Memos to Mom

Ricky Gervais on the Graham Norton show

2009-10-13T10:32:00.000-04:00

I love Ricky and I love the Graham Norton show. Enjoy a laugh

Poetry about Michael

2009-07-07T16:02:00.004-04:00

These words, by Maya Angelou, a poem entitled "We Had Him" were relayed by Queen Latifah. Very moving.

We Had Him by Maya Angelou

Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing, now that our bright and shining star can slip away from our fingertips like a puff of summer wind.

Without notice, our dear love can escape our doting embrace. Sing our songs among the stars and walk our dances across the face of the moon. In the instant that Michael is gone, we know nothing. No clocks can tell time. No oceans can rush our tides with the abrupt absence of our treasure.

Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone.

Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us and we did have him.

He came to us from the creator, trailing creativity in abundance.

Despite the anguish, his life was sheathed in mother love, family love, and survived and did more than that.

He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style. We had him whether we know who he was or did not know, he was ours and we were his.

We had him, beautiful, delighting our eyes.

His hat, aslant over his brow, and took a pose on his toes for all of us.

And we laughed and stomped our feet for him.

We were enchanted with his passion because he held nothing. He gave us all he had been given.

Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower, in Ghana's Black Star Square.

In Johannesburg and Pittsburgh, in Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England

We are missing Michael.

But we do know we had him, and we are the world.

Brooke Shield quoted The Little Prince -

"What moves me so deeply about this sleeping little prince is his loyalty to a flower--the image of a rose shining within him like a flame within a lamp, even when he's asleep... And I realized he was even more fragile than I thought. Lamps must be protected. A gust of wind can blow them out."

And -

Eyes are blind, you have to look with the heart, what is most important is invisible.

Brooke did the best at humanizing Michael Jackson.

He (and Brooke) were came of age when I did - in the 80s. Not just his music, yes, that. But his dance moves. His magic moves greatly influenced the choreography I danced and performed as a teenager ; I see it now in the videos. And later too, just for fun, on the Mug floor. He was of my age.

Now he belongs to the ages.

"Feeling, Soul and Know. He Had a Lot of Know"

2009-07-07T15:58:00.003-04:00

"He had to know something to sing that song like that."- Smokey Robinson

After a video of the Jackson 5 performing “Who’s Lovin’ You,” Smokey Robinson, who
wrote it, marveled at the 10-year-old Michael’s ability to sing these lyrics -

Who’s Lovin’ You

When I had you, I treated you bad and wrong my dear

And girl since, since you went away

Don’t you know I sit around with my head hanging down

And I wonder who’s lovin’ you

I,I,I,I,I should have never ever, ever made you cry

And girl since, since you’ve been gone

Don’t you know I sit around with my head hanging down

And I wonder who’s lovin’ you

Life without love is oh, so lonely

I don’t think, I don’t thin I’m gonna make it

All my love, all my love, yeah, belongs to you only

Come on and take it, girl, come on and take it

Because I, all I can do, all I can do

Since you been gone is cry

And you, and ever wonder or worry your pretty little head

“Bout what I do

Don’t you know I sit around with my head hanging down

And I wonder who’s lovin’ you

Who’s lovin’ you

Near Miss

2009-07-07T10:34:00.000-04:00

Wow.

Last night Olbermann assembled a medley of Palin moments from over the last 11 months. Quite frightening to see all together and quite a sense of just missed disaster. And a reminder of what a remarkable campaign it was.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Enjoy!

Two Smart Ladies Have It on Palin, Sanford & More

2009-07-06T14:46:00.001-04:00

Here's Michelle Goldberg, whose essay at The Daily Beast I highlighted over the weekend, and Ann Althouse discussing Palin, Sanford and Edwards.

(Yes, that Ann Althouse who met her husband online, via the comments section of her blog. See Commoner Captures Princess, Blog Version from The New York Times, April of this year.)

View of Caesar Augustus' Home

2009-07-06T14:17:00.002-04:00

My mom loved Steven Saylor's mysteries set in ancient Rome. And it was her favorite city to visit. As a lover of history she'd appreciated this report from the BBC (h/t The Washington Note):

This BBC news video, from March 2008, offers a tour of four restored rooms in Emperor Caesar Augustus' first home on the Palatine Hill. Pretty amazing.

That Mark McKinnon Helped Palin

2009-07-04T14:59:00.003-04:00

To me, one of the most surprising revelations of Todd Purdum's It Came From Wasilla was the role Mark McKinnon played in preparing Palin for the Vice Presidential debate last fall.

By this point, Palin’s relations with Nicolle Wallace—a veteran of the Bush White House and a former CBS News analyst who had tried to help Palin get ready for the Couric interview, and whom Palin blamed for the result—were so strained that campaign aides cast about for someone who could serve as a calming presence: Palin’s horse whisperer. They settled on Mark McKinnon, a smart, funny, soft-spoken former Democrat from Texas. McKinnon had long admired McCain, and had begun the Republican primary season helping him out—though warning that he would never work against Obama in the general election. But now McKinnon, whose role in helping prepare Palin has not been previously reported, and who declined to elaborate on it to V.F., changed his mind and quietly signed on.

Well, I'd admired him, for his anti-Rove posture. Turned out to be false.

McKinnonwrites now for The Daily Beast and shared more information about his role, how he rationalized it (having said he'd do nothing to attack Obama), and what he knows about How Her Mind Works. First his rationalization (and a peak of how desperate they were)

I spent a total of three hours of the entire campaign with Palin. A week before her debate, I got a call out of the blue asking if I could spend the next week helping run Palin’s debate preparation. There was clearly an emergency at hand. But, cognizant of my pledge not to campaign against Obama because I didn’t want to be the tip of the spear attacking him, which led to my departure from the campaign in June, I was worried that this exercise would inevitably drag me into uncomfortable territory. So, I said no. My friends, clearly in a desperate situation pleaded with me to reconsider. I didn’t want to totally let them down, so I compromised in a way that satisfied my own conscience. I agreed to spend one initial session, about three hours, with Palin talking about basic debate techniques and fundamentals. But, made clear that I would not participate in any discussions about strategies to attack Obama.

This take gives me no comfort:

She is one of the most fascinating women I have ever met. She crackles with energy like a live electrical wire and on first meeting gets about three inches from your face. Her instant subliminal message is: “I don’t know you very well, but I’m very clear about who I am.” She reeks of moxie and self confidence. And she’s fearless.

Well, she was mostly fearless when I intersected with her. But, she was also a week out from a nationally televised debate with Joe Biden, and she knew she was in trouble. She knew she wasn’t prepared. And she knew it would be difficult, maybe impossible to be ready. And the brief session I witnessed, verified as much and I was convinced the debate would be a disaster. But, despite the crushingly stressful situation in which she found herself, and despite the aching vulnerability, she squared up in her uniquely Palin way and made it clear to all of us in the room that she was going to bear down, get ready, and was not, under any circumstances, going to let John McCain down. But, I frankly thought she would.

But damned if she didn’t. I watched the debate on television from Austin and was stunned. The difference in the person I’d seen just five days earlier and the woman I saw step onto the stage with Joe Biden was a complete transformation. Granted, expectations were low, but she cleared ‘em.

Politicians and Narcissism

2009-07-04T14:24:00.002-04:00

Michelle Goldberg, writing over at The Daily Beast originally titled this Is She A Narcissist, and then after Palin's strange resignation updated the piece and changed the title: Palin Has Really Gone Rogue.

Politics has always attracted the deeply screwed up, but our current political system seems to do so more than most. Perhaps that’s because healthy people looking to make their mark on the world don’t want to subject themselves to the inquisitorial media attention or crushing vapidity of modern campaigning. The gloriously sane Barack Obama is the exception that proves the rule—watch people wonder at his unfeigned affection for his family, the fact that he doesn’t seem desperate for praise. Success in our politics often requires a voracious, antinomian egotism, a sense that rules are for others.

Obama is no exception to that egotism, but he is more normal and smarter than most politicians. People with his talents rarely go into public service.

Here's the interesting take:

The Alaska governor shares the personality flaws of many of her male peers, but there’s no evidence she express them via the preferred method of politicians like John Edwards or Mark Sanford—by being sexually reckless....Palin may have gone rogue on John McCain, had public feuds with her grandson’s teenage father, turned on loyal aids, flubbed interviews, spent tens of thousands of other people’s money on clothes, told countless lies and now walked away from her responsibilities, but as far as we know she hasn’t cheated on her husband. If congenital narcissists dominate our politics, Palin may still be just the narcissist the GOP needs.

Palin Hits 30 (Public) Lies

2009-07-02T15:18:00.000-04:00

Andrew Sullivan has been tracking the lies of Sarah Palin and he's now up to thirty. He is quiet opinionated and pithy and sharp, which I appreciate even when I disagree with him (which isn't often).

Here he is on the 30th lie, the about the band-aid

The point is not that this is a grave sin. It isn't. Most of her lies aren't (with a few exceptions). They are just a function of someone who makes stories up all the time, who says things that may momentarily impress but that are inconsistent with past statements and with, you know, reality. That's why I'm such a skeptic about everything she does. And why I've come to believe that you need documentation to verify every strange story she tells.-- AS (like you didn't know)

Unfortunately, I know others like this so witnessing the unraveling of her lies has been instructive.

The Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart

2009-07-02T12:16:00.000-04:00

It's worth the re-posting The Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart, after that announcement yesterday, and this new twist on her debate prep.

Does Palin Still Matter?

2009-07-01T15:25:00.001-04:00

Here's a summary from Politico on the infighting amid the GOP regarding Todd Purnam's piece in Vanity Fair - Sarah Palin Story Sparks Republican Family Feud.

What's concerning is that if the emotions are still so strongly felt, and they're all fighting about her, she's still deemed relevant.

The vitriol also suggests the degree to which Palin remains a Rorschach test not simply to Republicans nationally but within a tight circle of elite operatives and commentators, many of whom seem ready to carry their arguments in 2012. Was Palin a fresh talent whose debut was mishandled by self-serving campaign insiders, or an eccentric “diva” who had no business on the national stage? Going forward, does she offer a conservative and charismatic face for a demoralized and star-less party? Or is she a loose cannon who should be consigned to the tabloids where she can reside in perpetuity with other flash-in-the-pan sensations?

The end of the piece had me laughing out loud. Purnam answered exactly as I would have. In fact, I've used Google to check out the symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Kristol only reveals himself as completely out of it - hmm, not that "well educated."

In his post, Kristol also criticized Purdum for writing that several Alaskans had told him during the reporting of the piece that they had checked the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders definition of “narcissistic personality disorder” and found it fit their governor.

“Is there any real chance that ‘several’ Alaskans independently told Purdum that they had consulted the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders?” Kristol wrote. “I don’t believe it for a moment. I’ve (for better or worse) moved in pretty well-educated circles in my life, and I’ve gone decades without ‘several’ people telling me they had consulted the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.”

In response, Purdum, a Princeton graduate, wrote of his Harvard-degreed critic: “I'm not nearly as well-educated as Bill, but the great Irving Berlin taught me that ‘you don't have to go to a private school not to pick up a penny near a stubborn mule.’ In the age of Google, I'm confident that plenty of Alaskans know more about finding medical reference works – and all sorts of other knowledge – than Bill thinks they do.”

Obama the Writer Celebrates Artists

2009-01-18T16:02:00.001-05:00

I am loving the concert - all music I know - which is a rarity. Forrest Whitaker just read these very lines from Faulkner's banquet speech when he accepted the Noble Prize.

It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet's voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail.

I read elsewhere that Faulkner was drunk, had to be lied to in order to get him on the plane to Norway, he just didn't want to go.

Thank goodness he did.

Can read the full text here.

Thank goodness Obama is an artist and a writer himself. A new day.

AT&T - The Worst Company in the World

2009-01-04T09:55:00.000-05:00

This is a pretty funny - because we all have had these experiences with phone companies - rendition of what occurs when in addition to trying to get services up and running you also try and correct grammar.

Stanley Fish calls it The Return of the Old Grouch, but who wouldn't be grouchy after dealing with such ineptitude?

What has happen to America?

My Mother's Family

2009-01-01T20:30:00.000-05:00

Here is an op-ed that I would have discussed with my mother. Her Italian family was from that region of Italy, Reggio di Calabria. Plus she and my dad were married on the Feast of Holy Innocents (December 28th).

This bit of personal family history about a catastrophic tidal wave that hit southern Italy on that date, this past Sunday - A Deadly Wave, a Lucky Star.

Quite a story.

New Year Poems

2009-01-01T07:44:00.000-05:00

Mild is the Parting Year
BY WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR

Mild is the parting year, and sweet
The odour of the falling spray;
Life passes on more rudely fleet,
And balmless is its closing day.

I wait its close, I court its gloom,
But mourn that never must there fall
Or on my breast or on my tomb
The tear that would have soothed it all.

Burning the Old Year
BY NAOMI SHIHAB NYE

Letters swallow themselves in seconds.
Notes friends tied to the doorknob,
transparent scarlet paper,
sizzle like moth wings,
marry the air.

So much of any year is flammable,
lists of vegetables, partial poems.
Orange swirling flame of days,
so little is a stone.

Where there was something and suddenly isn’t,
an absence shouts, celebrates, leaves a space.
I begin again with the smallest numbers.

Quick dance, shuffle of losses and leaves,
only the things I didn’t do
crackle after the blazing dies.

West Wing Obama Style

2008-12-31T17:03:00.001-05:00

Much has been made of the strange similarity between the final season of West Wing and 2008. This is pretty cool and the logical culmination of the political year:

David Gregory: "Goofily Hollow"

2008-12-08T20:53:00.005-05:00

Here's Mickey Kaus (Slate, Bloggingheads.tv) on the David Gregory pick opines today.

I couldn't agree more. I've NEVER heard David Gregory say an original thing either, as I noted here a week ago. But Kaus probably knows him better than I do, so it's reassuring to have the back up.

The Right Man: "It brings out the kid in all of us," reports the N.Y. Daily News, quoting one Greg Packer, 44, of Huntington, L.I.:

"It's that sense of togetherness that keeps me coming back."

Packer, of course, is "the entire media's designated 'man on the street' for all articles ever written." The secret of his success, it's pretty clear, is that he always spouts the CW that mainstream newspaper editors want to hear (and think their readers want to read). ... Hmm. David Gregory has just been made moderator of Meet the Press. The secret of Gregory's success seems to be that he always spouts the CW that his mainstream producers want to hear (and think their viewers want to hear too).

Wouldn't Packer be better? I mean, he's got Gregory's unerring CW-spouting capacity, plus he's got Tim Russert-style blue collar street cred. He's a "highway maintenance worker," for Chrissakes! I think NBC missed a bet here. ...

P.S.: How bad a choice was Gregory? Let me put it this way: I've heard George Stephanopoulos say interesting things. I've heard Tom Brokaw say interesting things. I've heard Mort Kondracke say interesting things. I've heard David Broder say interesting things, and Norah O'Donnell and David Gergen and Gwen Ifill and even (once) Sam Donaldson. I heard Tim Russert say interesting things. I've never heard David Gregory say an interesting thing. He is a can't-miss discussion-killer--the Sunday morning equivalent of Senator Montoya. ... But that's an insult to Sen. Montoya. Montoya didn't actually drain the Watergate hearings of interest. He just gave everyone a chance to take a brief break. ... P.P.S.: Gregory seems not straightforwardly dull, but somehow goofily hollow. Hard to believe those people out "beyond the Potomac and beyond the Hudson River in New York City" won't pick up on this. ... [They say he's good on Imus--ed Imus won't be there.] ...[link via RS's feed]1:34 A.M.

NBC Makes Another Crazy Call

2008-12-08T20:49:00.004-05:00

Idiotic move. If true that's two for two for week for NBC (actually 3 for 3 but third is a private infuriating matter).

Jay Leno is going to be on every week night at 10 pm, the New York Times reports.

He is not funny. And his "Jay Walking" in which stupidity and ignorance is held up as funny and admirable and showcases and makes stars of idiots is the worst thing on television. I said so 12 years ago, and it's even more true today. Thank you, Jay, for Sarah Palin.

Now I can retire when I should without being worried about missing Law & Order or ER.

More From Colbert's Christmas

2008-12-08T20:40:00.002-05:00

This is a beautiful song and piercingly funny - against evangelists, Christians and Muslims, atheists too. Really original but most of all a lovely melody. With Elvis Costello. Enjoy "There Are Much Worse Things To Believe In"

The Irony (& Lesson) of The Best And The Brightest

2008-12-07T21:59:00.002-05:00

Frank Rich is always good and even better here citing Halberstam (whose writing I love). Rich reminds us that "The Best and The Brightest" title ironically captured the narrative that unfolded - how Kennedy's bright advisers led us into Vietnam. It's a great book. And Rich does a service reminding us here in his column: The Brightest Are Not Always the Best.

And he's not so worried about Obama's security team, but rather the economic, reminding us that these guys pushed along bankign deregulation under Clinton. (They did the same in my field - telecommunications - I remember being incredulous and arguing a lot with my friends in the field).

He finishes with Rubin - and doesn't even mention the worse. But he says enough and in the end says that Rubin absence now may show Obama to be bright and wise.

Don't miss story of what Sam Rayburn said to Johnson. For history buffs, it's a great book.

Opening the White House

2008-12-07T18:00:00.000-05:00

There was much of interest in this morning's Meet the Press interview with Obama, but the end excited me the most: first Obama makes politics cool; next up poetry.

MR. BROKAW: And General Shinseki was right.

Let me ask you as we conclude this program this morning about whether you and Michelle have had any discussions about the impact that you're going to have on this country in other ways besides international and domestic policies. You're going to have a huge impact, culturally, in terms of the tone of the country.

PRES.-ELECT OBAMA: Right.

MR. BROKAW: Who are the kinds of artists that you would like to bring to the White House?

PRES.-ELECT OBAMA: Oh, well, you know, we have thought about this because part of what we want to do is to open up the White House and, and remind people this is, this is the people's house. There is an incredible bully pulpit to be used when it comes to, for example, education. Yes, we're going to have an education policy. Yes, we're going to be putting more money into school construction. But, ultimately, we want to talk about parents reading to their kids. We want to invite kids from local schools into the White House. When it comes to science, elevating science once again, and having lectures in the White House where people are talking about traveling to the stars or breaking down atoms, inspiring our youth to get a sense of what discovery is all about. Thinking about the diversity of our culture and, and inviting jazz musicians and classical musicians and poetry readings in the White House so that, once again, we appreciate this incredible tapestry that's America. I--you know, that, I think, is, is going to be incredibly important, particularly because we're going through hard times. And, historically, what has always brought us through hard times is that national character, that sense of optimism, that willingness to look forward, that, that sense that better days are ahead. I think that our art and our culture, our science, you know, that's the essence of what makes America special, and, and we want to project that as much as possible in the White House.

As he began that answer I thought to myself, but say why the arts are important, especially now. And then he did. (That happened a couple of times and more often than ever, what comes out of his mouth is exactly what I'm thinking and hoping will come out of his mouth).

As someone who worked who started her professional career working for the Congressional Arts Caucus (and later for PBS), I strongly believe in the importance of arts - literature and music and theater in our cultural and civic life.   So hearing this so excited me. Our new president is a writer, a good one.

When I think of this, it all seems unbelievable to me! He is really going to be our President.

The other aspect that excited me was his statement that the White House needs to be open. I'm not sure what that means beyond what he stated above, but I hope it means more than that.

For those of us who have lived in DC for the last 20 years, so much has been barricaded off.   One used to be able to drive right by the White House - north or south of it.   Now, all is blocked. Not only do the road closures wreck havoc in the community, the message these concrete walls send is horrible. Obama seems to understand that - both the importance of the relationship to the immediate community of DC, and the message such a lock-down sends.

Here's hoping he opens the White House not only to local students, but allows local traffic to go by without locals having to be reminded of nefarious threats.

A Fresh Look at Van Gogh's Starry Starry Night

2008-12-07T17:55:00.000-05:00

I spoke with my dear friend Claudette last night and she reminded me of this most amazing art video. Basically, you enter Van Gogh's Starry Night, in 3-D. She told me of showing it to her art students and a young boy, around 3rd grade, was so entranced he admonished another classmate - "Sit down! I can't see Van Gogh!"

And the music is Don McLean.

Enjoy -

Christopher Buckley Amuses Again, on Acela

2008-12-06T20:03:00.000-05:00

Hilarious! The Nazi of the Quiet Car by Christopher Buckley.

I too have had these thoughts in the quiet car of the Acela between DC and NY but I never did any thing about the peace breakers.

And I didn't write 6 books while doing so or shh the FBI Director either.

On DC Statehood

2008-12-06T19:18:00.001-05:00

I support DC statehood. Here's the official site that promotes voting rights for DC residents - DC Votes.

As noted here, DC is more populated than many states.

Matthew Yglesias proposes a federal city - outlined above - that is much smaller than DC now, with the only inhabitants being the First Family.

Either that or we should be exempt from federal tax, as Alex Massie proposes.

But what about a grand bargain? In return for not having a vote in Congress, how about abolishing the federal income tax for DC residents? I suspect there are many who'd be all in favour of that. And of course such a move would do more to repopulate the city - complete with the kind of urban density Matt's in favour of - and regenerate its schools and so on than just about anything else.

Andrew Sullivan supports Massie's idea, and adds, We could become Hong Kong on the Potomac.

James Joyner suggests a third option: Maryland reabsorbs DC. He argues that DC Statehood violates "serious principles," such as it's geographical too small (20x smaller than Rhode Island); that the tiny states in New England never should have been created (because they are too small); DC is not a "state-like" entity (whatever that means). None of these seem like principles to me.

He finishes with this flair:

So, what’s the rational argument for giving DC two Senators when twenty-six other cities and 49 of 50 states are bigger? There is none.

Well, yes there is - residents of DC are taxed by the federal government and have no voting representation in Congress.

Didn't we fight a revolution over taxation with no representation???

Alexandria, Virginia was originally to be part of DC, but Virginia took it back in 1847. That's where James Joyner now lives. Hmmmmm.

With this election, DC residents can finally hope - for some resolution to the injustice. Thank you Obama.

Bill Clinton - Again Trouble

2008-12-06T15:52:00.000-05:00

This trouble is exactly what makes me nervous about Hillary as Secretary of State. Bill saying anything and then taking (in order to take?) money from international scoundrels and worse.

From Friday's New York Times, Bill Clinton Speech in Malaysia Irks Investors.

Mr. Clinton spoke before nearly 3,000 people in Kuala Lumpur at the invitation of Vinod Sekhar, a Malaysian businessman whose foundation paid Mr. Clinton $200,000, according to several people with knowledge of the fee. The figure is on the lower end of the scale that Mr. Clinton usually commands for his speeches.
“You should be proud of this man,” Mr. Clinton told the audience, pointing at Mr. Sekhar, the 40-year-old chief executive of the Petra Group, a privately held rubber technology company.
But several angry investors in Britain and Malaysia say they disagree with the former president’s glowing assessment of Mr. Sekhar, whose company has suffered a rough few weeks.
“I believe he is using Bill Clinton — this is what he does,” said Abdul Azim Zabidi, a former board member of the Petra Group who claims Mr. Sekhar broke numerous promises to him and still owes him $100,000. “He just wants to get new investors.”

Even if Bill wants to stop for the sake of his wife, even if Obama has shackles on him - the man has not evidence an abundance of personal discipline.

I remain uneasy.