A suggestion to Democrats and Republicans: why not lighten up on the upcoming healthcare reform townhalls? News reports have already explained what will happen: Democrats will be trying to explain their view of healthcare reform and — in the best tradition of democracy — GOPers will try to pack the meetings and in some cases drown out a detailed discussion so there are some conflict-riddled clips showing angry audiences that can be shown on You Tube and on network newscasts.
But here’s an idea: if you lighten up a bit — or a lot — you might get bigger audiences and better clips on You Tube and the networks. Why not do it in the style of this clip showing Henny Youngman and Milton Berle on a 1966 Hollywood Palace show. Just change the topic at hand and do it exactly like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Nz5TWRRv8A
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.