Posts Tagged ‘Avirook Sen’
Who’s nailin’ Palin? The media, of course. November 7th, 2008
Chicago
No sooner was the McCain campaign pronounced dead around 11 pm on November 4, the autopsy began. The initial area of interest: the dissection of an appendage called Sarah Palin.
After two months on a roller coaster ride, in which the highs were over in the first few days (that is before she opened her mouth) Sarah Palin is back in Alaska endangering moose as predicted. She leaves behind a trail of clothing bills; a gaggle of McCain aides finally able to vent their frustration; and an audience that will miss Tina Fey’s version of Palin on Saturday Night Live. Fey, whose impersonation would have pulled at least as many votes (if not more, it came across as smarter) announced that the character was buried two days ago.
But first, to the aides. That the old man had made a terrible mistake was apparent enough to anyone who followed Palin’s babbling through the campaign, but it took a classy prank to finally convince the McCain camp.
A Canadian comedian pretending to be Nikolas Sarkozy spoke to her on the telephone, softening her up with general platitudes about women in politics, praising her looks and then going on to say that he was looking forward to the new Hustler ‘documentary’ on her (’Who’s nailin’ Palin).
This was about the time that people get it, but not Palin, who giggled. Furthermore, it turned out that although it was ’set up’ days before, she had not cleared the ‘interaction’ with the campaign high command, thus finally establishing her foreign policy credentials for all those who harboured doubts.
It emerged during the subsequent investigation by furious McCain advisers, that Palin had a ‘foreign policy adviser’ herself. Someone, it is believed who lives even closer to Russia than even she does. This man took the fall.
In the recent past, in addition to insightful interviews for the public at large, she had given subtle hints to campaign managers on the inside that she was not Madame Curie. It has been reported that it was difficult to convince her that Africa was not a country, but a continent, for instance.
Then came the bills. $1,50,000 spent on clothing for herself and her family at such hockey mom-frequented stores as Saks and Neiman Marcus. Those around her blithely bought stuff on their personal credit cards and were duly reimbursed by public money.
But more than the clothes, it was the entourage. Palins little and big were all over the campaign, jostling for space in strategy huddles with hapless policy advisers. “The dynamic of meetings change” as a result, one insider told The New Yorker. One report even has her opening the door to her suite clad in two towels, to tell an aide to wait with her husband in another room.
Why did McCain choose Palin? This is a difficult one to answer without kicking an honorable man that’s down. But how he chose her was revealed by the New Yorker’s last issue.
Palin’s attempted crossing from Wasilla to Washington began when a little-known fundamentalist blogger began a campaign promoting her after eliminating other women republicans using wikipedia searches. Then, in the Summer of 2007, two batches of influential conservative media personalities visited Alaska on cruises. Pain hosted both groups and floored them with halibut, salmon and plain charm. Bill Kristol, pundit on Fox News Sunday and influential writer for The Weekly Standard, was the most enamoured. He called her his “heartthrob” and as good as made the announcement of her candidacy before McCain got around to it in early September.
Palin had successfully used the very Washington insiders that she purportedly loathed to get on the ticket.
The New Yorker also revealed that McCain had spent a total of less than three hours with Palin before announcing her as his running mate. But the backroom boys didn’t fare much better. They most likely did not know at the time of the announcement that her teen-age daughter was pregnant (sort of important, isn’t it for a christian values. There were serious gaps in the obviously hurried vetting process before she was flown down to McCain’s retreat in Sedona, Arizona.
Now the question is, if the old man could divine Palin’s neighbour Putin’s thoughts by looking into his eyes in a matter of minutes, what was he thinking looking into Sarah’s for hours?
Tags: Avirook Sen, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Sarkozy Prank, Saturday Night Live, US Elections 2008
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Tomorrow has come November 4th, 2008
Chicago
By the time you read this, the world would have changed. The last stretch of that process is on right now, as a record number of Americans line up to vote on Tuesday. They don’t want history to pass them by–again–so two third of those eligible are expected to turn up, the highest turnout since 1908.
As I write this a block away from Grant Park, where an Obama victory rally is planned in about 12 hours, Barack himself is voting, accompanied by his wife Michelle in a Chicago booth. This is a live event on all major news channels.
He had just one word for his audience at his last campaign rally in Manassas, Virginia late on Monday night: “Tomorrow.”
Tomorrow has come. He appears cool, smiling, talking to Michelle and his daughters, on a day his grandmother Madelyn Dunham (the woman who “poured everything she had” into Obama) would have loved to have seen. She died at 86 on Monday.
He was very close to her, but in an understated way, he’s moved on. He takes an incredibly long time to fill up the ballot. If everyone takes this long (about 10 minutes at the very least) then a lot of people will be left standing.
Joe Biden, who the democratic campaign made sure would vote in Delaware right after the Obamas finished in Chicago–just as a bit of airtime freed up–got the job done real quick. For those standing in queues in precincts around the country, this is more like it. Some of them came to vote as early as 5.30 in the morning–spending an acceptable hour and a half to complete voting. Already, there have been as many as 11,000 complaints of overcrowding and machine malfuctions, a notable complaint came in from veteran journalist Barbara Walters.
The polls all have Obama ahead: solid leads beyond margins of error that will lead to a resounding victory that no one thought was possible as he entered the race for the democratic nomination so many months ago.
He outlasted the Clintons. He also outspent them–which tells you what a strong idea he was selling. “Not a red America or a blue America, but a United States of America.” To the youth, on whom so much will depend today, he was the one they were waiting for.
When stood up to give speeches, he seemed to read poetry. When he sat down to listen–to opponents in a debate, for instance–he looked like a languid jazz musician who’s set his instrument down briefly, but is ready to pick it up and answer by hitting notes so precise they would have to be mathematical.
The economic crisis helped his cause. People became colourblind as their savings got wiped out and their houses foreclosed, they just wanted the right man for the job. Even by elimination, John McCain wasn’t the man: he blundered through the height of the crisis, at one point suspending his campaign to go to Washington.
This was inexplicable, because he said absolutely nothing there, and did even less. He also ensured that he hollowed out the experience argument against Obama by choosing Sarah Palin, who fumbled through the campaign like a B-list impostor trying to play vice-presidential candidate.
As if to confirm this (widely-held) view she told a reporter who asked her who she had voted for as she left a booth in Wassilla, Alaska, that she was excercising her right to privacy by keeping that information confidential.
That she may, perhaps by an act of God, still get to the White House is gives people the shivers even though halloween is over. It is much more likely that she will go back to shooting poor Alaskan animals from the air, in time to hoard meat for the winter, forcing the joke writers for the networks to go into hibernation.
This might change the world for the better. But there are far more profound changes in the offing. Should Obama get elected, the signal that the United States sends out to the world is that it has genuinely transformed. That it is not in denial about the financially destructive, militarily senseless and gravely injurious addiction of the Bush years, and is ready for rehab.
A large number of Americans don’t like the selfish, arrogant, consumptive, overweight–and now poor–person they see in the mirror the world holds up to them. They view this election as a chance to correct that.
Grant Park is getting ready. There’s an unprecedented number of cop cars. There are ribbons of roadblocks across orange stumps everywhere. Some say a million people will turn up. But it seems quiet in the morning, unless you listen hard to the sounds of the Chicago. The anthem of the election is playing out as traffic rolls down the streets and voters march to their booths, keeping time to ‘Yes we can, yes we can.’
Tags: Avirook Sen, Barack Obama, Chicago, Grant Park, John McCain, US Elections 2008
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A ‘Front Row Seat To Witness History’ Contest November 3rd, 2008
Chicago
I’ve been getting urgent mails from Barack Obama over the last few days. Me, and a couple of million other people, inviting us to join him at a rally in Chicago’s Grant Park on election night. National polls–even including the one conducted by Fox News–show Obama ahead by about 6 points overall and in unexpectedly opportune positions in States like Ohio, Virginina and Indiana. The rally has a victory theme to it–at the moment.
But there’s more to the mails than that. Obama’s ’signed’ mail a couple of days ago, was what you might call an initial offer: “This election will come down to what we do — or don’t do — in the next few days” he told me.
“John McCain and the Republican National Committee had $20 million more in the bank than our campaign and the DNC combined as of October 15th. They are pouring it into crucial battleground states, and we’re facing an onslaught of negative attacks.
“Your support will have a huge impact.
“Step up during this historic moment, and you could be there on Election Night.
“Will you donate $30 or more today?
As a bonus, we’ll send you a special edition Change the World T-shirt.”
$30 for a T-shirt? A second, improved, offer comes in, this time from Marianne Markowitz, Chief Financial Officer, Obama for America:
“This weekend the McCain campaign said they would outspend us by $10 million in the final days. This is on top of recent news that, as of October 15th, our opponents had $20 million more in the bank than our campaign and the DNC combined.
“We knew the McCain campaign was saving its resources for a last-minute blitz, and now we know just how much they’ll pour into it.
“No matter what, we need to match what our opponents are spending in the final stretch. We can’t slow down between now and Election Day.
“If you give today — any amount — you could be one of 5 first-time donors who will have a front row seat for the big Election Night event in Chicago with Barack.
“If you’re selected, we’ll fly you and a guest in and put you up in a hotel. You’ll go backstage at the big event and — no matter what happens — you’ll have a front row seat to history as we celebrate the supporters who got us over the finish line.”
Campaign manager David Plouffe, weighs in as well. But he doesn’t raise the offer any further.
The candidates have managed to make this the most well-funded campaign in history–well over a billion dollars have been spent already and–and in the final days it looks like they’re hosing the country down with dollar bills.
Obama, not limited to depending on party funding for his campaign (unlike McCain) had raised $640 million by mid-October. A quarter of this money coming from small donors with the allurement of a T-shirt or a front row rally seat, or, (why be cycnical) a promise of change.
There is no greater endorsement for a product than the fact that it sells $640 million worth. Also remember that the other three-fourths of Obama’s money is actually coming in from large donors/businesses. This is happening at a time when the mere mention of the phrase ‘distribution of wealth’ freaks people out.
But as people count down the hours to November 4, the Obama campaign is still counting its money. It’s never too late to get that extra $5. Besides, the ‘First time donor front row contest’ has added costs.
There’s a flight ticket, a hotel (they did not to mention a type, but let’s just assume it’ll be Motel Change, or similar.) And then there is expectation management: what if Motel Change is one of those common shower set ups with bugs between the sheets and no HBO?
You’ve been promised they’ll swap your room–even change the hotel. What you may not have been told is that it might take a few years.
| Latest National Poll round-up: |
| Gallup: 51 Obama, 43 McCain. Up from 49-47 last week |
| Rasmussen daily tracking: 51 Obama, 46 McCain. |
| CBS: 54 Obama, 41 McCain. |
| CNN: 53 Obama, 46 McCain. |
| Fox News: Obama 47, McCain 44. |
Tags: Avirook Sen, Barack Obama, Chicago, Fox News, Get Out The Vote, Grant Park, John McCain, US Elections 2008
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Visiting Joe The Plumber’s house November 2nd, 2008
Toledo, Ohio
“Hadn’t heard of him till last week”, says the lady at 457 Shrewsbury Street. Down a few houses from Toledo’s most famous address: ‘Joe the Plumber’s house.’
“Worked for the U.S. mail till five years ago, and I don’t remember them”, the lady says. Implying of course, that this old(ish) community is mildly under threat by recent infiltrators. Joe, or Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, is one of them.
In the last days of a campaign that’s trying to put the plumbing in after building the house, John McCain is banking heavily on Joe the plumber. In the case of an unlikely victory, the man who discovered Joe may well become secretary of state.
Joe himself might initially be contracted to flush the White House clean of any residual cigars or pretzels blocking a presidential brain, sorry, drain. After the successful completion of this task, there are a number of options. Ranging from succeeding Hank Paulson to an appropriate role in urban planning.
In the case of a loss…? Well there’s always a book deal: ‘Joe Who? How McCain chose the wrong man after choosing the wrong woman.’
‘Joe Who?’ would have been a fair enough question on Shrewsnury Street, Holland, suburb of Toledo. Till the day John McCain invoked Joe (13 times, I’ve been told) in a presidential debate on October 15.
Since then, Joe has become one of the characters of this election. Joining people like Bill Ayers (innocent; former terrorist and Obama associate); Jeremiah Wright (guilty; Obama’s former pastor, of being a christian isotope of Louis Farrakkan, though with different views on Obama); and Sarah Palin (guilty; vice presidential candidate, of opening her mouth).
The multiple mentions have changed both him and his street. The lady at 457 talks about the row of television camera crews and satellite dishes that lined it the previous week, which is otherwise lined by a salubrious row of maple. When on the trees, in end-October, the leaves they burn like little maple-leaf-shaped suns. When on the ground, they need to be swept off the lawn so that there’s a new carpet to sweep tomorrow.
This is what the lady at 457 is doing when we find her. A radio journalist from Holland is there as well, which tells you how widespread, intricate and interconnected the network of the world’s sewage system is. The lady has a distaste for the ‘15 minutes of fame’ idea–more for her street than for Joe.
In the end, she says, “It won’t make any difference at all.” Not many people knew Joe (it follows that even fewer liked him). It’s all become a bit of a joke around here. Seeing two journalist’s walk up and down, a few jobless young adults shout ‘Joe!!’ and run into a house, but it’s got an Obama-Biden yard sign.
At 355, Joe’s house, there’s an SUV parked. No yard sign. (Come to think of it, would there be yard sign in the Palin home in Wassilla?). Joe is out on the trail in Utah, being the showpiece at Republican rallies, and the bell is answered by a tall, fit, middle-aged man and two dogs.
This is ‘Tom’, Joe’s business manager. If you added Dick and Harry, you’d get your average plumbing (or law?) firm.
This business manager thing freaks me out a bit. Two weeks ago, Joe was an employee in a business that had 3 employees at $40,000 a year. Now he’s got a ‘Tom’. Who also keeps house and takes care of the dogs when he’s away.
But consider that there are book deals on offer; a possible country western music recording contract; and the chance of holding elected office. Joe is considering the Congress.
Joe’s house is fairly typical of the neighbourhood: a garage, a little drive, a nondescript screen door with a wire mesh, so we see the business manager divided up into tiny little squares. He won’t open the door. He tells us that we needed to have given notice. Joe isn’t average any more.
In fact, he was below average to begin with if you ask people with plumbing in their DNA, like Tim Antoine, a local taxi driver. Tim’s grandfather was a plumbing inspector, his father was a plumber, his son is a plumber. A certified one, unlike Joe–and is a partner in a business. He earns $85,000 a year, tops.
Joe doesn’t represent the average guy, says Antoine. That guy needs a job before thinking about owning a business.
“Many years I’ve been driving a taxi here in Toledo… I’ve seen a glass plant on the other side of the city, where I grew up in East Toledo there was a glass plant and that glass is now in China. It used to have 5,000 employees, there’s nobody working there right now.” There’s also trouble in the, much larger, automobile industry.
This is a result, Antoine feels of Clinton policies on free trade. So “you’ve got to be cautious” when leaning democratic. But then, while explaining why Joe doesn’t represent him, he says: “I can’t see how any working man can be pro-republican.”
As important on the ballot as the presidential vote in Ohio are the votes to purportedly protect/create jobs. Issue 5, for instance is a bid to remove the state’s 28% interest rate cap on payday lending. (This is America’s version of the village money-lender: interest rates can be close to 400%). The flip side is that 60,000 people reportedly depend on the industry, which isn’t profitable without absurd rates.
There’s issue 6 as well: advertised as the move that will bring 5,000 jobs into Ohio through the gambling business.
These are the concerns of the people on Shrewsbury Street, Ohio. Now that Joe’s out of the way–and the press is gone–they can think about them. They’re thinking: get a job, contemplation about owning a business can follow.
The republicans may have chosen the wrong Joe after all. He isn’t certified. Not to represent either the plumbing community; or his street; or indeed the working man. That guy would love to have Joe’s current position: smiling at rallies, negotiating book and record deals, dealing with the press through a business manager through a screen door.
But that guy also knows that the job is too good to be permanent. After November 4, there could be a load of sewage to clean.
Ohio Facts:
- Obama ahead by between 4 and 6 points in latest polls.
- Bush won the state (and its, substantial, 20 electoral votes) in 2000 and 2004
- Ohio has never voted against the tide since 1960: meaning the man who wins Ohio becomes president.
Tags: Avirook Sen, Joe The Plumber, Joe's home, John McCain, Ohio, Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, Sarah Palin, Toledo, US Elections 2008
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Don’t mess with the Indian in the parking lot … October 20th, 2008
Birmingham, Alabama
Injun (noun): redskin, red man; a term offensive to Native Americans
Before the knives came out ...
Rick, the itinerant, weathered fruit salesman from Oklahoma was telling me about his sales technique, the 9/11 conspiracy and about his dad. He had initially suspected that I might be a radical Islamist, but got over this after the first few sentences we exchanged.
‘You know dawg, some time ago I told him, Dad Georgia’s gone to war with Russia. And he said, ‘What? And what about the rest of the United States? He almost fell over laughing–partly because of the joke and partly due to the last Miller light he’d downed.
We were sitting in a parking lot, the fruit crew’s pick up truck open from the back to show off cases sourced fresh from farms. A speaker tethered to the truck’s cd player played Gun’s and Roses or Hank Williams depending on who got to it first.
There were five of them running this trip: going door to door selling grapefruit or oranges by the case. It was Saturday, they had sold $3,800 worth of cases. It was time to party.
I asked Rick about all the no soliciting signs and how he got around them. “Oh yeah, one time there were these three huge signs on the same door, and it pissed me off. So I decided I just had to go in.
“The guy goes… DIDN’T YOU READ THE SIGNS? And I say, Oh I wasn’t smoking? He says that’s a ‘no soliciting sign, can’t you read?’ And I say, ‘if I could read, would I be selling f***ing fruit door to door. I sold him a case alright.”
JJ, just before the fight ...
Part of the crew is JJ. He paced up and down a lot: long hair, tattoos on his bare body, jeans an big old cowboy hat. He shook my hand, saying: I’m Indian, where you from man?
‘India.’
‘Oh yeah. I’m Cherokee-Chickasaw. Proud of my Indian heritage, man. Real proud.’
Stacy, one of the crew, said he wanted to put on some rap. But JJ didn’t like the idea: ‘I don’t want no nigger music man. No nigger music around here.’
Rick turned to me apologetically: ‘He’s just a redneck… he said smiling. Guns and Roses kept playing.
The music from the truck, attracted other guests at the Days Inn in Fultondale, at the edge of Birmingham, Alabama. It was about the only bit of life in an otherwise dismal setting. Apart from the occasional group of bikers with their brightly lit machines who come to the gas station next door to fill up or get rubbery pizzas at 2.99 a slice; two for $5.
One of the guys who came to join the little Miller Light and Coors party, was a regular fellow in a neatly tucked yellow t-shirt. He’s looked like a republican, and of course, he was. He had one other handicap: he may or may not have known the meaning of the word ‘injun’, but he decided to use it.
JJ, walked up to where Rick and I were and in one smooth motion, pulled out a slim switchblade knife. I could see the knife’s teeth, glinting under the light of that parking lot.
“I’m going take the guy out. I’m going to slit him and watch him squeal.” And after a few minutes pause, during which there was an attempt to lead the prospective victim away, JJ rushed toward him… swinging wildly.
The man retreated, unhurt, fortunately. The little party was over. People dissolved into their rooms. JJ paced up and down the corridor on the second floor of the building. I heard him shout: “Nobody insults my Indian heritage, man…
Tags: Avirook Sen, Birmingham Alabama, Native Americans, US Elections 2008
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