Episode 58: The Days Dwindle Down

We understand.

When speaking at Robert Morris University in western Pennsylvania a few days ago, John McCain made reference to an impolitic comment by Congressman John Murtha.
"I think you may have noticed, " he said, "that Senator Obama's supporters have been saying some pretty nasty things about western Pennsylvania lately."
The crowd booed.
"And you know," he continued, "I couldn't agree more."
The crowd fell silent.
It took him several halting rhetorical movements before he stumbled back on himself with a lame recovery,
"I could not disagree with those critics more."


We understand. Old people get confused. We lose our trains of thought, forget what we were saying, stumble over words. We shouldn't be President, either.



*************************************************
The Kinder, Gentler Sex
Geezer has long believed that, given the opportunity, women in positions of power will behave just as badly as men. Challenged on that view, he cites Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, and Golda Mier, all of whom launched wars in their terms as heads of state.
What might we expect should some of our current politicians of the female persuasion reach the Oval Office?

The expensively outfitted Republican V.P. candidate has been giving hints about where she would lead us. She divested herself of these thoughts in North Carolina: "We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard-working, very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation."
Um, Sarah? Over 80% of the American people live in cities or their shadows, not small towns. Un-real Americans? All of them?

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota upped the McCarthyite ante. (Geezer suspects that neither of them know much about Tailgunner Joe, but they channel him.) Said she, last week: "I'm very concerned that he (Obama) may have anti-American views." Digging her political grave ever deeper, she went on: "I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America?"
Michele holds a once-safe Republican seat. Her opponent in this election gathered up a million dollars in new contributions over the weekend.

************************************************************************************* The Meaner, Nastier Sex
In the meantime, we can always count on bearers of the Y chromosome to pick up the battle flag and charge anew toward the enemy trenches.

* Joe McCain, brother of John, called northern Virginia "Communist country", neglecting to recall that bro and Cindy live up there, not far from John's national headquarters and the Pentagon.

* Randy Kuhl, congressman from upstate New York, slammed the desk on live TV while he trumpeted, "I firmly believe the Democratic majority wants the American public to suffer and hurt so that they can make some political gains at election time, and I think that's wrong."

***********************************************************************************
Video Watch
*The McCain campaign may have thought that nominating Palin would get them the Hillary vote. Probably not. Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh9BmNuqeiQ
*Singing is an Irish enthusiasm, especially when fueled by the stout they inexplicably find tasty.
See one currently relevant result, courtesy of our friend Charlie, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EADUQWKoVek

***********************************************************************************
On The Trail

Kellie K. sends lots of pix from Pennsylvania, where she's been working for Obama. One got my avid attention: Our daughter Sam says here's a poll she trusts:

***********************************************************************************
Urgent Virus Alert!

This seems to be the real thing, a truly nasty virus that burns the entire "C" drive of your computer. Apparently, the key words to look for are "Postcard" and "Greeting". For further information, go to http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/postcard.asp
*********************************************************************************** For Frugal Martini Lovers
These are harsh times, so here's a money-saving tip courtesy of Cook's Illustrated. The key to a clean, crisp vodka is filtration. Super-premium brands like Ketel One and Grey Goose are distilled several times, budget labels aren't. So, dump the water from your Brita water pitcher, pour in the cheapest house brand from the corner store. After it passes through, empty into another pitcher, then re-pour into the Brita. Repeat at least four more times.
A 1.75 liter bottle of my local no-name vodka costs $12. A single liter of Grey Goose costs between $45 and $55, so a little pouring back and forth saves me about $80. Spin that out over a year.
***********************************************************************************

Ditherers
Can there be any person more annoying than an American citizen who continues to declare, after a two-year presidential campaign, that he or she remains undecided? David Sedaris has some thoughts about these strange beings in the recent New Yorker:

"I look at these people and can't quite believe they exist. To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat.
'Can I interest you in the chicken?' she asks. 'Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?'

To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked."

********************************************************************************* Step Slowly Away From The TV
And the papers, the newsweeklies, the polls, the computer. Every possible issue, every dubious relationship, every accusation, every lie has been spun, dissected, diced, restated, diverted, and twisted.

We've sent more money to Obama than to any other candidate in our lives. Jo has been calling seniors for him. Our Obama lawn sign is in place, right where our conservative next-door neighbor can't help but see it every day.

Barring a Rovian October Surprise, it's all over but the voting.

So now, fight the news addiction. Paint a bedroom. Clean and lubricate the mower. Bring in the deck furniture. Rent the "Mad Men" DVD.
Better still, go outside. Talk a long walk. Delight in the colors of autumn. We have.

**********************************************************************************

If you came across this blog while surfing and would like to receive advance notice of publication of the next episode, please send your email address to TUCKg3@optonline.net.
***********************************************************************************

Episode 57: That One

Calm.

I will remain calm.
I will not compulsively check the Dow.
I will put out of my mind that bagger job at the ShopRite. I will not let my thoughts stray to the arrogant, hopelessly incompetent yahoo who brought us to this terrifying nadir in American history. I will divert my attention from the relentlessly vicious lies and distortions of the nasty little old man who will say anything to promote his candidacy.

I will not allow my blood pressure to rise just because an empty-headed twit who exceeded her capabilities even before she became mayor of a frontier village of 5,000 souls insists that she's prepared to step into the Oval Office tomorrow. Did you hear her say a couple of days ago that "Obama has run the dirtiest campaign in American history"? Is it truly possible she believes that? Can the racist scum who shout "kill him" at her rallies find Iraq on a map? Can she?

But no. I will settle back. Rub the knots out of my neck. Watch the late afternoon sun strike sparks off our river and light up the gold and scarlet leaves of early fall. Feel the zephyrs of Indian summer on my skin. Drift on moonbeams, walk in meadows among blossoms and butterflies.

************************************************************************************

"When in charge, ponder; when in trouble, delegate; when in doubt, mumble."
- James Boren 1992

"Life is too short to stuff a mushroom."

- Shirley Conran 1975

************************************************************************************

We celebrated Jo's birthday with a weekend in Manhattan at the apartment lent to us by our son Alex, the computer genius. Dinner was at Tabla (11 Madison Avenue, 212-889-0667), opposite Madison Square Park at 25th Street. It's back-to-back with Eleven Madison Park (at 25th St, 212-889-0906), which is easily among New York's very best dining places. Both are owned by Danny Meyer, consensus local choice for Supreme Restaurant Deity, who started with Union Square Cafe over two decades ago. Hallmarks of his several emporia are ever-gracious welcomes, efficient and knowledgeable service, and imaginatively conceived food that delights the eye and taste buds without lapsing into weirdness. At Tabla, the base concept is New American dishes brightened with arresting combinations of spices, most of them imported from the Indian subcontinent. Results are memorable. Dinner for two is about $325, all included.
The next day, we walked across from the edge of the Hudson to the South Street Seaport, on the East River. For those unfamiliar with the Seaport, it is a popular reclamation project with preserved early 19th Century waterfront buildings as well as reconditioned historic ships surviving from the last years of mercantile sailing ships.
The area is touristy, true, especially since the authentically raucous Fulton Fish Market was forced out. But the Seaport provides shopping, exhibitions, and dining opportunities from relatively inexpensive to moderately accomplished. Our goal was to view the latest ambitious public art project to enliven the city, the "Waterfalls". These were four towering artificial water features in which water was sucked up hundreds of feet from the East River and releasing it in perpetual simulated Niagras.
We viewed the displays from a restaurant on the second floor of Pier 17, which occupies the north side of the Seaport and provides a wide vista of the river. We had lunch at Sequoia (212-32-9090), two beers and two tasty fish tacos for $53, including tax and tip. The Waterfalls? Interesting, but well short of the impact of Christo's "Gates" in Central Park in 2004.
************************************************************************************
Video Alert:
How about a laugh or two? Our good friend Sue pointed us to this witty, if disjointed, ditty about Those Ones. Both earthy and genteel, she warns that there are vulgarisms involved. Go to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DIc8jdra0o

************************************************************************************
Why Women Must Vote
Barely ninety years ago, American women were not allowed to vote. When some among them decided to picket the Wilson White House, they were arrested. It was the night of November 15, 1917, the longest night of their lives, and only the first of many.
There were 33 of them. The warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach the suffragists a lesson. One of the women, Dora Lewis, was flung into a cell and knocked out cold. Another, Lucy Burns, had her hands chained to the cell bars above her head and was left hanging, bleeding. Forty guards took turns beating the women with clubs, choking them, kicking them.
In the weeks - weeks! - that followed, the only water the women received came from an open pail and their food was alive with worms. When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, went on a hunger strike, she was tied to a chair, a tube forced down her throat, and liquid poured into her until she vomited. This treatment was continued over and over again. Woodrow Wilson tried to have her declared insane.

All the women wanted was the right to vote.

In the face of this sacrifice, are there any truly compelling reasons why the daughters of these courageous women - and their men - cannot take a few moments to get to their polling places on November 4th?

************************************************************************************
Geezer Predicts:

A week before Election Day, national polls will show Obama leading McCain by as many as 15 percentage points. By November 3rd, the gap will have shrunk to less than four points, well within the margin of error. It will be a nail-biter, but by early Wednesday morning, the winner will be:

***********************************************************************************
If you came across this blog while surfing and would like to receive advance notice of publication of future episodes, please send your email address to TUCKg3@optonline.net.
***********************************************************************************