The Other Clinton

I just love this.

Yeah Baby!

I thought The Speech last night was a grand slam. It did everything it was supposed to do in spades. It laid out a clear distinction between the 2 candidates and the 2 parties. It rallied the faithful, and presented the central themes of the campaign.

I never thought I'd go all tingly over the word "citizenship."

The left, Digby among others, is not happy because of his apparent embrace of the terms laid down by the Simpson-Bowles "Catfood" Commission on the debt.   The right, as is to be expected, complains about "lack of substance," especially Charles Krauthammer.  Andrew Sullivan, on the other hand, gushed over the speech, "I loved him. But I'm biased. I think he's been the best thing to happen to America in a long time and he has achieved more in tougher circumstances against historical odds than anyone has a right to expect."

This was not supposed to be the State of the Union speech.  This was supposed to be part pep rally and part revival with a large amount of sales pitch thrown in.  This was not about laying out a detailed policy proposal for the next term.  This was supposed to be about framing the contest as a choice between 2 sharply different visions for the future of the United States.  This was about about presenting the case for why he should get another term, as a champion of an older vision of the USA that sees liberty bound up with citizenship and community, not as some kind of rat race.  The speech was about rallying the ground troops who are going to work phone banks, ring door bells, pass out literature, work crowds, and host events in last and hardest 2 months of the campaign.

Unlike some pundits, I do not miss the old party conventions where delegates argued and struggled over who would be the candidate.  There are good reasons why the primary and caucus system replaced the old "smoke filled room."  The party convention is now a necessary spectacle and revival meeting for the faithful, as well as a sales opportunity to those outside the hall.

I have my issues with Obama certainly.  But that central theme he laid out of liberty guaranteed by the duties of citizenship certainly pressed my buttons.  He's not a perfect President by any means, but he's the best we've had in decades.
Here's hoping all's well in November.

EXTRA:

James Fallows has the best take on the speech after a day's reflection on it.  He gives it far more credit than did The Conventional Wisdom.

The Kids Are Alright

An Old Friend

Now that the Reverend Moon is dead, I wonder if anyone out there on the Internet has seen or heard anything from this person in the last 30 years.  Laura Hanley was a close friend of mine in high school.  She joined the Moonies sometime around 1980 in Providence, RI.  I last heard from her about 1981, and I haven't seen or heard anything from her or about her since.

I wonder if anyone out there has any news about her.

This is a high school photograph from 1976.

I'm apparently not the only one* still carrying a torch for Laura.  The Laura Hanley described in this link is definitely the one I knew, though I never knew Mr. Turnage.  He was deeply in love with her.  For me, she was a very dear friend who helped me through a very dark period in my early life.  I hope the both of us find her, or at least some news about her.  I just hope that all is well with her where ever she is.

* For some reason, Blogger refuses to recognize the link.  So copy this into your browser if you want to see it:

http://jpturnage.blogspot.com/2009/12/for-laura-hanley-wherever-this-may-find.html

The Messiah Dies at Age 92 and Leaves Behind an Empire

Messiah Moon died yesterday in Korea.  I wish I could say that I'm sorry to see him go, but I'm not.  I lost a good friend to him about 30 years ago.

He turned his religion into an immense and powerful international corporate empire.  He became a force to be reckoned with in right wing politics through his newspaper, The Washington Times, through his other publishing and broadcast holdings, and through his lavish financial support.  Right wing Catholic and Evangelical Congressional Reps bent their knees before Moon's crowned head.

It always amazes me how mortal enemies, like close friends, so frequently end up looking like each other.  Here are two mass spectacles in Korea honoring respective god kings.  Both are magnificent and barbaric.

Aromas

Did a little cooking tonight, and it occurred to me that of all the senses, the one that gets the least attention is smell.  The eye has art and scenery.  The ear has music and birds.  The tongue has food and wine.  The skin has sex.  But what about the nose?  Are there any sensations through my schnozz that make me glad to be alive?  And the answer is yes.

My favorite is the smell of rain.
Then there's the smell of mint, especially wild mint that I remember growing in mountain meadows in the Rockies when I was a boy.
I love the smell of a fresh clove of garlic when I chop it.
I love sniffing fresh ground pepper, sneeze or not.
Frying bacon is a lifelong favorite.
I love the smell of a freshly opened box of tea.
There are any number of flower smells that I love, but I particularly miss honeysuckle from my Southern days.  Up here in Yankee-land, I always stop to smell the lilacs in the spring time.

Is there anything that ever wafted up your nose that made you feel glad to be alive?

The Future That Was

This is the closing credits theme from 'The 21st Century', a Things-To-Come show by CBS News that ran from 1967 - 1969, and was narrated by Walter Cronkite.





Little did Walter Cronkite or CBS News, or anyone else in 1967 - 69, have any idea just how trashy the future would be. Sure we got The Internet, fiber-optic technology, laser surgery, etc. But we also got Internet porn, botox, Honey Boo Boo, and Facebook memes.

The only reason we never pursued space exploration any further was because we're too lazy and cheap, not because it's any more difficult than it was in the 1960s.  Besides, we don't want to miss 'American Idol.'