Letters to the editor: CA’s water crisis, goodbye to Garry Shandling and more

A Serious Water Solution

California’s water crisis is written in its history of laissez-faire and monopoly (think “Chinatown”). California still has no unified water policy and can never successfully legislate one unless the state unceremoniously seizes control of the state’s water rights. “The Great Thirst: Californians and Water — A History” by Norris Hundley Jr. (University of California Press, 2001) is the definitive history of our water policy dysfunction. 

Yes, a unified wastewater policy, drip irrigation and better apportionment of our precious water are essential during times of drought (“How to Solve California’s Water Crisis, Now,” April 1). Extraordinary times demand a revolutionary water policy that the state must seize upon because our federal government also is without a water policy. And Congress is unable to deal with any relevant issues now that affect the public welfare.

Jerome P. Helman, Venice

Goodbye, Garry

In a time when sitcoms still adhered to the set-up punch line, set-up punch line rhythms that have been around since General Electric still attached its brand to the titles of every show on television, Garry Shandling skewered the conventions of the sitcom itself: satirizing the conventions of the form (most famously with the show’s celebrated tongue-in-cheek theme song); breaking the fourth wall; playing a fictionalized version of himself as a stand-up comedian often at odds with the absurdity of the world around him (“Remembering Garry Shandling,” April 1).

Without Garry Shandling, there would have been no “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” no “Louie” and perhaps not even “Seinfeld.” The consummate comedian’s comedian, Shandling might never have reached the cultural ubiquity of his friends Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David and Judd Apatow, Hollywood’s current comedic directorial king who got his start as a staff writer on “The Larry Sanders Show.”

Garry’s magic never relied on hacky mother-in-law or sex jokes. It bored in on his character’s raw inner life, what made Larry, Larry. The conceit was an ostensibly friendly talk-show host with a polar-opposite, troubled personal life. This was a pure example of comedy misdirection. Shandling was hiding in plain sight in front of a national audience. He wasn’t doing an impression of Johnny Carson. He was doing himself.

As a viewer, watching the paranoia play out was at the same time an uncomfortable and hilarious experience. The combination of smart writing and the understated acting of Shandling and his fellow players makes it a masterpiece.

That his passing should come so prematurely feels almost poetic, somehow: In death, as in his art, Garry Shandling was sadly ahead of his time. But the comedy world would be a very different place had he not been there to shape it. This has been Garry Shandling’s show; the rest of us are just working on it.

Brian J. Goldenfeld, Woodland Hills

Finally, a Balanced View

I picked up the April 1 issue of the Jewish Journal with the usual trepidation at its leftist tilt — a fellow conservative friend has simply stopped reading it — but was pleasantly surprised. Rob Eshman actually lauded Israel’s cutting-edge water reclamation technology with no caveats (“How to Solve israel’s Water Crisis, Now”); David Suissa was reliably pro-Israel and critical of Europe’s leftist anti-Zionist tyranny (“Europe Should Hire Israel, Not Condemn It”) and there were several substantive conservative letters, not just a tepid token.

Given Shmuel Rosner’s column, which I thought nailed President Barack Obama for being a disaster for Israel, perhaps now the Journal is ready to address the leftist “elephant in the room”: the fact that virtually all of America’s anti-Israel hatred is coming from the Democratic Party.

Rueben Gordon, Calabasas

Motivation to Hate Evil

None of us remember having a beforelife, but Dennis Prager believes in an afterlife (“Pick Two Biblical Verses,” April 1). If a love of God is necessary to get him to rant against evil, however, so be it. Lincoln said, “Public sentiment is everything,” and if Prager can get people to hate evil enough to fight it, his means of doing so are incidental to such an accomplishment.

Joe Colville, Torrance

CORRECTION

The article “7 Decorating Trends That Have Overstayed Their Welcome” (March 25) incorrectly referred to Ball Corp. as the manufacturer of Ball Mason jars. They are now made by Jarden Home Brands.