Wednesday, August 25, 2004

What Katie says Norman Mailer Says
So I'm visiting Katie Laris in Santa Barbara. It's beautiful here. We had a lot of fun at the beach today. While our children were screaming for us to join them in the water, no doubt seriously in danger of drowning, Katie and I were riveted in conversation on the beach.

Katie scorned me for listening to Air America instead of Amy Goodman's Democracy Now--like you could only listen to one or the other. She said that recently she heard Norman Mailer being interviewed on Democracy Now. She says Norman Mailer quoted either Lenin or Trotsky, whichever one of them was in Mexico, as saying "sometimes you just have to ask the question, to get the answer." And in this case, you have to ask yourself, "why did the Republicans decide to hold their convention in New York City? Do you feel lucky, well do you?"

Actually, scratch that last part, I'm pretty punchy. Anyway, the point is we're all giddy about the convention there and we've bought the 911 world trade center line, but Katie Laris says that Amy Goodman says that Norman Mailer says that "Republicans slash the media are just waiting for some wierd slash wacko slash violent slash (I can't make these things up, Katie is looking over my shoulder and she just keeps saying "slash" and I keep typing) whatever behavior to transmit to the oh-so-normal midwest." And, as Norman Mailer says (via...) "if some violence happens, you'd better check on who's paying them to be there."

So, in the paranoid fevered imagination of Katie slash Amy slash Norman some wacko Karl Rove slash Cheney funded sicko slash activist is going to slash the freedom barriers in central park and (Katie breaks in "this isn't helping. This was supposed to be about peace and freedom and tranquility and now it's just mocking Democracy Now or maybe, just democracy") "STOP!!! Stop typing whatever I say. I HATE YOU!!! I'M GOING TO KILL SLASH...

Monday, August 23, 2004

Hoping for disappointment
Drew Liebert lifted my spirits with this (seemingly continually updated) electoral math website. When you look at it you can't help but believe that John Kerry is going to win (even if you factor for the obvious flaw of counting states that their listed polls show are statistical dead heats as "Barely Kerry").

Anecdotally, I believe that people are starting to think that Kerry can and will win--and as a result, some of them are starting to panic. I'm getting a lot of comments like, I wonder if I really want him to win, maybe there's no difference between the two candidates and why did he say he would've voted for the war powers act? and won't he just disappoint us anyway?

My thoughts are that a) there's a world of difference between the two candidates on almost every issue, just sadly not enough on the vital issue of the war and b) he should repudiate the war powers act and c) let's pray, really pray people, that he disappoints us.

Why should we pray for disappointment? Because if we're disappointed, it'll mean 2 things: 1) Kerry got elected and 2) we had hope.

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Death of a legendary colleague
Steve Thompson died early this morning as a result of an advanced cancer of the liver; he was 62. As the lobbyist for the California Nurses Association, I worked closely with Steve, who was, for the past 12 years, the Government Affairs Director of the California Medical Association.

Many of the people in the California Capitol are reeling from his death--he only discovered the cancer 5 or 6 weeks ago and it seems impossible that someone so completely and utterly vital and alive could go so fast.

Steve was a force of nature. There is no one I can think of even remotely like him on the California scene. He was Willie Brown's chief of staff when he was Speaker of the Assembly and met Willie in Mississippi during the civil rights fights; I think Willie bailed Steve out of jail.

Steve combined the energy and enthusiasm of a kid with the experience of a lifetime and the mind of a genius. Just about every time you'd run into him in the capitol, he looked like the cat that ate the canary; you just didn't want the canary to be you.

When you were on the other side of Steve on something, it wasn't a small thing to him. If you were a strong opponent for a time you felt one of you was a cartoon character nemesis, Joker or the Penguin, not just a lobbyist. The stakes were big and there was fun to be had and boy did he have it.

And it was great to be his co-conspirator. I know because I was one more than once. "Sara, come here," he'd whisper in an otherwise mundane legislative hearing. "whatcha up to?" "Not much," you'd reply. "Why? You got something?" "Oh yeah, I got something. Wait 'til you hear this..." And so it went. Next thing you knew you were flying around the Capitol or the state on the other end of his speed dial, playing out some wild scenario or another--a quick hit for adrenaline junkies.

Yeah, the doctors of California owe much of their slavish protection of MICRA (a California law which imposes ridiculous limits on compensation for medical malpractice lawsuits) to Steve. But that was the one gigantic untouchable for him as the CMA's top lobbyist. Everything else was on the table. Steve Thompson dragged that old-fashioned conservative Kaiser-controlled organization into the 21st Century, sometimes kicking and screaming, but always the better for it. He negotiated dox to back more death with dignity, stronger scrutiny of bad dox by the Medical board and revelation of medical malpractice lawsuits and more.

First and foremost, Steve was a proponent and fighter for universal health care 'til the day he died. He, more than any other single person in the state except for maybe (Senate leader pro tem) John Burton is responsible for last year's pay or play employer mandate health coverage expansion being signed into law--and now it's being forced onto the November ballot by its opponents to force the voters to reaffirm the law.

Let's pass that initiative, people, if only for Steve.


Monday, August 16, 2004

One more thing...
When you get to the Prairie Home Companion site, you have to scroll down to segment 2 and click on it to listen to Bush v. Kerry--I forgot that part.
Political Humor
These two bit(e)s of political humor really tickled me so much that I'm taking the liberty of posting them on the blog.

One you may have seen--I certainly heard about it, but hadn't been sent it--it's the Will Farrell as Bush "out-takes" from his campaign commercials.

The other was on the August 14th broadcast of Prairie Home Companion from Chicago, featuring brilliant Bush and Cheney imitators in a "blues-off" with Kerry and Edwards imitators. I almost had to pull the car over at the Bush riffs. Kerry/Bush Blues Off

Soon, more original thoughts. Bill still thinks its Kerry's to lose, you?

Thursday, August 12, 2004

Craig v. Kerry
This week I have been avoiding blogging a bit because all I want to talk about is Craig's List at www.craigslist.org. I knew about Craig's List (you probably do too) but I didn't know they had it in Sacramento--I thought it was just in the SF bay area. Turns out it's practically all over the country now--free on-line classifieds, no ads, no fees, no nuttin'

Blah, blah, blah, you're thinkin', what's so great about that? Well check this: within 1 week of posting and answering on Sacramento Craig's List, I sold an antique I've been trying to sell for 6 years for a good price, found green cleaners that I had been trying to find for 3 years, found someone to come and haul away stuff real cheap and I've made friends that will last a lifetime--(guess which part is a lie).

Bill, in the meantime is glazing over again at my household frenzy. Instead, at our last community meeting when other people's announcements range from "I'm having a potluck next week" to "my daughter is in the Nutcracker again," Bill opens his eyes, leans forward in his chair, rubs his hands together vigorously and says with no preface, "lately I'm thinking Kerry with 50 to 51 percent of the popular vote and a slight edge in the electoral college, Bush with 47 to 48 percent of the vote and Nader with 1 percent."

This was big stuff to me. You'd think the room would erupt in applause; it's a pro-Kerry crowd, green party membership notwithstanding. But instead, the announcement circle passes to the next person, "I lost my keys last week in the laundry room. If anyone finds them..."

Tonight I arranged a private interview with Bill to find out more about his prediction.

"What was it again?" I asked (at an inopportune moment).

"Ask me later," he said.

Later, I asked and he laid it out like above, adding only that with Nader not getting on the ballot in California it will take a huge chunk out of this percentage, but in no way, obviously, harm his chances of affecting the outcome of the election.

"Does the fact that you're calling him Nader now instead of Ralph have any significance, Bill?" I ask.

"Nope. I still call him Ralph sometimes," he says, throwing a tissue into a wastebasket.

"What's this whole prediction based on?" I ask.

"On my intuition," he says.

"Nothing else?" I hope.

"Nope," he says cheerfully. "Hey, did you see that McGreevey* resigned?"

"I'm excited," I say. "Who's McGreevey? Is he on Craig's List?"

*See New Jersey Governor quits, says he's gay


Monday, August 09, 2004

Origin of Snouts Up (:)
Faithful reader David Allgood writes to ask where the snout concept comes from, so I answer:

It comes from the fact that I used to be obsessed with pigs and a lot of my old friends know that. I wanted to do something other than thumbs or stars, and thought snouts conveyed the level of self-mockery I needed to get away with a review, period--then I discovered that you could easily make a snout with a couple of parens and a colon and voila!

Don't you just love picturing the huge pigs underneath with their snouts pointed up to the stars?
(:)(:)(:)(:)(:)(:)(:)
3 Snouts Up for Crow Lake
(:)(:)(:)* for Crow Lake by Canadian author Mary Lawson. Billed as the "best novel he read this year" by one of my brothers-in-law, I dove heartily into this self-proclaimed "shimmering tale of love, death and redemption" (who could not be drawn to that?).

This is actually one of the best novels I've read this year, but that's mostly a testament to the level of brain candy I've been ingesting this summer (these days I tend to alternate weighty non-fiction with complete trash). It's strongly written, holds your interest and the characters are well-drawn, but the heroine and narrator of the story is such a cypher, existing mostly relative to her brothers and boyfriend, that you get a kind of shadowy picture of her glimpsed in snatches. Ultimately I had trouble caring much about her life.

The best novel I've read this summer is Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende--definitely (:)(:)(:)(:)--her best since the early days--a must as far as I'm concerned.

*For my newer readers--I have a snout-based rating system for movies, books and restaurants. 4 Snouts up is the best you can get.

Saturday, August 07, 2004

Cultural Losers
Probably most of you have been aware for some time of the crucial glue that the culture wars form to bond working class voters to the Republican party. But do you know about the book What's the Matter with Kansas? by Thomas Frank?

I haven't read it or even bought it, but watching Bill Moyers and reading two articles qualifies me to say this: this book uses Republican-voting working class Kansas as an example of what's wrong with the whole country to make this fascinating additional contribution to public debate: the Republicans not only cynically use social issues (especially anti-abortion and gay rights) to distract working class people while they accomplish their broad economic agenda, the Republican party routinely loses in its culture fight and wins in its economic fight.

The Republican party uses social issues as populist issues, baiting people against limosine liberals and latte drinking Hollywood liberals. The class war is never connected with economic interests though, because tax cuts for the wealthy do not benefit people who work and shop at Walmart.

The result: working class people who care strongly about these issues lose both ways. I haven't figured out how this can help Democrats, but I suspect there's a way. I guess my approach of just mocking and taunting the Republicans won't fly, "losers, losers, gay people are getting married anyway while you're getting poorer."
According to good friends at Arnoldwatch.org
Weblog August 6, 2004 2:00 pm:
Questions Jay Leno Should Ask Arnold Tonight
Jay Leno has a tradition of using viewer-contributed material on the air. In honor of Governor Schwarzenegger's return to Leno tonight to mark the one year anniversary of his historic announcement that he would run for Governor, Arnoldwatch.org has sent in these questions for Leno to ask Arnold:
1. Arnold, last year you said that you're rich enough that you don't need anyone else's money. Now that you are raising campaign cash twice as fast as Gray Davis, does that mean you’re not as rich as you thought?
2. You said you would be the sunshine governor and we all thought that meant you would open up government records. But you made 250 state employees sign secrecy agreements when they met with lobbyists to revamp government, and you created a charity, which does not disclose its donors that campaign finance experts recently called a political "slush fund." Why didn't you just tell the public what you really meant by "sunshine governor" -- that you'd always have a tan.
3. You said you’d sweep "special interests" out of Sacramento. But you’ve taken more than one million dollars each from the auto industry, insurers, and HMOs, and $5 million from real estate and investment king pins. How do they define special interests in Austrian dictionaries? Anyone without campaign cash?
4. You're supposedly holding a big fundraising party in Napa this weekend...any chance you'll tell us where it is?
5. You call legislators "girlie men." Don’t you wear more make up than all the female politicians in Sacramento combined?

Thursday, August 05, 2004

Bill and his children in the news today
It's a busy day in the Magavern household--trying to handle all the press calls. Here's what the fuss is about:

Both kids made all local evening news and online sources today by appearing at a press conference protesting diverting money from youth programs, like parks and pools, to a new taxpayer funded downtown sports arena. The announcement was (clearly purposely) overshadowed by a sudden breakoff in negotiations between the (Sacramento Kings-owning) Maloofs and the city of Sacramento, causing local news to speculate that children were forcing the Kings to leave.

Bill was rockin' and rollin' in the New York Times, in Plan Would Consolidate California Agencies where he unveils shocking news that regulation of air pollution actually works and would be harmful to roll back--who knew? (apparently, not Arnold!)

In the meantime, I forced my kids to make picket signs, drove them to press conferences, and cheered them all on dressed impeccably in white (actually, I was wearing a purple t-shirt and capris with unidentifiable stains and hadn't brushed my hair in days, but who's counting?).

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

Why Kerry will Win
Okay, this'll be one of those little headlines I stand a decent chance of wincing about next year, but here's what comes to me like a flash when I watch these candidates on the trail: Kerry wants to win and Bush doesn't.

Really. Yesterday, while I watched clips from Bush on the stump, I thought: this man hates his job. He doesn't want to win. Oh, he likes airforce one and all the good golfing trips, but the campaign is seriously cutting into his vacation schedule and it's become a pain.

And then when you look at Kerry you see utter utter determination, focus, force of will. This man is in the fight of his life and he refuses to lose.

And then today Randi Rhodes reads this clip on Air America Radio from Capitol Hill Blue--a mudslinging websheet of some sort--which reports Bush's Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides--read this! If anything in here is to believed (actually, upon closer inspection, this little piece is 2 months old--why was RR only just reading it today? and why hasn't this blog been updated lately? and some of it contradicts my initial thesis, but heck read it anyway, it's awfully fun).

Bottom line: Bush is losin' it, people. He needs to be sedated and taken to a quiet place, not re-elected. For God's sake, if you love the President, get him help!