Day: December 5, 2005

Three years ago yesterday, I drove an in-labor Kathleen to the hospital. We arrived just before midnight and I parked right nearby the hospital itself since almost no one was there. When I left late the next day–today, December 5th–my car was buried under a foot of snow, and blizzard conditions were such that I skidded three times on the dangerous drive back home.

Somewhere between all that, Caroline Helen David was born. One of the first remarks by a nurse: “Oh my God, look at those FEET!” Great gunboats they were, indicating this was going to be one tall kid (now more than halfway to six feet in height).

We had her “official” party on Saturday since that was when all her little friends, cousins, aunt and grandparents could attend. Today’s her actual birthday, so we’re having the remains of her birthday cake and trying to work out a time to take her to see “Chicken Little.”

PAD

Last night on “West Wing,” Toby Ziegler, in a spirited confrontation with Josh, explained precisely why he wasn’t wild about Santos and didn’t see him as presidential material. He said that what makes someone presidential material is that–rather than being dragged into the fray, as Josh did with Santos–a true president believes that destiny and the gods have brought him to this time and this place so that he can grab the presidency with both hands, and so that he can come up with the tough answers that stump everyone else in the country.

Not only did he neatly summarize everything I find lacking in Santos, he also described what I find so annoying about Bush. Because I have the sense that Bush was steered into the presidency in the same way that Santos was. He didn’t grab the presidency with both hands; it was handed to him on a platter. That’s what I think he was doing back on 9/11 when he was informed that the towers had collapsed and he sat there immobile for six minutes: Staring at his hands and thinking, “Who handed me THIS?”

PAD