(no subject)

So, Clinton tells Obama that when it comes to Louis Farrakhan, that there's a big difference between denouncing and rejecting. Obama may denounce Farrakan's...er...existence I guess. But rejecting? Come out and say it. So Obama does. He denounces and rejects.

Now Clinton, on the other hand, had to ride a corkscrewing airplane into a Bosnian airport under fire, duck sniper bullets and run to a car to avoid being assassinated because it would be too dangerous to send Bill, a sitting American President. Though Hillary did bring her daughter, and Sheryl Crow, and Sinbad (yes, Sinbad) with her. And they posed for pictures. And signed autographs. For an 8-year old girl who was there at the airport. But it was still too dangerous.

Now, it turns out, Sinbad is joking about it (another 15 minutes! I'm three up on Warhol!) Sinbad describes it: "What kind of president would say, 'Hey, man, I can't go 'cause I might get shot so I'm going to send my wife...oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you.'"

Now, of course, Hillary's campaign expresses the political equivalent of nolo contendere: "I misspoke." As an actual defense of this exaggeration, her people are pointing to her book, where she specifically didn't mention any clear and present danger, and only slipped mentioning her non-peril in a campaign speech. And talking to the press afterward ("Now, that is what happened"). And her website. So, in effect, she was clearly (and on the record) in no danger at all, long before she recalled being in deadly danger.

She may joke about the press giving Obama a free pass, but why is the press even considering her a contender at this point? Why is anyone considering her a possibility? Huckabee and Ron Paul were laughed at for staying in against mathematical odds. Romney, for as negative of a campaign as the press said he had, was nearly sainted for bowing out when he realized that he couldn't catch up.

Yeah, the Clintons have a lot of power, and dirt, and cunning, and ruthlessness, but does anyone think that a majority of superdelegates are going to try to find some way to tell Obama: "Yes, you won the delegate count, but we're going to have to ask you to step aside while Hillary takes the title. You're young, you can run again, so why don't you just step to the back of the bus and be Veep while the real candidates try to take McCain."

I swear, if Clinton takes this away from Obama, the best revenge in the world would be for McCain to offer Obama the Veep.

(no subject)

So, remember when I said I was more weirded out about cuts than burns? ( http://petermarcus.livejournal.com/413872.html )?

Here's a sentence fragment that will cause instant cringing from any cook: "So, I was using my mandoline..."

It's not that bad. I speared a couple (ok, three) fingers, but after the bleeding stopped, it's just thin cuts. Right on my fingerpads, which makes typing interesting.

But, I made fillet mignon with bearnaise, and some fried matchstick potatoes, and it was very good.

Of course, the potatoes were the first thing I did, and after I julienned the tips of a couple (ok, three) fingers, I was off my game. I overheated the oil and when I tossed in a handful of patted-dry potatoes, it overbubbled onto the stove and caused a small flame-up. Then, when I was cleaning that up, I wiped off the burner a few times, and I realized that I hadn't turned the burner off (hazards of a glass-top) and smoked a paper towel.... I mean, come on. It hasn't been that long since I tried to cook anything. What the hell was going on tonight?

When it came to the bearnaise, I had reduced the champagne vinegar and the champagne/shallots/herbs, added it to the egg yolks, had my heated water bath, chilled butter cubed and ready, and I said to myself, "If I break this fucking sauce, I'm done for the night." Happily, it was, perhaps, the best bearnaise I've ever made (okay, I haven't made it that often because it's a hassle, but still, it was the best ever, and it wasn't even a true bearnaise for a long list of pedantic reasons).