June 21, 2004
Battle for Ohio
Ohio is a battleground state and my wounds are coming in the form of horrible, horrible traffic jams.
On Thursday the traffic came courtesy of VP Dick Cheney, who closed down some major freeways during afternoon rush hour. It seems to me like this is what Airforce 2 and helicopters are for, rather than inconveniencing average citizens. The worst part is that some of the radio stations did not report that this was the cause, if they reported what was going on at all. I listen to the radio copiously, but did not find out that the freeway I take home from Legal Aid was closed until I hit the cop cars, who were way too far into the exit if you ask me.
Thank god I did not need to be anywhere on time!
Then this morning there were two conventions, one at Nationwide, which was motivational and featured Jessica Lynch, Giuliani, and Collin Powell among others. For this, I was in traffic for an hour and a half. Due to doctor's appointment complications (I will save everyone from a rant about how annoyed I am with my doctor's office and their inability to figure out this kidney thing, let alone medicate me in the meantime. Exhaustion, back pain, argh) I left for work a half hour early only to be a half hour late plus I could not find a parking spot and it was no longer worthwhile for me to be there because I would only have to leave again.
I bitched to my dad about the motivational conference and he insisted that it was not political. "Maybe it's not political," I told my mom later, "But it's definitely not bipartisan."
No parking when I came back from the appointment, either, so I did no work for legal aid today. I am sure I am the only person who suffered for this, but damn, it was quite annoying. I guess something had to outweigh all the drummer intrigue.
Just for the record, Kerry also came to central Ohio in the recent past and the only stress it caused to my life was that I could not attend and that Gabe from Legal Aid was going around trying to find someone to come with him. He reported back that we did not miss much. I wish Kerry could, would get his act together and be a little bit more inspiring.
I miss Edwards. He has this wonderful JFK quality without the sleaze, except for that whole ambulance-chaser thing.
Today I received a letter from Smith telling me I would find out about my roommate in mid-July, so both I and whoever Kerry chooses for VP will learn who might be their partner for the next four years at about the same time.
Now let's talk about Clinton's new book. I think his editors should be ashamed of themselves; everyone knows how Clinton rambles and that he is not punctual, etc. It is the editor's responsibility to reign him in, since he certainly will not reign himself in and this is a larger matter than Clinton accepting personal responsibility for a memoir. Then the editor should have edited heavily to cut it down and maybe even considered a few rewrites/tightening, etc. Clinton is not in the book publishing business and should not be expected to know all of this stuff. This effort was too rushed and too half-assed, if the reviews are true.
I do not know if I will be able to make my way through that 950+ magnum page opus myself any day soon.
I really hate that I left Pat's copy of Crime and Punishment at work, though I am certain that no one will touch it. Russian authors are good for that.
Love,
Mandy