Tag Archive for happiness

The Goddess Watches the Obama Healthcare Speech (so you don’t have to)

September 9, 2009 politics 3 comments

I’m worried about Obama’s speech tonight.

I’m worried that he’s going to listen to the pre-speech pontificating I’ve been hearing and go all hyper-specific about the kind of healthcare reform he wants. He’s been pretty quiet on this score and that hasn’t worked, this line of reasoning goes. Time to give the American people the 4-1-1.

I think this approach would be a mistake.

I think a litany of details on public options, Medicare expansion, and healthcare co-ops would lead to a slow death by boredom in living rooms (and newsrooms) across America. Instead President Obama needs to be a cardiologist, not a neurologist: he needs to address the heart, not the head.

I want a full-throated, emotional outpouring from the president as to why healthcare reform is a moral issue. And I’m not an emotional gal. “Just the facts, ma’am.” That’s me. But in this case, we need the president to fire us up, not bog us down with minutiae.

Here we go.

8:06 — First lady, guests arrive. I  wonder if there will be a “Skutnik Row” of “ordinary Americans”, like they have at state of the union? In this case, I hope so.

8:11 – As the president arrives, PBS is providing a thoughtful analysis of what it means if certain senators applaud. Or not.

8:17 — I like the beginning so far. The tone is combative. Good start.

8:20 — Nice! The badass Obama showed up! “But we did not come here just to clean up crises. We came to build a future. … I am not the first President to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last.”

8:23 — The President makes the controversial move of acknowledging that there are, like, other countries and stuff. “More and more Americans pay their premiums, only to discover that their insurance company has dropped their coverage when they get sick, or won’t pay the full cost of care. It happens every day. … We are the only advanced democracy on Earth – the only wealthy nation – that allows such hardships for millions of its people.”

8:25 — “I believe it makes more sense to build on what works and fix what doesn’t, rather than try to build an entirely new system from scratch.” That one gets the first (and maybe only) bilateral standing O from the hall.

8:30 – “Well the time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action.” Please be true please be true please be true …

8:31 — “The plan I’m announcing tonight would meet three basic goals: It will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance. It will provide insurance to those who don’t. And it will slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government. ” Sounds like a plan to me!

8:32 — “As soon as I sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most.” What I can’t believe is that this isn’t against the law now.

8:37 – The president calls the death panel charge, “a lie pure and simple” and GOP ain’t standing. Wow.

8:39 – Whoa! One congressman shouts out “LIE!” when the president says the plan won’t cover illegal immigrants. Is this a town hall meeting all of a sudden?

8:45 — A Ha! We have a public option sighting. “Some have suggested that that the public option go into effect only in those markets where insurance companies are not providing affordable policies. Others propose a co-op or another non-profit entity to administer the plan. These are all constructive ideas worth exploring.

“But I will not back down on the basic principle that if Americans can’t find affordable coverage, we will provide you with a choice. And I will make sure that no government bureaucrat or insurance company bureaucrat gets between you and the care that you need.” (Sorry for the bold italics, but I love it when someone finally calls attention to the fact that right now insurance bureaucrats stand between you and your doctor, and no one seems so incensed about that.)

8: 46 — State schools get a shout out from Obama! Nice analogy, sir! “It would also keep pressure on private insurers to keep their policies affordable and treat their customers better, the same way public colleges and universities provide additional choice and competition to students without in any way inhibiting a vibrant system of private colleges and universities.”

8:47 — Obama throws some red meat to the base. Yummy! “Part of the reason I faced a trillion dollar deficit when I walked in the door of the White House is because too many initiatives over the last decade were not paid for – from the Iraq War to tax breaks for the wealthy. I will not make that same mistake with health care.”

8:50 — Republicans asses are nailed to their seats. They’re not even standing for reforms to Medicare that will help seniors pay for catastrophic perscription drug costs. Aren’t they worried? I’m sorry, but I feel this speech is going over very well. I wonder how they are going to spin this on Fox.

8:53 — FINALLY! “But know this: I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it’s better politics to kill this plan than improve it. I will not stand by while the special interests use the same old tactics to keep things exactly the way they are. If you misrepresent what’s in the plan, we will call you out. And I will not accept the status quo as a solution. Not this time. Not now.”

8:55 — I was worried at the beginning of the speech that the president would not bring the emotion. I needn’t have worried. You can hear a pin drop in the chamber, Nancy Pelosi is crying, as the president recalls the late Teddy Kennedy:

“He never forgot the sheer terror and helplessness that any parent feels when a child is badly sick; and he was able to imagine what it must be like for those without insurance; what it would be like to have to say to a wife or a child or an aging parent – there is something that could make you better, but I just can’t afford it.

“That large-heartedness – that concern and regard for the plight of others – is not a partisan feeling. It is not a Republican or a Democratic feeling. It, too, is part of the American character. Our ability to stand in other people’s shoes. A recognition that we are all in this together; that when fortune turns against one of us, others are there to lend a helping hand. A belief that in this country, hard work and responsibility should be rewarded by some measure of security and fair play; and an acknowledgement that sometimes government has to step in to help deliver on that promise.”

Can I get an amen!

Better yet, can I get a healthcare reform bill?

–lori

The Goddess Watches the Election Results
(so you don’t have to)

November 5, 2008 politics 2 comments

The General Tso’s chicken is at the door, the wine is being poured, the pajamas are on, and in the Goddess Attic Election Center, we’re in for a hell of a night.

6:20: Watching CNN unveil their new Super-Holograph-o-Vision election technology. It appears that the rotating Capitol Building floating over Campbell Brown’s desk is frozen. Much like my laptop, only my laptop isn’t on national television and didn’t cost a gazillion dollars.

6:30: The first real numbers are in! McCain is up in Indiana and Kentucky with 1% of the precincts reporting. And by the way, what polls close at 6:00??!? What’s the deal, Indiana and Kentucky?

6:55: Grr, laptop still in limbo. Nothing responding. All browsers and tabs dead. Come on, technology! The polls are closing! Mr. Goddess graciously offers his Mac to this PC. There’s a commercial in there somewhere . . .

7:00: First projection: Obama wins Vermont. Way to go, hippies! McCain wins Kentucky. Those white Appalachians still love ya, Johnny. Not enough info to call Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina, and Virginia.

7:13: Political commentary from Mr. Goddess — “For God’s sake with the different rules in the different states! These are federal elections! What the fuck? Drives me barmy.”

7:29: I think I may have bypassed multitasking and smacked straight into holo-tasking. Watching CNN, NBC, and PBS. Twittering, following two Twitter streams, blogging. Checking CNNPolitics.com, Talkingpointsmemo, and NY Times. My eyes! My eyes!

7:48: NBC has called South Carolina for John McCain. That must feel a little good after 2000.

7:55: McCain headquarters is playing the Beatles’ “Nowhere Man.” Has the ennui set in already? 

7:35: Wolf Blitzer — “We’ll check out what’s going on in Florida, because those numbers can’t be right.” There’s a vote of confidence. 

7:58: CNN calls South Carolina for Obama –  even though McCain is currently leading in the actual vote – based on exit polls and “other information.” The “other information” being the fact that NBC has already called the race 10 minutes earlier.

8:00: Polls close in sixteen states. CNN projects the following for Obama: MA, IL, CT, NJ, ME, DE, MD,  and DC. McCain wins OK and TN. My home state of Pennsylvania too early to call. 

8:30: CNN projects New Hampshire for Obama. Now, that one’s gotta hurt John “The Comeback Kid” McCain.

8:31: Political commentary from Mr. Goddess: “Soledad O’Brien is soooo adorable. She’s like a little girl grown up.”

8:39: CNN now projects PA for Obama (PBS, ABC, and NBC had done so about 15 minutes ago). Way to go home state! Keep the party going.

8:50: From the Archives: Goddess of Clarity, November 3, 2004, 8:52pm — “I think I’ve just felt my first rumblings of fear . . .”  I was so confident about a Kerry victory in 2004, until the Ohio rumblings started. Curse you, exit polls!

8:53: Elizabeth Dole loses in North Carolina, for another Democratic pick-up in the Senate. The guy who wrote that “Godless Americans” ad is sooooo fired. 

8:59: Polls close in New York in one minute; get ready for a surprise projection!

9:00:  Just as I suspected! New York goes for Obama (along with RI, MI, WI, and MN) and McCain wins Wyoming and North Dakota. That’s 72 electoral votes to 6. Not a good hour for McCain. 

9:17: NBC is projecting their electoral map onto the ice rink at Rockefeller Center. I keep expecting a large ‘Muppet on Ice’ to skate by.

9:31: Jim Lehrer on PBS: “We’re now going to dazzle you with a map.” Ah, public television. Way to work those network TV 1980s cast-offs. Louisiana just  called for McCain. Quick, PBS! Someone get the red Sharpie!

9:26: On the other side of the scale, just caught a glimpse of the setup at NBC. They appear to be in some sort of weird graphic-design temple of democracy. Their chief pundit is separated from his map by a revolving  moat of taglines. 

9:38: Wow, Ann Curry on NBC is currently acting in a George Lucas film; she’s on a green screen stage reacting to graphs and maps she can’t even see. 

9:42: Jon King will bet his life that Washington, Oregon, and California will not go Republican tonight. Will you? Will you, Jon King? Will you bet your soul?

9:51: I feel like I should be exalting right now. Is it OK to exalt? 

9:55: Historian Michael Bechloss has become a leather-bound book. Stay away from the sunlamp, Micky!

10:05: In my premature presidential giddiness, I’d forgotten about the Senate. Looks like the Democrats have gained four seats. And Al Franken is winning in Minnesota! And do you know why? Because he’s good enough, he’s smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like him.

10:22: If Obama wins Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, and California, he’s at 284 electoral votes. 

10:30: I’m Tivo-ing Stewart/Colbert. Saving it for dessert for … let’s say … midnight.

10:40: Ooh, the virtual capitol is back on CNN! I haven’t seen it since it got stuck at the beginning of the night. On second thought, I gotta say I’m not impressed by the virtual capitol. Actually makes it harder to see what’s happening. Not a great way to visualize data.

10:50: OMG, will.i.am hologram on CNN. Is he the first person to ever appear by hologram? Commentary from Mr. Goddess: ”I know this is the wave of the future and ten years from now all interviews will be conducted this way, but right now it just looks weird.”

10:58: CNN calling Virginia for Obama. This is a big one. Polls close in CA, WA, OR, and HA in two minutes. This could be it…

11:00: Here’s to President Barack Obama! Commentary from Mr. Goddess, while raising his glass full of the “special occasion” whisky: “Get used to it: President Obama. This is big. This is fall of the Berlin Wall big.”

11:32: Thoroughly decent concession speech from McCain occasionally interrupted by “U-S-A” chants from frat boy mutton-heads.

11:59: Commentary from Mr. Goddess as speech begins: “None of you fuckers shoot ‘im!  None of you fuckers shoot ‘im. This is not 1968.” This is his first U.S. election. He’s a little excitable.

12:05: Tonight has ended, and become tomorrow. 

–lori.

What Does Winning Feel Like?

October 29, 2008 serenity 3 comments

phillies celebrateWinning feels like a cherry coke made with real syrup.

Winning feels like pots and pans banged together in the cold autumn night.

Winning feels like a thousand whistles going off all at once.

Winning feels like the helicopter rides your dad would give you before you got too big.

Winning feels like that photo on the right looks like.

Winning feels like — finally — not losing.

As a fourth-grader in 1980,  I lay on my living room floor wearing my yellow footie pajamas and clapping my feet together over my head in joy as Tug McGraw struck out Willie Wilson to win the World Series for Philadelphia.

Twenty-eight years later, I’m sitting alone in my attic in Rochester: not ideal viewing conditions, I grant you. I am not in Philadelphia. I am not sitting in a suburban sports bar surrounded by rabid fans, jumping up and down, screaming, cheering. I actually gave up my tickets for a Henry Rollins concert tonight so that I could be here, watching on TV from 350 miles away. 

I worried that if we actually did win tonight, it would somehow feel anti-climactic. But with one out and one on in the top of the ninth, I started feeling that feeling. That feeling that feels like winning. My stomach wouldn’t stay in its designated spot, and instead started jumping up and down inside my rib cage. My legs and feet were tingling, like they wanted to go somewhere. And when Brad Lidge struck out Erik Hinske, falling to his knees where McGraw had leaped in the air, it was deja vu all over again.  

Tonight I am 36 and, sadly, do not own a pair of footie pajamas. But I’m so happy, the only thing I can think to do is clap my feet together over my head.  

–lori