Book: "Father and Son"

Larry Brown writes about the people in whom no one is interested. Call them poor white trash, trailer park people, red necks. Even these terms exalt some of them for whom Wal-Mart is aspirational shopping.

But these are real people with the same emotions and problems and dreams as the rest of us, but they are perched so perilously close to the edge of complete ruin that everyday life situations take on an air of dramatic anticipation that is missing from the stories of the middle class and their betters.

"Father and Son" is one of Brown’s early works and a strong example of his ability to know the people around whom he grew up. The title might refer to any of 4-5 pairs of fathers and sons woven into the story, most prominently half-brothers Glenn and Bobby and their father Virgil. Glenn and Bobby are evil and good, and the book follows, and eventually resolves their relationship.

Brown’s work is not so much plot driven as it is psychologically insightful and stylistically unique. The language is raw but elegant; poetic but plain. It is detailed and yet stripped of ornamentation. The New York Times compared this work to Faulkner.

Brown was born in 1951 and spent 17 years as an Oxford, Mississippi fireman. He never attended college but learned his craft by writing hundreds of short stories and books over 20 years and reading hundreds of rejection letters before an editor saw the power and originality in his work. The movie "Big Bad Love" is based on one of his short stories. He died a few years ago.

I recommend this, and anything else I’ve read by him, to anyone interested in reading an original voice.

Smart Obama move

I see this weekend that Obama has started reminding people that in '94 the Democrats lost the House, Senate, Governorships, and statehouses with Bill Clinton in office, pointing out that he (Obama) is more likely to hold the Democrats together long enough to complete their agenda. This seems like a much more effective strategy to me than trying to paint him as a racist.

Liar of the week

Reutrers reports that Mick Jagger, speaking of Amy Winehouse, said he can’t understand how the younger generation, knowing the dangers of drugs, could still be users.

“When we were experimenting with drugs, little was known about the effects. In our time there were no rehab centers like today. Anyway, I did not know about them.”

Liar of the week

Mitt Romney quit the race today, selfless to the end, saying that continuing his battle with Mr McCain would weaken his party, increasing the chances of a Democrat victory which would mean a "surrender to terror".

Alert the media: I'm wrong again!

I was a little premature writing off Hillary, I guess. That was a pretty impressive performance Tuesday, winning California, New York, New Jersey and others -- and by such big margins. I clearly overestimated the Kennedy effect since she even won Massachusetts by 15 points.

This might be a good time to restate that I started this blog not because I have any real political insights, but to blow off some steam, and it has been good for that.

I hope everyone reads the comments; there are always good ones. Birdman's observation about how current McCain fans (including me) might rethink their position if Rev. Huckabee were his running mate has me thinking a lot about how little the issues are actually a factor for so many people. The Rev. Huck is a very charming guy with a great personal story. He is an American archetype; a very easy guy to like on a personal level, but it's a little scary to think of him picking Supreme Court justices.

Doofus of the week

Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter is threatening to force NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to appear at a Senate hearing to investigate the commissioner having destroyed the video tapes the New England Patriots took serupticiously of other teams, and for which they have been heavilty fined.

“The NFL has a very preferred status in our country with their antitrust exemption,” Specter told the New York Times on Thursday. “The American people are entitled to be sure about the integrity of the game. It’s analogous to the CIA destruction of tapes. Or any time you have records destroyed.”

Appearantly the Iraq war, 40 million Americans without health care, the looming resession and global warming were solved late last week, leaving the Senate time to work on the next set of national and international problems.

I'll miss John Edwards

He was never very close to having my vote, but I appreciated having John Edwards and his populist message in the mix. He was one of the candidates the media marginalized because they won’t spend the money to cover everyone in a thoughtful way, so they called him “angry” and pushed him over into the Paul/Kucinich corner. I think the real question should have been, “Why aren’t we all as angry as Edwards?”

Lord knows I’m not anti-business, but is there any question as to who really sets domestic policy in this country? The drug and insurance lobbyists write our health care legislation and give us the most expensive health care in the world, with results comparable to Poland’s. Our Vice President gathers together leaders of the major oil and energy companies to craft energy policy, then refuses to make public who attended. That’s worked out well if you enjoy paying $3.50 for a gallon of gas.

The media companies pushed through legislation to allow a small number of them to concentrate control of a much larger number of TV stations and newspapers. Wall Street rapes and pillages without restraint while throwing fabulous fund-raising events for our leaders. (Thank you for those innovative sub-prime mortgages, by the way.)

CEO’s loses billions and walk away with tens of millions in bonuses based on profits that were never real in the first place, and who does anything about it? At least Edwards was raising a stink. But now he’s gone and his issues along with him.

Hankster shared the following from The Nation, speculating that Ralph Nader may jump into the battle again in order to give voice to these anti-corporate arguments, which I welcome. Money has captured the political process and real change is not going to happen until someone changes that.