What a great country!

We even elect comedians... I'm sitting here watching the confirmation hearing for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, and now it's Senator Al Franken's turn to ask questions.

I kept expecting the former funnyman to break into a monologue or crack a few jokes, but he is deadly serious, as he has been since even before he was elected (by just 200 votes) as a U.S. Senator from Minnesota.

Franken doesn't do comedy any more.

He asked Sotomayor detailed questions about specific court decisions.  He made one reference to a Perry Mason show at the end of his remarks, which got a laugh, but apart from that, it was all business.

I keep thinking back to the 1996 Republican Convention in San Diego, which I got to cover.  Franken was there as part of Comedy Central's coverage, which was called "Indecision '96".

The convention was not all that interesting... The delegates nominated Bob Dole.  The highlight for me was getting a chance to meet Rep. Sonny Bono on the convention floor.  That and Franken's hilarious routine, in which he pretended to be a reporter (complete with ridiculous headset).

He strolled around the convention floor with a camera and asked outrageous questions, especially to conservative delegates.

I've searched for the bit on YouTube, and I can't seem to find it.  It really was very funny.

It must have been easy for a guy like Franken to poke fun at politicians back then.  What a strange thing that he has become one.

Mayor Villaraigosa's spokesman Matt Szabo refuses to comment on the mayor's (and his girlfriend's) recent vacation, reportedly a 9-day trip to Africa.

But IF it was paid for by an outside group, Villaraigosa will likely have to report it to the state Fair Political Practices Commission, according to rules furnished by the city's Ethics Commission.

The L.A. Times has reported that a Washington-based organization called the Academy of Achievement bankrolled the mayor's travel to South Africa last week.  By the way, as I reported last week, this is a group that gets funding from Philip Anschutz, of AEG fame.  Anschutz is listed as a patron on the organization's website.

By the way, this same group paid for a trip the mayor took last year, providing him with $4371.97 in travel-related expenses.

According to the mayor's most recent California Form 700 (required by the state of certain officeholders to report gifts that include travel), Villaraigosa received reimbursement for 7 trips last year from various groups, including Princeton University and the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles.

You can see his most recent filing here: 

Download Villaraigosa Annual 2009

A summary of the rules for officeholders on disclosure of gifts, etc., provided by L.A.'s Ethics Commission is below:

Download Gifts_Travel

Actual photo of a kid at my son's summer camp:

There's now a cone of silence over L.A. Mayor Villaragosa's office concerning his 9-day trip to Africa.

The mayor's spokesman Matt Szabo won't respond to any questions about it.  He won't release any details on the intinerary.  Nor will he say whether any taxpayer dollars are being spent for an LAPD security detail, which usually travels with the mayor. 

We also don't know who's travelling with the mayor.

Are we not entitled to know something when the top elected official in the city leaves town?  This is not South Carolina, you know.

The LA Times recently reported:

A source familiar with the trip said the mayor will attend a summit in Cape Town and Johannesburg sponsored by the Academy of Achievement. The event will assemble graduate students from around the world to meet with "the greatest thinkers and achievers of the age," according to the group's website.

Villaraigosa was one of 25 recipients of the academy's Golden Plate award, recognizing people of "exceptional achievement," in 2006. Other recipients that year included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Nobel Prize-winning physicist John L. Hall and singer Sheryl Crow. The mayor also attended the academy summit last year in Hawaii.

The lead patron of the academy is the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation. EduCap, a student loan charity founded by Catherine and Wayne Reynolds and affiliated with the academy, recently came under scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service and Congress. The inquiries stemmed from allegations that EduCap may have abused its tax-exempt status by giving lavish perks to executives and providing non-foundation-related trips on a corporate jet to prominent Washington political figures, including former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.).

As with other invited guests attending the event, Villaraigosa's travel expenses are being paid by the academy, city officials said.

However, the city is paying the travel expenses incurred by the Los Angeles Police Department security detail that accompanies the mayor when he travels. When Villaraigosa vacationed in Reykjavik, Iceland, and London for 10 days last summer, the officers' travel costs were $10,650, according to city expense reports.

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It's extremely difficult to get much information about the "American Academy of Achievement".   The group's website looks like it hasn't been updated in awhile.  It doesn't list a phone number for the organization.

It does however list patrons.  In addition to the Catherine Reynolds Foundation (referenced above), the group gets funding from Philip F. Anschutz, of AEG, owner of Staples Center.

Other patrons of the Academy (according to its website) include:  His Highness Shaikh Salman Bin Hamad A-Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain and David Rubenstein, Managing Director of the Carlyle Group.

You can debate about whether the media gave too much time to the death of Michael Jackson.  You can argue about whether it was worth spending $4 million dollars in city money on the memorial.

But there's no denying the incredible emotion of the final 37 seconds of the tribute.

Jackson's 11-year-old daughter Paris stood up on that stage in front of thousands, with millions watching around the world.

She uttered a few simple words:

"I just wanted to say, ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you can imagine. I just wanted to say I love him so much."

It was all she could say before she started to sob.

In that moment, Michael Jackson was no longer a pop star or an icon.  He was no longer a performer.  He wasn't a symbol of anything.  He wasn't the creator of the soundtrack of anyone's youth. 

In that moment, he was just a dad.  He was just that little girl's Daddy.  And he was gone.  And it was very, very sad.

My colleague Asha Blake was sitting next to me on the KTLA set.  She heard those words and she began to weep.

I understood completely.

That little girl reminded all parents that it doesn't really matter we what do for a living, or how we look at ourselves, or how others view us.

To our kids, we are Daddy and Mommy.  And it seems trite to say it, but that really is the only job that has a great deal of lasting importance.

Here we are in the worst economic recession in the last 70 or so years, and all you hear about on the news is... Michael Jackson?

It was enough five days ago, and yet it continues.   Here are my observations:

*The traditional news media is like a freight train that is hard to stop once it gets going at a certain speed.  Everybody jumps on board a story and keeps going until the next big thing.  Often, news managers don't think about the big picture.  What really matters in people's lives?  What's really important?  Those are questions that don't get asked as often as they should.

*It's especially bad timing for us to be so distracted.  Up in Sacramento, the government is issuing IOU's.  Lawmakers can't or won't agree on cuts to make up the budget deficit.  That story should be getting a lot more play, but it's been pushed out because of Jackson coverage.  If the lawmakers and the Governor know that all we're talking about is MJ stuff, are they going to feel any pressure to solve the problem?

*Most of the coverage steps too lightly on the negative aspects of Jackson's life.  I guess this is because it's not considered polite to bring up the dirty laundry after someone has died.  I understand this tendency, but I don't think the public is getting a balanced look at the man.

What do you think of the media coverage?  And more importantly, how do you think it could be improved?