Song of the Day

“Into the great wide open” by Tom Petty.

I’ve been on a huge Tom Petty kick lately, and this is one of those songs I way overplayed when it was released (especially the video, which I taped off MTV at a friend’s house–we didn’t have cable, “what am I made of money?!”– and would watch on the fancy VCR in my parents’ room back in 1991), only to get sick of it and recently rediscover it. I love Petty’s later stuff, in particular Wildflowers, Echo and for reasons unclear even to me, the “She’s the one” soundtrack, but I sort of miss his doing long, epic songs like this one (also, “Last dance with Maryjane”).

Was Scott Brown wrong to point out his daughters are single on national TV?

Two Jews say no.

Why now?

The story that Elizabeth Edwards has left John Edwards is pretty astounding.

She didn’t leave him when she found out he cheated, even helped conceal the affair so that he could still pursue the presidency.

She didn’t leave him when pictures surfaced of him holding a child any monkey knew was his.

She didn’t leave him when he went on TV and admitted to the affair, clarifying the timing but denying his child.

Elizabeth Edwards only left her husband when he finally, finally did the right thing and accepted responsibility for his child.

Her timing lends a lot of weight to the story that she’s the wicked witch of the south. What kind of woman stays through all of that and then leaves when her husband finally steps up and behaves like a man? It’s as if she was ready to live out her days with him as long as they could pretend the child didn’t exist. The fact that the child would be hurt in the process seemed not to matter at all. Cold.

Song of the Day

“Thinking about you” by Radiohead.

I’m positive, positive, this is a Song of the Day repeat but I am too lazy to look it up and ultimately don’t care anyway. I wish Radiohead still sounded like this. They used to sound intimate, like you were really getting a true look into what their music was about. Lyrics like “they don’t know what I know” sound personal and real. Now their sound and lyrics are so removed, the effects on Thom Yorke’s voice are there to mask any insight we might get into what he’s singing about. For example, Idoteque, a song I actually like (probably the last song I liked by them) is about…what? I’m not making this up, either, Thom Yorke actually said he does this and that he “used a vocal manipulation to distance himself from the title track’s [of Kid A] “brutal and horrible” subject matter, which he could not have sung otherwise.” Just wondering, though, anyone know what that “brutal and horrible subject matter” of that title track might be? Here is the song, here are the lyrics. I have not a clue. Anyway, my Song of the Day:

Classless president

I’m with Petitedov, I don’t understand how the story this morning is the rudeness of Justice Alito shaking his head and possibly mouthing “not true” and not that Obama berated the justices in his address. The latter is so much ruder because, well, the justices are just supposed to sit there and take it. I like that Alito registered his subtle complaint about the untruth being said about him, it was the most he could do trapped in the awkward situation Obama placed him in.

Song of the Day

“Girl, you’ll be a woman soon” by Urge Overkill. I also quite love the Neil Diamond version but this is the one in my head today:

Oh baby, baby, how was I supposed to know

I’m 6 days away from my Feb.1 due date and the baby is showing few, if any, signs that she wants to make an early entrance. I think I bullied most of you into guessing a date before my due date leaving only the following people still in the running to be right:

Petitedov- 1/28
Janice- 1/29 or 2/5 if I’m late.
Gib- 2/10

I’ve gotten to the point where I’m ok with her taking her time to get here, even though it leaves me more time for 3am freak-outs (I have no idea why they call it “nesting”, there’s nothing sweet or motherly about the unprepared feeling that creeps up on you when you’re going to have a baby–it’s more like not having studied for a big test.).

Multiple readers of this blog have asked me about our registry. While I find it tacky to post the link, I find it even tackier to respond to people individually about it. So here’s to the lesser tackiness. And if you’re a parent and see glaring omissions from our list, direction is totally appreciated.

Thanks to so many of you for checking in with me from time to time to see if the baby has arrived yet. I’ll keep you all posted.

Just lean a little to the right

Our prospective US Senator from Tennessee, or New York, whichever, Harold Ford, has an op-ed in the NY Times today with advice for Obama and the Democrats on how to stop losing. And frankly, it sounds rather Republican. Smaller government, tax cuts for businesses including cutting the payroll tax and generally moving to a more realistic approach to healthcare. Paul Krugman is frothing at the mouth about it, so you know it’s good.

On a sidenote, Azi Paybarah points out, on his twitter, the NYT doesn’t identify Ford as a potential US Senate candidate. Isn’t that sort of, I don’t know, important for readers to know?

Somalians to Gazans: Shut the hell up

Gazans to Haitians: We Are Also Suffering

Hat-tip Judith.

Keep on boozing

Daniel Freedman writes against the alcohol crackdown in Britain.

Same as it ever was

Israel is hand-wringing and introspective about its role in Haiti.
France is complaining.
And Obama is being criticized for not acting fast enough on Haiti.

Just kidding! He’s actually being commended for getting in front of the tragedy and for putting out “a torrent of news releases, briefings, fact sheets and statements that flowed out of the White House in the days after the earthquake.” I’m sure that saved a lot of extra lives, all those press releases. But no one can say the NY Times isn’t easily impressed.

I was sure it would be a solid B+

People are raving about Jon Stewart’s supposed rip on that lunatic Keith Olbermann. It has its moments, you can watch it here, but it’s clear that Stewart is a fan of Olbermann and so was ultimately quite respectful about the whole thing.

Olbermann’s reaction to the video? “It was a little bit of a ripoff of the Affleck thing, but overall, I’d give it a B-”

The reason why John Edwards can’t continue in public life?

He cares about poverty too much, obviously:

“The things he wanted to do weren’t going to be natural for continued public life anyway,” his wife, Elizabeth, told POLITICO Thursday. “He honestly cares about poverty.”

Starting…now.

“I will do everything in my power to provide her with the love and support she deserves,” [John] Edwards said in a statement [finally admitting paternity of a child everyone and their dog knew was his].

Or is he just calling us stupid?

Obama says the same anger that swept him into office also swept Scott Brown into office. I thought it was anger at Bush and Republicans that swept Obama into office? Why would voters with that kind of anger vote for a Republican…in Massachusetts?

Any day now. Maybe.

My prediction that the baby will arrive on Jan.15 did not come to pass.

Why did Scott Brown win?

Because Massachusetts is racist, DUH.

UPDATE: Additionally, I think all Democrats should run on the Keith Olbermann/Howard Fineman idea discussed at the link that, wait for it, pick-up trucks are racist.