Day 196

I write this on a bumpy flight from Cleveland to Chicago. I’m on my way to my last of four big work conferences for my big client. This one is in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. This is about an hour and a half drive from Chicago. So when I land, I get in my rental and head straight up there. Thanks goodness for rental cars with satellite radio. I’ll get a solid 90 minutes plus of Howard Stern to get me through the drive.

I’m gonna talk politics for a few. We are coming up to election time. November the 7th is a big day in the state of Ohio, as there are two hotly contested and important races going on. Ohio is such an important state politically; I knew it before, but living here really makes you aware. I mean, we are currently living in the state with the most job losses in the country and the poorest big city in the country according to the census bureau. Yet, outside of the heavily populated areas of Cleveland and Columbus, it’s a Bush-backing territory. He won his two elections winning this all important swing state. This time around though, the tables seem to be turning and the people of Ohio are obviously ready for a change. In the race for Governor, Right ring conservative Republican from Cincinnati Ken Blackwell is facing off against Cleveland Democrat Ted Strickland. Strickland’s Lieutenant Governor is Lee Fisher, who is a well respected and liked political veteran of Northeast Ohio. My mom is longtime friends with Lee’s parents, so in our little bubble this is getting a lot of run. In the meantime, it is so funny because pretty much every Jew I know is all over the Strickland/Fisher bandwagon. You see nothing but Strickland/Fisher signs in lawns all over the eastern suburbs. You rarely see anything backing Blackwell. The latest polls have Strickland in command, but you never know until the votes are in. The other bug race, maybe more important, is for the senate seat currently being held by Republican Mike DeWine. He is running against Sherrod Brown, another veteran of Ohio politics. This race is neck and neck and badly needed by the Democratic Party in its hopes to overtake control of the senate. While I don’t claim to know too much about their policies, there is no doubt who I am voting for – Sherrod Brown, and here is why. Literally I cannot watch a single hour of TV in this state without seeing a Mike DeWine smear campaign commercial against Brown. There is the “Sherrod Brown let us down” slogan that DeWine has adopted and you can’t escape. There are the commercials where the families of soldiers killed in Iraq taking about how much class and ethical values DeWine has, while Brown voted against extra body armor. I’ve counted 5 different anti-Brown commercials that DeWine has put out, yet none talking about just him. OK, so the guy is ethical and moral and a “one of the most decent men” that the people in the ads have ever met, yet he puts out one commercial after another denigrating his competitor? Sounds a tad hypocritical to me. All I know is that we need a change. W has messed things up for us so badly with this sham of a war. Everyone hates us abroad, we are clearly not the superpower we once were and the American feel of invisibility seems to be all but gone. Not that John Kerry would have been a better answer, but I’d love to hear any one you who voted for Bush last time around tell me that he has done a good job during his presidency. History will look back on him and he will be viewed as one of the all time worst.

Which brings me to the charismatic senator from Illinois, the rising young star in the Democratic Party, Barack Obama. For those who aren’t familiar with him, you should get familiar. I probably wouldn’t know as much about him if I wasn’t in Chicago during his campaign, but I have watched him a ton on the news over the years. This guy just gets it. There is something real about him that you don’t find in most politicians. He has only been a senator for one term and is already being talked about as a future president. Man of the people is a term often used to describe politicians, most underserved. This guy may be the genuine article. He isn’t too far liberal and backs some conservative issues. He is a solid balance of both. His keynote speech at the Democratic national convention in 2004 is the stuff of legends. This weeks Time Magazine has a great article about and his book, now available in stores, called The Audacity of Hope. His first book, Dreams From My Father, a memoir of his upbringing being raised by a White mother from Kansas and an African father from Kenya is the highest selling autobiography that any politician has ever put out. You will probably be seeing a lot of him in the upcoming weeks as he is on his book tour and essentially putting out the feelers to see if a run for President in 2008 is in the cards for him. One thing is for sure, its not if he will run, its when. If there was ever a guy who will become the first Black President, it is Obama. My only concern though is that I’ve been to the deep south – Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, etc. Its 1956 down there. The thought of a Black President is till too much for so many in this country to deal with, which is an absolute joke, and such a sad commentary on where we are in terms of racism. Just because I have always lived in heavily populated areas for the majority of my life, doesn’t mean everyone is as opened minded as I am. We are in the minority for the most part my friends. W’s bread and butter core followers are these same people I am speaking of. Gun-toting rednecks who think “the South will rise again,” Jesus Christ will tell us all what to do when he returns, and the country needs to stay the course. All I can say is YIKES. Any way it all comes down, 2008 will be an interesting election year to say the least.

Then there is the story that came out yesterday that terrorists were targeting 8 NFL stadiums on Sunday as a part of a plot to set up a radioactive dirty bomb in each stadium, causing mass chaos and casualties. Even Cleveland was named as one of the targets. Leah of course wants me to skip the game against Denver, but I don't buy it for one second. Nice world we live in now that we now have to be severly patted down to go see our football team play.

Finally, in a KU related story, coach Bill Self has suspended Junior Center C.J. Giles indefinitely for unspecified reasons. Well it took one whole day to uncover that Giles has impregnated a local then- high school Senior and has never paid child support. The girl claims that Giles has only seen the kid four times in two years and hasn't spoken to her in months. He is due in court on failing to pay her the monthly amount agreed upon. This kid has all the talent in the world and can't get it together. Scouts have been talking NBA for him, but why? How can a kid with so much a stake be so stupid to essentially be ruining his life with poor decision making, both on and off the court? Not like he comes from a bad home. His parents are both KU grads and brought him up in suburban Seattle. Speculation is that Self has had enough of his shenanigans and won't re-instate him at all. I can't say I blame him with Giles' past attitude problems.

Song of the Day: "Time to Say Peace" by Poor Righteous Teachers