Posted on by Californiacontrarian

Barry and the JTP

As many of you are aware, “The Goldbergs” is one of my favorite T.V. shows. It has been on for many years, and has avoided the temptation of resorting to off-color humor in an attempt to maintain ratings, which has been a risk for many other long standing comedies in the past. (Seinfeld, Mash, and Fraser are some of the most successful sit-coms that have also avoided this slippery slope.) Anyway I watch The Goldbergs because I find it amusing. I do not watch it because of any philosophical message that I might come away with, however the other day I saw a rerun of “Deadheads,” an older episode that also had the “swear-jar.” This episode dealt with the JTP (Jenkintown Posse), and Barry’s role as the de facto head of the JTP. (For those of you not familiar with The Goldbergs, Barry is the older Goldberg brother and the JTP is a small group of Barry’s friends. A word of advice: “Get familiar with The Goldbergs!”) In this episode Barry’s membership in the JTP is in jeopardy as he has become too pompous and controlling. This episode struck a chord with me because at the same time on another channel, Jim Acosta of CNN was making a fool of himself because he was being too pompous and controlling!
Make no mistake I think that Mr. Acosta is a jerk and I was wondering when and if any of the other White House reporters would afterwards comment on his behavior. But like “birds of a feather” I heard nothing until today when I read about an interview by Mediaite’s Larry O’Connor with CBS White House Correspondent Major Garrett. Mr. Garrett neither mentioned Mr. Acosta by name, nor alluded directly to his boorish behavior, but deftly used his backhand as he went into detail about the decorum and standards to which the White House press pool is expected to hold themselves.

“It’s [the White House] the most majestic political place in America – the White House. The only place second to that, in my experience, where I spent almost 15 years, is in Congress,” Garrett explained. “It can be rough and tumble there [in Congress]. It can be rough at tumble there at times at the White House but it is a place of institutional passage and commands institutional respect.”

Those on the left will counter that President Trump is also, at times, out of line, and I would agree, but that does not excuse the outlandish behavior of Mr. Acosta. Be that as it may, Major Garret is right. The White House press corp should act professional. They should respect the institution and the man the American people voted in to run the country. I do not recall anything similar occurring during Obama’s eight years in office, and that was not because everyone in the White House press pool agreed with him and his policies.

FYI: For those of you not familiar with The Goldbergs, Barry Goldberg did retain his membership and his standing in the JTP as he reversed his pompous and controlling behavior. However, to find out what happened with the “swear-jar,” you will have to start watching some The Goldbergs’ reruns!

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