McCain's Take on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Circa 2005

I heard this yesterday and found it on Babalu today. Since the remarks are from 2005, it was pretty prescient of McCain who professes that economics is not his strong suit. By the way, go to Cigar Mike's post here to find the top recipients of the mortgage giants' money. (Boldface mine.)

The OFHEO report also states that Fannie Mae used its political power to lobby Congress in an effort to interfere with the regulator's examination of the company's accounting problems. This report comes some weeks after Freddie Mac paid a record $3.8 million fine in a settlement with the Federal Election Commission and restated lobbying disclosure reports from 2004 to 2005. These are entities that have demonstrated over and over again that they are deeply in need of reform.

For years I have been concerned about the regulatory structure that governs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--known as Government-sponsored entities or GSEs--and the sheer magnitude of these companies and the role they play in the housing market. OFHEO's report this week does nothing to ease these concerns. In fact, the report does quite the contrary. OFHEO's report solidifies my view that the GSEs need to be reformed without delay.

I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.

How'd We Get Here?

Like those who touch Rumi's elephant in a dark house, it seems a whole mess of people are running around pontificating on the basis of a surreptitious feel of one portion of the pachyderm's anatomy. It's Bush's, no, Clinton's fault. It's a failure of regulators. It's those greedy Wall Street types. It's us.

Your erstwhile correspondent, knowing that these situations are invariably complex, has been investigating. I have no pretensions to great knowledge. This much is evident to any one who takes the time to read about the current situation. It would seem to implicate a whole host of characters. In 1999 President Clinton signed the repeal of the Glass Segall Act of 1933 which had previously separated banks from brokerages and left a regulatory open window, so to speak. In the race to get in on the scads of money from the Real Estate bubble, the instrument of choice was the bundled mortgages. The bundles contained all sorts of mortgages and were not easily quantifiable, obvious in hindsight. Mortgages were given to people who most obviously could not afford them. People got way in over their heads, taking on mortgages they could not afford, figuring they would hit a payday before their interest only ended. The present government coming off of the tech bust did nothing to staunch the flow. Let the good times roll. Alas, it had to end. The banks got hit; the mortgage companies got clobbered.

That would be bad enough, but the situation was further exacerbated by those bundled mortgages, now debt instruments, MBS's. Here it gets really complicated. There's them who bought them, and then there's them who insured them. Suffice to say, there were two problems. One, those mortgage bundles were essentially a pig in a poke. Second, things were so good that many a financial giant got a bit carried away in leveraging. In other words, they invested way more than even whatever they value they placed on the debt instruments.

Here's where the fear part of the fear and greed equation come in. As it became obvious that there were problems with the mortgages, their imputed worth plummeted, leaving the giants in the lurch, as in they didn't have the resources to meet their increased obligations. It's even more complicated still, but my point is that this is one failure that has many fathers. And before the Dems get all holier than thou, they, too, have been complicit. Take a look at the top five recipients of the largess of Fannie/Freddie. One's initials are B.O., pardon the double pun.

Now what is really scary is that the vultures are circling. Remember oil speculators? Now we have the shorts. Here's greed. We now have rampant rumor mongering, driving down the price of a company's stock and lining the pockets of those who have shorted it. At the same time, the declining share price forces the company to come up with yet more money to cover the difference. So in essence, a viable if not robust company can be trashed. They are systematically working their way through the weak and weakened. Lehman, done. Merrill Lynch made a deal with Bank of America. AIG had to be rescued by the Government. Now they're after Morgan Stanley. Washington Mutual is auctioning itself off, and Goldman is probably next. They're even after GE.

I go through this exercise because to use the current financial crisis as a Rorschach blot for a particular political point of view does the country a disservice and solves nothing. And because too often the news these days gives us slogans instead of facts.

*

Once When We Were Young and Foolish

Here's an interesting video of Dick Morris explaining how he became a Republican. What was interesting was how closely it paralleled my own experience. Yes, I not only once (once was enough) voted for Jimmy Carter, I actually voted for George McGovern. I also migrated to the Republican camp as I explained earlier here.

Every day, it seems, despite the liberal mind set that only illiterate louts differ, more and more celebrities are coming out of the political closet or seeing the light. One convert, David Zucker, to a more conservative point of view- I don't think he's a Republican- will premiere his new movie An American Carol on Oct. 3. Be there or be square. Go here, if you want to join the movement behind the movie and become an American Caroler.

Book Shorts

Both Stephanie Barron and Elizabeth Peters have new books out in which they bid adieu, at least temporarily, to their much loved heroines. After nine novels, Barron dispenses with her Jane Austen character, a foregone conclusion after- for obvious historical reasons- she killed off Jane's love interest, Lord Harold Trowbridge. Still, I miss Jane. Murder mysteries set in the court of Queen Victoria seem to be all the thing these days. See Anne Perry's latest. Barron's A Flaw in the Blood begins with a secret summons from Victoria as Albert lays dying. This time, however, the reception Barron's Patrick Fitzgerald receives is quite chilly and the midnight meeting almost gets him killed. So begins a race against death to unravel the mystery. I won't give it away, because it is surprising. Of interest is the appearance in the novel, although not literally because he's dead at the time of the events, of actual historical personage John Snow. Think cholera epidemic and last year's The Ghost Map.

Elizabeth Peters departs from the Amelia Peabody series to return to earlier heroine Vicky Bliss. I cannot tell you the paroxysms of delight I experienced when a discovered there was to be a new Vicky Bliss. The adventures of Ms. Bliss, coupled with the antics of Herr Doktor Schmidt, her romance novel writing boss at the Berlin Museum, as well as the regular appearances of bad boy John Smythe, make for entertaining reading. Alas, as Peters explains the question of time- Bliss hasn't aged in near a decade but time has marched on- in the foreword to The Laughter of Dead Kings, I find she cites "the horror in Iraq." If I wanted political commentary, I would not pick up a murder mystery. Is Ms. Peters only writing the book for those who oppose the Iraq war, or does she presume that anyone literate would be against it? As a consequence, I don't know if it was the annoyance which stayed with me or the new domesticity of Vicky and beau, but the novel did not warm up until the end. There were some nifty surprises, but I'd recommend the earlier ones.

Finally, the devastation left by Hurricane Ike is bad enough, but the storm reminded me of Erik Larsson's excellent book, Isaac's Storm, which details the 1900 hurricane which hit Galveston and killed over five thousand people. Cuba figures in that one, too. In the days before radar, a fatal decision was made to ignore the reports of a hurricane coming from the weather service in Cuba. If you like nonfiction and haven't read it, pick up a copy. It's worth it.

Today's Quote

Bottom line, if Barack and Biden get in office you’re going to need a case of lipstick because you’re going to be kissing a lot of gelatinous big government backside like never before.

-from the Doug Giles piece cited below.

Sunday Stories: Of Cosmetics and the Cosmos

Where to start? An embarrassment of riches this week.

Beyond the Atom. In an exciting development, scientist Lyn Evans, dubbed "Evans the Atom," may destroy the planet if he has not done so already. I'm only half kidding. Seeking to understand the beginnings of the universe, he and other scientists in what is billed as the world's biggest experiment began firing up a 17 mile collider near Geneva. Some scientists fear that the experiment could create black holes in the Earth. If nothing else, the "nerds in nightshirts" are having a lot of fun, witness the "Physics Rap" that has become an internet sensation. Cute Daily Mail article here with link to rap. Updated info from LA Times here, and Hawking's doubts that they will find the "God Particle" here.

About that Crack'd Mirror. Bush may have looked into his soul, but Putin looked to his sway. He maintains that Bush, while a nice guy, is not in charge: as he phrases it is "the court that makes the King." Read it at the Times, the Brit one.

A La Main left. Speaking of the arcane, Elizabeth Spiers in Fortune magazine does as good a job explaining the mortgage mess as I've seen. Basically if you bundle mortgages, you could be and were buying a pig in a poke. All these high falutin' things that are so removed from the source scare me. Remember those professors with the hedge fund that went bust?

Of Shiny Promises. Bruce Bialosky continues the pig metaphor in this article on TownHall in which he delves into the misleading Obama claim that he will cut taxes on the middle class. Seems 40% of Americans don't pay income taxes at all, but instead receive money from the government. The rationale is that they pay social security taxes. Obama would increase these payments and drop another 15% from the tax rolls. I'd like to know if its possible to get more back than you paid in. As Doug Giles writes in this, you can put lipstick on a socialist.... It smacks of income redistribution to me.

On the Gender Front. "Xena" Palin as this piece dubs her is apparently causing much disarray in the enemy camp. Seriously, Sarah Baxter in the Times, the Brit one, writes a pretty incisive and somewhat entertaining analysis of Palin's effect on the campaign at the moment. And as I suggested in an earlier post, Palin's candidacy and the response has led to a new examination of the gender question. Read Allison Linn's article on MSNBC here

Literary Interlude: On His Blindness

On His Blindness

When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest He returning chide,
"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts. Who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait."
-John Milton

Meanderings: Stick a Fork

The phone rings a few nights ago. It is the little one, who is now not quite so little. In fact, she is calling from a gala in Washington, DC. She is there, having flown in from LA, because she has won a scholarship for film school from a very worthy Hispanic arts group. She is thrilled, overwhelmed by some of the heavy hitters she has spoken with.... I am thrilled for her. The kid deserves it.

...Years ago before I was truly old enough to understand, let alone appreciate, the thought, I was reading the Times Sunday Magazine. Yeah, I've been known to read it once or twice. Anyway, there was an essay in which the writer maintained that there came a time in the life of every man when he realized that he would never ever play short stop for a major league team. I'm taking liberties with the precise wording, as I am depending on memory here. "Oh, kinda silly," I thought. Still it stayed with me.

Then for years as I rejected the rat race, hesitated to put myself out there, relegated my needs to those of others, pooh-pooed my dreams, wondered what my dreams were, I always had a sense that there would be time. There would be time, once I knew. But then, the once seemingly endless stretch of that commodity yawning before me evaporated, almost at once.

It was then I began to understand. There comes a time when you know. You know that certain achievements are now beyond your physical abilities, when you realize that you no longer have the time to reach others. I thought I had made peace with that notion. But speaking on that phone that evening, drowning in the illness and dysfunction which surrounds me, rattling around the house by myself, grateful for the lonely intimacy of peace, I thought, "I'm done. My life is over." And so it is.

Actually, my story is done; the rest is denouement. The story is about her and the millions of others just coming into their own in a world of infinite possibility. This is not necessarily bad, as there is a great deal of relief there. I don't have to worry about achieving. I don't have to worry about romance. It's about being now. I can get joy from the rays streaming through the curtains as I write this. Tomorrow I will cultivate the garden and glory in the sunshine even as the sweat running into my eyes starts to sting. I will live in the moment, a luxury not afforded the younger.

And as I hung up the phone that night, I had to acknowledge that I never took the big chances. I never had that kind of confidence. I never mortgaged my future to a dream. But then that's not quite true. By following the precepts I was taught, maintaining the primacy of family above all, I was risking all. I just didn't know it. But now I do.

In Which I Defend President Bush, Definitely!

The incomparable and sometimes indefensible Anne Coulter hits it out of the ballpark in her column today. Those of us who work in liberal land have learned that discretion is the better part of valor when it comes to our sitting President, as the feeblest of defenses often leads to one's interlocutor forcibly removing handfuls of hair from his or her own pate while gesticulating wildly and frothing at the mouth. Don't believe me? It even has a name: Bush Derangement Syndrome.

My reticence has nothing to do, then, with my feelings toward W. Simply put, he has been a most misunderestimated leader. Yes, he has disappointed. But he has, nonetheless, kept us safe. As I am fond of thinking, every jihadi who died in Iraq is one less on the streets of San Francisco. But that's a simplistic way of characterizing an entire administration.

But back to Anne Coulter who in her incisive way zeroes in on the laudable in the very epithet so often used to put down the President:

George Bush is Gary Cooper in the classic western "High Noon." The sheriff is about to leave office when a marauding gang is coming to town. He could leave, but he waits to face the killers as all his friends and all the townspeople, who supported him during his years of keeping them safe, slowly abandon him. In the end, he walks alone to meet the killers, because someone has to.

That's Bush. Name one other person in Washington who would be willing to stand alone if he had to, because someone had to.

OK, there is one, but she's not in Washington yet. Appropriately, at the end of "High Noon," Cooper is surrounded by the last two highwaymen when, suddenly, his wife (Grace Kelly) appears out of nowhere and blows away one of the killers! The aging sheriff is saved by a beautiful, gun-toting woman.

I am old enough to remember the contempt heaped upon Reagan while he was in office. The verdict of history is often not the same one pronounced by contemporaries.

The entire column here.

In Which I Defend Obama, Maybe...

C'mon folks, is there one among you who hasn't put the proverbial hoof in mouth? I think it is entirely conceivable that Mr. Barack Obama was not consciously picturing Gov. Palin when he made the now infamous "lipstick" remark. First is the question of derivation, that is to say that the economy and the market have been in the headlines as of late, which may very well have influenced his choice of figurative language. "Putting lipstick on a pig" is a time honored way of describing talking up a dud stock. See, the economy, stock market, lipstick, pig. Trust me, I know a bit about loose association.

There is another way to view this flap and that is to picture Mr. Obama as a Machiavellian strategist. You see, Mr. Obama there; he's got himself some right "plausible deniability." It is undoubtedly suspicious that the two images he used relate to females in an unfavorable way. This way, he gets to say "Oops, I didn't mean that." Now just for the fun of it, let's assume that he had no conscious purpose in using the lipstick and fish analogies. Could it be that subconsciously Gov. Palin weighs so heavily and unfavorably in his mind that those were the images that came spontaneously to his previously golden tongue?

In any case, he could check with his running mate as to how difficult it can be to remove said extremity from one's esophagus. Remember "clean and articulate"? There's no hope for it, he's gonna have to take the blow back. That's the way of all politics. But this time, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Co-incidence?

Today, Anastasio Blanco broached an idea that seems to have been percolating in a few minds, including mine. What if these hurricanes signal the beginning of the end for the Havana Commission? It is an idea that you tend to beat back in your mind. First and foremost, there is the suffering occurring in Cuba this very minute. Second, nothing seems to kill off the malignancy that has been eating away at the island for a half century.

Still, I'll leave you with these quirky factoids:
1. The hurricane is named Ike. Eisenhower? A stretch, I know.
2. Ike entered the Bay of Nipe, the same place where the Virgin appeared to the three storm-tossed fishermen. (Incidentally also the setting for much of Telex from Cuba.)
3. The first hurricane hit the tobacco growing region; this one, their mining concerns. Two of the regime's major sources of foreign currency.
4. The Santeria Priests this year- although maintaining fidel's inviolability- did make noises about nature. I figured they had gotten politically correct and took it to mean global warming.
(Twilight zone music.)

Seriously, I suspect that our relationship with the island nation will change based on the humanitarian crisis. Whether for good or for ill, I who have not one iota of ESP cannot predict.

Just How Far Have Women Come?

(I was originally going to post this one in the round up, but it demanded a bit more.)

Much has been said and written about Sarah Palin and her role as a mother, including the duties incumbent upon her as such. There has been a near universal volte face pulled by political parties, feminists, and media types. It would be easy to accuse Democrats & Co of hypocrisy, which is true, and leave it at that, but that would not be complete.

Some of Ms. Palin's chief critics are working mothers themselves. Here we witness hypocrisy of different stripe. Working women are reacting out of their own experience. They know the challenges and omissions of working outside the home. And most of them don't have a male at home to pick up the slack. There is a suspicion, at least, that someone is getting short changed. The idea that anyone would be vice president- just how much does one do- while raising five children sends shivers down the spine. But it is a case of "Do as I say and not as I do."

Many women are not in high-powered careers nor are they working to put food on the table, at least they wouldn't be if they didn't have the SUV and nifty car, both of recent vintage, in the driveway of the McMansion. And what ever happened to Formica? Why does everyone need to have granite countertops? Question them and you will find that they believe they have to work, yet they but help support the household in the style to which they feel entitled. At the same time, they are exhausted. They fear that on some level their children are deprived. I know it sounds harsh, but I've been there.

Frankly, it is up to Gov. Palin and her family to make these calls. I would not presume to judge her choices. I do know that perhaps it is time to rethink some of the feminist tenets we have held dear for so long. Let me be clear. Some women have no choice. Others are called to achieve something. I do not advocate a return to the "bad old days." I remember them. But the reactions to the Palin situation would seem to indicate that perhaps it is time to begin a new discussion.

Sunday Stories: The Political Edition

An embarassment of riches this week.

Northern Exposure. In a piece that's reminscent of the affectionate treatment hitherto reserved for the Obamameister, Nathan Thornburgh in Time gives us a slice of Palin life in Wasilla, AK. A good local color piece.

Pinky and the Brain. To be honest, I've never thought of McCain in terms of his intelligence; his character has always been to the fore. Perhaps I've been the victim of the media bias discussed here at Bloggers for McCain. Caroline B Glick in this Townhall column voices what I have come to suspect, namely that I have underestimated the man. Shrewd cookie, that old Ol' Mac. Tomorrow, he takes over the world.

Cold Case. At the National Review Online, Bill Whittle says it for me and for many others when he professes himself proud of the GOP. McCain's sincerity, his love of country, willingness to accept responsibility, and optimistic vision of America made me proud. Read it here. (Got this one from Babalu)

Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Here's a pretty cogent explanation of the Fannie/Freddie morass from John Schoen on MSNBC. Either way, it ain't gonna be pretty. I refer to my earlier post on the state of our economy. Also in terms of explanations, there's an interesting discussion of which two Americas here.

Cheaters. Don't blame them. Genetics made them do it. Swedish researchers have found that a goodly portion of men share the same cheating with other philandering rodents. Other scientists are not so sure. Read it here.

Murder, She Wrote. A Swedish magazine inadvertently confused two herbs in their recipe, making the result potentially life threatening. The story here, followed by an exploration of more toxic seasonings.

Things Cuban in Nature

Storm Stories. Even as Cuba attempts to come to terms with the hurricane damage they have already sustained, Hurricane Ike seems intent on bearing down on the already stricken country. Not surprisingly, the Cuban government has politely refused an the American offer to send an assessment team. They have, however, just as politely accepted an American offer of one hundred thousand dollars, a number that given the devastation seems woefully inadequate, near insulting. For some video of just that devastation, link provided by The Real Cuba, click here.

Aid is a ticklish proposition in that in order to make sure it reaches the victims it is necessary to circumvent the government. The regime has suggested that it is best to lift limits on remittances and visits to family. Read right front paw of the same camel that managed to infiltrate its head years ago after a hurricane where humanitarian aid led to our becoming one of Cuba's major suppliers and a growing chorus of "lift the embargo." But now as then the immediate disaster would seem to trump the chronic one.

Dissidents have also sent the President an open letter asking him to lift the same restrictions for at least two months. Members of the Agenda for Transition, noting the regime's hesitancy in dealing with the US government, asked that non governmental agencies be allowed to send help as well. Personally, I would love to see the marines land, as they did in Myanmar, bearing huge rice sacks with USA stamped all over them. But then, that's me.

Speaking of dissidents, it seems Cuban economist, dissident, and one time political prisoner, Oscar Espinosa Chepe is not only rooting for Obama but has also been reading the Times. The leaning toward Obama was to be expected- Chepe is one who favors engagement- but I was floored when I read Joe Garcia's talking points coming from Cuba. These include the Cuban demographic in Miami is changing, as younger generations- not as hate-filled as the old intransigents- take their place. You know the drill. The story in Spanish here, courtesy of Penultimos Dias.

Also at Penultimos Dias is a link to a magazine story about Naty Revuelta, Castro I's former lover and mother of his daughter Alina Fernandez. Terribly sad, alone and still deluded at 82, she relives the past in this story. Herejias Y Caprinhas has the whole thing posted. It's in Spanish. Just click on the pages for the text. For the whole back story in English read Wendy Gimbel's Havana Dreams: The Story of a Cuban family. You can also read my impressions of said book here.

Literary Interlude: from Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

The populist overtones this campaign have taken remind me of one of my favorite poems. It's pretty long, so I've only taken an excerpt. Read the whole thing here, particularly the next few stanzas. There is so much more. From his vantage point, the speaker looks about him at the graves where the humbler folk are buried, no church crypts for them.

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree’s shade,
   Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering
     heap,
Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,                     15
   The rude Forefathers of the hamlet sleep.
The breezy call of incense-breathing Morn,
   The swallow twittering from the straw-built
     shed,
The cock’s shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,
   No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.          20
For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,
   Or busy housewife ply her evening care:
No children run to lisp their sire’s return,
   Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share.
                                                           25
Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,
   Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke;
How jocund did they drive their team afield!
   How bowed the woods beneath their sturdy
    stroke!
Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,
   Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;                 30
Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
   The short and simple annals of the poor.
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
   And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour.                          35
   The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
Nor you, ye Proud, impute to These the fault,
   If Memory o’er their Tomb no Trophies raise,
Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted
      vault
   The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.           40
Can storied urn or animated bust
   Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
Can Honor’s voice provoke the silent dust,
   Or Flattery sooth the dull cold ear of Death?

Thomas Gray

About the Economy...

The release of the unemployment figures today and the soaring foreclosure rates have drawn attention to the state of the economy. Although the bread lines some political oratory would seem to paint have yet to materialize, our economy is not particularly robust, and it looks like things are probably going to worsen before they get better.

Here is what no politician is going to say. "We are suffering from a national hangover after a Real Estate bender, one fueled by our profligate habits. The greed and excesses of lenders and individuals have brought this on us. Now although there are ways to stimulate the economy and stave off utter disaster, there is no magic remedy government can administer. The economy will work itself out eventually, but in the interim people will suffer, families will suffer. That is the way of economies."

Instead Obama is going to tax us out of an economic slowdown and McCain is going to tax cut us out of it. Of the two, the tax cut would seem to be the more stimulative. One of the perks of getting older* is living through things, so that you realize that the best government can do is make a recession shallower and possibly shorter.

* That is to say that I have no particular expertise in this matter, but having grown up in a small business, I've had a certain exposure to the ups and downs of the American economy.

Strange Bedfellows, Indeed

This has been some election season! As the pack descended on Gov. Palin, some pounced because that is what they do: scavenge the underside of people's lives- their families, their peccadillo's, and their schoolyard infractions- ever looking for the sensational. Others had a more ideological bone to chew. Some of the most vitriolic and contemptuous pieces emanated from feminists themselves. I suppose I should not have expected any different. After all, did we hear one feminist voice denounce a middle aged executive who took up with an young female intern? But that's history.

The irony here, though, is dramatic. A number of high-powered, career women found themselves in the position of decrying Gov. Palin's potential neglect of her family. Whited Sepulchre, anyone? Sally Quinn- to be fair- has decided that she might have reacted too rashly in her column and had the integrity to go on O'Reilly to own up to it. But how do you explain the email to Working Mother magazine running 2 to 1 that Palin should have put her family first? After all, these are working mothers. Exactly. They know you cannot have it all. Someone always pays the freight.

On the other side, we have the likes of Pat Buchanan praising the wouldbe Veep and manning the barricades for women's rights. The exchange between Chris Matthews and Buchanan the other day was hilarious. Matthews, whose program I was watching, resorting to the expedient of turning the channel every time Olbermann's face appeared, because when not overcome by liberal fumes Matthews is the best political maven, finally could not keep a straight face.

Who knows? If this keeps up, we may yet see David Duke standing up for Civil Rights. Naw, that would be too much. Still....

They Just Don't Get It

This election cycle has given us glimpses of how those in our ruling elites really feel about the "little people." Apparently in their rarefied circles, they have not only forgotten homely values, but find them quaint, humorous.

"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them...And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

First there was the implied superiority apparent in these rather injudicious comments on Obama's part, which at least were uttered with some expectation of privacy. But the reaction to the Palin nomination on the part of the Doyennes of the Liberal Media is not only cynical itself, but vitriolic.

Try this from Sally Quinn for cynicism:

McCain claims he knew about the pregnancy, and was not at all concerned. Why not? Not only do we have a woman with five children, including an infant with special needs, but a woman whose 17-year-old child will need her even more in the coming months. Not to mention the grandchild. This would inevitably be an enormous distraction for a new vice president (or president) in a time of global turmoil. Not only in terms of her job, but from a media standpoint as well.

Holy double standard, Batman! If such is the case, JFK's ailments, drug use, philandering and loss of a child would have precluded his candidacy. I suppose running for office should be limited to men and post menopausal liberal women. I had to read it twice to make sure it wasn't irony.

But even Quinn's blogpost pales in comparison to the Dowd column, which demonstrates all the cattiness which, I confess, the female of the species is sometimes heir to, and which should never, ever, be demonstrated in a national news venue. Imagine if a male pundit of any persuasion had written the following:

The movie ends with the former beauty queen shaking out her pinned-up hair, taking off her glasses, slipping on ruby red peep-toe platform heels that reveal a pink French-style pedicure, and facing down Vladimir Putin in an island in the Bering Strait. Putting away her breast pump, she points her rifle and informs him frostily that she has some expertise in Russia because it's close to Alaska. "Back off, Commie dude," she says. "I'm a much better shot than Cheney"...

..."The PTA is great preparation for dealing with the KGB," President Palin murmurs to Todd, as they kiss in the final scene while she changes Trig's diaper. "Now that Georgia's safe, how 'bout I cook you up some caribou hot dogs and moose stew for dinner, babe?"

It never occurs to them that there could be legitimate values other than their own, because as Bernie Goldberg has pointed out, they only socialize with their own. Consequently, like Obama, they have a tin ear when it comes to real people and the values they hold dear. You know, things like family, religion, guns, stew.

Updated: The Experience Question: A Response

Here's a head to head matchup between Palin and Obama which I came across through the Bookworm Room. It's a definite must read.

Update: The comparison page has been changed, alas, alack. I can't find it, so here another comparison for you.

Please Don't Drink the Kool Aid

Received the following from a member of the other side of the family, the non Cuban, slightly socialist branch. This person knows very well my political proclivities, so I can only speculate that he was so moved by this missive that he felt I would surely agree. I confess that I was stunned that his spouse is a Moveon member.

Dear MoveOn member, Yesterday was John McCain's 72nd birthday. If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.
Huh?

Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:

She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.1

Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.2

She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. 3

Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4

She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5

She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6

How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.7

This is information the American people need to see. Please take a moment to forward this email to your friends and family.We also asked Alaska MoveOn members what the rest of us should know about their governor. The response was striking. Here's a sample:

She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international scene that exists today. —Rose M., Fairbanks, AK

She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She's a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO experience beyond Alaska. —Christine B., Denali Park, AK

As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement. Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be. —Karen L., Anchorage, AK

Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.—Sherry C., Anchorage, AK

She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. —Marina L., Juneau, AK

I think she's far too inexperienced to be in this position. I'm all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn't done anything to deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A Woman" in that position.—Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK

So Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She's a global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil. And she's dramatically inexperienced.In picking Sarah Palin, John McCain has made the religious right very happy. And he's made a very dangerous decision for our country.In the next few days, many Americans will be wondering what McCain's vice-presidential choice means. Please pass this information along to your friends and family.

So let me see if I've got this right? Because she is pro-life, pro-drilling, a onetime supporter of Pat Buchanan and only met McCain once, she is "dangerous."? My response in the next post.

Vile, Viler, Vilest

The first is the word Mary Matalin used to characterize the apparent blog brouhaha over Sarah Palin's daughter. I would extend the term to cover the major media outlets that picked up the story. Ms. Palin's 17 year old daughter is not running for any office, to trot out her teen pregnancy and impending marriage in the guise of clarifying rumor is despicable. As for those who started the original rumors that Palin's baby was really her grandson, truly despicable.

A Sunday Hobbyhorse Ride

International Politics. Using the reputed fate-a labor camp- of the two elderly wouldbe protesters, here is another installment in the Olympics condoned the militaristic, totalitarian rule of the Chinese State vein.

Social Criticism. In this one Kathryn Jean Lopez highlights the litany of personal tragedies that comprised so much of the oratory in Denver. Her point: how about self-reliance? Oh, and if you don't have any bootstraps, you just yank on the boot, duh.

Books. Joe Eszterhas of Basic Instinct fame has penned a religious tome. After a cancer diagnosis, he underwent a religious experience which changed his life. I always wonder about these experiences, since they never happen to me. Read all about it here. Also in the book department, our Sarasota Herald Tribune carried a review of Mel Martinez's new book, A Sense of Belonging. Alas, it's not online.

Popular Culture. Next, in the how shallow can we get? department is this slide show from the Today Show which accompanied an article about how ugly is the new beautiful. Sorry, but they don't seem so ugly to me. Ever take a gander at the mugs on some of those high fashion models?

Weather. For a good part of today, I was a bit worried that the storm was going to head our way. That's how ominous our weather was. We've had more wind from this one than from others in the past that were much closer. My thoughts are with those directly in its sights. God bless.

Gorki and the Convergence of Forces

The Good News is that Gorki has been released, after being charged not with "dangerousness" but with "disobedience," and fined 600 pesos. By my calculations, that's still a substantial amount for a Cuban. I couldn't write that he's been freed, because as someone* pointed out having been born and raised in Cuba, Gorki has never been "free" in his whole life. Think about that.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the whole episode is the coming together of a number of disparate voices in his defense. His band mates, his associates and friends outside the country put out the word. The news was picked up by bloggers, the Mainstream Media (Yup), the international press, Amnesty International. There was a concert/vigil for Gorki held opposite the interests section with well-known blogger Yoani Sanchez in attendance. Narrowly missing a beating, she managed to get the word out. Contacted by media, Hector Elizardo also took up the cause. This is but a brief summary of what went on. I am sure that there was more in the fusion of action and technology.

That said. If past history is indicative of anything, it is that world opinion will only go so far. If the government truly felt threatened, they might well ignore international outcry. Let's not forget the Black Spring round up which led to all sorts of consequences for Cuba. Yet there is another possibility here. Could it be that given the present conditions, the disappointed hopes, further privations looming, the "government" fears that any incident could set the tinderbox aflame? Food for thought.

*It was Gusano in a pair of moving posts.

Literary Interlude: Women and Politics

CNN's John Roberts committed the faux pas of suggesting that Palin might neglect her child. Something about the ensuing brouhaha reminded me of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Here's an excerpt from her address to a congressional committee in 1892. The whole text here. The more things change; the more they stay the same.

Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee: We have been speaking before Committees of the Judiciary for the last twenty years, and we have gone over all the arguments in favor of a sixteenth amendment which are familiar to all you gentlemen; therefore, it will not be necessary that I should repeat them again.

The point I wish plainly to bring before you on this occasion is the individuality of each human soul; our Protestant idea, the right of individual conscience and judgment-our republican idea, individual citizenship. In discussing the rights of woman, we are to consider, first, what belongs to her as an individual, in a world of her own, the arbiter of her own destiny, an imaginary Robinson Crusoe with her woman Friday on a solitary island. Her rights under such circumstances are to use all her faculties for her own safety and happiness.

Secondly, if we consider her as a citizen, as a member of a great nation, she must have the same rights as all other members, according to the fundamental principles of our Government.

Thirdly, viewed as a woman, an equal factor in civilization, her rights and duties are still the same-individual happiness and development.

Fourthly, it is only the incidental relations of life, such as mother, wife, sister, daughter, that may involve some special duties and training. In the usual discussion in regard to woman's sphere, such as men as Herbert Spencer, Frederic Harrison, and Grant Allen uniformly subordinate her rights and duties as an individual, as a citizen, as a woman, to the necessities of these incidental relations, some of which a large class of woman may never assume. In discussing the sphere of man we do not decide his rights as an individual, as a citizen, as a man by his duties as a father, a husband, a brother, or a son, relations some of which he may never fill. Moreover he would be better fitted for these very relations and whatever special work he might choose to do to earn his bread by the complete development of all his faculties as an individual.

The Palin Pick: So When do we Start Burning Our Bras?

"Did you hear? Good news. McCain has picked a woman, Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska." The speaker was a dyed in the wool Bush hater and Obama supporter.

"I'm not so sure, it's good news," I replied. And I wasn't. I confess that my first thought was "a neophyte one heartbeat away from the presidency?"

Then, I started learning about Sarah Palin. What I learned lifted my spirits. Here was a gracious, yet no nonsense broad. Originally, I had suspected McCain of pandering to women, but by the time I finished the short course, Palin's gender was just an added bonus. Here is a ticket with two mavericks. You can see how her reformist stance, her willingness to take on the oil companies, as well as the entrenched Republican machine, would appeal to Ol' Mac.

And, here's the best, the woman is a populist. Yup, finally, someone not from the ranks of the moneyed or political class. Here's a family, an honest to goodness family, not the photo op variety. Here's a woman who knows how many houses she has, doesn't mingle in elite circles,knows what it is to be middle class. C'mon, she's not even a soccer mom. She's a hockey mom.

So, why am I not nervous about her relative inexperience? Well, unlike Obama, she has actually presided over and administered a budget, that of a state government. In fact, a look at the variety of issues she's faced make her style and her beliefs clear. Unlike Obama, she is not running for the top spot where inexperience in the White House is a guarantee. She might be a rabble rouser, but she is not an "organizer" with all that entails. She does not in her inexperience seek to change the world, part the waters, or even stem global warming. Her political philosophy precludes big government. In this instance, less is more. Thus, if you were to parse it fairly, she is less liable to cause disaster than the "One," not to mention voters have a far better idea of what she would do in office. As far as I can tell, she never voted "present." So what's not to like?

What this choice makes evident is that Hillary should have been the nominee with an apprentice Obama. And I'm not even a Democrat. Hillary, I can respect. That's why they're all steaming. Gotta hand it to McCain.

Book in Hand and Stormclouds on the Horizon

Among the books I've been reading in the last few weeks, the latest Jance, Kaminsky, and Hall, as well as the final entry in Padura's The Havana Quartet, two have become timely. The Swamps of Bayou Teche (A Tony Boudreaux Mystery) by Kent Conwell and Crawfish Mountain: A Novel by Ken Wells are both set in Cajun country in Louisiana, and both touch upon a situation that is particularly relevant with Gustav bearing down on the Gulf. As the latter in particular details, between the lack of alluvial sediments caused by flood mitigation efforts on the Mississippi and the intrusion of salt water from poorly planned dredging, much of the swampy barrier which would protect New Orleans is being eroded. Caught in the cross hairs is not only land but a culture and way of life. For more particulars, read the article here.

DNC Convention: What's Wrong with this Picture?

So far to this jaded observer, the most striking aspect of the festivities has been the rank narcissism. Was a time, you got a nice little bio of the presidential nominee; nowadays, you get both a panegyric to and a loving portrait of the nominee, his spouse, the also ran he defeated, his vice presidential nominee, and the family cat, not to mention the slightly tarnished lion of the party. I'm struck by the lack of issues- with the exception of universal health coverage.

Do not kid yourself, the nomination of Obama signifies the triumph of the entitlement generation. The other day, I caught him on TV saying that his mother had received government assistance-food stamps, maybe- because she was a single mother trying to work and go to school to make a better life for Obama and his siblings. At first, I accepted it at face value. How nice. Then I got to thinking. So my father was working the overnight shift six days a week in a textile factory to give not only his family a better life, but also Obama's? That didn't sit as well.

It's the same with this much vaunted healthcare coverage which will, in essence, be asking someone who makes forty thousand a year to shoulder the burden for someone who makes eighty thousand. We won't even go into the potential abuses once something is free, like the midnight ride in an ambulance to the hospital for a sore throat. Sure, reform is need, but once we add another head to the government entitlement hydra, who knows? And once passed, however unfortunate the consequences, there is no going back.

I am a populist at heart, but there is a difference between believing in the inherent dignity of the individual and a level playing field and having a "soak the rich" mentality. I believe that there should be checks to power. I believe that there should be a social safety net, but only for the truly hard-pressed. It should be for people who will fall through without assistance. But there is also hard luck and there are also bad decisions in life. The question is how far the government is supposed to extend its helping hand and who is going to pay for that reach. The answer here is becoming increasingly apparent. At a time when Western European governments are pulling back from such socialist tendencies, this party would have us go toward them.

I look at all of these people on the convention floor: some who will benefit, some who have so much they can easily afford to subsidize whole towns, and some who are letting their partisanship and/or antipathy for Bush lead them in a direction they will come to regret. So tonight the one will pronounce from the Olympian heights. I probably won't watch, although the fascination of the train wreck may overcome me. If not I'm sure there's a Law & Order rerun somewhere. I can only hope that in the long run common sense and not the increased enervation of this country will prevail.

Updated: Repression in Cuba Continues: Gorki Arrested

Update: Gorki's predicament has received attention from the mainstream media, from AP, AFP, to Drudge. Let's see if it has any effect.

For some of you, this is old news. But for others, there is this CNN report. Cuban Punk Rocker Gorki Aguila, lead singer of Porno Para Ricardo and known for his profane anti-government lyrics, was arrested Monday at his home. Word is that he will be tried on Thursday when he faces 1-4 years on the charge of "dangerousness." I'd like to see Charlie Rangel justify this one.
You can go to the band's website here where there is a link to the info in Spanish.

H/T Babalublog

Post Olympics Buyers Remorse

Reflective by nature, I was fairly ambivalent about the Olympics in China. I rationalized into temporary abeyance my loathing for their fairly atrocious human rights record by thinking that it was an opportunity for the Chinese people to feel proud of their achievements, to celebrate their advances. And in the economic realm, China has achieved much, as anyone who has studied Chinese history or even read The Good Earth can attest. (By the bye you can forget the Cuba parallels here. In Cuba, infant was never on the menu due to famine. Cuba has been brought into the third world not out of it.)

I watched the opening ceremonies which were impressive and quaint, shocked at the co-ordination of thousands of performers. But maybe that's just it. Where other countries would have used the magic of hydraulics, they used people. With the drums pounding, it was reminiscent of the Sherwood Anderson story about the belt. People as machines. But that thought came later, later as I found out that the actual young singer had been deemed too "ugly" to perform. Later, when the single-minded pursuit of Olympic medals was apparent, when remarkably youthful gymnasts, some of whom had not seen their parents in a year, skirted legality, when table tennis was not a game. Later when two elderly ladies filed for a protest permit and were arrested, when others engaging in the same faux pas were sent to labor camps.

It was then that I realized that the Olympic face of China was just the face of the caged tiger. I, too, had been guilty of relativism. It was an impression heightened by Edwin Cody's fine piece in the Washington Post on how the Olympics may have strengthened the hand of the totalitarian State. One has to wonder. It is a consideration those who choose Olympic venues would do well to keep in mind.

Answer Me This: Dem Convention Questions

If you were a national party, and you really wanted to win the presidential election, would you have as speakers at your present convention the last candidate you ran for the office who was defeated, the one before him who was defeated, and a past President essentially booted out of office, Messrs. Kerry, Gore, and Carter?

And while we're on the subject of speakers, what was all the folderol about Michelle Obama? Did I miss something? Is she running for office? Not only is she a keynote speaker, but I channel surf right into her biography, lovingly narrated by her mother. What's with that? Are we going to get a night of Cindy McCain, too, at the RNC convention? Who cares? Please spare me spouses.

Telling It Like It Is

Cuba's nomenklatura does not believe that there is an inherent human right to political liberty and self-government. Raúl Castro and his inner circle are not closet democrats waiting for an opportune moment to express their Jeffersonian ideals
-José Azel in "Cuba's future: Democratic reforms key to real change" here.

Sunday at the Polls

Leadership. Now Ted Nugent is not usually my look to guy for political insight. I turn to him when I feel like asserting my rugged individualism. But this piece, posted on Townhall, ostensibly about "whiners" is spot on. His take: McCain is more "presidential." Besides the man has a point about whining.

Canvas. The incomparable Peggy Noonan weighs in with her take on why the election has turned into a horse race: the American people are paying attention. Particularly amusing is the anecdote she recounts about McCain's speech at the 2004 Republican convention. While sometimes unfortunate, Mr. McCain's sense of humor is part of his charm. Read it here.

Folly. Here's two to lighten up the morning. Seems the Obama camp couldn't resist a little payback. According to this, the 3AM Veep choice text message was taken as a dig at Hillary Clinton. Talk about adding insult to injury. You decide. And I've decided that this is the political cartoon of the week.

Character. Cuba's Angel Matos earned himself a lifetime ban from the Olympics by kicking the referee when disqualified at his Taekwondo match. Wonder what he earned himself back home? Oh well, at least he didn't defect. Read about it and watch it here.

Libations. I'm heartened to see one of the beers of my youth making a comeback. Pabst is making Schlitz again. Speaking of which, do they still sell Pabst Blue Ribbon? I can still hear the sibilations of my Dad saying, Scheeltssss.

Literary Interlude: from Walden

All this talk of wealth and houses brings us to Henry David Thoreau's Walden this fine summer eve. Did you know he once spent time on Staten Island as tutor to Emerson's brother's children? Have at it.

However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, thrilling, glorious hours, even in a poor-house. The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the almshouse as brightly as from the rich man's abode; the snow melts before its door as early in the spring. I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there, and have as cheering thoughts, as in a palace. The town's poor seem to me often to live the most independent lives of any. Maybe they are simply great enough to receive without misgiving. Most think that they are above being supported by the town; but it oftener happens that they are not above supporting themselves by dishonest means, which should be more disreputable. Cultivate poverty like a garden herb, like sage. Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends. Turn the old; return to them. Things do not change; we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts. God will see that you do not want society. If I were confined to a corner of a garret all my days, like a spider, the world would be just as large to me while I had my thoughts about me. The philosopher said: "From an army of three divisions one can take away its general, and put it in disorder; from the man the most abject and vulgar one cannot take away his thought." Do not seek so anxiously to be developed, to subject yourself to many influences to be played on; it is all dissipation. Humility like darkness reveals the heavenly lights. The shadows of poverty and meanness gather around us, "and lo! creation widens to our view." We are often reminded that if there were bestowed on us the wealth of Croesus, our aims must still be the same, and our means essentially the same. Moreover, if you are restricted in your range by poverty, if you cannot buy books and newspapers, for instance, you are but confined to the most significant and vital experiences; you are compelled to deal with the material which yields the most sugar and the most starch. It is life near the bone where it is sweetest. You are defended from being a trifler. No man loses ever on a lower level by magnanimity on a higher. Superfluous wealth can buy superfluities only. Money is not required to buy one necessary of the soul.

Meanderings: How Rich Are You?

The latest hullabaloo on the campaign trail revolves around which candidate lives more opulently or some such. To wit, Mr. McCain couldn't say how many houses he has. I think to myself, there goes a rich man and a wealthy one, too. I learned a long time ago that rich and wealthy are not necessarily synonymous. Obviously, having that much real estate would indicate that someone is wealthy. The notion of rich, however, is something altogether different.

Although I've been more fortunate than many for most of my life, I have never, ever, been wealthy. And as a single mother for a while, I've occasionally strayed into strapped territory. That's the place where every single dollar coming in- none from the government- is allotted to a necessary expense and where replacing a shower curtain requires "saving up" for the Kmart luxe version ($16). It's where you measure increasing success by buying your child an Oriental fan she will never use again for her upcoming role in The Mikado, and she looks at you in wonder, stricken by your easy agreement.

Now, rich is when you could easily replace that same shower curtain at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, although by now bargain hunting is an ingrained habit. It is walking through Walgreens and picking up toiletries without thinking about the cost. There's the crux, not thinking about it.

Rich people don't think about money; wealthy people might. Think Scrooge- wealthy, but not rich. Now, Mr. McCain is obviously rich. Once you cross that "I don't know how many houses I have my name on" line, you are one lucky, rich, sob. Mr. Obama, on the other hand, made 4 million dollars last year, an amount which easily classifies him as wealthy. The question then is "but is he rich?"

Quip of the Day

This week, Barack Obama's challenge is to select a running mate who's young, hip, and whose accomplishments in life don't overshadow Obama's. Allow me to suggest Kevin Federline.
-Anne Coulter in this week's column.

Told You So

I know, I know, nobody likes a know it all. Seems the Washington Post, actually more like the Commodities Futures Trading Commission has discovered the Mediterranean, or at least that (gasp) there has been speculation going on in the oil markets. One of the prime movers: a private Swiss energy conglomerate. Welcome the the world of the global economy. Read it here and weep.

NOBAMA here

A must have for those suffering from the early onset of Obama derangement syndrome. For about $35 dollars you, too, can get your very own lawn sign and bumper sticker set, as well as 12 issues of Townhall here.

Waiting...

"I have the ability to do it," Nunez says, "and I think opportunities should come. We have to be patient. I have bet on Cuba and on the future of Cuba, and that's why I'm here. We are simply waiting."
-from this NPR report

Given the upbeat nature of the headline, one would think the waiting was over. However, despite the glowing description of the few substantive changes in agriculture, even the article makes clear there are miles to go.

And while you're reading the article, don't miss the slide show of Cuban political posters. Reality, it ain't.

Paco Noir

For obvious reasons, Michael Moore is perhaps the most universally reviled celebrity in Cuban American circles. He is up there on the anathema scale with politician Charlie Rangel, although not quite. His tenure might be brief, a sort of 15 minutes of shame, while Rangel's long career as apologist renders him a lifetime member. So we'll enjoy An American Carol, whatever the quality of the movie. And today I'll enjoy a bit of humor at his expense over at Paco's. Cute.

Updated: Barometer Falling

Update: Looks like we dodged another one. While we're expecting tropical storm weather, it looks like it will hit further South. The last tropical storm around here was Gabrielle which hit the Friday of the week of the September 11th attacks. I remember because the electricity and subsequently the television went off in the middle of the national remembrance. Gabrielle created a block long pond in the back that almost made it to the house. Some very old trees in the neighborhood were toppled. In short, it was a mess. Mess, however, is something we can deal with.


At least, I think it should be. If you look to the east of about 8:30 PM on Tues in this NOAA graphic, you'll see my hometown of Sarasota. We Sarasotans are, like Miamians, a bit jaded (See George's post) if for a different reason. In Miami, they have seen it all. To them, this is routine. They all have shutters, generators, etc. After all, they went through Andrew. In Sarasota, we are routinely threatened with hurricanes, but they never seem to materialize. So although we go through the motions sometimes and gerryrig some plywood, we are like the villagers who have heard the cries of "wolf" a few too many times. Even Charley, the worst, took that right hook about 15 minutes before it would have hit us.



In those days, we were new at this approaching storm business, sitting in the darkness of our boarded up homes, glued to SNN where David Karnes was doing a yeoman's job and was more accurate than the national channels, when suddenly the angel of death bypassed our door. Such escapes lead to a rather cavalier attitude. There are some who say that this was Indian holy ground or some such, others that we are in some sort of magnetic vortex. I suspect we have been lucky.



A meteorologist on TV likened this storm to Charley, which was unsettling. This one seems to be heading up to Tampa, just as Charley was heading to Sarasota. Who's to say it won't take a quick right turn roundabout Sarasota way? Just in case, we have tin homemade shutters that once graced someone's roof, we can press into quick service. And we bought some clips we can use with plywood for the money pit next door. We're bound to have plywood around the house somewhere. Kerosene lamps? Check. Gallons of water? Check. Transistor radio? Batteries? Check. Candles? Check. Charcoal? Flashlights? Somewhere. Gasoline for the generator we inherited from someone who moved up North and have never started? Ouch. The gas station was out tonight. And you need to have those gas tanks filled avant le deluge. Oh, well, guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow. I'm not gonna kid you, folks, it's still scary.

(Blogger is not cooperating)

Sunday/Monday Double Bill

Did he, or didn't he? Republican congressional candidate Mike Erickson got caught with his metaphorical pants down. He took a little junket cum humanitarian mission down to Cuba during Cigar Week. According to the candidate, he took supplies to a medical center, the existence of which is in doubt. According to others on his tour, they picked up a couple of cases of supplies in Cancun to observe the legalities. Guy looks like a sanaco anyway.

Appearance versus reality. Here's yet another article/interview with Rachel Kushner about her Telex from Cuba. Raised in Haight Ashbury, graduate of Berkley and Columbia, Kushner seems stuck on the possibilities of the Revolution. Interesting, that. What almost all reviewers miss is that the novel may be set in Cuba, but it is not about Cuba.

Poet and prophet. At Townhall, Dinesh D'Souza marks the passing of Solzhenitsyn by highlighting not his opposition to Soviet oppression, a timely topic, but rather the criticism of Western society to be found in a 1978 address at Harvard. Thought provoking. Read it here. Speaking of appearances, there's something of the Tolstoy in that photo.

To be or not to be. Another interesting duo is to be found in Ben Shapiro's column about Obama vs. McCain. His point: Americans like their Presidents tough, ergo McCain's boots trump Obama's suits. From your computer to God's ears?

You say potato; I say potato. The Times (Brit) informs us that octopi do not have eight arms as was the general thought. No, the wily octopods have six arms and two legs.

Literary Interlude: Dead Animal Poems

Death of a Toad

A toad the power mower caught,
Chewed and clipped of a leg, with a hobbling hop has got
To the garden verge, and sanctuaried him
Under the cineraria leaves, in the shade
Of the ashen and heartshaped leaves, in a dim,
Low, and a final glade.

The rare original heartsbleed goes,
Spends in the earthen hide, in the folds and wizenings, flows
In the gutters of the banked and staring eyes. He lies
As still as if he would return to stone,
And soundlessly attending, dies
Toward some deep monotone,

Toward misted and ebullient seas

And cooling shores, toward lost Amphibia's emperies.

Day dwindles, drowning and at length is gone

In the wide and antique eyes, which still appear

To watch, across the castrate lawn,

The haggard daylight steer.

-Richard Wilbur

View of a Pig

The pig lay on a barrow dead.
It weighed, they said, as much as three men.
Its eyes closed, pink white eyelashes.
Its trotters stuck straight out.

Such weight and thick pink bulk
Set in death seemed not just dead.
It was less than lifeless, further off.
It was like a sack of wheat.

I thumped it without feeling remorse.
One feels guilty insulting the dead,
Walking on graves. But this pig
Did not seem able to accuse.

It was too dead. Just so much
A poundage of lard and pork.
Its last dignity had entirely gone.
It was not a figure of fun.

Too dead now to pity.
To remember its life, din, stronghold
Of earthly pleasure as it had been,
Seemed a false start, and off the point.

Too deadly factual. Its weight
Oppressed me---how could it be moved?
And the trouble of cutting it up!
The gash in its throat was shocking, but not pathetic.

Once I ran a fair in the noise
To catch a greased piglet
That was faster and nimbler than a cat,
Its squeal was the rending of metal.

Pigs must have hot blood, they feel like ovens.
Their bite is worse than a horse's---
They chop a half-moon clean out.
They eat cinders, dead cats.

Distinctions and admirations such
As this one was long finished with.
I stared at it a long time. They were going to scald it,
Scald it and scour it like a doorstep.

-Ted Hughes

Meanderings: A Mutable Frog

For the past 3 days, I've been watching a frog, deceased. It could be a toad, but the underside looks a bit too green. Our toads are generally dirt brown. The whole thing started because I'm always on the alert for stinging insects while in the vicinity of inanimate objects. We have many wasps in Florida who persist in building their nests on posts, railings, gazebos, even mail boxes, in short, anything that doesn't move and to which the unsuspecting human is likely to come into proximity. The size and striped markings of some are truly intimidating. I've learned, though, that it is the smaller, foul-tempered kind that are more likely to sting. On the bright side, at least we don't have yellow jackets circling our barbeques. Of course, the flies render them superfluous. A more aggressive and prolific class of fly I have never seen, except that unlike those in much of the South, they don't bite. For that we have the no-see-ums, mosquitos, and fire ants. Of these, the no-see-ums are the worst. They are teeny; they are impervious to bug spray; and they have the itchiest bite, a bite that returns to torment for days.

Anyway, on the first day, the cohort of flies alerted me to something by the storm drain. I looked, only to see them dive bombing an upside down frog. The frog looked pretty normal, and there were no signs of trauma on his underbelly. I wondered what had caused his death. Did he just suddenly croak, there by the safety of the drain pipe? He couldn't have dried out; it's been raining daily. And they like that. After a rain, his slimy and off key brethren come out and create a cacophony that would put the Budweiser commercial to shame. Perhaps, a bird had gotten him, and he rolled over. But he looked too intact. I mulled the evidence but stopped short of grabbing a stick to inquire. Curiosity and all, there is the cootie factor.

And so I forgot about him, until the next day. There he was, a little further down the incline and a bit puffier. The flies were gone, and on some level I realized his abdomen was distended by gas, but the thought of what else lay in there made me turn away.

Still, I've become fascinated by this process. Today, I went over to find him unmoved, deflated, whatever having escaped through a hole in his upper thoracic region. Overnight, he had developed a whole host of colors, the effect of which resembled those purples and yellows of a healing black and blue. There was a hideous beauty to it.

I slapped myself- mentally. What was I doing? Why was I drawn to this horrible, beautiful thing? Suddenly, a whole host of poems came to mind. There was DH Lawrence's experience with a snake, or the dead toad one, even the pig. Perhaps, this experience of death would lead me to a great insight about life. Naw. Just a dead frog/toad by the storm drain.

I'll save the insights for others.

Sometimes a Turnip is a Mailbox

I bet you thought, like I did that the late Julia Child was just a magnificent chef with a cheerful demeanor and a husky voice. Well, think again. Julia Child was a...a...spy. At least according to this report which outs such notables as Julia, John Ford, Arthur Schlesinger, etc. The good news- they were on our side.

Highways and Byways in Hidden Florida

It seems unbelievable, but there are still parts of the Florida that have not been overrun by mega-storied condos, McMansions or motels. If you'd like to see it, take a ride on Route 19 through the Ocala National Forest, as we did on our way to St Augustine Beach. I had stumbled on the beach years ago and decided to head there, hoping against hope that it had not been spoiled. I remembered it as a place frozen in time with huge swathes of dunes in between small motels and beach bungalows. It was the kind of place that had a laundromat on the seaward side of the beach strip.

Well, the laundromat was gone. I think my hotel was built partially on the site. And there were new hotels, but I'm happy to report that it has retained much of its character, perhaps because there isn't a building taller than 3 stories, perhaps because there is room to breathe there, despite the jumble of older cottages on the beach streets. The beach is magnificent, the sunrises breathtaking. The water, however, is chilly for this Gulf bather, and rip currents are common. But I loved it then, and I loved it now. There is no pretension, just a relaxing beachside resort, the kind we enjoyed as children.

Major development has taken place on the town side. Still development is to be expected and is not necessarily a bad thing. Now if you ride down the A1A along the coast and you will see much that development has missed. As you pass lonely outposts of condo developments or the occasional town, you run into surprising, unspoiled stretches.

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Not too far south of St. Augustine Beach is Fort Matanzas, site of a Federal park. It's an easy on and easy off, none of this driving into the dark unknown. Here whiting jump, and the water is all shades of azure against a landscape of sand and native scrub, and you can hear yourself breathe in the solitude. For an interesting stretch veer onto the old A1A where the road straddles the beach. Further down, you'll run into Marineland, a park that has remade itself, amidst various research outposts. In between, there are strata of development. Witness the 20's, 30's, 50's and other assorted decades up to the present. Of the greatest interest, however, are the innumerable parks that lead off the highway, each an adventure awaiting the motorist. The photo above came from just one of those off shoots. Incredible. I am left wondering about all those roads not taken. What did we miss?

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What I didn't miss was Daytona Beach with its gargantuan hostelries that dwarf the mere human being. Yet, even here there were vestiges of fifties kitsch. Just not my cup of tea, which reminds me...I've shared some secret places, but don't let anyone else in on them, lest they fall victim to what has happened to much of the rest of the state.

One Toke Over the Political Line

Obama's latest radio ad in Florida uses the phrase-after having a President "in the pocket" of big oil companies for 8 years- the implication being that McCain will also be beholden to big Oil. At first I assumed it to be from one of those loony lefty organizations, but, no, there comes the "I'm Barack Obama and I approved this message." Most unseemly to state baldly that the President has "been in the pocket" of anyone as it carries with it the implication of bribery. And unless such venality can be proven, it does little good to fling such an accusation loosely.

On to another situation some would question. Just got a solicitation for money to help the NBRA put up their billboards in Denver. The one in the picture is in South Carolina. They are up in FL, too. Don't know enough about MLK's political predilections, but you gotta love it.