So, two days after the deluge, the pundits conclude that the Kerry campaign – and the Democratic party – were sunk by bad assumptions about rural/exurban voters; the success of the Swift Boat veterans in discrediting Kerry as a war hero; and the intensity of opposition to gay marriage.
In other words, they couldn’t pull it off with the standard formula for success: a well-funded campaign and a decorated war hero/former prosecutor as the standard-bearer – not to mention the fact that the opposition’s candidate for Vice President has a gay daughter who wears a wedding ring.
Having “blown” yet another election that was theirs to lose, the Dems are already being quoted in the press about yet another exercise in self-flagellation: a Hillary Clinton candidacy in 2008.
What Is It About Mothers Named Andrea?
News flash to all my unmarried male friends: if you want kids, don’t marry an Andrea.
Youth Fizzles, “Morality” Rules, Nader Irrelevant
At 4:35 am ET, it looks like a Republican sweep of the Presidency, the House and the Senate.
The much-vaunted 18-29 vote turned out to be a dud for the Dems. Virtually all of the so-called “moral” propositions – from legalizing medical marijuana to prohibiting gay marriage – passed in favor of traditionalists.
Nader was irrelevant in all but one state, New Mexico, with 5 electoral votes. If NM goes for Bush, assuming he won Ohio, that would, at this hour, put him over the 270: a largely symbolic possibility, given the way the vote is looking in Nevada, which also has 5.
Continue reading Youth Fizzles, “Morality” Rules, Nader Irrelevant
Election Day Blues
For whatever it’s worth: I’m voting for Libertarian candidate for President, Michael Badnarik, today.
This isn’t just a vote of conscience; yesterday, the Massachusetts Secretary of State Francis Galvin predicted that the Libertarian party (as well as the Greens) will lose its status as an official political party in Massachusetts. We need 3% of the votes cast to maintain this status, without which candidates will have a harder time being listed on ballots in the future.
The Evangelicals
In spite of their complaints about negative press, Evangelical Protestants have been getting a lot of deferential media attention this election season.
Yesterday, I happened to see both a recent documentary on the subject, as well as the last half hour or so of a famous 1940’s film about a Roman Catholic saint, “The Song of Bernadette”.
The Song of Bernadette won its star, Jennifer Jones, an Oscar for Best Actress. Ms. Jones’s performance was such a perfection of luminous piety that some members of the public castigated her when they discovered that in real life, she was not actually a nun but a wife and mother. This was further compounded by the announcement shortly after the Oscar ceremonies that she and her husband were filing for divorce.
Halloween
This is the big weekend: P&B’s anniversary today, Halloween tomorrow.
Tonight is a Samhain circle in E. Falmouth sponsored by a unique little shop, Green Goddess Herbals.
I attended last year, and thoroughly enjoyed the company, the ceremony, and the FOOD, oh my gosh, what a feast!
If memory serves, we had an extremely rare display of the Northern Lights on October 30 last year. On my way to mind the kids so P&B could go to dinner, I missed it, the roads between here and there being heavily treed and thus, effectively hiding the horizon.
This year, though, I did see the full moon turn orange-red in the partial lunar eclipse, on the same night that the Red Sox won the World Series after an incredible, unprecented 8-game winning streak.
Good omens, perhaps, for the holiday and for those major events soon to follow.
Electionin’
So much to write about, there is hardly mental space to digest it all.
Gardener’s Diary
Gone, gone, gone.
Why You Should Get A Million Dollars
Last night’s finale of the reality show “The Benefactor” was a dud.
Too bad, because host Mark Cuban is a high-energy, funny, interesting guy with some worthwhile opinions about what makes a business person successful.
Bad Call In Dennis
In reference to my posts a few days ago about a dog that bit not one, but as it turns out, two children at a fund-raiser in Dennis, the town dog officer has decided that no criminal charges will be filed against the owner because in her view, there was no “intent” on his part to harm others.
You can read the full story for free, provided you link to it before the 23rd, on the Cape Cod Times website.
Right-thinking citizens can only hope that the parents of the child who was maimed by this “pony sized” dog will pursue a civil suit.
Meanwhile, if you’re walking around in the town of Dennis, especially with young kids, bring your (properly licensed, of course) stun gun and/or your mace.