Who's More Afraid?

The upcoming election here in the States is driving everyone I know batty. Mood shifts hour to hour, as new wire stories make the previous ones recede into the sea of memory. Yesterday I was despairing over the absurd manipulation of Kerry's comment about Dick's lesbian daughter. Today I was energized by a boost for the Democrats in the Zogby tracking poll. And then, registered campaign volunteer that I am, I received a plea from the Bush team in my inbox:

Four years ago the President lost a commanding lead on the weekend before the election because the liberals orchestrated a massive get-out-the-vote operation; it nearly cost him the election.  Volunteer now for the Bush Team's vital phone banking and door-to-door efforts.

The narrative here surprises me. Is that what Republicans really think about 2000? Or is history merely being rewritten -- again, again -- to serve Karl Rove's latest scheme? One thing that seems clear to me, after reading through the Bush missives of the past month, is that his people are a lot more worried than they used to be. It's our task, then, to make sure they really had something to worry about.

Political Influenza

Skylar's birthday party was a huge success, despite the fact that someone at the JCC failed to cover the pool Saturday night and then lied about it this morning. Enough of us braved the brisk water to overcome Bean's break-of-day anxieties that things would go poorly. Still, when you pay money for the privilege and call several times to make sure that the pool will be covered -- let's just say that Kim will be calling the JCC tomorrow.

Anyway, after a relaxing lunch at Beyond Bread and a relaxinger evening of tidying up while Bean played with her loot -- to the Killers' record, incidentally, of which both ladies of the manor approve -- I drove to TJ's to get provisions. NPR reported on the start of early voting in Florida, for which both Kerry and Bush were in the state.

They played a bit of the speech Kerry gave at a rally. The gloves aren't just off. They're lying in the wastebasket, torn to shreds. Kerry repeated his recent criticism of the Bush Administration's failure to plan for a potential shortage of flu shots. Then he delivered a brutal uppercut with his left:

"But if Halliburton sold flu shots, there would be more of them here than oranges."

I'm not sure whether Kerry -- or his speechwriters, since it was likely scripted -- intended the implicit pun, but it's brilliant. The word "influenza," after all, means "influence." I hope that the Democrats' efforts to innoculate Floridians against political treachery takes.

Back to the game. It's apparently time for the Red Sox to break some more hearts. Wait. That was a tremendous catch by Cabrera. Sheffield or Matsui? Pick your poison. Looks like Sheffield. Or maybe not. Embree's pitching him out of the strike zone. Be sure to check kdotdammit's blog tomorrow for the photos from the birthday party, as well as yesterday's wonderful trip to Wilcox. Matsui it is. I have a bad feeling about this and I'm not even a Red Sox fan. Then again, neither is John Kerry.

Momento

The Red Sox survived for another inning. And one after that. But I'm not going to revise the previous entry. I believe in the sanctity of documents.

Worth!

Now that was worth it. I like David Ortiz. He seems so huggable. We had to see Pedro pitch against the Yankees one more time, right?

"This Way Lies Redemption!"

Kim put a ton of photos from our trip to Wilcox on her blog yesterday. But I wanted to share this one too, which didn't make her cut:

I've always loved a bright-ribbed foreground. When you throw in matching "Jack" shirts and a wacky witch hat, though, the conjuncture blisses me out. The winds are once again coming from the west and that means the salve of California cool. So we're going to make like Mary Tyler Moore. Sometimes love is orange and black.