"Politics make strange bedfellows."
--Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900)

Okay, I admit it--I had to look up the source of the quote in "Bartlett's." (I always thought it was one of those things that were just THERE without anyone having actually said it first.) But somebody DID say it, and it's TRUE. So much for exploding old saws. ("Watch out for exploding saws!"--Robert Benchley)

Susan and I attended our mid-month Howard Dean meeting at the Hotel Utica last evening, and it was a great turnout. There was even a truncated notice in the (lousy) O-D--which at least was accurate regarding time and location. Though two key members could not be there, we drew a dozen supporters, including a medical-school classmate of Howard Dean's, a local global warming activist, my apolitical friend Alex, and Sue's ex-husband, Mr. Wonderful. "And," he said, "Sue's ex-husband, Mr. Wonderful."

My little girl is growing up. I'm so proud. Instead of leaping from her chair and stabbing him in the carotid artery with her pen when she finally recognized him (he had changed so) Sue kept her temper under control for the good of the group. In fact, he presented such a benign aspect to her that she actually said "Hi" to him before she realized who he was. (She did not address him directly thereafter, but remained civil.)

How quaint a juxtaposition! She had just JUST finished paying off her divorce lawyer (thus reallocating funds that we could have spent on frivolities like roof repairs)--in fact, "the check," as they say, "was in the mail." (Anon.) So here was this phony, tax-evading, philandering waste of flesh who had taken food from our mouths, and SUSAN DID NOT KILL HIM.

Well, we wanted to be able use the lobby for future meetings. (The carpet-cleaning bills ALONE would have been DEVASTATING.) Plus, it would have reflected poorly on the Dean organization as a whole. There ARE more important things than revenge. The main one is voting the Psychopathic Cowboy out of office. So, for the time being, Mr. Wonderful is in our group. He's another vote for Howard Dean, at any rate. (I guess this is what they mean by "realpolitik.")

Out of respect for Sue, I did not offer to shake the man's hand. It was the least I could do.

"I'll be glad when you're dead, you rascal, you."
--Louis Armstrong (1901?-1971)