Political Blog—January 2009

January 10—Blagoje . . . Blago . . . thing . . . Blah.

I think it might be argued that Blagojevich's worst crime was not changing his name to something easier to spell and pronounce before he got impeached. Anyway, yes, I'm immensely relieved that he got impeached, but not quite as immensely annoyed as I am that one person did not vote to impeach him, implying that there's still someone out there with worse ethics than his. What really got me was how, in his departing speech, he tried to blame the House, saying they only impeached him because they were jealous of all the good that he's done. Ugh! How desperately transparent. Seriously, dude, just do like Nixon and disappear, or do like Clinton and hang your head and apologize. Ha—Clinton apologizing for burdening the nation with what, exactly? Yes, a blue dress sure weighs more than two wars, Gitmo, and economic devastation, doesn't it?

I'm somewhat disappointed to note that Obama is picking mostly Clinton vets for his various posts. Bill Richardson was of course up for Secretary of Commerce but withdrew his nomination as a result of an investigation into improper business dealings in New Mexico, pay-to-play for something or other.

January 19—It's almost time.

I saw Frost/Nixon last night; it was terrific. I didn't think Frank Langella looked anything like Nixon, but his performance made up for that. At the climactic scene where Frost finally got him to crack, I sat there with my mouth open and tears welling up. Also, the archive footage with images of the real Segretti and Markham, made me appreciate the quality of the casting in All the President's Men. Nicolas Coster, who portrayed Markham in the latter, was particularly accurate as the real guy.

I am taking tomorrow off to watch Barack Obama's inauguration on live TV. I rather wish I could see it in person, but whatever. I've still been involved in the process; I'm really pleased about that. I didn't have nearly enough free time to give to the campaign, but I did donate a small sum, plus of course I knitted a sweater and hat with his logo on it, not to mention I had a yard sign and purchased a total of three Obama magnets. Mostly, though, I'm proud that I got my dad to vote for the first time in many years.