Did she say what I think she said? Apparently it was at least the second time Senator Clinton, making the point that she hadn't stuck around too long, publicly recollected that Sen. Robert Kennedy was killed in the month of June. The last time was in a Time Magazine article in March.
Here's what she said to The Sioux Falls Argus Leader about her political future. "My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? we all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California." Now here is part of her apology later in the day. "The Kennedy's have been much on my mind the last days because of Senator Kennedy," referring to Sen. Kennedy's recent illness. She added, "And I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation and in particular the Kennedy family was in any way offensive."
Now back to the Time Magazine article. She said, "Primary contests used to last a lot longer. We all remember the great tragedy of Bobby Kennedy being assassinated in June in L.A. My husband didn't wrap up the nomination in 1992 until June. Having a primary contest go through June Is nothing particularly unusual."
For this exercise let's forget that her husbands last opponent dropped out in March of 1992 and the more sinister inferences one might make out of her statement. Do you notice anything else here? She is wading through enormously sensitive waters and it would appear she is unable to locate the dry land. To be generous, it is these moments of apparent confusion about the truth that sunk her campaign.
Whether it be fables about Bosnian sniper fire, anecdotes about hospitals turning away life threateningly ill patients, planted debate questioners or irritating details, of which there were many, like anti-Obama adds featuring voters who later reveal not being registered in the state the adds were tailored to, it's this steady flow of controverting information that ultimately determined her fate.
One could argue that much of the blame lies with her staff. Surely someone noticed that the Bobby Kennedy comment was in bad taste when it was first used and should not be repeated. And on down the list there was in each case someone who dropped the ball.
If Senator Clinton was already wearing President Bush's shoes these matters could have been dealt with like, well, President Bush does. But she didn't get that far because people realized that they were actually looking at what a Hillary Clinton Presidency would look like and didn't like what they saw. Unlike most of the time, during an election we the people wield the power and we have done our job. Congratulations.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
A Story In A Story
There is an old Japanese man who owns a store that I shop in once in a while. His father owned the store before him.
The area is built up now but it wasn't that long ago that it was a farming community. Many Japanese settled here and started their own small farms.
His father started the business by supplying fertilizer and other farm products to farmers. He did well and as the farms disappeared he switched to supplying small growers and gardeners and homeowners with those type products. It's an old fashioned store, a step back in time and, it is one of a few stores of it's type to survive the new era of the mega store.
I was there last week and struck up a conversation about how things have changed over the years when he told me an interesting story about his life. He told me how hard his father had been on him and his brothers and sisters. "All I did was work all the time, from dawn to dusk every single day, year after year." he said.
In 1942, when the war came he and his family were rounded up like all the Japanese people in the area and taken to internment camps. His family went to one called Gila River, south of Phoenix Arizona. He said, "you know it may sound funny but at the time I liked it in the camp. I didn't have to work so hard and it was the first time I got to play baseball and meet girls and go to dances." Laughing he said, "I had to go to prison to have fun." He was 19 years old and said he'll never forget that a few older guys escaped and later on they found their bones somewhere out in the desert. He said he couldn't understand why they would want to leave.
I obviously don't bring this up to take away from what America did to Japanese Americans during that time. It was wrong and even after understanding why these wartime calculations were made it doesn't change the fact that these were rash decisions that were racial in nature and reached in part due to hysteria which at minimum calls into question the judgment of those responsible. It was an indignity officially recognized by the U.S and finally apologized for in 1988.
My point is that the story is an example of how opinions can be buried in and seemingly untethered to the wider view that depicts a situation most accurately. In other words there is always going to be someone who will say with all honesty something that someone else can use to advance their case on some issue.
In this case a 19 year old detainee is obviously not where one should look for the truth and youthful obliviousness easily explains away his comments but in similar situations people routinely reach the wrong conclusion using bad information.
Thoughtful people check the validity of their opinions with various detachment tools in effort to shed light on underlying biases. In this case by simply asking oneself how fair it would have been if they themselves were subjected the same treatment might yield a clearer perspective.
Fortunately for now politicians seemed to have stopped offering us currently active American soldiers opinions on such questions as whether or not we should be in Iraq. But not long ago when the primary season was in full swing references to discussions with soldiers was a popular way to make political points. Senator McCain did this on occasion.
I've always felt that under the circumstances of war, that random discussions by politicians with soldiers about larger issues such as the validity of war should be disallowed. I hope we never hear this tactic again but it needs to be monitored.
I like Senator McCain but there always seems to be a lingering question about his judgment that never has been resolved for me. I know that politicians don't always tell the truth but that doesn't erase the fact that when they don't, they're lying.
Here are two examples that make it hard for me to trust him. First, no matter how much he pretends, he'll never convince me he really likes or agrees with President Bush, especially after what the Bush campaign did to him in South Carolina when they faced off in 2000. Second, I think he is acting much more hawkish about this war than he actually is. Like his opposition to torture, I think his war time experience would have rendered him equally adverse to the rationale for this war. Now that it is underway, being a soldier beyond anything else, he will support our troops like no one else can. But had he been in the White House on 9/11/2001, I don't think we would have invaded Iraq. Also the retaliation against Osama Bin Laden would have been waged effectively and would have been far more productive. His Viet Nam experience and subsequent knowledge would have assured this.
I only wish that Senator McCain had separated himself from President Bush and proposed some kind of winding down of the war so he could have been a much more relevant candidate. I'm interested in seeing how he makes up for these shortcoming. I think he has a difficult time ahead of him.
And finally, a happy ending to the store keeper story. When they left for the camp, a non-Japanese neighbor told his father not to worry, he would watch over things while they were gone. After 3 years in the internment camp they returned to find everything just as they left it, just a thick layer of dust covering things. In no time they were back in business, working harder than ever. His father remained grateful to his neighbor for the rest of his life.
The area is built up now but it wasn't that long ago that it was a farming community. Many Japanese settled here and started their own small farms.
His father started the business by supplying fertilizer and other farm products to farmers. He did well and as the farms disappeared he switched to supplying small growers and gardeners and homeowners with those type products. It's an old fashioned store, a step back in time and, it is one of a few stores of it's type to survive the new era of the mega store.
I was there last week and struck up a conversation about how things have changed over the years when he told me an interesting story about his life. He told me how hard his father had been on him and his brothers and sisters. "All I did was work all the time, from dawn to dusk every single day, year after year." he said.
In 1942, when the war came he and his family were rounded up like all the Japanese people in the area and taken to internment camps. His family went to one called Gila River, south of Phoenix Arizona. He said, "you know it may sound funny but at the time I liked it in the camp. I didn't have to work so hard and it was the first time I got to play baseball and meet girls and go to dances." Laughing he said, "I had to go to prison to have fun." He was 19 years old and said he'll never forget that a few older guys escaped and later on they found their bones somewhere out in the desert. He said he couldn't understand why they would want to leave.
I obviously don't bring this up to take away from what America did to Japanese Americans during that time. It was wrong and even after understanding why these wartime calculations were made it doesn't change the fact that these were rash decisions that were racial in nature and reached in part due to hysteria which at minimum calls into question the judgment of those responsible. It was an indignity officially recognized by the U.S and finally apologized for in 1988.
My point is that the story is an example of how opinions can be buried in and seemingly untethered to the wider view that depicts a situation most accurately. In other words there is always going to be someone who will say with all honesty something that someone else can use to advance their case on some issue.
In this case a 19 year old detainee is obviously not where one should look for the truth and youthful obliviousness easily explains away his comments but in similar situations people routinely reach the wrong conclusion using bad information.
Thoughtful people check the validity of their opinions with various detachment tools in effort to shed light on underlying biases. In this case by simply asking oneself how fair it would have been if they themselves were subjected the same treatment might yield a clearer perspective.
Fortunately for now politicians seemed to have stopped offering us currently active American soldiers opinions on such questions as whether or not we should be in Iraq. But not long ago when the primary season was in full swing references to discussions with soldiers was a popular way to make political points. Senator McCain did this on occasion.
I've always felt that under the circumstances of war, that random discussions by politicians with soldiers about larger issues such as the validity of war should be disallowed. I hope we never hear this tactic again but it needs to be monitored.
I like Senator McCain but there always seems to be a lingering question about his judgment that never has been resolved for me. I know that politicians don't always tell the truth but that doesn't erase the fact that when they don't, they're lying.
Here are two examples that make it hard for me to trust him. First, no matter how much he pretends, he'll never convince me he really likes or agrees with President Bush, especially after what the Bush campaign did to him in South Carolina when they faced off in 2000. Second, I think he is acting much more hawkish about this war than he actually is. Like his opposition to torture, I think his war time experience would have rendered him equally adverse to the rationale for this war. Now that it is underway, being a soldier beyond anything else, he will support our troops like no one else can. But had he been in the White House on 9/11/2001, I don't think we would have invaded Iraq. Also the retaliation against Osama Bin Laden would have been waged effectively and would have been far more productive. His Viet Nam experience and subsequent knowledge would have assured this.
I only wish that Senator McCain had separated himself from President Bush and proposed some kind of winding down of the war so he could have been a much more relevant candidate. I'm interested in seeing how he makes up for these shortcoming. I think he has a difficult time ahead of him.
And finally, a happy ending to the store keeper story. When they left for the camp, a non-Japanese neighbor told his father not to worry, he would watch over things while they were gone. After 3 years in the internment camp they returned to find everything just as they left it, just a thick layer of dust covering things. In no time they were back in business, working harder than ever. His father remained grateful to his neighbor for the rest of his life.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Simply Unbelievable
Well that didn't take long. In a shameless display of ignorance and arrogance President Bush used a speech to the Israeli Knesset to compare Hitler's Nazi Germany rolling into Poland in 1939 to today's Iran and clearly put Senator Obama in the same category as those who failed to prevent much of the horror of WW ll.
Here is his statement: "Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939 an American Senator declared: Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided. We have an obligation to call this what it is-the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history,"
Even if this comparison had a shred of truth to it, since when did it become acceptable to conduct partisan politics on foreign soil. Using this forum to attack Senator Obama on the 60th anniversary of Israel's statehood is insulting to Israelis' and should be appalling to Americans.
It's so beyond belief I don't know where to begin. I think that an American President dredging up an undefended isolationist American Senator from 1939 and laying him at his feet of those who lost the most at the hands of a madman amounts to treason.
I in no way dispute that President Bush has the right to reinforce to Israel what his position toward Iran is nor to his providing the comfort of knowing that the U.S is behind them. But instead, like an adolescent unable to resist the urge to scuffle with a classmate in the broom closet on graduation day he trivialized the event and disrespected the world in the process.
He continues to cheapen the U.S image and I suspect this will serve to further disadvantage Republicans in November.
Here is his statement: "Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939 an American Senator declared: Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided. We have an obligation to call this what it is-the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history,"
Even if this comparison had a shred of truth to it, since when did it become acceptable to conduct partisan politics on foreign soil. Using this forum to attack Senator Obama on the 60th anniversary of Israel's statehood is insulting to Israelis' and should be appalling to Americans.
It's so beyond belief I don't know where to begin. I think that an American President dredging up an undefended isolationist American Senator from 1939 and laying him at his feet of those who lost the most at the hands of a madman amounts to treason.
I in no way dispute that President Bush has the right to reinforce to Israel what his position toward Iran is nor to his providing the comfort of knowing that the U.S is behind them. But instead, like an adolescent unable to resist the urge to scuffle with a classmate in the broom closet on graduation day he trivialized the event and disrespected the world in the process.
He continues to cheapen the U.S image and I suspect this will serve to further disadvantage Republicans in November.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Important Stuff
Arguably the most important bit of information I stumbled on this week was a May 7th operational update out of Bagdad from Maj. Gen Bergner. It seems that one more bit of evidence that Iran is supporting militants in Iraq is fading away. Any mention of Iraq appears to have been suspended and a plan to show journalist some Iranian supplied explosives last week was canceled after realizing none of them were from Iran.
Just to be clear I'm not somebody who frequents the Multi National Force web site. The fact that I want to make that clear probably helps to explain why this kind of information is all but forgotten most of the time.
This stuff is as dry as it gets and most people it seems are tired of hearing it. In fact if it was not for a blog from Tina Susman, who works for the L.A. Times in Bagdad, no one in this country would likely of heard it. That scares me.
This administration has spent the last year trying to convince us that we may need to invade Iran in part because of their meddling in Iraq. Back in December the U.S Intelligence Estimate dampened the administrations claims that Iran has a nuclear weaponization program. So what will they come up with next. I can't believe this is my Government.
Just to be clear I'm not somebody who frequents the Multi National Force web site. The fact that I want to make that clear probably helps to explain why this kind of information is all but forgotten most of the time.
This stuff is as dry as it gets and most people it seems are tired of hearing it. In fact if it was not for a blog from Tina Susman, who works for the L.A. Times in Bagdad, no one in this country would likely of heard it. That scares me.
This administration has spent the last year trying to convince us that we may need to invade Iran in part because of their meddling in Iraq. Back in December the U.S Intelligence Estimate dampened the administrations claims that Iran has a nuclear weaponization program. So what will they come up with next. I can't believe this is my Government.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Anatomy Of A Smear
There is no doubt that Senator Joseph Lieberman has that believable favorite uncle thing going for him. I listen to him because he presents his case with an apparent degree of intelligence yet in a no nonsense and practical manner that is surprisingly rare in politicians. In my opinion they should be smart but not inclined to aspire to the level of philosopher or other pursuit of brilliance that inevitably becomes overkill given the job at hand. Give me a smart straight-shooter that I can trust any day.
There are others that share similar qualities like Senator Joe Biden who I have always liked and think would be Senator Obama's perfect choice for vice president.
But there are also politicians who project those same qualities but use them to exert agendas that I'm anything but in favor of. Vice President Cheney comes to mind.
Unfortunately Senator Lieberman's political role in the McCain campaign is to defeat his opponents at any cost with an apparent low regard for the truth. In a recent interview, Wolf Blitzer points out in response to a Hamas spokesman who apparently would like Senator Obama to become president, that Senator Obama also labels Hamas a terrorist organization making his position the same as Senator McCain's. Lieberman says, "That's true, he clearly doesn't support any of the values and goals of Hamas." But then adds, "But the fact that the spokesperson for Hamas would say that he would welcome the election of Senator Obama really does raise the question why? And it suggests the difference between the two candidates."
It raises the question why in the same pointless and unproductive way that anyone wonders how someone thinks and won't say. And it says absolutely nothing about the differences between Senator McCain and Senator Obama. This was a cleverly calculated smear that Senator Lieberman's skills are now being used for. I predict that in the end Senator Lieberman will do more harm than good in attempting to put Senator McCain in the White House.
There are others that share similar qualities like Senator Joe Biden who I have always liked and think would be Senator Obama's perfect choice for vice president.
But there are also politicians who project those same qualities but use them to exert agendas that I'm anything but in favor of. Vice President Cheney comes to mind.
Unfortunately Senator Lieberman's political role in the McCain campaign is to defeat his opponents at any cost with an apparent low regard for the truth. In a recent interview, Wolf Blitzer points out in response to a Hamas spokesman who apparently would like Senator Obama to become president, that Senator Obama also labels Hamas a terrorist organization making his position the same as Senator McCain's. Lieberman says, "That's true, he clearly doesn't support any of the values and goals of Hamas." But then adds, "But the fact that the spokesperson for Hamas would say that he would welcome the election of Senator Obama really does raise the question why? And it suggests the difference between the two candidates."
It raises the question why in the same pointless and unproductive way that anyone wonders how someone thinks and won't say. And it says absolutely nothing about the differences between Senator McCain and Senator Obama. This was a cleverly calculated smear that Senator Lieberman's skills are now being used for. I predict that in the end Senator Lieberman will do more harm than good in attempting to put Senator McCain in the White House.
Friday, May 09, 2008
Boot Camp Is Over
Congratulations to Senator Obama. In my humble opinion, what sealed Senator Clintons fate was the gas tax holiday idea. Whoever came up with this idea completely misjudged the minds of the voters in this election. This dose of pandering was just too big to swallow and the phrase itself should live in infamy in the political blunder hall of fame. The idea of it will be scarier than the act of spelling the word potato or a picture having anything to do with a tank. A real Mission Accomplished or "Brownie, your doing a heck of a job," moment.
More than anything else, her campaign has shown what a Hillary Clinton presidency could have looked like and I'm happy to say that the voters weren't fooled.
Are we certain what a Barrack Obama presidency will look like? Absolutely not but using the election campaign gauge in this case provides a far more optimistic outlook.
So what is it that I wish most out of an Obama presidency? I, like many Americans, do worry about the threat of terrorism. An enemy has struck once and it's fair to say, wishes to do it again. A basic emotional level response is to lash out at such an enemy and we did that. Unfortunately we did it wrong and in a very big way.
Senator Clinton and Senator McCain are wise to the ways of Washington which means they owe too much to too many people to ever really significantly change anything. This is what is behind Senator Obama's claim that he will only attempt this once. He knows that certainly in eight years and probably in four he will no longer have the ability to achieve the level of change possible as a newcomer. I just want to try a new approach to foreign policy and Senator Obama has gained my trust.
This is not to say that Senator Clinton or McCain are not skilled at what they do nor to to say they are not committed to the people of this country. But combined with their successes and commitment are deficiencies and it's the duty of the American people to seek to remedy those shortcomings when possible. It is that time and we must recognize it and take the steps necessary to fulfill our responsibilities to ourselves and future generations. Just my opinion.
And back to politics, we thankfully won't have to suffer through what seemed like an endless stream of political errors committed by the Clinton campaign. Let's see what the general election brings. If Senator McCains wifes recent statement about her husband not running a negative campaign holds true we may be spared what we just witnessed. But I suspect he must think he's pretty far ahead and will stay that way because that would be the only way he could keep that promise.
One more thing, I know someone who went to the Punahou School in Hawaii where Senator Obama attended. I was speaking to him the other day and jokingly asked if he knew Barrack Obama? To my surprise he said yes he did. He said he was one year older than Barry but knew him from playing sports. That's how he knew him, as Barry. He said that when he digs out his year book he'll show me what he wrote. He said it says something like have good summer then it's signed Barry O with a little afro on the O. So 70's.
More than anything else, her campaign has shown what a Hillary Clinton presidency could have looked like and I'm happy to say that the voters weren't fooled.
Are we certain what a Barrack Obama presidency will look like? Absolutely not but using the election campaign gauge in this case provides a far more optimistic outlook.
So what is it that I wish most out of an Obama presidency? I, like many Americans, do worry about the threat of terrorism. An enemy has struck once and it's fair to say, wishes to do it again. A basic emotional level response is to lash out at such an enemy and we did that. Unfortunately we did it wrong and in a very big way.
Senator Clinton and Senator McCain are wise to the ways of Washington which means they owe too much to too many people to ever really significantly change anything. This is what is behind Senator Obama's claim that he will only attempt this once. He knows that certainly in eight years and probably in four he will no longer have the ability to achieve the level of change possible as a newcomer. I just want to try a new approach to foreign policy and Senator Obama has gained my trust.
This is not to say that Senator Clinton or McCain are not skilled at what they do nor to to say they are not committed to the people of this country. But combined with their successes and commitment are deficiencies and it's the duty of the American people to seek to remedy those shortcomings when possible. It is that time and we must recognize it and take the steps necessary to fulfill our responsibilities to ourselves and future generations. Just my opinion.
And back to politics, we thankfully won't have to suffer through what seemed like an endless stream of political errors committed by the Clinton campaign. Let's see what the general election brings. If Senator McCains wifes recent statement about her husband not running a negative campaign holds true we may be spared what we just witnessed. But I suspect he must think he's pretty far ahead and will stay that way because that would be the only way he could keep that promise.
One more thing, I know someone who went to the Punahou School in Hawaii where Senator Obama attended. I was speaking to him the other day and jokingly asked if he knew Barrack Obama? To my surprise he said yes he did. He said he was one year older than Barry but knew him from playing sports. That's how he knew him, as Barry. He said that when he digs out his year book he'll show me what he wrote. He said it says something like have good summer then it's signed Barry O with a little afro on the O. So 70's.
Friday, May 02, 2008
JoePa Primary
I remember from the last Presidential election that the view gets pretty hazy about now. There is just way too much information to sort through. Even if it was all true, the average person cannot dedicate the time necessary to understand it all. The opinions fly and some have merit but most don't because most of the political pundits are anything but unbiased. More like it, call it a personal mission to be as influential as possible for egotistical reasons along with getting their prices up. Of course many strongly believe that their direction for the country is altruistic. They think their work to convince the little people of the need to become complicit in their plan is noble. But lets face it, at this point, as far as the Democratic nominee goes the rest of the population including yours truly have pretty much made up our minds and barring some extraordinary news are pretty darn sure who we will be voting for.
I need to go back to Pennsylvania because it was such a reminder of what Senator Obama is up against. In one telling move the Obama campaign refused to dole out street money in Pennsylvania. That's the precinct level money passed around to motivate workers. It should be illegal but it is part of the political tradition in Pennsylvania so it has become untouchable. This of course only bolsters my opinion of Senator Obama and I'm not suggesting he should have complied but in the politics of Philadelphia this was a blunder. This is an example of the dilemma that faces this campaign.
I know a bit about Pennsylvania because I worked with many people from there. They were new and different characters in my life. There was one real peach of a guy who grew up on Duck Shit Alley in Pringle Hill which is part of Wilkes-Barre. He was born without much but I never heard him say a bad thing about anybody and he had a heart of gold.
The Crown Royal drinking Hillary Clinton may or may not be surprised to know that today there are clubs in Wilkes Barre/Scranton that women can drink in but can't be members of. That's not to say that the women who attend these clubs want to be members, according to a friend from Wilkes-Barre. She said she reminds the members regularly, "if a woman ran this stupid club maybe it wouldn't be so deep in the hole." She told me that there are members who keep paying dues years after they move away just to have the card. "Can you imagine that, of course it's only five dollar a year," she said.
I went to a Ball Game in San Diego once with another guy from Wilkes-Barre who was so drunk he fell over a railing and down ten feet to a lower deck and laughed that he held onto his cup.
I was introduced to the shots and beer thing in Pennsylvania in the dead of winter as what seemed a practical matter. I've spent time in Pennsylvania basements talking about great floods that reached levels twenty feet above where I was standing and have been to small town hockey games and listened to stories about town populations that in 1935 were triple what they are today. I've heard the stories of the once thriving steel mills and the struggle to survive cold winters in poorly insulated houses and scrounging for coal.To this day good jobs are hard to come by and they often go to the people who "know somebody" or thought to anyway. The fact is that the people I've known from Pennsylvania are a little tougher and not so bothered by the same things as me. I am glad to have know them for this alone.
Things change slowly there and I think that it is fair to say that life has been a little harder in much of the state than in much of the rest of the country. It's a big state east to west especially and I've never been to Philadelphia but I know that where I have been change is viewed skeptically because it's track record is so bad. The odds that change will be for the better are viewed as even at best.
The more I think about Pennsylvania the more I think it is remarkable that Senator Obama was able to get the votes he did there.
I need to go back to Pennsylvania because it was such a reminder of what Senator Obama is up against. In one telling move the Obama campaign refused to dole out street money in Pennsylvania. That's the precinct level money passed around to motivate workers. It should be illegal but it is part of the political tradition in Pennsylvania so it has become untouchable. This of course only bolsters my opinion of Senator Obama and I'm not suggesting he should have complied but in the politics of Philadelphia this was a blunder. This is an example of the dilemma that faces this campaign.
I know a bit about Pennsylvania because I worked with many people from there. They were new and different characters in my life. There was one real peach of a guy who grew up on Duck Shit Alley in Pringle Hill which is part of Wilkes-Barre. He was born without much but I never heard him say a bad thing about anybody and he had a heart of gold.
The Crown Royal drinking Hillary Clinton may or may not be surprised to know that today there are clubs in Wilkes Barre/Scranton that women can drink in but can't be members of. That's not to say that the women who attend these clubs want to be members, according to a friend from Wilkes-Barre. She said she reminds the members regularly, "if a woman ran this stupid club maybe it wouldn't be so deep in the hole." She told me that there are members who keep paying dues years after they move away just to have the card. "Can you imagine that, of course it's only five dollar a year," she said.
I went to a Ball Game in San Diego once with another guy from Wilkes-Barre who was so drunk he fell over a railing and down ten feet to a lower deck and laughed that he held onto his cup.
I was introduced to the shots and beer thing in Pennsylvania in the dead of winter as what seemed a practical matter. I've spent time in Pennsylvania basements talking about great floods that reached levels twenty feet above where I was standing and have been to small town hockey games and listened to stories about town populations that in 1935 were triple what they are today. I've heard the stories of the once thriving steel mills and the struggle to survive cold winters in poorly insulated houses and scrounging for coal.To this day good jobs are hard to come by and they often go to the people who "know somebody" or thought to anyway. The fact is that the people I've known from Pennsylvania are a little tougher and not so bothered by the same things as me. I am glad to have know them for this alone.
Things change slowly there and I think that it is fair to say that life has been a little harder in much of the state than in much of the rest of the country. It's a big state east to west especially and I've never been to Philadelphia but I know that where I have been change is viewed skeptically because it's track record is so bad. The odds that change will be for the better are viewed as even at best.
The more I think about Pennsylvania the more I think it is remarkable that Senator Obama was able to get the votes he did there.
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