NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg seems to be giving at least partial thought to an 2008 presidential bid. If that happens all signs point to the 1992 election happening all over again. With Hillary Clinton sweeping into power on the wings of a divided and fractured electorate. This could be the best thing to happen to Hillary’s campaign. After all they know how best to play triangulating politics. They certainly have experience with it.
The only problem I have with a Clinton/Giuliani/Bloomberg race in the general is that I don’t want to see a “subway series” election. With all three major candidates coming from New York City, America can do better than that. It would make for interesting symbolism with the backdrop and memory of 911 lurking. But my west coast bias would rather see the field expand outside of New York. Maybe a northwest tech mogul, true southerner, or respected western state governor could step in at the last moment and rise like a phoenix against the mighty NYC cabal. Hey we can all dream can’t we?
At the end of the day don’t discount any contingency, 2008 will be very interesting and I don’t think we have even begun to see just how interesting it can get.
I am quite frankly disappointed in Kucinich’s “No” vote on Iraqi timetable resolution in the House. I understand there are many arguments that the bill doesn’t go far enough, and Kucinich may have had ideological “pure” reasons for his vote. But a no vote in this case is inexcusable. In my mind this destroys Kucinich’s credibility on the war issue. Not that he had much left after the Fox news debacle. I understand the anger of the anti-war left but there is a time and place for protest and there is a time and place for unity. Why Kucinich chose to vote no I will not understand, but it does show his basic anti-establishment attitude that is not helpful. Politics is a process of many people and coordinating efforts. It is not the strident protest, or singular conviction of one individual or small group of individuals. George Bush and the NeoCons have showed us the dangers of this approach to politics.
Ironically it was Kucinich’s vocal and somewhat isolated protest to the war in 2003 that made him famous. I remember when he stood up where no one else stood against the march to war. And for that I think he should be commended. But now is not the time for politcal desperadoes. And Kucinich’s obstinate clinging to protest votes is either misguided or even worse cynical. If you want to end the war, then join the party. No congressman is an isalnd and you are not going to stop it all by yourself. Even if you were on the vanguard of the anti-war movement.
Listening to the third movement of Gustav Mahler’s first symphony. I can’t really explain why but the music just makes me want to be alive in the 19th century. There is a mood to the music that makes me think of an atmosphere, pace, time and space that is quintessentially 19th century. It is an atmosphere I wouldn’t mind inhabiting far away from modern conveniences.
However I recognize the impossiblity of recapturing this atmosphere and abandoning the modern conveniences. Even though the music was composed in the 19th century the atmosphere it creates is not necessarily of that time. My experience of the music is mediated by modern conveniences. I am able to call up the digital replication of the music and listen to it over and over as I like. Psychologically invoking the mood and atmosphere with each listen. This is an experience not possible in the 19th century. Even the most ardent symphony buffs in the 19th century probably were only able to hear Mahler’s symphony a few times in their lifetime. And moreover, this experience would have been mediated through a great concert hall and live performance. In other words, in the 19th century listening to Mahler would have been an “event” not a mere casual experience in the middle of the night when one is prone to specific moods and atmospheric modalities.
So in essence I am alive in the music today. The atmosphere is present in my phenomenological experience of my headphones. There is no 19th century, there is no past, only a trace of it and my experience of the here and now. The next song in my playlist is a song by Johnny Cash. Now that is an experience that nobody in the 19th century has ever been able to experience, concert hall or no concert hall.
This pedal powered roller coaster looks totally awesome and kind of scary. If I make it to Japan I am going to ride this thing. And it is environmentally sustainable as well.
Ran across this little clip on You Tube. Forgot just how brilliant Monty Python was. Looking back I can see just how foundational Monty Python has been to my general outlook on life. Catchy little ditty too.
The more I pay attention to John Edwards’ campaign the more I find myself impressed by his campaign instincts. It seems that Edwards is running a great campaign. There was a recent stir over the Edwards campaign declining to attend a presidential debate in Nevada hosted by Fox News. This is a smart, savvy political move on Edwards’ part. He loses nothing by making the decision, and forces the issue about the dubiousness of a Fox News debate event. There is no reason to be beholden to the MSM. Edwards was smart to take the lead on the issue and change the non story into a major story. There are many opportunities for the candidates to be heard and there is no urgency given so many debates. Plus it puts the other candidates in a quandry as to how to respond, lest they want to legtimate the joke that is Fox News. Edwards beat them all to the punch. His campaign seems to be firing on all cylinders. Also I like how the Edwards campaign is cutting to the chase on the poverty issues in this country. Edwards is taking the refreshingly frank and honest approach to campaigns and I think it is good for politics and good for the nation. I will watch Edwards with keen interest this campaign cycle.
Another note on the recent “faggot” comment by Ann Coulter. I hate commenting on the likes of her, because she is just in it for the media attention. However, I find it interesting that Edwards is the recent target of all this vitriol and Hillary is not. My theory is that the right is perhaps a bit scared of the Clinton machine. They know that tangling with her campaign machine might be a touch of death. There are a lot of sophisticated operatives in her camp and as such probably command a certain amount of respect among the right wing sludge meisters. Edwards on the other hand seems to be running a good faith, frank, somehwat boyishly innocent campaign image. This makes him suspect among the liars and sludge masters on the right, Ann Coulter being their Queen. The more vicious the attacks on Edwards the more he comes out smelling like roses. Edwards just needs to keep doing what he does best telling the American people like it really is and he will go places. I still think Hillary is the presumptive nominee, but Edwards is the candidate to watch this season. A bit under estimated in my opinion. I don’t make predictions but I suspect it will shake out to a Hillary/Edwards ticket or else Hillary/Richardson, either one will be a formidable force in the general election.
Of course I would love to see Biden go places just for the sheer gravitas of his foreign policy acumen. But that is another story for another blog post…
The Republican party has long tried to assert its libertarian underpinnings. But the reality has been that Freedom is just another effective political buzz word that conservatives like the bandy around. Republicans are no more the party of freedom than they are same party of Lincoln. They have been shot through with radical and often times conflicting social agendas that are self serving in the extreme. The current state of the party leaves much to be desired in the protection of freedom and liberty. One of the most shameful displays of this betrayal was the passage of a port sercurity bill that included a rider outlawing internet gambling and poker. During the debate of this unlawful gambling bill Democrat Barney Frank makes some very great points and sounds like a true patriot of freedom:
Now there is lots to be said about gambling, its addictive qualities, and the moral and aesthetic pros and cons. But my interest politically is much broader. This is a genuine opportunity for Democrats on the left to take back and own the concept of freedom and the positive aspects of libertarian philosohpy. Many on the left deeply understand the problems of fascism and the tangible ways that the republicans have eroded civil liberties in this country. Whether it is hadeas corpus, secrecy, circumvention of due process, anti choice for women, etc. But poker and gambling is one of those things that connects to a lot of people, not just the ones who subscribe to ACLU newsletters and the Nation. Taking up the cause of gambling is a way to show consistency on issues of freedom. There is a reason so much is going on in Nevada this primary season and it is time for Democrats to claim its rightful place as the party of freedom.
We need to remind people that Democrats stand for sensible policy and personal freedom. That is what “Liberalism” has always been about. Throughout the 20th century and especially after WWII and Fascism in Europe, America has been a bastion of Liberal democratic principle and enlightenment. The Democrats were the dominant party in this era, times were good, and the country and the world moved forward. Geoofrey Nunberg makes a compelling argument about the rhetorical power of “freedom” and how it was captured by the right sometime around Reagan’s presidency.
Along with the trashing of the liberal label, the modern right can count the capture of the language of freedom as one of its signal linguistic triumphs. Indeed, you could argue that it’s even more crucial for liberals to recapture freedom than to recapture their own name, and certainly more important than recapturing “values”.
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When you [the right] invoke the ideal of freedom to defend your opposition to the minimum wage or motor-voter laws, you have to pretend that it’s exactly what George Washington’s troops suffered for at Valley forge–the same thing, not a new, metaphorical sort of freedom. That’s why “freedom” isinevitably a commodius and expansive word. As the historian Daniel Rodgers noted, it’s used to “bind together the confusions and discordances of American life with a single, powerfully flexible noun.”
The defense of our right to gamble anywhere we choose as Barney Frank so elengantly does in the above you tube clip is one cause Democrats would do well champion. This is the kind of issue that resonates with a wide swath of people, especially people not tuned into the minutia of the political landscape. And when it comes to poker in particular we should remind them that the buck stops here when it comes social cultural authoritarianism. And by the way that phrase “the buck stops here“… that’s was orginally a poker term that was made famous by our gambler in chief Harry Truman, an avid poker player and a Democrat.
I have been listening to Tom Waits’ latest effort “Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, & Bastards”. Far and away my favorite track is The Long Way Home. Norah Jones covered this song on her second album but Tom Waits’ version is much, much, more haunting and sadly beautiful. My favorite line of all time is in this song:
Got a head full of lightning
A hat full of rain
What a succint way to sum up existence and individual experience. Running and bumping around full of ideas but rarely the time, means, or opportunity to actualize our dreams. The droning pace of existence can be unbearable at times for the inspired and excited. So many ways in which our mind is telling us yes (the lightning) and so many times reality and the world puts up roadblocks of no (the rain).
If I seem scattered, uncertain, manic or depressed its all because I have a head full of lightning and a hat full of rain.
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