McCains can't remember much

[Ap photo]

The fact that John McCain is the GOP nominee still surprises the heck out of me. With all the AM bandwidth, Fox News, WorldNetDaily and other media outlets devoted to all matters right, you would think the almighty conservative nation could have raised a better example of their transcendant values than John McCain.

Actually, it's rather interesting of late to see the pretzel logic employed by various radio hosts and others, as they try to twist McCain into an image that they can use to get another Republican elected as supreme potentate. These same ideologues couldn't find one good thing to say about McCain back during primary season. Now, they see this pseudo-Maverick as heir apparent to the Reagan legacy, and the only thing standing between a Marxist takeover of the country. What a freakin' joke.

When McCain sat down with Rick Warren and didn't drool on himself, answering the pastor's questions, the right-wing noise machine was nearly orgasmic. Then came this week's positive polling numbers, showing the McCain had narrowed the gap, making the McCain/Obama battle a near dead heat.

I haven't paid attention to how its being spun, but two interesting stories this week have done nothing to convince me that Mr. McCain is going to make dime's worth of difference, over the election of the anointed one, Barack Obama.

Cindy (I wanna' be sedated) McCain describes herself as an only child. The only problem with that is she has a half-sister that she obviously knows about. In fact, her half-sister is Kathleen Hensley Portalski, now 65 reveals that she saw Cindy regularly, while growing up. I'm sure she knows about her now, she just prefers to block it out, like all other unpleasant things that come to poor Cindy's eternally, sunshiney mind.

Apparently, documents indicate that she was born to Jim (Cindy's dad) and Mary Jeanne Hensley on 23 February 1943. While still married, Mr Hensley was sent to West Virginia to recuperate from war wounds. There he met Marguerite Smith whom he married in 1945. Cindy was born nine years later.

Even better, in my opinion, is how Cindy ended up with nearly all of her father's beer distribution wealth, while Ms. Portalski received a paltry $10,000. A'int wealth grand?

Ms. Portalski and her son have recently spoken publicly about their anger and hurt of being conveniently air-brushed out existence by Ms. McCain, potential future first lady.

According to Nicholas Portalski, Kathleen's son,

"The fact that we've never been recognised, and then Cindy has to put such a fine point on it by saying something that's not true," he told National Public Radio, which broadcast a profile on Mrs McCain which proved to be the last straw for the forgotten family. "It's just very hurtful."

As if Cindy's memory problems weren't enough, her husband, nearly 20 years her senior, can't seem to remember how many homes he and Cindy own.

The McCain camp has done its best to portray him as a man that understands the lives of average Americans, paining Mr. Obama as an elitist. The reality is that the McCain's are American royalty, also. A man that wears $500 shoes isn't blue collar, no matter how you spin that shit!

It seems to me that unless you are part of the upper levels of American wealth, then it will be another four years, at least, before we have someone worthy of our votes.

Let the wind blow

Some people believe that Maine is sitting on some major natural resources; our wind potential, to be specific.

Seth Silverton, a transplant to Maine (native Mainers might call him a "flatlander"), is the owner and sole employee of the Silverton Group, an independent energy firm based in Lincolnville. Silverton began his energy consulting business in June, after leaving a job as a commercial sales manager in the oil industry in January. He located to Maine with his family after 9-11, when debris, soot, and burning papers from the World Trade Center were deposited on his lawn.

There's a good article in Village Soup about him and his business, and why he believes that the "Gulf of Maine is the Saudi Arabia of wind power." This echoes the sentiments of another better known Mainer, former governor Angus King.

Do Mainers have the foresight, and do our leaders possess the political will to make this happen?

Only time will tell. In the meantime, entrepreneurs like Silverton are finding ample opportunities and the energy field wide open. They'll make money, while at the same time, helping Maine businesses and others save on energy costs.

A historical perspective on gas

Politicians of both party stripes now believe that government must solve every problem, real, or perceived.

Take for instance, the price of gasoline.

While we've seen some serious increases in the price at the pump over the past year, Cato Institute fellow Jerry Taylor, along with Indur Goklany counter that notion with an article that appeared in the Los Angeles Times, August 11.

From the article,

But both [presidential] candidates and the public are evidently unaware of a basic fact: Gasoline is more affordable for American families now than it was in the days of the gas-guzzling muscle cars of the early 1960s. Prices are beginning to come down somewhat, but this was true even when the national average was at its summer peak.

Two-thirds of American voters say they think that the price of gas is "an extremely important political issue," and many believe that it will cause them "serious" financial hardship, according to a recent survey by the Associated Press and Yahoo.

You can read the entire article here.

American Jesus

[AP photo/Altaffer]
Religion was on stage, front and center, last night, as megachurch pastor, Rick Warren hosted the two candidates for president, in a Q & A forum, at Saddleback Church.

With each candidate given an hour to answer questions and discuss issues pertinent to evangelical Xians, facilitated by America’s purpose-driven pastor, both Mr. Obama, and Mr. McCain acquitted themselves well.

While I didn’t watch the interviews in their entirety (surfing back and forth between the forum, and Red Sox baseball and the Olympics), I heard an extended segment with Mr. Obama, and Mr. McCain’s answers to Warren’s questions on evil, as well as abortion.

Hard line partisans probably won’t be budged from their candidate on the basis of Mr. Warren’s efforts at creating a forum to civilly discuss the issues. Those on the fence, however, or who happened to tune in and pay attention to either candidate’s responses, got a representative sampling of their leadership styles, and ideological orientation.

I think Mr. Obama had the greatest challenge, since some on the right assume being a Democrat and having core values rooted in faith are mutually exclusive. Others on the left fringes of the ideological spectrum may even view discussions of faith by a left-leaning candidate to be a liability.

As someone with a background rooted in spirituality, and a working knowledge of religion in America, I think Warren’s effort was done in good faith. I’ve not always been a fan of Warren, and the megachurch movement in general, but allowing candidates the room to answer questions like adults, and allow them an opportunity to tackle issues steeped in faith is necessary, in my opinion, in a country that at least pays lip service to religious values.

Interestingly, while more conservative evangelicals will probably consider is a slam-dunk win for Mr. McCain, younger evangelicals, many whom probably attend Warren’s church, will have a more difficult time pulling the lever in November, for Mr. McCain. Much of this has to do with changes that have occurred within American Xianity, and the inroads made by new evangelicalism. To think that today’s evangelical movement occupies a monolithic viewpoint is to reveal the kind of ignorance common among the drive by media.

While I’ve been critical of Mr. Obama, his willingness participate in this forum demonstrates an ability to cross party/political/religious/ lines. The nonpartisan view on this, I think is that he displayed wisdom, showed consideration, and came across as human to anyone who watched this with an open mind. Others will disagree, saying that his “nuance” was trying to be all things to all people, and give “safe” answers.

What is most interesting, the morning after, is viewing various websites (here and here) and reading media accounts, noting the predictability of the reactions (particularly the comments), when ideology is factored into the mix.

Reliance on past performance

Reading is a lot like listening to music, at least in my opinion. If you find an author that you like, reading other books by them usually brings enjoyment. There have been personal exceptions to this rule, of course. You might read one book by a particular author, and not be able to put it down. Another book, by the very same author, might be tolerable, but not the page turner you had been conditioned for.

Joyce Carol Oates is an example of the latter for me. I’ve found some of her books exhilarating. No doubt Oates is a fine author, but for me, her books have been hit or miss.

An example of an author that I once read everything I could find is Joseph Wambaugh. Wambaugh, who rose through the ranks of the LA Police Department, from patrolman to detective sergeant, over a 14 year law enforcement career, turned to writing, detailing the gritty realities of police work in his first novel, The New Centurions. Published in 1971, this book launched a prolific stretch of writing for the cop, turned writer.

I read Wambaugh shortly after leaving fundamentalist Xianity in the 80s. His books were the first that I’d read for pleasure since high school. I enjoyed his takes on police work, based upon his own experiences. The characters were believable, and Wambaugh was a good writer, so sticking with him brought a steady stream of enjoyable reading.

On the music side, certain bands and artists, are much like authors. Once you like one of their CD releases, chances are, you’ll enjoy their other output. Like certain writers, there will always be exceptions.

Mike Ness, of Social Distortion fame, and also, two solo discs, is an artist that I can listen to his entire catalogue, both with the band and solo, and not be disappointed. While my tastes have evolved somewhat from much of the indie post-punk that comprises a good deal of my music collection, Ness’ Social D stuff still stands the test of time.

Not long ago, I met with a colleague for lunch. After we discussed work, and details of possible collaboration, our conversation turned to music, baseball, writing, and spirituality. On the basis of that talk, he said he’d send me his favorite novel about baseball.

Curious as to what the book might be, about two weeks later, a package arrived in my work mail slot. Inside was The Brothers K, by David James Duncan.

I had never read, let alone heard, of Duncan. Sorry for me that I hadn’t.

I read most of The Brothers K, all 643 sprawling pages, during my long weekend at Shagg Pond.

My work friend was right about the book. Duncan is a wonderful writer, and the book captures the life, passion, and heartbreak of family like few other books I’ve ever had the privilege of reading.

Duncan creates characters that at times are a bit larger than life, but at the same time, very believable. The father, Hugh Chance, is a former minor league baseball phenom. A pitcher, on his way to the big time, before an accident in the hometown paper mill derails his plans, the book never becomes clichéd and the sudden turns and twists of the novel kept me engaged right up to the very last page turn. Even after 600 plus pages, I was disappointed the book was coming to an end. Duncan kept me wanting more, as he didn’t detail each and every event, or fall into the “lives lived happily after” trap of some.

On the strength of The Brothers K, I picked up River Teeth the other day, when I was perusing the shelves of fiction at the Lewiston Public Library.

I just started reading Duncan’s book of stories about rivers and idiot sheep, infused with the rich metaphor of “river teeth,” the memories of experiences we’ve all had, shaped by the river of time. Like The Brothers K, River Teeth is great reading, and Duncan seems to be a writer like Wambaugh (as well as Jonathan Franzen, Sherman Alexie, and others) whose catalog won’t disappoint.

Ending on a musical note, the band Nada Surf has become a band for me that brings aural pleasure. Overcoming the curse of MTV success early in their life as a band, with their hit, “Popular,” the Brooklyn-based band, after being dumped by major label Elektra, have moved beyond the constraints of “finding hits,” to producing some mighty fine work on tiny Barsuk Records.

About six months ago, after hearing a killer live performance on KEXP by the band, I picked up Let Go, their first post-Elektra musical foray. The disc stayed in my car’s CD player nearly nonstop for weeks. Recently, I decided to add The Weight Is a Gift, their 2005 release. The song "Always Love" is such a great piece of songwriting by the band, and captures the importance of choosing love (and possibly, kindness), over hate. While that song is the reason I nabbed the disc, the rest of the tunes are stellar, and there isn’t one bad track on the record. I also picked up their newest release, Lucky, which I’ve yet to listen to, I’m so enthralled with TWIAG.