NATE THE GREAT

I am almost sure the above title is also the name of children's story book--whatever.  I will chat a bit later about the actual election.  But first a word about my man Nate Silver.  He was vilified and pilloried (how do you like them words) by all sorts of right wing media and by some not so right wing for either being wrong, being pro-Obama, or both.  All he did was get 100% of the states correct in the presidential voting and all the Senate seats right except for that colossal upset in North Dakota.  He is also very humble and consistently kept saying that all he does is collect numbers and then average them--not brain surgery.  But he consistently reflected what those averages meant and was right on target about the implications.  Finally, I read somewhere that beside not being Jewish, he is an openly gay man. Who knew?  If those Fox folks knew that, they might have gone overboard.

Speaking of which, if you haven't seen the video clip of Karl Rove having an on air fight with Fox colleagues about the Ohio results, you have to find it.  He insists in the clip that Ohio will go for Romney and requests that one of the others go down the hall where the data people are and get the scoop from them.  The camera follows and the data nerds patiently explain that Karl is bonkers.  It would be totally hilarious if not for how out of touch Rove is.

I would like to thank every Hispanic person, every African American person, every young person, and all unmarried women--they apparently are the coalition that pushed Obama to the victory and they well may be the groups that push other more progressive candidates to victory in the future as well.  According to all that I have read, white men loved the Mitter--them and the evangelicals.  But before we get too giddy, there was a terrific article in the recent New Yorker about the new U.S. Senator from the Lone Star state--that would be the person representing Anna.  Turns out he is a Tea Party conservative who is first generation American born to Cuban refugee parents.  He would like the border wall erected a bazillion feet high to keep the riff raff from Central America out.  Also turns out you will help yourself and should not get help from BIG GOVERNMENT.  Like Marc Rubio, he is seen as the future of the Republican party.  But guess what?  In that very same state, Jeb Bush has a son who is "dark skinned" and Jeb's wife is Hispanic.  He might be running for some crazy office and he has very different views on immigration--let them duke it out at the Alamo. 

So glad Scottie got kicked to the curb up here in the Bay State.  Not even close--she whupped him and she will not be a church mouse down there in DC.  However, the thought that we might have to have another election if Kerry gets a big job--that makes me want to puke since the pundits are already saying Scottie might want to run again.  Ugh.

Kudos to Governor Christie--he has two redeeming values.  He loves Bruce (who by the way was out there singing along with Obama) and he had the cojones to thank Obama for visiting his state after Sandy hit.  Some Republicans trashed him for that.  Kudos also to Bloomberg for endorsing Obama even though in that city and state, it mattered very little.  But both of them took risks and deserve some praise.

Sherrod Brown's Senate opponent (Josh Mandel) in Ohio was Jewish and blasted Brown for supporting same sex marriage.  Turns out Mandel's sister is married to a woman and they took out an "ad" in the local Jewish paper chastising Mandel for his opposition.  Mandel manged to totally split the Jewish community of Cleveland with his obnoxious hate filled positions.  And lost.  I refer you to op ed pieces by Roger Cohen which is where I stole all this from.

Speaking of stealing--there is a e-zine from Brooklyn called "Heeb".  It is full of satire most of the time but in the aftermath of the election, they had a terrific piece on Sheldon Adelson and all the money he spent and lost. 7 of the 8 candidates he supported lost.  This included Allen West the right wing Florida congressman who is African American and believes all Democrats are communists.  As they say, he is a "nut job" and Sheldon gave him tons of money.  Sheldon, Sheldon--its time to come home and take your meds.

Enough--old friends are for me like old  levis. As Lilli says, they are comfy cozy. They just fit well and you can just ease right into them without any preliminaries.  In the last two weeks we had the luck to spend time with "two pairs of levis".  C and M visited with us and then we went to the theatre with C and T.  Just a great "fit".

I now have progressive glasses which I hate and have literally been told its because I am getting old.  Fuck--every doctor has the same theme.  Must be true, no?

Welcome to Andrea--I have cornered the market on Mersons. Still on the look out for others who might wish to receive this screed!!

SPORTS TALK
Poor Phil Jackson/he won't be the Laker coach.  Could not care less. Another so called genius bites the dust. However am very happy those pigs from Alabama lost.  Johnny football from Texas A and M took them out.  Only problem is that school is full of paramilitary student types in uniforms.  The Yankees will sign Rivera though how good he will be is an open question.  My former home town team (that would be the Marlins) really are a joke.  That new stadium was 75% publicly financed and so the city feels fleeced.  Caveat emptor.

I warned all of you about Donald Fehr.  Talk about the fiscal cliff.  Fehr will drive the NHLPA to the hockey cliff.  And no this is not about unions--it is about attitudes--Fehr and Bettman should be kicked to the curb like Scottie.

With Barbara out of town, I watched an entire Celtic game last night.  Not sure they will go all the way (no one rebounds for example) but I really liked what I saw and doc has a very deep bench.

The Pats will easily win their division but are in deep doo doo with that defensive backfield.  If Brady and they boys dont score 30 or more, they are in trouble.

Sayonara.