August, 9, 2003 archives

introvertster.

i've only seen a few minutes of hbo's oz (so far: it's in the queue), but stone city by mitchell smith is at least a literary cousin of the series.

set in a formidable state prison, a college professor convicted of a hit-and-run-while-drunk homicide gets tangled up in investigating the murder of a couple of other convicts, pressured by both the official and unofficial prison authorities.

the plot itself isn't particularly deep or complicated, but the setting and characters are incredibly rich.

jack pitney, professor in the government department at claremont men's mckenna college seems to be one of the press's go-to guys on political issues, particularly the recall.

i took a political philosophy course from him, and one of the things i remember is his prediction that republicans would never retake congress. (oops.)

it is interesting to look at the things he says in light of the facts that he used to work for the republican national committee and dick cheney.

i've got nothing against the guy, but he seems an odd choice to be commenting on the california governor recall and race—aren't there a few professors who actually study and write about california politics?

(just another of life's lessons on why you should never put too much faith in anything you read in the press.)