A day in the city

I spent the day in the city yesterday - I work in the city every day but Wednesdays, so to spend a day to myself in the city is rare.

I started at the Guggenheim museum where I met a lovely couple from Paris - they exhorted me to visit their amazing city at some point in my life - Ironic that as much traveling as I have done, the city of Paris has yet eluded me. I plan to start traveling in Europe again this year, beginning with a trip to London for Christmas. I had a lovely conversation with a newly wed from Alabama - she had a charming Southern drawl and the most beautiful engagement/wedding ring that she had chosen for herself - she was thrilled to be in NYC and wants to come again.

I then stopped on the street outside the museum and picked up an amazing piece of art that depicted New York's museums - I met Sam, a street vendor - 25 years old and from the Ukraine - his father is a surgeon and for one year, he went to college in the Ukraine and worked alongside his father in the hospital. He then decided that medicine is not for him and came to NYC to be a student. He loved it so much, he stayed - it has been two years, his English is phenomenal. We talked about how much we both love this country, America, and most of all, NYC - our adopted "homes" - he lives in Brooklyn and you may recall that I live in Westchester - the city life is a little too frenetic for a person with Bipolar disorder - I cannot live at that pace constantly - certainly not in the areas that I could afford - perhaps if I were to live on the UES or UWS, that would be different - let's see if I become a famous writer and make it in NYC - then I would consider moving into the city. Sam reminded me of Ryan - my oldest son - he is a snowboarder and surfer - they have that in common - and he loves art and reading. He shared that he goes to a local Catholic church and borrows books from their lending collection and reads voraciously, just like Ryan - we exchanged contact information and he will meet Ryan when he comes to live in New York in the summer.

I met a man who was with the remarkable group "Ready, Willing and Able" - he was keeping the streets of New York clean and shared with me that he was moving to Orlando in March - having secured a job and an apartment - what a miracle and a result of hard work - I love when people create their own miracles!

Finally, I had lunch at Demarchellier - an amazing French restaurant and was fortunate to sit next to an amazing couple - Jim and Laurie - they are from Alaska and were visiting the city for the day while on a trip to New Jersey to stay with a cousin. Jim and Laurie are very much in love and the kind of couple that makes one want to be in a relationship - I wish Kevin had been there to meet them. Then again, we might not have had such an in depth conversation had he been there - we tend to talk to other people when out, but spend most of our time deep in conversation with one another.

I learned that not all Alaskans like Ms. Palin, and while Jim is a hunting guide, he is not an NRA fanatic, nor is he a Republican - he is pretty liberal. They have been together for 14 years or so and are clearly a great match. I could see it in the way they spoke and looked at one another - I felt almost like an intruder. We talked about divorce and relationships - all of us had experienced the ravages of being divorced and neither of us was particularly interested in remarrying - Jim and Laurie have the yin and yang that makes relationships work - he is busy with his business, Laurie works as a nurse - she might even be retired now - they spend time together as often as they can, which is rare, given his schedule. They love to travel and spend time..........

It was a wonderful day in the city - I feel happy whenever I have a day when I meet great people and yesterday was one of those days.

I took the train back up to Westchester and started in on my literature class at Concordia - there is lots of reading and writing to do, so my blog will likely take back seat this month - we shall see.

Rahm Emmanuel must go!

Frankly I have had enough of him as have many Americans. His foul mouth, irreverent sense of humor and latest attack on liberals, using "f&%&#g retards" to describe this group of people with whom he does not agree.


Mr. Emmanuel, we do not expect you to agree with every political fringe group, but you are the Chief of Staff to the President of the United States - decorum is a must at all costs. You no longer have the luxury of uttering expletives in a fit of rage and certainly not when a minority and highly vulnerable group in the population is the target - i.e. mentally or physically challenged individuals. One has to wonder how he feels about the son of Ms. Sarah Palin who suffers from Downs Syndrome - has this innocent child and offspring of the White House's most vocal critic of late (see her performance at recent tea parties as reported in the NY Times) also been the brunt of Mr. Emmanuel's jokes?

There is no room for bigotry at any level in the Oval Office, and certainly not at your most senior of levels, particularly when your direct report happens to be African American and white as well. I wonder how the President feels when he hears you foaming at the mouth and shooting constantly from the hip as the mood strikes you.

Does he have the nerve to tell you to can it and even more to the point - does he have the nerve to fire you? You do serve, after all, at the pleasure and will of your friend, the President.

I am watching this one closely. More later as the story unfolds.

Palin is meeting with world leaders - sorry folks - no questions this time.....

Ms. Palin is meeting with world leaders, even as I write this. She is meeting with Hamid Karzai first and then an additional 8 leaders. She will do photo ops in a pair of her several hundred dollar spectacles (she has seven, I read somewhere) and designer suit with the winning smile, but will take no questions from reporters. Just how much money does a governor make these days anyway? Speaking of governors, who is running Alaska with her and Todd on the road?

No questions from reporters. Yes, you heard it correctly. It would appear that while Ms. Palin is eminently qualified to handle foreign affairs, yet just got her first passport at the age of 44, she will do photo ops, smile graciously, talk small talk (one has to assume that is all it is, if no questions are allowed) - and yet she will take no questions. I thought she was the media darling - this amazing woman who was/is the commander in chief of the Alaskan military, lives near Russia and is fit to serve as second in command succeeding the president, should, God forbid, his health fail.

I think we should all be worried - very worried.

Is first dude (Todd Palin) a "shadow" governor?

"Todd and Sarah met in high school at a basketball game and eloped in 1988, six years after graduation. Todd grew up in Alaska and is part Eskimo. He's an avid outdoorsman and champion of the Iron Dog snowmobile race."

According to a story on AOL today, "He's worked in Alaska's oil industry and as a fisherman. But in recent times, he's had another role. Some call him the "Shadow Governor."

In government circles and among the family's acquaintances, Todd Palin is known as his wife's greatest adviser and most loyal protector. One family friend said, "Todd is incredibly supportive and is willing to do whatever it takes to help Sarah."

Todd may appear quiet, almost shy, but he's made quite an impression on his wife's running mate, Sen. John McCain. On the campaign trail this month in Lancaster, Pa., McCain said, "He's not afraid of Washington, D.C.! He can take them on!"

Alaskans interviewed by CNN say Todd Palin has plenty of influence.
He's not on the state payroll, but lawmakers say he is a central figure in his wife's policy agenda."
There is a delicate balance to be found in power couples. Todd and Sarah exude power and they are clearly a good match, in love with each other and dedicated to a strong marriage. There is the yin and yang, the give and take, the coming together for shared interests, and the going away to pursue separate interests.

Earlier this week, Mr. Palin declared emphatically that he would not be able to testify in the "troopergate" investigation as he is scheduled for heavy travel with his wife on the campaign trail. Is he so intricately connected to her that he cannot leave for a few days to testify in a highly publicized campaign in order to clear his wife of misdoings? Maybe he is really a shadow governor and the American public deserves to know the exact nature of his dealings with the Alaska government before electing Ms. Palin to the highest office ever held by a woman in the land.

Gloria Steinem on Sarah Palin

Friends,

My inbox has been flooded this week and I wanted to share this LA Times piece with you.

Read and draw your own conclusions:

Subject: Gloria Steinem on Sarah Palin
By Gloria Steinem September 4, 2008 Los Angeles Times Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing -- the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party -- are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president. We owe this to women -- and to many men too -- who have picketed, gone on hunger strikes or confronted violence at the polls so women can vote. We owe it to Shirley Chisholm, who first took the "white-male-only" sign off the White House, and to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who hung in there through ridicule and misogyny to win 18 million votes. But here is even better news: It won't work. This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie. Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton . Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton 's candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs." This is not to beat up on Palin. I defend her right to be wrong, even on issues that matter most to me. I regret that people say she can't do the job because she has children in need of care, especially if they wouldn't say the same about a father. I get no pleasure from imagining her in the spotlight on national and foreign policy issues about which she has zero background, with one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37 years' experience. Palin has been honest about what she doesn't know. When asked last month about the vice presidency, she said, "I still can't answer that question until someone answers for me: What is it exactly that the VP does every day?" When asked about Iraq , she said, "I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq ." She was elected governor largely because the incumbent was unpopular, and she's won over Alaskans mostly by using unprecedented oil wealth to give a $1,200 rebate to every resident. Now she is being praised by McCain's campaign as a tax cutter, despite the fact that Alaska has no state income or sales tax. Perhaps McCain has opposed affirmative action for so long that he doesn't know it's about inviting more people to meet standards, not lowering them. Or perhaps McCain is following the Bush administration habit, as in the Justice Department, of putting a job candidate's views on "God, guns and gays" ahead of competence. The difference is that McCain is filling a job one 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency. So let's be clear: The culprit is John McCain. He may have chosen Palin out of change-envy, or a belief that women can't tell the difference between form and content, but the main motive was to please right-wing ideologues; the same ones who nixed anyone who is now or ever has been a supporter of reproductive freedom. If that were not the case, McCain could have chosen a woman who knows what a vice president does and who has thought about Iraq ; someone like Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine . McCain could have taken a baby step away from right-wing patriarchs who determine his actions, right down to opposing the Violence Against Women Act. Palin's value to chose patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only" programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska ; she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger. I don't doubt her sincerity. As a lifetime member of the National Rifle Assn., she doesn't just support killing animals from helicopters, she does it herself. She doesn't just talk about increasing the use of fossil fuels but puts a coal-burning power plant in her own small town. She doesn't just echo McCain's pledge to criminalize abortion by overturning Roe vs. Wade, she says that if one of her daughters were impregnated by rape or incest, she should bear the child. She not only opposes reproductive freedom as a human right but implies that it dictates abortion, without saying that it also protects the right to have a child. So far, the major new McCain supporter that Palin has attracted is James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Of course, for Dobson, "women are merely waiting for their husbands to assume leadership," so he may be voting for Palin's husband. Being a hope-a-holic, however, I can see two long-term bipartisan gains from this contest. Republicans may learn they can't appeal to right-wing patriarchs and most women at the same time. A loss in November could cause the centrist majority of Republicans to take back their party, which was the first to support the Equal Rights Amendment and should be the last to want to invite government into the wombs of women. And American women, who suffer more because of having two full-time jobs than from any other single injustice, finally have support on a national stage from male leaders who know that women can't be equal outside the home until men are equal in it. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are campaigning on their belief that men should be, can be and want to be at home for their children. This could be huge. Gloria Steinem is an author, feminist organizer and co-founder of the Women's Media Center . She supported Hillary Clinton and is now supporting Barack Obama.

A pig is just a pig

What a week in the wearying Presidential race.

Apparently, the esteemed Senator McCain quoted the "lipstick on a pig" line whilst referencing Senator Hillary Clinton's healthcare reform efforts sometime earlier in the campaign.

Senator Obama used it to reference failed McCain/Bush policies. Barack Obama is a gifted invididual, bright, articulate and intelligent. He used the remark innocently. I am not going to speculate as to where he pulled the quote from, but he used it and has been apologizing profusely ever since.

A couple of years ago, my former boss, a mayor, was speaking at an anti-war rally and referenced the local chair of the county Republican party who happened to be African American. He spoke of the "slavish mentality" of some individuals in that party. An incredibly poor choice of words. What a firestorm. I know how bad it was, because I was the one person of color left on his staff who was called upon to go on camera and deny that my ACLU civil rights boss was not a racist. Enough already people. Intelligent people make gaffes all the time - sometimes a pig is just a pig and that is all that is being stated - nothing more, nothing less.

I share with you two email that I received yesterday - they are markedly different, but bear thinking about:

Friends, compatriots, fellow-lamenters,
We are writing to you because of the fury and dread we have felt since the announcement of Sarah Palin as the Vice-Presidential candidate for the Republican Party. We believe that this terrible decision has surpassed mere partisanship, and that it is a dangerous farce on the part of a pandering and rudderless Presidential candidate that has a real possibility of becoming fact.
Perhaps like us, as American women, you share the fear of what Ms. Palin and her professed beliefs and proven record could lead to for ourselves and for our present or future daughters. To date, she is against sex education, birth control, the pro-choice platform, environmental protection, alternative energy development, freedom of speech (as mayor she attempted to ban books and fired the librarian who refused), gun control, the separation of church and state, and polar bears.To say nothing of her complete lack of experience.

We want to clarify that we are not against Sarah Palin as a woman, a mother, or, for that matter, a parent of a pregnant teenager, but solely as a rash, incompetent, and all together devastating choice for Vice President. Ms.Palin's political views are in every way a slap in the face to the accomplishments that our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers so fiercely fought for, and that we've so demonstrably benefited from.

First and foremost, Ms. Palin does not represent us. She does not demonstrate or uphold our interests as American women. It is presumed that the inclusion of a woman on the Republican ticket could win over women voters. We want to disagree, publicly.

Therefore, we invite you to reply here mailto:womensaynopalin@gmail.com with a short, succinct message about why you, as a woman living in this country, do not support this candidate as second-in-command for our nation.

Please include your name (last initial is fine), age, and place of residence.
We will post your responses on a blog called "Women Against Sarah Palin," which we intend to publicize as widely as possible. Please send us your reply at your earliest convenience the greater the volume of responses we receive, the stronger our message will be.
Thank you for your time and action.
VIVA!
Sincerely,
Quinn Latimer and Lyra Kilston
New York, NY

And the second:


If you're a minority and you're selected for a job over less qualified candidates you're a "token hire."
If you're a conservative and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "game changer."
Black teen pregnancies? A "crisis" in black America.
White teen pregnancies? A "blessed event."
If you grow up in Hawaii (our 50th state) you're "exotic" and "foreign."
Grow up in Alaska, shooting moose and eating mooseburgers, and you're the quintessential "American story."
Similarly, if you name you kid Barack you're "unpatriotic."
Name your kid Track, you're "colorful."
If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the individual you're "reckless."
A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a "maverick."

If you spend 3 years as a community organizer growing your organization from a staff of 1 to 13 and your budget from $70,000 to $400,000, then become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new African Amerian voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, then spend nearly 8 more years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, becoming chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, then spend nearly 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of nearly 13 million people, sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you are woefully inexperienced.

If you spend 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, then spend 20 months as the governor of a state with 650,000 people, then you've got the most executive experience of anyone on either ticket, are the Commander in Chief of the Alaska military and are well qualified to lead the nation should you be called upon to do so because your state is the closest state to Russia.
If you are a Democratic male candidate who is popular with millions of people you are an "arrogant celebrity".
If you are a popular Republican female candidate you are "energizing the base".
If you are a younger male candidate who thinks for himself and makes his own decisions, you are "presumptuous". (also known as "uppity)
If you are an older male candidate who makes last minute decisions you refuse to explain, you are a "shoot from the hip" maverick.
If you are a candidate with a Harvard law degree you are "an elitist--out of touch" with the real America.
If you are a legacy (dad and granddad were admirals) graduate of Anapolis, with multiple disciplinary infractions, you are a hero.
If you manage a multi-million dollar nationwide campaign, you are an "empty suit".
If you are a part-time mayor of a town of 7000 people, you are an "experienced executive".
If you go to a south side Chicago church, your beliefs are "extremist".
If you believe in creationism and don't believe global warming is man made, you are "strongly principled".
If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your crippled, disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
If you have been married to the same woman with for 19 years and raised 2 beautiful daughters with her, you're "risky".
If you're a poor, black single mother of 4 who waits for 22 hours after her water breaks to seek medical attention, you're an irresponsible parent, endangering the life of your unborn child.
But if you're a white married mother who waits 22 hours, you're spunky.
If you're a 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton, the right-wing press calls you "First dog."
If you're a 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter of a Republican, the right-wing press calls you "beautiful" and "courageous."
If you kill an endangered species, you're an excellent hunter.
If you have an abortion, you’re not a Christian, you're a murderer (forget about if it happened while being date-raped.)
If you teach abstinence only in sex education, you get teen parents.
If you teach responsible age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
If you're a Republican senator who solicits gay sex in an airport bathroom, you get to return to your job in the Senate and are encouraged to run for re-election.
If you're a former Democratic Senator who is out of public office and have an affair, your political career is over and your wife, who has terminal cancer, is to blame.
And finally:
Quiz question for the RNC, specifically those on the Religious Right.
Who was one of the most highly revered and famous (and popular) community organizers in history?
...JESUS
And who was the governor at the time?
...Pontius Pilate.

Some food for thought.

Are you listening or paying attention or both?

Agents of change - Senator Obama or Senator McCain - one is, methinks, misleading the American people

I tried to be objective about the Republican convention, given its incredibly negative tone. I must admit that it was refreshing to see a woman taking center stage for such an unlikely event. Sarah Palin is certainly making history in many ways.

What I did not care for was Senator John McCains arrogance about being an agent of change - was he an agent of change at one point? Absolutely - a maverick even - indeed. And now, he is beholden to lobbyists and other special interest groups and is a bona fide Washington insider. The money from big spenders is falling into his campaign troughs in buckets.

While he claims to be an insider Senator McCain, he has voted with the current administration some 90% of the time - that is a pretty big risk for the American people to take that he will maybe vote appropriately 10% of the time in his new administration. Indeed, in a recent headline in the Economist, the cover shows Senator McCain and essentially asks what happened to the McCain we all knew.

At one time, he all but villified right wing Christian conservatives, and yet he picks an extreme right wing Christian conservative, who opposes abortion under any terms (Senator McCain defers to a woman's right to choose in certain instances, such as incest and rape, etc.), who is a lifelong member of the NRA (what - do they hand those things out with birth certificates in Alaska hospitals?) and tried to fire the town librarian for refusing to destroy or remove questionable material from the shelves. Ms. Palin did not count on the town rallying around the librarian en masse. Would that her brother in law, the fired Public Safety Commissioner had had the same support.

Which of these men is the real agent of change? Today's Gallup poll indicates that McCain received a "bounce" from the convention and now leads Obama by some 3 percentage points. The American people are listening, but are they paying attention?