Keep It Up, Kid!

Christmas Day brunch is a tradition at this heathen liberal house and this last Christmas morning I was mixing up yet another pitcher of Mimosas. Everyone was in the kitchen with me, hovering like they do, when my mother-in-law started talking about her good friend, who is the mother of Joe Letteri. Joe Letteri, for all you non-Lord of the Rings' fans, is a visual effects guy who has won lots of awards, including a few Oscars. My mother-in-law was saying that her friend never knows where her son is or what he's working on.

Typical son, never calling his mother with daily updates like he should!

I said to her, "You know, I understand that it doesn't make one bit of difference that he's been so successful to his mom. Win or lose, he's her son. I'm sure all of that makes her proud and really happy for him, but it's not like kids have to reach that level for their mothers to think highly of them. But, just think about it for a second. He's won three Oscars! When she thinks about that, she has to be beside herself with pride! She probably thinks, No one's got nothin' on my boy!"

My mother-in-law said, "She is proud of him. But those things don't matter so much to her."

I said, "Admit it, D, you'd love The Skimmer a lot more if he ever won an Oscar!"

And everyone laughed the way people do when they're working on their third Mimosa before noon.

Over the last few weeks, The Skimmer, Blue Kid and I have watched all three Bourne movies. We were a little unconventional about it. We watched the third one first, then the second and the first one last on Saturday night. We have a new saying in the Blue Mansion, which is...

I'm telling you right now, you don't want to mess with Jason Bourne! You'll be sorry!

I'm usually not a shoot-'em-up, karate chop, a-thousand-car-chases-ending-in-a-thousand-car-crashes-through-the-city kind of movie fan. But, I loved all the Bourne movies.

When he took on every single bad guy in Prague and took them out, then scaled the outside of a tall building to get away yet again, I said, "Can you imagine being Matt Damon's dad? Oh my God! He probably cannot stand it! He's probably like, Yeah, that's my kid and you don't want to mess with him!"

Blue Kid said, "Mom! He loves him no matter what. You're being shallow."

"I understand the concept, Blue Kid, and you're right. I'll bet Matt Damon's dad loved him long before he became Jason Bourne who can kill anyone at any given moment! Hi-ya! All parents are proud. I could go upstairs this very instant and write a whole post about how, at 15 1/2, you are finally brushing your teeth all on your very own without me harping on you about it. Could a mother possibly ask for more? I say no."

He rolled his eyes and shushed me, not quite appreciating the depths of my love and maternal pride.

When Eli Manning lobbed that pass to Plaxico Burress at the end of the Superbowl, scoring the winning touchdown, the camera went to Peyton Manning in his private suite. He jumped up, arms in the air, smiling from ear to ear. Sheer joy.

After I yelled, "Yaayyyyyyyyy! Yippee-Yi-Yo!" I said to The Skimmer, "Can you imagine being Peyton and Eli Manning's parents? My God! It would be too much to take!"

"Is that your new thing, blue girl? That's all you ever say lately."

"I know! But, I can't help it! I can't imagine the pride they feel! It would be unbelievable."

This morning I clicked over to Shakesville and read yesterday's Quote of the Day:

Hillary Clinton, speaking to supporters late SuperTuesday: "I want to thank all my friends and family—particularly my mother, who was born before women could vote and is watching her daughter on this stage tonight."

Melissa ended her post:

Emphasis mine.

Blub.

Blub is right!

(Tough liberal women sharing a blub moment. Someone alert the media.)

I cannot imagine the pride Hillary's mother feels right now. Probably some anger, too. After all, lots of bad guys are going after Hillary every chance they get. And when they're not going after her, they don't talk about her at all. Last night, her name was hardly even mentioned while I was watching MSNBC, compared to how many times Obama's was. They seem to be covering her now the way they covered Edwards.

But, she's putting up a tough fight. She's the only candidate who I think's got the fight in her that's needed to battle everything that's going to need battled, both in the general election and as president. And the only one who, I believe, will come up on the winning side far more often than the losing one. I think she's one tough cookie.

I imagine Hillary's mother's been watching everything's that been going on, seeing her not backing down, holding her own, getting everything thrown at her and still coming out ahead and thinking... Yeah, that's my kid and you don't want to mess with her!

And I see the same things and feel the same pride and those are the reasons I support Hillary and will vote for her in the Ohio primary March 4.

I'm telling you right now, you don't want to mess with Hillary Clinton! You'll be sorry!

Comments

[Kathleen]

you are hilarious BG. Love this post. It's so true!

[Jennifer]

BG- I must say, yesterday, while in the voting booth, I could not help it, there was a woman, running for President. I had to vote for her. There are things I don't care for about her, but there are traits I truly admire... and did I say, there's a woman running for President. A woman. And she stands a chance. We've come a long way, but we haven't gone far enough. Yes, I voted for her.

[billy pilgrim]

I've got a couple of weeks to wait yet.

But I want to vote for Clinton because of all the naked, visceral loathing that has been generated towards her by Limbaugh and the other shouting heads; anger and hatred that are undeserved for the simple act of holding differing political opinions and strategy, but such is the simple result of Newt Gingrich's playbook in the 90's. Hatred is how the Right motivated itself to dominance, and hatred of Clintons is Pavlovically burned into the lizard brain at this point.

And I refuse to let knee-jerk hatred plot our political course, and it needs to be demonstrated to the opposition.

I do think, however, that Hillary might be the only person eligible that may be more in danger of assassination than Obama.

Which is, I suppose, progress of a sort.

[Jennifer]

You know, now Coulter and Limbaugh are saying if McCain gets the nomination, they'll vote for Hillary because she's less liberal. I smell a rat... I smell 2.

[Brando]

I expect TBD to have an Oscar/Pulitzer/Lombardi Trophy by 35 or I will be profoundly disappointed. Golden Globes/National Book Awards/Stanley Cups may not be substituted, and a People's Choice will cause me to disown my child.

[billy pilgrim]

I can't wait to hear what Snag has to say on this one.

[Snag]

I expect my kid to have a police record by 35. Heck, by 15. It's all a question of setting achievable goals.

We had quite the Obama/Clinton discussion at work today, with me on the Obama side for reasons that for the most part don't bear repeating here.

One of them I struggle with, however, because it has less to do with Clinton and her policies than it does with who she is. That's the fact that I'm growing increasingly concerned by rise of political dynasties in this country. The Kennedys of course, the Bushes (God help us), and now the Clintons. It's also happening here in my own state, with children of former legislators now taking the "family" seat. I'm an old guy around these parts and I have never voted in a presidential election that hasn't had a Bush or Clinton has already been on the ticket as President or Vice-President.

On a lighter note, Matt Damon's mother, an early childhood education professor, was fundamentally opposed to any sort of violent games. Walking out of a screening of the first Bourne movie one of her friends was supposed to have said to her, "You see what happened because you wouldn't let him play with guns when he was little?"

[billy pilgrim]

Heh, Snag.

I've got a good friend whose parents wouldn't let him watch TV as a young boy.

So he went to the Library a lot, which they thought was great.

what he did at the Library, among other things, was research into chemistry so he could make explosives. An area outside his bedroom window was his test bed, scorched bare of shingles. eventually all the neighbor's mailboxes were vaporized, one attaining a height of a hundred feet before falling back to earth.

[yaya]

Kick Some Butt, Hillary!!!

[Skimmer]

"One of them I struggle with, however, because it has less to do with Clinton and her policies than it does with who she is. That's the fact that I'm growing increasingly concerned by rise of political dynasties in this country."

I'm still on the fence. Blue makes good points, but I feel the same way Snag does.

Is it right to write her off just because she's a Clinton? If she wasn't a Clinton would I be leaning more toward her?

Right now the U S of A is in some serious shit. We do need to come together even if it is a pipe dream.

I'm so confused.

[billy pilgrim]

I like the idea of going with Hillary, just to display to the Right that even when they pull out all the stops, go full goose bozo crazy on our candidate, we can STILL beat them when we want to (I actually saw a troll post on Sadly No 'they WILL kill again').

But then I reconsider- the risk is overwhelming if we don't -quite - have enough to overcome the hell they will put her through.

But then, they will do the same thing to Obama, and Clinton has been through it - they've dug up everything they already can on the Clintons, and it hasn't stopped them.

Obviously, the country is going through the same thing.

[billy pilgrim]

Incidentally, I figure Matt Damon's dad always wanted him to be a policeman or something like that.

Every time Matt comes home with an award or another starlet on his arm, Dad just shakes his head sadly....

[blue girl]

The Deathball League® Goes Goose Bozo Crazy.

Or....

The Deathball League® Is Goose Bozo Crazy.

I have no idea what that line could be used for or on, but it should be used somehow for or on something.

[Kathleen]

I have no idea what that line could be used for or on, but it should be used somehow for or on something.

Indiana Jones and the Bozo Crazy Deathball League®?

[Whitecat]

I wish we could lay this "dynasty" nonsense to rest once and for all. The Clintons are not a dynasty. There are three of them, if you count Chelsea, who I doubt has political ambitions (yet).

There are no other Rodhams or Clintons who have EVER held public office. No congresspeople, no governors, no mayors, not even any state legislators. I don't even think there's a dogcatcher in the family.

The Bushes ARE a dynasty (look up Bush dynasty in wikipedia), and the only reason there were two president Bushes is because Bush II stole the election from Al Gore. Remember?

Hillary is related to Bill by marriage, not by blood.

But if you insist - it damn well does take a Clinton to clean up after a Bush.

(Feel free to steal this, if you think it will help, whenever and wherever the dynasty BS comes up)

[BAC]

I will proudly cast my vote for Hillary on Feb 12, in MD.

BAC

[MB]

I really won't mind voting for Hillary in November if she gets the Dem nomi. I still think she's too cluelessly devoted to American-style Capitalism to get that we are NOT the best we can be already in that regard. My biggest gripe on the topic is her apparent belief that we - the U.S. - has some kind of Right to determine policy in the Middle East. I Love the idea of Israel! Bill - my fave Prez since Ike - seemed to think that meant we should never hold 'em to cleaning up their Human Rights violatations. Hill seems to have the same type of attitude. "Torture ain't torture if it's done for the "right" reasons.

How's that any different from $hrub?

I don't - and here seems to be most folks' rub 'gainst 'Bama - exactly sure how Obama would arrange this differently, but I'm hoping (against hope?) that he'd really figure out a way to reassess the Tax system in this country to make Corporations less reliant/devoted to/addicted to their Market price.

{stretching} I know.

OK. This post has officially decided me on renting the 3 Bourne flicks. I been a waverin' but now am sold.

Thanks!

[MB]

Oh! Oh! OH! I almost forgot!

If that's not enough reason to prefer BO over Hil, this endorsement oughtta get ya donning your smarmiest neo-conservative schoolgirl outfit whilst campaigning for Obama in the Republicanist neighborhoods you can find!

AC said she (he, it) will campaign for Clinton if McCain gets the 'Thug nominaton!