My family bought our first TV around 1953. In 1946, the year when a certain member of your family was born, there were only about 6,000 television sets in the ENTIRE country!Ten years later there had been an explosion of TVs in US households. However, lots of TV sets did not mean a great number of television stations or program content. I remember that NBC was the dominate network in town. I don’t think the DUMONT network ever had an affiliate in our town. Overall there were only a handful of stations available to watch. And, they did not broadcast 24/7. I remember that on a few mornings I’d turn on our set and watch the test pattern while I waited for a mid to late morning show to start. At night there’d be a sign-off when the Star Spangle Banner was played.
One local program featured a man dressed as a cowboy who’d whittle while introducing movies. Believe it or not some of the films were SILENT. I assume the film rights were cheap and easily available. There was Charlie Chaplin of course. Papa liked the “Tons Of Fun” characters as well as Buster Keaton and Tom Mix. And, segments of some movies featured the Keystone Kops.
The Kops were a group of police with ill fitting uniforms and chaotic antics running to and fro; usually unsuccessfully chasing after a film’s comedic star. Crashing into each other, falling and bumbling were their hallmarks. They never got anything right. I don’t recall them ever making an arrest stick. Chaos reigned as soon as they appeared. They were incompetent as all get out. I was nonetheless amused, as much I suspect at their antics, as I was transfixed at the marvel of TV.
In popular culture, it has become normal to reference incoherent actions as a display of the Keystone Kops. That is easy to do in sports such as soccer when the defense scores an own goal. Or, in American football with fumbles and kicks and drops and whiffs at tackles. A Stanford/Cal game comes to mind.
However, it can be used at its best in the world of politics/government. It is a target rich enviroment. Enter the FBI. During the 1930’s-40’s, radio programs like G-Men/Gang Busters glamorized our nations lawmen. I Led Three Lives on TV and the Jimmy Stewart movie, FBI Story, both portrayed the FBI in a positive light. The FBI in those days had excellent PR. However, there were some underreported bumps along the way which were never overly publizied.
Flash forward and “The Bureau” seemingly put one D J Trump in its sights. How he got lined up by them is a story without an ending at this point. But, there he was. He was such a worthy target that a million dollar offer was made to a prospective witness by the crack agents of our most prestigous national law enforcement agency. A million bucks! Were they willing to spend such an amount of taxpayer money because they couldn’t detect the truth of political shannigans? The more germane question might be, couldn’t they have figured out the truth on their own?The days of old fashioned police work (shoe leather) had apparently faded away.
However, the story was too juicy to pass up. A Manchurian Candidate. Super spies. The FBI’s best and brightest had cheerleaders; A dogged media hound and finger pointing politicians. The events of 2016 needed a Mueller report. Tenacity was required for two impeachments. Out of office is not out of mind. How about a congressional committee? Or, better yet, a criminal case? This time will prove to be a charm. What could go wrong? The Keystone Kops and cohorts are still in action. Don’t worry that the fifth or sixth bite of the apple might generate sympathy for the target. What are they thinking? Papa still enjoys watching the Keystone Kops.