Chapter 51: Turkey Week

The Christmas commercials have begun, the temperature's been in the 60s recently, and the house is undergoing its annual makeover. That's right, it's Thanksgiving time again!

This year isn't any more special than previous years, but it'll be crowded. And not everyone will be in our tiny home in our tiny town. But the basement's ready for bumper pool and beer. If the weather holds up, we'll have a Turkey Bowl ("sponsored" by Bass Ale). And we've eaten enough food from Shop-Rite to qualify for the free frozen turkey.

I'm sure it'll all work out fine, but I'm almost looking forward to getting back to work in a week.

Chapter 50.9: Duck Season

Bruce Reed posted an interesting piece in Slate, where he discusses President Bush's lame duck status. He concludes that the president should learn from what the "Governator" learned in California: be more Democratic. While many would scoff at the notion of President Bush acting like a Democrat, perhaps they've forgotten that pre-9/11 many of his initiatives had that tone to them, including the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives. Most of those efforts were not only derided by the conservatives he rode into Washington on, they were also back-burnered after the nation went to war.

Chapter 50.8: Where Is Everybody?

Another one bites the dust before the dust from the midterm elections has settled. Mark Feingold has decided not to run for president in 2008. Mark Warner has done the same, and it seems unlikely (though not impossible) for George Allen to run -- of course, having lost in a re-election bid doesn't bode too well for the future.

It's still somewhat early. I've heard rumors that Al Gore has put together his old team, but I've not confirmed that with any sources, and I wouldn't trust a Web site by itself. Personally, I'm not sure that really strikes me as a good thing either.

Obviously, the parties aren't giving up, but candidates from both sides have been falling by the wayside. McCain's all but said he's running, everyone assumes Hillary is running. And questions remain about whether Giuliani is going to run. In the meantime, there's actually a country to run.

I'm looking forward to seeing what will happen during the first few months of the new congress. That's when any governing will happen. It'll be nice to see if someone comes as a leader out of the congress.

Chapter 50.7: Ed Bradley

Although I never met the man, I always felt I could get along with Ed Bradley. He was an excellent reporter, strong interviewer, and I had the sense that I could trust what he was telling me. I'd have loved to work with him on stories. Alas, that'll never happen.

I was sad and surprised to hear of his death. I'd seen a snippet of one of his recent interviews, and he looked gaunt. Though I didn't know he was ill, he certainly looked the part. Hopefully he didn't suffer for long. He will be missed.