Idiot Watch 11/3/08: Me, Mark Still
With only a day to go, it's pretty obvious by now that Obama is a shoe-in. The next 4 years will be heralded as a change in an orgasmic fury of bliss. And I use the mixed metaphors deliberately; a change is gonna come, no doubt. But it won't be the party the rank-and-file are expecting. Of course, this society of ours continues to be dominated by obtuse fools who refuse to acknowledge that the change has come, and has been here for awhile. Obama, Clinton, Palin.... They all represent that America is the land of equal opportunity-. But we remain mulish camps of monolithic people.
I will not vote for him. I once was his biggest fan, even campaigning for him in the classroom. But not now. He has naively made too many contradictory promises, he threw himself a Vanity Project major network celebration last week, with money garnered from a broken campaign pledge. He has decided to talk tough, even thuggish, on Pakistan, even threatening the war he so strenuously disavows. He panders to the Israel lobby and pro-lifers and gun-toters, even though his record on these subjects suggests far otherwise. He is elitist - a small-town boy made good, he now hobnobs with the urban intelligentsia. He looks down his nose at small town residents.
I will not vote for McCain. I wish that the SNL version I saw of him a couple of days ago was just normal, everyday McCain - but it's not. A man with a steady flow of that kind of charisma, eloquence and self-deferential wit needs to be in the White House. But there are no comers, are there? Maybe Ron Paul is, but he dropped out because - and Obamamaniacs, take note - he wanted to put his money to better use. McCain more and more seems like a grumpy old man, sniping at a candidate who's about to give him a whuppin'. And who probably followed some bad advice on the way to that whuppin'.
(Heh. Can't you imagine the conversation 'twixt Palin and McCain? "Sarah, really, just drop out. Please. We goofed." "Uh-uh, no way John. I'm going places.""But Sarah, you can't see Russia from Pennsylvania Avenue." "Nope, and I can't see that many stars as I would in Alaska, either. But I will see one in Washington; My own. Rapidly ascending." "Will you at least make fun of yourself on SNL?" "Nope. Ain't gonnadoit.. wouldn't be prudent.")
The truth of the matter is, it's the bulk of Obama's frenzied fans that turn my stomach sour, not so much the man himself. Obama just doesn't seem ready yet - but Obamamania? When I started on this blog, the insults and outrageous assumptions about me came flying! Now I'm just ignored - as this piece may surely be as well. Obamamaniacs ignore the gaffs their man makes, as well. They share the Bush mentality: if you're not with us, you're against us. Here is a short list of words I've read and heard to describe people who questioned Obama and his campaign: "racist," "bigoted," "lacking in mental acuity," Republican," "conservative," "backwood," "blind," "Bush fans," "fearmongers," "traitorous," "of a certain ilk," "doltish." Never any credit for a person simply thinking independently.
Have people on the other side been just as bad? "You betcha," he said with a wink. But I thought this was the Season of Change. To tell you the truth, all I see is a mentality of "It's Payback Time!" And to go further into the truth, I've been facing and fighting against that sort of inane mindset all of my life. I've often been ridiculed and ostracized because I elect to go my own way, and can just as easily criticize the teams on both ends of the field. This is why I have taken such exception when so many smug doofi got together to beat up on McCain and Palin not on the issues - but on insubstantial trivia, making full use of the words I listed above and many others.
And whereas McCain has quieted the few bigots in his assembly crowds, Obama has never done the same to his supporters. He believes the lies and taunts they come up with. Lord knows McCain should have done the same to his campaign management, that Palin should have done the same herself.
But I've been in McCain's position, ostracized and shouted down by bullies. So yeah, he's had my sympathy. I still think he's a decent man - despite every show and magazine in the country talking potshots at him. I still think Obama's a decent person. But neither one deserves the White House now.
So whom do I vote for? I must admit I know precious little of Chuck Baldwin. I know Ron Paul says to support him, but I would have had to have known this guy for at least a year before I'd consider anything so drastic. But after much consideration, I decided to vote for him anyway. Why? I know he can't win. My vote will say there's more than one choice between two candidates - that I don't have to settle for the same old distortion the media and the public forcefeed me every 4 years. There are options, other viable candidates. And what Paul and presumably Baldwin have to say makes more sense than the clueless rhetoric coming from the Obama and McCain camps.
Hey, Obama is for universal healthcare. I fully support this. McCain wants to walk softly and carry a big stick. I'm for that, too. But after waiting a year for either one of these guys to deliver the knockout punch and fully sway me, I know now it ain't coming.
So to all you self-congratulatory, liberal elite out there, enjoy the party. And get ready for what's to come. Obama's going to be breaking far more promises soon, and there's many tough choices that will have to be made. I pray that we in this country can finally unite and emerge victorious. But we love to pick sides - and the way things have been going in this country, I have my doubts.
With only a day to go, it's pretty obvious by now that Obama is a shoe-in. The next 4 years will be heralded as a change in an orgasmic fury of bliss. And I use the mixed metaphors deliberately; a change is gonna come, no doubt. But it won't be the party the rank-and-file are expecting. Of course, this society of ours continues to be dominated by obtuse fools who refuse to acknowledge that the change has come, and has been here for awhile. Obama, Clinton, Palin.... They all represent that America is the land of equal opportunity--. But we remain a monolithic people.
I will not vote for him. I once was his biggest fan, even campaigning for him in the classroom. But not now. He has naively made too many contradictory promises, he threw himself a Vanity Project major network celebration last week, with money garnered from a broken campaign pledge. He has decided to talk tough, even thuggish, on Pakistan, even threatening the war he so strenuously disavows. He panders to the Israel lobby and pro-lifers and gun-toters, even though his record on these subjects suggests far otherwise. He is elitist - a small-town boy made good, he now hobnobs with the urban intelligentsia. He looks down his nose at small town residents.
I will not vote for McCain. I wish that the SNL version I saw of him a couple of days ago was just normal, everyday McCain - but it's not. A man with a steady flow of that kind of charisma, eloquence and self-deferential wit needs to be in the White House. But there are no comers, are there? Maybe Ron Paul is, but he dropped out because - and Obamamaniacs, take note - he wanted to put his money to better use. McCain more and more seems like a grumpy old man, sniping at a candidate who's about to give him a whuppin'. And who probably followed some bad advice on the way to that whuppin'.
(Heh. Can't you imagine the conversation 'twixt Palin and McCain? "Sarah, really, just drop out. Please. We goofed." "Uh-uh, no way John. I'm going places.""But Sarah, you can't see Russia from Pennsylvania Avenue." "Nope, and I can't see that many stars as I would in Alaska, either. But I will see one in Washington; My own. Rapidly ascending." "Will you at least make fun of yourself on SNL?" "Nope. Ain't gonnadoit.. wouldn't be prudent.")
The truth of the matter is, it's the bulk of Obama's frenzied fans that turn my stomach sour, not so much the man himself. Obama just doesn't seem ready yet - but Obamamania? When I started on this blog, the insults and outrageous assumptions about me came flying! Now I'm just ignored - as this piece may surely be as well. Obama maniacs share the Bush mentality: if you're not with us, you're against us. Here is a short list of words I've read and heard to describe people who questioned Obama and his campaign: "racist," "bigoted," "lacking in mental acuity," Republican," "conservative," "backwood," "blind," "Bush fans," "fearmongers," "traitorous," "of a certain ilk," "doltish." Never any credit for a person simply thinking indecently.
Have people on the other side been just as bad? "You betcha," he said with a wink. But I thought this was the Season of Change. To tell you the truth, all I see is a mentality of "It's Payback Time!" And to go further into the truth, I've been facing and fighting against that sort of inane mindset all of my life. I've often been ridiculed and ostracized because I elect to go my own way, and can just as easily criticize the teams on both ends of the field. This is why I have taken such exception when so many smug doofi got together to beat up on McCain and Palin not on the issues - but on insubstantial trivia, making full use of the words I listed above and many others.
And whereas McCain has quieted the few bigots in his assembly crowds, Obama has never done the same to his supporters. He believes the lies and taunts they come up with. Lord knows McCain should have done the same to his campaign management, that Palin should have done the same herself.
But I've been in McCain's position, ostracized and shouted down by bullies. So yeah, he's had my sympathy. I still think he's a decent man - despite every show and magazine in the country talking potshots at him. I still think Obama's a decent person. But neither one deserves the White House now.
So whom do I vote for? I must admit I k now precious little of Chuck Baldwin. I know Ron Paul says to support him, but I would have had to have known this guy for at least a year before I'd consider anything so drastic. But after much consideration, I decided to vote for him anyway. Why? I know he can't win. My vote will say there's more than one choice between two candidates - that I don't have to settle for the same old distortion the media and the public forcefeed me every 4 years. There are options, other viable candidates. And what Paul and presumably Baldwin have to say makes more sense than the clueless rhetoric coming from the Obama and McCain camps.
Hey, Obama is for universal healthcare. I fully support this. McCain wants to walk softly and carry a big stick. I'm for that, too. But after waiting a year for either one of these guys to deliver the knockout punch and fully sway me, I know now it ain't coming.
So to all you self-congratulatory, liberal elite out there, enjoy the party. And get ready for what's to come. Obama's going to be breaking far more promises soon, and there's many tough choices that will have to be made. I pray that we in this country can finally unite and emerge victorious. But we love to pick sides - and the way things have been going in this country, I have my doubts.
With only a day to go, it's pretty obvious by now that Obama is a shoe-in. The next 4 years will be heralded as a change in an orgasmic fury of bliss. And I use the mixed metaphors deliberately; a change is gonna come, no doubt. But it won't be the party the rank-and-file are expecting. Of course, this society of ours continues to be dominated by obtuse fools who refuse to acknowledge that the change has come, and has been here for awhile. Obama, Clinton, Palin.... They all represent that America is the land of equal opportunity--. But we remain a monolithic people.
I will not vote for him. I once was his biggest fan, even campaigning for him in the classroom. But not now. He has naively made too many contradictory promises, he threw himself a Vanity Project major network celebration last week, with money garnered from a broken campaign pledge. He has decided to talk tough, even thuggish, on Pakistan, even threatening the war he so strenuously disavows. He panders to the Israel lobby and pro-lifers and gun-toters, even though his record on these subjects suggests far otherwise. He is elitist - a small-town boy made good, he now hobnobs with the urban intelligentsia. He looks down his nose at small town residents.
I will not vote for McCain. I wish that the SNL version I saw of him a couple of days ago was just normal, everyday McCain - but it's not. A man with a steady flow of that kind of charisma, eloquence and self-deferential wit needs to be in the White House. But there are no comers, are there? Maybe Ron Paul is, but he dropped out because - and Obamamaniacs, take note - he wanted to put his money to better use. McCain more and more seems like a grumpy old man, sniping at a candidate who's about to give him a whuppin'. And who probably followed some bad advice on the way to that whuppin'.
(Heh. Can't you imagine the conversation 'twixt Palin and McCain? "Sarah, really, just drop out. Please. We goofed." "Uh-uh, no way John. I'm going places.""But Sarah, you can't see Russia from Pennsylvania Avenue." "Nope, and I can't see that many stars as I would in Alaska, either. But I will see one in Washington; My own. Rapidly ascending." "Will you at least make fun of yourself on SNL?" "Nope. Ain't gonnadoit.. wouldn't be prudent.")
The truth of the matter is, it's the bulk of Obama's frenzied fans that turn my stomach sour, not so much the man himself. Obama just doesn't seem ready yet - but Obamamania? When I started on this blog, the insults and outrageous assumptions about me came flying! Now I'm just ignored - as this piece may surely be as well. Obama maniacs share the Bush mentality: if you're not with us, you're against us. Here is a short list of words I've read and heard to describe people who questioned Obama and his campaign: "racist," "bigoted," "lacking in mental acuity," Republican," "conservative," "backwood," "blind," "Bush fans," "fearmongers," "traitorous," "of a certain ilk," "doltish." Never any credit for a person simply thinking indecently.
Have people on the other side been just as bad? "You betcha," he said with a wink. But I thought this was the Season of Change. To tell you the truth, all I see is a mentality of "It's Payback Time!" And to go further into the truth, I've been facing and fighting against that sort of inane mindset all of my life. I've often been ridiculed and ostracized because I elect to go my own way, and can just as easily criticize the teams on both ends of the field. This is why I have taken such exception when so many smug doofi got together to beat up on McCain and Palin not on the issues - but on insubstantial trivia, making full use of the words I listed above and many others.
And whereas McCain has quieted the few bigots in his assembly crowds, Obama has never done the same to his supporters. He believes the lies and taunts they come up with. Lord knows McCain should have done the same to his campaign management, that Palin should have done the same herself.
But I've been in McCain's position, ostracized and shouted down by bullies. So yeah, he's had my sympathy. I still think he's a decent man - despite every show and magazine in the country talking potshots at him. I still think Obama's a decent person. But neither one deserves the White House now.
So whom do I vote for? I must admit I k now precious little of Chuck Baldwin. I know Ron Paul says to support him, but I would have had to have known this guy for at least a year before I'd consider anything so drastic. But after much consideration, I decided to vote for him anyway. Why? I know he can't win. My vote will say there's more than one choice between two candidates - that I don't have to settle for the same old distortion the media and the public forcefeed me every 4 years. There are options, other viable candidates. And what Paul and presumably Baldwin have to say makes more sense than the clueless rhetoric coming from the Obama and McCain camps.
Hey, Obama is for universal healthcare. I fully support this. McCain wants to walk softly and carry a big stick. I'm for that, too. But after waiting a year for either one of these guys to deliver the knockout punch and fully sway me, I know now it ain't coming.
So to all you self-congratulatory, liberal elite out there, enjoy the party. And get ready for what's to come. Obama's going to be breaking far more promises soon, and there's many tough choices that will have to be made. I pray that we in this country can finally unite and emerge victorious. But we love to pick sides - and the way things have been going in this country, I have my doubts.
With only a day to go, it's pretty obvious by now that Obama is a shoe-in. The next 4 years will be heralded as a change in an orgasmic fury of bliss. And I use the mixed metaphors deliberately; a change is gonna come, no doubt. But it won't be the party the rank-and-file are expecting. Of course, this society of ours continues to be dominated by obtuse fools who refuse to acknowledge that the change has come, and has been here for awhile. Obama, Clinton, Palin.... They all represent that America is the land of equal opportunity--. But we remain a monolithic people.
I will not vote for him. I once was his biggest fan, even campaigning for him in the classroom. But not now. He has naively made too many contradictory promises, he threw himself a Vanity Project major network celebration last week, with money garnered from a broken campaign pledge. He has decided to talk tough, even thuggish, on Pakistan, even threatening the war he so strenuously disavows. He panders to the Israel lobby and pro-lifers and gun-toters, even though his record on these subjects suggests far otherwise. He is elitist - a small-town boy made good, he now hobnobs with the urban intelligentsia. He looks down his nose at small town residents.
I will not vote for McCain. I wish that the SNL version I saw of him a couple of days ago was just normal, everyday McCain - but it's not. A man with a steady flow of that kind of charisma, eloquence and self-deferential wit needs to be in the White House. But there are no comers, are there? Maybe Ron Paul is, but he dropped out because - and Obamamaniacs, take note - he wanted to put his money to better use. McCain more and more seems like a grumpy old man, sniping at a candidate who's about to give him a whuppin'. And who probably followed some bad advice on the way to that whuppin'.
(Heh. Can't you imagine the conversation 'twixt Palin and McCain? "Sarah, really, just drop out. Please. We goofed." "Uh-uh, no way John. I'm going places.""But Sarah, you can't see Russia from Pennsylvania Avenue." "Nope, and I can't see that many stars as I would in Alaska, either. But I will see one in Washington; My own. Rapidly ascending." "Will you at least make fun of yourself on SNL?" "Nope. Ain't gonnadoit.. wouldn't be prudent.")
The truth of the matter is, it's the bulk of Obama's frenzied fans that turn my stomach sour, not so much the man himself. Obama just doesn't seem ready yet - but Obamamania? When I started on this blog, the insults and outrageous assumptions about me came flying! Now I'm just ignored - as this piece may surely be as well. Obama maniacs share the Bush mentality: if you're not with us, you're against us. Here is a short list of words I've read and heard to describe people who questioned Obama and his campaign: "racist," "bigoted," "lacking in mental acuity," Republican," "conservative," "backwood," "blind," "Bush fans," "fearmongers," "traitorous," "of a certain ilk," "doltish." Never any credit for a person simply thinking indecently.
Have people on the other side been just as bad? "You betcha," he said with a wink. But I thought this was the Season of Change. To tell you the truth, all I see is a mentality of "It's Payback Time!" And to go further into the truth, I've been facing and fighting against that sort of inane mindset all of my life. I've often been ridiculed and ostracized because I elect to go my own way, and can just as easily criticize the teams on both ends of the field. This is why I have taken such exception when so many smug doofi got together to beat up on McCain and Palin not on the issues - but on insubstantial trivia, making full use of the words I listed above and many others.
And whereas McCain has quieted the few bigots in his assembly crowds, Obama has never done the same to his supporters. He believes the lies and taunts they come up with. Lord knows McCain should have done the same to his campaign management, that Palin should have done the same herself.
But I've been in McCain's position, ostracized and shouted down by bullies. So yeah, he's had my sympathy. I still think he's a decent man - despite every show and magazine in the country talking potshots at him. I still think Obama's a decent person. But neither one deserves the White House now.
So whom do I vote for? I must admit I k now precious little of Chuck Baldwin. I know Ron Paul says to support him, but I would have had to have known this guy for at least a year before I'd consider anything so drastic. But after much consideration, I decided to vote for him anyway. Why? I know he can't win. My vote will say there's more than one choice between two candidates - that I don't have to settle for the same old distortion the media and the public forcefeed me every 4 years. There are options, other viable candidates. And what Paul and presumably Baldwin have to say makes more sense than the clueless rhetoric coming from the Obama and McCain camps.
Hey, Obama is for universal healthcare. I fully support this. McCain wants to walk softly and carry a big stick. I'm for that, too. But after waiting a year for either one of these guys to deliver the knockout punch and fully sway me, I know now it ain't coming.
So to all you self-congratulatory, liberal elite out there, enjoy the party. And get ready for what's to come. Obama's going to be breaking far more promises soon, and there's many tough choices that will have to be made. I pray that we in this country can finally unite and emerge victorious. But we love to pick sides - and the way things have been going in this country, I have my doubts.





There may be something about Paul and the Constitution Party that you don't know about, man.
November 3, 2008 10:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
I know they ain't perfect. I am saying this is the best choice I found. I am sure there are things about all the parties and all the candidates we don't know about....
"man...."
November 3, 2008 6:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Which would you prefer, a straight razor or a giant bottle of barbituates?
And yet, after 22 months of campaigning, intense scruntiny from the media, access to all sorts of information via the internet and more, you'll vote for a guy because Ron Paul told to you? You establish your own standard of judgment and then violate it on a whim?
Brilliant!!!!
November 3, 2008 10:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
Jade, you missed it. it's amazing how people read only what they want. My principles are this: I don't believe in the visions that either McCain or Obama are hawking. There are other candidates, other options. I don't like Nader, McKinney or Keyes. I know nothing about the others. I hate the fact that the media and people like you don't even acknowledge that other candidates are running. Baldwin is the educated best choice for me. That, and the fact that there ARE OTHER CANDIDATES.
The "sic" comment from you is haughty and immature. Or maybe you did not know that the Internet is spelled with a capital letter?
By the way, you should be proud to be able to come to your own opinions and standards of judgment. It shows you're alive.
November 3, 2008 6:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Next!
November 3, 2008 11:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Same bat time, same bat channel.
November 3, 2008 6:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Did you know that you can go back and edit your post so you don't repeat the text 4 times? It didn't get any better the 2nd, 3rd and 4th times...
November 3, 2008 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, I'm repeating variations on a theme in response to the endless drone coming from other quarters. It's old.
November 3, 2008 6:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
We all express our "opinions" here at TPM, but reading your blog, I wonder if you realize how embarrassingly hung up you are on the importance of your feelings and your thoughts, as if they should somehow direct the movement of the stars, at the very least, or the direction of the world.
Please explain to us why we should care what you think of Obama. He had you but he lost you. Boo-effing-hoo! You try running for the Presidency of the United States and then get back to us on whether we should be hailing you as a genius or reviling you as a destroyer. What have you done in your entire life that entitles you to carp about the achievements of Barack Obama? I mean, really, what? If he pulls this off, try and let it sink in for just a nanosecond all that he had to do to make it happen and just how very unlikely it all was. What perfection should he have been capable of that would have earned your lasting loyalty?
If I have not yet said enough to express my disdain for your position, please read this, that I posted to your fellow jaded cynic, David Seaton:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/david_seaton/2008/11/at-least-i-wont-have-to-pay-th.php
November 3, 2008 12:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
What have I done in my entire life? Oh, a hell of a lot; you probably have, too - but I'm not here to boast because that's not what this site is supposed to be about.
I wonder if you know how embarrassingly hung up you are on the presumed sanctity of Obama? and how so many users on this site are gushing on about the beauty of "their" Change and the horribleness of everyone who expresses a different opinion? As if your group-feel righteousness should somehow direct the movement of the stars, or at the very least, the direction of this nation.
You don't care for my opinion, fellow American, because you don't care about anyone else. You backed the right horse, didn't you, joined the winning team because it was morally unavoidable. That's your perspective.
Those who can't distinguish between the genius/destroyer and the rest of humanity are damning this once great nation to a dearth of choices.
What Obama did, has done, Jane, is not unlikely at all. Stop the rhetoric. My loyalty is earned by honesty and determination. And that starts by being honest with yourself.
November 3, 2008 7:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
One way or the other, this promises to be a memorable Election Night, which got me to thinking about others that stand out for me as a citizen, partisan, journalist, and even a candidate. I came up with a half-dozen personal reminiscences that I thought I would share in the hope of inspiring some others.
1952: Allowed to remain up to watch the returns crackle across our 15-inch RCA Victor TV screen, I saw my mother cry for the first time when Eisenhower’s victory was confirmed. The next evening at dinner her sorrow was transformed to frustration when she reported a post-election exchange with a modestly attired neighbor at the butcher’s. “Did you vote right?” the woman had asked and then proudly announced that she’d backed the winner. “How could someone wearing a coat like that vote for a Republican?” she said, turning the question into a declaration of disgust. Adlai Stevenson was a hero to us. Twenty years later, on assignment for Newsday in Washington, I met his son, a senator from Illinois, at a party in the Georgetown home of our bureau chief, Joe Albright. “Your father,” I said without a whit of journalistic cool, “was my Mickey Mantle.”
1965: From dawn until closing I stood in the basement of a church on Cortelyou Road in Brooklyn, not far from where I’d grown up, poll watching for John Lindsay in his race against Abe Beame for mayor of New York. As waves of elderly Jewish voters arrived — they were not Beame’s demographic, they WERE Beame! — I grew increasingly despondent. I thought, “What ever made me believe that Lindsay could win?” When the polls closed I learned that the two candidates had split my precinct evenly. Later that night, at a victory party at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, I marveled at how optimistic and resilient New Yorkers could be. Sadly, that night may have been the finest moment of Lindsay’s contentious eight years in office.
1968: In a suburban ballroom on Long Island, hundreds of campaign volunteers paid little attention to the rest of the country, which was electing Richard Nixon president. They were celebrating an impossible victory -- the election of “dump-Johnson” anti-Vietnam War reformer Allard Lowenstein to a seat in Congress. After a quixotic two years in Washington, Allard was gerrymandered out of office. He failed in a half-dozen subsequent attempts to return to Congress but never lost his enthusiasm for reform. In 1980, Lowenstein was shot to death in Manhattan law office by a psychotic former political follower. Peter, Paul and Mary sang “Amazing Grace’ at his funeral.
1980: In the first Election Night at home following a decade of covering them as a reporter, I was rocking my infant daughter to sleep as the Reagan tide rolled in. “I can’t believe you will probably be nearly 10 years old before that guy is out of office,” I said to her (a mournful projection that must have sounded pretty good to Rebecca compared to my off-key iteration of “Rockabye Baby”). In the end we survived the Reagan Years, which might be worth remembering as we bring the W Era to a close.
1998: Walking into a voting booth at 6 a.m. and seeing my own name on the ballot felt more than a little weird. This was the culmination of a spirited three-way race for a seat on the Ithaca Common Council that dominated our Fall Creek neighborhood in an otherwise dull election cycle. In the pre-dawn hours I toured my district and stapled home-made signs declaring “Today!” on all my lawn signs. That night, after winning 62% of the vote, I replaced them with signs that said, “Thank You!” I was a city alderman for five and a half years and never walked into a meeting without flushing a bit with honor and humility just by the idea.
2000: I hosted a party so friends could come by my new home and watch the returns. In the emailed invitation, I’d said we would keep going until a winner emerged. Nearly two weeks later a colleague at Cornell happened on the invitation and sent reply. “Hey, Ed,” he asked. “How’s the beer holding out?”
November 3, 2008 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you for that walk down memory lane. It helps to keep a bit of perspective about all of this, even when sometimes it seems so hard to keep on believing.
November 3, 2008 1:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well said, sir - or ma'am (you did say "alderman"). I can't say I agree with all of the comments you made, but you said them so well, and allow us to draw our own conclusions. You say you are a politician and a journalist. Everyone else, pay attention!! This is how it's done.
November 3, 2008 7:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
See what I mean? It took me this long to realized that you and your family voted a straight Democrat line over the years. So much for independence of thought. Still, very well written.
November 4, 2008 8:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
Jade, you missed it. it's amazing how people read only what they want. My principles are this: I don't believe in the visions that either McCain or Obama are hawking. There are other candidates, other options. I don't like Nader, McKinney or Keyes. I know nothing about the others. I hate the fact that the media and people like you don't even acknowledge that other candidates are running. Baldwin is the educated best choice for me. That, and the fact that there ARE OTHER CANDIDATES. It's not a "whim", it's just you skimming the surface of what I wrote.
The "sic" comment from you is haughty and immature. Or maybe you did not know that the Internet is spelled with a capital letter?
By the way, you should be proud to be able to come to your own opinions and standards of judgment. It shows you're alive.
November 3, 2008 6:54 PM | Reply | Permalink