Phyllis Diller: Funny is Funny

They say in every joke, there is a victim. That is to say, whether it is the idiot at Walmart, the spouse who doesn't understand you, or the "system", we like to laugh at people or things when life goes ..."wrong". Phyllis Diller knew this and made herself the 'victim' of her jokes. Whether she was talking about her looks, her cooking, or the frustrations she had with her imaginary husband "Fang", she made herself the object of the joke.

Much may be made about the fact that she was one of very few women who succeeded as a comic, and women in comedy everywhere can certainly do well by studying Diller. But what they would be studying is not how a woman does comedy, but what 'funny' is. Phyllis Diller was successful in comedy because she knew how to make people laugh. Likable, vulnerable and accessible, she was a giant and a master and part of an old guard in comedy that is nearly gone now. She will be missed.

A Giant of Comedy, Comedian Phyllis Diller Died in 2012.

DEAR MEDIA: Some Asshole shot and killed Gerardo Hernandez on Friday.

Gerardo I. Hernandez is the name of the first TSA officer killed while on duty at LAX this past Friday. Born in El Salvador, Hernandez was the youngest of four boys. He moved to the United States when he was 15. Four years later, he met his wife, and they married on Valentine's Day in 1998. A man who was trying to serve his co...untry, do his job well and support his family, all he talked about was his family.

While the media spends most of the time focusing on the shooter - mentioning his name, plastering his picture across our screens, and speculating on why he did what he did and what his story was - we are rarely hearing much about Hernandez.

I would like to see the media keep the name and picture of the shooters in these tragedies to a minimum, keeping the focus on the victims and their heroic, though sometimes ordinary, lives. As far as I'm concerned, they can simply refer to the shooter in these stories as "Some Asshole".