Author Archives: floegel

Weather is Fine, Wish You Were Here

10/28/2004 – 3:14 pm

How’d you like a pre-election postcard from central Florida? I left 30-degree Vermont Monday and landed back in what seems the middle of July, made all the hotter by the political hot air. My friend Matt and I volunteered to spend the last week before the election helping MoveOn’s political action committee turn out the […]

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The Machine Age

10/21/2004 – 2:07 pm

I’ve had a profound sense of déjà vu for the past few weeks and this year, it’s not coming from the Red Sox. As we enter the final, agonizing weeks of the election campaign it’s become clear that the Republican Party has revived, on a national level, a device that was once the specialty of […]

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What’s In Your Wallet?

10/14/2004 – 4:22 pm

In my wallet is a green and white card with my name, address, date of birth, height, weight (approximately) and eye color, along with various codes and numbers. It’s my driver’s license and unlike almost every one of the millions of other American drivers’ licenses, it does not have a photo. Vermont is the only […]

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Missing the Point

10/7/2004 – 10:56 am

The key moment of Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate was not about toe-to-toe slugging or one side making a more exaggerated claim than the other. The crux of the debate was a question about African-American women and AIDS. Moderator Gwen Ifill posed the question to Vice President Dick Cheney. She said, “I want to talk to you […]

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What’s To Debate?

9/30/2004 – 10:24 am

Tonight’s first presidential debate will be a carefully stage-managed event; much has been made of the 32-page Memorandum of Understanding agreed upon by the campaigns, with provisions requiring the candidates to shake hands and prohibiting them from moving from behind their podia or posing questions – or even directly addressing – their opponent (rhetorical questions […]

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Now and Then

9/23/2004 – 2:13 pm

A new phrase has crept into the dispatches from Iraq in recent weeks – “civil war.” Insurgents are increasing their attacks on Iraqis who cooperate, or as they see it, collaborate, with Americans. Some attacks are on individuals, like police or military recruits, others are aimed at groups, like the Kurds. Looming civil war completes […]

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The New Normal

9/16/2004 – 5:07 pm

Things are getting stranger. The Florida Marlins played two “home” games at the White Sox’ park in Chicago this week against the Montreal Expos. Their stadium in Miami was recovering from Hurricane Frances and fretting over Hurricane Ivan. It was the first time two National League teams had met in an American League park since […]

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