Mr. Wow Blog
Mr. Wow Contemplates Obama Exhaustion
8:10 pm | April 23, 2012

Author: Mr. Wow | Category: Point of View | Comments: 65

 

 

As I trolled various news shows over the weekend, a serious malaise—in the words of Jimmy Carter–fell upon Mr. Wow.

 

The closer we inch to the presidential election, the less I want to be there—here!–watching and groaning as both sides debase the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, the Civil Rights Act and virtually everything this country is supposed  to represent. (But never did, really.)  I malaised myself into a big headache.

 

After I took some Advil, Aleve and B. placed a moist cloth on my fevered brow—Thank you, Mr. Darcy!– I was drawn back to recalling the night Barack Obama was elected.

    I had voted early in the day with B.  I was not a happy voter.  I wasn’t an Obama man.  I didn’t think he was bad, just not my cup of Chief Executive.  His speeches didn’t wow me, his measured manner of speaking drove me crazy.  Those who looked at him, or toward his potential presidency, as some kind of transforming moment, were foolish, I believed.  Politicians rarely transform, though they promise the world. (That’s why they’re called campaign speeches.)

 

Still, with Hillary out and Sarah Palin looming, what was a reasonable liberal to do?  I voted for O.  As we left the voting booths in Hoboken, I said to B—“This was pointless.  I don’t care how many teen-themed Disney programs feature interracial dating. I don’t care what ‘data’ claims the improving stats are on bigotry.  This is America. We will never elect a man of color as president. The Civil War never ended. My God, anti-Semitism is still rampant in this country!” I was distrait on the street.  B. took me home and placed a moist cloth on my brow.  Thank you, Rhett Butler!

 

I took my turbulent feelings with me to a celeb-studded “election party” that evening.  I was instantly regretful having accepted the invite. It was an unusually sultry November. I was sweating and uncomfortable.  Everybody was networking and drinking and making jolly.  I was not so jolly.  I peeled off my jacket only to realize I’d sweated through my shirt. Pit-stains on election night ain’t pretty.  I put the jacket back on, but felt I was kinda ripe. 

 

I was focused on the big TV screens, running the results, as each state closed. I seemed to be the only one interested!  Eh, show biz goes on, no matter who is president, right?   I didn’t drink much. In fact I barely touched my screwdriver.  I was anxious.  So anxious I left the party at the very moment it looked not so hot for Obama.  I couldn’t bear a room full of movie stars, producers and directors, performing the fabled five stages of grief.  It would happen within an hour and Acceptance would be particularly grisly.

 

I walked to the Port Authority.  It struck me how empty the streets were, though midnight was still hours away.  I assumed everybody was at home, watching the results or still voting.  I wasn’t sure when the polls closed.  It was slightly creepy, end-of-the-world-ish.  Also lovely. New York is never more beautiful and welcoming as when it is deserted. (August, despite the heat, is a paradise for those who want to wander Manhattan.  Everybody’s on vacation. Visit the Metropolitan Museum!)

 

When I got home, B. was up, of course.  “Obama won!  He’s the president of the United States!”  I was, and I frankly admit it, shocked.  I had been wrong, perhaps.  Maybe we had come along and I just hadn’t noticed?    We sat and watched his speech and I was momentarily lifted.  I had lived to see a new century.  I had lived to see a man of color in the White House.  Wow–I’d lived a lot!  Obama was stirring to me for the first time.  Well, it was the fact of his ascendancy that stirred me.   I didn’t remain uplifted for long.  As me and B. continued a rigorous night of channel-surfing, including Fox News, a feeling of hopelessness overwhelmed me.  “They’re already campaigning for 2012,” I said.  “He really won’t have a chance.  And I don’t think he’s equipped to handle the resistance he’ll face.”

     I also felt Obama was too idealistic for the office he’d won.   It might have been better to have waited ten cynical years.

 

But he didn’t wait and he did win. It was his moment in time, I guess.   Here we are three and half years later, the joyful balloon deflated.

    Despite Obama’s big butch bulls-eye as the killer of Osama bin Laden, his good intentions with health care, and his struggle with an economy shattered when he took office, it seems to me we are likely looking at a one-term president, who will leave office both more relieved and embittered than most. 

 

What I’m feeling now is not so much disappointment—Obama is a politician, I didn’t expect waters to part.  No, I’m tired. It’s the climate. It’s what we’ve allowed ourselves to become—fixated on the second- to- second sensational sound bite. Unable to ignore the negative. The Internet has caused everything to telescope so drastically; each event is all-important for…48 hours. When George W. Bush left office I felt I’d never known another president, those eight years seemed like eighty.  The Obama three-and-a-half seems more like three hundred years! 

 

The drip, drip, drip of hatred has worn me out.  God knows what it has done to him and to Michelle Obama.  He has made some mistakes.  He has been tentative on certain matters.  He lacks obvious (phony) passion.  He is careful and lawyerly.  Except  when he isn’t.  And then he pays for it, bigtime.  But I’ve never seen ugliness on such a scale as has been directed at this president and first lady.  And that includes the Clintons, who were Lord and Lady MacBeth to the Right for eight years. (Let’s never forget Mrs. Clinton, now Secretary of State, was alleged to be a murderer in the most salacious rumors.)

    Yes, it’s been racial.  And if you don’t agree, fine. That’s how I feel.  That’s what I read in the comment section of stories about Obama on conservative sites. It’s lurks there. Right underneath. Not everybody.  But a lot.

 

I’d like Obama to have a second term.  I want him to prove something to me, to a person who didn’t expect much to begin with, but someone who feels strongly his life will be harder under a new regime. Looking at 60, and unemployed right now, I see myself in a Republican world.  I don’t like the way that looks.  (Though it’s no gay fling now—the president has yet to acknowledge my personal travail and send a check!)

 

And, since I abhor political correctness, let me say right now I don’t want a Mormon president.  It’s a cult.  Now, all “religions” are culty and crazy.  But at least, let’s say, Catholicism is based on thousands of years of belief—much of it lifted from pagan mythology—and it inspired great art and great thinkers.

 

I am not comfortable with a president who believes in a religion less than two hundred years old—an angel visited Joe Smith in Palmyra, New York, seer stones, golden plates, etc.  Palmyra, really?  (Although perhaps they said the same thing back in day—“Bethlehem, really?”)

 

Anyway, the tenants of Mormanism, not to mention the church’s wealth, power and secrecy, creep me out.  Although, individually, I have met many lovely Mormans.  I just don’t want the insanely wealthy Morman “leader” Mitt Romney ruling the world.  Otherwise, I’m sure he’s lovely, too.  (Yes, I know all about the Vatican.  But our one and only Catholic president, JFK, was an unrepentant whoremaster.  He wasn’t exactly towing the line.)  If we’re gonna go this way, let’s just elect Tom Cruise as president.

 

Sooooo…it’s gotta be Obama for me, no matter my palpitations or how many moist cloths B. places on my brow. Thank you, Heathcliff.  Oh, wait, Heathcliff would probably strangle me with it. Back to somebody from a Jane Austen novel.   Or B. himself.  Always a gent.

 

I worry too much. I watch too much cable news.  Anything can happen. November is still eight months away. I want somebody to shake me by the shoulders like Bette Davis did to Miriam Hopkins in “Old Acquaintance.” Just to clear my head. 

 

And if that doesn’t work, a good Cher-like slap, a la “Moonstruck”—“snap out of it!”    Maybe then I’d stick to the History Channel and Turner Classic Movies.  And…never read a newspaper? 

 

Hmmm…that’s gonna have to be a pretty hefty slap.

 

Thank you—Stanley Kowalski?

 

 

 

 

Comments:
  • Deirdre

    People have become so polarized that it seems impossible to have any kind of rational discussion. Even saying hello is fraught with danger. I find myself backing away from conversations because everyone is screaming over each other and while I am no shrinking violet, I don’t want to participate in these battles. They all use the Constitution to their advantage and a usually wrong or even better quote Bible verses that are again usually wrong.  Unless there is some willingness to meet somewhere close to the middle (you give a little, I give a little), it’s called compromise; how will anything be resolved? And does anyone in power care?

    8:46 pm | April 23, 2012
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Deirdre…no one in power cares.  They only care about power.

      And compromise is no longer a word used in politics.  It will probably be struck from the dictionary next year.

      9:12 pm | April 23, 2012
  • Jane2

    As a Canadian, you Americans perplex me.  Every election decides the fate of mankind, and if your guy doesn’t win, well, it’s the end of the world as we know it.  Both sides use ridiculous expressions like “take our country back”.  Seriously, from whom?  Fellow Americans?
    It’s four years.  Right now, we have a Conservative government, one I’d never vote for.  But no one I know is obsessing about how Stephen Harper is going to destroy our freedom blah blah blah.  Few Conservatives are breastbeating about how he’s sold out to the enemy.  He’s in, he won legitimately, well there you have it, four years on we can boot him out.  End of it.
    You need to get there.  Obama is not a strong President, but look at the clowns the opposition put up.  So you’ll have four more years of a weak President….you’ll all survive.   Everything can’t be Doomsday.

    9:47 pm | April 23, 2012
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Jane…I agree!  I said I needed a good shake or a smack.  Nothing ever changes that much, really.  But  24 hour cable news has turned many of us into hysterics.  

      Sometimes you do learn something.  But mostly it’s a lot of worry over stuff you can’t control.  I’m watching The Food Network right  now.  Much more calming.

      10:01 pm | April 23, 2012
    • Jane, ugh… I HATE that “take back America” slogan.  I agree – from whom, exactly?

      10:24 pm | April 23, 2012
    • Jonny T

      Thank you, Jane! (And may I add, some of my favorite people have been named Jane).  I also find the “take back or country” pronouncements to be ridiculous.  What really gets me is the implication that the people who say it imply that the country belongs to them, but not the rest of us.  Last time I checked, it’s MY country too.  In that same vein, I find it so frustrating -not to mention insulting- when someone suggests that the “real America” exists only in certain parts of the country.  Apparently New York doesn’t qualify.  OK, I’m going to breathe now. 🙂 

      8:35 am | April 24, 2012
  • Jane2

    I thought it was a Tea Party slogan because I heard it from Rand Paul et al…but then I heard it come out of Bill Clinton’s mouth when he was running in 1992.  Taking your country back has a long and noble heritage, it seems!
    And Mr. Wow, you need to find a lovely BBC series called Gavin and Stacey.  It will renew your faith in everything.

    10:29 pm | April 23, 2012
  •      Mr. Wow, I don’t like seeing myself in a Republican world either.  The track record for recent Republican legislation at the state and national level bodes ill for women, for choices, for personal privacy.  The phrase “War on Women” is only slightly hyperbolic.

         Romney’s Mormon faith does not bother me so much; Santorum’s bothers me more.  I don’t believe in either one, but I think a faith-on-his-sleeve fundamentalist like Santorum would be more likely to support efforts to impose the values of that faith on others, while Romney has said little about his own church.  As you say, we can’t expect politicians to keep to their campaign-trail personae once in office, but I do get the sense that Romney is a little more about separation of church and state (he has to be, since so many see Mormonism as a weird cult).

         I also had a Mormon boss early in my career.  He was very levelheaded, fair, a good leader, and no, he didn’t wear the “garments,” at least not all the time (I know because they never would have fit under the tiny shorts we wore in those days for exercising).

         But still… although I actually consider myself somewhat conservative, at least fiscally, I have NO desire to see a Republican in the WH anytime soon.  The Bush years were a friggin’ disaster, and anyone with any common sense would realize there was NO possible way for anyone to clean up his mess in four years, or even eight.  Obama has faced Congressional resistance at every turn, and if anything, the conservatives have gotten even scarier with their far-right Tea Party and all kinds of hateful, divisive invective.  There is no place for that in America’s elected government.

    10:44 pm | April 23, 2012
    • LandofLove

      “Obama has faced Congressional resistance at every turn.” Yes, Lila, and that’s a critical point that is so often left out when people discuss Obama. From day one of his Presidency, certain forces have made it clear that they are more interested in blocking Obama than in helping restore the economy and dealing with the other important issues we face. Cooperation and compromise are never even considered.

      7:05 am | April 24, 2012
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Lila…yeah Santorum seemed scarier.  But the very fact that Romney appears to be so basically sane–a benign flip-flopper–worries me.  The quiet types that turn into nuts once they’re in power.  I seriously doubt, if he’s elected, that will happen. But…something to consider after I’ve finished watching a “Golden Girls” marathon at 2:00 a.m.  Romney appears open to suggestion, malleable. Like Bush with Cheney and Rove. 

       I’d so prefer an atheist prez.  Just get that God issue off the table. One who’s single, too.  So we wouldn’t have to consider the wife in any way. Especially as First Lady.  It’s such a distraction–what she wears, what she buys, where she vacations, are her charitable interests viable? Who cares?

      Oh, yes–remember tiny shorts?  I wish they’d come back.  Well, they have on women–that lovely short-shorts look, with heels.  Nice and hookerish.

       

       

      7:51 am | April 24, 2012
      • LandofLove

        Mr. wOw, if you haven’t already, you must go to Lila’s blog on “Forming the Thread” to read her plea to girls wearing miniskirts–that they wear underwear!

        8:28 am | April 24, 2012
        • Land of Love, thanks for the shout-out!  The miniskirt thing… [shudder].  The girls think they’re cute, sassy and sexy.  But I know what the boys and men are thinking.

          11:15 am | April 24, 2012
      • Mr. Wow, well… to be fair to us, we wore our tiny shorts with t-shirts and running shoes… not heels…!

        11:32 am | April 24, 2012
        • Mr. Wow

          Dear Lila…You are forgetting the 1970’s hot-pants craze. The short-shorts were worn with boots (high heels were just coming back.) Miss Elizabeth Taylor had a white-lace hot-panties get-up, with matching white boots trimmed with lace.

          12:08 pm | April 24, 2012
  • Daniel Sugar

    Loretta Castorini: Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been two months since my last confession. 
    Priest: What sins have you to confess? 
    Loretta Castorini: Twice I took the name of the Lord in vain, once I slept with the brother of my fiancee, and once I bounced a check at the liquor store, but that was really an accident. 
    Priest: Then it’s not a sin. But… what was that second thing you said, Loretta? 

    12:24 am | April 24, 2012
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Dr. Sugar…thanks for the laugh!  I don’t think she really deserved the Oscar, but it was her moment in time, and the movie itself remains as charming as ever.  Always life-and-love-affirming.

      4:22 pm | April 25, 2012
  • Jonny T

    Mr. Wow, well said as usual.  Unfortunately on the way to something potentially good, we usually have to slog through a lot of garbage first to get there.  In times like this I remind myself of playing in the high school marching band and performing in an especially long parade (Tournament of Roses).  It was exciting, but also long, hot and exhausting.  As we were finally getting towards the end there was a huge crowd waiting to welcome us with food and drinks.  There was also a big pile of horse manure right in my path.  There was no graceful way to sidestep it, so I just steeled myself up and marched right through it (to the tune of horrified groans from the sidelines). And the moral is: Sometimes you have to wade through shit to get to the good stuff. 😉   

    8:48 am | April 24, 2012
    • LandofLove

      Well said, Jonny!

      9:58 am | April 24, 2012
    • Jonny, I went to college in Williamsburg which is also home to the Colonial Williamsburg Fife and Drum Corps.  As well as horse-drawn carriages.  The kids of the F&D Corps are very strictly trained not to vary their marching step at all, which often leads to just such collisions with horse poop as you experienced.  You are a true professional!!

      11:19 am | April 24, 2012
      • Jonny T

        LOL Thanks, Lila!  I was taught by an excellent teacher at the time.  To this day her former students still sing her praises.  🙂 

        12:19 pm | April 24, 2012
  • TheRudeDog

    This may not be the proper forum…but again, I want to compliment you and also thank you for the composition/layout of this website (yes, it took me a while to figure out where the “Comments” were, but I’m old!). 

    Clear, clean, almost pristine…it’s just beautiful and is a pleasure to visit  🙂

    12:08 pm | April 24, 2012
    • Mr. Wow

      DEAR RUDE…Of course this is the proper forum! Thank you so much. All of it is B.’s great work and dedication. I stand back and go…”Ooooooohhhh, so nice!” I told him, “I want it simple and stripped down. I want a place to have a conversation, not a carnival.”

      So, he did as I asked. He is a genius.

      2:39 pm | April 24, 2012
  • Lady Jayne

    Dear Mr. Wow,

    Thank you for this blog! I was devastated when you were no longer on WOW. Surrounded at work all day with crazy conservatives, I love to escape to this place where reasonable people can calmly discuss what is going on around us. “Take back America…from whom?” is genius.

    1:07 pm | April 24, 2012
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Lady J…thank you. I’m here, and can hardly believe it, actually! Maybe someday I’ll become a complete person and post my name. But…I’ll always want to be called Mr. Wow. Because I am so NOT a wow. It makes me laugh. When I am especially down, B. calls me Mr. Wow. He knows he’ll get a chuckle out of me.

      2:47 pm | April 24, 2012
  • Lauriate Roly.

    There is no question in my mind that B is a genius and your outstanding partner Mr. WOW;
    and you’re a really nice person, very talented and beloved… but the way you look at things sometimes…and write about them…I think you need help.
    Not everything should initiate such gloomy, negative and insecure thoughts or actions. You so often offer such a bright side to what is going on. You brighten our days. However, your article to-day is so depressing. I felt great awakening this morning in spite of the fact it is a terrible, lousy, stinking day weatherwise. Reading this discourse of yours just doesn’t help to make the happiness linger on. Go easy on yourself. I know it’s pretty damn tough not being tied down to a demanding, but oh so satisfying job that you just love working at. Look for the silver lining.

    (corny I know, but it seemed a good line to end a dumb comment).

    Lauriate.

    11:19 pm | April 24, 2012
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Lauriate…First, thanks for writing. Second–sorry I depressed you! Politics are depressing, but I think I indicated an awareness that I was stressing myself out more than is necessary. I can’t say I’m feeling fancy-free these days, but I didn’t want to natter on about my situation, which looked at from every side, other people would still gladly jump into. But I was feeling the need to post something, so this is what emerged. I can’t quite summon up a weekend of movie-watching or something else harmless and light. To concentrate on myself, in the here and now is an encouragement to wallow. If my current state of mind can’t be totally hidden, I am sorry. Believe me, if I’d given in to what I really wanted to write, everybody would want to commit suicide or hunt me down and kill me, just to put me out of my misery. Anyway, I appreciate your points. I’ll goose it up next time.

      XXXmr.W

      1:26 pm | April 25, 2012
      • KEMH

        Dear Mr. Wow,

        I just want to say that I appreciate and like each and every one of your posts, regardless of how “gloomy”, “happy”, or whatever mood people perceive them to be. While I can’t presume to know how you really feel each and every day of your life, I know that us, humans, can’t be happy all the time. You are hardly the only one feeling as you do regarding politics and the current political climate in the US. I’m in Canada and I feel the craziness and sense of doom, too (though that’s probably because I have lived in the US and my parents and siblings still live there.)

        Ultimately, this is your blog. You are a skillful writer, and you do bring perspective into various topics that lots of us appreciate. Your topics certainly foster discussion, and very healthy discussion at that. Your followers are also a bunch of intelligent, respectful individuals who greatly contribute to the conversations started by your posts. I would kindly ask you NOT to change a thing. Keep writing as you do, please, moods and all. You really are an inspiration to many.

        Sincerely,
        KEMH

         

        2:10 pm | April 25, 2012
        • Mr. Wow

          Dear KEMH…Thanks.  And of course I’ll go on as always, and not try to force joviality.  Nothing is more depressing that that. But  still, this was  a fairly pessimistic, harsh post.  I think I gave the Mormons a harder time than I intended.  What I really always intend is to have this part come to life–other people’s opinions, sharing them with me, with each other (or is it one another?)   I learn a lot from my intelligent readers.  And that’s the thrill–all of them are intelligent, whether they agree with me or not.  There’s not a troll in the group. 

           

          I’m not going to change how I express myself.  Hopefully, though, I’ll cheer up a bit. And you’ll all be the first to know. 

          thanks!  Mr.W

          4:19 pm | April 25, 2012
          • Well, we know how to handle trolls, don’t we?

                 “WHO’S THAT tramping over my bridge?” roared the Troll.

                 “It is I, the Big Billy Goat Gruff!”

                 “I’m coming to gobble you up,” roared the Troll.

                 “Well, come along!  I’ve got two spears,
                 And I’ll poke your eyeballs out at your ears,
                 I’ve got besides two curling-stones,
                 And I’ll crush you to bits, body and bones.”

            6:09 pm | April 27, 2012
          • Lauriate Roly.

            Lila -That bridge was a favorite hangout of the Robin Hood gang.

            Little John would certainly have accepted that challenge …and might have emerged the victor.
             
            (unfair using curling stones !!
            – naughty naughty).

            7:06 pm | April 27, 2012
          • Lauriate, ohhh… I see you know what the curling-stones are…

            12:27 pm | April 29, 2012
          • Lauriate Roly.

            Yes Lila, – quite; and these aren’t from Ailsa Craig.

            12:45 pm | April 29, 2012
      • TheRudeDog

         “If I’d given in to what I really wanted to write, everybody would want to commit suicide or hunt me down and kill me, just to put me out of my misery.”

        You know what, Mr. W?  My bet is that there’s not one of us who can’t admit to feeling more than a little crazy (and I do mean crazy … off-the-wall-bonkers) at more than a few times in our lives.  Not necessarily clinically “crazy;” just what we perceive to be nuts. Show me someone who hasn’t doubted their sanity once in a while and I’ll show you someone who hasn’t learned anything about Life and their place in it.

        You seem to doubt yourself at every turn, yet have enough faith/confidence in yourself to readily admit it here.  What that says to me is that you’re finally beginning the process of getting your “stuff” out on the table, in a safe setting.  To literally get it out in order to

        2:19 pm | April 25, 2012
        • TheRudeDog

          (Continuation of my previous post – I don’t know what just happened!) Anyway, it feels like you’re beginning to finally Figure Things Out.  The things you are afraid would put us off are exactly the same things WE are afraid of; I just think you’re at the point where you know you’ve got to do something or do nothing.  And that’s something!  You give us all courage, whether you want to admit it or not!

          2:24 pm | April 25, 2012
          • Mr. Wow

            Dear RudeD…and here I thought I was heading for a lobotomy and a straight-jacket. We are all afraid of the same things.  I certainly don’t see myself as special in any way–“The Unbearable Torment of Mr. Wow.”   I don’t know if I’m figuring things out, finally.   I don’t aspire to that.  It’s too…final.  We are, every one of us, fascinating works in progress, right to the end.  And maybe beyond.

             

            thank you.

            4:42 pm | April 25, 2012
          • Lady Jayne

            Fascinating works in progress…right to the end, and maybe beyond! Genius! God I wish i’d written that.

            10:46 am | April 27, 2012
  • Rho

    Mr. Wow — you are a complete person to me.  Would still like to see a photo of you.

    9:59 am | April 25, 2012
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Rho…maybe I’ll post a pic from my misspent youth.  With shoulder-length hair!

      Oh, that hair. 

      4:44 pm | April 25, 2012
      • Rho

        Good, would love to see it, Mr. Wow.

        10:18 am | April 26, 2012
      • Rho

        Mr. Wow — anything new?

         

        11:54 am | April 30, 2012
    • Lauriate Roly.

       
        “maybe I’ll post a pic from my misspent youth.  With shoulder-length hair!”

      Hi Rho:
      If that happens I too would like to see the photo.

      I wonder if the shot would show him in a tux…?  and with such long hair, do you suppose he might look like Tiny Tim?  or Veronica Lake?  (could it be Samson)? Maybe Brad Pitt?
      He sure keeps us in suspenders about his looks. Whatever, we love him. 
      Let’s keep each other posted. I know I owe you one for helping me solve another problem.
      Kindest…
      Lauriate.

      11:12 pm | April 25, 2012
  • lulu

    It seems the solution is civility, compromise and cooperation.  However I seriously doubt the majority of any person in politics understands those words.  They live for power, control and self-importance.   It is up to all Americans to vote whenever there is any kind of election for the best choice, in their opinion, possible and then hold those they elected responsible. 
    Love the dialogue Mr. Wow has created with his blog.

    10:25 am | April 25, 2012
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Lulu…you are correct.  Use the power of the vote!  And thanks for the nice words.  I do want that dialog to happen.  I’m happy to stand back and let my readers swap brain cells and teach me a thing or two.   

       

      4:58 pm | April 25, 2012
  • Daniel Sugar

    I’ve always been impressed by Cher’s acting and she was sublime in the role so I’m glad she won. (I’m also thrilled the screenwriter (John Patrick Shanley) won – it’s a terrific script.

    5:38 pm | April 25, 2012
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Dr. Sugar…I like Cher’s acting, too.  I simply felt it wasn’t quite an Oscar-caliber performance–the superb script her brilliant co-stars pretty much carried her. BUT, I was thrilled by the Oscar win, because, well–she’s Cher.  And deserved an Oscar for that lifetime achievement alone. 

      7:24 pm | April 25, 2012
  • Lauriate Roly.

     

     

    Hello Mr WOW:

    I would prefer you did not print this, but if you think otherwise, I will agree to accepting your logic in whatever decision you decide to make.

    What I want to say is, that the number of postings already received on this thread is so warmly overwhelming, and so genuinely indicative of the complete and positive acceptance of your new blog that you should take heart. Allow yourself to reveal to yourself, that you have very many admiring fans, who think so highly of you and who so enjoy your company and being with you, and who in their own way are trying to tell you with their strongest friendly messages, that you are a person that matters to them. I am sure you realize this and must be very encouraged. This is a lovely state of being.

    We all want you to be aware of how we feel about you.

    Lauriate.

    6:49 pm | April 25, 2012
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear LR..your message went right through.  Do you want me to take it down?  I appreciate your thoughts very much but if you’d rather I remove it, I will.  (“regulars” who have come here before, and have been “approved” by me, automatically go up.  But I approve everybody.  I like a mash-up of ideas and opinions.) 

      7:20 pm | April 25, 2012
      • Lauriate Roly.

         Mr. WoW – the decision was yours to make and frankly I see no harm in leaving the message there because it is quite honest and truthful.

        Your trusting procedure in sometimes allowing acceptance of comments to print, without censorship, based on your trust of the person posting the message is admirable and exemplary. (and awfully daring). Bravery is obviously another of your virtues.
        Lauriate.

        8:48 pm | April 25, 2012
  • TheRudeDog

    Mr. Wow:  I think LR (above) just made a terrific point — we all do enjoy your company and we do appreciate what you have to say.  What other reason could we possibly have for stopping by here each day?  And yes, I know what you’ll probably be thinking when you get low: “Well, they don’t really know me…”   Well, how do you know we don’t?  How much do you think we can’t read into your words?  We’re here because we instantly recognize a companion spirit … and we stay, anyway!  🙂 

    And regarding your comment that you don’t aspire to being able to figure everything out, I think that’s way too much for anyone to expect.  My aspiration is just to figure out what the hell is going on.  (My five-year-old grandson, however, seems to have entered the world having it all figured out and being cool with it.  It’s curious and sometimes downright disturbing!)

    7:10 pm | April 25, 2012
  • Daniel Sugar

    (And don’t forget about the koo-koo Adams Family stipper shmatta she wore to the ceremony.)

    9:02 pm | April 25, 2012
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear DS…yet another reason she deserved that little golden guy.

      9:22 pm | April 25, 2012
  • Tricia

    Personally I love when you share your angst and gloom because we all have it, for different reasons.  It’s like being able to enjoy letters from my favorite character Eeyore.

    9:11 pm | April 25, 2012
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Tricia…that’s me, the depressed donkey!

      9:19 pm | April 25, 2012
  • Tricia

    But a completely endearing and loveable rascal .  .  .

    10:16 pm | April 25, 2012
  • bill

    Hi Mr. Wow,

    Think how far we, as gay people, have journeyed since that election night.

    It could not have been this way with a repub president.

    Thanks for a great blog…..Bill

    11:22 am | April 26, 2012
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Bill…at my age–59–I think of how far gay people have come since 1969. I used to go to the Stonewall–it was my first bar. And I’m not kidding when I say I was “just a child.”

      Obama has done what he can, but no president is ever going to say what we want–“It’s okay to be gay. It’s not a sin. Go get married.” Obama, no matter what he feels personally, is obliged to say he is “evolving” on issues such as gay marriage. Fine, evolve. But I must tell you, I am far more concerned with issues of Social Security and health care than I am with whether or not B. and me can wed. We’ve been together 36 years. We’re one. I don’t need that band of gold.

      Ornamentation for the neck area I wouldn’t disdain. (Something in semi-precious gems–B. are you reading?)

      2:36 pm | April 26, 2012
  • Daniel Sugar

    Just wanted to let Mr. Wow and all his friends know (in case any of you are “Downton Abbey” fans), there is a hilarious spoof of the show called “Upstairs, Downtown Abbey” on YouTube.
    Also, the creator of “Downton Abbey”, Julian Fellowes, can be seen (as an actor) in Noel Coward’s “Present Laughter”. It’s also on YouTube. (Mr. Fellowes steals the show – he’s hilarious.) If you liked “Frasier”, you’ll enjoy it.

    11:28 am | April 26, 2012
    • Mr. Wow

      Dear Dr Sugar–love “Downton Abbey” and love the spoof!  Also, as to Miss BS, there is plenty of incredible stuff on YouTube to make a fellow fall on his ass laughing/gasping.

      I think YouTube has saved show biz history, putting it on display for this generation. I mean, you can find clips of Piaf on the Ed Sullivan Show!

      6:31 pm | April 26, 2012
  • Daniel Sugar

    P.S. Mr. Wow, 
    Yesterday I found something that might cheer you: Barbra Streisand at 20 singing at the Bon Soir nightclub in New York. It’s on YouTube. (No video but the sound’s great.) My fave: Babs singing Cole Porter’s “Come To The Supermarket In Old Peking”. (The song’s from a 1958 show called “Alladin”. It’s funny and you can hear members of the audience laughing.) 
    D.

    11:34 am | April 26, 2012
  • Daniel Sugar

    It really is an incredible archive.

    7:17 pm | April 26, 2012
  • Baby Snooks

    I voted for Obama in 2008.  Was moved to tears when he won the nomination. And when he won the presidency. Our country had managed to move beyond itself. The governor of Pennsylvania had been proven wrong when he said, with the Clintons standing beside him smiling, that the voters of Pennsylvania would never vote for a  black man for president. They did. Along with voters in all the other states. Our country had managed to move beyond the Clintons. Unfortunately Obama didn’t realize that. And so his administration from day one became theirs. Once again, a shadow government with shadowy people running it. And, of course. Daddy Bush.
     
    I will not vote for Obama in 2012. If there were a tie and I was told I would be the deciding vote and someone offered me $100 million to vote for Obama I would be out $100 million. The only pleasant memory I have of Obama at this point is Aretha’s hat.

    The biggest legacy of Obama is the biggest disaster. Obamacare.  Which is really Romneycare. So, well, let’s let Romney take care of it since he really created it to begin with. 

    8:35 am | April 27, 2012
  • Charlene

    I will vote for Obama. Every Supreme Court season gets more and more right-wing (watch them approve the Arizona immigration law next), and we citizens lose more and more rights. At least two, maybe three Justices are hanging on hoping for a Democrat in the White House the next 4 years so they can retire. If any Republican gets those appointments, we’ll be in right-wing hell until Roberts dies 50 years from now. 

    8:14 pm | April 28, 2012
    • BabySnooks

      It’s “luck of the draw'” regardless of which “party” nominates a potential justice. About the only two justices we have who have ruled consistent with the “ideology” are Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The rest have been all over the map from time to time and from ruling to ruling. So a liberal president doesn’t really guarantee a liberal court and a conservative president doesn’t really guarantee a conservative court.

      Personally I believe this is one of those rare years where a viable Independent could win The White House. This is just the end of April and most everyone is tired of the rabid rhetoric from both the Obama and the Romney campaigns. Quite a few would probably prefer someone else. Alas, there is no one else. But at this point, well, I think it is folly to predict a landslide for anyone.  In any case I will never vote for Obama. For anything.

      6:58 pm | April 29, 2012
  • BabySnooks

    And don’t ever let anyone tell you Pisceans are sane. Two months behind on the rent and I decided it was more important to be able to surf the net so to speak. Windows 7 and IE 9 is nice. Still uploading, downloading and Microsoft is such a scam. Windows 7 was pre-loaded as was Office 2010 but you have to buy the “activation key” to activate Office 2010. $100 just to activate something already there? No wonder Bill Gates has more money than god. But it was worth it. I have a “reply” icon!  

    7:08 pm | April 29, 2012
  • Rho

    I just posted to Mr. Wow, want to know if anything is new.  Where did it go?

    11:56 am | April 30, 2012
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