Publication Date: Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Our Town: Off to New York!
Our Town: Off to New York!
(October 19, 2005) by Don Kazak
The bright lights of Broadway await me! I'm going to New York, to be on "Larry King Live."
After beating my brains out as a mere newspaper reporter in a backwater Silicon Valley town for 26 years, the Big Call finally came!
Larry had one of his schedulers phone to request my presence on his show. First-class ticket, limo at the airport, suite at the Plaza. I tried to demur, but I am as weak-kneed at the thought of untold fame and glory as anyone else.
"Sure," I said.
I owe it all to Dennis "galen" Mitrzyk, a supporter of Palo Alto City Council candidate Danielle Martell.
It seems galen was mightily upset at me because, in a recent column about the City Council race, I dismissed Martell as a serious candidate. He "cc'd" half the known Palo Alto political world in his e-mail, chastising me slyly as an "intrepid reporter."
But when I read the "cc: list," my eyes widened when I saw "Larry King."
So I got the call from New York. Who knows how television works, anyway?
The show will probably feature galen and me. Dan Stober of the Mercury News, whom galen also chastised, didn't get the call from Larry's show, though. Sorry, Dan.
When I go on live national TV, I will have to bite my tongue about some things I know. I will be cast as the "serious journalist" and I must retain a thoughtful decorum.
I won't be tempted to mention that the first time I saw galen was during a 9/11 protest at Rep. Anna Eshoo's (D-Palo Alto) office. People had a point to make, and the staff in her district office listened politely.
But galen seemed to scare them by talking loudly (he's a big guy with a big voice). After that episode, he was furious at me for not wanting to argue with him over his belief that the 9/11 tragedy was a plot by the United States government.
I won't mention that.
I also shouldn't mention that Martell's other vocal supporter is Aram James who got into an ugly exchange with Mayor Jim Burch earlier this year, disrupting a City Council meeting.
And I shouldn't mention Martell's penis cartoon. It appears on her campaign Web page. It represents an oversized new police headquarters building, and is labeled "Penal Enlargement." Some at the Weekly were embarrassed by it (we're liberal, but prudish).
Imagine our complete shock when Martell appeared at the Weekly Editorial Board meeting and produced an enlarged version (sorry for the innuendo) of the cartoon. We were all silent.
Later, she showed a poster-sized version of the cartoon at a City Council meeting. (The thing keeps getting bigger ...)
But I can't say any of that on Larry King Live. I will be the "serious journalist."
But I can quote freely from what galen wrote in his e-mail:
"As i delve deeper into the morass of local politics i've learned, to my chagrin, that the rampant corruption at the Federal and State level of government is alive and well here in our own backyard. While there are a raft of local scandals vying for attention -- police misconduct and violence, City Council complicity in police misconduct, the utility-scam cover up, nepotism, and influence peddling -- the scandalous and unconstitutional behavior of local media, city officials and special interest groups towards City Council candidate Danielle Martell has got to top the list."
Her main campaign platform seems to be the penis cartoon, but it is "scandalous" that we don't treat her as a serious candidate? It would be scandalous if we did.
Both galen and Aram James trot out the First Amendment to defend their free speech. Well, it defends mine, too. Galen first became upset with me over something I wrote.
Anyway, it would have been an interesting show with Larry and his bow tie, had that phone call been true.
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro," the late Hunter S. Thompson once wrote. I'm there. Besides, I've heard Central Park is lovely this time of the year.
Senior Staff Writer Don Kazak can be e-mailed at dkazak@paweekly.com.
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