Young's Undying Faithfulness to Edwards

A story worthy of Danielle Steele

I watched Andrew Young's interview on 20/20 last night. The sensational story of Edwards betraying his wife (and his country) by having extramarital sex, and repeatedly lying about it, is worthy of a gritty Danielle Steele fiction. Young betraying his friend Edwards in this tell-all (he has written a book exposing everything) adds another dimension to this sordid story. I wouldn't have bothered to watch the show except I couldn't understand why Young so readily lied for Edwards about fathering Rielle's baby, and even more bizarrely, why he had her stay with him and his wife Cheri for several months through her pregnancy and birth of her daughter.

But, there were a few telling moments that explain why Young and Cheri went along with the scheme. Young says that the first time he saw Edwards, he "fell in love with him." Now, there is nothing homosexual about this confession. Rather, it is a man who is so taken up by the charisma and presence of another, that he becomes a loyal and unquestioning follower (and later friend). Young was therefore ready to do anything for Edwards, both politically and personally.

And, something which I should have figured out earlier, was when Young's wife comments (almost off-hand) about how she didn't want Elizabeth to find out about Edwards's affair and Rielle's pregnancy, since Elizabeth was apparently in the last throws of her cancer. So, Cheri's strangely altruistic behavior was to keep Elizabeth in the dark until the baby was born, by which time Elizabeth would have probably died!

Loyalty and love, a dying woman, and a pregnant mistress make for one of the most bizarre stories about betrayal in the life of a politician. There is of course money and a lavish lifestyle involved, with wealthy Democrats donating money which went towards expensive mansions and luxury holidays for the Young family. I wonder how Mr. and Mrs. Young will explain all those home movies of lush ski-slopes for Christmas and tropical beaches for New Years to their children. Some memories to cherish.

Turner's Watercolors

Capturing Ether

Margate, 1830

I've been looking at Turner's watercolors lately. I love their ethereal quality. It is surprising that a major artist should dedicate so many paintings to watercolor. Near the end of his life, Turner spent his days looking at the sky. Perhaps he was contemplating Heaven through the clouds he loved to observe. He understood their nuances, and I think also understood that watercolors can capture their delicate and fleeting character, perhaps better than oil. Looking at clouds is also looking at light in its many manifestations, whether diffused and subtle as in a grey winter’s day, or bursting with radiance and full of a mysterious glory.

Arth on the Lake of Zug. Early Morning. Ca. 1842–43

Modern Bridal Wear

Vera Wang's mounds of chiffon

From Vera Wang's Spring 2010
Bridal Collection

Beauty is the last thing on the minds of modern designers. Edginess, the avant-garde, experimentation and originality win over aesthetics.

Such is the case with bridal fashion. Vera Wang, the big name in bridal design, studied art history, and was fashion editor for sixteen years before she apprenticed with Ralph Lauren for a couple of years. She opened her store several years after that. The bulk of her experience is more in critiquing and analyzing gowns and dresses rather than making them herself.

Since beauty is no longer important, many design schools bypass craftsmanship for experimentation and originality. This suits designers like Wang just fine, who decided to enter the design field much later in life, and with minimal training. She doesn’t have to produce gowns which are carefully constructed and sewn. Instead, she can improvise with the gauzy materials and ephemeral colors. Modern brides, themselves with lax standards for craftsmanship but with high expectations for originality, are happy to pay thousands of dollars for her mounds of chiffon.

A Terrible Moment in the History of Feminism

Where daughters implore mothers a return to normalcy


The more I think about the Oprah interview with Sarah and Bristol Palin, the more I realize the gravity of the situation.

Feminism, in all its waves and adjustments, has proven itself to be an inhuman and narcissistic movement. The road to equality for women, however that is defined, is strewn with dead bodies.

Such was the case with Sarah Palin's bright and harsh predicament for her daughter. For the sake of her ideological position, she has thrown Bristol out of the cycle of life.

Bristol, looking older and wiser at nineteen than her mother, decided to take the harder route. Her staunchly determined position has a religious vigor to it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that is where she gets her confidence.

All around her Bristol sees young girls languishing on the wayside: Pop stars who enter drug rehabilitation as teenagers; divorced twenty-three-year-olds; rampant promiscuity. Many have their toddlers at their side and still continue with these destructive behaviors.

Yet, despite the limelight and a famous mother, Bristol decided to take the less glamorous path. And this is the time she needs her mother, and all those other mothers, the most. In fact, without them, she might very well fail. Traditional families cannot occur at the will of an individual. They really need whole villages, to borrow Hillary's phrase. Fathers with shotguns and vigilant mother are not fictional roles for Hollywood films. Those were the ways that real families were kept together, if need be.

Sarah had her chance at redemption. Like her daughter, she could have changed her course. After all, she also has an infant son at home. Instead, she continues to be seduced by her career and public life, leaving her brave young daughter to battle this out utterly on her own, as was so clearly evident on Oprah.

Feminism has come full circle. Its granddaughters are imploring for a life back to normalcy. They, in their wisdom wrought by suffering, understand what they are asked to give up for mere chimera. Their mothers cavort sprightly along with the old mantras, and in fact repeat the same songs and clichés without blinking an eye.

We have reached a terrible moment in the history of feminism, where daughters know more than mothers, and mothers cannot humble themselves to resume their tried and tested roles.

Oprah and Sarah Gang Up on Bristol

And tell her to abandon abstinence

Bristol Palin on Oprah, looking like
a beautiful, suffering Madonna.

I managed to catch the first half hour of Oprah's show today where she interviewed Sarah and Bristol Palin. I know, watching Oprah. But, I am trying to slowly uncover what she is all about, behind that now benign-looking mother goddess figure that she is propagating. And each time I watch her, a little more of her is revealed.

The young Bristol looked like a beautiful suffering Madonna, whereas Sarah fidgeted like an excited schoolgirl, with freshly done curls (a new and strange style - often when people's style goes awry, there's something psychological that isn't going too well). Mother and daughter looked tense, with the more honest Bristol sitting aloof and cautious, paying close attention to her mother’s words.

Oprah cut straight to the chase, and asked Bristol about her decision to remain abstinent until marriage.

Oprah asks: I saw in InTouch Magazine, and I kind of bristled when I saw this, where you say "I’m not going to have sex until I’m married, I can guarantee it." The reason I bristled is why set yourself up that way? It may be ten years from now before you choose to get married...

Bristol answers: Yes, I just think it is a goal to have and other women should have that goal.

The rest is astounding. You can watch it here at the 56 second point. Oprah resorts to fist pounding to get the calm and confident Bristol to repeal this horrible thing, and go and have all the premarital sex she needs.

Sarah, on the other hand, goes full-out feminist. She hopes Bristol doesn’t get married too early (in order to break her abstinence), since she has a career and an interesting life to lead. And she comes out with "Bristol can do anything she wants without a man." Yes, the fish and the bicycle thing, alive and well in an ex-Republican Vice Presidential nominee’s rostrum of thoughts, in the 21st century.

So, here is a young girl, suffering and trying to correct her misguided life through a principled decision, and two adult females (one her own mother) who berate her and tell her to take the crooked route.

I wonder if Bristol will manage to keep to her pact, despite her determined look. Such decisions require a whole society to really work, and a value system that isn’t simply based on personal rectitude. Sarah’s true colors showed today. She is not interested in her family’s well-being. She isn’t the Christian that she proclaims so earnestly to be (although less so these days). The only thing she’s interested in is keeping Sarah Palin in the limelight. She found exactly the right place under Oprah’s glaring cameras.

The Inevitable Road Current Immigrant Artists Take

Touting the empty, soulless mantra of multiculturalism

Kim's ethnic (Korea)-based piece

Kim's most recent trajectory into
full-blown multi-culti terrain.
Titled: "I was there"

[Click on image to see larger version]

It is interesting to follow things all the way to their logical conclusion (or demise, I should say). Chung-Im Kim, the immigrant textile designer about whom I have written about here, has her latest works on display. Her trajectory is typical of many immigrant artists and designers.

She started off by quoting from her Korean "background" a few years ago, rolling out mediocre, simplistic pieces. And now she’s into the whole multi-culti schtick.

It must be really depressing to be an artists at this severe stage of a quite apparent mental block. Kim clumsily stitches and photocopies her new pieces together, giving them esoteric titles to make the look better. No craftsmanship, no artistry, no originality, no art.

She demonstrates the kind of empty souls that current immigrants are becoming.

Well Done to Americans

An example for others

In these extraordinary times of American history, right after Martin Luther King Day, on the first year anniversary of Obama's inauguration, and in the state that belonged to Kennedy and the Democrats, truth and goodness have prevailed.

All the hard work of the grass-roots Tea Party movements, the inherent independence and individuality of Americans, and the refusal to succumb to the state, has won.

This kind of upset in Massachusetts would be unheard of in Canadian politics. All I can say is "Well Done!" to Americans. Perhaps other countries can make small amends through this great example.