The Hoi Polloi

Memorable Political Moments of 2008: BUSTED IN ALASKA: Senator Ted Stevens Found Guilty

Almost immediately prior to the November 4 elections, news on the CNN Political Ticker - Stevens verdict likely to inch Dems closer to 'magic 60' - brought to mind that great classic blues tune "What a Difference a Day Makes".  I could clearly hear Dinah Washington's smooth, dulcet sounds - "Twenty-four little hours, Brought the sun and the flowers".  We all had a sense of where the presidential election might be going since the economic crisis and Governor Sarah Palin's woeful ignorance made evident that Senator John McCain didn't know much about finance or economics and wasn't great at making decisions under pressure.  However, no one could be sure of the electorate making the correct decision, especially with all the 'Joe the plumber'-'spread the wealth'-'marxist' sturmundrang. 

The conviction of the senior senator from Alaska - and former political ally of Governor Palin - put another nail in the McCain/Palin coffin.  For so long during the presidential campaign, the GOP had been playing a nasty game of guilty by association - see Bill Ayers.  And, karma came right back and bit Governor Palin in the tukhas when Senator Stevens was convicted of concealing more than a quarter of a million dollars in house renovations and gifts from an oil services and construction company.  Granted, Democrats didn't make it to the 'magic 60', but at the time this news was beautiful music indeed.

Note: What's particularly great about the following clip is the little known actor-turned-president introducing Ms. Washington.

 

Note: Emotional Eating and Holidays

Reading about President-elect Obama's exercise routine could be either a source of inspiration or reason for self-flagellation.  As Obama has become a new role model for me, reason to believe that through I and perserverance almost any goal is attainable, I'll try for the former.  Ninety minutes in the gym is a bit much for me at this point and possibly at any point.  For now, I'll keep to my walking routine and continue increasing distance and speed.

Diet is, of course, a crucial part of any weight loss plan.  Many of us who are overweight have issues with eating.  I thought that this article on the Huffington Post was very apropos. 

Diet Note: More is Less

I have to remember to eat more for lunch. That's right. I said, "More". Having one mini-meal at mid-day is setting myself up for failure. From about six months until age one, we prepared Zander's food, using organic vegetables. [It sounds more anal than it actually is. Really.] At about thirteen months, we decided to let him eat the food served for breakfast and lunch at his daycare center. At any rate, we have all these little plastic containers left. And, I had been using them to take lunch to work everyday, mostly as a means of cost saving.

However, I had an epiphany about fifteen minutes ago. These portions are not enough for an 30-plus year old adult, i.e., me! I am starving. And, in addition to the two bowls of chicken soup I've already had for dinner, I am reaching for peanut butter and jelly and tuna salad. This is out of hand. Well, I have had a glass of milk, and I'm calmer [read: satiated] now.

Note to self: eat a little more for lunch and you can avoid these situations.

Off the Wagon at Solera

So, Friday I wrote a post about my new devotion to walking. Nothing has changed, and I still intend to honor my commitment. I've felt a lot better over the past two weeks and would like to see the results in my physique that I know our sure to come. Plus, my high school reunion is coming up in June, and you know I wanna I look good.

At any rate, I have to confess - sounds so dirty, right? - that I had a bit of a detour on Friday evening. But, I knew it was coming, and just allowed myself to indulge. Some friends and I had planned to meet for tapas, and as much as I love boquerones, chorizo and wine, there was no way I even thought about sticking to food that I don't like. I think it's a rational choice. If one feels too deprived on a diet, the fall off the wagon will be way too hard.

My friends and I went to a lovely restaurant on Lexington & 53rd - Solera. It's conveniently located across the street from the E, V and 6 lines. The food was delicious, and the ambiance was spectacular. Ever since a trip to Salamanca, Spain in 2000, when having tapas, I never fail to have boquerones. Solera's did not disappoint. I also ordered the sauteed chorizo and calamare. The calamari was lightly breaded and had wonderful flavoring. Unfortunately, the chorizo was a tad too oily. Overall, we were pleased.

If you're falling off the wagon, I definitely recommend this place for doing so. However, don't forget to walk a bit extra to compensate.

Caroline Is Not Just as Good; She's Better

One has to wonder about all the controversy surrounding Caroline Kennedy's announcement of her interest in Hillary Clinton's senate seat. Pundits and politicians have come out of the woodwork to express doubt regarding Caroline Kennedy's qualifications to hold the office.  And, there seems to be not a small amount of bitterness over the fact that a Kennedy has expressed interest.  This has been a fun soap opera to watch, especially when you throw in the Clinton factor.  However, when you get down to brass tacks, these people will have to admit that Caroline Kennedy has the goods . . . and more.

First of all, as a friend recently reminded me, the Constitutional requirements for being a United States senator are actually very few.  Each senator must: 1) be at least 30 years old, 2) have been a citizen of the United States for at least the past nine years, and 3)be (at the time of the election) an inhabitant of the state they seek to represent.  Needless to say, Caroline Kennedy fulfills all these requirements.  And, when we look at that last requirement, Ms. Kennedy comes off with flying colors.  If memory serves, many in the media expressed some 'wariness' as to 'why a native of Chicago, who has lived most of her adult life in Little Rock and Washington, would want to take up residence in the Empire State.' Caroline Kennedy has been a resident of the state shortly after the assassination of her father, President John F. Kennedy, so she doesn't bring any of that baggage.

Additionally, the media and others have also focused on what I'm calling 'The Palin Factor': almost every female candidate for office will now have to prove that she isn't woefully ignorant and unwilling to be educated in order to be deemed worthy of political office. Leaving for another day the arguments that this may be unfair to Governor Sarah Palin, this is terribly unfair to female candidates. Governor Palin's performance before the national press seems to have set us all back a few decades. Women, once again, have to work for the legitimacy that male candidates are automatically accorded.

Walking: The Personal is Political

In my rush to announce my return to the blogosphere, I seem to have left out one salient news item that has affected all of us in one way or another: Oprah seems to have regained her weight.  Oh, that's not your every waking thought? The last worry that crosses your mind as your head hits the pillow every night?  In a world where people are losing your homes to foreclosure and their fortunes to Ponzi schemers, what is the utility in blogging about some celebrity's battle of the bulge, especially since this blog is ostensibly a political one?

Admittedly, I am an Oprah fan, but she is simply a conversational tool, that is, a mechanism to get me to the actual topic: weight loss and walking. Motivated by a twitter friend - Big Man Walking - I've decided to make a real attempt at weight loss.  So, in addition to my random blathering about political issues, every once in a while I'll digress a bit to talk about my success in that arena.

Of late, I've been tweeting my progress in integrating a walk into my daily routine. As a general matter, my husband and I walk our 15month old to his daycare center every morning. Door to door, our walking as a little over a mile and takes 25 to 30 minutes. BigManWalking encouraged me, and others, either to start walking or increase the time and distance we already dedicated to walking in order to promote weight loss and good health. And, with some success, I have been doing just that.

I leave my car at home rather than driving to the PATH station. And, rather than taking a bus or taxi home, I walk. The walk home is actually shorter than the walk to my son's daycare, and I really can't say why - besides sloth - I haven't done it before. A recently published study shows that countries in which people walk more have a lower rate of obesity. Of course, the study showed that among 17 industrialized nations, the United States with the American love for the automobile were the least likely to walk and the most obese.  That's a statistic in which I no longer want to be included.

So, I'm making my contribution to decreasing the use of fossil fuels, improving the savings rate and better our public image.  I'm walking.

 

 

Forever and a Day

Jeez.  It's been exactly that . . . forever and a day since I've posted here.  I didn't even bother to write about 'our historic election'.  Needless to say, I'm thrilled.  Barack Obama was my first and last choice.  Standing in line with so many proud and happy people would - probably - have been enough on its own, but the fact that Barack won was - and still is - stunning.

There have been a host of issues about which I could have written, yet for some reason nothing moved me.  Ted Stevens was convicted.  Four senate races hung in the balance, waiting for final decisions - matter of fact, we're still waiting for the outcome in Minnesota.  We have had a series of financial scandals.  The Big Three are threatening to go bust if they aren't bailed out.  The Governor of Illinois has been caught offering President-elect Obama's senate seat to the highest bidder.  Caroline - and a host of others - is campaigning for Hillary Clinton's seat.

None of these issues has moved me especially, but it's just time to talk.  So, here I go . . .

Chris Matthews Wimps Out on Morning Joe: McCain/Palin and the Race Card

I actually opted out of watching Morning Joe on Friday because I thought a few of the prior mornings' offerings were a bit on the wrong side of boring.  At any rate, I decided to catch up today at msnbc.com and, as it turns out, I missed Chris Matthews rolling over for Joe Scarborough.  Chris was on to discuss the poll results as of October 24 and, given that Senator John McCain was trailing by a significant margin in many states, whether the race was over.  Matthews managed to sidestep a definitive ruling on the state of McCain's presidential candidacy by saying that McCain might be able to "poach Pennsylvania" and pull out the "Bush states" of Florida and Ohio but that "it's gonna be tough".

Scarborough went on to discuss the New York Times endorsement of Senator Barack Obama, noting that the Times "suggested that John McCain was racist" and that "his campaign bordered on being racist". Given the multitudinous analysis the New York Times editorial board gave for the endorsement of Senator Obama, it's interesting that Scarborough focused on what was a small element in that endorsement. Additionally, the fact that one white guy, I assume taking up the mantle of beleaguered white guys everywhere, sought the opinion of another white guy to defend a third white guy is laughable, if not just a little sad. But, after all this is Morning Joe, he only has white guys to ask. Mika doesn't count because her opinion rarely truly does anyway.

Matthews tried to give himself a little wiggle room bit by saying that he hadn't read the endorsement, that he didn't know its wording. Once Lawrence O'Donnell chimed in by paraphrasing the New York Times as saying that there were "hints of racism" in the McCain campaign, Matthews answered. Unfortunately for Chris, he missed the boat, saying that the McCain campaign "had not played the racist card".

One wonders if Chris Matthews missed the news cycles in which the McCain campaign pounded the "Who is Barack Obama?" message. A racist element within the campaign doesn't require that Senator McCain or Governor Palin scream "NIGGER", or in the case of the McCain campaign "SAND NIGGER", at the top of their lungs. They have been playing at anti-Islamic, anti-Arab hate speech warfare for sometime now. It is no coincidence that Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott referred to Senator Obama as "Barack Hussein Obama" at a McCain/Palin campaign rally. And, McCain supporters picked up on this racist theme and ran with it. That's why McCain had to negate concerns voiced by his supporters that Obama was a secret Arab. Sadly, McCain's answer didn't do nearly enough to eliminate the idea that somehow being an Arab or Muslim presidential candidate in America is unacceptable.  The withdrawal of McCain campaign staffer, Dan Zubairi, who is a Muslim, from a planned interview on CNN with Rick Sanchez furthers the idea that Muslims are not fully American.

The whole "Is John McCain a racist?" theme seems to have preoccupied Joe, as evidenced by his subsequent interview with Walter Isaacson, President of the Aspen Institute.  It might behove Joe to ask someone besides the people in his immediate circle.  Of course, then, he might get an answer he doesn't like.

Ten Days 'Til Election President Clinton Campaigns with Senator Obama for First Time

The article on CNN Political Ticker starts as follows: "In yet another sign that Democrats are putting the contentious and hard-fought primary season behind them, former President Bill Clinton will campaign with Sen. Barack Obama for the first time in Florida on Wednesday, according to Matt McKenna of the Clinton Foundation."

Despite the recent showings of President and Mrs. Clinton warming up to Barack Obama's candidacy and his possible presidency, I still can't resolve my irritation with the Clintons for attempted sabotage of the Obama/Biden ticket.  I know that the President and Mrs. Clinton recently made an appearance with Joe and Jill Biden as reported here.  And, that Mrs. Clinton has been reported here and here as having completed more than 50 campaign events on behalf of Barack Obama.  Of course, President Clinton made a point of noting the number of events logged by Senator Clinton.  

I think the lede of the CNN article says it all, particularly with regard to the former President.  The Clintons only began to campaign in earnest for Senator Obama after the fact that the country was heading into a full blown economic disaster became clear.  And, now, we are ten days - ten days! - out from the election and the former President is appearing at his FIRST event with Senator Obama.  And, I don't want to hear any bull about Clinton's being busy with his global initiative.  I bet that if Hillary Clinton had received the nomination, Bill Clinton would have dropped everything. 

If we have learned anything about former President Clinton, it is that he is a small, petty and vindicative man.

 

Ashley Todd: Orientation Day at McCain Campaign Headquarters

I just wonder if working around Ashley Todd was like this: