I Am Of Course.... An Idiot

Sorry for my extended absence from this space. Summer is a nightmarish busy time. As I type this I am watching Governor Sanford melt down on the 24 hour news cycle thinking how sad it is on so many levels. How sad it is that this dogmatic, morally scolding conservative should have to be brought down in this way. How sad it is that we are all sinners and all only a few bad decisions away from a total meltdown. How sad it was that you knew when he disappeared that there was an illicit relationship with someone. You always hope that being brought low will make people more understanding of other people’s faults but people like Rush Limbaugh who have had difficulties with drug abuse and never stopped condemning others weaknesses in their hypocrisy does not give much hope. Other then his attempted refusal of TARP money I had never heard of the guy but he seems like a nice guy. They are running some his “Christian Values” campaign commercials right now and it is pretty painful. We force our politicians to pretend that they are without sin and it is really stupid. This is not just a Conservative thing or a Republican thing. It is a political thing and it is no wonder that these deeply flawed people rise to the top because anyone with any sense would not expose themselves to such an ultimately damning system of curring favor with special interest groups by publicly pretending to embrace their agenda. Now that i know what happened I am sick of the story. I hope he does not resign. I also hope he does not run for President, at least until he gets his shit together. Blah, blah, blah.

*****

So I got to spend a whole week with a bunch of teenagers up in Michigan. I drove 6 kids from St. Louis up there and they joined a group of about 160 kids at beautiful Camp Arcadia. As always it was sweet. I get to go up and they give me 11 kids for a week and put us through “the program”. Inevitably these are some of the best people I get to deal with all year long. Not the best teachers but the best people. It was a little creepy. Several kids had parents out of jobs or under employed. This obviously was causing added stress in their houses. We don’t sleep much when we are up there. I also don’t drink much or engage in any other of my many vices when there. Other then eating like a pig it is a place where I get a little cleansing. In light of how I treat my body day to day any cleaning would seem positive. It was sweet being away from work for a week and getting to know 11 kids who I did not know before gives me some meager hope for the future which is better then no hope at all.

****

On the way home from camp I only had two kids in the car with me and was in a hurry to get home (for no good reason). When driving south down the west coast of Michigan you take highway 31 and it is 70 mph the whole way other then a 30 mile or so stretch from Muskoegen to Holland where it intermittently drops to 55 and below. I was blowing along at 74 when pulled over. It never ceases to amaze me how sick to my stomach I get at the sight of flashing cherrys in the rear view. I always want to puke. The office was the kind of large, blue eyed Dutchman that you can only find in Holland Michigan and had probably been fairly formidable when playing middle line backer for Hope College. he was polite. He inquired if I had a good reason for speeding (I did not) and went back to run my plates and I assume write me a ticket. When he got out of the cruiser without his ticket clip board I thought perhaps he was going to let me skate but then he informed me that I had an old unpaid ticket in Michigan and therefore was no longer authorized to drive in the state. He also told me I would need to post a 205 dollar cash bond and asked if I had the cash and when I said no he politely said:
"Please step out of the car".
When I did so it was followed up by:
"Please place your hands on the vehicle".
At which time I realized he was about to arrest me. Keep in mind that I had a two week beard growing, no shoes and two minor children in the car. I began to speak telling him that although i knew he was just doing his job I needed him to help me out a little and he told me that he had no options but to take me in and book me and let me post a credit card bond "at the station". The kids in the car looked horrified but were trying to be polite. I could see a bank about 1/2 mile away and suggested i could drive to the ATM:
"I cannot allow that sir. You are not authorized to drive in the State of Michigan."
I smiled.
"How about if you just give me a ride?"
"Once I put you in the squad car you are arrested." He responded.
I stuck my head in the window at the two 16 year olds and asked if either had ever driven a stick and they both indicated the negative but i made my final play:
"How about if I teach one of the kids to drive a stick and you follow me to the bank?"
"I do not think that would be safe sir."
I pleasingly looked at him and said "I need a little grace here officer. I am confident that I can get him to learn quickly and get to the bank and post that cash bond".
He grudgingly allowed it and I hopped in the passenger seat. In the drivers seat was a panicked young man named Jeff Schultie who after a few simple instructions performed brilliantly. I think he only killed the car once and was able not only to get us there but also negotiated a Michigan U turn in the process. I went to the ATM and got the cash. He wrote the ticket and gave me receipt and then told me that although I was not authorized to drive in the State of Michigan it might not be in every one's best interests to have Jeff drive all the way to Indiana and he suggested that Jeff get me out of his county. Jeff did and then gratefully surrendered the wheel but i cannot say enough about the effort. For me it was just a totally humiliating fathers day. On the other hand I didn't have to fly back from Argentina and face the press like the governor of California. I guess it was not that humiliating.

***

Two weeks ago I was up in Lansing Michigan giving a commencement address. That will be posted tomorrow.

Michigan Primary The Edrwards In The Lou

Sooooo...I was wrong about Michigan too. Perhaps this Diner reviewer is...fallable? I think not my little friends. Who was to know that Michigan was so beaten down that their Republican lackeys would swoon for the robot. How could anyone vote for this guy? A liberal republican governor from Massachusetts suddenly morphed into a pandering, say anything guy. He started out the campaign as the champion hardliner for integration parotting whatever impossible scenarios the rigid right wingers want while still being the pro business flunky but not saying that those businesses need all that cheap labor... not saying that there is no way to get 12 million (at least) people out of our country... and their mothers... and their children. That is what I object to. The pandering with simple, crowd pleasing blather. It sickens me.

But he won Michigan and now will March on to roll the dice on Super Tuesday. I still cannot believe that people will vote for this guy but the people really do not know what they want. Huckabee, Mc Cain, Romney. Obama, Clinton Edwards. A potpouri of choices it might seem but perhaps not. The one thing that cannot happen is to allow the last 7 years of craziness to continue. certainly we will get CHANGE but how dramatic a change.

******

So.... I went to see John Edward's speak today at the Carpenters Hall. It is the same day as Nevada and South Carolina Primaries and after Michigan it is starting to dawn on everyone that nothing is going to be even close to decided for either party until Super Tuesday. It is telling however that Edward's has elected to spend the day of these two primaries in Missouri rather then battling for votes. It would appear he has already resigned himself to finishing 3rd in his home state. Normally a loss in your home state would doom your candidacy but in a year with the possibility that Hilary and Barrack will be banging away and could roll into the convention with no clear majority he could be a king maker. With his overtly populist agenda he could (if it is what he really cares about) get some major parts of his agenda through like universal health care and repealing the Bush tax cuts.

But it was interesting at 9:15 on a Saturday morning to be inside the Carpenters Hall. I had been to a wedding reception there before (little smokies, vegetable tray and ham sandwiches) but other then that had not been in the place. It is on Hampton by the old Arena and I have probably passed it 5000 times since birth. It was hard finding a place to park and i had given up when I thought I would try the other side of the street. BRILLIANT! I was inside in no time and it was packed with what looked like several hundred supporters packing the place.

A few observations about the crowd:
1. It appeared everyone drove along based on the size of the crowd and the fact that the parking lot and all side streets were full of cars. (So much for global warming)
2. It was white.
3. It skewed middle aged to old.
4. These were working people.

It was interesting to be there. It was a packed room with media in back, slightly elevated stage in front with a huge American flag covering the wall and local politicos standing on it. Not many beautiful people and no local heavy hitters. No Schoemels, Slays, Nixons or Mc Caskills in sight and certainly no north city Clay’s. I counted two black people in the building and they were both speaking and, tellingly, no latinos.

We started off with about 8 short rah rah speeches from local guys, local black media (The St. Louis American reporter), two State Senators and one S rep, someone from the boot-heel, the head of the Carpenters Union.... you get the idea. The speeches were short, not that good but very passionate all making the following points:

1. Edward's has working class roots.
2. Bush and the system Republicans have forgotten about them.
3. In Missouri when they were campaigning for the Statehouse and Campaigning for a minimum wage increase Edward's was the only guy of the major candidates to come to the State and work.
4. Edward's is a fighter and will fight to bring better wages AND BENEFITS back to working people.
5. Clinton and Obama do not give a shit about you.

Finally they announced Edward's... and he did not come out. Some chanting, some embarrassment...they turned up some Bruce Springsteen...he did not come out and then finally he did. It all looked amateurish but... these are working people.
Edward's is impressive. As he has skewed less and less likely to be the winner of the primaries he has done the reverse Romney. Instead of testing and polling for how to get more votes he has veered towards a passionate populist message that will alienate business and small business. I love the sentiment and I believe... listening to him... I believe that he will fight for the little guy. In talking about Healthcare he spoke of the big healthcare companies and the insurers and scoffed at the idea of negotiating with him like were talking about making a deal with the devil. He would not sell out...he would fight.

Tragically he taught me something I had never really thought of (as a long time Republican capitalist) and that is that it is not all about jobs but is instead about benefits. Healthcare and defined benefit pension plans were what made the country great and broadened the middle class. In thinking about it I know it is true but I say tragically because it does not address the fact that we do not make anything here anymore other then weapons for our military. Everything else gets manufactured over seas so we can buy it cheaply. (I know this is an oversimplification but it is not a gross one) How would the people there, the working people feel if they got their jobs, got their wages, got their benefits...and then had to pay 2-3 times as much for all the things they consume from Walmart. Protectionism has always been short sighted but with globalization it has become impossible. And Edward's cannot tell people that.

He, like Obama preaches hope but Edward's hope is a hope without answers. Soak the rich (which is really not that bad an idea considering how rich Bush has made them (us) but that is not enough of a plan. America needs a leader who can motivate us and talk the truth to us about the hard choices we are going to have to make regarding lifestyle, global warming, transportation, jobs etc...

Still... the guy was impressive. great speaker who has a feeling for the people. A real populist who is going to fight some battles. He might make an awesome Attorney General. That my friends would scare the shit out of the greed-heads. I was really happy I went to see him. Not a waste of time. We will see what happens in South carolina and Nevada.



Edwards for President in 08...lets color it...unlikely. But interesting.