The Precipice

Without becoming either too poetic or too melodramatic, those of us here in the Bay Sate are teetering on the edge of a deep precipice. As I sit here late on election day, I (and many others) are facing the prospect of having Ted Kennedy's seat filled by a guy (Scott Brown) who is in the Dick Cheney wing of the Republican party. He is against abortion, against the Health Care bill, does not believe in climate change, and once posed 90% nude for Cosmopolitan. If Martha Coakley loses, she will be finished (and I will be furious that she ran such a lousy campaign--and angry at myself because now I am thinking Capuano who lost in the primary would have eaten Brown for lunch and I did not vote for him) but we all will be losers. Listening close to the man/woman street interviews, all I heard was anger at everything in general and nothing specific. The stimulus did not affect/help ME. Health Care will take MY benefits away. Some folks had in fact lost jobs and homes--ok I get that. But it is the generalized anger aimed at the generalized THEM that really gets me. The THEM is partly Barack--this is a way for people to get at him without getting at him directly. They will reject her in his stead. Let me just say that I hope the bright lights down there in DC have a back up plan when they face the fact of only having 59 votes--one of whom is my man Joe Lieberman who is as sturdy as a twig. There is a musical group whose music I don't know but whose name is "Rage Against the Machine". Those words are on an endless loop in my head and in my belly.

Then there is this: two more Democrats will retire from the Senate. Dorgan from North Dakota and Dodd from Connecticut. A Republican cow could beat a Democrat in North Dakota though prospects of replacing Dodd with a Democrat are much better. Many pieces of important legislation are in peril--and that's without me having a clue about any other election issues in other states. Then we have my old home state of Florida (competing mightily with Texas to see who can execute the most people in a year) where the governor (Crist) is running against a real tea bagger (Rubio). One of Crist's biggest problems is a video showing him hugging Obama and thanking him for the stimulus money Florida got. Rubio's take on it: better to have laid off teachers. Crist is not black and white enough for these other Republicans and has not taken a blood oath on a number of real right wing (a la Rush Limbaugh) issues.

There is hope though in a recent New Yorker article about Sonia Sotamayor. A great article which showed her to be much more articulate and on target than was revealed in those dumb hearings. While it is not clear how "liberal" she really is, one thing is already true--she will not be passive and has consistently asked more questions than any of the other justices.

Feels like buffalo around here what with two straight days of seemingly continuous snow flurries. Speaking of SPORTS (fooled some of you, huh?)--worse game I have ever seen the Patriots play. I'm hoping Brady was injured as gruesome as that sounds--otherwise he looked tired and perhaps a bit over the hill. Holly, a friend, is really finished with Belichik and I am starting to wonder about him myself after listening to her. Too arrogant and too confident about his brilliance which I guess is close to the same thing as arrogant. The Celtics will start to look ok according to me and Bob Ryan of the Globe) as soon as all the pieces are in place especially Mr. Garnett. The Bruins season is ready to be flushed.

Had a great weekend in NYC. Via a very close relative, got to see the Tim Burton exhibit at MOMA. How prolific/how varied. I am convinced he took copious amounts of illegal substances in the fabulous sixties. But the guy came out on the other side and is a genius. Also saw other friends, ate very well (thanks to that same relative), and saw a fine play about a Nigerian musician (name of Fela).

All my digits are crossed though I am committed to watching the returns soberly. I am obviously not optimistic. Mind you, there are people all over the place wishing us ill. I think it is ugly.

Sayonara