Who says escapes don't cure an ailing spirit?

A friend boarded a plane on November 3rd and flew to Hawaii. Today she really rubbed it in with this message:

Aloha Nina,

Maybe you could use some distance from the political bog to gain some perspective. Here on Hawai'i, we don't even receive the NY Times until a day later. By then, the news is old -- so who cares? Who needs to see photos of the smarmy smirk on Bush's face? We are busy contemplating which umbrella drink to order and which beach chair to choose. Mandate? Our only mandate is to notice the gorgeous view from the hotel room lanai:

big deal, a coupla palm trees and a boat... 

Madison: Halloween party town of the Midwest, commiserate now with Prague, where things are a lot worse:

I read European blogs and papers when I think I cannot take another ounce of American political chatter. Today I eventually made my way to the Prague TV site, which is a frequently linked-to source for European bloggers.

The Prague story elicited much cheering around the Czech blogland. “About time we took charge of this!” was the common response.

What’s at issue? In the last year or two, with the introduction of very cheap intra-European airfares, British men have been traveling in hordes to Prague in search of cheap beer and sex. Here are some excerpts:

[Prague] has become the stag capital of Europe. A report, released last week by the Czech tourism office, revealed that the historic capital of the Czech Republic, famed for its beautiful architecture, is now attracting large gangs of rowdy [British] men looking for a good time.

Mr Paroubek [the Czech tourism minister] said that tourism officials were planning an advertising campaign in London that would focus on the culinary experience that Prague could offer. The hope was that it would attract more refined tourists rather than the rowdy crowds."Food here is as good as in London. We don't need nightclubs or prostitutes to attract visitors," Mr Paroubek said. …

A petition of Prague residents was handed in recently at the town hall. … "Prague is a beautiful and romantic city and they are ruining it. We do not need this kind of visitor and the council and government should act."…

[Many] Britons acknowledged that they were in Prague to party, rather than to experience the city's history and culture. Neil Wilson, 39, from Newcastle, said that he had come to Prague for a friend's birthday and had no interest in sightseeing."We've come for a weekend to get drunk. It's not really a culture visit.”

The outpouring of support for the crackdown on the “drunken Brits” has been remarkable. Bloggers, native to Prague, but also to the British Isles, have cheered the efforts to rid the city of its party capital reputation. But a note of realism came through as well in the blog comments of this Czech resident:

I really support any initiative that will rid our streets of this shameful menace but I am not sure that the tourism minister is being entirely realistic when he writes"Food here is as good as in London." I would have thought it's more a question of like the old CSA [Czech Airlines] advert used to say "OK and getting better" !!

Please, no comparison to Polish cuisine at this time. What's been happening with Polish cooking is the subject of a separate (later) post. I do like the "truth in advertising" that the CSA adhered to. I'd like to see some of our airlines take to this more humble approach.

It's not like a hang-over, it's more like a hang-in-there

A reader writes about the pressure she feels from conservative victors to “move on,” “get over it,” etc. I, too, have heard my share of comments on this. And I know readers wonder how long Ocean will remain so immersed in postmortem politics.

My answer:

There is no cataclysmic death that we are trying to cope with. There is no sorrow for a loss experienced just on November 2nd. For me, there is no retro-wallowing in a campaign that failed to bring about the desired result. The sadness in not in the event of the election, it is in turning on the news and living with the result of it each and every day. It is the daily coverage of Cabinet Meetings, of the setting of a new policy agenda, of the poor health of Rehnquist, of the loss of life in Iraq, of struggles faced by people who can hardly afford life. That is the playground where feelings of loss are tossed around.

I believed that we could inhabit a better world had Kerry won. I am living in the world that suffers, therefore, a lost opportunity for significant improvement. Yes, the loss of Kerry is a singular event. Indeed, on November 2nd, the air was sucked out of my lung. But now it remains oxygen-deprived. It’s hard to get over that enduring disability because you feel it at every step. Ah well, I suppose I could take one big gulp of air and hold my breath for four years. It would be a Guinness Book of World Records moment, but I could give it a try: ………………………………………no, sorry, I am a mere mortal, good for only about 45 seconds.

Reading the news: local fame and distant rumblings

Once again Ann makes an Op-Ed appearance, this time in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. She writes about the quest for peace and unity following a pre-election season marked by bitter argument and rancor. Because in the piece she graciously acknowledges Ocean, noting that I blog with still not a small amount of pain and disbelief, I am again getting the email from less sympathetic readers (much of it fueled, I’m sure, by Ann’s reference to the map that I posted that’s been going around the left-leaning blogs – of Jesusland versus the United States of Canada).

Consider this generous soul:
I will pray for your peace of mind...that oughta creep you out big time

Not really. I am more “creeped-out” by news of the day than by someone’s praying for my peace of mind.

But I also read stories that are plain old fascinating accounts of ‘politics as ususal.’ For instance, I have noticed in past days how many Bush supporters are saying that we can again engage in an honest discussion of, say, the war in Iraq, now that the Kerry supporters no longer feel compelled to take a unilateral position against the invasion. Personally, I thought it was honest all along (at least it was on my part). I, of course, say the same thing about the “other side” and I was initially tickled to read the following in the NYTimes today: “The Antiwar Right is Ready to Rumble” with the side-quote: “Conservatives like William F. Buckley Jr have begun questioning the Iraq war.”

At first glance, “questioning the war” resonated with me and I felt a surge of good will toward those who were willing to speak against it from the other side. But as I read further, I became disturbed by the Republicans who were only questioning it because it was becoming a political liability. Here’s a callous comment, quoted in the Times: Mr. Bush now has two years to “solve Iraq” to protect Republican candidates at the midterm elections, [Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform] said. His suggestions: withdrawing United States tropps to safe citadels within Iraq or by “handing Falluja over to the Iraquis and saying, ‘It’s your headache.’”

I am not commenting on the correctness of the Iraq strategy, but I am commenting on how amazing it is to keep learning about how so much of what happens in Iraq is dictated by Republican agendas that have little to do with destroying terrorism or with freedom marches.

Ah well, I did allow myself a chuckle as I looked at the NYT cartoon of Kerry standing in front of a giant heap of smoldering debris, noting: “…and to think, all this could’ve been mine.”