« April 2008 | Main | June 2008 »
I am convinced Obama will win the Democratic nomination - maybe tomorrow. And I am so relieved. Because it has become clear to me that Clinton's pursuit of the Presidency is based on her need for power, not her desire to lead.
I have come to believe that she is staying in the race, despite the math being clearly in Obama's favor, because she would rather see John McCain become President than Barack Obama. She would happily take the fight all the way to the Convention. She would happily damage her own party if she thought it would get her the Presidency. Hell, she'd change parties if it would get her the Presidency.
This was meant to be her opportunity to make history. She believed this was her destiny. The longer the race has gone on the more that misplaced sense of inevitability has shown in her words and actions. And the greater her anger and frustration have become at seeing her dream denied by the only other person who could be as historic a choice for President as a woman; a black man.
We should be glad that Barack Obama's time is now. Not just because he'll make a fine President but because he, hopefully, stopped a woman who never would.
I'm working on a book of poetry.
Is there a quainter sounding sentence in the entire English language? Probably not. Somehow poetry and 2008 just don't seem to go hand in hand.
Well, I'm doing it anyway. And here's a recent addition. It was written about the woman I grew up thinking of as my grandmother. She's been dead for years. And, as they say, the truth will out.
THE WATTLE
Her face was webbed
Hanging like a fleshy hinge between
jaw and throat
her wattle rippled
as she spoke
And as she got older
it simply vibrated without the need for words
I dreaded my father saying
We are going to visit your grandma
It was not a visit to a person
It was a visit to the wattle
I felt bad
even as a child
that I had no positive feelings
for this woman
It was my father's mother after all
Then suddenly I was old enough
to know
She was not real
My father’s real mother
had killed herself when he was just 13
His father hit the bottle
And this woman picked up the pieces
The most important thing when I was 13
Was knowing
I was not related to the wattle
I was free to not love
©2008 Dave Tutin
"Obama is clue-less about how the real world works (just as he was clue-less about his preacher for 20 years), and we don't want McCain, either. I WILL WRITE HILLARY'S NAME ON THE NOVEMBER BALLOT. Absolutely, positively! I love my country enough NOT to have an inexperienced "charmer?" like Obama shoved down my throat. Not by a bunch of "sheep" willingly being led to slaughter, not by the biased liberal media, and not by superdelegates who are stabbing voters in the back by their premature (and illegal) endorsements. I WILL MAKE MY VOICE HEARD! I WILL WRITE HILLARY CLINTON'S NAME ON THE BALLOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope the millions of other mature, logical Americans — who feel likewise — will also do that."
This is a comment lifted in its entirety from CNN.com. No name was given by the person posting it.
When a person like this feels comfortable calling on other "mature" and "logical" Americans, I despair. We constantly hear about the gulf that exists in this country between the haves and the have-nots. I begin to think the difference is having a brain, not material wealth.
Anyone who thinks "Obama is clue-less (sic) about how the real world works" should read his book Dreams From My Father. He is steeped in life in a way so few politicians ever are.
Clinton? She's just steeped in politics. And I'm glad she's losing the race. But whether your favorite candidate wins or loses, defacing the ballot is not a mature or logical response.
Well, my friends are gone
And my hair is gray
I ache in the places
Where I used to play
I'm crazy for love
But I'm not coming on
I'm just paying my rent every day
In the tower of song
-Leonard Cohen
I'm happy to report that dreams do come true. Fearing that Leonard Cohen's tour of Canada and Europe may not become a tour of the US after it concludes in August of this year, I just dropped a load of cash to get tickets to see him play in his home town of Montreal in June.
Given his 15 years away from the stage, I'd given up hope of ever again seeing this most charismatic of performers. It may be sad that the need to perform was brought on by being duped out of his life savings by a person he trusted but I'm sure the reception he is receiving will make it feel a lot less like work.
In those 15 years the music world has finally come to realize what a truly gifted and influential songwriter and poet has been among us all this time - even inducting him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
I'm pretty sure this will be the last time I see him perform live. The best thing is my wife will be seeing him for the first time. Better late than never, as they say.
But then if he does decide to tour the US...
There is absolutely no doubt that my entire musical life has been made possible by companies like Amazon and CD Baby who have given indie artists the chance to sell their music without the support of major record labels.
But there’s a big but.
CD Baby is a fine company and truly supports the indie music scene. The “but” refers to Amazon.
Remember back in the days of the dotcom craziness, everyone was saying that Amazon would fail, like so many others had, because it lacked a viable business model? Well, I now have first hand experience of why Amazon is still around and doing nicely.
They have a wonderful business model. It’s called screw the small guy.
Every item an independent artist puts up for sale on amazon.com triggers an automatic “discount” of 55%. The use of the word discount makes it sound like something that is passed on to purchasers. No way. What they mean is they get to keep 55% of the sale price. So when I recently added my songbook to the CD I already have on the site, out of the sale price of $10 they will pay me $4.50.
Yes, Amazon makes more from every sale than the seller. No wonder it has survived.
I’m sure the items for sale on the site that come from major record labels or book publishers are subject to a much lower “discount.” But they keep that a secret.
Now the other problem is, you are subject to Amazon “ordering” your item. And unless you complain, as I recently did, it has a habit of ordering in ones and twos. And the postage is your expense. So for a reasonably heavy item like a book, that $4.50 is eaten into still further by the shipping cost.
Admittedly, Amazon does let you “stock up” if you tell them something big is happening - like you appearing on Oprah or playing a major gig – and they did respond to my criticism by ordering 7 books instead of one. But the basic system usually results in what I have experienced for the last few weeks.
Amazon orders one copy. It sells. And immediately an out-of-stock warning appears on your page. Which makes other potential purchasers change their minds.
Then Amazon orders another single copy. It takes a week for them to receive it and log it into their system. It sells. And immediately an out-of-stock warning appears on your page. Which…
Well, you get the picture.
So, fellow musicians, you should know that CD Baby is a far better service for selling CDs or digital downloads.
Fellow book publishers, we are probably stuck with this system. Maybe somebody should gather together all the indie publishers and negotiate the lower discounts of the major publishing houses on our behalf?
Meanwhile, I still see articles from time to time that talk about Amazon’s “unlikely success.”
And I just have to laugh.
When I was young and my dad was still alive, we had a few conversations about his wartime experiences. He didn't talk about it all that much. But occasionally I'd ask him to get out his photographs from his time on an aircraft carrier based out of what was then Ceylon (Sri Lanka since 1972) and that's when he'd talk more freely.
I heard many stories about the men he flew with, their close-to-disaster experiences and how some of them died. And it was just wonderful to hear the tone of my dad's voice change when he spoke of these men.
But there was one tale he told that I simply didn't understand.
It had to do with one of the support ships to the carrier being attacked and sunk. My dad would tell me with an even more reverent tone in his voice of how the captain went down with his ship.
To a young man like me, this just seemed dumb. Why would a guy who could have saved himself choose instead to die? Why would he be so adamant that he should be the last man off the stricken vessel when he could choose to be the first?
Now, all these years later, I get it. And I wish I could hear my dad tell that story one more time. But that cannot be.
Today, as I listen to the three contenders to be the next President of my adopted country and as I try to pay my bills through the creation of CommonGround Partners, my marketing strategy company that I run with my partner Steve Centrillo (commonground-nyc.com), I find myself surrounded by issues related to leadership. What it is and what it is not.
Steve and I wrote a recent blog post on this subject.
But when I think of the Presidential race, the subject of leadership makes me think back to that story my dad told me. Which of the contenders would have the courage and personal values to "go down with the ship"?
John McCain - despite his own stories of wartime valor and torture - would not, in my opinion. He is, as evidenced by his running for President at 72, a survivor.
Hillary Clinton? Forget it. Self-sacrifice is not and never will be in the Clinton political dictionary.
Barack Obama? Yes.
For whatever reason, and I hope I'm not mistaken in this, I see Barack as a man of conviction, a man of powerful personal standards. I see him as a leader.
I see him as that captain that would want to know his men were all safely off the ship before thinking about his own fate.
Even if that made it too late to avoid paying the ultimate price.
The only other person who made me feel this way was Colin Powell. But Bush forced him to betray those values - the reason he has been so quiet since leaving office.
Colin Powell once said..."The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.”
Leadership. It's what this country needs right now. And I cannot think about that subject without being a kid again, listening to a story I couldn't possibly understand...of a man who went down with his ship.
