Stranger In Paradise

I've mentioned before my lasting affection for the works of Robert B. Parker. The funny thing is, some of his own biggest fans occasionally accuse the man of coasting. He does tend to write about the same sorts of things over and over again -- difficult relationships that somehow manage to persist; unorthdox families that are held together by love more than blood; men who live by a code of honor that makes them in some way brothers even if they're on opposite sides of the law. And let's not forget a personal favorite -- making fun of pompous bigots, and even then, trying to find the spark of humanity hidden within even those sorry examples of it.

All of which is to say, Parker's new Jesse Stone book Stranger In Paradise is just delicious. Once again he mines his own back catalog of characters, returning to one of the most memorable "villains" of the Stone series' earlier days, Wilson "Crow" Cromartie, and turning him into this series' equivalent of Hawk, the adversary-turned-brother-in-arms of Parker's long-running Spenser saga. Once again the dialogue is alternately snappy and penetrating, illuminating the characters thoroughly in ways pages of description never could.

Small-town police chief Stone is himself in fine form, a pillar of quiet strength and resourcefulness, humanized by a sneaky sense of humor and his personal Achilles' heels: alcohol, and his equally unsettled and imperfect ex-wife Jenn. The supporting characters -- mostly fellow police officers in the fictional town of Paradise -- get lots of play this time, too. It's another great yarn from a master, and makes me want to read the whole Stone series over again from the start.

Him again??

Yes, more Obama. I honestly didn't mean for this to become either a political blog or an Obama fan site -- and rest assured baseball season is right around the corner, so subject matter will be diversifying again soon -- but two separate Obama-related articles caught my attention today.

First, the Pensito Review analyzes one of the secrets to Obama's success -- which, interestingly, parallels his principal similarity to Ronald Reagan. Both men are/were propelled by deeply held values and beliefs, and even those who might disagree with the way those values and beliefs translate into policy tend to admire the sincerity and conviction with which these two men express them. There's no real way to quantify things like integrity or inspiration, but they are exactly the elements that can turn a swell into a tidal wave.

Second and equally compelling, Newsweek profiles the anti-Hillary, the original, down-to-earth, and indelibly real Michelle Obama.

Whether or not these two turn out to be the next First Couple, they are both amazing and fascinating people.

Get a life, people

Sigh. Looks like the marriage protectors are at it again.

How bizarre is it that these people – ostensibly quote-unquote small government conservatives – can find nothing better to do than try to regulate the love lives of their fellow citizens? It’s like a particularly unfunny Monty Python sketch, without a dead parrot in sight.

The more these clowns throw around their aggressive rhetoric about “defending” marriage, the more they look like a bunch of closet cases who are afraid if they get hit on by someone of the same sex they might not be able to resist their true impulses.

In any case, I’m getting pretty tired of listening to their lunatic rants. The only threat marriage rights for gays could possibly pose to my marriage is that it might make it tougher to reserve a reception hall when my kids are ready to get married… now we’re talking serious stress!

The end of orthodoxy

It’s been amusing recently watching ideologues in both major parties twist themselves into a rage while invoking the name of Ronald Reagan.

For the Dems, the issue was Barack Obama’s candid assessment of Reagan:

“I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not. He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it… he just tapped into what people were already feeling, which was we want clarity, we want optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing.”

Horrors! You mean Obama didn’t just stick to the Democratic orthodoxy of Reagan as the progenitor of all that is wrong in modern America? No, he didn’t. He spoke a broader truth about Reagan, one which party warhorses may not care to hear, especially coming from the mouth of one of their own, but which is nonetheless true. I might have disagreed with Ronald Reagan on just about every policy issue he ever touched, but there is no denying that he connected with the American people in a way no president has since. His innate optimism inspired people, even people (the so-called “Reagan Democrats”) who really should have been paying closer attention to his views before voting for him.

On the Republican side, John McCain has been raked over the coals -- and compared unfavorably to Reagan -- for his repeated failure over the years to bow to certain orthodoxies of the conservative movement. He believes global warming requires immediate attention and that our campaign financing rules are in dire need of reform. He wouldn't necessarily condemn either gays or illegal immigrants to being second-class citizens of the country in which they live. Et cetera.

What Obama and McCain have in common -- beside momentum in their respective primary contests -- is that they have both declined to bow down to the hardcore ideologues within their own party. In the process, they have each made small but important steps toward breaking free of party orthodoxies and charting a new path that attempts to bridge the bitter divide between the conservative and liberal extremes in America. The fact that these two figures are each ascendant in their respective parties speaks volumes about the voters’ desire for (here comes that word) change – as in, candidates who don’t just parrot the same old rigid party dogma, but actually think independently and speak their minds sincerely about the issues of the day.

Reagan once famously declared it morning in America. If the fall contest turns out to be Obama vs. McCain, it will indeed be a brand new day for American politics – and citizens of all philosophical stripes should welcome that.

Just do it.

Yesterday was my first day at a new job. Which means this morning I'm busy, tired, distracted and slightly overwhelmed. So what am I going to do?

Vote.

When you think about it, the democratic system that gives us so much -- freedom, opportunity, assistance, protection -- demands very little from us in return. I'm happy to listen to anyone's complaints about how things are going in America, regardless of their political views, just as long as they've made that one little bit of personal effort to make a difference, to make their voice heard -- to make a change.

Just do it. Vote.