Cheeky's Hideaway

Obama Said Knock You Out

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hmmm...nothin'

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huh.  Still nothin'

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Christ, when is there going to be some news on who won?

I've been watching the Democratic nomination contest it's like Sunday night during fantasy football season.  I got used to having a primary or caucus every freakin' day, and now I expect some delegate to switch or a juicy news story to pop every few seconds.  Throw a pass, Obama!  No not to Huckabee!  Nader intercepts!  GAH!

Mostly I just want it to end.  I need closure.

Doesn't it feel like everyone's been running for president since opening night of Genesis' Abacab tour?  Who did Nixon endorse?  Didn't I see a Clinton campaign rally at a local arcade?

As a life long Democrat, I was pretty psyched about the options this year.  Granted, anything would look good after John Kerry, but I'd have been happy with about any of them.  I was sorta pulling for Joe Biden at first, 'cause when is Delaware gonna have another chance to nominate a president?  But Clinton, Obama, Edwards, & Richardson all seemed just fine to me.  I figured Clinton was probably a lock, but it would be fun to watch the red shirts play along until she and her hubby dispatched them like a terrorists attacking Imaginationland.

Then along came Obama.

I've got to say, the guy has totally won me over.  It's not because of his policies or his speeches, although I like those, too.  It's because he refuses to engage in the posturing, pandering, and negativity that I've become acclimated to in presidential politics.  He just feels genuine, totally confident in what he believes in and how to get there.  Hillary is so studied, so obviously in control that the logic of what she says is overcome by how scripted and user-tested it is.  If people disagreed with Obama, I think he'd be frustrated but would passionately stick to his guns, hoping to convince them and find common ground.  If people disagreed with Hillary, I think she'd change her tune to appear like she's always agreed with them.  And that kinda bugs me.

As the "momentum" has built and the Clinton campaign obituaries started to surface I felt some relief, like this whole thing was almost blessedly over.  But it's NOT!  We have to wait until Tuesday, and then we might have to wait again if that's inconclusive.  It's like a never-ending game of Whac-a-Mole, and it's wearing me out.

So if you're reading this in Texas, Ohio, Vermont or Rhode Island, please IN THE NAME OF GOD pick a side and decisively END THIS THING so we can all move on with our lives..

Wait....the real election isn't until November? 

That's it.  We're moving to Canada.
 

Remembered

Six years is a long time.  Most of us don't remember our emotional response to 9/11.  As often as not, our recollections are twisted and warped to fit with everything that's happened since.  Some are encouraging us to look forward, while others insist on looking back.

I was reminded the other day of the gulf between those who lost loved ones and those, like me, who did not.  I was having a casual conversation with a friend about movies, and I recommended United 93, which is one of the most emotionally wrenching, utterly horrific, and masterfully executed films I've ever seen.  My friend, who is a pretty relaxed guy, became visibly agitated, and began arguing that no matter how good the film might be it did a disservice.  People who saw it, he argued, would think they'd gain some connection to the events of that day and to those who suffered the worst of fates.

I began to argue, but I stopped.

I suddenly remembered this same friend's face in a dark bar in the East Village in mid-September, 2001. He and I had been working from home for two weeks, as our offices--across the street from Ground Zero--were inaccessible, horribly damaged and covered in the ashen remains of the two towers and their occupants.  I remember asking how he'd been, and he told me he'd been better.  That day he'd been to his sixth funeral in two weeks.

Many of his close friends coming out of college had promising careers at Cantor Fitzgerald, a powerful bond-trading firm on the 101st through 105th floors of Tower One, eight floors above the impact.  He spent weekends with them, knew their spouses, and had played with their kids.  He's spent two weeks with those people, coming to terms with the fact that they would never come home and sweep them into their arms again.

I watched the towers falls from the highway north of Ground Zero.  I hugged a woman who I haven't seen since as we watched the cloud rise over the site.  I spent the day frantically trying to reach friends, slowly but surely hearing from each of them that they were OK. 

But what I went through was nothing.

And as my friend pressed his point about the movie, I fell into silence.  True-life tragedy as entertainment, regardless of how it may inspire or move us, is not victimless.  The talking heads on TV or Capitol Hill may summon the date like some powerful ancient spirit to conjure fear and anger.  We can ask our friends, "Where were you?" or "Do you remember life before that?"  We can even pause, light a candle, and say a prayer.  But afterwards we will move on.  We will look forward.  We will rebuild.

But there are some that cannot.  Who will never be the same.  Who will always feel a pain and loss deeper than the rest of us can imagine.

It's with them that our thoughts should be today.

The Best Argument for Eliminating Term Limits

Last night Oodgie and I went to an event hosted by the American Jewish World Service.  It's an organization that recognizes that lots of Jews have money it's a cultural imperative of the Jewish faith to promote justice in the world.  I'm told that the Jewish community has suffered injustice from time to time over the last 4000 years, so they know a thing or two about the subject.

The venue was stunning, and Oodgie and I noshed on appetizers while trying to look remotely like we belonged with the rest of the attendees (we were guests of the ECGs).  Everyone there was talking about Darfur and Laos, while I was constantly reminded of how little I even thought about the 3 billion people in the world who live on less than $2/day.  Ann Curry was there, fighting against her nature to exude warmth, as was Paul Wolfowitz's doppleganger.

But the star of the show, without question, was Bill Clinton.

I challenge you to find a bigger rock star on the planet than our former president.  You could tell where he was in the building by the flashbulbs and the adoring masses.  People love him.  One of the speakers, a South African woman who runs an AIDS hospital, was visibly twitterpated in his presence.  Say what you will about his politics and personal life, but wherever he goes the man flat-out owns the room.

I'm an unapologetic Clinton fan (Bill, not Hillary...I find carpetbaggers distasteful) and would have gladly voted for him a third time if our Constitution allowed it*.  He gave an hour-long speech that seamlessly meshed global statistics of population growth and poverty, the New York State Fair, Warren Buffet, charity and faith, and the heroic story of a tsunami victim who lost nine children--all without notes.  He's freakishly smart, incredibly focused and energetic, and utterly dedicated to using his celebrity to make the world a better place for underprivileged of the world...a group he's quick to note vastly outnumber us.

I was really hoping to get a picture with him to splash up here and make y'all jealous, but between the sea of people crowding the sushi table and the strategically deployed Secret Service agents I had no chance.  In the end, sharing a room with him was good enough for me.

* It's ironic to me that the very law that prevented Clinton from being president on 9/11 is the same one that's sparing us the catastrophic possibility of another two years of President Douchebag.  I can't believe we need laws to prevent ourselves from doing something stupid...isn't that what the brain is for?