If you’re like me, you recognize 1980′s “Airplane!” as a stroke of absolute comedic genius courtesy of the Zucker brothers.  Without the endless parade of groanworthy one-liners and sight gags, we wouldn’t have other gems like its 1982 sequel (“Airplane II: The Sequel”), “Top Secret!”, the “Hot Shots” series, or The “Naked Gun” series.  I always thought it was a spoof of those “Airport” disaster movies from the 1970s, but apparently I was wrong.

Reporter: What kind of plane is it?

Johnny: Oh, it’s a big pretty white plane with red stripes, curtains in the windows and wheels and it looks like a big Tylenol.

As revealed to me this afternoon by one of my staff, the Zuckers actually lifted their masterpiece, almost line-for-line, from an obscure 1957 drama called “Zero Hour!”.  The plot’s the same (a bad fish dinner incapacitates the crew) and the lead character’s name (Ted Stryker) is even the same.  It’s like all they did was re-shoot many of the scenes and tack on a silly punchline at the end.
Anyway, I thought it was interesting…

He answered: “We can make a sensible social decision and say, ‘Well, at this point, to have access to a particular additional benefit [new drug or medical intervention] is so expensive that our taxpayers have better use for those funds.’ We make those decisions all the time. The decision is not whether or not we will ration care–the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open.”

In the same interview, he also said, “The social budget is limited—we have a limited resource pool. It makes terribly good sense to at least know the price of an added benefit, and at some point we might say nationally, regionally, or locally that we wish we could afford it, but we can’t.”

And don’t forget – Congress has passed a law exempting themselves from this mess.

Photo Credit (Mel’s ATCs)

But I have a question – is calling Obama a “surrender MONKEY” considered a racial epithet?

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/gerald_warner/blog/2009/04/10/barack_obama_president_pantywaist__new_surrender_monkey_on_the_block

It sure was 2 months ago.  Just ask Al Sharpton…

http://www.tmz.com/2009/02/18/al-sharpton-monkey-cartoon-obama/

Still, it’s good reading (especially considering it’s from a vinegary old Brit.)  It confirms my suspicion that the only thing the world hates more than a strong, sometimes unilaterally-acting America is an apologetic, appeasement-oriented America.  At least with the former, they can throw their stones of indignance without fear of being nuked by some bad guy.

I’m just waiting for Obama to officially change his name to Chamberlain.