The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    Presidential stream of consciousness

    ...raymond always said my game is persistence...i'm  still here....more persistent...i've got barack obama's number...raymond is dead now...sorry, old boss I took your job but you said everyone would underestimate my persistence...you were my best boss...it's the presidential bearing, and dress well and its human nature they will drop the ball right in front of you....a career, you said, a career is putting the right spin on the ball so it keeps dropping in front of you ....performance art, stupid pundits...how many plumbers in Ohio know what the hell art is....farce, it's a farce and haley barbour is a dipshit...turd blossom--forget Bush's brain Rick Perry may not even have a head ha ha what is that thing that sticks up out of his collar....he's a turd blossom, uses the brother word...well even I know a voter can smell a patronizing comment from a mile away...and it just shows weakness for not taking a man on with conviction......persistence and the predictable is the unpredictable...performance art.-- just plain farce, the ball keeps dropping right in front of me.....raymond nailed it...thanks, old boss...mentor..that's interesting...if a man doesn't have a good mentor by the time he's thirty none of his goals will be reached...it's always man to man...someone has to teach you that thanks old boss  man...i'm the boss now ...why isn't jeb bush in this race if it's so damned predictable...turd blossom.... and i'm still a front runner and I got me barack obama's number...and it's a three way race--gives me the path I need...what's predictable is farce and where the ball gets returned....its all worked out...on that stage with him, Mr. President, you're not running against George Bush's recession and you're not running against a weather vane like Mitt Romney. Let's get current. I'm Herman Cain. I'm here on this stage platform with you. Don't tell me what I believe. I know what I believe and the people know what I believe" ...much better than McCain who tried body moves behind Obama....stupid thing to do to a basketball player..he hit a three pointer....not me, I'm a head-on kind of man...it's school yard, baby, or the first job....what am I thinking?..you don't know...a blacker black---what's with the frown, is it a glare....just hit the ball once and see what he does... i'll tell you....i'll walk into a dark alley, don't care, will figure it out...barack obama would need a committee to decide....get the difference? tension, tension, what's this big blacker man gonna do...hit somebody, maybe....not like a high toned black...with book learning whose face you can read in an instant--here it comes, smartest guy in the room, long answer, the audience left....men, especially men...barack obama is a smarty pants...all politics starts in the school yard...smarty pants they all want to kill the guy....me they won't dare...you have to have enforcers...who can name one drone in Obama's cabinet...no one to stick up for him...tries to do it all himself...raymond said don't do it, the technicians, the sales guys, a good accountant...they bring it all to you who gives a crap about China's nuclear weapons...i'll have people who know that...the ball... barbour's a dipshit...ha ha, could have done this himself....and the sexual abuse junk---just another ball dropping right where I want it to....if necessary i'll jam the ball right down their throats...don't take that the wrong way...dumb clinton...it's on top of the desk that counts... persistent...call me mr. persistent... people might someday get my smoking advertisement ---when I finally do smile people are relieved and they hit the ball right back to where i'm standing... but when barack obama smiles he looks like a smart assed kid and people run the other direction or gang up on him. Performance Art...i think i finally got it.

    Comments

    brilliant


    Much obliged.


    I should add that Destor's fine post on extremism and the unpredictable got me to thinking whether Cain could actually win this.


    I love Mr. Persistent... and the turns on dipshit (I don't know if you were around for that conversation here...).  The worst thing, as someone who directs plays, is that I have no trouble imagining Cain delivering this monologue.  It's pitch perfect.


    You are much too kind. I know this piece is very close to the line but I meant it to be edgy. After all isn't the idea of Cain on the platform with Obama edgy?. This form is obviously hard to read and I don't particularly like the form, but what the hell, this is all experimental. I really wonder what this man might be thinking. For him to get as far as he has, even given the sexual abuse thing (By the way did I go too far on that? and did I cross any lines on race--well, it is a form without rules. My son-in-law is black and he uses the term "high tone"). Rachel Maddow did a segment on Cain's stuff as "Performance Art", which gave me an angle for the piece. And I did cast a spinning silver spoon out there in the weeds to see if I could catch a big pike.

    I really tried to get into Cain's head--so I very much appreciate your remarks. I'm coming to realize that I write like I imagine it's going to be spoken--don't know if that's bad or good, it just seems to be my way. When I put something out this experimental and edgy I'm never sure about it. Thanks much.  


    If it were me, I'd get an actor right away and start trying it out.  If you want to, let me know.  What would Jon Stewart do?  I'm serious.


    I'm in Texas most of the time, on the road and such, and don't have the resources I might have in Vermont. If you'd like to try it out with an actor there, say a student or such, I'd be flattered and would pay something to have the recording. Roughly where are you in Canada?


    Toronto


    Thanks.


    I'm going to look for an actor, preferably from the comedy circuit here.  I was thinking about a voice recording over a montage of media images, you know, sort of like a Herman Cain ad. If you like. Let you know.


    Great. That would be fun.


    I can actually hear Herman Cain's voice when I read this.


    Then, I've accomplished my objective. And it's a great compliment. Thanks much.


    You made me check it out; he does seem to be a pretty popular video performer:

    http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=herman+cain&aq=f

    And compared to Sarah Palin, one doesn't get a mercenary intent; he just likes being a celeb? But I think Perot would have been an equal hit if YouTube had been around when he was running; it takes more than that to have more than the Warholian 15 minutes?

    Also note that the "Now is the time for action" ad,

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhm-22Q0PuM

    which I would certainly label edgy (with the smoking, almost radically over the edge for a political campaign) seems to be the most highly popular Cain-related video.

     


    Thanks, Artsy.  
    Of course, Cain hasn't spent a whole lot of money on these ads, and that's also the point. To have the stupid media (and maybe a stupid blogger) ramp them around cable and the internet. Realistically he's an incredible long shot. Intrade has him at 4%. But it's a crazy environment. Let's face it, Palin could have been V.P. and this is almost more believable. We live in such an American Idol culture, what's the limit? And of course the Tea Party is deadly serious about not having to settle for Romney.


    Scene 2, Act I

    My mom always told me reading people like Mr. Herb Cain would not be easy.  I had to concentrate on his face, or was that his shoes, I never listened much to my mother, I probably should have.

    He arrived at the radio station 5 minutes early, we hid our big breasted women to make sure he could focus on the task at hand, which was to be interviewed by our best DJ, yeah, we still have live DJ's, can you imagine that?

    We'd been told we couldn't ask any questions about "the allegations", we were disappointed of course, so instead we asked him about his feelings about abortion. He answered like a man walking on air, like he had all the right answers, he believed in life, 100% he exclaimed excitedly. DJ AD asked him if a woman were assaulted and a baby resulted should she have access to abortion services, he said definitively it was the woman's choice.  "I am pro life," he insisted, "pro life." He smiled brightly after answering.

    The DJ raised his eyebrows at me, I rolled my eyes and looked down at Herb's shoes, I was just hoping to get a clue so I could figure out what this guy was doing here.


    Excellent, tmc! You nailed him, and the situation. Last line---wow.