2010 election

“She used to have a carefree mind of her own
with a devilish look in her eye
Saying ‘You can call me anything you like
but my name is Veronica’”
Elvis Costello

The other night granddaughter Rebecca came down to what Toni calls my man-cave to call me for dinner. I was listening to “Veronica,” so we danced together until it was over. Becca is a great mimic, like her mother Angie, and would do any move I did almost instantaneously. Paul McCartney co-wrote “Veronica,” which is about Costello’s aging grandmother who suffered from dementia (one line goes, “These days I’m afraid she’s not even sure if her name is Veronica”). It is also about the fleetingness of youth and the ravages of aging, as Veronica “sits in her favorite chair and she sits very quiet and still.” Veronica was also the sultry dark-haired love interest in the Archie Comics series. Growing up in the era of Marilyn Monroe when gentlemen and teenage kids were programmed to prefer blondes, I fancied Betty.

The dreaded day finally arrived after weeks of being bombarded with TV attack commercials and doom and gloom predictions of a Republican landslide. Toni and I voted for the first time at Brummit Elementary School about a mile from our condo. I voted straight Democratic, not knowing all that much about local candidates. Congressman Pete Visclosky was a shoo-in despite recent revelations concerning his biggest former campaign contributor, and on the other hand the Democratic candidate for Senator, Brad Ellsworth, had no realistic hope to defeat Republican Dan Coats, even though slimeball Coats moved away from the state after his first stint in the upper chamber and became a lobbyist for big corporations. The super rich have hoodwinked a majority of the electorate into believing that Republicans will be fiscally responsible despite lusting to extend tax breaks for those making more than $250,000. Republicans picked up at least 60 House seats, the biggest Democratic setback since 1938 (also hard economic times). Stinkpot John Boehner will replace Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker. Since the Democrats will retain control of the Senate, the Republicans will undoubtedly continue to be the party of NO and, as Minority leader Mitch McConnell put it, make the defeat of Obama in 2012 their top priority. As Susan McGrath wrote, “such a short-sighted bunch, these people of the USA.” Senate-elect Marco Rubio, the 39 year-old Cuban-American, was honest enough to say, with blond wife Jeanette at his side, that the result was not an endorsement but rather the last chance for the Republican Party. At least wingnut Sharron Angle lost in Nevada to Harry Reid and Sarah Palin-endorsed Tea Party goof Joe Miller (he with the perpetual three-day beard) is losing to write-in candidate Lisa Murkowski in Alaska. Unable to stomach the election news (even Obama’s old Senate seat went Republican), I switched to “Dancing with the Stars” and watched impressive performances by Taylor Swift and Rod Stewart, augmented by the show’s dancers. Palin’s daughter Bristol is still alive, as the more talented Rick Fox got the axe. I was sure he’d last longer than the other jock, soulless Kurt Warner. Former basketball player Fox was once married to the luscious Vanessa Williams, a fox herself.

Commenting on the so-called rise of the Tea Party, Fred McColly wrote: “Tonight is supposed to be another version of populist rage and I cannot help but feel sorry for anyone who actually believes that the Tea Party can actually overcome Hamiltonian government by special interest...these people are not going to be a majority in the Republican party, much less Congress. They were going to march on whoretown and turn it on its ear...except they can't. So what can they do when they get to the capitol, or the state legislatures, or the governor's mansion, or city hall and discover this besides become obstructionist?” Fred predicted that “the foul slide into the 2012 campaign” is about to begin. Have to agree with him.

At a planning meeting for the December 9 Wall of Legends event I strongly recommended that Henry Farag and original Spaniel Willie C. Jackson be invited to speak on behalf of honoree Vivian Carter, the founder of Vee-Jay, the first major African-American record label. Others the committee recommended were State Senator Earline Rogers and an area deejay from the era of the Fifties. The other honoree, Purdue Calumet professor John Maniotes, was a pioneer in the computer field. At the meeting the daughter of Maniotes suggested that a good finale might be a song or two from the Spaniels since her dad is a doo-wop fan. That would be great but, as I told John, they normally receive a couple thousands dollars per performance and it probably would be tacky to expect them to sing for free. So it probably isn’t practical unless it happened in a spontaneous way or if they’d accept a modest honorarium.

Toni’s sister Mary Ann informed me that Sonny’s friend Harry died recently. A 79 year-old former Korean War vet, he was a gentle soul whose eyesight had gotten so poor, he gave up driving a car and took a golf cart to his job as a grocery store checker. Once a cop stopped him as he was crossing the highway at an intersection and warned him not to do it again. With no other way to get to work he asked Sonny for advice. Sonny told him the cop was a jerk and to keep going to work only try to avoid the cop if possible. Harry liked to take donuts to guys who congregated in the park. It evidently was a gay hangout. One day the cops raided the place and detained Harry. He had done nothing wrong, so no charges were brought against him. Still, his name got in the paper, and it was embarrassing for him. Again Sonny stuck by him and gave him good advice.