c'mon america!

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favorite movie #95 - election edition: the candidate

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #95 - The Candidate (1972) - Robert Redford plays idealistic Bill McKay, who is pulled into a race by Peter Boyle  — as he gets deeper and deeper into the campaign he finds his ideals compromised and the end goal more confusing.

favorite movie #94 - election edition: shampoo

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #94 - Shampoo (1975) - Although not primarily about an election, the 1968 election of Richard Nixon as president starts the film, and the characters change partners to the backdrop of politics: Hairdresser George (Warren Beatty) escorts Jackie (Julie Christie) and Jill (Goldie Hawn)to a Republican election night party. The film is set at the beginning of Nixon's presidency, but the audience knows that Watergate and the disillusionment that scandal had on the office of president is in its characters' future. Shampoo is not just a great film, but a glimpse into the American public and personal politics of the Seventies.

favorite movie #2: all the president’s men

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #2 - All the President’s Men (1976): This movie, even when you know the outcome, either from history or previous viewing, is still a tension-packed, at times nail-biting mystery. I’ve always loved Robert Redford, and he works well here with Dustin Hoffman, Jason Robards, Hal Holbrook, etc. This film should be required (re)viewing, as its depiction of large and small crimes perpetrated by members of our government sounds eerily familiar. “These are not very bright guys” and “Follow the money.”

down the rabbit hole

Today is October 1, so I remembered to say my "white rabbits."

Unfortunately for some old federal coworker friends and the rest of the nation there are too many on Capitol Hill who want to take us all down the rabbit hole. Hopefully the government shutdown will be short-lived, and a blot on the resumes of those responsible come (re)election time.

four years ago ...

... we were on the spot, celebrating President Obama's inauguration with a few thousand friends and family.

Second term around, we may be physically farther away, but we are there in spirit and enjoying the festivities. Best wishes to the President for the next four years!

i early voted — finally!

I have been driving by one of our local designated early voting locations since Saturday, but have always been greeted by long lines. Today I was finally able to get there a little earlier, and the line was much shorter. I stood (and shivered) on line for half an hour on one of the coolest mornings we've had here in southern Florida in a long time. The cooler temps are welcome, but Sandy's lingering winds, not so much.

The general feeling of both folks on line and people inside working and helping was very positive. There were no political discussions or arguments, just everyone determined to get their vote counted. And in Florida, that's especially important. No hanging or other chads in evidence, just paper ballots.

Don't forget to get your sticker on the way out

The only downside that I can see to early voting is that it doesn't free me from having to listen to the endless political ads on radio and television. I did experience some momentary disappointment when I realized I wouldn't be able to vote against a local politician that I find particularly annoying (cough Allen West cough cough). He isn't even in my district. So why is my town targeted with his barrage of billboards and mean-spirited television and radio commercials? Oh well, a week from today we'll all find out how it all comes out. Don't forget to vote!

one of the advantages to being in a battleground state ...

... is that the Prez has been visiting a lot more often recently. The kid will be accompanying me to this event. A real-life civics lesson.

What is especially fun about this one is that there is seating for all. We both enjoyed attending last month's rally at the nearby convention center, but that event was standing-room-only for thousands of people. This venue, a tennis center, may fit the same amount of people, but it should be easier to see and hear the President with stadium seating. Last time the kid had trouble seeing over people's heads.

We'll be seeing President Obama exactly two weeks before Election Day (and the day after the last debate at nearby Boca Raton).

don't mess with big bird

The pundits are still endlessly analyzing last night's yawner of a debate, which didn't show either contender at his best. President Obama was on point but too reserved. Romney was full of sound bytes but no real proposals and was just plain rude as he walked all over the format and the moderator. But the real loser of the evening was moderator Jim Lehrer, whose questions were inane ("What do you think about what he just said?") and who was incapable of containing the flow.

It was interesting to note that the only specific thing that Romney said he would do if he was elected is cut PBS funding and Big Bird. How can anyone still be on the fence after a remark like that? No one messes with Big Bird.

baby's first rally

President Barack Obama has been on the "first bus," stumping through Florida the past few days, and we were lucky enough to score a ticket to go see him today. His speech was everything the crowd had waited (a long time, in the blistering heat) for. It was positive, humorous when talking about his opponent, and inspirational enough to fire up the crowd.

We got this T-shirt in DC, pre-Inauguration

For all the waiting we did with about 6,000 of our closest friends, and the scores of tired feet there must have been (it was standing room only), everyone seemed in good spirits from start to finish. The kid only got cranky when she feared she wouldn't be able to see over the heads of the crowd to see him. I was afraid of the same thing, but mostly it was the sea of iPhones and iPads that were blocking my view. But we found a good spot near one of the crowd dividers — she could climb up a bit to get a good view, and I could spy him through a gap in the crowd, too.

She doesn't remember that this is actually the third time she has seen him speak in public. When we lived in Washington we attended the Inauguration, and we also went to the We Are One Concert for the President, both held on the National Mall. She was only four at the time.

As we stood on the long, hot line (where happily, the Obama team handed out free bottles of water and made sure everyone was properly hydrated) I entertained myself by trying to capture all of the interesting T-shirts. It was a fun, if tiring day, and one I am very glad to have shared with my daughter. How lucky she is to have had the President come and speak in her back yard.

occupy palm beach

There are a few intrepid souls still camping out by the waterfront in West Palm Beach.

Except the statistics down here are reversed ...

i have two words for you, Donald Trump, and it's not, "you're fired"

Ross Perot.

Some say Trump's the new Sarah Palin, but I find him mostly reminiscent of another businessman who thought that having money automatically meant that his opinions might actually mean something.

"All of the women on The Apprentice flirted with me — consciously or unconsciously. That's to be expected — Donald Trump

different era, different band

I was listening to a new Green Day song on the radio this afternoon, 21 Guns.

Do you know what's worth fighting for?
When it's not worth dying for?
Does it take your breath away
And you feel yourself suffocating?

It's good. It's wistful, a word which doesn't immediately come to mind when trying to describe Green Day's music.

Green Day 21 Guns

The song brought to mind another song , by another band (once called the only band that mattered), The Clash—The Guns of Brixton. That song is about as far from wistful as you can get.

When they kick out your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head
Or on the trigger of your gun

Joe Strummer might sneer, but hearing 21 Guns made me wonder if the Clash's 80s were a more innocent time than Strummer or any of us thought. It was no walk in the park—we had to deal with Reaganomics and apartheid and were just beginning to really hear about AIDS when Combat Rock was climbing the charts—but we still could rebel against a society which seemed to have a strong foundation, no matter how screwed up, or how much we disagreed with it. There was "the system" and we could fight it, make art about it.

The last decade brought in a political regime so twisted at its core—with its response to horrors like 9/11 and policies formed which resulted in military actions that risked lives and made little sense (declaring war on one nation and then forgetting about it to attack the "weapons of mass destruction" of another, Guantanamo Bay, for starters) that "the system" was revealed to be weaker than ever suspected; unsupportable. You can't make music like The Guns of Brixton in such an environment. It's redundant. It would only make everything more shaky, more tenuous. But maybe the fact that no one heeded The Guns of Brixton led to the last decade's politics.

I'm wondering if artists had to adapt a mellower approach, as a coping mechanism, to deal with their environment. There was no punk rock. And even the most critically acclaimed bands, like the White Stripes (a stripped-down duo), Coldplay (sometimes too laid-back) and Radiohead (this generation's Eno & Gabriel) were not in-your-face politically in content or persona. Did Bush kill punk? Just add that to the list of atrocities.

Green Day has always patterned itself after the most excellent Clash. At times the comparisons have seemed too forced, even annoying. But this song, with its different tone, different approach, has brought them closer to their idols than ever before. They are making music of the moment.

already Obama's making things better

I got a free hot chocolate at the National Gallery Sculpture Garden cafe this afternoon.

I was standing in line for my hot chocolate and the server skipped me and started to take the next group's order.

"Excuse me," I said politely, "I think you skipped me."

"What do you want?"

"Hot chocolate, please." She then proceeded to wait on the others, getting them their sandwiches and taking their drink orders. The lady next to me had overheard my order and thought hot chocolate sounded good, too, so they ordered two hot chocolates with their food. The server started to pour the hot chocolates - two - and pass me by. Again.

"Excuse me, but I think you skipped me. Again."

She frowned and passed one of the hot chocolates to me. I advanced to the register where the young lady behind the counter said, "Don't worry, I've got you covered." I tried to pay, but she smiled and waved me ahead.

As I sat down with my free hot chocolate I figured that she was trying to make up for her surly coworker.

As I unbuttoned my coat, it also struck me - maybe it's the bling on my lapel?

And Obama closed Guantanamo today, too.

it's Washington, not Lincoln

The president most on the mind of our new Prez?


This is one of those convex/concave illusions, from Mount Vernon - it was a historical weekend!

president Rocko Bama

That's what my daughter calls him.We headed down on the buspast the National Guardand various souvenir shopping opportunitiesjoined the crowd heading towards its destinationon the chilly National Mallwatched history happen on the jumbotronlistened to a great speechdealt with a not-so-great exit strategy (security clenched when Barack and Michelle decided to stroll down Pennsylvania Avenue)on the way home it was the march of the penguins, I mean Obamafansand much, much later Mexican chocolate with the Obama puppet

getting ready for Tuesday...

It takes a lot of work to get the nation's capital ready for an inauguration. At least it does this time around. I was here for the last two ones, but don't remember such hullabaloo.

Out with the old...

Don't even think about parking there...
A sea of port-a-potties encircle the Mall and its museums...So many, many gates and barriers...Lots of merchandise...Even the buildings are excited...God bless us, everyone.

the only question is...

...will they last until Tuesday?

maybe print isn't dead...

...yet. How else to explain a Laura Bush book deal? I mean, who exactly is the audience for this tome? Certainly not a moose-trappin' hockey mom.

Actually, there is an excellent book to be written, something to get inside the mind of a woman who would be carried along with the tide of one of the most ambitious families and one of the worst world leaders in recent history. But unfortunately it won't be written by this lady, who has never loosened up, or shaken off the deer-in-the-headlights expression that she has worn.every.minute. for the past eight years.

Good luck, Laura.

For a glimpse of true evil, there is however, this book.

why celebrity sucks

The "internets" can be a glorious thing, connecting new folks, reacquainting old friends, globally linking art, music, science, providing tons of useful and useless information, opening avenues of expression, etc., etc. But the wealth of information can be too much, too. All of this 24-7 access is erasing any notions we have of privacy. If you're perpetually plugged in, when can you turn it off? Can you ever?

The fact that Steve Jobs had to issue a statement about his health today pisses me off immeasurably. And this sort of online dredging and continuation of the speculation makes me sick. I know that Jobs is the godlike figurehead of Apple, and so much of its recent resurgence can be traced to him, so of course the industry attaches importance to the possibility of a change of power at the helm. But he's a person, too, with a family, who shouldn't have to talk about his health until (and if) he's ready to.

What is a "celebrity's" responsibility to the public? Should the Travoltas have to release a succession of statements after the tragic death of their son? Should the public try to tear apart the wording of all of these statements, and if unsatisfied, speculate as to their accuracy? At such a confusing and unhappy time how accountable should they be? Why shouldn't they put out their version for the masses? What do they owe us? And why is the "internets" more interested in the parents' private romantic lives than the story at hand?

Of course both of these stories are dramatic and interesting. But the vulture-like death watch and seamy interpretation of a minor's death leave a bad taste in the mouth. I have been interested in the lives of the rich and famous, like anyone else, I suppose. When I lived in NYC I saw more famous people than I can count. Some I actually was lucky enough to speak to, or have small interactions with, like David Bowie, Steve Martin. Some were pleasant and charming surprises, like Richard Gere, Sharon Stone. Some I just happily caught a glimpse of: Michael Caine, Andy Warhol, Mick Jones, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Michael Palin.

Sometimes it's best not to meet an idol, you might be disappointed when you encounter them in real life, as they might be too real. But it was always fun, that moment of recognition. Of course the internet wasn't really happening then. If there were rumors floating, they were by word-of-mouth, and folks treated them with the proper seriousness or disdain, depending on the current blood-alcohol level of the moment in question. But today, with the internet, and anyone being able to write and post anything about anyone, this sort of gossiping has just gotten out of hand. No matter how full of b.s. a statement is, somehow, when it is in "print," it carries more weight.

This all reminds me of a story my dad once told me, about when he was a political reporter for the Newark Daily News. He was on the beat in Trenton, N.J., and was hanging out with the other reporters, probably pals from the Asbury Park Press, Star Ledger, etc., when someone burst into the room and announced that so-and-so politician, who had earlier delivered a speech, was currently upstairs in the hotel with a girl, not his wife. My dad said the reporters all looked at each other and then told the guy to get lost. That wasn't news, and it just wasn't done.

I guess many people would think that we need more transparency, and my dad and his colleagues were "covering it up," or something. I'm not sure. Politicians are after power, always have been, always will. Sex and sexual liaisons come with the power, for some. I'm not naive, so the situation doesn't shock me. I'm not sure how relevant that politician's affair or fling was, however, to anyone but he and his wife and the woman upstairs with him.

I'm not advocating for us to all stick our heads in the sand. But human nature, and its frailties, are a given. What we have a choice about is whether we want to help stir the mud.