Entry 11:

Dear Peevish,

You are too hard on yourself, Sweetie. Bill Bradley and Michael Bolton in one day: I feel your pain. (Where was Bolton exactly? In your office? Does he shed from that pony tail? Or has he cut it off?) And who wouldn't be irked by the speculation about Jennifer Dunn and Liddy Dole as Bush's veep? My view: It would be an important feminist achievement for either Dole or Dunn to second the ticket. It would put to rest the old canard that a woman must be smarter and more accomplished than her male counterparts to succeed in politics. Dole and Dunn are just as mediocre as any male ex-Transportation secretary or house member.

One important Super Tuesday story that hasn't gotten the play it deserves comes out of California. As the Los Angeles Times reports in passing, Californians overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative that will legalize Indian casinos once and for all. (As you know, I have been obsessed with this topic for months.) The victory of Prop 1A completes a three-year campaign by a bunch of small Indian tribes to make their illegal gambling operations legal. The amount of money they spent--$100 million in all--is more than any political interest group has ever spent in the history of politics, and they have become the most powerful force in Golden State politics. In a matter of months, California will be the second-biggest gambling state in the nation. Meanwhile, a few thousand California Indians are getting mind-bogglingly rich. (A tribe I visited is netting $250,000 per tribe member per year--tax-free--from its casino. This does not seem so unjust when you consider how cruelly California treated its Indians for the previous 150 years.) 

Californians also banned gay marriage yesterday. This was not the only news on the gay-union front. The New York Times carries a piece on Vermont's grassroots debate about gay partnership. (In the wake of a state supreme court decision requiring equal protection for gay couples, the state legislature is considering a domestic-partnership bill.) The piece reports from a town meeting where citizens expressed deep reservations about any state licensing of gay couples. The story is a red herring: The reporter visited a single, very conservative town, and the story suggests that Vermonters are generally opposed to gay partnership. My sense from our visits to Vermont is that folks are fairly libertarian about this. Marry and let marry. Your thoughts?

I end today with a call for a crusade. According to our hometown paper, last week's five episodes of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire were the week's five highest-rated programs--by far. I confess: I was a Regisaholic when Millionaire began a few months ago. (And, to air some more dirty laundry, so were you). But enough already! Hasn't America tired of 43-year-old single schlumpfs? Isn't the nation sick of phoning a friend? Yesterday you described the burgeoning anti-Harry Potter insurgency. I say: Let the Millionaire backlash begin!

Viva la revolucion!
D