1. Finished the Franken book. That chapter on the Wellstone memorial is amazing. If you read nothing else in the book, read that one chapter. Angry. Honest. Uplifting.
2. Listened to Steve Martin off Fresh Air/NPR. I taped this the other day on my boom box. The tape had Simon and Garfunkel on it and you can still hear about 15% Simon and Garfunkel to the 85% Steve Martin in the mix. Sometimes there’s inappropriate applause, which is nice.
(If anyone wants me to send them that tape when I’m done, to minimize their own Arnold blues, send me an email at vortex@mediajunkie.com and I’ll ship it over. First come first serve, and all that.)
3. Played an old Leon Russell CD.
4. Had a bowl of soup at lunch.
5. Ate some cheese.
6. Thought about all those Kennedy’s up on there on stage and how that really gripes my socks. But then decided that it probably griped the collective socks of the far right even more.
7. Let myself believe that we’ll all look back on this as the pivotal moment that led to Democrat (?) Will Smith winning the presidency in a 2012 landslide. My “Fresh Prince of DC” bumper stickers are ready to go.
8. Ate more cheese.
And you?
Things I’m doing today to keep from feeling too blue
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2 responses to “Things I’m doing today to keep from feeling too blue”
Re: Ate more cheese
Are you eating this cheese because you are on the Atkins diet and, if so, are you happy with it?
If you are eating this cheese because you like cheese, what kind are you eating that seems so worthy of note?
If you are eating this cheese even though you do not like it, we can drop the whole cheese issue.
Re: Arnold blues and Kennedy despair
Why do you think that the presence of Kennedys onstage with Arnold is depressing? Are Kennedys especially indicative of what is good and right? There is considerable evidence to the contrary (although, Uncle Teddy and cousin Michael [Skakel] were not on the dais with Arnold, so the good and right ones might have been over-represented).
Still, why would one care what these people think? They are not representative of most Americans.
And why would Republicans be upset. To the extent that the Kennedys (Shrivers actually) endorsed a Republican, this would seem to me cause for such Republicans to rejoice — especially given that there are people like you out there who seem to attach so much (too much?) validity to their endorsement.
It would seem to me that a Republican candidate has glommed onto the glamour and prestige of the Kennedy name despite espousing views inconsistent with Uncle Ted and cousin Patrick. It’s a little bit like getting Britney Spears to endorse Pepsi, Republicans of any stripe probably rejoiced.
I guess, if one is not open to the idea that a Republican can govern well, and if one believed that the Kennedy legacy is owned lock, stock and barrel by the Democratic Party, one might feel a sense of betrayal upon witnessing said legacy used to prop up a non-Democrat. Is this what is at the heart of your sock griping?
Then it must gripe your socks even more to think of them ascendant after victory, happy as clams that they have made inroads into former Democratic voting strongholds. I doubt that even the far right Republicans are unhappy that they were able to co-opt the power of American “royalty”, a “political brand name” if you will, to win votes for their party.
If I had to guess, I would submit that tribalism is at the heart of your Arnold blues. Your team lost. Take heart. If history repeats itself, the Democratic Party will not be a minority party forever.
Hi Bob,
Thanks for writing.
Regarding the cheese, it was Manchego Cheese. Great cheese. Really, unusually great cheese. Highly recommended. Three happy-cheese-eaters up!
To learn more about this great, great cheese: http://www.foodreference.com/html/fmanchego.html
Really, excellent.
Regarding the Kennedys and Dems vs Republicans, I’m a proud Democract, but I’m not a partisan absolutist. There are plenty of Republicans I like (here’s looking at you, David Gergen). And more than a few Democractic politicians who’ve left me unimpressed or at least a little irritated.
With the Kennedys onstage elation, my disappointment was less about Dems winning or losing (though granted, malaise re losing such an important political race, and all the surrounding circumstances, was the point of that particular post) and more about the queasy feeling I got, watching partisan standard bearers so quickly jump ship. Their enthusiastic conversion left the impression that they were more keyed into winning for winning’s sake, than they were into ideas or ideals.
And sure, that sort of thing happens all the time. But it’s about as extreme an example as I’ve seen. Unless you count Willie Brown, serving as secret pal-of-Arnold during the recall campaign itself….