From Colin Powell’s endorsement of Obama:
I’m also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, “Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.” Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, “He’s a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.” This is not the way we should be doing it in America.
I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards–Purple Heart, Bronze Star–showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn’t have a Christian cross, it didn’t have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourselves this way.
The picture to which he’s referring:
This evening I went to a performance by a band called Strawfoot at the downtown branch of the St. Louis Public Library. The library’s newsletter billed them as “dirge country” but wikipedia calls them alt-country; I could go with punk-folk or just exactly the kind of weird that’s right up my alley.
The show was quite the interesting experience. It was out on the patio, and I would say that about half the attendees were homeless, including one woman who sat in the front row and made incoherent requests. She actually had an excellent ear; during breaks she’d be singing the songs. There was also a woman who spent most of the concert trying to get the very last bit out of her Pepto-Bismol bottle (adding water and swishing it around, standing it upside down then licking the cap and the opening of the bottle, etc).
The actual music was really good! Several of their songs reminded me a lot of the Pogues. They covered a few old-school country songs, as well as Alice in Chains’ “Rooster” with fiddle runs in place of guitar riffs - it was great. Sadly, as with too many live shows, their sound was poorly mixed with the amps turned up way too high, and we couldn’t make out the lyrics most of the time. Song topics that were either announced or audible included temptation, politics, drinking, heaven/hell, unlucky love, and dyslexia. The last had a refrain beginning with “oh my Dog.”
It turns out that their latest CD is available as a DRM-free digital download so I think I’m going to buy it.
I ran across a link to Beloit College’s Mindset List for the Class of 2010. I’ve seen these before, as they’re frequently forwarded around. This one is a bit bizarre. Some of them make me feel old:
- Windows 3.0 operating system made IBM PCs user-friendly the year they were born.
- Caller ID has always been available on phones.
- GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.
Some of them are true of me (class of 2003):
- They have always been looking for Carmen Sandiego.
- Lenin’s name has never been on a major city in Russia. (I am of course aware of Leningrad, but I don’t think I learned geography with it. Presumably it’s the same for the class of 12.)
Shampoo and conditioner have always been available in the same bottle.
And some of them don’t make very much sense:
- The Warsaw Pact is as hazy for them as the League of Nations was for their parents. (I don’t know what this one is supposed to mean - our parents were unfamiliar with the League of Nations? That seems unlikely. But I do feel more familiar with the LN than with the Warsaw Pact, so maybe this one is true of me and that’s why I don’t get it!)
- Michael Milken has always been a philanthropist promoting prostate cancer research. (Who TF is Michael Milken?
- As a precursor to “whatever,” they have recognized that some people “just don’t get it.” (Is the latter supposed to be some sort of cultural catchphrase?)
So then I looked up the ones for the class of 2003 and some of them were great because they’re now outdated:
- They were born and grew up with Microsoft, IBM PCs, in-line skates, NutraSweet, fax machines, film on disks, and unregulated quantities of commercial interruptions on television.
- The moonwalk is a Michael Jackson dance step, not a Neil Armstrong giant step. (I’m going to guess that for the class of 2010, it’s the latter.)
Then some again seem wrong:
- Yugoslavia has never existed. (I had to look this up to be sure, but it existed until 2003! Or maybe they’re talking about the one that disintegrated in 1992, but still, I was definitely familiar with there having been such a country.)
- Ketchup has always been a vegetable.
And some don’t apply - apparently I was really not with the times, because I don’t (and never did) know the names of at least half the members of the “Brat Pack”, who Tina Yothers or Max Headroom is, which dolls had “Xavier Roberts” on their ear, what Willis was “talkin’ ’bout”, or what a Doozer is.
It’s true, though, that I have no idea why “Solidarity” is spelled with a capital “S”! (Wikipedia actually didn’t shed a whole lot of light on this one; I now know about a whole bunch of different leftist and socialist organizations called that, but it isn’t obvious what the list writers were referring to.)
I got to attend the VP debate - there was a lottery for student tickets, and I had #482 out of 521 allowed in. I think the most exciting part was actually standing around inside the security perimeter before entering the building, among all sorts of VIPs. I actually wished I watched more TV, because I could hardly recognize anyone, though, even when their companions were calling them “Senator.” Luckily I ran into a med school friend (who had a real ticket through family connections) and he pointed people out. We wound up standing right next to the Daily Show crew while John Oliver interviewed another Senator I didn’t recognize. John Oliver was very nice and let me snap a picture of my friend with him.
We also were standing right on the edge of the sidewalk while Joe Lieberman’s entourage passed. He greeted us very pleasantly, while one of his bodyguards knocked a cameraman out of the way (I’m pretty sure it was accidental, but it was still funny).
Inside the debate hall, I had an “obstructed view” seat and they weren’t kidding - I could see the moderator’s desk (but she herself was obscured by a camera) and nothing else. Also, it was really freaking cold in there.
Nonetheless, impressions:
- I didn’t have to see Palin to be annoyed by her smirk. It comes through loud and clear. Good Lord.
- maverick and 4 billion dollar tax cut for Exxon Mobil tied in the no-one-cares-but-we-can’t-think-of-anything-else contest
- I love how the change Washington needs comes in the form of a man who’s been in the Senate longer than I’ve been alive and a George W. Bush with lipstick on
- fairly impressed that Palin knows the name of the US commander in Afghanistan*, especially since Biden (who brought him up) didn’t seem to
- although both candidates basically held up garlic and crosses at the idea of gay marriage they were both adamant about equal civil rights otherwise. Obviously we still have far to go, but I think that’s great progress in not too long a time.
- nucular? Again? Seriously? Come on, you can’t say “doggone” AND “darn right” AND “you guys” AND “up there in Alaska” AND “nucular”. I guess the put-on folksiness worked pretty well for GWB though.
- by far the biggest laugh line of the night was Palin’s crack about a joke that must have fallen flat because nobody got it - unfortunately I couldn’t actually hear what she said, but assume she must have been poking fun at Biden.
- I wish Biden would have said he voted for the war because Bush & Co misrepresented the evidence rather than trying to pretend that he voted for peacekeeping powers or something instead of a war.
- obviously after the Katie Couric interview somebody told Palin she doesn’t have to fully answer every question. Given that, it was brilliant for her to come out and say that she wasn’t necessarily going to answer the questions the moderator asked but talk about what the American people want to hear. Though I did wish she’d answer the questions!
- I could tell Palin was flagging by the end when she sort of fizzled out on her answer and then said “so, um, yeah, I agree…” She’s going to be embarrassed when she has to listen to that on tape.
- Overall I thought both did quite well and I don’t see this changing very much in the race.
Oh, I also have to mention that on my way through the security checkpoint, I asked the Secret Service officer if I should remove my belt before passing through the metal detector. He responded, very pleasantly: “Ma’am, this isn’t an airport.” We all got to keep our shoes, too.
*I am informed that she actually got the name wrong - it’s McKiernan not McClellan. Eh, I’m willing to call that a slip of the tongue - she didn’t say Petraeus or even MacArthur.