Month: November 2004

Travel

Pumpkin Soup

Originally written on 19 November, 2004
She asked me to go to London with her. As friends. We were both going anyway, sometime in November. Why not travel together? She knew I was attracted to her, but she invited me anyway. I agreed, in the moment.

I discussed the situation with my close friends. “Dumb idea,” they said. “How could you agree?” I didn’t have an answer. It felt like the thing to do at the time, even though as the date of the trip approached I began dreading it more and more.

We spent the next two months talking regularly, getting together a few times. Finding hotels, setting up a vague itinerary. Deciding on activities. Booking hotels.

We met this morning at Gatwick airport, found our hotel, went wandering about near Regents Park. Took a dinner river cruise on the Thames in our smart clothing. Ate, drank, and took pictures. The boat spun in circles under the London Bridge while “Hallelujah” played over the speakers.

I realized I this would not be an easy trip for me, and that I should have never come.

News

Parallel Universe

I turned on the radio in the car on my way to the basketball game to see if the game would even be covered tonight. No dice, but the talk show host caught my attention. He was belatedly praising Democrats, specifically Tom Daschele and John Kerry, for viewpoints he shared with them that disagreed from the Republicans. In fact, he went beyond that, inviting people to not blindly vote in the future for candidates simply because of the letter next to their name on the ballot. He labeled the Republicans the “borrow and spend” party, decrying their complete lack of fiscal conservativism and their pandering to other countries’ corporations.

The guilty party? Michael Savage. I think we’ve just entered a parallel universe.

News

Decline of the Legislative Branch

Post author By cdymek
Post date November 14, 2004
No Comments on Decline of the Legislative Branch

I read the most disheartening yet accurate quote regarding the decline of the legislative branch in a CNN article today.

He [Sen. Bill Frist] added that Specter, as chairman, “has a clear obligation … to take what the president nominates [and] get that nomination through committee.”

Nonsense! The Senate isn’t a rubber stamp of the President’s picks for any office, let alone appointments to the judicial branch of government. The Senate’s role in the confirmation process is to serve as the opposition, to provide the check to the President’s power. It’s a sad day when the Senate willfully becomes a rubber stamp for any President.

Personal

MDNC Poker Night

Last night I hosted the MNDC Poker Night, a semi-irregular event when we get together to drink and play poker instead of heading out to the area bars. I composed this poem after everyone left as the “minutes” from our meeting…

‘Twas the night of MNDC poker, and all through the house
the players were gambling away everything, even their spouse.
The cards were all dealt with tender-loving care
In hopes that piles more pennies soon would be there.

The players were nestled, all snug in their beers
While sounds of Jud’s cell phone sang in our ears.
And Dave in his sunglasses and punked out hood
Had just finished intimadating us as we finished our food.

When at the refrigerator door there arose such a clatter
Jess sprang from her chair to see what was the matter
“Four Guinii” came Cindy’s loud cheer in a flash
As Jud sprang to grab one in a sudden mad dash.

But, for a moment, we pause for those not here,
CB, at home, car troubles keeping her there.
Whiney, too busy with her new boy companion
while others, no less important, who were not a-gamblin’.

With the cards dealin’, so fast and so quick,
I knew in a moment it must be Dr. Dave’s patented wrist flick.
More rapid than nickles, the pennies they flew
As the players sought to make their piles improve.

Full house, Two Pair, and Three of a Kind!
A straight, a flush, who can come from behind?
As the cards and the coinage continue to fly
Everyone stares each other down with the old evil eye.

What’s this? It’s Sarah, she won the first round
As Jud’s pile of coins are slowly whittled down
Kiki stared me down, in the one hand of blackjack,
But I didn’t give in, splitting the pot in my comeback.

As we played game after game of Texas Hold ’em,
Dave, the dealer, continued to fold ’em.
Cindy, to Jud’s right, without fanfare or hollers,
Went on to beat us all by picking up almost two dollars.

Finally, we turned, with a tear in each eye,
Made our way to the door to say farewell and goodbye.
But I heard the group sing, as they walked out in to the cold night,
“Prince Ali! Mighty is he!” and it was quite a sight.

Personal

Deer Xing

I pride myself on my sense of direction. Usually if I can find myself someplace, I can unfind myself there as well. If I drive somewhere once, I’ll be able to get back. Landing in a foreign city I can quickly find out how to get where I need to go.

When I enter the boundaries of the town of Princeton, my sense of direction disappears down a deep void. Streets familiar cross in unpredictable ways. Turning in one direction takes me in a direction wholly opposite where I want to go. I can enter the town from four different directions, but I am never sure where exactly I’ll end up. It’s always luck, not skill, that I eventually end up where I want to go.

Personal

Only in Manville

Only in Manville can they repave a crummy road and not make an improvement.

News

Liberal Bastions

Campuses are still a bastion of liberal suppor, but at least the students aren’t as apathetic as they have been.

Personal

Finally

With the election out of the way, I’m hoping to have a chance to make a few of those updates on the website I’ve been promising since the Summer. I have a few ideas, and it’s time to start working on them.

News

My “Concession”

Concession speeches, while great political theatre, are nonbinding. Nonetheless, barring any amazing turnovers in the final counting and certification of the ballots, George W. Bush is heading to a second term.

From a very selfish point of view, I know get to watch as our President reaps what he has sown in the world. From Iraq to al Qaeda, he now has four more years to be in power while his mistakes catch up with him, and the rest of the American people. While some of the trends he has set in place may take decades to be fully realized, we will begin receiving some clarity on how disastrous the foreign policy of this President has been. Furthermore, Republicans have always thrived by being in the minority. Now fully controlling all the levers of power, they will no longer have any scapegoats when their policies fail. From their uncontrollable urge for pork to their expansion of the role of the Federal government over the states and support of wealth over work, they will eventually reap the benefits of their policies.

The Democratic Party, on the other hand, now has some serious soul searching to do. With the leaders of the Democrats in both the House and the Senate gone, while remaining out of the White House, they now have to address a leadership void while finding an agenda that speaks to the American people. This election cycle, I refused to donate to any campaigns precisely because the stockpile of innovative ideas within the Democratic Party appeared empty. A significant component of the losses of the past three elections (2000, 2002, and 2004) have been the inability of Democrats to put forth a compelling agenda.

On this point, I have been impressed with the Republican party and the institutions that support it. While I disagree with nearly all the nonsense these groups spout, they have been fantastic in their ability to put together a coherent, organized response to their opposition. They do cross the line, they have fought dirty, but the Democrats need to sharpen their killer instinct. All while ensuring that they have a clear, compelling vision for the future. It’s that vision, clearly articulated, that will win elections. Those institutions will serve as a platform upon which future Democratic candidates can stand.

Is today disappointing? Yes, very much so. But in the not-too-distant-future, I’ll take Joshua Mitchell’s advice, find a group or set of groups to support, and urge all my fellow Democrats to do the same.

Personal

Complex vs. Simple

Unfortunately, media attention on Iraq rarely finds its way to the root of the problem. However, an AP article from early October gives a more clear picture of the true nature of the fighting there.

BAGHDAD, Iraq – The U.S. military is fighting the most complex guerrilla war in its history, with 140,000 American soldiers trained for conventional warfare flailing against a thicket of insurgent groups with competing aims and no supreme leader.

The three dozen or so guerrilla bands agree on little beyond forcing the Americans out of Iraq.

In other U.S. wars, the enemy was clear. In Vietnam, a visible leader – Ho Chi Minh – led a single army fighting to unify the country under socialism. But in Iraq, the disorganized insurgency has no single commander, no political wing and no dominant group.

U.S. troops can’t settle on a single approach to fight groups whose goals and operations vary. And it’s hard to sort combatants from civilians in a chaotic land where large parts of some communities support the insurgents and others are too afraid to risk their lives to help foreigners.

Can we win? Maybe, but not without an overhaul of current strategy.