• Media&Culture File from
Bias or laziness? Seems to be a bit of the first and a lot of the second, mixed in with some sleepiness, says Mickey Kaus. To read the analysis of the major newspapers this morning you might have to do some digging to find out the GOP has taken unchecked command of two of the three branches of government. The Washington Post's David von Drehle, "Designated Overwriter," says that "the story of Election 2002, ultimately, seemed to be the continuing inability of either party to form a strong governing majority in a country almost perfectly divided between the two." And USA Today's Susan Page, Kaus says, "also keeps her seemingly pre-written 50-50 nut graf," which reads, "After an election season marked by billion-dollar spending and a barrage of TV ads, the nation remained almost evenly divided. Not even the threat of war or fears of a faltering economy could decisively break the deadlock in American politics." Says Kaus: "I guess nobody want to write a new nut graf at 2:00 in the morning. But that one doesn't seem to reflect what actually happened yesterday."

And today's discussion question: "Would 'deadlock' have been the theme if Democrats had gained four seats in the Senate?"
http://slate.msn.com/?id=2073478
• Previous M&C

ACROSS THE board, this has been a dismal campaign, highlighted mostly by impotent candidates, a disaffected electorate and a media that don’t know what to do with either, writes Gersh Kuntzman for

Such a boring, issueless campaign is an amazing thing considering how many important issues are in play right now. Should we go to war with Iraq? What should we do about the economy? How can we improve public schools? What can we do to develop new sources of energy so that we don’t have to be in hypocritical alliances with countries like Saudi Arabia?

Kuntzman's campaign solutions:

More Dan Rather. ... This ornery Texan has become the highest-paid loose cannon in television. ...
Eliminate political advertising: It’s never informative and it’s never fair.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/831195.asp

Less democracy, please. I'm looking up endorsements from the Chicago papers online, desperately trying to form an opinion on whom I want to vote for in unknown races for offices I've never heard of. What, exactly, is the point? I'm reminded of Steve Chapman's column on Sunday:

Letting ordinary people choose their government officials is a good idea in principle. But we don't really need to elect the person who does the state's banking, any more than we need to elect the custodians who mop the floors of the capitol. Here in Illinois, the formula seems to be: When in doubt, put it to the voters--even if they couldn't possibly be competent to decide.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0211030402nov03,0,2997286.column

Continuing today's Election Day theme, this patriotic inspiration from our president:
• Quote of the Day:
"This is a nation that loves our freedom, loves our country."
George W. Bush, May 17, 2002
• Number of the Day: 32
Percent drop, between 1964 and 2000, in the number of Americans who say they generally trust their government, from 76 to 44
Source: Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, cited in The Atlantic
• Previous Quote and Number

A fitting entry for Election Day, given my cynical rant yesterday about politicians and special interests:
• Eytmology Today from M-W: quid pro quo \kwid-proh-KWOH\
: something given or received for something else

In the 1560s, a quid pro quo was something obtained from an apothecary. That's because when "quid pro quo" (New Latin
for "something for something") was first used in English, it referred to the process of substituting one medicine for another -- intentionally (and sometimes fraudulently) or accidentally. The meaning of the phrase was quickly extended, however, and by 1591 it was being used for more general equivalent exchanges. These days, it often occurs in legal contexts.

• Previous E.T.

• Mailbox: Dan Johnson-Weinberger of the Chicago office of the Center for Voting and Democracy e-mails this response to my RedEye column this morning:

Thanks for citing the Center for Voting and Democracy in your column. I'm the Chicago-based staffer. I liked the point about candidates not engaging voters. But, we can change the electoral system so that those candidates that *do* appeal to young voters (and we remain a minority) can still get elected. Good things to do (and something worth following, as we'll be lobbying for
these changes in Illinois) include:

same-day voter registration (how do you think Ventura won?)
instant runoff voting (get a first choice and a second choice when you vote)
make it legal for young people to run for Congress or the Presidency (why should you have to wait until you are 35 to be eligible to run?)

Dan's e-mail signature includes a Chinese proverb:
Those who are saying it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are
doing it.

Thought of the day: when is cynicism too much of a good thing?
Tomorrow is Election Day, when Americans from coast to coast remember our country's democratic ideals, consider their chance to choose our next batch of leaders, and cannot help but observe that the word "citizen" sounds a lot like "cynicism." How useful is cynicism? To me, a Nader voter, it's merely being realistic: politics is a game in which the agenda of the powerful is to maintain their power--repay donors with favors, avoid originality just enough to appear generically pleasing to an independent-leaning voting public. In that sense, politicians are among the few people whose sole job duties are to keep their jobs--who exist for the purpose of continuing to exist--and whose job performance is so hindered by their job duties (intriguing P.J. O'Rourke essay on this in the latest Atlantic, preview only available free online). You call it cynicism, I call it refusing to be sentimental and naive. As I wrote in RedEye this morning, it would take some authentic, passionate, relevant rhetoric (did you see West Wing last week?) to re-capture the hearts and minds of the public. Until then, politicians don't deserve any higher turnout than they get.

How useful is cynicism? Part of me wants more people to be more cynical, so that they wouldn't be so swayed by the televisual brainwashing of commercials, or so Lemming-like follow social myths about wealth, sex, religion, and patriotism. But how much is too much? Why does no buzzer go off when you step on the tissue-thin line between healthy skepticism and dysfunctional cynicism? A truly unpleasant world would be populated by everyone always walking around questioning everything, always rejecting social assumptions. Again, to quote Nicholas-Sebastien Chamfort: "The contemplative life is often miserable. You should do more, think less and not watch yourself living." And worse, consistent cynicism is an act of self-absorption--you say, OK, social mythology cannot be trusted...but I can. What sense does that make? If societies are capable of collective error, naivete and delusion, then so are individuals.

Besides, there is, to both our moral peril and mental health, a functionality to some level of cultural conformity. It is difficult, if not downright depressing, to endure the cognitive dissonance that comes from a continuous rejection of the values of one's cultural context. There is a function to people walking into voting booths tomorrow and voting, even if the people they're choosing are petty, their proposed policies inconsequential, and the likelihood of getting them passed next to nil. There's a function to it even if it's an empty ritual--to perpetuate a social system. So I'll vote. Still, we're left to search for the reality that lies between the possibility that society is deluding itself and I know better, and the possibility that I am deluding myself and society knows better. Feeble humans cannot consistently tell the difference, which makes life such a mystery.

Footnote one: I dig into the thick of these themes in a Books&Culture review of David Dark's Everyday Apocalypse.

Footnote two: Ryan, a good and sharp-witted friend of mine from WBBL Radio in Grand Rapids, once spouted this piece of passionate political rhetoric in response to a column I wrote. I disagree with over half of it, but Ryan is so authentic and intelligent in his rhetoric (as with West Wing as I mentioned above) that I'd be inclined to vote for him if he ever runs for office).
...2002_11_03_nbiermafile_archive.html#84015069

Footnote three: William Safire says today that the electoral problem is mechanical and logistical, not cynicism. The Atlantic breaks down the numbers to back him up (preview only available free online).

Earlier thought: Would we be better off with lower voter turnout?
Previous thought: What is truth?

• Money&Culture File from


McDONALD'S may serve Happy Meals at its 30,000 sites around the globe, but it's a pretty safe bet that meal times -- and the hours in between -- are less than joyful at the company's headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill. Customers are defecting, franchisees are complaining, and shareholders are fleeing. Mention the Golden Arches on Wall Street, and be prepared for a bunch of "fallen arches" jokes. ... Money & Business asked seven restaurant and management experts what McDonald's should do now. Following are their often-contradictory takes.
...2002_11_03_nbiermafile_archive.html#84009017

• Previous M&C

• Places&Culture from the


Since 1914, the year the gray, ornately columned hospital that caters to Chicago's poor and uninsured was built on the city's West Side, Cook County Hospital has been famous and infamous, educational and unforgettable for the generations of doctors and patients who have passed through its grimy, historic halls. Its notoriously outrageous cases and environs have been the inspiration for the television drama "ER." And everyone who has spent any time in the place has a story about the ramshackle hospital that has long been dubbed the "Old Lady on Harrison Street." But now the storied Chicago institution is on the verge of being demolished, to be replaced by a state-of-the-art $623 million hospital expected to open within weeks.
...2002_11_03_nbiermafile_archive.html#84009342

MANITOWOC, Wis. -- Roadside sweet corn stands have given way to roadside pumpkin stands. Packer baseball caps are being replaced by warmer Packer stocking caps. Along the Lake Michigan shore here, 80 miles north of Milwaukee, the air is chilled and the maple, oak and sumac leaves blush with color. It's undeniable. Summer is over. ... Like most port cities on Lake Michigan, Manitowoc has a history of commercial fishing; and, again like most, that industry has played out. Another industry that has mostly moved on is shipbuilding. In the latter half of the 19th Century, there were 10 shipbuilders here. Now there's one, the Burger Boat Co. which custom-makes yachts for customers such as Scottie Pippen (the Lady Larsa, named for the basketball star's wife ).
In the 1940s, shipyards in Manitowoc built 28 submarines as well as landing craft, minesweepers and subchasers. In recognition of that service to the war effort, the U.S. Navy donated a submarine of the same class as those made here to the Wisconsin Marine Museum. The U.S.S. Cobia is now moored downtown in the Manitowoc River next to the museum.
...2002_11_03_nbiermafile_archive.html#84009405

• Previous P&C

• Urban Issues Watch from


The Anaheim Angels' success in the American League playoffs is not just a victory for a long-suffering baseball franchise. It is a vindication for the strip malls, the used-car lots, the smog-shrouded freeways, the housing tracts and the past-their-prime downtowns throughout Southern California. "This is a victory for the new suburbia, what could be called a post-suburban suburbia," said Joel Kotkin, a scholar of American urban life at Pepperdine University. "The success of the Angels represents a kind of coming of age for Orange County.

...2002_11_03_nbiermafile_archive.html#84008767

• Previous U.I.W.: Experiment on the prairie, Chicago Tribune; Sep 29, 2002; pg. 1