Columnist Ruthe Deskin: Election becoming melodrama

Ruthe Deskin

Thursday, Nov. 16, 2000 | 9:50 a.m.

Ruthe Deskin is the assistant to the publisher. Reach her at deskin@ lasvegassun.com.

"To be or not to be, that is the question."

William Shakespeare would have had a blast dramatizing the presidential election.

At this writing the incoming president of the United States still isn't known, although my hunch is it will be George W. Bush, the "W" standing for winner.

If I am wrong I can take solace in the fact that the all-knowing TV pundits had egg all over their faces when they announced, early on Election Night, that Al Gore won Florida's electoral votes.

When you stop to think about it, whoever becomes president might rue the day. Our nation could be faced with serious problems if history follows the pattern of ups and downs.

While we live in prosperous times, there are troubling signs on the horizon for the next administration.

The unrest in the Middle East, the rising costs of oil and energy and the skittish stock market all are causes for concern. Americans are spending themselves into debt and saving less. Increased life expectancies, health insurance and health care are debated and remain unsolved problems.

The once-high hope of a totally integrated America is disintegrating with the increased polarization of citizens from different backgrounds.

Our nation is healthy today. Let's hope it is the same tomorrow.

It's been more than a decade since a sports magazine asked its readers to name the most promising young baseball player of the year. I chose Darryl Strawberry, the lanky kid drafted out of high school by the New York Mets.

Strawberry was thrilling to watch on the field, but a disaster to his fans who watched him self-destruct with booze and drugs and high living.

He had so many chances. Baseball forgave him for his misdeeds too many times because of his talents on the field. His place in the lineup increased the chances for victory. After all the chagrin he caused his fellow players and managers, Strawberry came back again a year ago and helped the Yankees win the World Series.

Once a dapper dresser, today he wears the jumpsuit of a jail inmate as he serves time.

Strawberry's career is not all that is in grave peril. His life is on the line. He has developed colon cancer, has undergone surgery and chemotherapy and his left kidney has been removed. According to doctors he has a very "aggressive cancer."

What a sad and unhappy ending to a brilliant career.

Turner Classic Movie channel (Cox cable channel 40 on your dial) is churning out some fascinating old movies of the silent-film era. I caught Mary Pickford in the melodramatic "Stella Maris" and realized how very far the movie and entertainment industries have come since the days when the only sound you heard was a piano player in the pit attempting to match the music to the activity on the screen.

In my youth, he was a talented fellow named Speed Damon who kept liquid refreshment handy as he pounded out musical accompaniment to the silent movie. By the end of the film he was usually smashed, but his music never suffered.

Watch an old-time, silent movie and you really don't think of the good old days being quite that good!