Tummlers

In his memorial reporting yesterday, Chris Matthews referred to the late and much-missed Tim Russert as a tummler. This is one of those Yiddish words for which there is no English equivalent, but it's generally used to describe someone, such as a social director or entertainer, who encourages guest or audience participation. You don't have to be Jewish to be a tummler, but it helps.

The last of the great Borscht Belt tummlers is gone now, but I'm lucky to have seem two of them while they were still with us. In the mid-60s, when I lived in Manhattan, someone invited me to see Jan Murray at B'nai Brith benefit performance. Murray was the king of the one-liners, at the top of his game. There was one unforgettable line, about the hazards of driving low-slung European sports cars: "I stuck out my hand to make a turn signal and castrated a cop."

More recently (a relative term at my age) I saw Red Buttons. I was spending the weekend at a conference at the Nevele (now the Nevele Grande) when the activities board announced that Red Buttons would be performing, to replace another comedian who had cancelled at the last minute. I dashed to the theater to make reservations, and spotted Buttons on the stage, testing the sound system, so I hung around in the lobby. Buttons came through the door a few minutes later, greeted by an almost hysterical red-haired lady who gave a memorable geshrei,

"Red Buttons! I thought you were dead!."

Buttons had an amazing sense of timing. Take a look at his last performance, at a Jerry Lewis telethon.




A friend who lived on the margins of the theater world once took me backstage to meet Jackie Mason, who (to tell the truth) didn't seem very happy to have visitors. His schtick repeated what is probably his most famous line, that the "only space Jews care about is closet space."

But he struck me then as a verbissiner.

My conclusion was confirmed recently by Mason's tirade against Obama on his vlog. (Don't try to watch the whole thing; it's a disgrace.)

One of the bloggers at Chimere says that Condi Rice is also a verbissener.

If nothing else, Condi's got an expression that Yiddish describes best: verbissener. Loosely translated, it means you look like you've just sucked a whole crate of lemons and y'aint happy 'bout it.

As Russert used to say "What a country!"

Who for Vice President?

I am watching this discussion of HRC snagging the VP slot with disbelief. Why in the world would Barack want Bill Clinton, who has clearly lost his bearings, to be looking over his shoulder in the White House? Why do some people think that Hillary and Bill could successfully get through the vetting process, considering their dubious financial dealings and Bill's apparent inability to stop philandering?

The "pundits" are now talking ahout the VP being chosen on the basis of geography, constituency, and military experience. None of these is relative. We need a VP who has the know-how to be President, should it become necessary, someone who can give Obama invaluable advice on foreign relations, which differs from defense issues. For defense, we have the generals and the Joint Chiefs. That's their job.

If it were up to me, I'd go for Joe Biden, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He's smart; he's honest; he's principled; he is experienced and wise in the ways of the world. And he's been an staunch supporter of Israel.

And while I'm thinking about the shortsightedness of the media, hasn't it occurred to anyone else that Caroline Kennedy was selected, not only for her early endorsement and work in the campaign, but also because she can go to Ted Kennedy for confidential, and quintessential, advice?

And while I'm on that topic, don't forget to say a little prayer for Senator Kennedy. We North Carolinians are proud that he chose one of our wonderful medical institutions for his care! (He's ten minutes down the road from me.)

I'm still trying to get it into my head that Barack is going to be our next President. The mind boggles.

This is a mensch