Category: politics
I've interrupted my reading of Before the Dawn to read Hammer & Tickle: The Story of Communism, a Political System Almost Laughed Out of Existence.
It is an exhaustive study of humor during the time of the Soviet Union. Some of the jokes are familiar from my years living in Poland, but even these still make me chuckle. Like when Brezhnev dies and goes to Hell. The Devil shows him around and gives him a choice of tortures. Hitler is wallowing in a tub of boiling oil. Stalin is stretched out on a rack. Khrushchev is making out with Brigitte Bardot.
"I want Khrushchev's punishment," Brezhnev says.
"That's not his punishment," the Devil tells him. "That's hers."
Russia has announced that it recognizes the results of the Iranian election. That would seem to dispel any lingering doubts - whichever side you are on.
Just inside the doorway of the house in Dania Beach a little teddy bear stood on a shelf wearing an Obama T-shirt. John pressed the hand and the bear's hips started to move to the tune of I Feel Good.
Within minutes John's friend John served me a Bloody Mary. I don't normally drink before noon but, hey, I thought, it's a new administration. Obama posters decorated the living room; a just-started Obama jigsaw puzzle half-filled the table.
More friends and family arrived. "There's no one on the road," the sister said. "It's like there's a hurricane out there." Then she served shrimp cocktail. John II made the mother a dry martini.
Someone said Aretha had actually lost some weight. The voice was still all there.
Then the oath, the speech, little Sasha's thumb's up - an image as indelible as John-John's salute. And as endearing as the other was heartbreaking.
Our host was in tears. But only momentarily. Soon he was methodically going through the cabinet and voicing his opinions on each appointment to the other John's son.
The poem was pretty much lost on us. (And three of us are writers.) But poetry's not a big event form; you wouldn't invite Billy Collins to a Super Bowl halftime.
Mixed feelings about the motorcade: Yes, it was nice to see the First Couple get out of the limo. (And, Michelle, I don't care what the women said, I thought you looked fine in that outfit). But it was also a relief to see them get back in.
I left around five. I Feel Good sang the teddy bear. And then in the evening, Beyonce followed with At Last!.
Bush said in his farewell address: "I have always acted with the best interests of our country in mind."
To paraphrase an old Polish comedian on Wladyslaw Gomulka: "It would have been better if we had had a leader who always acted with the worst interests of our country in mind - and also wouldn't have succeeded."