Nobody 731
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Nobody # 731
Nobody Asked Me But:
"In the language of metaphor, Clinton is an essay, solid and reasoned; Obama is a poem, lyric and filled with possibility. Clinton would be a valuable and competent executive, but Obama matches her in substance and adds something that the nation has been missing for far too long -- a sense of aspiration." – Frank Rich
How can I, that girl standing there,
My attention fix
On Roman or on Russian
Or on Spanish politics,
Yet here's a travelled man that knows
What he talks about,
And there's a politician
That has both read and thought,
And maybe what they say is true
Of war and war's alarms,
But O that I were young again
And held her in my arms.
Politics by W. B. Yeats
I “got” the girl but I still wonder if I talk about politics too much.
I used this poem and
comment four years and two days ago. Between then and now, I probably have talked too much about politics. But this year is different. This year, because of the candidates, is historic. This year is exciting. This is not be a year of “too much.”
SO, AWAY WE GO - SUPER TUESDAY WEEK
Wednesday morning: Romney lost big in all three states, and yes, he is through. Hopefully he will read this and know it.
Thursday morning: Obviously, he did, and it made him decide today to drop out.<<<
Hillary’s California victory is big, but not as big as it seems at first glance. Since the states delegates are divided proportionally, rather than winner-take-all, her delegate edge was only somewhere between 30 and 40.<<<
More important to Clinton was her decisive win in Massachusetts. Winning by 15% there in the face of the Kennedy/Kerry endorsements of Obama was very impress
ive.<<<
On the other hand, Obama ran better in Hillary’s home state, New York, than she did in his
Illinois. In addition, Barack held service in neighboring state primaries while Hillary lost Connecticut and Delaware.<<<
One of the most interesting developments Tuesday was that there were many more one-sided races, in which either Clinton or Obama won by 10 or more percentage points than there were close ones. This indicates that despite the overall delegate margin still being quite close, each candidate inspires strong regional and identity support.<<<
FROM HERE TO CONVENTION
Clearly, it is still a horse race for the Democrats, and, although the primaries in Texas and Ohio will be very important, there is a good chance that neither will be decisive, making this the first open convention since yesterday, when I was young.
Is this good or bad for the Democratic Party? You can argue either way. The Republican race is settled and boring while theirs is contentious and exciting. Or the Democrats are ripping and tearing while the Republicans have made their choice.
My vote is – advantage Democrats. Despite McCain wrapping up the nomination, there is no unity as long as long as both the economic and social conservatives hate him. No, hate is not too strange a description. And even though, as described above, many of the state votes were one-sided, most Democrats like both their candidates.<<<
Advantage/disadvantage – Democratic race: Obama has the big bucks, while Hillary is having to loan money to herself. But Clinton has the more solid voting blocks – women, Latinos and the over-55 crowd.
Both sides claim momentum, and it is pretty even. But I give a slight edge to Hillary. The popular vote wins in Massachusetts and California were big.<<<
If Hillary does win, you can forget about Barack on the ticket. There is no way that Mrs. C., so long overshadowed by President Bill, will take a chance on a charismatic running mate.<<<
The big question for the Republicans is can “Honest John” keep the conservatives from staying home. A Fred Thompson on the ticket might mollify some, but even with a conservative on the ticket, McCain faces a hostile crowd.
The following is from one of the many on the right who wrote to the NY Times about the issue:
“No matter which person, McCain, Obama or Clinton is elected President, the country will be run by a liberal.” - Posted by Kevin P.
Now that is way funny!<<<
Which party is going to win in November? The Democrats. They will be excited by whomever they finally nominate and united in their antipathy for Bush, while the Republicans may hate Hillary, if she is the candidate, but will be apathetic towards McCain.<<<
Post Script: I have often thought of McCain as the Diogenes candidate. My mistake. This past week he has been busy kissing up to the party conservatives by apologizing for his stand on immigration. So the great Greek is back out searching for an honest politician.<<<
“The trouble with born-again Christians is that they are an even bigger pain the second time around.” - Herb Caen
Here are last week’s questions and answers.
What is the most exquisite restaurant at which you have ever eaten?
My choice is Ernie’s, in the early 1970’s when it was “the place” in San Francisco. The style was opulent bordello, which it once was, all red velvet and formal service, and the food was wonderful. Sadly Ernie’s is no longer with us.
Barbara’s answer:
The Maile Room, like Ernie’s, long gone, but once where the rich and famous dined at the Kahala Hilton on Oahu. It was there that Barb introduced me to fiddlehead ferns. This would certainly be second on my list. (The restaurant, not the ferns.)
Hugh:
Any restaurant that Jim and Barbara have taken me to!
“Money doesn’t grow on trees,” or so the expression goes. Imagine, however, that something unusual – besides money - could be grown on trees. Available to be picked whenever you want. What would you want your tree to produce?
Me: Since I have already filled my cookie-jar with first class airline tickets to everywhere, my tree would produce vouchers for family and friends to visit the top medical specialists in their field whenever necessary.
Hugh: How about a tree that has love, respect and prosperity growing on it, to be picked in time of need.<<<
"All the sounds of the earth are like music
All the sounds of the earth are like music”
It’s like this. I have a song running through my mind. I want to hear it, and I don’t have it in iTunes or on a CD, or I don’t have this particular version. I go to YouTube, put the title in search and there it is! I can watch, listen and compare Gordon MacRae and H
ugh Jackman’s as they sing “Oh What A Beautiful Morning” and other songs from Oklahoma. Or here is Janis Ian singing “Seventeen,” w
hich she wrote before she had even reached that tender age. And speaking of tender, what about the late jerry Orbach singing my favorite song, “Try To Remember,” live at the White House.
If I want strange, I can check out Marlene Dietrich’s “Where Have all The Flowers Gone.” Beautiful? How about Streisand’s version of “Send In The Clowns?” Interesting? Listen to Dame Judi Dench’s version of the same song.
Links anyone?<<<
FYI
Did you know that the Harry Potter franchise (series of movies) is number three in all-time ranking for world gross income? It’s $3,545,000,ooo places it behind James Bond, $4,325,ooo,ooo and ahead of The Lord Of The Rings, $2,927,000,000. Leading the pack is Star Wars at $4,421,000,000.<<<
Can you believe that the Arizona Daily Star refused last week to print my comment in which I described those who want to allow teachers and students to carry guns as nuts. They said that the term might be offensive to their readers.
Don’t they get it? Newspapers, of all institutions, should understand that truth is a legitimate reason to publish.<<<
Tom Hoffarth is a sports columnist for the Daily News. Although he has won several awards, I don’t much like him, but I do like this excerpt from yesterday’s paper about Bobby Knight’s retirement:
“How frightened are Bob Knight's grandkids, knowing he intends to spend more quality time with them?”
On the search for happiness - the questioner is Deborah Solomon in the NY Times magazine; the respondent is Charles Simic, America’s poet laureate.
Q - Have you noticed all these new nonfiction books on “happiness”?
A - It’s an industry. It’s really frightening. People need to read a book on how to be happy? It’s completely an American thing. Can you imagine people in Naples sitting on a bus or in a trattoria reading a book about happiness?
Me: This is excellent ad
vice. It is when we stop searching for happiness that it usually sneaks up on us.
Q -What advice would you give to people who are looking to be happy?
A - For starters, learn how to cook.
(Me: And sometimes it is even shaped like a plate of nachos.)<<<
HERE ARE YOUR QUESTIONS FOR NEXT WEEK.
If I had a dollar for every time I __________, I would be a rich man. How would you fill in the blank?
What movie that you have watched most closely parallels your own life to this point?
Nobody # 731
Nobody Asked Me But:
"In the language of metaphor, Clinton is an essay, solid and reasoned; Obama is a poem, lyric and filled with possibility. Clinton would be a valuable and competent executive, but Obama matches her in substance and adds something that the nation has been missing for far too long -- a sense of aspiration." – Frank Rich
How can I, that girl standing there,
My attention fix
On Roman or on Russian
Or on Spanish politics,
Yet here's a travelled man that knows
What he talks about,
And there's a politician
That has both read and thought,
And maybe what they say is true
Of war and war's alarms,
But O that I were young again
And held her in my arms.
Politics by W. B. Yeats
I “got” the girl but I still wonder if I talk about politics too much.
I used this poem and
comment four years and two days ago. Between then and now, I probably have talked too much about politics. But this year is different. This year, because of the candidates, is historic. This year is exciting. This is not be a year of “too much.”SO, AWAY WE GO - SUPER TUESDAY WEEK
Wednesday morning: Romney lost big in all three states, and yes, he is through. Hopefully he will read this and know it.
Thursday morning: Obviously, he did, and it made him decide today to drop out.<<<
Hillary’s California victory is big, but not as big as it seems at first glance. Since the states delegates are divided proportionally, rather than winner-take-all, her delegate edge was only somewhere between 30 and 40.<<<
More important to Clinton was her decisive win in Massachusetts. Winning by 15% there in the face of the Kennedy/Kerry endorsements of Obama was very impress
ive.<<< On the other hand, Obama ran better in Hillary’s home state, New York, than she did in his
Illinois. In addition, Barack held service in neighboring state primaries while Hillary lost Connecticut and Delaware.<<< One of the most interesting developments Tuesday was that there were many more one-sided races, in which either Clinton or Obama won by 10 or more percentage points than there were close ones. This indicates that despite the overall delegate margin still being quite close, each candidate inspires strong regional and identity support.<<<
FROM HERE TO CONVENTION
Clearly, it is still a horse race for the Democrats, and, although the primaries in Texas and Ohio will be very important, there is a good chance that neither will be decisive, making this the first open convention since yesterday, when I was young.
Is this good or bad for the Democratic Party? You can argue either way. The Republican race is settled and boring while theirs is contentious and exciting. Or the Democrats are ripping and tearing while the Republicans have made their choice.
My vote is – advantage Democrats. Despite McCain wrapping up the nomination, there is no unity as long as long as both the economic and social conservatives hate him. No, hate is not too strange a description. And even though, as described above, many of the state votes were one-sided, most Democrats like both their candidates.<<<
Advantage/disadvantage – Democratic race: Obama has the big bucks, while Hillary is having to loan money to herself. But Clinton has the more solid voting blocks – women, Latinos and the over-55 crowd.
Both sides claim momentum, and it is pretty even. But I give a slight edge to Hillary. The popular vote wins in Massachusetts and California were big.<<<
If Hillary does win, you can forget about Barack on the ticket. There is no way that Mrs. C., so long overshadowed by President Bill, will take a chance on a charismatic running mate.<<<
The big question for the Republicans is can “Honest John” keep the conservatives from staying home. A Fred Thompson on the ticket might mollify some, but even with a conservative on the ticket, McCain faces a hostile crowd.
The following is from one of the many on the right who wrote to the NY Times about the issue:
“No matter which person, McCain, Obama or Clinton is elected President, the country will be run by a liberal.” - Posted by Kevin P.
Now that is way funny!<<<
Which party is going to win in November? The Democrats. They will be excited by whomever they finally nominate and united in their antipathy for Bush, while the Republicans may hate Hillary, if she is the candidate, but will be apathetic towards McCain.<<<
Post Script: I have often thought of McCain as the Diogenes candidate. My mistake. This past week he has been busy kissing up to the party conservatives by apologizing for his stand on immigration. So the great Greek is back out searching for an honest politician.<<<
“The trouble with born-again Christians is that they are an even bigger pain the second time around.” - Herb Caen
Here are last week’s questions and answers.
What is the most exquisite restaurant at which you have ever eaten?
My choice is Ernie’s, in the early 1970’s when it was “the place” in San Francisco. The style was opulent bordello, which it once was, all red velvet and formal service, and the food was wonderful. Sadly Ernie’s is no longer with us.
Barbara’s answer:
The Maile Room, like Ernie’s, long gone, but once where the rich and famous dined at the Kahala Hilton on Oahu. It was there that Barb introduced me to fiddlehead ferns. This would certainly be second on my list. (The restaurant, not the ferns.)
Hugh:
Any restaurant that Jim and Barbara have taken me to!
“Money doesn’t grow on trees,” or so the expression goes. Imagine, however, that something unusual – besides money - could be grown on trees. Available to be picked whenever you want. What would you want your tree to produce?
Me: Since I have already filled my cookie-jar with first class airline tickets to everywhere, my tree would produce vouchers for family and friends to visit the top medical specialists in their field whenever necessary.
Hugh: How about a tree that has love, respect and prosperity growing on it, to be picked in time of need.<<<
"All the sounds of the earth are like music
All the sounds of the earth are like music”
It’s like this. I have a song running through my mind. I want to hear it, and I don’t have it in iTunes or on a CD, or I don’t have this particular version. I go to YouTube, put the title in search and there it is! I can watch, listen and compare Gordon MacRae and H
ugh Jackman’s as they sing “Oh What A Beautiful Morning” and other songs from Oklahoma. Or here is Janis Ian singing “Seventeen,” w
hich she wrote before she had even reached that tender age. And speaking of tender, what about the late jerry Orbach singing my favorite song, “Try To Remember,” live at the White House. If I want strange, I can check out Marlene Dietrich’s “Where Have all The Flowers Gone.” Beautiful? How about Streisand’s version of “Send In The Clowns?” Interesting? Listen to Dame Judi Dench’s version of the same song.
Links anyone?<<<
FYI
Did you know that the Harry Potter franchise (series of movies) is number three in all-time ranking for world gross income? It’s $3,545,000,ooo places it behind James Bond, $4,325,ooo,ooo and ahead of The Lord Of The Rings, $2,927,000,000. Leading the pack is Star Wars at $4,421,000,000.<<<
Can you believe that the Arizona Daily Star refused last week to print my comment in which I described those who want to allow teachers and students to carry guns as nuts. They said that the term might be offensive to their readers.
Don’t they get it? Newspapers, of all institutions, should understand that truth is a legitimate reason to publish.<<<
Tom Hoffarth is a sports columnist for the Daily News. Although he has won several awards, I don’t much like him, but I do like this excerpt from yesterday’s paper about Bobby Knight’s retirement:
“How frightened are Bob Knight's grandkids, knowing he intends to spend more quality time with them?”
On the search for happiness - the questioner is Deborah Solomon in the NY Times magazine; the respondent is Charles Simic, America’s poet laureate.
Q - Have you noticed all these new nonfiction books on “happiness”?
A - It’s an industry. It’s really frightening. People need to read a book on how to be happy? It’s completely an American thing. Can you imagine people in Naples sitting on a bus or in a trattoria reading a book about happiness?
Me: This is excellent ad
vice. It is when we stop searching for happiness that it usually sneaks up on us.Q -What advice would you give to people who are looking to be happy?
A - For starters, learn how to cook.
(Me: And sometimes it is even shaped like a plate of nachos.)<<<
HERE ARE YOUR QUESTIONS FOR NEXT WEEK.
If I had a dollar for every time I __________, I would be a rich man. How would you fill in the blank?
What movie that you have watched most closely parallels your own life to this point?
posted by jmt | 8:51 AM
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