Books reviews, current events, and other musings

 
The election results provided good material for the late-night comedians:

"It was a big, huge, powerful win for the Republicans and now they're saying that the Democrats could not articulate a message. You know you're in trouble when you are out-articulated by President Bush." -David Letterman

"Everyone is talking about the election results this week. The White House is still celebrating. President Bush is particularly happy since these are the only midterms he's ever done well on." -Conan O'Brien

"Call me sentimental, but wasn't it nice to see Walter Mondale come out of retirement for one last ass whoopin'?" -David Letterman

"Elizabeth Dole won her campaign, she had a terrific slogan 'Don't make me stay home with Bob all day!'" -Jay Leno

"Old habits are hard to break, sometime after midnight Al Gore conceded." -David Letterman
posted by Julian at 9:40 PM

 
The liberal pundits have plenty to say about the election debacle. Molly Ivins provides another of her zingers:

A campaign in which Jesse Ventura took offense at someone else's behavior: Mr. Etiquette, the sensitive male.

Stephen Zunes made an important observation:

It is noteworthy that both incumbent Democratic senators and five out of the six Democratic House incumbents who were defeated supported the Iraq war resolution. By contrast, no incumbent who opposed the Democratic Congressional leadership's support of President Bush's war plans lost, with the exception of Rep. James Maloney of Connecticut, who was pitted against a popular moderate female Republican incumbent in a redrawn district.

posted by Julian at 11:50 PM

 
Sigh. I'm more pessimistic about the long-term future of this country than I ever have been.

At least the California voters are sane. The Democrats won every state-wide election, in most cases by a margin of more than 5%. Also, all of the Green candidates won 4 or 5 percent of the vote. Plus, the housing, school, and water bonds all passed.
posted by Julian at 8:00 AM

 
In tomorrow's elections, there are two things that I'm really hoping for. First, I'd like to see the Democrats win most of the races for Senator, Representative, and Governor. And after that, I'd like to see the election winners actually take office, unlike what happened two years ago.

Anyway, we'll find out tomorrow (maybe)...
posted by Julian at 11:30 PM

 
The subject matter of Afraid of the Dark: What Whites and Blacks Need to Know About Each Other definitely has potential. Its author, USA Today journalist Jim Myers, has a black wife and lives in black neighborhood of DC, making him qualified to write such a book. Unfortunately, Afraid of the Dark mainly consists of material that I had encountered before.

Myers did present some interesting aspects about how blacks perceive whites in America. For example, many black women are irritated by the way white women toss or flip their hair. The black women view the hair tossing, which is almost unconscious to the white women, as calling attention to their beautiful hair, while for many black women straightening their hair to satisfy societal ideals is an arduous task. Also, blacks often view whites as unclean, in part because many blacks have worked in menial jobs cleaning up after white people. Overall, blacks often view whites as cold, overly serious, and obsessed with rules. My girlfriend pointed out that, by those standards, the ultimate white man is Rimmer, the hologram from Red Dwarf.

Those intriguing observations are the book's exceptions, at least for someone like myself who has read newspapers and news magazines for years. For example, the discussion of the TV shows watched by black and white audiences is worthwhile, but I've seen it 3 or 4 times before, with the same details (whites watched Friends, while blacks watched Living Single).

Also, Myers spends a lot of time analyzing obvious consequences arising from the fact that blacks comprise 13% of the US population. On average, a white person has significantly fewer interracial social interactions than a black person does, making whites relatively ignorant about black concerns while blacks are more attuned to white concerns. As a USA Today reporter, Myers writes for a mathematically unsophisticated audience, which can be frustrating for someone with a more technical background. Though it was amusing that, in absolute numbers, more whites than blacks thought O. J. Simpson was innocent.

Myers spent an entire chapter urging people to follow the Golden Rule (do unto others...). While it's a fine moral precept, I couldn't believe that an author writing for adults would feel the need to justify the Golden Rule. Though, considering the current governmental leaders, maybe that justification is necessary.

Books about race relations written by East coast authors generally seem incomplete to a person living in the Bay Area. In my day-by-day life, I come across far more Asians and Hispanics than Blacks, though there are many Blacks in other parts of the Bay Area (Oakland, East Palo Alto, and parts of San Francisco). Maybe I should look for a book on California racial dynamics.

Afraid of the Dark would probably be a good book for high school students or people who don't follow the news closely. For a more educated audience, it covers too much familiar ground and proceeds too slowly.
posted by Julian at 5:00 PM