Nobody 718

Sunday, November 11, 2007
Nobody # 718

Nobody Asked Me But:

Did you know:

That according to The Center for Media and Public Affairs, between January 1 and October 10, — the president and his aides were the subject of 1,245 late-night jokes compared to 749 for Democrats?


What was it that Lincoln said: “I have to laugh or I would cry.”<<<

In today’s Nobody, I am going to quote extensively from the October 30 column that David Brooks wrote for the New York Times. I do this because it rings true to me. After his words, I will add a few comments of my own on the subject, which he calls “the happiness gap.”

BROOKS:

Some elections are defined by the gap between the rich and the poor. Others are defined by the gap between the left and the right. But this election will be shaped by the gap within individual voters themselves — the gap between their private optimism and their public gloom.

Researchers from Pew found that 65 percent of Americans are satisfied over all with their own lives — one of the highest rates of personal satisfaction in the world today.

On the other hand, Americans are overwhelmingly pessimistic about their public institutions. That same Pew survey found that only 25 percent of Americans are satisfied with the state of their nation. That 40-point gap between private and public happiness is the fourth-largest gap in the world — behind only Israel, Mexico and Brazil.

This happiness gap between the private and the public creates a treacherous political vortex. On the one hand, it means voters are desperate for change. On the other hand, they don’t want a change that will upset the lives they have built for themselves.

More than that, the happiness gap provides a lesson in what people want from their government in 2007. The polling — and I, for one, believe people are pretty sensible when it comes to evaluating their own lives — suggests that people are not personally miserable or downtrodden.

But they also feel that their neighborhood happiness is threatened by global problems that are beyond their power to control: terrorism, rising health care costs, looming public debt, illegal immigration, global warming and the rise of China and India. They regard these looming problems the way people used to think about crime — as alien intrusions into their private tranquility. And government seems to be doing nothing about them.

These voters don’t believe government can lift their standard of living or lead a moral revival. They want a federal government that will focus on a few macro threats — terrorism, health care costs, energy, entitlement debt and immigration — and stay out of the intimate realms of life. They want a night watchman government that patrols the neighborhood without entering their homes.

This is not liberalism, which inserts itself into the crannies of life. It’s not conservatism, suspicious of federal power. It’s a gimlet-eyed federalism — strong government with sharply defined tasks.

If one were to advise a candidate about the happiness gap, you’d say: first, don’t try to be inspiring or rely on the pure power of authenticity. In these cynical days, voters are not interested in uplift.

Second, don’t propose any program that will interfere with the way voters are currently organizing their lives. They don’t want you there.

Third, don’t expect people to cast votes according to their income. Democrats do as well among top earners as Republicans. People are more interested in repairing the nation’s health than in boosting their personal bottom line.

Fourth, offer voters a few big proposals (and strategies to implement them) that respond to global threats. Repeat those proposals at every event and forget about everything else.

In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt could launch the New Deal because voters wanted to change the country and their own lives. But today, people want the government to change so their own lives can stay the same. Voters don’t want to be transformed; they want to be defended.

These words are so wise that they need no amplification from me. The election of 2008 will be won by the candidate who, with honesty and clarity, offers the best solutions to the macro threats listed in the seventh paragraph above. If no one does that, it will be business as usual with people voting for the lesser of evils, and American government will remain, except in times of immediate crisis, an object of distain and irrelevancy to the American people.<<<

Too late for Halloween, too good to save for next year:

Online bookseller abebooks.com released the results of a poll of the customers on the question of the scariest characters in literature. Any surprises here? Any suggestions for change?

1. Big Brother from 1984 by George Orwell
2. Hannibal Lecter from the novels by Thomas Harris
3. Pennywise the clown from It by Stephen King
4. Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over a Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
5. Count Dracula from Bram Stoker's Dracula
6. Annie Wilkes from Misery by Stephen King
7. The demon from The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
8. Patrick Bateman from American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
9. Bill Sykes from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
10 Voldemort from the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling

I would move Dracula to number 2, the Exorcist demon to 3 and Lord Voldemort to 4. (although I would not mention him by name) The rest I would just drop down in their same order to 5-10.

The two pictures, one of a store and the other of a window decoration of a San Francisco house overlooking the marina capture the spirit of Halloween.<<<

SEA FOOD DIET Yesterday I had turkey, dressing, 2 kinds of potatoes, gravy, Harris Ranch short ribs with rice, 4 kinds of sausage with two kinds of mustard, chip and dip, Parisian chocolate cake and coffee cake. And that was just for lunch!

Gelson’s celebrated the 10th anniversary of their Northridge store by having an open house with all of the above, and we, mostly I, took full advantage.<<<

Our enemy is al Qaeda so we war against Iraq. Pakistan has the bomb, in fact many bombs, as well as bases for terrorists so “we” consider a war against Iran. Bush and his bunch need a lesson in “know your enemy.” Any volunteers?

If so, here’s what you are up against – a singing president who forgets the tune. For example: Just one week ago last Thursday, our President was singing his song about freedom: "We are standing with those who yearn for liberty."

By Monday he had changed his tune to “Stand By Your Man.”

Stand by your man
The tyrant in Pakistan
Will help us achieve our plan
Faster than liberty can.

(with apologies to lyricists everywhere – jt)<<<

JIM’S WISDOM (a name, not a claim) - SPORTS SECTION

UP/Down - The Bruins game against Portland State. They won easily, but 10 minutes of good basketball and 30 minutes of slop isn’t worth an UP.

UP: Kevin Love – Made his regular season Bruin debut with a double/double: 22 points and 13 rebounds. “Who could ask for anything more.”

UP: Calvin Henry of Mercer College who beat USC yesterday 96-81 - "Coach told us, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."

Apparently there is no D in USC.

UP: LA Times headline writer for this, after a big win over the Jazz:

“Lakers are stressed for success.”

UP: From stressed to dressed – Here’s Hale’s Gilbert Arenas dressed to the nines.

UP: Former Bruin great Baron Davis for the quote of the week:

"We should have a banner up there: the only team to make the tournament without a coach.”

In 2002, the Iraq war resolution passed by 77 to 23. In 2007, Kyl-Lieberman (authorizing military actions against Iran) passed by 76 to 22. Hillary voted for both.

I can forgive the first, but the second comes under the “fool me once, fool me twice” rule and is very difficult to forgive.

And, by the way, someone should tell the Taliban that the war in Afghanistan is over and we won.<<<

BUSH VS. NIXON

Last week, for the first time in history 50% of the people responding to a Gallup Poll said they strongly disapprove of the president. This broke the record of 48% who strongly disapproved of Nixon just before the impeachment inquiry was launched in 1974.<<<

PAT ROBERTSON ENDORSES GIULIANI

Pat Robertson hates adulterers:

"How can there be peace when drunkards, drug dealers, communists, atheists, New Age worshipers of Satan, secular humanists, oppressive dictators, greedy money changers, revolutionary assassins, adulterers, and homosexuals are on top?" (among others)

Why does Pat Robertson like Rudy?<<<