The other day the Brahmin was woken by his clock radio to hear 1010 WINS (which I only listen to when NPR is in the middle of pledge week; but frankly after what I describe herein I think I'll go back to Mike & Mike on ESPN-1050). It gave a "nugget" (or perhaps, more accurately, a dried snowpea) on the Texas primary today. The reporter talked about how all the momentum was with Obama and just to prove it, it did an 8-second snippet with a presumed Texas voter, preceded by the reporter's assertion that the man had been for Hillary but had switched to Obama. Then we hear the guy saying, "I don't like Hillary personally. She's mean-spirited."
If you're like any regular participant in the crypto-democratic process we call the modern day US of A, especially if (like me) you wound up devolving to the two-party system over 95 per cent of the time, then granted, you wind up voting for the lesser of two evils. A lot. But saying someone is "mean-spirited" kind of suggests that you never were going to support the person in the first place.
And what balanced this interview in the 1010 WINS report? Nothing.
Pray tell, if come the fall, anyone does a story on the general election and they run an interview with a voter saying he doesn't like McCain because either (a) he's too old; (b) he was one of the Keating Five or (c) he looks like Burl Ives on crystal-meth, and its unbalanced by any countering view, guess what Glen Beck, Sean Hannity or Bill-O will do. If you hadn't answered the question before finishing reading the sentence, then I guess this blog is being read in North Korea. Thanks, New York Philarmonic.
The point being, that WINS farce is all that needs to be said as to the slant of the media in the Democratic field to date. In the law we call that slam dunk summary judgment.
And at last, the media is starting to get it. Lo and behold, the change you can believe in apparently made its way to the Canadian consulate a couple of weeks ago, and the Guru himself is groveling.
The weather today is very bad in Ohio. And let me assure you - there's not much worse than a wintry raw day in Ohio, save the odd "Supertrain" rerun. I lived through three of them. The Hillaryites are the die-hards. The Obama folk are the younger siblings of the Deaniacs who disappeared somewhere in the snow between Davenport and Des Moines in January '04 and who were back to their Madden NFL routine on the first Tuesday of the following November...ESPECIALLY in Ohio.
As for Texas, not much I can offer unique wisdom on. The one thing that is interesting is that Hillary could win the popular vote but the present-day scion of Banquo's (er...Rezko?) Ghost could come away with more delegates (by the way, that's exactly what happened in Nevada, but no one says anything about it). Kind of undercuts all that "will of the people" bit, don't ya think?
------
Eastenders is a coffeehouse in Riverhead, New York. I often get stranded there for a couple of hours on a weekday morning because the Suffolk County courts are infinitely more efficient than their downstate brethren and because there are only three trains daily running east of Ronkonkoma on the Greenport branch. I down a refill of Java recuperating from the 7:41 out of Flatbush Avenue to get to a conference which either gets adjourned or resolved in 10 minutes. Then I read the paper, my Scotland guidebook, do work, or text (business and personal). Clearly its a musical place which has an open mic. Sometimes the occasional goof off comes in and plays a few bars of Mozart or Axel-F from the 48 Hours movie. Actually, one person played a little bit of both today. A nice place if you're ever out there.
On the SNY message boards (where I masterfully disguise myself as "RHodges42") someone posted an open letter to Isiah Thomas. He prefaced the letter saying, "I don't know much about basketball, but..." The Brahmin replied by stating that either he and Mr. Thomas had a lot in common, or that the poster had incredibly low self-esteem.
A bit untimely, but a good one: As you know, Bobby Knight retired from coaching. He thought it was time to throw in the chair.
Glad to hear 97-year old John Wooden is out of danger. Also good that the prognosis for Sillies' first base coach Davey Lopes is excellent. Hopefully, Bobby Murcer will meet a kinder fate than Tug McGraw (who for some reason my father, who deemed his contempt for sports as a badge of honor, liked).
The Brahmin hopes to see "In Bruges" this weekend, pending approval from she who is on his arm nowadays. At an otherwise nondescript East Village Bistro last Saturday following our viewing of "The Seagull", we each had mussels (different sauces for each of us). I regaled in a story of my one and only visit to Bruges as a youth, as part of our entire menage of four. We were passing between Brussels and the coast (one way or the other, I don't remember). In any event we went into a local restaurant. Now the one thing my father possibly loathed more than professional athletics was onions (I'm sorry he never made it to Bermuda - after I visited there several years ago with an ex I was delighted to assure him that contrary to common terminology the local onion had been long extinct there, but I digress). So he would not eat mussels. Which made me and my family the only four people in a restaurant of probably 250 diners not eating them that day, from what I was able to observe.
Proud to say my dinner companion had more courage. She had never eaten snails before Saturday. But never underestimate the persuasive power of...
The Brahmin
(P.S. - She liked them. Or so she said.)
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Brahmin on the Bagpipes
It's official - The Brahmin will be in the U.K. from May 22 through June 2. With the aid of a handy Britrail Pass (to come in the mail soon), I plan to head north to the land of Robert the Bruce, Sir Walter Scott and a certain lake-dwelling monster apparently J.J. Abrams is too afraid to enliven. Hopefully I'll be able to squirm for a digital camera between now and then so I can get the pics to come on here.
According to Yahoo, romantic prospects for my astrological sign were absolutely dismal on March 1. Let's just say that events in the Brahmin's life that day proved that perhaps online astrologers are a little less accurate than...hmm, I don't know, New Hampshire Primary exit pollers. This is where the Brahmin draws the line at revealing personal details to the cyberuniverse.
William F. Buckley is being lionized, and I certainly don't blame right-wingers for doing so. His patrician verbose eccentricities made for fun watching, but I would choose a number of people on the right as being far more effective advocates for their point of view - William Safire, David Gergen or George Will, for example. I guess what troubles me about his canonization are a number of things: National Review, for instance, has been at one time or another a hotbed of anti-Semitism (holocaust denier Joseph Sobran was an editor there) and apologist - at a minimum - for racism (it opposed lifting the Jim Crow laws in the South and Buckley himself was a supporter of South African apartheid). Utterly ridiculous is the notion that Buckley, for all his wordiness and haughty mannerism, was a gentleman during debate. You Tube is overflowing with examples of his fit with Gore Vidal during the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention ("Listen, you queer, I'll sock you in the goddamned face and you'll stay plastered" - did he learn that in the Yale debate club?).
It's Spring Training. And already the Mets are a MASH unit.
I saw Chekhov's "The Seagull" in the East Village last night. Sort of an odd, distant blocking, but a very good set design and solid deliveries from the cast (though I caught a reference to the word "telephone" during the dialogue - I've got to run that against the original script; considering that Chekhov died in 1904 and the play is set in a rural wooded quarter of Russia).
March has come in like a lion. It always goes out with baseball starting, and me a year older. One out of two ain't bad. In baseball, as a hitter, that makes you...well, no one's ever done anything like that (though if they build more bandboxes like Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, someone might).
The Brahmin
According to Yahoo, romantic prospects for my astrological sign were absolutely dismal on March 1. Let's just say that events in the Brahmin's life that day proved that perhaps online astrologers are a little less accurate than...hmm, I don't know, New Hampshire Primary exit pollers. This is where the Brahmin draws the line at revealing personal details to the cyberuniverse.
William F. Buckley is being lionized, and I certainly don't blame right-wingers for doing so. His patrician verbose eccentricities made for fun watching, but I would choose a number of people on the right as being far more effective advocates for their point of view - William Safire, David Gergen or George Will, for example. I guess what troubles me about his canonization are a number of things: National Review, for instance, has been at one time or another a hotbed of anti-Semitism (holocaust denier Joseph Sobran was an editor there) and apologist - at a minimum - for racism (it opposed lifting the Jim Crow laws in the South and Buckley himself was a supporter of South African apartheid). Utterly ridiculous is the notion that Buckley, for all his wordiness and haughty mannerism, was a gentleman during debate. You Tube is overflowing with examples of his fit with Gore Vidal during the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention ("Listen, you queer, I'll sock you in the goddamned face and you'll stay plastered" - did he learn that in the Yale debate club?).
It's Spring Training. And already the Mets are a MASH unit.
I saw Chekhov's "The Seagull" in the East Village last night. Sort of an odd, distant blocking, but a very good set design and solid deliveries from the cast (though I caught a reference to the word "telephone" during the dialogue - I've got to run that against the original script; considering that Chekhov died in 1904 and the play is set in a rural wooded quarter of Russia).
March has come in like a lion. It always goes out with baseball starting, and me a year older. One out of two ain't bad. In baseball, as a hitter, that makes you...well, no one's ever done anything like that (though if they build more bandboxes like Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, someone might).
The Brahmin
Monday, February 25, 2008
I went back to Ohio...And My Alma Mater Was Gone
Previously I posted in passing about my June 2007 visit to Antioch College, initially intending to coincide (to the exact date) with the 20th anniversary of my graduation, but instead getting caught up in the hysterics about the sudden announcement to close the college this coming June.
Since then, millions of dollars were raised (most of them in a tent behind the campus' Main Building during that very Reunion weekend for which The Brahmin was present) and the Board of Trustees "reversed" its decision to close, subject to "negotiation" with a coalition of alumni, faculty and assorted "stakeholders" to release control of the College to them, instead of having it remain part of the Antioch University parasite which had slowly been destroying its host from I guess the late 1960's through my time there (1984-87) and to the present date. When I attended Antioch, enrollment was about one-fifth of what it was in 1970. Today it is less than half of what it was when I went there.
Last week the Trustees again announced that they were sticking with their original decision and closing the College. Barring either a not-yet diagnosed and incredibly aggressive disease or something like a bus accident, I will survive my alma mater. That is not supposed to be.
Tragically, it comes as little surprise, as I hinted at in my earlier piece and may choose to muse about as more information becomes available. I will only add for now that the original decision to close (June '07) was in the College's hometown of Yellow Springs, Ohio...when students were away for the summer.
The decision to irrevocably pull the plug on Antioch was made while students were on campus. Except it was announced in Los Angeles.
Again, little surprise.
The Brahmin
Since then, millions of dollars were raised (most of them in a tent behind the campus' Main Building during that very Reunion weekend for which The Brahmin was present) and the Board of Trustees "reversed" its decision to close, subject to "negotiation" with a coalition of alumni, faculty and assorted "stakeholders" to release control of the College to them, instead of having it remain part of the Antioch University parasite which had slowly been destroying its host from I guess the late 1960's through my time there (1984-87) and to the present date. When I attended Antioch, enrollment was about one-fifth of what it was in 1970. Today it is less than half of what it was when I went there.
Last week the Trustees again announced that they were sticking with their original decision and closing the College. Barring either a not-yet diagnosed and incredibly aggressive disease or something like a bus accident, I will survive my alma mater. That is not supposed to be.
Tragically, it comes as little surprise, as I hinted at in my earlier piece and may choose to muse about as more information becomes available. I will only add for now that the original decision to close (June '07) was in the College's hometown of Yellow Springs, Ohio...when students were away for the summer.
The decision to irrevocably pull the plug on Antioch was made while students were on campus. Except it was announced in Los Angeles.
Again, little surprise.
The Brahmin
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Word Association 2/24
Macbeth - With Patrick Stewart, at BAM Harvey. Already sold out. Drat.
Lady Macbeth - Er...Michelle Obama?
Michelle Obama - She loves her country for the first time in her adult life now that her husband, an Illinois State Senator less than three years ago, is about to slay a political dynasty. Now, I'm about the last person to see eye-to-eye with the right wing blogosphere or hate radio, but Jeez, Michelle, no love after you went from the South Side to Princeton and Harvard Law?
Harvard Law - I'll always remember fondly Shay's, a pub in Cambridge, where I found myself one Indian Summer afternoon (Jeez again, 17 years ago??), filleting a Harvard Law Review article on plea bargaining for a graduate seminar on judicial politics I was taking at SUNY-Albany.
Plea Bargaining - An idea for Roger Clemens whose time has come.
"Our time has come" - Mr. Obama has said this a number of times during his countless victory speeches the last several weeks. Now it's a statement of fact that Jesse Jackson said this at one of his convention speeches (either 1984 or 1988). I suppose that's racist, right? Or won't he try that one on McCain?
McCain - OK, OK, the New York Times may have gotten a little carried away with that piece on Thursday. Where is the righteous outrage coming from Hannity & Co. re false stories about Obama being a Madrassa-raised Muslim (lest you think the Brahmin is incapable of defending Obama when the facts warrant)?
New York Times - Has an expanded theater section today in the Arts & Leisure section pointing out that Chekhov's "The Seagull" is playing in the East Village. The Brahmin is interested.
Chekhov - Star Trek's unapologetic Russkie ensign. But how do you explain his line, ridiculing Scotty's fondness for Scotch in "The Trouble with Tribbles," claiming, "It was inwented by a little old lady from Leningrad"...some 400 years after that city was renamed in favor of the one it has always had?
Scotch - Still getting nowhere planning my Scotland itinerary. So many destinations, so little time planned. Gotta get a distillery or two in.
Distillery - OK, this is a stretch. But this is true. A couple of years ago I had to arrange for a deposition of some non-party witnesses in Boston. There is a local court reporting (stenography) agency called Jack Daniels. No kidding. At 4 pm every business day it must be uttered from one Boston calendar clerk to another, "Are you ordering Jack Daniels?" Talk about figuratively speaking...
The Brahmin
Lady Macbeth - Er...Michelle Obama?
Michelle Obama - She loves her country for the first time in her adult life now that her husband, an Illinois State Senator less than three years ago, is about to slay a political dynasty. Now, I'm about the last person to see eye-to-eye with the right wing blogosphere or hate radio, but Jeez, Michelle, no love after you went from the South Side to Princeton and Harvard Law?
Harvard Law - I'll always remember fondly Shay's, a pub in Cambridge, where I found myself one Indian Summer afternoon (Jeez again, 17 years ago??), filleting a Harvard Law Review article on plea bargaining for a graduate seminar on judicial politics I was taking at SUNY-Albany.
Plea Bargaining - An idea for Roger Clemens whose time has come.
"Our time has come" - Mr. Obama has said this a number of times during his countless victory speeches the last several weeks. Now it's a statement of fact that Jesse Jackson said this at one of his convention speeches (either 1984 or 1988). I suppose that's racist, right? Or won't he try that one on McCain?
McCain - OK, OK, the New York Times may have gotten a little carried away with that piece on Thursday. Where is the righteous outrage coming from Hannity & Co. re false stories about Obama being a Madrassa-raised Muslim (lest you think the Brahmin is incapable of defending Obama when the facts warrant)?
New York Times - Has an expanded theater section today in the Arts & Leisure section pointing out that Chekhov's "The Seagull" is playing in the East Village. The Brahmin is interested.
Chekhov - Star Trek's unapologetic Russkie ensign. But how do you explain his line, ridiculing Scotty's fondness for Scotch in "The Trouble with Tribbles," claiming, "It was inwented by a little old lady from Leningrad"...some 400 years after that city was renamed in favor of the one it has always had?
Scotch - Still getting nowhere planning my Scotland itinerary. So many destinations, so little time planned. Gotta get a distillery or two in.
Distillery - OK, this is a stretch. But this is true. A couple of years ago I had to arrange for a deposition of some non-party witnesses in Boston. There is a local court reporting (stenography) agency called Jack Daniels. No kidding. At 4 pm every business day it must be uttered from one Boston calendar clerk to another, "Are you ordering Jack Daniels?" Talk about figuratively speaking...
The Brahmin
Chez Oskar
http://chezoskar.com
The Brahmin dined here last night. Lobster Bisque, free range chicken, and at his beautiful companion's urging, a flourless chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. Another reason to hit the gym again. :[
Every table was filled, but the staff doesn't rush you. When we arrived (thankfully, I'd made a reservation), we were told our table wasn't ready, and to sit at the bar. We hadn't even had our toast yet but our table was ready. Order amidst chaos.
This Fort Greene gem is highly recommended.
The Brahmin dined here last night. Lobster Bisque, free range chicken, and at his beautiful companion's urging, a flourless chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. Another reason to hit the gym again. :[
Every table was filled, but the staff doesn't rush you. When we arrived (thankfully, I'd made a reservation), we were told our table wasn't ready, and to sit at the bar. We hadn't even had our toast yet but our table was ready. Order amidst chaos.
This Fort Greene gem is highly recommended.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Word Association
Santana - The acquisition that made this Met fan feel like after months of agonizing cervical herniations, his neck had been snapped clean by a chiropractor. I can't stop that (Carlos) Santana song, "Winning" from playing in my head.
Winning - Looks like Huckabee won Kansas.
Kansas - I forget whether it's still against the law to teach evolution there. If you answer "false" on an exam there to a true or false question, "Is the Earth less than 6,000 years old", do you fail?
Fail - I think there's a picture of Isiah Thomas next to the dictionary definition of the word, no?
Dictionary - What the President calls a speech instructor.
Instructor - What McNamee served as for Mrs. Clemens (allegedly) so she could pose for Sports Illustrated. I assume Rog did the honors to her posterior to protect marital sanctity.
Sanctity - Now that Romney's out, does he still think that there's a sanctity of life? Or does he think what he thought before he opened his first focus group?
Focus - the Mets sign Santana, and within 48 hours there's a youtube video about Pedro Martinez officiating at a cockfight at least two years ago, where that activity is perfectly legal. I mean, can we focus?
Cockfights - Some people are outraged that a foreign country allows this sort of thing. I assume that means they all don't hunt and staple moose and bear heads to their den walls, and no doubt it means they refuse to visit Spain because it has bullfighting.
Bullfighting - One of my favorite jokes:
A Texan, on vacation in Spain, goes to a bullfight. Near the end of the bullfight, drained because he bought the cheap ticket forcing him to sit in the sun, leaves the bullring as the crowd roars while the matador is nearing the kill. He walks to the restaurant across the street. The maitre d' greets him with a wide smile:
"Senor! Congratulations! You are our first customer today! That means you win the 'Matador Special', our house delicacy!!!"
"Uh, Matador what? Naw, I just want a nice juicy steak and some sangria," replies the Texan.
The maitre d' wags his finger in disapproval. "No, no, Senor! You have not been to Spain unless you have had this marvelous opportunity to feast your taste buds on our famous Matador Special."
Weakly, the Texan agrees. In a few minutes, with flamenco guitars and maraccas in tow, the "Matador Special" is wheeled out to his table. He stares down in disbelief. He has never seen such a dish. Suspiciously, he cuts a tiny slice and takes a nibble. Then a full piece. He is in heaven - this is better than any steak back home in Dallas. He hogs the remainder down in no time. The natives "ole" and cheer at the sight of this new-found foreign convert.
"Mister," the speechless tourist implores the maitre d'. "You gotta tell me what that was! Delicious! Best meal I've had in my life! What is the 'Matador Special'?"
"Senor, the 'Matador Special' is the testicles of the bull who was just killed in today's fight!"
The pedestrian shock is not enough to stop the Texan from changing his plans. He cancels his return flight and stays for the rest of bullfighting season, always making himself first to go to the restaurant when the fight is over. For the next three weeks, he feasts on a daily helping of the 'Matador Special', savoring it more and more with every bite.
Then one day, the tourist walks into the restaurant. The wait staff, normally full of smiles and enthusiasm, has long faces and shake their heads.
"What's wrong with y'all"? demands the Texan. "You know, giddy up - get me mah table and fix me mah 'Matador Special'."
"Er, Senor," replies the desperate maitre d'. "We have an excellent fresh paella today..."
"DON'T GET MAH DANDER UP!", growls the angry Texan, grabbing his erstwhile Spanish friend by the sleeves. "GET ME MAH MATADOR SPECIAL...NOW!"
Reluctantly, the maitre d' nods and instructs the staff. Several minutes later (without guitars and maraccas) the dish is wheeled out. On the plate is an item about one-tenth the size of what the Texan had been feasting on for three weeks straight.
"NOW WHAT HERE IS THIS??" screams the Texan to the still-subdued staff, now almost foaming in the mouth. "I can barely see this!! You call this the 'Matador Special'???!!"
"Senor," says the maitre d', shrugging his shoulders. "The Matador cannot win every fight."
The Brahmin
Winning - Looks like Huckabee won Kansas.
Kansas - I forget whether it's still against the law to teach evolution there. If you answer "false" on an exam there to a true or false question, "Is the Earth less than 6,000 years old", do you fail?
Fail - I think there's a picture of Isiah Thomas next to the dictionary definition of the word, no?
Dictionary - What the President calls a speech instructor.
Instructor - What McNamee served as for Mrs. Clemens (allegedly) so she could pose for Sports Illustrated. I assume Rog did the honors to her posterior to protect marital sanctity.
Sanctity - Now that Romney's out, does he still think that there's a sanctity of life? Or does he think what he thought before he opened his first focus group?
Focus - the Mets sign Santana, and within 48 hours there's a youtube video about Pedro Martinez officiating at a cockfight at least two years ago, where that activity is perfectly legal. I mean, can we focus?
Cockfights - Some people are outraged that a foreign country allows this sort of thing. I assume that means they all don't hunt and staple moose and bear heads to their den walls, and no doubt it means they refuse to visit Spain because it has bullfighting.
Bullfighting - One of my favorite jokes:
A Texan, on vacation in Spain, goes to a bullfight. Near the end of the bullfight, drained because he bought the cheap ticket forcing him to sit in the sun, leaves the bullring as the crowd roars while the matador is nearing the kill. He walks to the restaurant across the street. The maitre d' greets him with a wide smile:
"Senor! Congratulations! You are our first customer today! That means you win the 'Matador Special', our house delicacy!!!"
"Uh, Matador what? Naw, I just want a nice juicy steak and some sangria," replies the Texan.
The maitre d' wags his finger in disapproval. "No, no, Senor! You have not been to Spain unless you have had this marvelous opportunity to feast your taste buds on our famous Matador Special."
Weakly, the Texan agrees. In a few minutes, with flamenco guitars and maraccas in tow, the "Matador Special" is wheeled out to his table. He stares down in disbelief. He has never seen such a dish. Suspiciously, he cuts a tiny slice and takes a nibble. Then a full piece. He is in heaven - this is better than any steak back home in Dallas. He hogs the remainder down in no time. The natives "ole" and cheer at the sight of this new-found foreign convert.
"Mister," the speechless tourist implores the maitre d'. "You gotta tell me what that was! Delicious! Best meal I've had in my life! What is the 'Matador Special'?"
"Senor, the 'Matador Special' is the testicles of the bull who was just killed in today's fight!"
The pedestrian shock is not enough to stop the Texan from changing his plans. He cancels his return flight and stays for the rest of bullfighting season, always making himself first to go to the restaurant when the fight is over. For the next three weeks, he feasts on a daily helping of the 'Matador Special', savoring it more and more with every bite.
Then one day, the tourist walks into the restaurant. The wait staff, normally full of smiles and enthusiasm, has long faces and shake their heads.
"What's wrong with y'all"? demands the Texan. "You know, giddy up - get me mah table and fix me mah 'Matador Special'."
"Er, Senor," replies the desperate maitre d'. "We have an excellent fresh paella today..."
"DON'T GET MAH DANDER UP!", growls the angry Texan, grabbing his erstwhile Spanish friend by the sleeves. "GET ME MAH MATADOR SPECIAL...NOW!"
Reluctantly, the maitre d' nods and instructs the staff. Several minutes later (without guitars and maraccas) the dish is wheeled out. On the plate is an item about one-tenth the size of what the Texan had been feasting on for three weeks straight.
"NOW WHAT HERE IS THIS??" screams the Texan to the still-subdued staff, now almost foaming in the mouth. "I can barely see this!! You call this the 'Matador Special'???!!"
"Senor," says the maitre d', shrugging his shoulders. "The Matador cannot win every fight."
The Brahmin
Barack Mondale
My first Presidential election (or the first one in which I was eligible to vote) was 1984. I voted for Walter Mondale, who got annhialated, losing 49 states. Sometimes, I wonder about whether the counsel I got from an NYU College Democrats volunteer at the beginning of that year was right.
The New York primary was two or three days after my 18th birthday that year, as I recall. Realizing this, in either late '83 or January '84 I noticed the NYU College Democrats doing a voter registration drive in the student union building on LaGuardia Place and I explained my situation to the young man...ergo, could I register now, and preserve my right to vote on Primary Day? No, I was told. As a result, I could not and did not vote for Gary Hart. Mondale won, and he was toast.
Let's not underestimate the importance of the 1984 election. Though Reagan had won a convincing electoral college majority four years earlier, his margin in the popular vote was not all that impressive and there had been a major recession in his first term. James Watt had been sent packing; the administration had taken its flak for trying to declare ketchup a vegetable and homeless people were everywhere. Would Reagan have won re-election regardless of who the Democratic nominee was? Probably. But just suppose if a Gary Hart (or another) managed to muster even the electoral vote total of an '88 Dukakis or '96 Dole. Would Democrats have merely been content to hold hearings on Iran Contra? Would we have forgotten the Prez laying a wreath for the butchers of Bitburg? Would Reagan have even nominated Bork (which planted the seed of the idea that his successor could get away with Thomas)? Even the "rehabilitated" post-'06 Democrats concede that impeachment of the current Bush is "off the table" before taking office, and fund and re-fund the war. Now the high ground they claimed on spending is compromised as they were complicit in giving $600 handouts so people can pay off credit card debt.
The point is, the "majority party" status Democrats enjoyed from the New Deal was challenged by Nixon, but eviscerated by Reagan. They didn't have to win in '84 to get off the ropes. But with Mondale, they were Apollo Creed against Ivan Drago. Thanks to Mondale, Clinton couldn't win on a dysfunctional health care system, depression-like economic conditions outside of the major cities and a foreign policy checked by an OPEC veto power. He needed the death penalty and Sister Souljah.
Now, the media, which has soft-footed Barack Obama for four years, has crossed the line into institutional cheerleader for the man who talks about "change" but won't change his specific-bereft stump speech. Forget about whether this is a Karl Rove plot (I wouldn't rule it out, but that's not the point). Forget the fact that in an earlier posting I noted an unpleasant encounter with some of his earliest "true believers" who felt compelled to call me a racist and a Nazi for supporting a reliable fascist like Joe Biden. That could be anything from too much alcohol to whispers from others telling them that I wasn't a Yankee fan.
What it is about is the rush to a failing 11th grade civics essay about how Obama is more "electable" than Hillary. Yes, we know there are people who would drool to vote against Hillary. It's the reason I did not support her in the first place (and a reason why I would have gone with Edwards last Tuesday if only he'd lasted a few more days). But the undeniable facts are these: The "Hillary haters" all are out in the open, they're not going to grow in number, and not even the RNC needs to waste its resources on finding other reasons to "hate" her. Maybe Diebold will cook something up, but the facts are, the people who won't vote for Hillary under any circumstances is not going to go up.
Now let's turn to Obama, his middle name (which I'd wager about 90 per cent of the country doesn't know but will have whistling in their heads when Zell Miller or someone of his ilk hisses it throughout a 20-minute prime time missive in Minneapolis this August), and the "M" word ("Muslim" or "Madrassa", take your pick). Yes, this was supposedly "shot down" before Iowa and New Hampshire, but that's the point - it was done at a time when those citizens willing to grudgingly to give 10 minutes of their time to presidential politics after Labor Day '08 were still watching "Lost" reruns on slow Britney days. Kerry had to deal with "swift boaters" every race he ran for the Senate before '04; it did not stop him from standing toe-to-toe with a wartime President four months out.
Notice that I did not point out the fact that Obama speaks (eloquently) a lot without saying anything - a valid criticism. Or that he has a tendency to vote "present" on contentious issues - another valid criticism. And I did not point out the fact that Obama is at least partly African American - a completely invalid criticism.
The potential pool of Obama-loathers is vast, and it will fill up. Very quickly.
If Hillary is the nominee, admittedly, McCain likely wins by a margin between what Bush won over Kerry and what Bush "won" over Gore. But if the economy continues to tank, she CAN win.
If Obama is the nominee, he likely loses everything except Vermont.
49 states.
Another Mondale.
The New York primary was two or three days after my 18th birthday that year, as I recall. Realizing this, in either late '83 or January '84 I noticed the NYU College Democrats doing a voter registration drive in the student union building on LaGuardia Place and I explained my situation to the young man...ergo, could I register now, and preserve my right to vote on Primary Day? No, I was told. As a result, I could not and did not vote for Gary Hart. Mondale won, and he was toast.
Let's not underestimate the importance of the 1984 election. Though Reagan had won a convincing electoral college majority four years earlier, his margin in the popular vote was not all that impressive and there had been a major recession in his first term. James Watt had been sent packing; the administration had taken its flak for trying to declare ketchup a vegetable and homeless people were everywhere. Would Reagan have won re-election regardless of who the Democratic nominee was? Probably. But just suppose if a Gary Hart (or another) managed to muster even the electoral vote total of an '88 Dukakis or '96 Dole. Would Democrats have merely been content to hold hearings on Iran Contra? Would we have forgotten the Prez laying a wreath for the butchers of Bitburg? Would Reagan have even nominated Bork (which planted the seed of the idea that his successor could get away with Thomas)? Even the "rehabilitated" post-'06 Democrats concede that impeachment of the current Bush is "off the table" before taking office, and fund and re-fund the war. Now the high ground they claimed on spending is compromised as they were complicit in giving $600 handouts so people can pay off credit card debt.
The point is, the "majority party" status Democrats enjoyed from the New Deal was challenged by Nixon, but eviscerated by Reagan. They didn't have to win in '84 to get off the ropes. But with Mondale, they were Apollo Creed against Ivan Drago. Thanks to Mondale, Clinton couldn't win on a dysfunctional health care system, depression-like economic conditions outside of the major cities and a foreign policy checked by an OPEC veto power. He needed the death penalty and Sister Souljah.
Now, the media, which has soft-footed Barack Obama for four years, has crossed the line into institutional cheerleader for the man who talks about "change" but won't change his specific-bereft stump speech. Forget about whether this is a Karl Rove plot (I wouldn't rule it out, but that's not the point). Forget the fact that in an earlier posting I noted an unpleasant encounter with some of his earliest "true believers" who felt compelled to call me a racist and a Nazi for supporting a reliable fascist like Joe Biden. That could be anything from too much alcohol to whispers from others telling them that I wasn't a Yankee fan.
What it is about is the rush to a failing 11th grade civics essay about how Obama is more "electable" than Hillary. Yes, we know there are people who would drool to vote against Hillary. It's the reason I did not support her in the first place (and a reason why I would have gone with Edwards last Tuesday if only he'd lasted a few more days). But the undeniable facts are these: The "Hillary haters" all are out in the open, they're not going to grow in number, and not even the RNC needs to waste its resources on finding other reasons to "hate" her. Maybe Diebold will cook something up, but the facts are, the people who won't vote for Hillary under any circumstances is not going to go up.
Now let's turn to Obama, his middle name (which I'd wager about 90 per cent of the country doesn't know but will have whistling in their heads when Zell Miller or someone of his ilk hisses it throughout a 20-minute prime time missive in Minneapolis this August), and the "M" word ("Muslim" or "Madrassa", take your pick). Yes, this was supposedly "shot down" before Iowa and New Hampshire, but that's the point - it was done at a time when those citizens willing to grudgingly to give 10 minutes of their time to presidential politics after Labor Day '08 were still watching "Lost" reruns on slow Britney days. Kerry had to deal with "swift boaters" every race he ran for the Senate before '04; it did not stop him from standing toe-to-toe with a wartime President four months out.
Notice that I did not point out the fact that Obama speaks (eloquently) a lot without saying anything - a valid criticism. Or that he has a tendency to vote "present" on contentious issues - another valid criticism. And I did not point out the fact that Obama is at least partly African American - a completely invalid criticism.
The potential pool of Obama-loathers is vast, and it will fill up. Very quickly.
If Hillary is the nominee, admittedly, McCain likely wins by a margin between what Bush won over Kerry and what Bush "won" over Gore. But if the economy continues to tank, she CAN win.
If Obama is the nominee, he likely loses everything except Vermont.
49 states.
Another Mondale.
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