“I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.” -Hillary Clinton discussing her 1996 visit to Bosnia “In what respect, Charlie?” -Sarah Palin in an interview with Charlie Gibson after being asked, “Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?” “If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman of any color, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.” -Geraldine Ferraro discussing Barack Obama “It will never work with all those Huns, wops and dagos.” -Britain’s Queen Mother on the EU, quoted by Edward Stourton in his book ‘It’s a PC World’. “I go three, maybe four times a year to get tested for sexually transmitted infections and most of the time I don’t even need to.” -Kelly Osborne on getting tested for sexually transmitted infections “This is not 1968 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia, where Russia can invade its neighbor, occupy a capital, overthrow a government and get away with it. Things have changed.” -Condoleezza Rice on military clashes between Russia and Georgia (oh the irony) “I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America? I think people would love to see an expose like that.” -Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann speaking on MSNBC’s Hardball “He would probably not last long, a black man in the position of president. They would kill him. Hillary is a very sharp lady. It might be calmer if she wins.” -Nobel Prize winner Doris Lessing on Barack Obama and the US presidency “He talks about it as though I had laid it all out there for the taking. I was the buffet and he just couldn’t resist the dessert. That’s not how it was.” -Monica Lewinsky on her encounters with Bill Clinton “Over the last week, I listened to you and, in the process, I found my own voice.” -Hillary Clinton

They don’t make disillusionment like they used to.

Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering - and it’s all over much too soon. Woody Allen~

Caroline Kennedy doesn’t need the money. She’s not wanting for political influence. And she doesn’t need the ego stroke. This alone qualifies her more for the position of Senator than most of those currently in the Senate. It’s true, Caroline Kennedy has had a public life that most can’t begin to imagine. Yet not once in her public life has she embarrased herself or her family. She is a person of character and integrity. And more than most, she understands the value and responsibility of public service. Caroline Kennedy is smart and articulate and compassionate. She is an attorney, writer, editor and serves on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations. She is a member of the New York and Washington, D.C. bar associations. She is also a member of the board of directors of the Commission on Presidential Debates and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. She has spent the past five years working in the New York City public schools. As director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships for the New York City Department of Education, Kennedy helped raise more than $70 million for the city’s public schools, while being paid a $1 salary. How many people currently in politics would do such a thing?

Caroline Kennedy doesn’t need the money. She’s not wanting for political influence. And she doesn’t need the ego stroke. This alone qualifies her more for the position of Senator than most of those currently in the Senate. It’s true, Caroline Kennedy has had a public life that most can’t begin to imagine. Yet not once in her public life has she embarrased herself or her family. She is a person of character and integrity. And more than most, she understands the value and responsibility of public service. Caroline Kennedy is smart and articulate and compassionate. She is an attorney, writer, editor and serves on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations. She is a member of the New York and Washington, D.C. bar associations. She is also a member of the board of directors of the Commission on Presidential Debates and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. She has spent the past five years working in the New York City public schools. As director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships for the New York City Department of Education, Kennedy helped raise more than $70 million for the city’s public schools, while being paid a $1 salary. How many people currently in politics would do such a thing?

Locally and nationally there has a been a growing marriage between the corporate media and politics. Who among us did not cringe when seeing the video of David Gregory dancing on stage with Karl Rove at the correspondents dinner? And who didn’t get a little sick to their stomachs to see the video of countless journalists barbecuing and taking turns riding on the tire-swing with John McCain during the recent presidential campaign? It’s all too easy to imagine how this past election would have unfolded if it were not for the tireless bloggers, energetic YouTubers, and the small handful of clear-minded journalists who reported the day to day events rather than getting lost in narrative provided by the tone deaf media. While most entrenched within the corporate media and political world are comfortable with this continued marriage, it’s neither good for politics nor for the media. And it’s certainly no good for democracy.

Meryl Streep is brilliant. And such an impressive body of work. Seventeen Golden Globe nominations, with six wins. Fourteen Academy Award nominations, with two wins. And she’s not even close to being done yet. My personal favorite is her role in Sophie’s Choice. I’ve lost count how many times I have watched this movie. But still she makes me cry everytime.

BREAKING: This just in: Oprah is human. Film at eleven.

Oprah’s weight gains are somewhat of a blessing. It is her weight which keeps her feet firmly on the ground.

Considering all that Hillary Clinton has been subjected to in the past twenty years or so, I imagine such a photo rolls off of her quite easily.

Have you ever requested an estimate for a particular service only to receive a bill with numerous unexpected charges? Well, we’ve been low-balled to death. We were told that the war would pay for itself, tax cuts for the wealthy would trickle-down to everyone else, out-sourcing jobs would ultimately create better jobs, the fundamentals of the economy were strong, and on and on and on. Not only were we misled by these estimates, but the original problems were never addressed and now they have magnified beyond recognition.

If voters told pollsters that age was more of an issue for them, wouldn’t it be a mistake to assume that the concern is entirely focused on the age of someone older? Surely Obama’s relative youth was a concern for some voters as well. And might the concern for McCain’s age have lessened if he had chosen someone a bit more qualified to be his running mate? And is it possible that this sense of “out-with-the-old and in-with-the-new” has less to do with age and more to do with the twenty-something approval ratings of our sitting president? And could it be that we continue to live in a society that values experience, but on the issues that mattered most to voters, change was more appealing than more of the same? As anyone who attended an Obama rally or spent time at a local Obama campaign headquarters can attest, a great deal of support for Obama has come from baby boomers. While much of the media attention has been focused on the energized youth of this campaign, oftentimes it was the baby boomers who provided the boost of energy and creativity. From my own experience of working on the campaign, I can assure you that there is a great deal of mutual affection and respect betwen baby boomers and generation O.

I was surprised a few years back to hear that Laura Bush considers herself to be a feminist, not only because of the right-wing negatives surrounding the word, but because in all of her years as First Lady she has failed to make even one women’s issue her very own. How is it possible that in eight years, Laura Bush is not synonymous with even a single issue? Where exactly does Laura Bush stand on such issues as equal pay, job discrimination, reproductive rights, universal health care, and ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment? While Laura is a mystery when it comes to such issues, her silence over the years is quite telling. I often wonder where Laura Bush was in the days following Katrina hitting the Gulf Coast. We know Condi was buying shoes and taking in a Broadway show, Cheney was vacationing, and husband George couldn’t be bothered. But where was Laura as the world watched with horror while our elderly and young were dying in the streets? Did she even make an attempt to get her husband off his butt to help these people, or did she just remain silent as she typically has throughout the past decade? Laura Bush had a wonderful opportunity to make her mark and to inspire millions. And yet in many ways, Laura has been very much like her husband in that she has failed to use her position of leadership to actually lead. While I enjoy reading a good autobiography, I have no interest in reading an autobiography penned by Laura Bush. I have had my fill of Bush spin to last a lifetime.

Marlo, Your shining light continues to be a source of warmth for so many. Wishing you happiness and joy and all the good things in life. Love~

C’mon, no Joni Mitchell? No Aretha Franklin? Tina Turner? Diana Ross? Stevie Nicks? Alanis Morissette? Sarah McLachlan? Tori Amos? Pat Benatar? Janet Jackson? Mary J. Blige? Sheryl Crow? Bjork? I feel so out of the loop.