The political parallels between November 1946 and November 2006 are instructive for both parties. Sixty years ago, there was a general feeling of discontent with the country’s direction. Weighed down by a President whose approval ratings were stuck in the low 30s, his party lost control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate  for the first time in over a decade. Among the newly elected members of Congress were three – Joseph R. McCarthy, John F. Kennedy, and Richard M. Nixon — who would dominate American political life for the next 30 years. November 1946 was a momentous point in the Nation’s political history.

Two years after the revolution of 1946, however, the tables turned once again. The President successfully campaigned against a “Do Nothing Congress,” and control of both the House and Senate returned to his party. What an unhappy electorate giveth, an unhappy electorate can take away. Results are what counts.

Almost any Boomer of your acquaintance should love “Love,” a “mash-up” (new concept to me) of dozens of original Beatles songs, vintage 1963-70. It’s produced by Sir George Martin and his son Giles. In the words of the New York Times, “Songs are edited together, dismantled, reconstructed from unused takes, overlapped, mined for guitar licks or orchestral bits, segued into free-form montages, even run in reverse. The result is both familiar and disorienting.”

Forgive the fact that the material was originally assembled for a Las Vegas stage show. Accept that here “A Day in the Life” follows “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” rather than the reprise of “Sgt. Pepper,” as it has since June of 1967. Buy it for a Boomer friend or relative. If you’re as much of a Beatles fan as I am, do yourself a favor, go out and get yourself an early Christmas present, sit back and enjoy 90 minutes of deja entendu. 

Every year, our church adopts families who couldn’t otherwise provide Christmas gifts to their kids. This year, I have two three-year-old girls.

My “baby” is now 26. I need thoughts. Any advice on what to buy for three-year-old girls? I am SURE I should be purchasing highly educational toys, but frankly, I just want fun stuff.

Read it all. At under 300 words, it’ll just take you a minute.

UPDATE: Or, if that’s too much time, you can skim the PowerPoint. 

 

Just something to look at while I work on a couple of posts about this Week’s Appropriations Committee retreat. The plant is called phragmite. While beautiful, it is an invasive species that is threatening wetlands all along the East Coast.

we may be able to descry much of its shape in Virginia.

That’s the interesting, thoughtful, and basically (I hope) correct premise of Garrett Epps’ story on Salon.com.

His final thought: “Virginia mirrors the nation in its reservations about the war; and by the narrowest of margins, its voters have apparently decided to trust a man who has written a few books rather than another man who seems unwilling to admit having read even one.”

One could do a link, but one could also simply paste in the URL, which in my case would be a whole lot easier. (http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/11/10/virginia/)

Every election cycle should be a learning experience. In 1988, for instance, the lesson was “Read My Lips: No Tank Pictures.” In 1998, it was “Um, maybe impeachment isn’t such a cool idea after all.” This year, my personal take-away is “Kill Robo-Calls.”

I’ve always thought of these automated, pre-recorded election pitches, which feature the scratchy voice of some political figure or other luminary, as a wen on the body politic: an obnoxious intrusion into people’s homes. I’ve never seen a shred of evidence that they actually, strictly speaking, you know, worked, and my gut tells me that they turn off more people than they persuade.

What is an annoyance for most of us is a threat to the health and well-being of some. Take the case of a Connecticut woman, preparing for breast cancer surgery, who received dozens of unsolicited robo-callsduring that state’s primary season. She was quoted as saying, “I would conservatively say I got 60 calls . . . I’m waiting for biopsy results and I’m getting these phone calls. I was awakened out of a sound sleep the day before my surgery.”

During the 2006 election cycle, voters have reported receiving robo-calls purporting to give information about a candidate, with the message only disclosing at the end that it actually is a negative call paid for by the opposition party. Others have reported that they received the same pre-recorded call many times in a row. I say, get rid of ’em. I’ve asked Legislative Services to draft legislation, modeled on an Indiana bill, placing broad restrictions on robo-calls, including campaign messages, within the Commonwealth. It’s worth a try, doncha think?

About the mid-term elections:

“Casey’s campaign style was sleep apnea–periods of breathless gasping interrupted by occasional incoherent snorts.”  Joe Klein on Bob Casey

“He completed something.” Keith Olberman on Heath Shuler (man, do we all remember that little problem)

I was out this morning at Stratford precinct — the bellwether precinct in the 44th. Democratic poll workers there report a strong, almost Presidential, level of turnout. This is always a precinct to watch, as it is split nearly 50-50.

Have now warmed up my fingers, so I am off to visit other polling places.

Be sure to vote today. Then get someone ELSE to the polls.

Readers of Raising Kaine or Daily Kos will be aware of the continuing saga of The Mt. Vernon Sign.

Earlier this fall, Wendell Allen, an 88-year-old retired federal employee, posted a Webb sign on a tree near his home. The sign, which faced Mt. Vernon Highway less than a mile from Sen. Allen’s home, didn’t last long. It disappeared in the middle of the night.

In October, Mr. Allen obtained a 4′ by 4′ sign. Volunteers helped him glue it onto plywood so it would be harder to remove. That sign lasted a week.

But Mr. Allen is not one to be deterred. He has continued to place signs on his property in an exercise of his First Amendment rights.

Every time a sign goes up, however, it is quickly removed. In the dead of night. After the fourth sign was stolen, Mr. Allen posted a second sign with this editorial comment: “Pro-Senator Allen THUGS have STOLEN a WEBB sign from this location 3 TIMES!” He added Christmas lights to that message, which I thought was an especially festive touch.

But that sign is now gone as well. So members of the Mt. Vernon Democratic Committee are taking action. We are all taking turns on “sign watch.”

Tomorrow night, I’ll be the one guarding Mr. Allen’s sign. I’ll have a camera and a flashlight. If anyone tries to remove the sign, he or she should know that I will gladly go to court. Removing signs is a violation of the law.

This has been a nasty campaign. But somehow, continuing to steal signs from an 88-year-old retiree seems to be especially mean spirited.
If you’re interested in joining the Sign Brigade, email webbsign@cox.net.