Love Sonnet XLV: Don't go far off, not even for a day, because--/because--I don't know how to say it: a day is long/and I will be waiting for you, as in an empty station/when the trains are parked off somewhere else, asleep./ Don't leave me, even for an hour, because/then the little drops of anguish will all run/together,/the smoke that roams looking for a home will drift/into me, choking my lost heart........ may your eyelids never flutter into the empty distance./Don't leave me for a second, my dearest,/ because in that moment you'll have gone so far/I'll wander mazily over all the earth, asking,/Will you come back? Will you leave me here, dying?
Love Sonnet XVII: I love you as certain dark things are loved,/secretly, between the shadow and the soul. ....... I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,/I love you simply, without problems or pride:/I love you in this way because I don't know any other way of loving...... so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.
Love Sonnet XI: I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair./Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets...... all day/I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps...... I want to eat your skin like a whole almond. ....... I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body,/the sovereign nose of your arrogant face,....... hunting for you, for your hot heart,/like a puma in the barrens of Quitratue.
That was him saying meeting many times is not what does it, or you have met me many many times, and nothing has happened. Take this guy with you right now. It is okay this is the first meeting.
He is like. I am your friend. I will move you from Brooklyn to Manhattan. I will engineer a step-up for you. This is a banker lady. She floats in money. You don't look like no banker to me.
Krebs is a political entrepreneur extraordinaire. Rabbits birthing rabbits, that is his organization.
First day he saw me, he ordered pizza for everybody when he saw me eat hot dogs, and we had not even talked yet. Besides, how did he find out I am kind of crazy about pizza? But by the time pizza got there, I had had three hot dogs, so I was not able to eat the pizza. It felt like such a missed opportunity. I felt stupid. Damn those hot dogs. I never saw him do that again: order pizza for everybody.
And for the longest time I did not know he was a Harvard guy. Like for months. Then one day an Indian college friend of his shows up, a doctor now in Memphis, just passing through town. I gravitate to the only other Indian. We talk. He says he is a friend of Justin. I am not impressed. That is what people say in this town to impress you. Oh, hello, I am a friend of Justin.
Then he says he is a college friend. That got my attention. Really? And where was that?
"Harvard."
"Justin went to Harvard!?" I said in mock disbelief.
I am a Third World guy, that is who I am. That is my identity for this lifetime. I think about deaths on a daily basis. Deaths to stupid violence, petty disease. My company's mission statement is to do with the fact that it is the internet that will bridge the gulf between the so-called First World, and Third World.
There was a lone Chinese guy at the Irish Rogue debate watch that I mention in my previous post, he was sitting all alone, so I approached him. And he says, hi, I am a friend of Justin. I had never seen him before, have not since.
One day I got an email from Dan Berger. Hello, this is Dan Berger from DL21C - as if I would mistake him for any other Dan Berger - can I have your number, I needed to call you up. He got my number but never called me up.
I think that was after I had shared Barack's Harvard Law classmate story with Caputo over email. I met Terrence Yang at the Texas debate watch party. He was with an Indian friend of his. "Meet Samir."
Berger was saying. It was not a banker thing. It was a DL21C thing. You are a weird guy who shows up for all DL21C events but refuses to join the organization. She asked for your number, I asked for your number.
At the NYU event, I was making small talk to Berger. So if Hillay were to become president, do you think Rangel will become Senator? I did not realize Elizabeth had come to stand next to me by then. Berger did.
"I am hot!" he said. As in, you are trying to show off to me that you are a hot guy.
Why else would Caputo come stand next to me other that I am a hot guy?
Being Fair To Liz
I am talking to Lee Motayed, this young Indian woman. In front of me is a chair. On that chair is Liz' bag. She comes and gets it and walks to some other part of the room. It is called right to private property. That is my bag on that chair, and I can pick it up.
I think I misunderstood.
At the 2006 victory party, Caputo did the exact same thing to me. I did not see her put her bag near me. But I did see her pick it up and take it away. I said, oh, hey. She did not respond. She was mad.
I don't think I could have thought in terms of a relationship, or even my company if I had not spilled it all out. I needed that to become whole again, something ongoing. I needed to get stuff out of the system.
I am guilty of some random lashing out at random white guys. Sometimes I have a valid reason to do so, sometimes I don't. It is better to work further on the online autobiography than to engage in random lashing. I am going to lash stronger for valid business and political moves. So I should save the energy and not go after potential allies and friends.
This is a progressive city, the progressive capital of the world. We are all progressives around here.
Being Fair To Mike Lupinachi
What he did at the Rangel event, and at the event after that: that was poetry. Pollak pulled the same poetry at the December Baby party. Cordelia walked over to me for two seconds at that party. She is here!
Being Fair To Lewis Cohen
Lewis Cohen, the DFNYC grand wizard. At the Washington governor event, I said to him, "Lewis Cohen, important guy!" He really liked that. This guy is saying I am an important guy.
Bobby
Bobby Jindal became governor of Louisiana. DL21C did an event with a Louisiana Senator not long after. The beginning and the end of that event was a little unpleasant to me, end more than beginning.
Moral of the story is, Caputo's Republican opponent is going to be Jindal.
But don't mistake me for Bobby. I am better looking. My name is not Anglo. I am a Buddhist. I converted to Buddhism in Bible Belt Kentucky. I am a progressive. Bobby never ignited a French Revolution, so you could say I am smarter.
Some day I am going to say to the Indians of the world, if the idea is to take pride in an Indian, why can't you take pride in me? Why do you need Bobby?
But the split second shouting match with Berger was good for me. Getting angry was an icebreaker. Otherwise I was getting socially ossified. I should get angry more often. Vent it, just vent it.
Small Town
You know 50 people and you know all the progressives in town. You meet some of the same people over and over again.
Weak Social Muscles
That has been the price to pay for some amazing 2.0 work.
The Clinton Dynasty
Hillary dispatched hubby Bill to South Carolina. Obama won that state in a landslide. Hillary dispatched daughter Chelsea to Hawaii. The landslide there was bigger.
I am thinking the Clintons as a political dynasty are overrated. What do you think?
The Kennedys on the other hand have oomph. Look what Caroline and Ted endorsements did to Obama 08. We have not had to look back since.
Ohio
Everybody thinks we will take Texas.
I am thinking we will take Ohio as well. The momentum is so obvious. Besides, I am gonna be there.
Hillary Should Get Out Now Newsweek to withdraw this week would be the best thing imaginable for Hillary's political career ...... In Pennsylvania, which votes on April 22, the Clinton campaign did not even file full delegate slates. That's how sure they were of putting Obama away on Super Tuesday. ....... It's time to stop overlearning the lesson of New Hampshire. .... He has brought up his game so sharply ...... the odds of Hillary's looking bad on March 4 are high ..... the Clintons approach power the way hard-core gun owners approach a weapon—they'll give it up only when it's wrenched from their cold, dead fingers ..... These are the same loyalists who told Hillary that she was inevitable, that experience was a winning theme, that going negative in a nice state like Iowa would work, that all Super Tuesday caucus states could be written off. The Hillary who swallowed all that will never withdraw. ...... She described what "an honor" it was to be in a campaign with Barack Obama, and seemed to mean it. Nepal government hopeful of end to ethnic unrest AFP In Nepal, hill-origin elites dominate local and national government as well as the security forces. Utah's superdelegates having second thoughts in light of Obama ... Salt Lake Tribune Obama's commanding victory in Utah's Feb. 5 vote has softened their support for Clinton. Obama, who is considered the front runner after winning 11 contests in a row, took 57 percent of the vote in Utah to Clinton's 39 percent. ..... the excitement of an Obama candidacy will boost the chances of Utah Democrats running in state races. ...... Obama has picked up 25 superdelegates in the past two weeks, while Clinton has lost two Superdelegates Are Flocking to ObamaThe Associated Press Superdelegates switching allegiance to ObamaGuardian Unlimited Democrats focus on Ohio as Clinton denies looming defeatAFP Ohio, Texas Uphill Climbs for ClintonThe Associated Press independents and crossover Republicans are welcome to vote in their Democratic primaries. .... The political calendar of late winter has been less than kind to the embattled presidential contender, who once figured that a big day in early February would affirm her march to the presidential nomination and the rest would be icing. Instead, it's been slippery ice at every turn ..... Among independents, Obama is leading Clinton by 14 percentage points in Ohio and by 13 in Texas ... In the 22 contested Democratic primaries so far, independents made up 22 percent of the vote and they supported Obama by an overwhelming margin of 64 percent to 33 percent. Crossover Republicans, a far smaller percentage in the Democratic primaries, backed him 55-33. ..... the kind of grunt work where Obama's forces have excelled ...... Clinton's lead in Ohio polling has slipped into single digits, less than half of what it was only weeks ago. .... The awarding of half a delegate comes from expatriate and U.S. territorial Democratic contests. Clinton Soldiers On Despite SetbacksWashington Post Clinton: "Shame on You, Barack Obama"CBS News Clinton slammed Obama and his campaign for distributing mailings to Ohio voters attacking Clinton’s universal health care plan and her position on NAFTA. ..... Meet me in Ohio and let’s have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign Clinton on the ropes: How she got thereSeattle Times She had everything going for her. The most famous name in politics. A solid lead in the polls. At least $133 million. ..... an unusually gifted speaker with a face that appeals deeply to the Democratic Party. He also had a better-organized campaign. ..... She chose an inexperienced campaign manager, crafted a message that didn't match the moment, fielded poor organizations in key states, and built a budget that ran dry when she needed money most. ...... "To think that someone named Clinton with $130 million could end up here is amazing" ....... the New York senator has fallen awfully far awfully fast. .... she'll be a heavy underdog in Mississippi and delegate-rich North Carolina. ..... "He is a once-in-a-generation politician." ..... Starting with Iowa, Clinton was outhustled and outorganized in almost every state that had caucuses rather than primaries. ...... "They seemed to give up on organization," one Democratic strategist said. "To lose every caucus but Nevada is to say we do not care about organization. ...... "There was never any concept of how South Carolina should be addressed in terms of identifying voters and getting them out. The skill set of people in the Clinton campaign was pretty low, and there was no central guidance or direction. They had plenty of resources; money wasn't a problem. They just didn't execute." ..... Worse, Clinton and her husband, former President Clinton, hit Obama heading into the South Carolina primary in terms that struck many African Americans as racially charged. ...... "They blew up in South Carolina," said a white Democrat who worked in the Clinton White House. "It changed everybody's perceptions of them." ..... he's a better speaker. He has a better speech ..... "Bill Clinton had people who had run campaigns. Patti and Maggie were there by virtue of their personal loyalty, not their campaign experience." ..... "Every decision that was made — whether it was spending or the message or what states to invest in — was a collaborative process," the other strategist said. "It's unfair to Patti to blame her. It was a ministerial position."
So. I am going to Ohio. I have decided. I did not think I would do it. But I am going. All political junkies I know are going. This is too much peer pressure. It is like, if you are not going to Mecca, how are you a Muslim?
Since I moved to NYC, I once went a few hours out to New Jersey for a Christmas party with the Madhesi friend who authored the idea of me moving to the city, her boyfriend's family's place, second home. They actually live in Fairfield, CT. I actually did not like the idea of going out of the city.
But this is going to be a big one, an entire weekend out. Adam tells me once in a while you have to get out of the city. So when you come back in, you get excited all over again.
But I am Obama 2008's self-appointed national shadow Campaign Manager. Campaign Managers don't go knock doors, hand flyers. We inspire. So I think I am going to be doing a lot of sightseeing in downtown Cleveland. And I am going to meet as many Obama people as I can. I am sure this is like Iowa. Barack is already on schedule to winning Texas. So the feeling must be, let's take Ohio, and then we are done. I am sure there are Obama volunteers there from literally all over the country. I know Kathleen Sebelius is there.
This is going to be an entire weekend totally offline. That might be good for me. I need to get into the talkative thing. I think I might end up with dozens of new Facebook friends by the time the weekend is over.
It is between sightseeing and just whiling away at the headquarters. And some knock, knock, knocking on the heaven's door.
Come to think of it, Cleveland is the first American city I went to. Cleveland, Indianapolis ("But where are the people?"), Atalanta. I covered those three the first year. Downtown Atlanta was quite a feeling. In Cleveland, I kept bugging people, but where is the water, where is the water, show me the water. So they took me. Deep in the night. You could hear the water. The lake.
I have figured out the logistics. Wear jeans. Take one small bag: guys are stuck with the shaving thing. Be super light. Two days of eating out, six meals, okay so that is some more money. And some extra cash, in case you get left out for some reason and have to make the return trip on your own.
I once got left out. I was five, maybe less. This was some relative's wedding. Weddings back there are like this trip to Ohio. They last full three days. So you show up Friday evening. All of Friday night is rituals. All night, I am not kidding. So when my running mate and subsequent SGA Vice President Damien got married, I am like, wait a minute, I was just warming up, the ceremony is already over? It lasted all of 20 minutes.
So you show up, and they feed you Saturday, three fancy meals. Sunday they feed you, and then you leave. And it is not always a weekend thing. Depends on when the holy days are.
So I get taken to this wedding. And Sunday morning everyone leaves. In the confusion, I get left behind. Then someone in the jeep asks, Where is Pappu? Where is Pappu? And they turn around and drive back. This is on mud roads. Jeeps raise dust like it was a tornado trying to rise up from the ground up.
They found me all by myself, not a soul in sight, crying.
So carry extra cash just in case you have to buy a ticket back to the city.
$110 is an extremely good deal. I like Walmart, Dell, that 99 cent pizza place on 41st and 9th. I like the low price businesses. They are democratizing. $110 for round trip, and lodging and pizza. How did they do that?
I emailed saying I want to pay cash. Cash is real money.
DL21C Bus Trip to Cleveland, Ohio
Friday, Feb 29 - Sunday, March 2, 2008
Welcome to DL21C's Buckeye State road trip! We hope you'll join us next weekend. We expect the bus to fill up quickly, and the only way to confirm your spot is to sign up here.
The cost for the trip is $110 which covers roundtrip transportation on Campus Coach luxury bus lines, lodging (3-4 per room at the Holiday Inn Express, downtown Cleveland) as well as bus trip, pizza and beverages. You will sign a release upon departure and be responsible for all other incidentals not related to travel and lodging. Dress warmly (lake effect snow!) and be prepared for lots of walking to get out the vote!
Itinerary (we will mail a complete itinerary to you early next week):
Friday, February 29 6:30pm Depart Penn Station via Campus Coach (pizza and welcome party on the bus!)
Saturday, March 1 2:00 am Arrive Cleveland, OH (Accommodations at Holiday Inn Express downtown, around corner from campaign headquarters) 8:00am-8:00pm Volunteer work with campaign of your choice (Cleveland and surrounding suburbs) 9:00pm Dinner and DL21C party - downtown Cleveland
Sunday, March 2 9:00am - 4:00pm Volunteer work with campaign of your choice 5:00pm Depart Holiday Inn for return to NYC 12:30am (Monday) Arrive Penn Station
Please email campaignvol -at- dl21c -dot- org with any questions or if you need more information.
We look forward to you joining us and being a part of history next weekend!
In The News
Superdelegates switching allegiance to Obama Guardian Unlimited After once leading Obama by a 2 to 1 ratio in the superdelegate chase, Clinton now has 241 to his 181 ...... the trickle of superdelegates who have defected from her corner to Obama's. The shift comes as she failed to deliver a telling blow on him in their penultimate TV debate before the Texas and Ohio primaries ...... two percentage points in Texas, well within the margin of error, and seven points in Ohio ..... "I think that it will sort itself out," Clinton said. "We will have a nominee, and we will have a unified Democratic party, and we will go on to victory in November." .... Superdelegates who represent areas won by Obama face pressure to declare for him. In South Texas, Obama Focuses On Hispanic Voters Washington Post Clinton led Obama 59 percent to 36 percent among likely Latino voters ...... Obama offered a brown-black connection with the largely student audience with references to Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez, who organized the United Farm Workers Union in California. King, he said, had once written to Chavez to say their causes were one. ...... "Crank it up, guys," he said to the reporters huddled over their laptops. "Words matter. Don't listen to Hillary."
Obama Campaign On "The Moment" Atlantic Online the difficulty Hillary Clinton would have drawing a clear contrast with John McCain in a general election was when she, quizzically, attacked him for supporting the war in Iraq. Clinton also voted for the war
Clinton, Obama spend differentlyLos Angeles Times Clinton pays top dollar to her aides -- giving her communications director twice as much in one month as Obama paid his communications director in a year. .... In the past year, Obama spent $1.8 million on buttons and other paraphernalia, whereas Clinton paid dearly for the fuel of many campaigns: pizza and doughnuts. ..... Since the campaigns began, Obama has spent $138.2 million and Clinton $120.9 million through Jan. 31. ...... Obama's fundraising has since surged ahead by $20 million, leaving her unable to match his spending in the March 4 showdown contests in Ohio and Texas ...... much of the money fueling his campaign has arrived via the Internet. ..... Clinton relies more on large fundraising events, often holding them at the mansions of wealthy donors and collecting the maximum $2,300 from people attending. ....... since the campaign began, she has paid almost $8 million to the firm Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates. She has another $2.1 million in unpaid bills to the firm
So I showed up at around 7:35. Actually I got off the train around 7:15. But I whiled some time away at the Virgin store. There's one of those near Union Square I have visited where I have bought quite a few movies for $10 each. The last one was this great movie on Mozart, his life, oh so beautifully made, eight academy awards. Genius is a child. Genius is childish. Genius does not seek to please. Power seeks to be pleased. And so Mozart died an early death.
So I showed up. I liked it that it was the Connolly's Pub, not the O'Lunney's Pub, although both are on the same street, almost next to each other. But as soon as I got in, I got lost. People are sitting down and eating. This is not a bar situation. Where do I go from where? A waitress/receptionist came to my rescue quick. She did not ask me if I wanted to be seated. She totally read my mind. She addressed my confusion very directly. I was impressed. Women know to read faces. Better. She said the event was upstairs. When I proceeded to walk up, she came right behind me. I think she realized I might get lost upstairs as well.
But I found out. Caputo was working on the sound system of the TV with a waitress. But that was one of three big rooms, two of which were just like downstairs, people dining. Nobody else was there. No sign in sheet, nothing. I guess the place had not been set up yet.
She looked at me once. Next time she looked a few second later, she walked over and gave me a talking to that sounded gentle but firm.
"Let's have a conversation. I don't like you. I have never liked you. I am nice to everyone who shows up for these events. Nothing happened on day one. You are delusional. I am going to take precautions."
First thing I felt was, it might be okay for me to show up for future DL21C events. Here, I just went ahead and RSVPd for the March 4 event. By now, it is so obvious Barack is going to be the nominee, even Hillary knows that, Bill Clinton sure does. He has already said Hillary needs to win both Ohio and Texas to remain viable. Well, she is going to lose Texas for certain, and Barack is gaining fast in Ohio too. I no longer feel the need to pump up the Obama crowd. I feel the need to reach out to the Hillary crowd. Hillary saying "I am honored" during the debate sounded like she would be honored to be on the ticket. We are on our way to a dream ticket, a progressive dream come true. We will carry 40 plus states.
Tuesday, March 4 7:00 pm Ohio/Texas Primary Returns Party Tonic Lounge (West-Times Square)
"Let's have a conversation. I don't like you. I have never liked you. I am nice to everyone who shows up for these events. Nothing happened on day one. You are delusional. I am going to take precautions."
Precaution is what I took in showing up. The script at the blog reads like, I am going to show, then you are going to ask me to leave, then I am going to go to destination two. (Texas Debate Watch: Another Story In Indignity?)
This is what you wanted to happen. And so this is what happened. It is your responsibility. I did not even have to read your face, it is at your blog.
She did not ask me to leave. But I left. "I hear you," I said and left. As if I already knew the script myself.
Delusional? About my ambitions? Or about you?
Steve Jobs told the Pepsi CEO before he agreed to get hired by Apple around 1984. "Do you want to sell sweetened water for the rest of your life? Or do you want to make history?"
That is what I want to say to Caputo. So looks like you want to work the Stanley environment for the rest of your life, and you will likely lead the DL21C for a few years, although I never see you getting politically not interested. But is that it? Sugared water?
You liked me better when I was just a blogger to you. Like this guy friend of yours said "the blog gets read all over the world" at the Irish Rogue event. I have never been a blogger. I have always been a digital democrat. I penetrate the political walls to make impact. You have amazing 5.0 strengths. But you so look down upon 2.0.
Delusional about my big dreams? When I used to show up for DFNYC events before the April Revolution 2006, those people also talked dismissive. What does this guy do? And then Nepal hit the local media in NYC full force, and then they knew. Some guy at your bank who had written directly to his CEO to create his 2.0 job which he has now quit despite a very recent promotion has joined my startup team and has raised all its round one money. Is that delusional? The cutting edge application of 2.0 to make real political impact in Nepal that has as many people as California minus the physical and communication infrastructure, is that delusional? I bring the same passion to my startup that I brought to April Revolution 2006. It is because the internet is the only way to bridge the gap between the so-called First World, and Third World. People should not have to go to far away countries to get college education.
I am not delusional. I am a dreamer. I am cutting edge. I am daring. I am pushing hard at the edges. You are the one who seems to have stopped dreaming. If you were to keep doing the DL21C routine over and over again for the next five years, where do you expect to end up? Minus 2.0, DL21C is not going too much farther. With 2.0, it could go national. But you have a 2.0 phobia going on. But I am not going to be too hard on this count because I am as weak on 5.0 right now as you are on 2.0. I used to be super my freshman year at college. I could look at any random face and say something unique and be smiling high voltage all the time. How else do you think I got elected student body president within six months of landing?
If not me, then who? If not you, then who? Who will do the big things? Who will look at the big problems? Who will dream the big dreams? I feel like I am just starting out. I feel like I have just been born. The whole world is a virgin territory.
Yes, you could be president. I take enough pride in my political eyes to be able to make that claim. I already got some of Barack's attention. I don't need someone I know to be president to get a president's attention. But if not you, then who? What if I could neutralize sexism, physicalism and funds? Would you then dream? Could you then do it? I know you want to. You tried to pose for a picture with that young Pakistani girl at the Rangel event. What does that mean? All top politicians have posed with that girl. Hillary, Spitzer, Bloomberg, Cuomo, you name it. I have been to her home in Queens. You got the political pulse. But you feel like you have been around long enough on the planet to get "realistic." Well, I am too new to New York City to get "real." This city is nuclear fission to my mind. I am exploding with dreams and possibilities. A done deal on round one of my startup gives me supreme confidence.
You are going to be the first woman president of this country. If not you, then who? This is not pressure. This is what I see. So very clearly. Other people around you see that as well. Maybe not as clearly and as early and as in stark terms as me, but they all feel it. This woman is not going to retire when her time with DL21C is up. DL21C is a space shuttle that is in Florida. It has not taken off yet. This woman's heart is not in banking.
I have bet a million dollars on this with Adam that he does not pay me if his net worth does not exceed a billion. I have said, if you ever run for Mayor or Senator, you are going to end up president.
(1) Planned Parenthood night out with women in politics. "Disappearing" on ball drop. (2) Holiday party. Looking at me, gazing, dancing to tease me, brushing against me full force. (3) Washington governor event, final minutes, whisking the two women away. (4) Education committee event of serving water. But then "disappearing" on ball drop. (5) Irish Rogue debate watch party. (6) Paterson event where you came to stand next to me and waved like a candidate spouse. (7) Street fair where you were going to finally share your two campaign experiences with me. (8) Summer bash where you did touch my private part, although it might have been unintentional because you were not looking in my direction. You came to stand in front of me - that was a very conscious decision - and did move your hand as if to reach out, and took one then another step towards me. That was after following me around a few times. On stage, the "republican" you talked about was me. (9) The Republican debate watch party you arranged fully knowing I will be the only person to show. (10) Day one. It was magic.
I can accept the version where you don't feel for me today. But the version where nothing ever happened. That is a lie. Flashes happened here and there. Flashes did not move to fruition, that is another thing. But flashes happened.
For you it was, either it is going to happen in 5.0 or not. For me it was, if it is going to happen in 5.0, it is also going to happen in 2.0.
Also, my thing has been, it is not about feelings. It is about the external reality. And it is not about feelings, but if you can bring yourself to say something, some verbal statement. Something as simple as, I like you, could get it started. Gestures are dangerous. You act on them a little slow, a little 2.0, and all hell breaks loose. For you it has been like, no, it is not the external reality. If two people are into each other, the external reality does not matter, but if they are not into each other, no amount of curing of the external reality will matter. And I kinda agree. But then I don't. Your WASP comfort zone needs a little unsettling.
And then there came a point when you gave up on the idea. This guy is not into it. So he might as well act professional now on.
So there was no conversation. My bad.
I should have stayed. I should have disagreed. I should have talked back. What we perhaps need is a little shouting match. Her style is combative. She likes combat.
But that's okay.
By the way, she was looking amazing.
I went over to the Obama venue to watch the debate. The place was packed with people and TV screens.
I am Al Pacino. Elizabeth Caputo is Meryl Streep. She is top political talent. So am I. She could be president, I am going to win the Nobel Peace Prize. I am also going to list my company on Nasdaq.
Granted there is this thing called feeling uncomfortable, but I did not think she was uncomfortable at the last event I saw her which, by the way, was not a DL21C event. Neither of us had to be there. Resolved, the uncomfortable thing is over.
You always have to be careful about Jewish people. You don't want to end up facing the question, so what up, you don't like Jewish people? But no one is going to out Third World me, I don't care if you are Jewish or what.
I still officially don't know if this Berger dude is Jewish, although I have two strong reasons to believe he is. One, there is that er. Two, he grew a beard over the Holidays like my man Friday Adam who is also Jewish. This guy works for a top name in Congress, Charlie Rangel. So he has to be technically competent. He is not exactly Rudy Shenk, who was Obama 08's New York state director. But he belongs in that camp of people who acquire technical knowledge on the details, not my personal specialty. He has his skill set, something I will never acquire.
Jesus was a Jew. Buddha was a Madhesi. We Madhesis have shut down all of Nepal's south for the ninth day in a row now. We are fighting for liberation. Berger and I might have more common ground than he realizes. What's up with these dudes like Jesus and Buddha? They come and go, and their peoples end up bearing the brunt for centuries.
So I have decided to show up for this DL21C event, the Texas debate watch party. The best that could happen is Elizabeth and I could end up having our first ever conversation. The worst that could happen is I could get kicked out third time in a row. At least I might then know never to show up again, since third time is the charm.
I show up early, like perhaps 7:25. If I get kicked out, I take a cab to the Obama debate watch party 30 streets down. I might take a cab. I think I am going to carry a hundred dollar bill if only to fluster the cab driver.
I am not much of a cab guy. I am a train guy. The subway is the most New York City thing about New York City. Trains are better and cheaper. But today I am going to be a cab guy if I have to be.
What the heck.
Thursday, February 21 7:30 pm DL21C Texas Debate Watch Party! (This is an open event. Anyone can join and invite others to join.) 7:30pm Connolly's Pub 121 W. 45th Street (between Sixth and Seventh Avenues) (Ten-gallon hats, cowboy boots and yellow roses optional...)
Please join Generation Obama, Young Lawyers for Obama, and ObamaNYC for the Texas CNN and Univision Debate at the Village Poorhouse. This debate could be huge for Barack and OUR movement, so let's celebrate together! 7:30-10pm Village Pourhouse 3rd Ave and 12th St. **Drink Specials all night**
Visits on previous 'day': 1,736.
In The News Barack Obama keeps winning formBBC News Obama, Clinton trade punches ahead of debateHouston Chronicle Hillary's in trouble, Clinton admitsSydney Morning Herald Perhaps Mr Clinton is just enjoying himself too much on the campaign trail. ..... the snipers on the rooftops and the Texas national guardsmen, wearing flak-jackets, helmets and armed with semi-automatic weapons ..... Texas and Ohio have become Senator Clinton's last frontiers. ..... For the first time her usually optimistic husband admitted that if she does not win Texas and Ohio on March 4, she most likely will not win the nomination. .... the final Democratic contest in Puerto Rico on June 7 Obama wins Democrats Abroad global primary, over 60 per cent in CanadaThe Canadian Press Clinton begins to cast Obama as hopeless dreamerCanada.com A Clinton Strategy?New York Times Clinton camp splits on message Los Angeles Times Bill Clinton, who suggested that his wife could not survive a loss in either of the next two major contests, in Texas and Ohio on March 4. ..... she did not heed calls to limit the overarching power Penn wielded within the brain trust as both its pollster and message- maker. Bill Clinton says Texas, Ohio could be make-or-break for HillaryDallas Morning News Obama on Wednesday held a rally for 17,000 supporters at Dallas' Reunion Arena, following a rally the night before at the Toyota Center arena in Houston before more than 16,500 supporters ...... "The biggest personality to come through Victoria in the last 50 years was John Wayne, so this is big," Stephen Jabbour, the county Democratic Party chairman, told the Victoria Advocate about Clinton's visit. ..... Clinton condensed his basic campaign speech Wednesday, which was running an hour or more last week during appearances in the state. Visits on previous 'day': 1,736. Talks on to end Nepal blockade AFP
Nepal Extends Terai Curfews; Madhesi Groups to Boycott Election Bloomberg Police fired tear gas to break up protesters in Janakpur yesterday as authorities maintained curfews in Nepalgunj and Biratnagar Political Memo Clinton Aides Split on How to Take On ObamaNew York Times what could be her last stands, in Ohio and Texas on March 4. ..... intense frustration among Mrs. Clinton’s advisers ..... Mrs. Clinton woke up Wednesday to the realization that she had lost nearly every advantage she once could claim over Mr. Obama: money, momentum, a lead in national polls and an edge in delegates. President Clinton: Texas and Ohio Are Must WinsFOXNews Bill Clinton said that March 4th is do or die for his wife making Ohio and Texas “must-wins” for her struggling campaign. ..... over 200,00 Americans gave Hillary 17 million dollars over the Internet in small contributions in the last 17 days Powerful Teamsters Union Endorses ObamaThe Associated Press
Obama's Strategy to Avoid a Convention Fight Washington Post the idea is to win so many delegates that the Democratic leadership presses Clinton to concede ...... even after eight consecutive victories, Team Obama's ears were ringing with the warnings bells of New Hampshire. ..... it's like boxing: When you're the challenger, you don't win on points Hawaiians Flood Polls for ObamaU.S. News & World Report Obama wins Hawaii in a landslideUSA Today Obama had 28,347 votes, or 76%, to U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's 8,835 votes, or 24% .... 20 of the state's 29 delegates .... "I think Hawai'i is going to count this year," she said. "Before, we didn't matter." Obama campaign insists that Clinton concede Guardian Unlimited The argument from the Obama camp appears designed to paint Clinton as a nuisance candidate -- much like Mike Huckabee ........ Obama and McCain increasingly are taking swipes at one another on the stump ...... "It is time to get real, to get real about how we actually win this election and get real about the challenges facing America," she said in her speech. "I am not running for president to put Band-Aids on our problems. I am running to solve them." ....... Clinton is being deserted by even her most ardent supporters: the working class voters she had been banking on in Ohio and even middle-aged white women. ....... The Clinton campaign also appears to have miscalculated with a last-minute burst of negative advertisements in Wisconsin. ...... Clinton also continues to face a cash crisis. Obama outspent her four to one in Wisconsin ..... Obama took 58% of the vote in Wisconsin against 41% for Clinton. He did even better in Hawaii, the state where he was born, carrying 76% of the vote. ..... Obama 1,336 delegates against 1,251 for Clinton Obama Camp: Clinton Tactics 'Damaging to the Party'Washington Post the two sides are battling over the ground rules going forward.
Jewish people get to vote, black people get to vote, women get to vote, but my Third World people don't get to vote in this city.
Many of them don't even get to vote in their own countries because they got dictator creatures lording over them.
The right to vote is fundamental. Every human being deserves that basic outlet. Otherwise people end up with suffocation. That suffocation is painful to those who have to go through it, but it also has implications for the world at large. Swamps are no good. Mosquitoes show up ultimately.
Wealth is literally created out of thin air. Bill Gates did not steal 50 billion from someone. That 50 billion did not exist before he came along. Political space is also created out of thin air. A people who become free do not eat up space of others who were free before them. They expand the overall space through their freedom and so are now in a position to contribute to the larger good. It is a win win situation.
Nelson Mandela talks of "a thousand little indignities" in his autobiography. New York City is not exactly under the cloud of apartheid, but it sure is a city where about 40% of its people go about disenfranchised. And that has concrete implications. You end up with tens of little indignities.
Why do people petition Senators? Why don't they do it on their own? It is because there is a vertical degree of separation between the Senators and the citizens.
New York City is a Senator city like no other. Every little town on the planet is represented here. Everybody you need to spread democracy into the far corners of the earth lives right here inside the boundaries of this magic city. But so far they have been wasted. Because they have been kept disenfranchised.
New York City does not belong to New York City. New York City does not belong to America. New York City is one city that belongs to the world. This city like no other has the potential to be the progressive dynamo to all humanity. But the city's global political potential goes unharnessed.
If the neocons can be on schedule to spending two and a half trillion dollars just in Afghanistan and Iraq, the progressives must counter by giving the right to vote to every New Yorker in the city elections. It is a political decision, it does not cost money. And that one act can help the cause of democracy in countries across vast swathes of the planet, why only Iraq and Afghanistan?
If you live in the city, you should be able to vote in the city elections, as simple as that. Your landlord gets to certify you live in the said building. The data thus collected gets used only for city election purposes and for violent crime control. The date does not get shared with federal or local immigration officers.
But right now the political establishment in the city is no different from Third World dictators in its thinking. Both deny their people the right to vote.
When I think Third World, I don't think perceived slights, or oh you made me feel uncomfortable. The implications are much more concrete. People are dying, to unnecessary violence, to petty, curable diseases. There is the slow death of poverty, ignorance, primitive social ills, super sexism, ethnic divisions.
Thirld World woes get measured in deaths, daily deaths. A big chunk of that is just plain, utterly preventable infant mortality. I am pro-life on that one.
Democracy is where it begins. You introduce democracy into a country with a big bang.
In the long run, you want a leveling out. Through democracy, robust economic growths and the internet, you want to end up with a level playing field. People should not have to immigrate for greener pastures.
And New York City is in a unique place to be the dynamo for that positive change. Shanghai also has the skyscrapers, but it does not have NYC's diversity. But NYC has so far acted blind to that wealth.
The Third World people have to demand the right to vote in the city, and the political establishment has to meet it half way, happily so. The people should not have to struggle. If the establishment makes the people struggle, they are not acting progressive.
The current arrangement is racist. Racism is not part of the progressive ideal. This city is lying when it proclaims its progressive credentials. Progressive for whom? Not for the disenfranchised.
The war on terror concludes the day every Arab country is a democracy. That is the only way. This voting rights thing is the progressive way to become strong on defense and eat the neocons' lunch.
And, by the way, you get to say Global South. The term Third World is like the term n____. Only black people get to sometimes use that on each other, although that too has to be discouraged.
Obama Camp Raising Specter of 1968 Atlantic Online 2008 will be just like 1968, but worse. ..... given the silence of the superdelegates so far, a scenario whereby Obama's having recieved the majority of both earned delegates and the popular vote results in an annointment of Hillary Clinton is a big stretch.
