I was glad to learn that one of my favorite comedians got a long-lasting and well-paying gig. I doubt that even Drew Carey's being the host would make me want to watch "The Price Is Right," but it might make me hate it less.
Carey is one of the more famous self-identified libertarians. One reason it is hard to take the Libertarian Party as seriously as it would like to be considered is that it doesn't recruit famous people to carry its national banner. Carey is doing too well to go into politics, but Hoyt Axton, the singer-songwriter, might have have been persuaded. Clint Eastwood would clearly not be interested, or Tom Selleck, either. But how about Penn Gillette? Instead, the party recruits doctors and real estate salesmen, seeming much more interested in pushing its ideas than in actually winning elections.
The party is much more credible at the local level. And given the strong anti-incumbent feeling in Indiana right now, we might see a candidate or two do well in City Council races throughout the state.
My favorite story about Carey is that he had corrective eye surgery but kept his glasses anyway because they had become some a trademark. But that turns out to be only partly true:
Carey has had refractive surgery to correct his vision and therefore did not really require glasses (any glasses he wore in public were merely props to help the audience recognize him), however, whilst this was true for several years, on the May 17, 2006 episode of the Jimmy Kimmel Live show he revealed that when he turned 40, he actually developed a need for bifocals.
I can relate to that. I still maintain my facade as an aging, balding, white male because that's who my readers are comfortable with, even though I was abducted by aliens in 1972 and transformed into a 7-foot Asian woman who can bend space and time.
