Political Pastiche

I try to keep my weekends free from "real world" distractions like my day job and the news, so Monday mornings are always a shock because I'm at work and learning about what happened in the world at large. Usually by Monday afternoon I've seen enough to get all angry and angsty. Here are some news bits that have my feathers ruffled today.... and no, I don't just read the New York Times, but today all the best/worst ones are from there.

from The Push to ‘Otherize’ Obama by Nicholas D. Kristof

What is happening, I think, is this: religious prejudice is becoming a proxy for racial prejudice. In public at least, it’s not acceptable to express reservations about a candidate’s skin color, so discomfort about race is sublimated into concerns about whether Mr. Obama is sufficiently Christian.

The result is this campaign to “otherize” Mr. Obama. Nobody needs to point out that he is black, but there’s a persistent effort to exaggerate other differences, to de-Americanize him.

(Just imagine for a moment if it were the black candidate in this election, rather than the white candidate, who was born in Central America, was an indifferent churchgoer, had graduated near the bottom of his university class, had dumped his first wife, had regularly displayed an explosive and profane temper, and had referred to the Pakistani-Iraqi border ...)

for those that loved The West Wing, a dream scene meeting between Obama and fictional President Bartlett by Aaron Sorkin

BARTLETT: GET ANGRIER! Call them liars, because that’s what they are. Sarah Palin didn’t say “thanks but no thanks” to the Bridge to Nowhere. She just said “Thanks.” You were raised by a single mother on food stamps — where does a guy with eight houses who was legacied into Annapolis get off calling you an elitist? And by the way, if you do nothing else, take that word back. Elite is a good word, it means well above average. I’d ask them what their problem is with excellence. While you’re at it, I want the word “patriot” back. McCain can say that the transcendent issue of our time is the spread of Islamic fanaticism or he can choose a running mate who doesn’t know the Bush doctrine from the Monroe Doctrine, but he can’t do both at the same time and call it patriotic. They have to lie — the truth isn’t their friend right now. Get angry. Mock them mercilessly; they’ve earned it. McCain decried agents of intolerance, then chose a running mate who had to ask if she was allowed to ban books from a public library. It’s not bad enough she thinks the planet Earth was created in six days 6,000 years ago complete with a man, a woman and a talking snake, she wants schools to teach the rest of our kids to deny geology, anthropology, archaeology and common sense too? It’s not bad enough she’s forcing her own daughter into a loveless marriage to a teenage hood, she wants the rest of us to guide our daughters in that direction too? It’s not enough that a woman shouldn’t have the right to choose, it should be the law of the land that she has to carry and deliver her rapist’s baby too? I don’t know whether or not Governor Palin has the tenacity of a pit bull, but I know for sure she’s got the qualifications of one. And you’re worried about seeming angry? You could eat their lunch, make them cry and tell their mamas about it and God himself would call it restrained. There are times when you are simply required to be impolite. There are times when condescension is called for!

from Truthiness Stages a Comeback by Frank Rich
For better or worse, the candidacy of Barack Obama, a senator-come-lately, must be evaluated on his judgment, ideas and potential to lead. McCain, by contrast, has been chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, where he claims to have overseen “every part of our economy.” He didn’t, thank heavens, but he does have a long and relevant economic record that begins with the Keating Five scandal of 1989 and extends to this campaign, where his fiscal policies bear the fingerprints of Phil Gramm and Carly Fiorina. It’s not the résumé that a presidential candidate wants to advertise as America faces its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. That’s why the main thrust of the McCain campaign has been to cover up his history of economic malpractice.

from Pact on Debates Will Let McCain and Obama Spar by Patrick Healy
At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates.
McCain advisers said they had been concerned that a loose format could leave Ms. Palin, a relatively inexperienced debater, at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive.
…
McCain advisers said they were only somewhat concerned about Ms. Palin’s debating skills compared with those of Mr. Biden, who has served six terms in the Senate, or about his chances of tripping her up. Instead, they say, they wanted Ms. Palin to have opportunities to present Mr. McCain’s positions, rather than spending time talking about her experience or playing defense.


Ahhh.... good stuff.

Flash back, flash forward

Here's a general update cuz I got lots going on.... and at the same time very little.

-I can't believe I agreed to get into my Gorey Stories get-up again. Creative Loafing wants something splashy for the cover of the arts section for their Best of the Bay issue. Hey, I'm flattered they want me (and I have a sneaking suspicion I'll be netting that Best Costumer award again), but the thought of that hair/makeup process is giving me the willies. Not to mention having to track down all that stuff tonight. Oh well.... fame has a price.... and I'm all about shameless self promotion.

-In the span of one week I closed Embedded, struck the show and did the costumes for Blackbird which opens on Thursday. Only 3 contemporary costumes for that one, but it's amazing how much I sweat those things.

-I've already started memorizing for History of the Devil. It's not a lot, but I want to get that part out of the way so I can just play and enjoy the great cast and director.

-I'm 3 weeks without pins in my arm, and the rehab is going slow. Last week I had a check-up and the doc said I had 40-50% of normal strength, flexibility, range of motion, etc. He said that I was doing fine, but it seems to be taking forever!

-This looming presidential election is getting me very excited/riled up. I've wanted Obama from the start. I was feeling feisty before McCain made his VP selection, and now I am getting more rabid by the day. Sorry, don't get the Palin thing. The more I learn about her, the more terrified I am by those who support her. She reminds me of a cross between Earl's ex-wife on My Name is Earl and Karen from Will and Grace. Now, I'm not sure I ever saw a complete episode of either one of those shows, but I've seen enough to make the comparison. Honestly, I think she's a joke. But I calm myself a little Jon Stewert and some Daily Show action every morning.

-Sleep has become some sort of elusive end of the rainbow thing for me. I'm going on a week of the "can't fall asleep for hours" kind of insomnia. Not bad on the weekends when I can get up whenever, but it makes work days a kind of living death. Nice. All of this right on the heels of getting an appointment with a pulmonologist to see if I have some sort of sleep disorder. Very nice.

-Work is painfully boring. I actually prefer when we have projects piled up and deadlines looming.... 8 hours is a long time when you have nothing new, and have already gone through all those "when I get time" projects. And you can only go through and delete old emails and files so many times. One of my core beliefs is "If I'm not actively doing something, I might as well be sleeping." Hey, maybe I've got narcolepsy.... wouldn't that be a topic of conversation?

-I lack motivation in free time. Sure I could clean the house, cook things, organize stuff.... but once I get home from work and force myself to workout for an hour, the only thing I seem motivated to do is grab the needlepoint and indulge my obsession with past seasons of 24. One of the 12 steps is realizing you are powerless over your addiction, right? OK, I'm powerless when confronted with Jack Bauer. But, watching a show based on government conspiracies during an election year is dangerous. Maybe that's why I'm having problems sleeping.

Wow.

That is one disjointed line of rambling.

I blame the insomnia created by the over saturation of my idle brain from both the media and Hollywood and my feelings of physical inadequacy since I cannot yet use my left hand completely. Oh... and the humidity. The humidity is always to blame.