Rope-a-dope

My letter to Atlantic Monthly writer Andrew Sullivan, since it probably won't make it onto his blog:

Andrew, regarding your chafing over Obama's silence on Prop 8, the only thing that frightens me more than the passage of Prop 8 is the idea of Obama becoming involved in it. Because I believe he's a good and decent man, I choose to believe that he wants to speak out against it. But we cannot risk -- and I assume both he and his staff understand he cannot risk -- Obama becoming the "gay marriage candidate" in the closing days of this campaign.

I am a gay man and married, and although I live in Massachusetts, my own marriage will feel a lot more vulnerable if my Californian friends lose the right to theirs. But, Andrew: North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Arizona -- two months ago I would've promised to eat my hat if Obama won any of these states, but here we are. He will likely win the presidency, but he also has a real shot at a whopping mandate that will help the entire country at last to say "goodbye to all that." Obama could probably tilt California's civil rights battle in the right direction if he were to step into it. But I believe he can tilt all states if he doesn't.

Remember, Andrew: rope-a-dope. Barack knows when to land his punch.

Sincerely,
Ben

Shark, Consider Yourself Jumped

Earlier today, Ben and I were lamenting what has so far been a lame third season of Heroes.

So I was delighted to encounter this slideshow of shows that have jumped the shark this season. Heroes is included, as well as Prison Break (which I gave up on at the moment listed as the shark-jumper) and Project Runway, which a dear friend of ours from college works on.

What happened to you, TV? You used to be cool.

Us and Them

"I like them better than us."


- Brother

You've got to give 'em hope.

I'm thankful that Massachusetts was spared the public-relations battle over marriage equality that's currently raging in California, where polls show the anti-gay constitutional amendment somehow perilously close to passing on November 4. Although I'll be affected by the outcome in CA, whatever it ends up being, I'm glad that I'm not being pummeled with anti-gay ads in my home state. For that I must once again tip my hat to Governor Patrick, who risked his new political capital to help squash our constitutional amendment in 2007. Whatever else he does or does not accomplish during his time in office, I'll always be in his debt for that.

Happily ever after, this time

Today I checked into a seminar a woman -- older, with gray hair pulled back -- by the name of Juliet Montague. After she had taken her book and gone into the classroom, I realized I had a huge smile on my face. It was her name. I felt like jumping up and down.

Rolling Stone's new look

Three cheers for the new size and format of Rolling Stone. If the change had come while I was in college and still in the habit of decorating my dorm-room walls with photos from the magazine's (formerly) oversize pages, I would've been offended. But now that I'm a commuter first and no longer decorate my living space with band photos and fashion ads, the smaller size is welcome. It fits much better in the hand and the backpack, and I like its new glossy pages. The first issue in the new size is the first one I've ever taken with me to work.

Quote of the Day

On decorating:

Heather: I think I may get a small rug... eventually.
Ben: I got some good rugs cheap at Ikea.
Ben: Well, not good. But sufficient.
Heather: Haha. Yeah, that should be Ikea's slogan.
Heather: We may not be good... but we're sufficient. IKEA.

The Future

Saturday night, at the bar where happiness goes to die, an elderly drunk guy gave me and Mike some interesting advice.

He said, "Don't worry too much about the future. Because it's going to come. And it's going to be stupid."

Artsy Fartsy Liberal

During a recent political conversation, my mom repeated a sentiment she's expressed several times. She said, "Emerson turned you into such a liberal, Maggie."

I've heard variations on this over the years. She has often wondered aloud (and sometimes as an accusation), "Where did you come from?"

I'm the type who generally does what I'm told, so it's a mystery to me how I came out believing the opposite of what my parents believe. And Emerson College may be the reason.

I applied to go there because the two tour guides had huge tattoos, piercings and brightly dyed hair. And because they had a writing program that was supposedly pretty great. I also liked that it was right in the city.

It's a cliche, but being there opened my eyes to lots of things. I felt like the most boring, plain student there. Aside from the millions of wild ways my fellow students dressed and decorated their skin and hair, they all seemed so informed. And they all cared passionately about things. They were strict vegans. They cared about the integrity of art. They protested the war in 2003. They gathered publicly in support of gay rights. They cared about the election; they volunteered to work in support of their candidate's campaign.

I didn't care about anything when I got there. I'm slow to change so I think it took me a while for the example of my peers to sink in. But I think I'm such a "crazy liberal, like that liberal hippie Jon Stewart" (as my mom says) because of the exposure to all of the crazy liberals at Emerson.

My mom may feel like she shelled out money for what ended up being liberal brainwashing, but I'm thankful for it. Thankful to my mom for letting me go to "that artsy fartsy school" and for paying my way. And thankful for what I learned from the other students there.

I like to think that Emerson helped me become the person I was already on my way towards being. It just nudged me there faster and educated me in the process. But I wonder if I'd have gone the other way if I'd attended, say, Bob Jones University?

Progress

Three down, forty-seven to go.

Beware the clutching of the face!

A note to photojournalists everywhere: please come up with a new graphical representation of the plunging economy! The Wall Street dudes clutching their faces is getting really tired!






How about a new theme of these guys wearing barrels with suspenders... clutching their faces?

But take heart

Yesterday at a McCain rally when McCain asked his new favorite question, "Who is the real Barack Obama?," some guy in the crowd screamed "A terrorist!" McCain looked a little startled, then continued on with his speech. (Video here.) He should've had the guy dragged out by the tongue.

Later at a Palin rally, after she did her "Obama pals around with terrorists" shtick, an audience member suggested, "Kill him!" She, of course, did nothing about it either.

To quiet my rage, I look at today's election projection, and take heart:



28 days to go. In the meantime, as McCain continues to encourage/permit the kind of behavior mentioned above, I hope the Secret Service stay at the top of their game.

(Hat tip to FiveThirtyEight.com.)

Bailout

A good article about the failed bailout package from one of my favorite indepdent magazines, YES! Magazine.