"Yes We Did" - Andrew Sullivan
"Historic" - HuffPo
"Destiny" - NY Post
"Barack Obama is President of America" - Wonkette
"Obama Clinches" - Philadelphia Inquirer
"Taking Back the Story" - Purple State Blog
"The End of Clintonism" - John Dickerson at Slate.com
"I Will Be Making No Decisions Tonight" - Hilary Clinton
... wait wait... WHAT?!?!?!?!?!!?
"Senator Clinton may not have made any decision tonight, but the Democratic Party has." - Tim Russert
Fair enough, thanks Tim!
"I look forward to seeing you on Last Comic Standing." Jon Stewart to Terry McAuliffe on tonight's Daily Show.
"It's Our Time" - Barack Obama
I'm not gonna lie, I think this is all pretty damn exciting. Forget about all the sleazy sad bizarre no-decision-making etc. This thing is Over. Happy Math Day at The Best Way, folks!
... and good night.
WAIT! Let's end Math Day the way we started, with some stuff related to the new Weezer album. Their actual video for Pork & Beans turns out to be, well, awesome. Check it out here:
Why not celebrate with a who's who list of YouTube phenomena? And actually... let's end on a touching and intensely cool note from Andrew Sullivan.
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Stephen Colbert + Awards With Mirrors Built-In = A Match Made in Heaven
Stephen Colbert spoke at Princeton's graduation ceremony this week, encouraging graduates not to change the world. He was also awarded the, "The Great Princeton Class of 2008 Understandable Vanity Award." (pictured at left). He went into further specifics in his speech, encouraging the graduates not to change global warming, saying, "The older generations cut down the forest and sprayed millions of tons of CO2 in the air for a reason -- because they felt a draft in here. ... When you're older, you'll understand that it is a lot easier to raise the ocean temperatures a few degrees than to remember to bring a cardigan."As the grandson of a Princeton grad, I couldn't be more proud of this hallowed institution. Ah Colbert... what will your bump do for the Tigers?
Want to know more about what was said? Check it here at HuffPo.
13 Seasons + A Return Home to Bow Out = Classy
Mike Lieberthal took his final bow, retiring from Marjor League Baseball Sunday after signing a one-day contract for $4 to end his career with the Philadelphia Phillies, where he played 13 seasons. I grew up watching some rough patches with the Phils, and Lieberthal caught through some difficult seasons in the Vet and beyond.I was also interested to read that the last player who retired in this fashion from the Phillies was Center Fielder Doug Glanville. My family and I watched Glanville play single-A ball in the Cubs farm system one summer in upstate NY, then when he came over to the Phillies it was a pleasure to watch him hold down the fort in Center Field.
Just a little Phillies fan moment here on Math Day!
More details on Lieberthal's final day in the bigs.
This Post + Harriet Christian = Exploding Head
Earlier this year I had a conversation with my roommates that I have come to recount often in the months since it happened. I was subjecting them to large amounts of coverage that evening from some state (or states') primaries and we got to talking about Presidents and possibility. One of my roommates asked (a fine question in my opinion) how much we should realistically imagine an Obama administration might change in 4 or even 8 years of power. I didn't have this answer at the ready but with a moment or two's thought I responded, "well, how much do you feel like America has changed since January 2001?"
I hate to use the Bushies as an example of success, but if the Bush administration set out to make changes in America, they certainly have managed some huge shifts in our identity (both how we think about ourselves and how the world sees us). If you watch the Daily Show clip I posted earlier Jon Stewart refers to some of this as, "the things about this administration that angered and frightened you over the first couple of years of their reign and then over time you... have come to accept as the new normal."
This is all preamble to an overlap of two things I read today related to one of those most heated of all American political issues, abortion (and choice). As many people understand fairly well, the current administration has nudged the Supreme Court significantly further to the right with their two appointments, opening up the possibility that within many of our lifetimes Roe vs. Wade might be overturned. Fewer may track the ages of our current Supremes closely enough to be clear that our next president will almost certainly nominate at least one justice to the highest court in the land. Hence, I would submit that for pro-choice (and, I suppose, anti-choice) Americans the stakes in this fall's election are incredibly high.
The two articles that set up my superlong preamble here are:
Reading these articles mere hours apart made clear that while I post, write and think a good bit about the minutia of politics here (and lots of other random stuff) the end game is what matters. The party in control will make decisions on a daily basis that impact the lives of Americans and others. The choice we face in the voting booth is about who we believe will take our nation and the world in the right direction. I know this is true for me as much as it is for people who adamantly disagree with me on the question of choice (or other things like government spending, or the merits of universal healthcare).
Hence I was reminded (for the 30 zillionth time) today that it is always insanely important to keep our eye on the fact that the two parties we currently have really do take substantively different positions on issues large and small.
BTW, if you don't know Harriet Christian, internet sensation, you can get to know her via FoxNoise filtered through Wonkette (the only way to get your FoxNoise) here.
Update: Post title change to protect the integrity of Math Day at Best Way!
THANKS WORLD! UPDATE II: What a strange day... and there will probably be at least 3 other things to post about before it's over. Anyway, the AP has a piece picked up on Yahoo News today (where I found it) detailing the differences between Obama and McCain on the issues. How handy is that as an addendum here? Please do read, it's a nice little summary.
I hate to use the Bushies as an example of success, but if the Bush administration set out to make changes in America, they certainly have managed some huge shifts in our identity (both how we think about ourselves and how the world sees us). If you watch the Daily Show clip I posted earlier Jon Stewart refers to some of this as, "the things about this administration that angered and frightened you over the first couple of years of their reign and then over time you... have come to accept as the new normal."
This is all preamble to an overlap of two things I read today related to one of those most heated of all American political issues, abortion (and choice). As many people understand fairly well, the current administration has nudged the Supreme Court significantly further to the right with their two appointments, opening up the possibility that within many of our lifetimes Roe vs. Wade might be overturned. Fewer may track the ages of our current Supremes closely enough to be clear that our next president will almost certainly nominate at least one justice to the highest court in the land. Hence, I would submit that for pro-choice (and, I suppose, anti-choice) Americans the stakes in this fall's election are incredibly high.
The two articles that set up my superlong preamble here are:
- Early this morning I read a post on AmericaBlog, that raised the question of how serious Clinton supporters are about choice when they claim that they will help McCain should Obama become the nominee.
- This afternoon, my friend Tyler posted a link to this essay in the New York Times, written by an 80 year-old gynecologist who describes his experiences working in New York City hospitals in pre-Roe America. As one might imagine, this description is fairly bleak. To offer a quote from the end of Cromwell's essay, "It is important to remember that Roe v. Wade did not mean that abortions could be performed. They have always been done, dating from ancient Greek days. What Roe said was that ending a pregnancy could be carried out by medical personnel, in a medically accepted setting, thus conferring on women, finally, the full rights of first-class citizens — and freeing their doctors to treat them as such."
Reading these articles mere hours apart made clear that while I post, write and think a good bit about the minutia of politics here (and lots of other random stuff) the end game is what matters. The party in control will make decisions on a daily basis that impact the lives of Americans and others. The choice we face in the voting booth is about who we believe will take our nation and the world in the right direction. I know this is true for me as much as it is for people who adamantly disagree with me on the question of choice (or other things like government spending, or the merits of universal healthcare).
Hence I was reminded (for the 30 zillionth time) today that it is always insanely important to keep our eye on the fact that the two parties we currently have really do take substantively different positions on issues large and small.
BTW, if you don't know Harriet Christian, internet sensation, you can get to know her via FoxNoise filtered through Wonkette (the only way to get your FoxNoise) here.
Update: Post title change to protect the integrity of Math Day at Best Way!
THANKS WORLD! UPDATE II: What a strange day... and there will probably be at least 3 other things to post about before it's over. Anyway, the AP has a piece picked up on Yahoo News today (where I found it) detailing the differences between Obama and McCain on the issues. How handy is that as an addendum here? Please do read, it's a nice little summary.
B52s + McLellan = Audio Book Genius???
I'm looking forward to catching this whole episode of the Daily Show, perhaps this evening via the wonders of a little device I like to call a Dee Vee... Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Until then, enjoy the following clip of Fred Schneider adding some "zazz" to Scott McLellan's new book:
SCOOTER LIBBY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SCOOTER LIBBY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pork & Beans + Chocolate Rain = Weezer!?!?!
I've been a fan of Weezer since their days of songs about sweaters overlapped with awkward high school times, and I recently learned that they are releasing their latest self titled album (the red album this time). This news brought a balance of excitement and concern, as I've enjoyed a fair number of tracks even through rough patches... and then there was Make Believe, which I'm sure sold zillions of copies of Beverly Hills via itunes, but overall was pretty weak.
Still, today I discovered that this still-favorite band of mine has teamed up with Tay Zonday, the internet sensation who brought you Chocolate Rain (if you don't know chocolate rain, check it out here, and some Chocolate Rain byproducts here with Darth Vader, here with John Mayer, here with some dude at a drive-through window and here with Dr. Pepper). Below is a clip of Weezer guitarist Brian Bell and Tay Zonday doing an acoustic version of the first single from the red album, "Pork & Beans." I think my favorite part is watching Brian try not to lose it laughing when Tay starts in doin his thing.
Warning... this is the second video posted on The Best Way in less than a week that may cause music to get stuck in your head... well, maybe not Pork and Beans quite so much as Chocolate Rain, damn that tune is catchy.
Still, today I discovered that this still-favorite band of mine has teamed up with Tay Zonday, the internet sensation who brought you Chocolate Rain (if you don't know chocolate rain, check it out here, and some Chocolate Rain byproducts here with Darth Vader, here with John Mayer, here with some dude at a drive-through window and here with Dr. Pepper). Below is a clip of Weezer guitarist Brian Bell and Tay Zonday doing an acoustic version of the first single from the red album, "Pork & Beans." I think my favorite part is watching Brian try not to lose it laughing when Tay starts in doin his thing.
Warning... this is the second video posted on The Best Way in less than a week that may cause music to get stuck in your head... well, maybe not Pork and Beans quite so much as Chocolate Rain, damn that tune is catchy.
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