The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon is a Private Eye novel by Dashiell Hammett that was turned into one of the great film noirs, starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre.  It is a story of a quest for a priceless treasure "the stuff that dreams are made of".  A story of lust, love, greed and murder.  The hero of this narrative Sam Spade/Humphrey Bogart outwits the bad guys, solves the case  but succumbs to the wily, seductive charms of the femme fatal Mary Astor/Brigid O'Shaughnessy.  Also somewhere along the way, he realizes Brigid O'Shaughnessy is the one, who killed his partner.  In one of the classic scenes of all time, he explains to her.  "You killed Miles (his partner) and you're going over for it."  ... "I won't play the sap for you!"  "I won't walk in the shoes of Thursby (her previous paramour) and I don't know how many others footsteps..."

This is a movie Tucker Carlson pictured above should have watched and if he did, he should have paid more attention to the ending.  Because he just walked in the footsteps of...  and it's a big long list of people, too numerous to even mention mention here.  People who exited the TV news business with the door banging them in the ass, if they didn't move quickly enough.  Of course the ex TV news stars made millions while all Bogart/Sam Spade got was a broken heart.  Of course the ex TV news stars have the broken heart too.  They lost the promise of the priceless treasure, "the stuff that dreams are made of".  That stuff, was being on TV every night.  Getting to put their two cents in on everything.  Getting to prop up and tear down anyone and anything.  Getting to interview Presidents, Princes, Kings and Queens with their own name, on everyone's lips.  

But all of a sudden it was over.  If they moved quickly enough and the door didn't bang their ass, they were off to some obscure cable TV show that hardly anyone watches.  Or their own Podcast that might make more money and even have a larger audience but their name, was no longer on everyone's lips.  The Presidents, the Princes, the Kings and the Queens did not stop by.  And with their name no longer on everyone's lips, that name began to fade away, like one of the notes in the bugle call Taps, played at the end of a soldier's day or his funeral... Chris Cuomo, Bill O'Reilly, Dan Rather...  Da da dah.

Dicens simle factum est

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