Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Obama - the Teflon Candidate
Remember when the press dubbed Ronald Reagan "the Teflon president" because no matter what, nothing ever seemed to "stick" with him? Well, I submit to you - the Teflon candidate - Barack Obama. No matter what dubious things happened in his past, and no matter what kind of shady characters he's associated himself with over the years, and no matter how many times he trips himself up in lies - his fawning admirers won't see the truth. Nothing "sticks" with this candidate. Does he have to club baby seals to death on national TV or something similar before ANYbody decides he's not worth your vote?
Obama - Just a pretty suit of clothes
Did anyone ever read "Gone with the Wind?" (I'm talking reading the novel, not seeing the movie. The novel gives you insight into Scarlett O'Hara's thoughts and feelings that the movie can't do.) Remember at the end of the book, when Scarlett realizes she loves Rhett and never really loved Ashley? She realizes that she had made up in her imagination a pretty suit of clothes, and when Ashley came along, so handsome and so charming, she in her imagination put that suit of clothes on him and made them fit him whether they actually fit or not. In other words, she fell in love with her romanticized ideal of him, and not the person he really was, and all those years she loved a fantasy and not the real person at all.
It strikes me this is what Barack Obama's supporters are doing with him. People are so starved for a leader, someone who has the charisma and charm of a John F. Kennedy or a Ronald Reagan, and here comes Obama, so seemingly charismatic, such a glib speaker, so different, so smooth, and his ardent supporters are in love with a fantasy, not with the person he actually is. That's why all his questionable past alliances, the murky background about his birth, his obviously socialistic leanings, etc., don't matter to them. They have all "put a suit of pretty clothes" on him and are insisting on making that suit fit, whether it actually does or not. They all have this "my mind's made up, don't bother me with the facts" mentality.
Shame on us if we follow the blind into a ditch.
It strikes me this is what Barack Obama's supporters are doing with him. People are so starved for a leader, someone who has the charisma and charm of a John F. Kennedy or a Ronald Reagan, and here comes Obama, so seemingly charismatic, such a glib speaker, so different, so smooth, and his ardent supporters are in love with a fantasy, not with the person he actually is. That's why all his questionable past alliances, the murky background about his birth, his obviously socialistic leanings, etc., don't matter to them. They have all "put a suit of pretty clothes" on him and are insisting on making that suit fit, whether it actually does or not. They all have this "my mind's made up, don't bother me with the facts" mentality.
Shame on us if we follow the blind into a ditch.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Neil Diamond - simply the best!
My niece Tammy and I went to see Neil Diamond in concert last Friday. I've lost count of how many times I've seen Neil in concert - is it six or seven now? - dating back to the early 1980s, but I hadn't seen him in concert since 1996, so I was glad to have the opportunity to see him again. I've been a Neil Diamond fan since I was about 14 years old (!).
And as usual, the "Solitary Man" put on a fantastic show! He is 67 but has the energy of someone half his age, and he is on stage for an entire two hours - no opening act, no intermission. While he isn't able to perform ALL his hits (I would have liked to hear "If You Know What I Mean," "Desiree" and "September Morn," all of which I've seen him do in past concerts, but which were left out this time around) he sings MOST of them, and what he gives you isn't an abbreviated verse and chorus as part of a medley, either! He gives you the entire song! His audience absolutely adores him (none of the other performers I've ever seen in concert has such a close rapport with their audience, none), and he has people out of their seats and dancing for tunes like "Cherry Cherry" and "I'm A Believer." And no Neil Diamond concert is complete without him and his fans singing the chorus of "Sweet Caroline" over and over and over! (So good, so good, so good!) (Pun intended!)
A very moving moment is when he sings the achingly poignant "Brooklyn Roads," a song about his boyhood in New York, and on a large screen behind him is shown home movies from his teen years with his parents and his brother. VERY nice, Neil - hard to keep a dry eye while watching that footage and listening to that beautiful biographical song!
Also new since the last time I saw him in concert is the slow dance he and Linda Press do while singing "You Don't Bring Me Flowers." Just beautiful! (And she gets PAID to do that - sigh...)
Here's hoping Neil keeps rocking for many years to come - your fans sure do love you, Mr. Diamond!
And as usual, the "Solitary Man" put on a fantastic show! He is 67 but has the energy of someone half his age, and he is on stage for an entire two hours - no opening act, no intermission. While he isn't able to perform ALL his hits (I would have liked to hear "If You Know What I Mean," "Desiree" and "September Morn," all of which I've seen him do in past concerts, but which were left out this time around) he sings MOST of them, and what he gives you isn't an abbreviated verse and chorus as part of a medley, either! He gives you the entire song! His audience absolutely adores him (none of the other performers I've ever seen in concert has such a close rapport with their audience, none), and he has people out of their seats and dancing for tunes like "Cherry Cherry" and "I'm A Believer." And no Neil Diamond concert is complete without him and his fans singing the chorus of "Sweet Caroline" over and over and over! (So good, so good, so good!) (Pun intended!)
A very moving moment is when he sings the achingly poignant "Brooklyn Roads," a song about his boyhood in New York, and on a large screen behind him is shown home movies from his teen years with his parents and his brother. VERY nice, Neil - hard to keep a dry eye while watching that footage and listening to that beautiful biographical song!
Also new since the last time I saw him in concert is the slow dance he and Linda Press do while singing "You Don't Bring Me Flowers." Just beautiful! (And she gets PAID to do that - sigh...)
Here's hoping Neil keeps rocking for many years to come - your fans sure do love you, Mr. Diamond!
No matchup with Big Brown and Curlin
Very disappointing news today that Big Brown has been retired following an injury sustained during a workout. That's racing for you - thrills and memories tempered by disappointments and letdowns.
Curlin looks to be (quite obviously) the one to beat in the Classic now, but I have to wonder why more attention isn't being paid to Casino Drive, the colt who was deemed to have the best chance at derailing Big Brown's Triple Crown bid before pulling out of the Belmont with a bruised foot. Is Casino Drive "the real thing" or not? And with such a deep field for the Classic, anything is possible! I look forward to seeing these two magnificent chestnuts, along with all the other class horses in the field, on Breeders Cup Day.
Enjoy your retirement, Big Brown. You've given us a lot of memories, even if you didn't win the Triple Crown.
Curlin looks to be (quite obviously) the one to beat in the Classic now, but I have to wonder why more attention isn't being paid to Casino Drive, the colt who was deemed to have the best chance at derailing Big Brown's Triple Crown bid before pulling out of the Belmont with a bruised foot. Is Casino Drive "the real thing" or not? And with such a deep field for the Classic, anything is possible! I look forward to seeing these two magnificent chestnuts, along with all the other class horses in the field, on Breeders Cup Day.
Enjoy your retirement, Big Brown. You've given us a lot of memories, even if you didn't win the Triple Crown.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Debate comments
First of all, while I felt that based on the controversial aspect of her being the moderator, Gwen Ifill should have stepped aside, I also, as a fan of Ms. Ifill, am delighted that she did in my opinion a fantastic job moderating this debate. As with her hosting duties on "Washington Week," she came across, to me at least, as being unbiased and fair. She did not seem to favor one candidate over the other, she did not seem to be trying to pull a "Couric" moment on Gov. Palin, she was not (and never is) "in your face" with liberal politics (see Keith Olbermann for an example of the opposite), and she seemed as gracious and warm as always. To those bloggers out there who called her "pathetic" and "unprofessional," I am sure there are recipes for crow available on the Internet; crow probably tastes best fried in butter, and be sure to remove the feathers before serving it. And next time, try actually *watching* Ms. Ifill on "Washington Week" before you open your mouth and criticize her before the fact. Jerks.
It's fun to see that even the Palin critics are grudgingly conceding she won the debate; of course, as a conservative, I am thrilled by that! I do want to say that if you want to see something very interesting, turn Fox off and watch CNN (some people I know would never turn Fox off for anything, and can't stand CNN, but hear me out here). CNN had a running opinion line on the bottom of the screen of undecided Ohio voters, both men and women, and you could see as the debate progressed what comments by each candidate were scoring quite highly with the undecided Ohio focus group and which were not. It was quite interesting to see Gov. Palin's lines going through the roof for much of the debate, and as soon as Sen. Biden began to speak, the lines went down!
I do wonder if those people who criticized Sen. Obama for constantly referring to Sen. McCain as "John" were in the least offended by Gov. Palin continually referring to Sen. Obama as "Barack" throughout the debate? Would they admit to it if they were? (See, I can play devil's advocate with the best of them!)
10/3 - additional comment - Interesting to note that thus far, none of the bloggers who so scornfully attacked Gwen Ifill have had the decency to apologize. Watching "Washington Week" tonight, I still maintain the opinion that Ms. Ifill comes across as a gracious, warm, charming lady, certainly not an "unprofessional whiner" as she has been characterized by some bloggers. I also still maintain that you cannot tell from her demeanor or her questions what her political beliefs are. She comes across as neither liberal nor conservative to me, which is what a good host (or debate moderator) should be like. I think some of these bloggers are thinking of people like Eleanor Clift of "The McLaughlin Group," but Ms. Ifill is hardly like Eleanor Clift. Bloggers (and you know who you are if you're reading this), are you humble enough to apologize, or at least to grudgingly admit that Ms. Ifill did not seem biased in the least in her moderating role of last night's debate? (And, no, she wasn't "being careful," because she *never* comes across as biased, and if you actually bothered to *watch* "Washington Week," you might realize this.)
Is NBC really calling the election for Obama, four weeks out? Well, first of all, I certainly hope they're wrong, and second, remember it was the news media who predicted that one state (which one was it? can't remember now - was it New Hampshire?) for Obama, and Hillary Clinton in a major surprise trounced Obama in that state, and the news media spent the next 48 hours scratching their heads and trying to figure out how all their polls had been so totally wrong. So don't give up hope yet, if you're a McCain supporter!
It's fun to see that even the Palin critics are grudgingly conceding she won the debate; of course, as a conservative, I am thrilled by that! I do want to say that if you want to see something very interesting, turn Fox off and watch CNN (some people I know would never turn Fox off for anything, and can't stand CNN, but hear me out here). CNN had a running opinion line on the bottom of the screen of undecided Ohio voters, both men and women, and you could see as the debate progressed what comments by each candidate were scoring quite highly with the undecided Ohio focus group and which were not. It was quite interesting to see Gov. Palin's lines going through the roof for much of the debate, and as soon as Sen. Biden began to speak, the lines went down!
I do wonder if those people who criticized Sen. Obama for constantly referring to Sen. McCain as "John" were in the least offended by Gov. Palin continually referring to Sen. Obama as "Barack" throughout the debate? Would they admit to it if they were? (See, I can play devil's advocate with the best of them!)
10/3 - additional comment - Interesting to note that thus far, none of the bloggers who so scornfully attacked Gwen Ifill have had the decency to apologize. Watching "Washington Week" tonight, I still maintain the opinion that Ms. Ifill comes across as a gracious, warm, charming lady, certainly not an "unprofessional whiner" as she has been characterized by some bloggers. I also still maintain that you cannot tell from her demeanor or her questions what her political beliefs are. She comes across as neither liberal nor conservative to me, which is what a good host (or debate moderator) should be like. I think some of these bloggers are thinking of people like Eleanor Clift of "The McLaughlin Group," but Ms. Ifill is hardly like Eleanor Clift. Bloggers (and you know who you are if you're reading this), are you humble enough to apologize, or at least to grudgingly admit that Ms. Ifill did not seem biased in the least in her moderating role of last night's debate? (And, no, she wasn't "being careful," because she *never* comes across as biased, and if you actually bothered to *watch* "Washington Week," you might realize this.)
Is NBC really calling the election for Obama, four weeks out? Well, first of all, I certainly hope they're wrong, and second, remember it was the news media who predicted that one state (which one was it? can't remember now - was it New Hampshire?) for Obama, and Hillary Clinton in a major surprise trounced Obama in that state, and the news media spent the next 48 hours scratching their heads and trying to figure out how all their polls had been so totally wrong. So don't give up hope yet, if you're a McCain supporter!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Gwen Ifill
Should Gwen Ifill be the moderator for tomorrow night's vice presidential debate?
First, let me say that I like Gwen Ifill. I've always thought she was a classy lady and she does a great job hosting "Washington Week." She may be liberal in her politics, but I've always thought she does a good job of keeping her political beliefs low-key when she's interviewing people or conducting the panel discussion on "Washington Week." (By contrast, take one look at Keith Olbermann or Chris Matthews - you have NO DOUBT where their sympathies lie politically!)
That being said, since Gwen has a book coming out about Barack Obama, and since she is obviously an Obama supporter (and she has a right to be), she should recuse herself from being the moderator of tomorrow night's debate. It would be the graceful, professional, dignified thing to do. (I would say the same if she were a McCain supporter and had a book coming out about John McCain.)
Come on, Gwen, do the right thing - let a less biased person moderate the debate. (Won't happen, but that's my feeling about it.)
It will be nice, though, if she can conduct the debate in such a way that any personal biases of hers won't be evident, and all her critics will have to eat crow.
First, let me say that I like Gwen Ifill. I've always thought she was a classy lady and she does a great job hosting "Washington Week." She may be liberal in her politics, but I've always thought she does a good job of keeping her political beliefs low-key when she's interviewing people or conducting the panel discussion on "Washington Week." (By contrast, take one look at Keith Olbermann or Chris Matthews - you have NO DOUBT where their sympathies lie politically!)
That being said, since Gwen has a book coming out about Barack Obama, and since she is obviously an Obama supporter (and she has a right to be), she should recuse herself from being the moderator of tomorrow night's debate. It would be the graceful, professional, dignified thing to do. (I would say the same if she were a McCain supporter and had a book coming out about John McCain.)
Come on, Gwen, do the right thing - let a less biased person moderate the debate. (Won't happen, but that's my feeling about it.)
It will be nice, though, if she can conduct the debate in such a way that any personal biases of hers won't be evident, and all her critics will have to eat crow.
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