The Brothers K. Debate The Debate

Two of my four brothers and I had this exchange after the debate:

K.: It reminded me of the Andy Griffith Show episode where Aunt Bee runs for mayor against Howard. She answered every question with a rote cliché whereas Howard provided nuanced understanding. Chris Matthews compared her [Palin] to a spelling bee contestant. I agree, with one addition: Instead of spelling the word she was given, she spelled any word she felt like spelling. I was impressed with Biden.

K3: Governor Palin, what, specifically, will a McCain/Palin administration do to ease the financial burden of middle-class families?

"I have to get up on Saturday mornings and take the kids to their hockey games, just like millions of Americans. My family is certainly diverse, just look at us (self-conscious giggle). I've been a hunter for about as long as I can remember, so I can relate to Joe Six Pack and his Soccer Mom wife."

My take: It's sad when the bar for a vice presidential candidate had been set so low that you "win" by not making a total fool of yourself. I also didn't realize that it was necessary to mention that you have a family (a diverse one, at that!) whenever possible -- as if there's never been a family-man in the White House.

I'm not a big Biden fan, but he more than held his own.

Finally: On CBS they had Joe Lieberman on afterward, asking for his take on the debate! Like that guy has a gram of credibility left. Ay caramba!

K5: Agree. I thought Biden did exceptionally well. He maybe could have hit her harder after the "white flag" BS, but all in all he did a great job.

She didn't implode, so she wins expectations game. But I don't think anyone outside of the Republican Party was buying what she was selling. You can only say "maverick" so many times before it starts sounding like an excuse for not getting anything done.

No harm. Advantage us.

(Note: K5 has been working in Democratic party politics in one way or another for his entire career, and so has an actual informed opinion.)...

Hrrmph! has the complete list of Palin's lies, half-truths, and misstatements here...

Breaking news! Someone in the McCain camp has apparently leaked the strategy for preparing Palin for the debate...

The Great Schlep: Sarah Silverman explains to Jewish children how they can persuade their grandparents to vote Obama...

Lame duck Republican congressman Wayne Gilchrist takes some parting shots at his party...

Friday's Choice: Encore! Encore! Paolo Szot and Kelli O'Hara sing "Some Enchanted Evening" from the revival of South Pacific:

For good measure, here's Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza from the 1949 original Broadway cast:

The Trip

From the tranquility of the Maine coast to the hubbub of New York! The continual clangor of the Manhattan streets is such that one can't walk a block without hearing a horn or siren or both. There are quiet moments, too: I couldn't resist sneaking a photo of this couple in Central Park (not that they noticed). Voyeurs that we are, we watched her torture him for a good ten minutes. By the time we left, I think he was ready to agree to anything!

Maine is a great place to do nothing. We hung out with my father and his wife, drove out to a couple of towns, visited Pemaquid Point (see photo above), and generally took it easy. One night, Premium T. made dinner, then found a poetry anthology from which she, I, and my father took turns reading aloud. We also went out to eat, including a glorious dinner at Primo, a feast easily the equal of anything we ate in New York.

In the town of Belfast, I discovered a book store run by a retired UCLA meteorology professor. The store features books about science and philosophy, both in and out of print. For three years now, I've been vainly searching for a layman's history of the Enlightenment. Well, the Old Professor (for such was the name of the store) not only knew of one, he had it: A two-volume set written back in the Sixties by Peter Gay. It will be an undertaking, but I'm determined to read it...

Any visit to New York is, like the great city itself, too big to summarize adequately. We walked the streets of the Upper East Side (window shopping at the fashion designer stores), Greenwich Village, Soho, and Central Park; visited Ground Zero; took in the wonders of the Museum of Modern Art; saw the superb revival of South Pacific; and even dropped by the Bemelmans Bar at the Carlyle Hotel. 

The walls of the Bemelmans were illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans, creator of the Madeleine books. Unsurprisingly, they are charming and whimsical, depicting the four seasons. And, yes, on small part of one of the walls, almost secreted away, stand twelve little girls in two straight lines.

New York is nothing if not a city of outstanding restaurants. With Premium T. making the calls, we were assured of eating well. Our choices included Cuban (Victor's Cafe), French (La Goulue), neuva New Mexican (Mesa Grille), and Italian (Lupa). Contrary to stereotype, New Yorkers are quite friendly; as restaurant tables tend to be close to each other, we wound up chatting with several delightful couples. These included a Puerto Rican graduate student and the boyfriend who had followed her from Puerto Rico; a professional couple, the husband of which often takes his mother-in-law to musicals; and a pair of foodies impressed by the reputation of Seattle's restaurants. Also, at La Goulue, Bridgette Bardot enjoyed a tete-a-tete with a friend, oblivious to the camera crew filming her.

The MOMA is an overwhelmingly inspirational place, with room after room of Picassos, Cezannes, Matisses, Renoirs, Van Goghs, and Pollacks. A wall in one room features a massive Monet tryptich. Seurat seemingly discovers a new shade of orange in a sunset painting. Pollack's naked pain and suffering move T. to tears. I gawk at the marvels of Cezanne. 

But all in all, the highlight of the trip for me was the revival of South Pacific at the Lincoln Center. It's the best musical production I've ever seen (don't miss the video footage here), and close to the best theatre of any kind. A dashing Paulo Szot and winsome Kelli O'Hara sparkle as Emile and Nellie, but the entire cast is fine. SP has any number of classic songs; especially memorable were "Some Enchanted Evening," "Nothing Like A Dame," "I'm Going To Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair," "Younger Than Springtime," and "This Nearly Was Mine." Suffice to say that if you're going to New York any time soon, make a special effort to see South Pacific. You won't be disappointed. I leave you with a medley performed by the cast at the Tony Awards:

Why Shouldn't I Gloat?

So, I'm gone ten days and what happens? Conservatism collapses as a viable ideology. A new Quinnipiac poll shows Obama trouncing McCain in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania and he leads in every national poll, often by numbers that can't be explained away as a "statistical tie." Sarah Palin wilts under the relentless questioning of Katie Couric. (Tina Fey dined on Palin's carcass with exquisite gusto.)  In fact, the only remotely sour note for me personally was actually finding myself on the same side as ultra-right Republicans in opposing the bailout...

One columnist tut-tutted his fellow liberals for gloating over the Wall Street collapse and the disarray among Republicans. This is serious business that should be treated seriously; it's no time for schadenfreude. Well, I beg to differ. I'm quite capable of feeling concern for the middle- and l0wer-class people hammered by financial deregulation while at the same time enjoying the implosion of the malignant ideology that visited this mess on my country. For over thirty years, conservatives have ridiculed liberals, impugned our patriotism, and attacked us savagely at every turn in a effort to polarize the country to their political benefit.

Now, a month before the election, their economic philosophy has been exposed as a fraud, their foreign policy based on military might lays in tatters, and they are in grave danger of losing the presidential election to a black liberal. Why shouldn't I enjoy the moment? I'm not made of stone, you know...

The Audacity of Hype: I'm published! And by a publication I respect and that I've been reading for twenty years! The new issue of Rock and Rap Confidential, an e-zine edited by Dave Marsh and Lee Ballinger, includes a version of my blog entry "Tom Joad Lives". For a free copy of RRC -- available only via email -- write to rockrap@aol.com. Thanks to Stupid & Contagious for his support. And to Premium T. for getting me to write again...

"Dukes" Fan Cries Foul: Dave Archer writes to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

I am so incensed by Bill Maher's recent incendiary comments about Sarah Palin that I can barely hold my hands steady enough to type this letter. To say that the only type of people dumb enough to vote for Palin are the people who would wait in line to watch a "Dukes of Hazzard" movie is totally offensive and untrue. You are free to call me a dumb hillbilly who was weaned on the hilarious adventures of those good old Hazzard boys -- just don't insinuate that someone like me is dumb enough to vote for Sarah Palin.

We Report, You Decide Dept: A typical example of the "fair and balanced" reporting exclusive to Fox News:

We had a great trip to New York. I'll list the restaurants, the menus and review the highlights tomorrow, In the meantime, we're going to hit the ground running tonight when we see Alison Krause and Robert Plant:

The Sidewalks Of New York

Almost Live From New York City!

It's That Time Of Year Again

Happy National Punctuation Day...

JFK Sucks

The airport, that is, not the president. We're in the middle of a five-hour layover in an airport best described by the words "hot," "dingy," and "stale." Still three hours until boarding...

Prepare to believe: The Creation Museum is open for business. Where else can you spend $21.95 ($16.95 for seniors and $11.95 for kids) and leave your brain at the door? Unfortunately, the gift shop is pretty dull. No "Prepare to believe" t-shirts or coffee mugs, for example. I mean, who could resist one of those? You can get a DVD that exposes global warming for the hoax it is. But I have to ask: Why is the museum open on Sunday? Well, I suppose that God's work is never done...

"White privilege is when you can call yourself a "f----in' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fu---in' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug." It's a lot more things, too...