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Open Thread: I Sat Up in Bed

by: Dean Barker

Tue Aug 18, 2009 at 07:58:11 AM EDT
White Apples, from Wilmot's Donald Hall:
when my father had been dead a week
I woke
with his voice in my ear
                        I sat up in bed

and held my breath
and stared at the pale closed door

white apples and the taste of stone

if he called again
I would put on my coat and galoshes

This is an Open Thread.
Dean Barker :: Open Thread: I Sat Up in Bed
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Open Thread: I Sat Up in Bed | 35 comments
I love this poem (4.00 / 1)
I've loved this poem ever since hearing Donald Hall recite it (on NPR, I think) a few years ago... at the risk of sounding pretentious and using a cliche, the imagery is very evocative.
Not my father's, but my grandfather's voice. (4.00 / 3)
Though it is beautiful, I'm afraid my response to this poem is more literal than Frank's.  

I've been hearing my grandfather's voice lately.  He fought to bring living wills to NH, and I know he'd be furious at the way such innocent documents are being characterized in the recent health care "debate."  

I can let much of the garbage go with a roll of my eyes, but the living will attacks make my blood boil.

Wondering Where the Lions Are (0.00 / 0)

Thanks for posting that (0.00 / 0)
Haven't heard that song for 20 or so years. Went straight to Itunes and downloaded it.

...the Doo Dah Man once told me you've got to play your hand. Sometimes the cards ain't worth a dime if you don't lay 'em down.
[ Parent ]
Kuster is "in it to win it." (4.00 / 1)

Pindell is back from vacation.
When Mark Fernald dropped out of the Second District Congressional race a few weeks ago it left Hopkinton attorney Ann McLane Kuster as the only official candidate in the race, but she isn't slowing down.

Even in a month full of vacations, Kuster, a Democrat, has opened an office on Main Street on Concord and will continue to hold house parties and fund-raisers through September.




www.KusterforCongress.com  
It's like he read my mind. (4.00 / 1)
Update:  Ugh.  To be clear:  I am not talking about the Kossacks who see a tough battle ahead and go out and do the very kind of heavy lifting Obama said we would all have to do, people like slinkerwink and nyceve and others here.  I am talking about the non-fighters, the people who actually undercut the fighting spirit with nonsense about planning a primary challenge to Obama, and who decry this a failed one-term presidency.  

Those people are worse than enemies, because your enemies invigorate you.  Your enemies are mirrors showing you exactly where you stand by comparison.  I would rather face 1000 Chuck Grassleys and lunatics with guns at rallies and signs that have incredibly misinformed slogans, because when they stand apart from me, it shows me I am not them.

But an "ally" who claims to be a progressive or whatever and starts braying about one-term presidencies and whatever other similar nonsense is worse than a political enemy because that person undermines the morale.  

I'd rather be told by an opponent, "There is no way you are ever going to win," because that gets me fired up.  But if a "friend" puts his arm around me and says that, it kills my morale.  
-snip



www.KusterforCongress.com  
Yup (4.00 / 2)
Rome wasn't built in a day, but some of our "friends" would prefer to burn it down mid-build because construction is not going as quickly as they want, or in accordance with the original building plans. They need to learn about the concept of change orders made because of the conditions found in the field.

I get the sense that some folks were waiting with baited breath to jump on the anti-Obama bandwagon. What is it with that?  


"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

[ Parent ]
Rome didn't fall in a day either (4.00 / 2)
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!

-- Goethe


[ Parent ]
Goethe's no Plouffe (4.00 / 1)
but ya, change is hard.

www.KusterforCongress.com  
[ Parent ]
Rec'd for Goethe. (n/t) (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
Actually, no. (4.00 / 2)
I don't want to burn down the house.

I was ready to sign a binding contract for the house Obama described just a month ago. But since General Contractor Obama has invited Baucus and Conrad to draw up their own plans, that offer is void. This new thing isn't the house I was willing to buy. I won't sign the change order. They will need to find another customer.

More generally: Obama, Baucus and the Blue Dogs will need to find Republican votes to make up for the progressive votes they are losing by changing the plans.  

[ Parent ]
Buck up, Elwood, the game is still on! (4.00 / 4)

You seem to assume that the administration has accepted the Baucus/Dog position as a goal for the end-game. While I suppose that could happen, it hasnt-- before you reject the house (to return to an already strained metaphor), you might want to see it first. \

Maybe it will be the blue dogs who are left with unused house plans.

"But, in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope." Si se puede. Yes we can.  

[ Parent ]
Fair enough. But before they rip out the (4.00 / 2)
downstairs bathroom to put in a wine cellar, we should let them know that that means they will need to find a different buyer.
[ Parent ]
Agreed. (4.00 / 2)
I just saw a poll that said that while 57% of the public supports a public option, only 34% support 'reform' without it.  The referendum on this was the last election and we should expect only a result that reflects the vote of the people.

Obama  was clear that he supported a public option. McCain and the Republicans were clear that they opposed a public option. We had an election and the outcome was decisive. So let's do it.
 

"But, in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope." Si se puede. Yes we can.  

[ Parent ]
I haven't heard the one term talk, but let me just say: yawn. (4.00 / 1)
2012 is a long time away and a lot can happen (including overconfidence), but I just don't see how Obama fails to win a second term--call me when his approval numbers aren't both a majority and more than ten points higher than his disapprove numbers.  I do think, however, that there's a serious risk of showing millions of newly inspired and hopeful activists, voters, and citizens, here and around the world, that even Alexander can't break the Gordian Knot.  That won't hurt Obama as much as it will hurt Dems down ballot, especially in the US House.

--
New Hampshire's stimulus: a train to Boston.
Visit NHBTI.org to learn about the NH Capitol Corridor project.
[ Parent ]
Fine. Gregg is throwing in a monkey wrench. (4.00 / 1)

The man's sense of self-importance is really astounding.

[ Parent ]
"I don't think ..." (0.00 / 0)
" ... you're going to get a bill here."

Gregg spouting. He makes no threat.

[ Parent ]
Matthews: Why are people bringing guns to public meetings? (4.00 / 1)
Good question. I really can't discuss this too much without completely freaking out.


my European cohorts are aghast (4.00 / 2)
no one save the jack booted thug would ever even think to bring guns to meetings in this day and age

It is labour indeed that puts the difference on everything.  ~John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1690
[ Parent ]
when i clicked on the link (4.00 / 1)
a loud voice announced

      that i had "WON!" a thousand dollars.

it was a walmart promotion, i guess -

i clicked away too soon to be sure.

"greetings, poetry lovers!" says the bullwinkle greeter at the big box store.

"Bi-partisanship" (n) (4.00 / 6)
A term used by politicians of both parties to proclaim a willingness to accept campaign money from interest groups on every side of an issue.

- Apologies to Ambrose

Barney Frank Sums It Up (4.00 / 4)
"On what planet do you spend most of your time?"

(h/t James Andre)

www.KusterforCongress.com  
We need more (4.00 / 4)
We need more articulate House Democrats, like Barney Frank and Anthony Weiner making the strong argument for healthcare reform and protecting the President's back.

Anthony Weiner took Joe Scarborough to task on the issue yesterday. It was great.

It is becoming more obvious that the Republicans are not going to vote for anything.  Why waste time and make compromises with someone like Chuck Grassley?

[ Parent ]
That clip bugs me (0.00 / 0)
Not the posting of it. I just wish we had more context, saw the woman's sign, etc. As it unfolds, he does seem somewhat mean. She seems more misguided than vile, and there have been plenty of vile people, like this woman.

Barney is one of the smartest people in Congress, and generally very polite and civil, elevating the discourse. But I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts that the right will start hyping this clip.

[ Parent ]
Sucka Bet (4.00 / 1)
Yes they will. Because the glazed eyes of a political cultist, on camera, looks like the doe eyed innocence of Jane Sixpack.

www.KusterforCongress.com  
[ Parent ]
True (0.00 / 0)
Can't we order up a better clip? The whole event must have been taped.
[ Parent ]
Ted Olsen and Marriage Equality (4.00 / 6)
There is an article in today's NY Times that I highly recommend on the involvement of conservative Republican Ted Olsen in the constitutional challenge to California's Prop 8. I highly recommend it because:

1. It does a pretty good job of summarizing the legal basis for the challenge

2. I have a hard time getting over Mr. Olsen's involvement in Bush v. Gore and some other matters, but the story describes someone taking a very public principled position despite the fact it is not the popular position in his party. So, kudos to Ted Olsen for doing the right thing.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08...

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

Awesome (0.00 / 0)
Thank you.
[ Parent ]
His wife Barbara (4.00 / 1)
Barbara Olson was on Fl 77 that flew into the Pentagon on 9/11/01. There is some internet controversy about his statements and how immediately after on 9/12, his story about the assailants as told by CNN, became the Al-Qaeda/Iraq story.

It would have been fine if he hadn't kept changing his story.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/i...

It is labour indeed that puts the difference on everything.  ~John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1690

[ Parent ]
Connecting the outrage to the economy (4.00 / 1)
This opinion piece by Bob Kuttner does a good job, IMO, of showing that the right-wing mob's anger stems from the economic challenges they face.

Something is severely off when economically stressed Americans confront members of Congress about "death panels" in the Obama health plan. The rumors, fanned by talk radio with a little help from Republicans, are false and even delusional. Yet the anger, if misdirected, is genuine.

People should be plenty angry about their jobs and their mortgages and their health insurance. With health care, however, virtually all of the fears attributed to the Obama health reform efforts more accurately describe the existing private system.

It is private insurance companies that ration care by deciding what is covered and what is not. Private plans limit which doctor and hospital you can use, define "preexisting conditions" and make insurance unaffordable for tens of millions. For many, all this can cause suffering and sometimes even death. Our one oasis of socialized medicine, Medicare, has the most choice and the least exclusion.

The misdirected citizen anger at the Obama health reform efforts is a surrogate for broader, entirely legitimate, popular economic backlash.

I know health care is of primary importance currently, but there are plenty of other reasons that people should be pissed off. People like Rush play off the tragic situation faced by too many low and middle income Americans.

Thanks Dean (4.00 / 10)
My Dad died unexpectedly four weeks ago. This poem definitely captures a bit of the weirdness of the thing, the surreality, the presence of absence.

Thanks for it.


My sincerest condolences for your loss. (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
This has been a difficult week... (0.00 / 0)
Burt Cohen lost his mother.
Maggie Leuzarder lost her mother.
Senator Odell lost his wife.

"JFK inspired America, RFK challenged America, EMK changed America" - Sen. Christopher Dodd
[ Parent ]
I'm sorry for your loss Mike (4.00 / 1)

[ Parent ]
poem (0.00 / 0)
I love that poem headshot I forget who its by? NPR is amazing, I love culture and poetry I don't know who did the poem headshot I was about a picture that cause alot of trouble alot  i think that was the whole point of headshot was that his father didn't aporve of his acting and the headshot was just another symbol
Open Thread: I Sat Up in Bed | 35 comments
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