January 11, 2009

When Bill Cosby voted: "Well, I took my father's picture, I took my mother's picture and I took my brother James, he died when he was 7, I was 8..."

"And I took the three of them into the voting booth in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, and I pulled the curtain and I took their pictures out and I said, 'And now we're going to vote.' And I — we only, I only voted once. But — and I did that and their pictures were out, and then I put them back into my pocket and I opened the curtain. And it, and it was wonderful."

IN THE COMMENTS: Chip Ahoy said:
When I voted I stepped into the booth and closed the curtain. Then I took out of my overcoat photos of my mother and father and my four brothers and sisters and my dog that I have in little frames and taped them to the voting machine. I came prepared with Scotch tape because I remembered last time they didn't have any shelves in that voting booth. Then I took out a couple of candles and taped them to the sides of the voting booth. Then, from another pocket of my overcoat, I took out a bento box that I stuffed with sushi and sashimi and mixed the soy sauce into the wasabi, and using chopsticks, had a little snack. Then I took out a flask of saki and took a few long swigs. Then I gazed at the pictures for a long time. I thought heavily about each member of my family as I went down the row of election choices and made my selection. Then when I was finished with my little ritual I looked at the pictures again, individually, and said to them as if they were in there with me, "You're wrong about nearly everything and although I have only an idea how you all voted I have but one vote to counteract yours, so here goes." Then I pulled the lever. Put the pictures back into my pocket, snuffed the candles, put those away too, then the flask. Then closed the bento box and left.
Bissage said:
When I voted I brought my menagerie of Star Wars figurines and wrote in Jedi Master Mace Windu.

And it, and it was wonderful.

37 comments:

Kirby Olson said...

Cosby's a nice man. I don't know exactly what those photos were doing with him. He can't remember his parents or his brother? Still, it's very nice for him to have a good day. He's given America many good days. And he's doing the best he can to provide focused honest answers for his seriously screwed up community. A great man, a great comedian. That combo is very rarely found.

Roberto said...

"He can't remember his parents or his brother?"

Yeah, that's it.

Good lord...

garage mahal said...

That's a shame the comments were deleted starting off this thread. I'm pulling for Ann to undelete.

I'm Full of Soup said...

This is a touching story.

Ann Althouse said...

Pull away then, Garage. Preferably off by yourself in a room where no one will hear you.

Matt Eckert said...

Or a voting booth.

Palladian said...

Wow, that's a whole lot of rigmarole to go through to vote for John McCain.

Oh, wait...

Trooper York said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
garage mahal said...

I think the professor has something against poor garage mahal.

I think I do get under her skin.

Trooper York said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I think I do get under her skin.

Perhaps, but she doesn't ask you to leave, like the subject of the pulled posts.

Chip Ahoy said...

When I voted I stepped into the booth and closed the curtain. Then I took out of my overcoat photos of my mother and father and my four brothers and sisters and my dog that I have in little frames and taped them to the voting machine. I came prepared with Scotch tape because I remembered last time they didn't have any shelves in that voting booth. Then I took out a couple of candles and taped them to the sides of the voting booth. Then, from another pocket of my overcoat, I took out a bento box that I stuffed with sushi and sashimi and mixed the soy sauce into the wasabi, and using chopsticks, had a little snack. Then I took out a flask of saki and took a few long swigs. Then I gazed at the pictures for a long time. I thought heavily about each member of my family as I went down the row of election choices and made my selection. Then when I was finished with my little ritual I looked at the pictures again, individually, and said to them as if they were in there with me, "You're wrong about nearly everything and although I have only an idea how you all voted I have but one vote to counteract yours, so here goes." Then I pulled the lever. Put the pictures back into my pocket, snuffed the candles, put those away too, then the flask. Then closed the bento box and left.

Anonymous said...

Is what Cosby telling us is that his vote wasn't for principle or issue or ability or anything real and tangible, and that race, creed, and the color of ones skin ARE valid points of interest when voting, when those very things are in fact irrelevant to the job and the ability to do that job?

knox said...

I think I do get under her skin.

you wish

Palladian said...

"I think I do get under her skin."

Just like scabies.

Bissage said...

When I voted I brought my menagerie of Star Wars figurines and wrote in Jedi Master Mace Windu.

And it, and it was wonderful.

Trooper York said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
former law student said...

when those very things are in fact irrelevant to the job and the ability to do that job

I dunno. I think being the first candidate from your group has meaning to people. Then it wears off.

Greeks supported Dukakis, middle-aged white women supported HRC, etc. The nuns were very pro-JFK, but I do not remember any rush of Catholics to vote for Kerry as a Catholic.

Trooper York said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ricpic said...

Chip Ahoy has the right idea. Feh on famblee!

garage mahal said...

Perhaps, but she doesn't ask you to leave, like the subject of the pulled posts.

Not sure why I would be asked to leave, but okay.

Trooper York said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

GM: sorry, you missed my point. You may get under her skin (though in this case I think she was just joshing ya) but you do not give her a reason to ask you to leave. I was alluding to another poster, the author and/or subject of those deleted posts.

Kirby Olson said...

I'm extremely glad the initial comments were deleted. I usually can't stand censorship but those comments were so low, they set a new anti-standard.

Cosby is a really great man.

He started off as a comedian in Philadelphia. He was an athlete at Temple University. My dad was his academic advisor.

It's only a very tangential brush with his life, but I'm very proud of it.

He's lately been a very very strong thinker about his community and writing brave daring books that he just doesn't have to write and that are costing him fans, but he believes so strongly in the truth, that he's writing them anyway.

We need more Americans like this.

And fewer like the jerks who initially opened this thread.

Mark O said...

It was a grand opportunity to transcend race. Did we do it or will the same old stuff still be in the air. If so, Bill's pictures will have aired in vain.

chickelit said...

Pull away then, Garage. Preferably off by yourself in a room where no one will hear you.

Ouch! garage must have pulled his groin on that one. It felt so good he pulled it again!

Hey, I just saw Gran Torino-- is there some place safe to talk about it without worrying about spoilage?

garage mahal said...

I'm extremely glad the initial comments were deleted. I usually can't stand censorship but those comments were so low, they set a new anti-standard.

Actually for the record I was told to go jerk off in a corner. That was the crudest comment on this thread.

heywoot said...

I am not so sure he is a great man. He has cheated on his wife, that's not great.

Donna B. said...

heywoot:
"I am not so sure he is a great man. He has cheated on his wife, that's not great."

No, that's not great. It doesn't really subtract from whether his thoughts and writings on other things are great. Or from his greatness as a comedian.

It just means he was not a great husband. Or at most, that he was an imperfect one.

If Tom Cruise makes a good movie again, like A Few Good Men, I won't refuse to see it because off-screen I think he's nuts.

Ann Althouse said...

Chickenlittle I made a post for "Gran Torino" spoiling conversation.

Ann Althouse said...

"I'm extremely glad the initial comments were deleted. I usually can't stand censorship but those comments were so low, they set a new anti-standard."

The problem was a complete hijack of the thread at the very top of the thread. It was likely to prevent any discussion of what I set up in the post, and it was off-putting. Apparently, the idea of going into a booth makes some of you men think of masturbating. I thought that was unfair to Bill Cosby.

lowercase said...

I whipped out my compact, dabbed some lightly colored sparkle gloss on my lower lip, smiled real pretty, and wrote in my own name.

save_the_rustbelt said...

Gee, how did we attract the "Confederate flag in the rear window of the pickup truck" crowd?

Most of them think with their heads, the little one below the belt.

Darcy said...

That's it. I'm bringing sushi too, the next time I vote. And candles.
Some Lee Greenwood music.

Thanks, Chip.

Trooper York said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ann Althouse said...

Well, Bissage is wonderful. You know that.

For one thing, he is always funny -- and his sense of humor happens to be right in the zone for me. I don't know why. Just a consequence of wonderfulness.

Trooper York said...
This comment has been removed by the author.