A*S*H,
and it showed all of the cast regulars sitting in on the scriptwriting
process; even if you hadn’t known that was going on, you could have
guessed–the characters all lost their distinctive personnae and started
mugging for the camera, constantly uttering quips instead of engaging in
real dialogue. It is the price you pay, I guess, for success; I would
single out Cheers as the one long-running TV sardonic comedy which resisted that urge.
Yep, and didn’t that ego trip work out well for Col. Blake and
Trapper John (the original one, not the medi-drama)? I always liked
Henry better than Col. Dragnet.
And Cheers lost a lot of their sardonic after Coach died, but Rhea Perlman kept a lot of the edge in there, until Shelley got an ego.
But Maude… Maude was a heroine of mine. Her, Miss Piggy, and Cher. My TV role models as a ’70s brat.
And Cheers lost a lot of their sardonic after Coach died, but Rhea Perlman kept a lot of the edge in there, until Shelley got an ego.
But Maude… Maude was a heroine of mine. Her, Miss Piggy, and Cher. My TV role models as a ’70s brat.
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