What they’re saying at the deli

The village deli is the Westchester equivalent of the country general store. Sit there for a while and a dozen or so people who have know one another all their lives come in for coffee, breakfast or a sandwich. And while they’re there they gossip about the events of the day.

I was in my local twice this weekend, and what everyone was talking about was Obama’s pastor, Jeremiah Wright, and they were not happy. They were completely offended and angry at the things he said about 9/11 and about America in general. And as angry as they were, they were equally incredulous that Obama could have been a regular member of Wright’s congregation for 20 years but unaware of the nature of the Reverend’s more inflammatory comments.

If there is one thing I’m sure about, it’s that you can’t reliably tell someone’s politics by looking at them, but this appeared to be a pretty random sample of white people, and they live in a very reliably democratic county. I don’t think this issue is going away soon, and you know the Clinton’s will be doing everything within their considerable powers to make sure it doesn’t.

By popular demand…

As I was hoping, enough of you asked to hear my Bill Murray story, so here it is.

We had a great six days in Spain; the first three visiting our son in Cadiz, then we all went up to Sevilla for three days. In case you’ve never been, Sevilla is a very old city that spent 500 years under Arab rule. The old city is very large and crisscrossed with hundreds of small streets, most of which are not wide enough to make a proper alley in an American city. No two of these streets appear to be parallel and every fifty meters or so each empties into a little plaza. The plazas all offer something interesting – beautiful flower beds, a lovely stature or fountain, often an ancient church or public building with Moorish influences.

It was on just such a plaza Wednesday evening that we stopped for the evening meal about 10:00. We sat at a table on the square under an orange tree lit from below. It was one of ten such trees on the plaza and the aroma from the blossoms was intoxicating. In was peacefully quiet because the streets of this plaza were too small for cars. The only sounds came from the bubbling water fountain and the laughter of the other diners, maybe 12 in number.

When no waiter appeared after a bit I walked into the restaurant to find one. I walked up to the bar where there was just one person talking to the bartender. That person was Bill Murray. I was, of course, a little surprised, but when he looked up I asked him if he’d seen Mike Kelly lately (a mutual friend), which sparked a five minute conversation that he showed no sign of finding bothersome. We parted.

Five minutes later he walked up to our table and presented us with an excellent bottle of wine, which he said was “an extra” he’d ordered “in error.” He chatted with all of us for another five minutes. He went back to his table and four friends.

A half-hour later he came by again with a brandy glass filled with something clear and very strong for me, which he refused to identify (and again called “an extra ordered in error”), plus an autograph and an inscription for my daughter based on our first conversation. The guy couldn’t have been more charming.

His four companions left on foot. Bill rode away on what looked like a 1957 Huffy with whitewalls and a little bell that he rang as he waved goodbye.

The New Dream Team: Spitzer-Ferraro

Jeez, I leave for a week and all hell breaks loose. Surely Elliot and Geraldine (sounds like a really bad early ‘70s movie trying to ride the coattails of “Harold and Maude”) will now team up for an independent party run for the White House.

If it is possible to understand what made him do it, I think David Brooks may have nailed it today. I, being no David Brooks, will just say that surely this is the final proof that a Harvard degree does not mean you are smart.

As for Gerry, I’m going to think about what I want to say for a bit before committing it to the permanence of text lest I make the same error she did.

Finally, we had a great time in Spain. Does anyone want to hear about how Bill Murray bought us a bottle of wine and an after dinner drink in Sevilla?

I'm on vacation

I'll be out of the country until March 14th so I'm taking a break from blogging. I'll leave you with this quote from one of my favorite Times columnists, Gail Collins, on the results from Tuesday's primaries.

"The white male vote, which keeps shifting, was split. I’m beginning to suspect that the white males have realized that they’re either going to be accused of racism or sexism and have therefore made a secret pact to take turns."

Thanks to everyone for visiting and commenting. I look forward to resuming the conversation in a week.

Do one thing right

For most people, getting a new job is a pretty big deal. It’s a lot of work getting your resume and story together for a particular position. Then there can be multiple interviews; tests even for some jobs. But once you have the job, that’s when the real work usually begins.
Not so for politicians. Getting their job is the hardest work they’ll ever do; in fact, for many of them, it’s the only work they’ll ever do. Once one election is over they are campaigning for the next one.

The country would be a lot better off if each year the leaders of the two parties got together and agreed to fix one thing that year. One, and only one thing. And no other bills – especially earmarks – could be turned into laws until that one thing was fixed. Polls will help select what the American people think needs fixing most urgently, and God knows politicians can read polls.
The one thing selected should then be given the same kind of effort pols give to elections. There should be town hall meetings everywhere to discuss the pros and cons. Television spots should run advocating various points-of-view. We should have yard signs and buttons. The whole schmageggie.

By the end of the year we’d know if our elected officials had actually accomplished the task, and as long as we replace it with another task of similar significance we could keep them focused on what is really important to us.

One could argue for a long list of candidates for the first task on the annual “Do One Thing Right” list. I think I’d go for health care reform.

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What really makes you mad?

I write this blog primarily for my own amusement and for its cathartic qualities, but I’d like to try something a little different today. Please leave a comment and tell everyone what really makes you angry. That’s the only direction; it could be political, social, interpersonal, or anything else. Let it fly.