Sammy Gray: 'I don't get out of bed for less than $10,000'

Jack Gray
AC360 Associate Producer

Greetings from New York, where the snow is falling faster than an Upper East Side Ponzi scheme.  The city is like a scene from a holiday post card; a veritable winter wonderland of Christmas decorations, a frosty storm and a guy in a Santa suit who meanders between subway cars announcing:  “My name is Forever and I am a poet.”

In Chicago, President-elect Obama continues to feel heat for inviting controversial Pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration.  Said the exasperated president-elect:  “Fine, we’ll go back to the original plan.  No invocation, just Rod and Patty Blagojevich singing their profanity-laden version of ‘Love Lifts Up Where We Belong.’”

For his part, Rick Warren is defending his opposition to same-sex marriage.  He tells NBC — not joking here, people — , “I’m naturally inclined to have sex with every beautiful woman I see, but that doesn’t make it right.”  I’m guessing he added something like, “Not that I couldn’t, you know, because chicks totally dig my billowy Hawaiian shirts.”

The big story here in New York continues to be Caroline Kennedy’s push to get herself appointed to the United States Senate.  There remain those who question her qualifications, but her supporters are quick to highlight her resume:  Education advocate, civil liberties author and Al Sharpton dining companion.

Keep reading

Jack Gray
AC360 Associate Producer

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone, now it’s Christmas time in New York.  Frankly, I had forgotten all about it until I saw Santa trying to scalp tickets to Barack Obama’s inauguration.  I was struck by how shameless and cynical Santa had become.  Then I continued on my way to Central Park, where I watched smiling couples stroll arm-in-arm and tried to guess who among them were having affairs.

People tend to say that Christmas has gotten too commercial, but I beg to differ.  Take for example that sweet, soft-spoken couple I sat next to on the subway today.  I mean, if I didn’t know any better I would have thought they were Mary and Joseph themselves.  Because if there’s one thing I remember about Mary and Joseph it’s that they got into a obscenity-laced fight over whether Baby Jesus wanted an iPhone or a Blackberry Storm.

Keep reading