Sherry Chandler

…and now this:

OSLO, Norway - Former Vice President Al Gore was nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his wide-reaching efforts to draw the world’s attention to the dangers of global warming, a Norwegian lawmaker said Thursday.

Maybe there are better things than being president of the United States of America.

“When Heather and I decided to have a baby, I knew it wasn’t going to be the most popular decision,” Ms. Cheney said, referring to her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe. She then gestured to her middle — any bulge disguised by a boxy jacket — and asserted: “This is a baby. This is a blessing from God. It is not a political statement. It is not a prop to be used in a debate, on either side of a political issue. It is my child.”

How does she get to say that

and how does Dick Cheney get to tell Wolf Blitzer to back off? and how does Dubya get to say “when I was young and stupid, I was young and stupid”?

When the rightwing spent years and years foaming at the mouth over Bill Clinton’s sex life?

Are Democrats such wimps?? Or is the press coverage skewed?? Or what?

(Not, mind you, that I think she’s wrong. But if she wants the privilege, then it should be granted to other folk.)

Another of the goodies that has graced my mail box this month is the 36th number of Free Lunch, wherein editor Ron Offen speaks with his usual passion concerning Adam Zagajewki’s A Defense of Ardor:

Writing with the zeal of a true believer in the high seriousness of poetry, he declares that “we dont go to poetry for sarcasm, or irony, for critical distance, learned dialectics, or clever jokes.” This would, of course, eliminate from serious consideration such poets as Brecht and as Zagajewski’s fellow-countrymen, Milosz and Szymborska, to name only a few noted poets who are guilty of those supposed transgressions in their work. …he decries the current lack of “ardor, metaphysical seriousness, [and] the risky voicing of strong opinions” in contemporary verse.

Free Lunch #36 is 32 pages of sarcastic, ironic, dialectical, clever, ardorous poetry by the likes of X. J. Kennedy, Allison Joseph, Denise Duhamel, and Jeannine Dobbs, to name but a few.

One issue is $5, a three-issue subscription is $12. They’ve got PayPal.

OR you can get a poem published and get a Free Lunch.