Dredge Report

During the Lewinsky scandal Bill Clinton called Drudge's mud puddle on the internet the "Dredge Report." Fresh reason for that appeared today. President Obama had a physical exam on Sunday--he is in fine health and was given the usual cautions by his doctor. Dredge chose to highlight the standard advice of moderate drinking by posting a picture of Obama holding a glass of beer with a caption along the lines of, "Doctor tells Obama to moderate his drinking." The Republican slime machine never misses a chance to score a low blow do they? Limbaugh, Beck, Drudge, Palin, the party's supply of Know-Nothings seems to be inexhaustible.

My advice to moderates who my be sick to death of Republican bile and Democratic befuddlement is to listen to music throughout this new month of March, it will heal your minds and souls. This should come to a head on the 17th, St. Patrick's Day. Listen to the Chieftains, the Clancy Brothers, and all the great old songs; have a wee bit of the gargle and propose a toast to moderation in all things.

On-side Kick

I would like to see President Obama do the political equivalent of what the New Orleans Saints did yesterday as they began the second half of the Super Bowl--surprise the hell out of everybody, break all convention, and do an on-side kick, score a touchdown, and then make a two-point conversion. That little package told the Colts that there was a new game in town. They were playing a team ready to do things that hadn't been practiced against; the Saints weren't just winning a game, they were showing a new way to play.

Barack Obama lets it be known that he watches the Super Bowl and he is smart enough to have instantly gotten this on Sunday night--great politicians see analogies everywhere. Look for his on-side kick any time now.

A Quick Thought

I have just finished watching Inglourious Basterds and at the moment can only say that this is Tarantino's world and the rest of us just live in it.
And see his movies. Capra, Coppola, Scorsese, Tarantino. I get the picture.

J. D. Salinger, RIP

The more I read about J.D. Salinger since his death the more I like him. According to yesterday's New York Times, he was a regular townsman in Cornish, New Hampshire who loved the monthly church suppers, was in local stores daily, had lunch at the local cafe, and drove his Toyota land cruiser to the neighboring town of Windsor, Vermont. (Speaking of his travel, the LA Times last week published a picture of a beaming Salinger talking to a young woman at a theater in South Florida in the early 1980's--some hermit!) From the NY Times story I gather that he was a good and friendly neighbor, not the kooky recluse demanding fans and journalists made him out to be.

Now he is gone at age 91, and it seems he has prevailed in his great joust with the gods of celebrity, photo ops, and television. Almost none of his writing contemporaries were so fortunate--most became, to some degree, public property--that part of your yard that really is owned by the city but that you are required to tend. Good for J. D. Salinger! He beat the whole corrupt flying circus and lived his long life in his own house at his own pace.

The State of Barack Obama

What is being said about Obama, by friends and opponents alike, was said about John Kennedy when he was president. Too aloof, too much head and not enough heart, a manager but not a leader. Eloquence gets tiresome when it doesn't set people on fire, and he should live up to his own stirring language. Suddenly, Kennedy was gone, and he seemed lovable, warm, a member of the family, and of course he had been right all along.

Obama's State of the Union tonight was superb--he knows his Lincoln--and it is always thrilling to see a man actually thinking on a live telecast. The conversational tone towards the end had to attract every ear: he spoke as a friend or family lawyer giving his somewhat slow clients the straight talk they are resistant to hear.

My point here is that Barack Obama, as exceptional presidents always are, will be gone before we know it, and then the great period of catch-up to what he was all about begins with the people. How much better it is to pay close attention now and see the fight he is in, and, in sensitive response, join him.

It all ends suddenly.

I Hope He's Not Lost

The news tonight is that President Obama will call for a large freeze--lasting three years--on domestic spending Wednesday night in his State of the Union Address. Is this a new idea cooked up to please the people who hate him the most? Does he believe that he has the everlasting support of all those who voted for him in 2008 and that they will meekly swallow this while the Pentagon budget goes untouched? He would be wrong in each case. My doubt about him these days does not mean that I have given up on him, but he does need some wins any time now. That health care bill--is that not domestic spending?--needs to be passed and signed or the entire first Obama year will be judged a failure. Where is he right now? And where are we? We cannot be lost.

Brett Favre, Thanks For the Memories

The game between the Vikings and the Saints tonight was entertaining in its way but not what would be called a great game. Minnesota fumbled so often that one came to expect it every time they had the ball. I think they are the better team but just not tonight, as Brad Childress said. How many times can you hand the ball to a 14-3 team and still expect to win? Not as many times as the Vikes did in New Orleans. I don't have any interest in a Super Bowl between the Colts and the Saints and the network and NFL bosses are even now contemplating the lost viewers and dollars caused by a game without the drama of Brett Favre leading the Vikings. They were magic this year but every player and fan knows that magic cannot be repeated. It is only remembered.