Not this year

As the Hillary Clinton campaign balloon sinks slowly into the sunset (even Ted Kennedy got the boot in), the next question is who will be chosen to run as Vice President. Will she settle for the second spot? Who knows what the Dems will do, but I fully expect the McCain to run with Condoleeza Rice. It makes perfect sense, she is a woman, she is an African-American, and she has always been a good party member. I don't know who Obama will run with and I'm pretty sure it won't matter, but the Republicans have an excellent opportunity to get into office with a woman and an African-American.

Smart career moves

There's Cher, there's Oprah, there's Valentino--what there isn't is a lot of people who are easily identifiably one name. Today, May 6, is the 113th anniversary of Rudolph Valentino's birth. He was one of  the most popular stars of the silent era and his name is recognized 81 years after his death. It's difficult to know if Valentino would have survived in talkies, many better actors didn't, but when he died he was still perched precariously at pinnacle of success. A messy divorce, questions about his sexuality, and mixed box office returns were nipping at Valentino's heels. Had he lived even a few years. he may have died forgotten. But something like 100,000 people turned out at the Valentino funeral, re-releases of his films still found an audience in the 1930s, long after movies talked, and some of us still tune in when a Valentino movie pops up on TCM. Of course, Valentino was the first. Darkly handsome, there was an undeniable sexuality about him that moved beyond the camera. But best of all, like Princess Diana and James Dean, he died young, at the top of his game and full of promise. So he never aged, his career never withered, and the public never turned on him. Dying young was a good career move as others have discovered!

Mission Accomplished

On May 1, 2003, George Bush landed aboard an aircraft carrier and declared the end of conflict in Iraq, behind a massive banner declared, "Mission Accomplish." Five years later, the occupation of Iraq continues and George Bush has provided a series of explanations to clarify what he meant when he said that the major conflict in Iraq was over, in the latest, he again blames the banner and said it should have been "more specific." They keep going back to the banner, as if that's the problem and not the fact that US men and women die daily as  the ill-conceived occupation enters its fifth year--and we've been in Afghanistan since 2001.  Meanwhile, the United States commits billions of dollars sustaining the occupation and the country slides into something that looks like an Economic Depression as oil companies continue to post record breaking profits. And I don't see any way out or any politician with the will to end the debacle anytime soon. We were tricked into the occupation because the people of the United States are clearly  the stupidest most gullible people on the planet, and because our news media failed it its primary duty to inform the public forgetting that a free press is the watchdog of democracy.  And in this corner we have a President and Supreme Court who seem intent upon dismantling our Constitution (in John Scalia's opinion, the Constitution is dead, and he ought to know because he stabbed it--and us--in  the back). So, if Bush's plan was to disassemble the United States and reform it so that it better serves oil companies and pharmaceutical giants and his buddies at Bechtel, that the mission is truly accomplished. These are the things I will be thinking about on this May Day, as the media spins its wheels about Rev. Wright and an in-depth analysis of Vanity Fair's photos of Miley Cyrus, while reporting that this economic downturn is anything but a recession and people continue to die in Iraq as the US occupation enters its fifth year.

In Dreams

I live more in dreams these days, dreams where I am employed, valued and at peace. More and more I spend my waking hours pouring over my past, examining the moments in a vain attempt to find the exact moment when my fate was sealed. And now that I know how it ends, I wish again for the moment when speaking would have made no difference but would have made me feel better. This happens because have again been rejected,  this time for a job that I believe I could have filled perfectly. And I wish I knew what it was that lead to someone else getting that job. The past is always bearable of there is a future, or, at least, a future I would have wanted for myself. Enforced retirement isn't it. I think the time between is ending, the time when I believed I was employable. I'll try some freelance, I'll try finding some contentment in what my life has become. Maybe, I will forgive myself.