Copyright © 2009 Frank Lynch.
Copyright © 2009 Frank Lynch.
Me: Frank Lynch Home These are my mundane daily ramblings.
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It's unreasonable, but we're willing to make an exception. Kevin Connolly, writing for the BBC, leads off:
Excellent. But I don't have to tell you what he writes immediately after that:
Unreasonable to make an assessment, but we're going to trump up a reason to do so at 50 days! Because this is the information age! Quicker! Faster! Nower!
It's a happening town! Last week we hosted the Crossword Puzzle Tournament, this week it's the Flat Earth Society. I should close with a joke, a "What will be next? The ya da da ya da da da's of Southeast...", but by merely trying to exercise my imagination would limit the immensity of this happening town. I mean, the Flat Earth Society is here. It would be an injustice to New York City to suggest bounds of outrageousness.
Michael Steele: Agent of Change? Michael Steele, the new head of the Republican National Committee, sees himself as the prophet revealing truths which the populace has tried very hard to ignore:
It's an interesting idea, and I kind of get it, but I think that the change motive is better served if he's on the outside rather than the inside. First, you have to realize he's not a "known" element, and change needs an aura of acceptability. Unknown elements don't have that. Secondly, an outsider has greater freedom to push the envelope than an insider does. I think it would be better if Steele were an outsider, and the leadership were trusted insiders who could proclaim the wisdom of Steele's points. It's a tougher row to hoe otherwise. Add on his apology for adding ammunition to the argument that Limbaugh leads the GOP: he had a legitimate argument, and should have reinforced it, but here he is caught betwixt and between.
Short term car rental accounts. That's a vague way of suggesting "Zip Cars" and their competitors. They're pools of cars sitting scattered around your town, and one near you to use when you need it. Basically you set up an account, and get charged for usage. A write up in the New York Times is here. I loved the concept when I first heard about it in the Netherlands a number of years ago. We (our family) doesn't have much use for it, because we have no issues with using the buses which go where the subways don't. But I recognize that most cities don't have as dense a mass transit network as we do here. We wouldn't use it for a trip to Costco, either: we'll use mass transit to get there and call a car service to get back. But there's something to be said for the flexibility which they offer, especially when fixed route transit not only doesn't go where you're going, but you'd need a lot of transfers. When I first heard about Zip Cars here, I was thrilled. Conceptually, I guess. Maybe if I thought about it more often as an option I'd imagine myself going more places which would normally require transfers... Or going to "you can't get there from here" places. (It was pretty difficult to get to Greenpoint a couple weekends ago, for instance.)
In these tumultuous times... I admit it, we are old enough, have been above the median income long enough, and have saved hard enough that we deal with an investment company. Tonight we met with our advisors because times are pretty damned - - well, there's water on the decks and all that - - the tone was pretty different, especially since my mood at our last meeting was darker than theirs and my pessimism was, in retrospect this time, more accurate. (I put that emphasis there because we couldn't do it without them, honestly, and their advice is usually on target.) But there was a good degree of black humor throughout, like, "aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play." And neither of them were familiar with the old "there's gotta be a pony in here somewhere" joke, so I enlightened them on that. In the general theme of delusion and panic, I brought up Bob Goldthwait's opening bit when Ab and I saw him 20-25 years ago. He was so funny, I continue to quote his routine all these years later. When he walked out onto the stage at The Bottom Line, the six pack of Tab was already on a nearby stool; he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, but oddly already in a sweat... He reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out a sheet of lined yellow paper, ripped from some pad, and held in front of him, shaking as he did so. The sheet, on the side we could see was blank... He was wordless, but kind of gasping... Frenetically, he flipped it over nervously, and then again and again. We had seen that each side was blank. And in a very very scared voice, he stuttered out: "Did any... body... find a piece of paper? ... It had... jokes on it?" Anyway, here he is from about that time. I hope you can laugh... We need to... I don't remember the exact date when we saw him, but that line about threatening to make Bernie's glasses "really wobbly" was in his routine. I swear to God, his routine was so memorable, I could easily quote you another half dozen bits... Not doing it, I want him to dig up an old tape, put it on DVD and get some "do re me."
Is anyone advising Michael Steele? You may have heard that the new head of the RNC has apologized to Rush Limbaugh for Sunday remarks in which he referred to Limbaugh as an "entertainer," and referred to himself as the leader of the Republican Party, not Limbaugh. While Steele may have overstated his own perch, he was originally correct that Limbaugh is an entertainer and not a leader. (How many times did his defenders tell us we needn't worry about his have his reckless, inaccurate comments because he's an entertainer? That he shouldn't be called to account?) The fact is, Rush is an entertainer. And he'd rather take the money and run, rather than actually try to lead and do a better job than Michael Steele. We know this for a fact. How, you ask? Because if he truly loved the conservative movement, truly loved his country and his party, he'd get off the air to do something about it. But of course, that would mean he'd be accountable for results, not Arbitron ratings. We know where his priorities are: his wallet.
 Unanticipated benefits of state house changes. The ramifications of power changes on the state level aren't always as well understood as those that happen on a federal level, but their impact can be just as signficant, allbeit for fewer people. Ever since the 1970's New York State has had extremely harsh anti-drug laws on its books; the "Rockefeller Drug Laws" (named for the governor at the time) forced penalties for possession that were as harsh as those for second degree murder. This failure to differentiate degrees of punishment drove Samuel Johnson up the wall when penalties for robbery and murder were equal. Things have finally changed: in addition to now having a Democratic governor, Democrats now also control the legislature. The New York Times is reporting that the laws' repeal is a renewed priority; and since Governor Paterson was once arrested at a protest for their repeal, the momentum could be significant. (Pataki was the governor when Paterson was protesting. My love for Pataki is very slim, I assure you. He was one of the politicians ginning up the populace to invade Iraq, and once argued that metal from the toppled statue of Saddam Hussein should be melted down and used to rebuild the WTC. Nice buffoonery, that.) Anyway, cross your fingers at least. And if you live here in New York, write your representatives in Albany to make this happen. Please?
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