Some Small Gifts for Christmas

"Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant" - Diamond Rugs

The best ever Tom Waits song not written by Tom Waits.  Or at least that's how it struck me.

I want to extend my thanks to all of you who make this still such a pleasurable endeavor even if I worry that my output has not been as good or as frequent as I would like.  But I feel like even if I throw something out there that's less than stellar the discussion that ensues almost always redeems it. 

And today we are serving delicious schadenfreude, a dish that hot or cold just never gets old. I suspect that the election will continue to be a source of solace as the harsh reality that governance is going to remain as impossible as ever sets in.  I just don't believe that the Republicans, especially in the House, have any compromise in them.

- This piece in the Boston Globe about the Romney camp's delusions regarding its electoral prospects is particularly delicious.  Bonus points are added for Tadd Romney's ludicrous assertion that his father didn't really want to be president.  Mormon, please!   I suspect if there was a form you could fill out to sell your soul to obtain the office, Romney would have signed it in a heart beat.  The man spent years surrendering any shred of integrity he once might have had in his epic quest to suck up to every marginal right winger in the country.  The presidency seemed to be the only thing he really wanted, something he seemed to imagine would fill the hole in his soul.  

- I also really enjoyed this piece by Joe Hagan in New York Magazine about the most recent National Review cruise.  A ship filled with the old, white, privileged, racist, patronizing, and delusional.  I cannot even imagine what being the wait staff on such a cruise would be like.    

- And finally, Roy's end of the year month by month cavalcade of right wing nuttiness is a treat.  I don't know how he delves into this muck weekly and maintains his sense of humor and equanimity, but by God he does. 

Have a lovely Christmas day all of you.  I am heading to the gym here for what is likely to be one of the shortest work outs in history (first visit in over a year) and then will cautiously expose my pale but copious flesh to the tropical sun. 

Comments

[Joe S]

Merry Christmas, Everyone.

[janinsanfran]

Merry Christmas to all. After two days of festivities, I finally have time to recover a bit ...

[nancy]

Here's another small gift for Christmas: a sweet photo collection at "The Passion of Former Days" -- a blog I love. Cheers all! We've postponed until safe holiday arrivals can be made, but the upside is extra time to wrap, cook and dawdle. Outside our windows is a picture-postcard winter snow scene.

Those of you with wee ones around -- have fun. Seems like only yesterday...

[kathy a.]

merry merry! full day with my adult kids, son's girlfriend, and girlfriend's parents (the sorta-in-laws, whom we like a lot). our big meal was afternoon; and it was great; and everyone's happy; and i am tired.

i should have sent food home with everyone, because boy, are we overstocked. but everybody got a stocking to take, and those were a hit.

we don't have wee ones any more, but the parental units got to trade stories from those days -- almost as good! (this is probably why the kids have held off on cross-parental socializing, all these years. but now they are mature enough to hear the stories repeated, and not disown us. victory!) what is kind of funny is that they have some stories about my son, too. heh.

[oddjob]

something he seemed to imagine would fill the hole in his soul

I remain of the opinion that the largest reason Romney wanted to be president was that his father ran for the office and lost. I think he shares some of the daddy issues George H. W. Bush has (and GHWB is another who primarly ran for president because it's what daddy would have wanted him to do).

[oddjob]

I cannot even imagine what being the wait staff on such a cruise would be like

For those who are male, handsome, and willing it might be quite profitable.....

;)

[oddjob]

As dawn broke on Election Day, 800 Romney volunteers filled the floor of TD Garden in Boston

I think I saw the orientation event for this a few days before while waiting for my train home after work. I can't recall the last time I saw such a high percentage of young men that struck me as likely "twinks" (young, slender, good looking, gay men).

[Crissa]

'Twink' in the gaming community means 'those willing to game the system' and usually has a negative connotation of being tolerant of cheating and privilege.

[oddjob]

Rare appearance, in unprecedented hundreds, of a North Atlantic/Arctic seabird on the southern Florida coast leaves ornithologists puzzled.

[nancy]

Carl Bernstein writes at The Guardian on WaPo's scandalous bare-coverage of a tape and the background story of what Murdoch and Ailes were attempting to do in 2012: "Why the US Media ignored Murdoch's brazen attempt to hijack the election." It was to be the Peteaus-Murdoch-Ailes presidency. Story was buried in the "Style" section. Appalling. One has to wonder when Rupert decided he'd like to buy the U.S. presidency -- before or after he was granted citizenship about which no birther seems to have a care. Nor the FCC.

Sorry if you've already seen this story -- I don't have the impression many have.

[oddjob]

The Murdoch story – his corruption of essential democratic institutions on both sides of the Atlantic – is one of the most important and far-reaching political/cultural stories of the past 30 years, an ongoing tale without equal.

I'm not sure this particular quote of Bernstein's is true. Murdoch's behavior reminds me in some ways of the little I've read before about William Randolph Hearst.

[oddjob]

Nate Silver analyzes the rise in partisanship in US voter behavior (& also notes that gerrymandering probably doesn't play as big a role in the last election results as you might first assume).

Hat tip, Jonathan Bernstein post at The Plum Line.

[oddjob]

Rep. Ed Markey, the longest-serving rep. from Massachusetts in the House of Reps., is going to run for Kerry's Senate seat.

Markey hasn't had to run against a strong contender in a long time, so I don't know if he's a good campaigner or not.

[nancy]

In sort of keeping with the post -- Tom Waits bio review at L.A. Review of Books -- "Lowside of the Road" . Poignant.

Far more interesting to me than reading one more word about the mess that will be our now 113th Congress. The fact that these teahadists and hostages are invading my dreams is maddening. *Debt ceiling* indeed. [Wow, that was fun last time -- let's do it again yay. Shall we?] And hold that line on disaster relief pork. Some Sandy victim might otherwise order Gucci and Coach bags by the container load.

Three years in the slammer for Dancing With the Stars DeLay though. That's a start. Late, but a start.