Category: Politics

Bitter

I was checking out this recent this Modern World with Tom Tomorrow and it occurred to me – I wonder how many of the folks this cartoon represents are bitter?

In the wake of Barack’s “bitter” battle, which probably hurt him in yesterday’s Pennsylvania primary, a number of folks have actually come to his defense, including the Nation’s Katrina vanden Heuvel; in fact, Robert Reich, a superdelegate who served in Bill Clinton’s cabinet, recently came out for Obama, primarily because of Hillary Clinton’s campaign going negative over this.

But are people bitter? I mean, even GayProf is losing his Zen.

I must say that the Iraq war and loss of basic human rights in the US has made me annoyed; no, “annoyed” doesn’t begin to cover it. Torture in my name has really ticked me off. If you don’t know the name John Yoo, you should. He was the government official who “publicly argued there is no law that could prevent the President from ordering the torture of a child of a suspect in custody – including by crushing that child’s testicles.” More recently, A Torture Victim’s Records Were Lost at Guantánamo, Admits the Camp General; oops! And Amnesty International has unveiled a ‘Waterboarding’ film.

But, am I bitter?
Let’s find the dictionary.net definition:
2) Causing pain or smart; piercing; painful; sharp; severe.
3) Causing, or fitted to cause, pain or distress to the mind; calamitous; poignant.
5) Mournful; sad; distressing; painful; pitiable.
I’d say definitions 2 and 3 apply to me, but not so much #5, for more than pitiable, there are times when I’m just furious. So, it depends on your take of the word.

ROG

ROG

Barack and Hillary QUESTIONS

When I was on vacation in Virginia this past Sunday, I turned on the TV and happened to catch the last 45 minutes of Barack Obama’s Q&A with CNN on religion/faith/values. I thought he seemed most impressive and comfortable; I didn’t see Hillary Clinton. Then I catch the local news tease asking if the Dems have a “prayer” of dealing with faith issues. The story itself noted Clinton’s and Obama’s “struggle” talking about religion (in general, it was implied) and then showed the clips of Hillary and Barack talking about abortion (she said that the potential for life began at conception, Barack noted that he did struggle with this particular issue).

It seemed that abortion is still THE issue when it comes to matters of faith, at least according to that broadcast. A related issue in the media also seems to be that the Dems are FINALLY talking about religion in 2008, when, in fact, John Kerry for one was, I thought, quite eloquent in speaking about his faith and how he acts on it in a 2004 debate; since he didn’t talk about it often, and because he didn’t oppose abortion, he was perceived as somehow inauthentic.

So my questions:
1) Did you see or hear any of the Clinton or Obama pieces on race? If so, what did you think?

2) Regardless of whether you actually saw them, what was your perception of how they did based on what you read in the newspaper or heard on radio or TV? I’m interested in sources of your info, too, if possible.

3) How SHOULD candidates be talking about faith and religion, if at all?

4) I also caught much of the ABC News debate on Wednesday, and I thought they both were fine. Mostly it reminded me that either of them is a better choice than John “not so straight talk” McCain, who had ducked the faith debate. Did you see the Wednesday debate, and what did you hear about it, whether you saw the debate or not?

ROG

ROG

Roger Answers Your Questions, Nik and Scott

Nik, the expat in New Zealand asks: I’ll go all deep — so has the coverage/reaction to the Obama campaign so far made you MORE hopeful about race in America or LESS hopeful?

Scott asks: Clinton aide Ferraro makes a racist-type remark about Obama, and the Clinton campaign barely has to say anything to be excused. The pastor of the church Obama attends (who is not working for Obama) makes racist-type remarks, and Obama has to continually distance himself from them. It seems obvious to me that racism is even present in this scenario. How do you feel about these events?

OK. Let me try to answer this in a coherent way, because I’ve found the last week rather mind-boggling. First, I’ve long thought that Barack Obama’s attempt to run a campaign for President of the United States without race being a major issue was incredibly naive and/or disingenuous. I didn’t think that country is/was “post-racial” enough for that. I figured that, sooner or later, race would come to the fore. And it did, in subtle ways with Bill Clinton comparing Obama’s South Carolina win to Jesse Jackson’s; hey, they’re both black. But here’s the thing: as much as Barack has tried to downplay it, pssst, he is partly black.
And notice how well Obama’s done among the different constituent over time. He wowed ’em in Iowa, a largely white state, which made some black Americans nervous. But once it appeared the Hillary Clinton campaign was trying to paint Barack as black, playing, if you will, the “race card”, he became the “black” candidate. The Mississippi primary is instructive, as Obama got about 90% of the black vote and less than 30% of the white vote.
The Jeremiah Wright situation was problematic not just for the reverend’s rhetoric but because it reminded people once again: he goes to a black church; he must be…black!
Geraldine Ferraro was clumsy in her wording. She could have said something like “the black community must be very proud how well Barack is doing” and gotten across the same message – that he’s a black man – and still be on the Hillary team.
So, Nik, in answer to your specific question – am I MORE hopeful about race in America or LESS hopeful? – the answer is yes. I thought it was a GREAT speech that Obama gave last week, one that made me MORE sure of Obama than before, but as I noted here, it’s been misinterpreted or heard merely in soundbites.
Scott, I don’t know that the coverage is racist as much as it’s “If it bleeds, it leads” inflammatory. The perception I’m getting that, OK, he’s the Obama pastor for 20 years; let’s say he was sitting in the pews for 50 weeks a year. This means that Barack and his wife heard this “God Damn AmeriKKKa” rhetoric 1000 times AND subjected their daughters to it dozens of times as well. The assumption seems to be that’s the sermon topic EVERY week, which is clearly not the case by all informed reports. So Barack, a state senator in Springfield, 200 miles and over 3 hours away from Chicago for a number of years before being in Washington, DC, probably hadn’t heard hundreds of examples of vitriol, as the case seemed to be painted.

Finally, slightly off the topic, I started attending a (predominantly white) church in Albany in June 1982, started attending regularly in January 1983, became a member in December 1984, and took on leadership roles in the church. Stuff happened often – I won’t get into it here, but it involved the pastor – but it wasn’t until February 2000 that I largely stopped attending, and I was still going to meetings at my old church as late as August 2000. It wasn’t until 2002 that I ended my membership with my old church and joined my new one. So I sympathize greatly with the notion that one just doesn’t abandon one’s church lightly, for the people are the church, not the pastor.

ROG

ROG

Weird but True

And all happening this past week:

Monday or Tuesday night, my wife was having trouble with my home computer, so I checked it out. When she typed in a URL, it would come in backwards. So www.aol.com would show up as moc.loa.www – and, BTW, it didn’t work. I rebooted – the universal solution to all computer problems – and ended up with no Internet connection at all, so I had to call Time Warner, who do the voodoo they do and fixed it remotely.
***
My work fax is tied to my work e-mail, but I don’t receive very many faxes. Generally, those I do get are junk faxes. But Wednesday morning, I got this letter from the NYS DMV explaining why a woman’s driver’s license was suspended for medical reasons. Below that, I see the woman’s rebuttal as to why the suspension was not medically necessary. Clearly, this fax has been sent to the wrong number – mine – so I looked up her number and left a message explaining what happened. She called me back late that afternoon and thanked me for letting her know that her letter had been waylaid.
***
Ash Wednesday was a cold and rainy-turning-to-icy night. Carol, Lydia and I went to church, then I took Lydia home on the bus, since Carol had a church meeting. We left the light on the front porch. About 8:45 p.m., the doorbell rang. I assumed it was Carol who left her meeting early and didn’t want to fumble with her keys. Instead, it was this woman I did not know, who appeared drunk and/or stoned, who wanted me to call her a cab. Apparently the cell phone in her hand wasn’t working. So I closed the door, got our portable phone, opened the door and started calling taxi companies for her, first from the numbers as she recalled them, then from the Yellow Pages. I let them each ring over 10 times and got no answer – this was six or seven different companies, a couple I called twice. Finally, I got one who said a cab would be there in 45 minutes. The woman on the porch asked, “It’s coming, right?” And I said yes, but I didn’t give her a time frame. I felt sorry for her, since it was cold and wet out, but I was disinclined to let her in since 1) she appeared wrecked, 2) I had my daughter in the house and 3) the woman was smoking a cigarette, with a very long ash that had somehow stayed intact. About 20 minutes later, I looked on the porch, but the woman wasn’t there. Twenty minutes after that, my wife got home; the woman was still gone. Thirty minutes after THAT, or over an hour after I had called the taxi company, I heard beeping in front of our house, which I assumed was the cab; whether the woman ever got on it, I’ll never know.
***
Wednesday night into Thursday, I sneezed in my sleep and bit the left side of my tongue. Boy, that hurt!
***
I was on the bus Tuesday night, Primary Night in New York and elsewhere, heading to the polls. This woman I know only from riding the bus was telling this story – not just to me, but anyone within earshot – about a dream she had had the night before: There was a terrorist attack on Washington in early November 2008. President Bush declared martial law and postponed the elections. It was later discovered that the Bush administration had planned and executed the bombing itself.
The woman telling the story then explains how she woke up screaming and her upstairs neighbor ran downstairs to see if she was all right. He was about to call 911.
***
I won’t even get into talking about my WORK computer, which died – as in as though someone pulled the plug – a week ago Friday thrice, Monday thrice, and Tuesday once, went to another computer, which did the same thing once on Wednesday.
An

ROG

ROG

What was 2007

There is this guy in Buffalo whose blog I read regularly. He does this quiz he got from somewhere every year. I’m trying it on, seeing if it fits.

Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

If I made any for 2007, I don’t remember. Usually, I try to avoid meetings and I failed at that, which made me verklempt at times.
For 2008, I’ll try to be more “in the moment” rather than “in my head”. Whatever that means.

Did anyone close to you give birth?

I think my friend and former co-worker Mary Beth had her daughter this year. Time sometimes is fuzzy.

Did anyone close to you die?
My wife’s Aunt Vera, who I liked. A couple people from church, John Scott and Elizabeth Naismith, the latter from the choir. But there were two people who died this year that I was once very close to, back in high school, but I hadn’t seen in over 15 years, John Kinsley and George Hasbrouck.

What countries did you visit?

Barely visited this one (USA).

What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?

More rest. An office with walls.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Don’t know. Posted every day in 2007. Can’t tell if that’s a good thing or not; I do know that it is fueled in no small part by the thought that if I were to stop for any appreciable time, I might not come back to it, and THAT would disappoint me greatly. Sometimes, I feel that just putting one foot in front of the other was a major achievement.

What was your biggest failure?

Not following through on a couple tasks.

What was the best thing you bought?

The thing that brought me most joy is a Billboard book of top pop albums.

Whose behavior merited celebration?

Bill Moyers, Dennis Kucinich, Keith Olbermann, David Kacyzinski, the New Jersey legislature for banning the death penalty, the New Hampshire legislature for allowing civil unions, the city of Charlotte, NC for starting light rail in the past couple months.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

W and Cheney; the wuss Democratic Congress, especially Nancy Pelosi, who took impeachment off the table, and Harry Reid, who decided that he wasn’t even going to call a vote unless he had 60 votes – hey, let the Republicans actually filibuster rather than yielding to the threat of one; the AMPTP a/k/a the TV moguls; anyone who, in believing that there’s no global warming, or that it’s naturally occurring, has decided that we can be as wasteful as ever – and a few cold days in a row is not proof that global warming is a myth; the Republican candidates for President, but especially Mitt Romney, who seems to be able to say just about anything to get elected – but lost in Iowa – ha!; the New York State legislature, inefficient as ever, and Governor Spitzer, who wasted precious political capital to no good end.

Where did most of your money go?

Mortgage, increased taxes, day care, gas and food. I’m convinced that food won’t be relatively cheap again for some time, if ever.

What did you get really excited about?

Other than my daughter’s development, not that much.

What song will always remind you of 2007?

“Old Dan Tucker” by Springsteen.

Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?

Not happier.

Thinner or fatter?

Well, I lost some weight but gained most of it back. So thinner, but not much.

Richer or poorer?

I feel poorer. My wife does the budget, and things were definitely tighter. In addition to the other stuff that went up, the co-pays on my health insurance were bumped up. That extra $5 on each Rx or doctor’s visit added up.

What do you wish you’d done more of?

Reading, seeing movies, getting massages, sleeping.

What do you wish you’d done less of?

Well, I should have taken more days off from work for ME, not just family vacations, but Roger days.

How will you be spending Christmas?

Well, Christmas is past, but it was at our house for the first time since before we were married.

Did you fall in love in 2007?

There’s a Supremes song, “Keep falling in and out of love.” More with my wife and daughter and some people, less with some others.

How many one-night stands?

I KNEW there was something I forgot to do.

What was your favorite TV program?

Returning: The Office. New: Pushing Daisies.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

As I’ve said, quoting Lyle Lovett, “I love everybody. Especially you.”

What was the best book you read?

Undoubtedly, it was The Genius of Impeachment: The Founders’ Cure for Royalism by John Nichols.

What was your greatest musical discovery?

Greg Burgas threw some obscure Supremes song on a mixed CD; that hmay have been a couple years ago, but I’m still digging it. Tosy had a song done by Audra McDonald that I like. I’m loving my Lennon anthology.

What did you want and get?

A Hess truck – big wheels! World Almanac. Lennon, Starr, Springsteen, other music.

What did you want and not get?

A thriving federal and/or state government that responds to the people.

What were your favorite films of this year?

Requires a separate post, so I have time to figure out the paucity of films I actually saw in 2007.

What did you do on your birthday?

Took off from work, per usual.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?

Laissez-faire.

What kept you sane?

That assumes facts not in evidence. Assuming this is true: racquetball. Perhaps, the blog, and the people I know through it.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Jenna Fischer (born March 7), Judd Apatow.

What political issue stirred you the most?

Oh, it varied. Probably the death penalty, though global warming was up there.

Who did you miss?

Mr. Rogers.

Who was the best new person you met?

There’s a couple folks in my work building who make a dreadful place slightly less so.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007

There is no privacy. Sometimes bugging city hall DOES work. Collectively, the national Democrats are not as evil as the national Republicans, but they’re far more lame. Prayer works sometimes, so be careful what you ask for. A diet without ice cream is pointless. I am a tactile person (actually, I knew that last one already).

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year

In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade,
And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down,
Or cut him ’til he cried out in his anger and his shame,
“I am leaving, I am leaving.”
But the fighter still remains, still remains.

So there’s always next year. Wait, this IS “next year”.
***
Mark Evanier was looking for this article in the New York Times which I couldn’t find. Because it was in the Wall Street Journal. Any librarian will tell you that happens a lot: a request for info with just one piece of the puzzle off.

ROG

ROG
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