My e-mail to "Bill Clinton"

In light of the disappointing results in North Carolina and Indiana, I thought the time had come

to assess the inevitable - of who will win the nomination, and what November result it would

augur. I found no better forum to express these thoughts than in reply to yet another

fundraising appeal sent from "Bill Clinton" which I found in my e-mail box today:

I realize that Bill Clinton won't be reading this message and that what I write will not be highlighted in any future fundraising effort. But to whoever is reading this, let me make a couple of candid points:

I supported Hillary Clinton in the primaries because of the two remaining Democratic candidates I believed she was the only one who could mount a winning November campaign. To be sure, my assessment has not changed, and I am bitterly disappointed that my party has chosen slogans over substance and is all but certain to place the nomination in the hands of someone who is likely to lose everywhere except for Vermont and D.C. in November.

Nevertheless, assuming my assessment is correct, I want people like Bill and Hillary Clinton to be viable contributors to an effort to revitalize our party from what is likely to be the ash heap of a potential McCain landslide. I want our party to thoughtfully and intelligently scrutinize itself for failing to scrutinize Mr. Obama and to fall into the cesspool of identity politics that is likely to doom our chances in November, barring a total economic collapse which I, as a patriot before being a partisan, do not want to see. If Bill and Hillary Clinton see the wisdom of gracefully ceding the spotlight, they will have every right to remind our fellow Democrats of their potential mistake at the appropriate time. If they do not, then they will be deemed as "part of the problem."

Regrettably, the Democratic Party now faces one of two instruments of its own doom for 2008: A McGovern/Mondale type of electoral wipeout, or self-destruction by its own infighting. We as a party have shown ourselves to recover from the former; we will not revive so easily in the aftermath of the latter.

Senator Clinton, I applaud you for having put up the fight. But you are also my Senator, and I want you to be effective in that role - both in working for New York and in working to make our party competitive again. You seriously damage your ability to complete both tasks by keeping up this futile cause...to say nothing of your chances of returning to the arena in 2012 where you could easily champion yourself as both a "stateswoman" and visionary to lead us back from the wilderness. I beg you to consider these consequences.

Sincerely,

[The Brahmin]

Returning...at Random

It's been a while, so a few random musings:

The Obama/Jeremiah Wright thing:

I think I'll have to eschew false modesty and say that the Wright thing exposes the concerns I've had about him - or perhaps moreso - his cult following - all along. It's not that I think particularly less of him because of Wright, but because his befuddled response to the whole thing underscores what I thought about him all along. McCain has a racist, anti-Catholic preacher backing him...Obama says nothing. Even when McCain "denounced" Bill Cunningham for the Hussein hiss a few months ago, he lied about having never met him before. Obama says nothing.

I continue to clash with Obama supporters - and a few of them are starting to acknowledge that it wasn't exactly Carvillian strategy to label every Democrat who opposed him (or simply wouldn't support him) as "racist." The chickens are coming home...oh, did I say that?

In one conversation I pointed out that I do not think Obama will carry anything other than Vermont, while not mentioning that I had offered such a prognostication on this blog. Let me clarify or amend. Obama will win D.C. and Vermont. That's six electoral votes in the kitty. FEWER than McGovern or Mondale.

The Ranger season ended yesterday with an overtime loss in Pittsburgh. I eat my words (not uttered here) that I thought it was a break they did not draw Montreal in the second round. The Penguins are a very talented team and they will face Detroit in the Finals, imho. Detroit and Pittsburgh. 1985. I spent the spring and summer in those two cities, respectively, on two coops for my now officially defunct alma mater, Antioch College. Detroit was (and is) unsafe to the point where you can't walk half a block. Not surprisingly, it is impossible to get around without your own set of wheels. It has a large drug scene and a rather affected, closed-minded intelligentsia. Pittsburgh's people are the friendliest of all U.S. city dwellers in the country. It is manageable to get around. Good nightlife. I saw Pittsburghers in stark relief to their cross-state citizens from Philly during my largely miserable 15 months in State College, Pennsylvania some years after I lived in Pittsburgh. Despite the tough series loss, I know who I will be rooting for in both the Eastern Conference and Stanley Cup finals.

Speaking of the Rangers. My trip to Scotland is less than 3 weeks away. Toward the end of the run I will be stopping off in Glasgow. Now what to do. A rivalry which apparently makes Crankees/Red Sux look like a somewhat heated game of third grade marbles is that of the "Old Firm" - Rangers and Celtic, both football (soccer) clubs based in Glasgow. Now, I thought it might be a cool thing to visit pubs which cater to the fans of each respective team. Visiting the Rangers pub, I would wear my New York Rangers cap and claim some sort of "honorary supporter" status. However, half my ancestry is that which constitutes the core base of Celtic support - this would be mentioned in the Celtic pub. No protestant blood here.

However, one surfs the web and finds just ugly sectarian bigotry on both sides. Rangers' fight song is "Billy Boys":

Hullo! Hullo!
We are the Billy Boys!
Hullo! Hullo!
You'll know us by our noise!
We're up to our knees in Fenian blood,
Surrender or you'll die!
We are the Brigton Billy Boys!

Celtic players also wear pictures of the Pope underneath their jerseys, apparently.

My own personal conclusion, aside from considerations of personal safety, is to give this "rivalry" no endorsement at all and to visit neutral pubs only.

I saw "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay" the other night. It's the kind of flick you have to be in a silly mood to like, and one you'd love if you smoked a lot of pot beforehand - in other words, probably one I'd love before I became an officer of the Courts.

In today's New York Times Forest City Ratner has been connected to a "flip flop" of a certain Yonkers councilwoman from "no" to "yes" on one of its nefarious land grabs up there. Hurrah. Mr. Prosecutor, please board Metro North, then take a downtown 4 or 5 from Grand Central to Borough Hall and stay there until you find me some heads to scalp from Community Board 2, the City Council and (especially) Farty Marty Markowitz for similar offenses.

We're up to our knees in No-Fault files,
Must bill or we will die!
We are the Brooklyn Brahmin Boys!