Call it even

Baseball’s post-season, especially when the Yankees are involved, always gets the oxygen flowing in my red-blooded American lungs. Autumn nights in the ballpark evoke the same emotions in me as summer nights watching fireworks while listening to some Aaron Copland; I get all patriotic and proud of my country and our freedoms and our pastimes.

And then there is the election of Arnold the Barbarian in California. As little as it affects me as a New Yorker, whenever I think about it, I get a sour taste in the back of my throat. I imagine that several Italians had the same feeling when the granddaughter of Mussolini was elected to their parliament a decade ago. It isn’t so much that Guv’ner Arnie won’t be a good politician, or that any damage has been done to the system, but I have to wonder where this might take us ten or twenty years.

So yesterday had me both proud about and embarrassed by my country. I’d like to think that is uniquely American, too, but it may just be me equivocating, again.