In The Closet For Hillary

A glaring horrendous revelation from someone very close to me the other day--she's pulling for (gasp) Hillary Clinton!!

That revelation is "glaring and horrendous" not because of anything Clinton has or hasn't done, but because of African-American reaction to it. According to my friend, who is African-American, other Black folks basically bite her head off when she acknowledges she is not supporting Barack Obama.

"You're not supporting Barack??!!" they say, obviously incredulous that any Black person would consider not voting for the Black candidate. That's why I'm not using her name in this blog--she's hiding out. She is in closet for Hillary.

I understand the feeling. I've written before about how important this candidacy has become to Black Americans. But its deeply ironic to think that for Obama to win, White folks have to buy in to the whole post-racial-bring-us-all-together-thing ...something it appears many Black people haven't quite bought into themselves.

On the other hand...Barack is 'only' getting a bit more than 90 percent of African-American support, so there are at the least several hundred thousand Black Americans who agree with my friend--plenty for a really good-sized support group.

Everyone else --lay off!! This is America, after all.

Bowling for Votes

He can hoop. He can dance. (a little, which is a lot for any politician) He can even look good in a swimsuit, which is a lot for anyone over 35. We now know what Barack Obama absolutely cannot do.

Homey can't bowl. Not a lick. While campaigning in Pennsylvania this week, Obama scored a ridiculous 37. To put this in perspective, I suck at bowling. This past weekend I was drafted into it and a 13 year old girl destroyed me. And after two games I averaged about a 76. Twice as good as 'gutter ball' Obama.

Seriously, they had little kids bowling with the bumpers up to prevent gutter balls who scored better the Senator.

This all matters because Obama has got to convince those blue collar good ol' boys (and gals) that a feller from Harvard Law is okay to hang with and therefore vote for. Kill me for saying this, but he can't be seen as any old 'girly-man.' And I gotta tell ya...knocking down a 37 is not a good start.

Speaking of which, we now also know how Obama is keeping that girlish figure out on the campaign trail when most candidates bulk up from all the long hours, bad food and lack of exercise.

Here's an excerpt from the New York Times political blog on Obama in the Chocolate Factory.

Cheryl Burton offers the candidate a thick chocolate cake with white chocolate frosting. He looked at this thing, clearly a little worried; it’s only been 45 minutes since he was asked to inhale three varieties of chocolate.
“Oh man, that’s too decadent for me."

Obama..eat the freakin' cake!! I know you're trying to keep it all under control, but what do you want..a 32 inch waistline, or those chocolate ladies' votes?

Is It Safe To Come Out Now...?

If I lived in New York, I'd be walking on eggshells right now, terrified that my new governor might just confess to something else.

When Elliot Spitzer went down in very pricey hooker-ignited flames 2 weeks ago, I don't mind saying it was nice to see this conservatively dressed African-American man ascend to the top job in the state.

The fact that David Patterson is legally blind made your want to root for the guy all more.

Then, came the bombshell. Patterson aknowledged publicly that not only had he once cheated on his wife, but they had cheated on each other.

Now there's something you don't hear every day. Oh, I'm sure it happens. You just don't hear about it, at least not on the evening news beginning with the words "The Governor says...". And this was especially sensitive considering the nature of outgoing governor Elliot Spitzer's freaky sexual missteps.

I called my good buddy who lives in New York for some perspective, and he said New Yorkers greeted the news with a sense of ...Well, who doesn't have marital problems? I can see that. I felt the same way.

But then days later, in response to a reporter's question, Patterson admits he has tried marijuana and cocaine.

Now I'm thinking--Ya gotta be kiddin' me! I'm mean, by itself this is no more than Barack Obama has admitted to. But now its starting to add up. I'm wondering why the next question wasn't, "Okay governor, is there anything else we should know? Trips to Brazil? Baby mama drama? Hair Club For Men membership? Anything?"

Because I have to tell you, Governor Patterson, we don't know you all that well yet, but now we have way too much information.

You're a bit like that first date who looks really nice but just has to tell you about how she stalked her last boyfriend and is now in therapy; How her credit cards are all maxed out; and how she's really trying to deal with all this by being celibate until marriage.

Honesty is wonderful, healing thing. But I've finally learned at this late stage in life there is just some stuff I don't have to know. At least not today.

Out To Lunch

They say you can't go home again. But maybe you can. Its just more dangerous than it used to be.

Home for me would be Woodrow Wilson High School in Northwest DC. My Alma Mater. Class of '77. When I graduated from Wilson it was considered just about the best public high school in the city, at a time when that title seemed to mean a bit more than it does now.

That's why I was a bit stunned to see this article in The Washington Post describing how Wilson is about to tighten up security because of several fights and and violent confrontations--mostly involving 9th graders just recently transferred to the school.

In short, students will now have to eat lunch in their classrooms instead of with their friends anywhere they want on campus. Geez!! That's what they came up with? Putting hundreds of students on lock down at lunchtime?

I mean, think about it. Back in my day (God, I never thought I'd hear myself saying that!!) lunchtime was the best time of the school day. That was the time when you could chill and get social with your friends, many of whom you didn't take classes with. Eating lunch in classrooms??? Is this what its come to? Really?

School Chancellor Rhee says its only temporary until they can come up with a permanent solution. I hope that's soon 'cause if I was going to Wilson today I'd say this plan sucks!!

I am sitting here right now...scared to turn up the sound on my TV set.

My school, American University, is 30 seconds away from beating Colgate and winning the Patriot League and earning its first ever bid to the NCAA tournament.

To understand why this is such a big deal, you gotta understand that I graduated way back in 1981. We had no football team. We didn't even have our own gym. Played our games at Fort Myer.

AU basketball was pretty much all we had. There were a couple good years in there, including one heartbreaker when the team won the regular season and lost in the final of the Conference championship and still--No bid.

So now...with 2.9 seconds left. my Eagles are up by 5. I've had the mute button on for most of the second half...now I'm scared to turn up the sound cause it might jinx us.

Wait a second....WE WIN!!! WE WIN!!!! WE WIN!!!!!

The crowd goes insane!!!

What I wouldn't give to be there right now!! Go Eagles!!!!

The Hooker Imperative

"You don't pay a hooker for sex; You pay her to leave."

I can't remember where I saw that quote but I couldn't help but be reminded of it now that everyone is wondering with great anguish oh how, how could Elliot Spitzer do such a thing?

Right now, I'm watching CNN and Larry King Live tonight is headlined "Why Do They Do It?"

Good Grief.

Obviously it is not all that hard. ( no pun intended.) Spitzer was in the market for sex with a woman other than his wife. If he has an affair, it could get messy. She could get pregnant. Somebody could fall in love. Maybe she stalks him or calls the house or any of the other crazy stuff we all hear about and pray we never find out about first hand.

Going with a prostitute puts all that to rest. Its a straight up business transaction. Money for sex. From his perspective--a win-win.

Some bring up the freaky risk-taking thrill-seeking part of this...and perhaps there's something to that as well.

The only point I'm making is that Spitzer didn't have to be crazy to do this--just arrogant, short-sighted and foolish-- just like a zillion other guys out there, some famous, most not.

I don't want to make excuses for men behaving badly, but I'm just wondering if when it seems to happen so often to so many who ought to know better--are we making a basic mistake treating this sort of thing like a bizarre twist of fate or unusual scandal?

Every man doesn't cheat on his wife, perhaps a majority don't. But so many men do, its getting harder and harder to act 'shocked and saddened' when one more them simply gets caught at it.

Hookers

With a guy like Elliot Spitzer, you figured maybe an enemy would bring him down, or perhaps a mistake born of hubris. But hookers? No, I did not see this coming.



Of course Spitzer is far from the first politician to get busted for going to a prostitute. There's a reason they call it "the oldest profession." But brutal irony of protsitution charges leveled at the law-and-order prosecutor who got elected New York governor on his promise to clean up government corruption can't be lost on anyone.



Certainly not our 7pm producer April, who says the thing she can't fathom is the wife standing loyally by his side. She points out that from Bill Clinton to Senator Larry Craig--the wives seem to hang in there. "Why do they do that??" she asks.

She, we should add, is very single. Nonetheless, she has a point. And I don't have an answer.


Nor can I fathom how this country really feels about such things. If Spitzer was a good governor, is it really worth it to end his career over this? Some will shout, "Yes, he's breaking the law." But I'm thinking the person who really ought be mad is Mrs. Spitzer. And as was just pointed out, she's hanging in there for now.

The interesting thing about this service is that not only was it high-end, but you could choose just how high you wanted to go. The Emperor's Club website (since taken down) advertises a woman rated at 3 diamonds would cost you a thousand bucks for an hour; while a 7 diamond companion would run $3100. and the bottom is it says and I kid you not: inquire about our multiple-hour package rates!!

So then we are left with several big questions, and I hope you've got answers. First, what is it about men? Why do members of my gender do this stuff over and over again, even as we've seen so many careers taken down in flames? Second, the wives. Why do they seem to hang on regardless of the humiliation? Is is just loyalty? Or doe they know they can make them suffer more by staying than by going? And of course the most critical question of all: What the heck was he getting for 2 or three grand an hour???

Talk about buyer's remorse......