My friend Eric and I just couldn't watch it.
It was two men playing defense, trying NOT to err, but not really taking any chances.
Each seemed to take on the best parts of the other: Barack Obama taking a little of McCain's feisty nature; John McCain trying to have some of Obama's calm intelligence.
So the result? A zero-zero tie.
I am quite happy that Obama seems to have "won" in the eyes of those talking to pollsters. Truth is I shake my head at the idea of people deciding to vote for McCain/Palin. But I'm as...ahem..."elite" as they get. I'm a gay guy in a big city who has, at times, worked in the mainstream media. But on the other hand, I'm also an unemployed guy who worries about the economy just like any American.
I guess I just worry that racism will win...that Obama will have to poll 15 points ahead to win by 5.
I've had a great time playing with CNN's Electoral Map calculator
I play the "what if this is like 1980?" scenario...where, in the last week before the election, voters finally say, "OK, enough is enough" and decide to vote for Obama... and then I find Obama taking around 400 electoral votes.
But if the electoral zeitgeist hasn't changed...then I fear that Obama loses and McCains squeaks out another victory for the GOP and their politics of fear and loathing.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
ONE MORE THING ABOUT DAVID FOSTER WALLACE.
My friend Eric sent me this from Salon today.
I know that my love of Infinite Jest was, in part, prompted by the accuracy and empathy of David Foster Wallace's writing about depression and addiction.
I too have suffered from clinical depression most of my life, and I too medicated it myself until I found recovery. I'm lucky in that my depression has rarely been as severe as his. And I'm also lucky that meds worked.
I didn't know his was so debilitating. David Foster Wallace's story is so sad, but unfortunately not unique: a long journey through multiple medications; horrible side effects; meds working and then not working. It's so hard.
I think that there's still a vein in American society that believes depression is just something to "get over." But in some people, it's not. And in some cases, it just becomes unfathomable.
Anyone who wants to understand what depression really can be should read "The Noonday Demon An Atlas of Depression
by Andrew Solomon "
Finally, I remembered this from Infinite Jest...one Kate Gompert telling a doctor why she smoked pot, but tried to kill herself because of the depression when she stopped:
"And then but no matter what I do, it gets worse and worse, it's there more and more, this filter drops down, and the feeling makes the fear of the feeling way worse, and after a couple of weeks it's there all the time, the feeling, and I'm totally inside it, I'm in it and everything has to pass through it to get in, and I don't want to smoke any Bob (pot), and I don't want to work, or go out, or read or watch TP, or go out, or stay in, or either do anything or not do anything, I don't want anything except for the feeling to go away. But it doesn't. Part of the feeling is being like willing to do anything to make it go away. Understand that. Anything. Do you understand that? It's not wanting to hurt myself. It's wanting to not hurt."
It just breaks my heart.
I know that my love of Infinite Jest was, in part, prompted by the accuracy and empathy of David Foster Wallace's writing about depression and addiction.
I too have suffered from clinical depression most of my life, and I too medicated it myself until I found recovery. I'm lucky in that my depression has rarely been as severe as his. And I'm also lucky that meds worked.
I didn't know his was so debilitating. David Foster Wallace's story is so sad, but unfortunately not unique: a long journey through multiple medications; horrible side effects; meds working and then not working. It's so hard.
I think that there's still a vein in American society that believes depression is just something to "get over." But in some people, it's not. And in some cases, it just becomes unfathomable.
Anyone who wants to understand what depression really can be should read "The Noonday Demon An Atlas of Depression
by Andrew Solomon "
Finally, I remembered this from Infinite Jest...one Kate Gompert telling a doctor why she smoked pot, but tried to kill herself because of the depression when she stopped:
"And then but no matter what I do, it gets worse and worse, it's there more and more, this filter drops down, and the feeling makes the fear of the feeling way worse, and after a couple of weeks it's there all the time, the feeling, and I'm totally inside it, I'm in it and everything has to pass through it to get in, and I don't want to smoke any Bob (pot), and I don't want to work, or go out, or read or watch TP, or go out, or stay in, or either do anything or not do anything, I don't want anything except for the feeling to go away. But it doesn't. Part of the feeling is being like willing to do anything to make it go away. Understand that. Anything. Do you understand that? It's not wanting to hurt myself. It's wanting to not hurt."
It just breaks my heart.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
TIME OUT FOR SENATOR MCCAIN
It's true that I don't understand a lot of things about the McCain campaign.
But the past two days? I'm flummoxed.
How does skipping a debate on Friday evening help him? I mean, in my previous employment, I was able to get on a plane for Boston at 630 AM, have a four hour meeting in the Hub, and then get back on a plane and be in Chicago in time for dinner.
What the hell is Johnny gonna be doing on Friday night at 9 Eastern/8 Central?
And how does this help him? To me -a biased opinion to be sure- it sounds like he can't handle the rigors of campaigning and working at the same time. And that's problematic. A Presidential campaign is a long hard slog for a reason; not only does it give the candidate a chance to show him or herself as an effective planner and implementer, it also lets us know what kind of energy they possess.
What does it say about John McCain that his first instinct, when deciding to go to Washington to do some work, is to ask for a "time out"?
It just seems, at best, like yet another diversion/distraction. And that's really all McCain has offered during the general election campaign.
But the past two days? I'm flummoxed.
How does skipping a debate on Friday evening help him? I mean, in my previous employment, I was able to get on a plane for Boston at 630 AM, have a four hour meeting in the Hub, and then get back on a plane and be in Chicago in time for dinner.
What the hell is Johnny gonna be doing on Friday night at 9 Eastern/8 Central?
And how does this help him? To me -a biased opinion to be sure- it sounds like he can't handle the rigors of campaigning and working at the same time. And that's problematic. A Presidential campaign is a long hard slog for a reason; not only does it give the candidate a chance to show him or herself as an effective planner and implementer, it also lets us know what kind of energy they possess.
What does it say about John McCain that his first instinct, when deciding to go to Washington to do some work, is to ask for a "time out"?
It just seems, at best, like yet another diversion/distraction. And that's really all McCain has offered during the general election campaign.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
BAILOUT-OUT AND OUT AGAIN.
It was fun to watch our temporary President (Hank Paulson) before Congress today. It appears that Congress has been listening to the constituents who aren't so big on bailing out the capitalists. And they're getting it from "both sides now" from conservative and liberal.
It's tough; on the one hand, Bernanke et al are right. The system is so screwed that if it's not bailed out, we'll be reading the Grapes of Wrath to get tips on our travel plans. But on the other hand, should we really be bailing out the idiots who apparently can't see the difference between a good computer model and a ponzi scheme?
Anyone who reads, say, the Economist knew this was coming. Hell, anyone with a 30-year fixed mortgage could see the system going insane. I STILL get offers to cash out my equity from Countrywide...you remember them? The company with the absolute asshead at the top?
Cap the earnings of these assholes? Not good enough Congress. Cap their earnings AND give them a good prison bitch name. If we're gonna bail them out, then give it to them the way they would have given it to us if they had half a chance.
Oh! There was some fun in the news today: Rick Davis...15-G's a month from Freddie Mac up until it went under? A couple of hard spanks on your little Fannie Mae should be only the beginning. I do see a great Obama ad coming.
It's tough; on the one hand, Bernanke et al are right. The system is so screwed that if it's not bailed out, we'll be reading the Grapes of Wrath to get tips on our travel plans. But on the other hand, should we really be bailing out the idiots who apparently can't see the difference between a good computer model and a ponzi scheme?
Anyone who reads, say, the Economist knew this was coming. Hell, anyone with a 30-year fixed mortgage could see the system going insane. I STILL get offers to cash out my equity from Countrywide...you remember them? The company with the absolute asshead at the top?
Cap the earnings of these assholes? Not good enough Congress. Cap their earnings AND give them a good prison bitch name. If we're gonna bail them out, then give it to them the way they would have given it to us if they had half a chance.
Oh! There was some fun in the news today: Rick Davis...15-G's a month from Freddie Mac up until it went under? A couple of hard spanks on your little Fannie Mae should be only the beginning. I do see a great Obama ad coming.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
GOVERNMENT
After this past week, can we stop saying that government is always the problem? Can we stop the worship of corporate culture? Can we come back to a more balanced view of the nation we live in? Can we say that, yes, government is a necessary part of our national fabric? Can we stop saying that the market is always right?
After what surely will be a trillion-dollar bailout of our much lauded capitalists, can we come to a more realistic view of capitalism?
Can we?
The thing is this...the people who want the use of capital to be a sort of religion are the ones we're bailing out. And their priests are the Republican Party. Too bad we all can't solve our money woes the way John McCain did: marry an heiress.
Government has its problems and issues; absolutely. But the only people who hate it are those who have no use for it: the rich who look at government services as something they have to pay for but, often don't use:
Public schools? Not for my kids.
Police forces? Not when we have private security systems.
Airlines and airports? Not when we use our corporate jets.
Fannie Mae? Not for those of us who buy multi-million dollar homes.
Medicaid? Please...
They pay taxes and believe their money is being wasted simply because it's not making them more money.
But the GOP has always wanted to solve that with "privatization". This has to stop...period.
After what surely will be a trillion-dollar bailout of our much lauded capitalists, can we come to a more realistic view of capitalism?
Can we?
The thing is this...the people who want the use of capital to be a sort of religion are the ones we're bailing out. And their priests are the Republican Party. Too bad we all can't solve our money woes the way John McCain did: marry an heiress.
Government has its problems and issues; absolutely. But the only people who hate it are those who have no use for it: the rich who look at government services as something they have to pay for but, often don't use:
Public schools? Not for my kids.
Police forces? Not when we have private security systems.
Airlines and airports? Not when we use our corporate jets.
Fannie Mae? Not for those of us who buy multi-million dollar homes.
Medicaid? Please...
They pay taxes and believe their money is being wasted simply because it's not making them more money.
But the GOP has always wanted to solve that with "privatization". This has to stop...period.
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