(OH, WHAT A WEEK FOR) NOTES FROM A FRIDAY AFTERNOON
clinging to the guns of my
mind.
For your consideration: another curious collection
of thoughts, reactions, and observations that didn't make it into a full-length
post this week. So they're sort of like all those annoying, pre-primary,
pro-Hillary robocalls I've begun to get. But without the unlisted number. Or
the ear-splitting volume...
• Here endeth The Moratorium. It was painful -- especially this week -- but also quite refreshing. At the very least, it spared me a week of emails from people pissed off by nothing more than the (what's that word again?) audacity of truth.
• One of my most faithful and favorite readers -- we'll call him The Blizz -- emailed this week, lamenting the Moratorium but proving, in two deft sentences, that TWMers were doing an even better job than I could have in laying bare the hypocrisies of the week: By the way, words matter... But they only matter when they benefit me. When people try to use my words against me, then I'm going to say that they are playing semantic, political games and not dealing with the issues that really matter.
• While we're on the subject of double standards, I can't help but wonder whether some of the Obamans' outrage over the tone and tenor of Wednesday night's ABC Democratic Presidential Debate -- and please note that I said some, because much of it was surely justified; Gibson and Stephanopoulos demeaned both themselves and their profession with, among others, the lapel pin and Bill Ayers questions -- is a way to shift the focus away from, or maybe even to work out some frustrations over, how often, and how soundly, Senator Clinton outshone their candidate on the questions and issues that mattered. (Come back tomorrow for a post about one particularly telling example.)
• Those justified criticisms aside, the post-debate bristling and whining provided yet another example of how touchy and entitled, how haughty and supercilious and outright contemptuous Senator Obama and his supporters can be when they're the objects of anything less than loving adoration. And, once again, I have to laugh at the thought, the irony, the sheer (what's that word again?) audacity of the Obama campaign feeling suddenly besieged by a(n allegedly) biased media.
• That seems to me like a child who's been fed ice cream and cookies his whole life suddenly whining about the one or two times that someone stooped to serve him peas and carrots. Feel free to spit 'em out, kid, but don't think that gives you a right to complain about your diet.
• If only because people are still emailing about it, here's a little more reaction to TWM Uber Idol Bruce Springsteen endorsing TWM Mega Phony Barack Obama: It’s a beautiful and typically poetic piece of writing that I admire as much as anything else I've read about Obama. At least in part because of how broad and careful it is. You'll notice, in particular, that it praises the Senator in ideals but not in details' it notes that Obama “speaks to” the American ideals about which Springsteen has sung these past 36 years. Which is not the same as saying he "represents" or "embodies" or even "is able to deliver them." It seems to me that Bruce, like many of Obama’s supporters, is taking a big ol’ flyer here. He’s putting hope in the hope, and hoping it turns out not to be more than hype.
• It is also worth noting again, if only to be able to use one of my all-time favorite stand-up-comedy lines, that four years ago, Bruce Springsteen endorsed and even stumped for John Kerry, a man who, in losing to George W. Bush, performed, in the immortal words of Lewis Black, the political equivalent of a normal person losing in the Special Olympics.
• The Best Mock Attack Ad of the Primary Season may just be this one. Clever. And very funny.
• The Worst Robo-Call of the Primary Season (and probably even of the year) comes from the folks at the Civic Duty Coalition, who just left a message on my cell phone informing me that On Tuesday, April 22nd, we can make history -- we can choose to elect a war hero, we can choose to elect the first woman president, or we can choose to elect the first African-American president. Sounds like the copy writers at the Civic Duty Coalition need a few more Civics lessons. Or at least a reminder that we can't actually elect anyone to the presidency in a state primary.
• After stumbling upon a link to a 2001 BusinessWeek "analysis" in which Cliff Edwards explains Why Apple Stores Won't Work, it occurred to me that BusinessWeek really ought to offer an analysis that explains Why Business Analysts Don't Matter. They are, after all, only marginally more accurate than most meteorologists.
• After hours and hours (and hours) of gratuitous and, worse still, just plain boring coverage of the story this week, I'm thinking that NBC's Today Show should be renamed NBC's Polygamy Show.
• The next time babbling-judge- and shrieking-fan-favorite David Archuleta holds my attention throughout his entire American Idol performance will be the first.
• Alex Ovechkin was on the ice for 28 minutes of the Capitals' overtime loss to Philly last night. He had two assists on the power play, yes, but the two stats that really stand out are these: he had ten hits, but just one shot on goal. (He also played crappy defense and was on the ice for the Flyers' game-winning goal.) I had no idea that when the Caps gave him that new contract, they were paying him to become Eric Lindros.
• The Pens sweep the Sens, and suddenly people around these parts are worried that they're gonna be rusty, or that they're not gonna be able to keep their edge, or that they're gonna lose their focus with a week off before the second round. You know what, folks? Get a grip. And a clue. When they step on the ice next week, against a team that has played a five- or a six- or a seven-game series, they're going to be rested. And energized. And their opponents -- you know, the team without the rust, with the edge, and with the focus? They're going to be exhausted. By the second period, the Pens will shaken off the rust and regained whatever meager edge or focus they lost. And that other team? They're still gonna be exhausted.
• And, finally... In the spirit of this Tuesday's thank-God-it's-finally-here Pennsylvania primary, I should remind you that there's still time to cast your vote and/or make your nomination for this year's Official Muse of TWM. I'll announce the lovely Kate Beckinsale's no-doubt-just-as-lovely successor next Saturday, but I still haven't made up my mind. Or any other affected organs. So, TWM readers and Official delegates, this is your chance to cast aside your bitterness, stop clinging to your antipathy, and help me make history by influencing the election of a Muse We Can All Believe In...
• Here endeth The Moratorium. It was painful -- especially this week -- but also quite refreshing. At the very least, it spared me a week of emails from people pissed off by nothing more than the (what's that word again?) audacity of truth.
• One of my most faithful and favorite readers -- we'll call him The Blizz -- emailed this week, lamenting the Moratorium but proving, in two deft sentences, that TWMers were doing an even better job than I could have in laying bare the hypocrisies of the week: By the way, words matter... But they only matter when they benefit me. When people try to use my words against me, then I'm going to say that they are playing semantic, political games and not dealing with the issues that really matter.
• While we're on the subject of double standards, I can't help but wonder whether some of the Obamans' outrage over the tone and tenor of Wednesday night's ABC Democratic Presidential Debate -- and please note that I said some, because much of it was surely justified; Gibson and Stephanopoulos demeaned both themselves and their profession with, among others, the lapel pin and Bill Ayers questions -- is a way to shift the focus away from, or maybe even to work out some frustrations over, how often, and how soundly, Senator Clinton outshone their candidate on the questions and issues that mattered. (Come back tomorrow for a post about one particularly telling example.)
• Those justified criticisms aside, the post-debate bristling and whining provided yet another example of how touchy and entitled, how haughty and supercilious and outright contemptuous Senator Obama and his supporters can be when they're the objects of anything less than loving adoration. And, once again, I have to laugh at the thought, the irony, the sheer (what's that word again?) audacity of the Obama campaign feeling suddenly besieged by a(n allegedly) biased media.
• That seems to me like a child who's been fed ice cream and cookies his whole life suddenly whining about the one or two times that someone stooped to serve him peas and carrots. Feel free to spit 'em out, kid, but don't think that gives you a right to complain about your diet.
• If only because people are still emailing about it, here's a little more reaction to TWM Uber Idol Bruce Springsteen endorsing TWM Mega Phony Barack Obama: It’s a beautiful and typically poetic piece of writing that I admire as much as anything else I've read about Obama. At least in part because of how broad and careful it is. You'll notice, in particular, that it praises the Senator in ideals but not in details' it notes that Obama “speaks to” the American ideals about which Springsteen has sung these past 36 years. Which is not the same as saying he "represents" or "embodies" or even "is able to deliver them." It seems to me that Bruce, like many of Obama’s supporters, is taking a big ol’ flyer here. He’s putting hope in the hope, and hoping it turns out not to be more than hype.
• It is also worth noting again, if only to be able to use one of my all-time favorite stand-up-comedy lines, that four years ago, Bruce Springsteen endorsed and even stumped for John Kerry, a man who, in losing to George W. Bush, performed, in the immortal words of Lewis Black, the political equivalent of a normal person losing in the Special Olympics.
• The Best Mock Attack Ad of the Primary Season may just be this one. Clever. And very funny.
• The Worst Robo-Call of the Primary Season (and probably even of the year) comes from the folks at the Civic Duty Coalition, who just left a message on my cell phone informing me that On Tuesday, April 22nd, we can make history -- we can choose to elect a war hero, we can choose to elect the first woman president, or we can choose to elect the first African-American president. Sounds like the copy writers at the Civic Duty Coalition need a few more Civics lessons. Or at least a reminder that we can't actually elect anyone to the presidency in a state primary.
• After stumbling upon a link to a 2001 BusinessWeek "analysis" in which Cliff Edwards explains Why Apple Stores Won't Work, it occurred to me that BusinessWeek really ought to offer an analysis that explains Why Business Analysts Don't Matter. They are, after all, only marginally more accurate than most meteorologists.
• After hours and hours (and hours) of gratuitous and, worse still, just plain boring coverage of the story this week, I'm thinking that NBC's Today Show should be renamed NBC's Polygamy Show.
• The next time babbling-judge- and shrieking-fan-favorite David Archuleta holds my attention throughout his entire American Idol performance will be the first.
• Alex Ovechkin was on the ice for 28 minutes of the Capitals' overtime loss to Philly last night. He had two assists on the power play, yes, but the two stats that really stand out are these: he had ten hits, but just one shot on goal. (He also played crappy defense and was on the ice for the Flyers' game-winning goal.) I had no idea that when the Caps gave him that new contract, they were paying him to become Eric Lindros.
• The Pens sweep the Sens, and suddenly people around these parts are worried that they're gonna be rusty, or that they're not gonna be able to keep their edge, or that they're gonna lose their focus with a week off before the second round. You know what, folks? Get a grip. And a clue. When they step on the ice next week, against a team that has played a five- or a six- or a seven-game series, they're going to be rested. And energized. And their opponents -- you know, the team without the rust, with the edge, and with the focus? They're going to be exhausted. By the second period, the Pens will shaken off the rust and regained whatever meager edge or focus they lost. And that other team? They're still gonna be exhausted.
• And, finally... In the spirit of this Tuesday's thank-God-it's-finally-here Pennsylvania primary, I should remind you that there's still time to cast your vote and/or make your nomination for this year's Official Muse of TWM. I'll announce the lovely Kate Beckinsale's no-doubt-just-as-lovely successor next Saturday, but I still haven't made up my mind. Or any other affected organs. So, TWM readers and Official delegates, this is your chance to cast aside your bitterness, stop clinging to your antipathy, and help me make history by influencing the election of a Muse We Can All Believe In...
Posted: Fri - April 18, 2008 at 03:26 PM
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Published On: Apr 18, 2008 04:29 PM
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Published On: Apr 18, 2008 04:29 PM