What's He Doing?

Bob Herbert's NYT column today nails it on the head: What is our beloved Barack Obama doing? Why is he abandoning not only the progressive principles which ignited his initial support, but also the base that carried him to the nomination?

As Herbert writes, "Only an idiot would think or hope that a politician going through the crucible of a presidential campaign could hold fast to every position, steer clear of the stumbling blocks of nuance and never make a mistake. But Barack Obama went out of his way to create the impression that he was a new kind of political leader — more honest, less cynical and less relentlessly calculating than most... This is why so many of Senator Obama’s strongest supporters are uneasy, upset, dismayed and even angry at the candidate who is now emerging in the bright light of summer. One issue or another might not have made much difference... But Senator Obama is not just tacking gently toward the center. He’s lurching right when it suits him, and he’s zigging with the kind of reckless abandon that’s guaranteed to cause disillusion, if not whiplash. So there he was in Zanesville, Ohio, pandering to evangelicals by promising not just to maintain the Bush program of investing taxpayer dollars in religious-based initiatives, but to expand it. Separation of church and state? Forget about it. And there he was, in the midst of an election campaign in which the makeup of the Supreme Court is as important as it has ever been, agreeing with Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas that the death penalty could be imposed for crimes other than murder... “What’s he doing?” is the most common question heard recently from Obama supporters."

I Get It

Symphony Space, on 95th and Broadway, is having a summer celebration of the films of Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn: Feisty and Fabulous. Each weekend offers a great double feature.

Last night, I saw 2 Hepburn flics- Pat and Mike, and Adam's Rib. Ahead of her time? Katharine Hepburn is still ahead of her time, 55 years later! I've seen Hepburn in movies before, and Spencer Tracy, too. But I didn't get it until last night. What it is, I don't know. But whatever it is, I finally got it.

If you're in NY, it's worth your while. And cheap, too-- $11 for 2 movies.