The thought once occurred to me, years ago, late at night as I was doing the dishes: “Would Henry Kissinger do the things he does, and think the things he thinks, if he did his own dishes?” What I had in mind was humility. And a sense of common humanity, a connection to basic physical reality. A Zen moment, I guess. (Maybe Kissinger washes his own dishes—what do I know?)
So naturally this caught my attention:
[Paul] Hackett, a veteran of the Iraq war who has become a favorite of liberal bloggers and the Democratic “net roots,” endorsed [US Rep. Sherrod] Brown’s Ohio Senate candidacy yesterday—five months after leaving the race himself.
“Maybe I don’t like every issue Sherrod Brown believes in, but we agree on 95 percent of the issues,” Hackett said. “Maybe I am not going to go fishing with him, but he shares my core concerns.”
Hackett’s support for Brown is an about-face from some sour comments he made after dropping from the race. …
Hackett said his change of heart came Thursday while he was mowing his lawn. He called Brown, apologized for the way he exited the race and offered to help. The two men met in Cincinnati over the weekend to hash out the particulars of an endorsement.
It occurred to him while he was cutting the grass. Of course.
Maybe Joe Lieberman should cut his own grass. (Yes, I’m assuming he doesn’t. Bad, bad me!)
Former Senate candidate Paul Hackett, right, laughs as Rep. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, talks during a rally in Cincinnati, Monday July 10, 2006. Hackett anounced that he is supporting Brown in the Senate race. An anti-war congressman from Avon in northeast Ohio, Brown entered the Senate race a few days after Hackett last October and immediately had the support of key Senate Democrats such as Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and New York Sen. Charles Schumer, the chairman of the party’s national Senate campaign organization. Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory is left. (AP Photo/Tom Uhlman)
