April 14, 2008
Monday Night
Ok. Monday night. Still tired from real fun trip to Providence - thanks Max & Midnight Mongo!
So I'm keeping it simple: Two hockey observations, one golf youtube (!), a link-heavy sentence on political stories of today & tomorrow morning, and a closing chunk of some interesting political anthropology.
1. HOCKEY:
a. I love watching Ottawa lose. Down three games to none already. Pittsburgh's rolling.
b. Calgary's Cory Sarich destroyed San Jose's captain Patrick Marleau last night. Jesus. It was staggering. Are-you-listening-Carubba. Reminiscent of - not equivalent to, but reminiscent of - Campbell on Umberger two years ago, and that's pretty high praise. After the hit, Marleau's face was bleeding in two different places. And it changed the outcome of the game, too: Thirty seconds later, Calgary scored their first goal, putting a well-placed dent in what had been a big fat 3-0 San Jose lead. Calgary went on to win in front of the Sea of Red, 4-3.
Here's some video of the blood:
2. GOLF:
Tiger Woods freaked out yesterday. It was super funny. He fucked up a drive, and as soon as the ball was in the air, he blurted out: "Oh, Tiger! Butt!"
I was drinking beer and watching golf by myself for the first time ever. The half-awake, half-asleep Sunday afternoon lull was so pleasant; felt like I was on a hammock at Augusta. Like all of a sudden, I understood why old guys do what they do, why they watch golf on TV. It was like a coma - but in a good way, and brought to me by CBS Sports. But even with all the somnolence, I sat up and burst out laughing after Tiger bust out with his librarian swear.
There's only one half-decent YouTube of it, but it's better than nothing:
3. There's a lot to say, for sure, about Obama's counterpunch, "elitism", Hillary's overreaching, the fucked-up case of Rep. Davis (R-KY) and the word "boy," McCain's military confusion, Bush's well-deserved 98%, and the second coming of Bob Dole. Trust me: every one of those links is worth clicking. I'll have more soon, but I'll have to do it tomorrow; I'm tired and Minnesota is playing.
Oh yeah - and this Salon article about "Obama boys" - i.e., uncomfortably fervent young male Obama supporters, and the women they're freaking out - is well-worth reading and thinking about, too. I'm familiar with parts of this phenomenon - maybe you are, too.
Yet some female voters have begun to express nearly as much disenchantment with the Obama-mania of their peers as with their Clinton-promoting mothers. And even while they voice dismay over the retro tone of the pro-Clinton feminist whine, a growing number of young women are struggling to describe a gut conviction that there is something dark and funky, and probably not so female-friendly, running below the frantic fanaticism of their Obama-loving compatriots.
I began reporting this story in part because, as a 32-year-old woman who is more liberal than either candidate, and who was quite torn until Super Tuesday, I had found myself increasingly defensive of Clinton in the face of the Obama worship that rules the mostly white, liberal, well-educated circles in which I work and travel. I was confused by the saucer-eyed, unquestioning devotion shown by my formerly cynical cohorts, especially when it was accompanied, as it often was, by a sharp renunciation of Hillary Clinton, whose policies are so similar to her opponent's. I was horrified by the frequent proclamations that if Obama did not win the nomination, his supporters would abstain from voting in the general election, or even vote for John McCain. I was suspicious of the cultlike commitment to an undeniably brilliant and inspiring man - but one whom even his wife calls "just a man."
Now, I'm not a woman, and I sure as hell have my problems with Hillary. And I'm reserving comment on the article's conclusions and observations about sexism, because I feel in some way unqualified to comment. But I've seen and felt similar things - particularly with regard to the distance I've felt from some dialed-in Obama folks, both men and women, who insist on a kind of rigid, unswerving devotion to the campaign whenever you talk to them about politics. It rivals the Krishnas near Astor Place sometimes. Too much, especially when I'm just trying to have a conversation. I appreciate the enthusiasm, but yo.
Put it like this: the Obama-will-deliver-us devotion is occasionally extremely off-putting. (Reminds me of this link Shep sent me today.) Not saying, just saying, you know? Hell, I know I'm in for a slew of emails after this, and maybe I'm just bitter that my candidate has been gone for months now. And don't get me wrong - you know I'd be thrilled to see Senator Obama elected. But some of this article rang true. Let me know what you think.
Anyways. Been an interesting election already, and like the ads say, there's much, much more to come, so don't go anywhere. (Not like you could, I guess.)
Posted by caps at April 14, 2008 10:31 PM