27 January 2008

The Windshield Crack'd



It was raw and cold, and I needed a break from writing proposals on a winter Saturday. I was headed down to Columbia Pike to use the Navy gas station near the Pentagon when I noticed it: a little hairline of silver that had crept out of the windshield frame on the driver's side.

It was a tiny thing, and I suppose I could have done something about it right after that big jagged chunk of concrete flew from the heavy tread of the ubiquitous dump trucks that haul big loads of red County dirt from one construction pit to other places in the County that need fill.

It had been a sickening “thunk,” and I knew damage had been done, but I could see nothing. It took months for the crack to appear, probably prompted by some twist of the convertible's frame on the undulating blacktop haphazardly patched from all the utility work they are doing to prepare for the needs of the yuppies in the new townhouses.

I suppose I could have done something about it at the time; they claim that swift intervention with epoxy sealants can stop the spread. Looking at the point of origin at the gas station, though, the glass was crushed right through. I imagine the insurance company will be cross with me, and the decals and inspection and tax stickers that adorn the glass will have to be replaced.

I should have invested in a car I did not care about; maybe an old police cruiser that is fast, reliable, and disposable, just like the rest of my life. I think of the sleek shiny Mercedes as the Hubrismobile sometimes, and each little scratch an assault on my self-esteem.

I should have done something when I could have, but I didn't. Now I am going to have to live with the consequences, like the economy and the election.

I rose this morning knowing I could do nothing about the windshield until tomorrow, and discovered the people in South Carolina had done something dramatic yesterday. The young Senator who would be president handily beat the Senator who opposes him yesterday. Thirty points worth: Crushed, 57% to 27%.

It was a nasty week, with all sorts of tricks. The best one was from former UN Ambassador Andrew Young, which was so wonderful that I will not dignify it here. The millionaire tort lawyer who was born in the state, campaigns for the little guy and has fabulous hair came in ten points behind the lady, so his candidacy appears to be that of a dead man walking.

It would be nice to get some closure out of this event, which refines the view of this spectacle slightly. Of course, next Tuesday will tell us much more. Twenty-two states and two territories will vote on the 5th of February, 52 percent of all pledged Democrats and 41 percent of the total Republican delegates are at stake.

The desire to offset the undue influence of Iowa and New Hampshire has created the largest "Super Tuesday" to date, dwarfing the ones that have existed since 1988, when Southern states joined to have their primaries on the same Tuesday in March. They hoped to gain some regional advantage in the nomination process.

It did not work in 1988, since the Democratic nominee ultimately turned out to be a Greek fellow from Massachusetts. With all the states that jumped on the early bandwagon, the rhyme and reason of which ones are voting has been blurred. Still, this coming Tuesday will dwarf the four Super events that have come before.

Some commentators are calling it "Tsunami Tuesday," but I don't think that will catch on, and more than the quarter-final round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament has ever gelled with a rhyming name.

“Great Eight” just doesn't do it, you know?

Virginia and Maryland will trail the major hoopla, and we get a chance to vote on the 12th, a week after the Tsunami passes. That will be the last chance for anyone who lives in Big Pink to have an opinion in this matter, since Arlington County is so overwhelmingly Blue that regardless of how I choose to exercise the franchise in November, long after the conventions are done in Denver and Minneapolis, I will effectively be voting for the Democratic nominee regardless of who it is. I have to think this morning it is the young man from Illinois.

I guess we will just have to wait and see, just like I am going to watch the little crack spread across the windshield of the Hubrismobile.

Copyright 2008 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com

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