Welcome to this month's reading group selection. David Von Drehle mentions The Melting Pot , a play by Israel Zangwill, that premiered on Broadway in 1908. At that time theater was accessible to a broad section of the public, not the exclusive domain it has become over the decades. Zangwill carried a hopeful message that America was a place where old hatreds and prejudices were pointless, and that in this new country immigrants would find a more open society. I suppose the reference was more an ironic one for Von Drehle, as he notes the racial and ethnic hatreds were on display everywhere, and at best Zangwill's play helped persons forget for a moment how deep these divides ran. Nevertheless, "the melting pot" made its way into the American lexicon, even if New York could best be describing as a boiling cauldron in the early twentieth century. Triangle: The Fire That Changed America takes a broad view of events that led up the notorious fire, not...
A couple of days ago I had begun to give serious thought to the idea that Romney just might pull out a victory. I am very glad that didn't happen.
ReplyDeleteAlso glad Romney lost but was confident of a win for Obama and for America. That's because of Nate Silver's prediction:
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The man is a genius. In the next election, always follow his column. Nobody knows the subject better than he does. Nobody.
The faces of America. I am so happy this a.m.
ReplyDeleteLike Silver said on Colbert, it was pretty obvious. While all the pundits were babbling about how "razor tight" it was this past month, Obama consistently led in the battleground states. It was a done deal. Even if had Mr. Mitt won Ohio, Florida and Virginia he still would have fell short in the electoral count. Obviously, this is a guy who doesn't know how to do his math. Makes you wonder how he amassed millions.
ReplyDeleteWell I think 1% is razor tight - that can easily be shaved off by turnout. Even the resulting 2% isn't anything to take for granted. Still, a great night. And Montana almost went blue -- or at least bluish. All those phone calls paid off. This year I even canvassed. Couldn't be happier with the results.
DeleteJust visited FOX News.com for the first time in my life. So why did Mitt lose? The mainstream did it. Their coverage was soooo slanted. As if FOX News . . . oh, never mind.
ReplyDeleteI meant mainstream media, but that was probably obvious.
DeleteYep, there's no point responding. The GOP has become the Party of Denial.
ReplyDeleteAnd the party of their own facts and statistics.
ReplyDeleteAnd during the final presidential debate Romney actually had the gall to tell Obama he was entitled to his own opinion but not to his own facts. That guy will say anything to get elected.
DeleteI'm still a bit in shock that this is all behind us, but so glad it is. I'm sure the vitriol won't stop -- Trump was tweeting for a revolution last night -- but at least we have another four years to try to right this leaky ship of state. I know everyone here was confident but I was still terrified at the prospect of a Romney win.
ReplyDelete"Tweeting" -- what a strange way to put it. More like cawing or honking.
ReplyDeleteThis whole "tweeting" thing kills me. Both Trump and Ted Nugent made first class fools of themselves with their tweets, and Rove seemed to lose it completely on Fox. I've also heard some of my conservative friends considering moves to Belize and other cozy hideaways. I'm sure Dinesh will start his 2016 Doomsday countdown.
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