Corbett Thinks Aloud...

Montgomery Mall... they say 2 hours to get in the door

update #2: HBO Tribute (on HBO2) to George Carlin

Fire up the DVR because HBO is remembering George Carlin by stringing together many of his shows. These are on HBO2. Here's the schedule for Wednesday and Thursday nights:

Wednesday, June 25

Knowing several people who live in Burke, I'm not surprised by this little Letter to the Editor that appeared in today's Express...

Current Mood: amused

More than anything, we as a nation largely pay lip-service to the dreams, the fights, and the accomplishments of the Civil Rights movement. In last night's speech, to a crowd 20,000 strong, Barack Obama attained the latest - and perhaps one of the few remaining - milestones: He, an African-American, won the nomination of a major political party to be President of the United States. (Can there be any doubt it will take the Republicants another century before they nominate anyone but an old white man?)

The speech was historic in its tone; inspirational and gracious, it laid plain the reasons why we cannot afford John McCain, and why he - Obama - represents more than the past. There are great challenges facing us, Obama said. Challenges we can overcome if we remember how important the power to inspire was to greats like FDR, Truman, and Kennedy.

It was a night that made me proud to be a Democrat.

There's really only 3 words missing...

Obama for President.

Headlines tonight declare that "Senator Obama Resigns from His Church". - Really? I know its been decades since I've attended a church with any conviction, and at that they were Catholic - the most arcane and by-the-book of any organized religion - and yet I had no idea that the average perishioner was required to "resign". I always figured it was pretty easy: just stop going. Hell, that's easier than quitting the gym, where you at least have to call and tell someone that your fat ass doesn't wanna pay anymore. But, I guess, it makes a good headline, so there you have it: presidential candidates don't just switch churches, they have to "resign" from one first. (What if the church doesn't accept your reisgnation? Do you still have to keep going?)

On another note about resignation - another definition of the word this time, yet convenient for this post - the Clinton campaign must - MUST, ABSOLUTELY MUST - resign itself to defeat after today's votes by the DNC rules committee that reinstated 1/2 votes for the full delegations of Florida and Michigan. They must come out and in no uncertain terms say the fight over the two disputed states is over. On Monday I will be calling the campaign headquarters to say enough is enough, to take the loss like an adult. If they feel the need to press on further, I will have no choice but to ask that every dollar I've donated be returned, and at a minimum, they must remove me from their donor rolls as I will never give another penny. It's simply time for all of this to end. The decisions today by the DNC were more than reasonable and represent the best possible, pragmatic outcome. It's time to begin the process of bringing all angered - justified or not - Democrats to Senator Obama. A united party is more important than the squabble over who the nominee actually is because the absolute last thing this country needs is four more years of George W Bush, which is precisely what a McCain (McBush? McSame?) presidency would be.

Short of a tragic accident, it is impossible for Senator Clinton to win the nomination for president. She won West Virginia by a substantial margin yesterday, and it would have been decisive if the primary had been held earlier. But at this point it and the remaining contests are there to give voters in those states a half-hearted sense of participation in the selection process.

There was a different election yesterday that was far more important than any primary: the special election in Mississippi to replace a Republican congressman (Wicker), who is now the stand-in for Trent Lott. The dictrict (Mississippi's 11th) is heavily Republican, Bush having won there in 2004 by nearly 15 points, and Wicker having held the seat since the mid-80s without ever a serious challenge.

Yesterday a Democrat (Childers) won the seat, marking the third time this year that a Democrat has taken a decidedly Republican-leaning district away from the Republicans. Is it a harbinger of things to come in November? Well, consider it fits historical trends, especially in '93 when Republicans routed Dems in special elections before being swept into the majority in both Houses.

Personally, I like where things are headed. The Republicans should be scared, they have every right to be as this loss may lead to further swing district reirements.

I'm tingly just imagining the permanent Republican minority returning for another 40 years.

I believe, as I have since the day she announced, that Hillary Clinton was the best we were going to get as the 44th president. But a confluence of events - from her husband's uncharacteristically bad moves to people buying into "hope" as some kind of policy initiative; from a media that sold its own story and hype on the notion of "inevitability" to a tragically flawed nominating process - all have made today the right time to hang it up.

I could not, and would not, ever say she was the perfect candidate. In fact, this latest idea - also proposed by the republicant John "100 year in Iraq" McCain - to suspend the gas tax is just plain idiotic. But, on the whole, no other candidate has put forward policy initiatives as detailed and in-depth as Clinton's. Does that make her wonkish? Absolutely. And that's what I love. Because that's governing; that's policy-making. Yes the gas tax thing is pandering; and that's political. But all-in-all, I could more easily live with a toss off pandering here and there if it means, at the end of the day, that we have a president that by-and-large knows what the hell is going on and how to make the system work.

That said, we are where we are. Senator Obama is going to be the nominee and if the American people can turn away from the story the media is going to want to tell in the general election (that is, that McCain is the "straight-talker" "maverick" who seems to always "come back from the dead") then Obama will be the next President.

As for Senator Clinton, I've had a few thoughts about what should be next... Unity ticket? No. I don't think that's going to work. Where she needs to be is in the Senate. As I said, she's a wonk and wonks make great lawmakers. In fact, I think she should push to replace Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader. Because if there is a single feckless pussy that's ever been leader, it's Harry Reid. Without a doubt, Senator Clinton is the person to take over and push for a true Democratic agenda in the Senate.

Lastly, I'll be volunteering for the Obama campaign come general election time even though he wasn't my candidate of choice. But that's politics. You have to suck it up and stick with the team that will do the most good. And that means attaching to Obama to ensure we control the White House and Congress and, with any luck at all, relegate the republicants to permanent minority.

Yesterday when i posted, i felt great. By 9AM, not so much. By 11, I was heading home. At noon, I had a fever of 102, was incredibly achy all over - that is, when the cold chills didnt overwhelm me, causing spasms. By the evening, i was coughing up stuff not far removed from that greenish kriptonite tar from Superman III. NyQuil road to a coma-inducing reprieve.

By the middle of the night, it was clear this was the real-deal.

I called in sick at 7AM, and a few hours later got in to see the doc. Only problem was, once I arrived in MD at the doc, I was quicly overtaken by this incredible feeling I was going to pass out and collapse. They took my bp in the lobby - it was 80/45, a bit low - before having several nurses and aides assist me back.

After an EKG, they tested for flu... and sure enough, it came back as Inf B. With as much fluid in my lungs as there is, the doctor warned of phenomia without Tamilflu and bedrest through the week.

As bad as I feel, it blows that this means I won't be picking up my new glasses (called this morning, saying they are in) AND, I'm 99% sure, it meas no BSG season-premiere at Mr. K and rcdl's on Friday.

All of which says nothing about the things that need to get done at work, preparing for next week's shift in the methodology for "open enrollment". I hope to be able to get some done at home... sorry Dana.

Last night the National's stunned the Braves with a walk-off, bottom of the ninth homerun to win their first official game at the new $600 million Nationals Park. After some a shaky start, the Braves settled down and game quickly became a pitcher's duel.

It was the perfect situation for a nationally-televised event like this season and stadium opening. With little action taking place on the field, ESPN's team of John Miller (a favorite of mine since his days in Baltimore more than a decade ago) and Joe Morgan were able to spend time showcasing the newest taxpayer-funded addition to MLB. As bad as RFK was for pro ball, Nationals Park looks - at least in HD - as though it is now the premier park, perhaps setting a new standard in non-Camden Yards, non-retro rip-offs. And since Dana and I did a test walk from the office to the park two weeks ago (less than 20 minutes), the biggest potential problem (transportation and parking) wont't be an issue at all.

Me being me, it should be obvious I couldn't write about the opener without mentioning the President - he did throw out the first pitch after all. (A tradition that, Miller reminded everyone of half a dozen times or more, that dates back to William Howard Taft in 1910.)

At a ratio easily calculated by Corbett Statistical Corporation to be 3-to-1 boos to cheers, Bush walked out to the mound and tossed a softy high (very high) and inside (if a righty had been batting). He then exited, waving to fans who largely continued to boo him, though the boos were fewer (possibly because some fans chose to cheer his departure).

But Bush wasn't done. In the third inning, he visited the ESPN broadcast both to shoot the breeze with Miller and Morgan. For an inning and a half, the nation's commander-in-chief provided some of the most awkward booth banter anyone is likely to hear; that is, when he said anything at all. When the camera cut to the booth, Bush sat uncomfortable between M&M looking not unlike a dying fish gasping for air - his mouth open, closed, open as he fumbled for answers to their questions, his eyes wide like dinner plates, appearing to stare off into oblivion.

Try as they might to get lengthier answers out of the president, they failed... though I give both Miller and Morgan credit for doing a better job at questioning him than the white house press.

Once Bush was gone, the play-by-play returned to normal and the banter picked back, but the game remained in the hands of effective pitching... until Ryan Zimmerman, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, sent a rocket over the left field wall, breaking the 2-2 tie and giving the Nat's the honor of winning the first game at their new home.

Let's hope this was a sign of the season to come.

It's pretty straight-forward actually, Metro expansion to Dulles will cripple the already falling-apart-at-the-seams system. If Metro currently can't keep a sizable majority of escalators and evelators in service, if they can't keep trains maintained so they don't breakdown during "peak" hours, if they can't perform maintanence on any sort of schedule, then adding tens of miles of new track and any new stations must be out of the question.

Ultimately, it comes down to increased costs and dimishing service already. I'm paying more, for less today and expanding to Dulles will cause fare increases and lead to fewer trains on the already-existing lines.

Consider my home station, Brookland/CUA - the street escalator (note the singular) was taken out of service early last summer for an overhaul. It was scheduled to return to service in November. Okay, that's completely understandable. For the first two months I saw the maintanence workers in the morning (but they were gone when I got home), but then October rolled around and the workers disappeared and progress seemed to grind to a halt. I'm told they just started work later in the morning (they were there when Earl gets to the station, an hour after I typically do). But they were nowhere to be found when I get home (a relatively early 4:45PM) - there's no way these guys were/are putting in 8 hour days. And, again, little progress was being made.

And so November arrived and the sign changed to say work would be completed in December. When December passed by, the notice changed to January 2008, and that didn't happen. In February in changed to say February, and now it's March and it still lists February. Five months after repairs were to be completed, the escalator looks no different than it did in October - that's to say, in shambles. And I've seen the workers a total of twice since November, both times in early February.

To top it all off, now the lone set of escalators from the platform to the interior of the station are out of service, with one of them completely blocked from being used as a normal set of stairs. Oh yeah, there's also no other way down from the platform except the elevator. Translation: there's just a single, non-functioning narrow platform escalator to and from the Brookland metro platform, then once outside, a pretty narrow single set of stares from the station to street level.

So someone please tell me, if Metro can't get these fairly routine and typical types of repairs done in any sort of timely manner now, how in the hell is expansion to Dulles NOT going to completely cripple the system?

Vacation was a lot of fun, but i'm (kind of happy to be) back at work. Yeah, thats not true... but i am happy to be home.

It's great to be on vacation... relaxing with a cup of coffee, a book, the sun shining, a breeze coming off the ocean... this is just what i needed - the opposite of life and work in DC.

For a month now I've been worried about the Obama insurgency. I could see the bandwagon growing, the enthusiasm increasing. But I stuck by the best candidate for the position of president of the united states.

Beyond loyalty there is right and it's right to continue to stand before the best person for the job. While last night ended as I feared, I believe I cast the right vote, even if most others have been swayed by pretty rhetoric and lofty dreams.

This isn't to say that I don't think Obama wouldn't do a fine job, it just means that all things considered more people voted for the lesser candidate.

To be sure, it's a disappointment, but the battle for the near future isn't over. There are a few small contests left this month, but what will ultimately decide if we begin 2009 with someone ready to do the job from Moment 1 or not are the big contests in March in Texas and Ohio. I'm not ready to throw in the towel and while she hasn't called me personally to say so, I'm pretty confident Senator Clinton isn't ready to give up either.

To my friends in TX, OH, and PA - for yourself, for your children, for tomorrow, for America - Vote Clinton!

I was flipping thru the channels when I saw this listed...
"20 Greatest Redneck Moments...
A countdown of the high points and low points of redneck history. Included: Dick Cheney's hunting accident, Jerry Lee Lewis' marriage to his teenage cousin, the popularity of mullets."

it speaks for itself, doesnt it?