Thoughts (Political And Otherwise) While Cycling

Thoughts while riding my bike through the neighborhood....

* I'm not much of a Lewis Black fan, but I admire what he said about George Carlin after the great comic's death--particularly his notion that Mr. Carlin was a superb anthropologist, with which I agree entirely. Stated Mr. Black of Mr. Carlin: "He was pulling us out of the '50s mentality, which persists today. Somehow, it won't let go. He pointed in the direction and said, 'Can we please move on?' He did his best to try to help us grow up as a people. He said, 'Can we mature a little? Can we be smarter than we're acting?' I think he was a great anthropologist. He was studying us while we were still wandering around."

* I must remember to tell my readership about the thought-provoking article titled "The Big Sort" in the (often center-right) magazine The Economist. It deals with the increasing trend on the part of Americans to live next to like-minded people, which would at first thought seem a fine and natural thing, but upon second thought seems less wonderful. (The tag line to the article is "This makes the culture war more bitter and the politics harder," which we come to learn means "more polarized.") The article, which I recommend as a conversation-starter (and perhaps argument-igniter, which I'm all for, given the lack of political discussions engaged in by people of opposing viewpoints in the U.S., according to both a study quoted in the article and my own anecdotal American experiences vs. my time in Europe), can be found at: http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11581447

* It seems to me that I've passed six coffee shops in the last twenty-five minutes, though I may have passed one of them twice. On balance, I consider the proliferation of coffee shops in both the U.S. and many places abroad a good thing. It will get more and more strangers talking to each other, particularly those who dislike the bar/pub scene.

* I recognize a lot of the people walking out of the local convenience store to their cars; they're carrying one or two items apiece and are from my neighborhood, which is only a mile away. Now they seem to be driving home. Look at how crowded the roads are. Why would they want to drive to the store, with the traffic as it is, when they can cycle on the very-wide side of the road or walk on the sidewalk, both of which are far less crowded? And given the price of gas these days.... I really hope they worked late and are simply stopping at the store on the way home, which would make perfect sense. Otherwise, well, I often don't understand mass physical laziness. I shouldn't think too much about it, however, lest I utter it aloud and am accused of being a "left-wing elitist."

* Ah, leave it to the bookstore crowd to cycle to their favorite shop. Last autumn, one or two cycles were to be found tied to the cycle racks at this big bookstore. Today there are well over a dozen. That's good, I suppose, except it means that it will be far more difficult to squeeze my cycle into the rack now....

* I like fellow cyclists, except the ones who are under the impression that they are the heir to Lance Armstrong. (You know who I mean.) I hate to burst their collective bubble, but whatever they are, it's surely the case that they are not in the same cycling universe (let alone league) as Lance Armstrong and his fellow professionals.

* Wouldn't it be wild if Senator Obama chose very-Rocky-Mountain-oriented Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer as his running mate, and Senator McCain chose popular Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate? They may or may not be the best running mate selections for each candidate, but a strong case could be made for adding each of them to their parties' presidential tickets, and it's surely the case that the demographic battles, electoral map, campaign strategies, and even (if to a lesser extent) policy issues would shift in interesting ways if they were the running mates. At any rate, whether they're the best choices or not, they'd contribute greatly toward giving us an exciting election season.... Meanwhile, The Times (of London) is still evidently obsessed with the idea of my state's governor, Tim Pawlenty, being the running mate for Senator McCain -- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4187549.ece -- which is also not out of the question, particularly the closer we get to the Republican National Convention, which is to be held in my current hometown of Saint Paul, Minnesota.

* That reminds me that I ought to make my formal running mate endorsements sometime in the next week or two. I think I'll do just that.

* Yes, it does indeed look as though my selections for AL and NL batting champions for 2008 are in the running to win those titles. (Joe Mauer, from my Minnesota Twins, is presently a very close third place in the American League, and Lance Berkman, from the Houston Astros, is in second place in the National League.)

* I'd better start watching where I'm going a bit more closely as I head home. I don't want anyone to think I'm one of those people who speculates about politics, sociology, and sports as he cycles around the local roads....