KERMIT THE FROG, YOU'RE FIRED

The latest victim of the current anti-worker/pro-big business atmosphere is none other than the beloved Kermit the Frog. If you don't think this is a big news story, you're wrong. The New York Times put it on Page 1 of its business section (that Russian oil company controversy was on Page 4). It turns out Steve Whitmire, the puppeteer who brought Kermit to life for 27 years was recently fired by Disney, the company that owns the Muppets. When we look at this case in the proper context, we cannot ignore the fact that Kermit is a Muppet of color. Years ago, he touched millions of people with his somewhat anguished view of his hue in the classic song, "It's Not Easy Being Green." So now one of the big questions is, will Disney hire someone else to keep Kermit as part of the Muppets or will they replace him with a new Muppet who will just happen to be a white, male piece of felt?

Disney has never had a reputation for being worker-friendly, and it hasn't made a secret of its attitude towards labor. In "Snow White," "Whistle While You Work" conveys Disney's feeling that workers shouldn't worry about fair pay, they should just be happy that they have a job. In the same anti-labor movie, the seven dwarfs work in one of the most dangerous occupations, mining. And will the brave workers get the rewards they dig for day after day? Of course not, as the chorus makes clear:

 "We dig up diamonds by the score
A thousand rubies, sometimes more
But we don't know what we dig 'em for
We dig dig dig a-dig dig."

 And after spending all day, robbing the earth of its natural resources, do these dwarfs come home exhausted and just grateful that they have survived another day? Nope. They sing their cheery,  "Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, it's home from work we go" song as if that would be the attitude of miners after a ten hour day underground.

 So this most recent firing of a worker shouldn't shock any of us. There have been several versions of why the dismissal took place. Personally, I don't think there is any credibility to the smear that Kermit had sexually harassed Miss Piggy. Studio executives said that Steve Whitmire had a bad attitude. They also took a shot at his talent, saying that his Kermit was "sometimes excellent, and always pretty good." "Pretty good?" He portrayed Kermit for 27 years on television and films, and made personal appearances all over the world. But suddenly they find him "sometimes excellent, and always pretty good?"

 This kind of dismissal is happening in all kinds of businesses today. Respect for many workers is at an all-time low as huge corporations are more concerned about their bottom line than about the letter J or the Number 7. Puppeteer Whitmire feels that he and Disney could have worked out their problems. He said they could have simply talked to each other and compromised on things. You know, the way the Muppets have taught generations of children to do.

I imagine that Kermit getting the axe has made the other Muppets nervous about their job security. And if he was really fired because of a "bad attitude," watch for those iconic characters to fear that their attitudes will be judged, too. Who knows? By next season, one of the lead characters might change his name to "Oscar the Nice Guy."

NO NEWS IS FAKE NEWS

There has been a great deal of fake news mixed up with real news lately. Some people have a hard time telling the difference. The way it works is, a person puts something on the internet that they claim is true, then other people pick that item up and put it on more sites, and pretty soon millions of people believe that Hillary Clinton was involved in a child pornography ring run from the back rooms of a pizza joint.

 To be fair, Donald Trump has also been the victim of fake news. The bulk of the untrue statements about him have come in the weeks after he was elected. And there have been plenty of them. Sometimes it's hard to tell what's real and what's fake. However, it's probably fake news if it sounds like it's meant to discredit the person, and if it just sounds completely crazy.

Let's turn to Trump's alleged cabinet appointments. Several news outlets report that Mr. Trump plans on appointing Rex Tillerson as his Secretary of State. Tillerson is the CEO of Exxon Mobil and has such close ties to Russia that Vladimir Putin gave him an award. I'm not kidding. Yet some internet wackos actually want us to believe that Trump would choose somebody like that as Secretary of State!

 And are we really supposed to believe that Donald Trump wants as his Secretary of Labor someone who is against raising the minimum wage for … labor? And do they think we will fall for the "news" that he wants as his Secretary of Interior someone who gets a 3% score from conservation groups? How stupid do they think we are?

 His pick for Treasury Secretary is alleged to be somebody who worked at Goldman Sachs for 17 years. This can't be true, because he blasted Hillary Clinton's relationship with Goldman Sachs countless times as he cheered on the chants of "lock her up."

 I won't even get into the absence of believability when it comes to Ben Carson being part of his cabinet, or that woman from the World Wrestling Federation.

 Sleazy rumors about Trump are not restricted to his alleged cabinet appointments. Just the other day, I read that he doesn't want to get the national security briefing every day. The story said that he finds them boring and repetitious. Come on, no President would be that irresponsible. I also heard that he no longer plans on building a wall and making Mexico pay for it. That was such a key part of his campaign that Trump going back on that would be almost as ludicrous as if he were to go back on his promise to prosecute Hillary Clinton on his first day in office.

 Perhaps the most ridiculous fake news about him is the story that during his Presidency, he will remain involved with NBC's "Apprentice" show and even have his name still on the credits as Executive Producer. Think for a moment about the lofty position that he will soon hold. Does anyone really think that the President of the United States would actually care about having his name on a television reality show? Nobody could really have that kind of need for attention, right?