Mike O'Connell

It was news several weeks ago when President Obama announced that December 26th would be a holiday for federal government employees. Oh, what a generous ol’ St. Nick, cooed the mainstream media.

It wasn’t the act itself (which was hardly without precedent) but the manner in which it was executed that should have received attention. What was required for the proclamation to be so was an executive order. An executive order, you say? Yes, an executive order.

An executive order is an act of an executive (here, the President) that manages operations within the government (in this case, the federal government) itself. For example, proclaiming a certain day to be a holiday. It is akin to a private business CEO declaring such a thing for his or her employees. It affects only the company itself, or in the President’s case, the federal government itself.

The bastardization of the executive order (sadly, this too is hardly without precedent), is one of the great misdoings of executive power in 20th and 21st century governance. Presidents now are in the habit of declaring “executive orders” whenever they feel it is inconvenient to rely on Congress (the branch of government tasked with legislating) to make laws. “Executive orders” today have shoehorned their way into having the full effect of law–see recent commotion and fuss over amnesty for illegal immigrants–though this was never the original intent (pardon the expression).

So enjoy your day of, federal government employees. At least it came about legitimately.

Before last week nobody had ever heard of the movie The Interview. Now terrorist groups, world leaders, and every single person on Earth can’t stop talking about it. If this was all a publicity stunt… kudos.

Of course it’s disappointing to see that a work of art gets shelved for political reasons. It’s even more disappointing to say I get it. I get it. If the unthinkable happened (hardly unthinkable anymore), no amount of ticket and popcorn revenue could ever wipe Sony’s hands clean. It’s a business decision. I get it.

We say all the time that the United States of America “is a free country.” Of course it is. We can make fun of our leaders, political and otherwise, without (much) fear of retribution. Sadly this does not exist in most of the world today and hasn’t existed in most places at most times. This is a free country, not a free world.

So I’m more interested than ever in seeing The Interview, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. Knowing nothing about this particular movie, I think those two make a pretty good team. Rogen, especially, is one of the funniest acts in Hollywood.

I’ve seen recently two movies with a similar premise: thirtysomething parents still trying to be hip. Seth Rogen’s Neighbors is hilariously good, I think out-Superbad-ing even Superbad. But Sex Tape, with Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz? Resting on their laurels. Point is: Rogen still brings it and I can’t wait to see his latest.

Forget the night before Christmas. That is so 19th century. This is 2014, and in our supersized world we need a full seven days of nights before Christmas to get it done.

The week before Christmas is the week everyone else lives the way I like to live all the time: a flurry of social and economic activity that makes everything else seem dull by comparison. Good luck, friends, and hang on to those sled reins tight!

A certain hero of mine turns 99 today, and although Frank Sinatra hasn’t sung a note in nearly two decades, his voice remains as constant in the rhythm of American life as it did for his 60 years in show business.

It is trite to say, of course, “there will never be another Frank Sinatra.” Cliche or not, there won’t be. The world is simply too different now, the way stars are made and music is produced. But his music lives on, and the imitators (good and poor) keep trying. I should know. I’m one of those imitators.

I’ve written many words about Frank Sinatra over the past 20 years, some published, some not. I don’t think I’m going to add anything particularly brilliant today. He was and still is one of the most written about Americans in history. I’ve got two dozen of his biographies on my shelf, and there are probably 100 more I haven’t read. These writers are far more poetic than I, and I recommend them all. Was he a perfect role model? Of course not, but few people we know so well are. He was a human being. A human being like all of us, but blessed with so much talent and initiative, and he shared it with all of us. Those who knew him best echo this sentiment in his private life as well.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Sinatra! Ninety-nine looks good on you.

Well, this was inevitable. The system that was going to solve all end-of-year controversy in college football ended up doing nothing but stirring up more controversy and inflaming tempers and egos all over the country. Let me be the first to say told ya so.

The problem with every system to determine a champion in a sport with so many teams and so short a season (so not every team plays one another) is that it must be determined before the start of the season. It would be easy to decide, at the completion of the regular season, who is “worthy” enough to compete for a title. Sometimes there’s already a clear-cut champion. Sometimes there are two teams standing above the rest. Sometimes there are three, sometimes there are seven. Point is, you don’t know until the season is over. But with so much revenue on the line, playoff schedules and their accompanying TV slots must be decided months ahead of time, and you’re left trying to squeeze a square Big 12 team into a round CFP hole. Moral of the story is, it’s not two teams versus four teams, or human picks versus computer picks, but TV advertising and game revenue. In other words, follow the money.

In more pleasant news, I thought The Simpsons really brought it last night. Not exactly old-school Simpsons, just a really good episode. Kudos. 

But the Redskins… sheesh! Zero points? Cousins could have done that!