Newest Obama Campaign Death: Alex Okrent

The bizarre death coincidences associated with President Barack Obama's campaign continue. On Friday the 13th of July, Alex Okrent (pictured above), a 29-year-old vet of two of Obama's earlier runs, died suddenly.  He reportedly "collapsed" at Obama's Chicago campaign headquarters, according to media outlets, including the Chicago Sun-Times, USA Today, and the Huffington Post. Okrent was an employee of the campaign's paid media department.

After he collapsed, Chicago paramedics were first called to the Obama headquarters in the Prudential Building, and then Okrent was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

"Obama was campaigning in southern Virginia this afternoon, when he learned about Okrent's death," according to USA Today.

Traveling in Virginia on Friday, Obama called Okrent's family to express condolences. The president later spoke with other campaign staffers in a conference call.

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Alex's father, Mike Okrent, (on July 14th) spoke to the media, telling them that his son died of a "heart attack."

The name “Okrent” sounds unfamiliar, but there is one famous individual linked to the media who shares that same last name with Alex Okrent.

Editor and writer Daniel Okrent, still living, was born April 2, 1948, in Detroit, Michigan. He is best known for having served as the first public editor of The New York Times, and as the inventor in 1979, of Rotisserie League Baseball (the best-known form of fantasy baseball) and the sabermetric "WHIP" ("walks plus hits per inning pitched”).

Daniel Okrent is also known for coining "Okrent's Law" during his tenure as a comment he made about his new job. It states: "The pursuit of balance can create imbalance because sometimes something is true," referring to the phenomenon of the press providing legitimacy to fringe or minority viewpoints in an effort to appear even-handed. (This is one of the underlying organizing guidelines to be found in Aaron Sorkin's new fictional news program detailed in HBO's Newsroom.)

Is the media-involved Alex Okrent, from Evanston, Illinois, distantly related to the media-aware Daniel Okrent?

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Apparently not. Here's Mr. Alexander Okrent official obituary:

Alex S.Okrent, 29, beloved son of Michael Okrent and Lynn Pollack; loving brother of Abby Okrent; cherished grandson of Susan Okrent, the late Samuel Okrent, the late Marion and the late Alexander Pollack; dear nephew, cousin, friend and colleague of many. Service Monday, 11 a.m. at the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation, 303 Dodge Ave., Evanston, IL 60202. Interment Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, memorials in his memory to The Obama for America Campaign, ACLU, or JRC would be appreciated. Arrangements by Chicago Jewish Funerals -Skokie Chapel.  

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Late on 13 July, the Huffington Post noted that Republican candidate Mitt Romney tweeted his condolences Friday evening, saying:

@MittRomney 
Mitt Romney

Ann & I were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Alex Okrent. Prayers are with Alex’s loved ones and the entire Obama campaign team.

July 13, 2012 11:48 pm via web Reply Retweet Favorite

Then top Obama advisor David Axelrod tweeted back to Romney:

@davidaxelrod 
David Axelrod

@MittRomney Thank you, governor. Alex was a beloved member of our team. It's been a very emotional day.

July 13, 2012 11:54 pm via Twitter for iPhone Reply Retweet Favorite

What Purpose Are The Reptilians?

People are interested in Reptilians, Reptoids, and Reptiloids, no matter what you call them. Last weekend, I posted a thoughtful essay looking at the use of hypnosis in eyewitness investigations, entitled "Are Bigfoot Witnesses Really Seeing Reptoids?" Almost 10,000 people read it in the first 8 hours. Amazing reaction.

So why are people so fascinated by the notion of Lizard People among us? Surely, folks can't consider there is any reality to this? Skepticism and critical thinking can't be dead, can it?

I see that Nicholas Pell recently thought about this business in his posting, "The Odd Reptilian Theory and The People That Believe It."

Pell records an intriguing exchange with a friend of his. He was explaining the Reptilian hypothesis to a friend of his...then he was asked:

“Who’s David Icke?”

“Some weird British writer who thinks that Al Gore is a shape-shifting, blood-sucking reptile.”

“How is he not?”

I was stumped there.

I suppose we'd find the same thing happening to Pell if "Al Gore" was replaced with the name "Dick Cheney" or "Mitt Romney."

So what's going on here. After all, depending on your politics, some people think Obama is a reptoid too.

Political humor and reptoids appear to go hand in claw. 


In the closely fought 2008 U.S. Senate election between comedian and commentator Al Franken and incumbent Senator Norm Coleman, one of the ballots challenged by Coleman included a vote for Franken with "Lizard People" written in the space provided for write-in candidates. Lucas Davenport who later claimed to have written the gag ballot, said, "I don't know if you've heard the conspiracy theory about the Lizard Men; a friend of mine, we didn't like the candidates, so we were at first going to write in revolution, because we thought that was good and to the point. And then, we thought the Lizard People would be even funnier."


That seems to be a key.


Reptilians equal humor. In a world in which you can daily read on the Drudge Report of bank runs in Greece or scandals of fallen Democrats, or on Huffington Post of melting icebergs or dogs being strapped to the top of cars, we all need a little comedic relief. The Reptilians give us that. After all, what if Queen Elizabeth is a Lizard Woman or the head of Facebook is a Lizard Man? Would you look at the world in a different way?

Of course, if the Reptilians are aliens, then why hasn't anyone thought about the obvious? 

Perhaps Giorgio A. Tsoukalos is a Reptilian? :-)

Comedic art by Matt Low, thanks to my friends on Coast to Coast AM.

Sunlight Glistens Off Soaring New Towers...

From Afghanistan, President Barack Obama ended his speech delivered on Beltane to Americans with some intriguing imagery. In the context of all that happened on the day, it made complete symbolic obelisk sense. (Italics below are my emphasis.)

As we emerge from a decade of conflict abroad and economic crisis at home, it is time to renew America. An America where our children live free from fear, and have the skills to claim their dreams. A united America of grit and resilience, where sunlight glistens off soaring new towers in downtown Manhattan, and we build our future as one people, as one nation.
Here, in Afghanistan, Americans answered the call to defend their fellow citizens and uphold human dignity. Today, we recall the fallen, and those who suffer wounds seen and unseen. But through dark days we have drawn strength from their example, and the ideals that have guided our nation and lit the world: a belief that all people are created equal, and deserve the freedom to determine their destiny.
That is the light that guides us still. This time of war began in Afghanistan, and this is where it will end. With faith in each other and our eyes fixed on the future, let us finish the work at hand, and forge a just and lasting peace. May God bless our troops. And may God bless the United States of America.