The 90s

With over 600 blog entries by now, I’m starting to get writer’s block more often.   Fortunately I managed to find a topic which I haven’t previously addressed:  the 1990s.  Not 2000-1990 BC, nor any other century.  Got it?  I’ll try to address general issues but inevitably my analysis will be centered on my own life experiences. Let’s begin. 

My Own Life.   Having been born in 1969, I turned 21 in early 1990.   I was starting my final (spring) semester at University of Maryland, College Park, which I’d finish after the first summer session, mid-July.  I spent the last two weeks of July back in Paris for the last time, as my parents moved home permanently around September 1, moving back into the same home we left in January 1979.  My buddy Phil and I tried our best to renovate the house in August for my family’s return, undoing to a limited extent the extensive abuse it suffered from various tenants over that period of time. 

Then in late August I started at George Mason University School of Law, graduating in May 1993.   I passed the July 1993 Maryland bar exam (admitted December 1993 in Annapolis) and the February 1994 Virginia bar exam (admitted in June 1994 in Richmond).  Thus my legal career got started. 

Aside from a brief interlude from March to December 1994 when I was not working for him, I spent October 1992 through May 1998 working for my first legal employer, Jerry Curran.  He was a sole practitioner who had previously worked for O'Melveny & Myers, a big firm in L.A., and the NRA in DC.  It was just the two of us, handling traffic, criminal, and divorce in Northern Virginia.  Jerry didn’t take any personal injury or bankruptcy cases.  Since he wasn’t licensed in Maryland, I was the attorney handling matters in that state.  In May 1998 Jerry got hired by a big divorce firm in Fairfax and I wound up without a job. 

The remainder, from September 1998 through October 2000, was spent doing document processing at a DOJ contractor, CACI.   Thus the majority of the 90s was spent learning how to be an attorney, an experience which was mostly positive.  I’m still on good terms with Jerry, though our paths have long diverged.

Cars.  In spring 1994, now with a surplus of free time and decision to use that time productively to learn something new, I started working on cars, first taking basic courses with Arlington Adult Education and following up with more advanced courses at NOVA Alexandria along with dealer techs.   I went from having zero clue about cars to passing ASE exams and working on my own.

The 90s also ushered in a time when I finally had a non-economy car which I chose myself.  In November 1992 I got my first new car, a 1992 Pontiac Firebird (base model), black on black with t-tops and 5.0L V8.  In June 1995 I replaced that with a 1992 Pontiac Firebird Formula “350” with the SLP package (290 HP).  By 1998 that had gone from blue-green metallic, its original color, to black, though I never did reinstall the decals. 

Romance.  I went on several dates during this period, but nothing substantial until October 1999, when I began dating a Brazilian woman, Leila, who I met working at CACI.  I’m still on good terms with her now, though the romantic element of that relationship ended when she moved back to Rio in December 2003.  

The Gulf War.  In August 1990 Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.  After several months of back and forth with Bush’s dad, George H.W. Bush, then the President, eventually we did something.  In January 1991, around the time the Giants beat the Bills in the first of the four Super Bowls they lost, we liberated Kuwait in a campaign that lasted all of four days.  The Gulf War started our military’s love affair with desert cammo, and our political obsession with Iraq and Saddam Hussein.  “Three Kings” is an intriguing movie depiction of that war. 

Bill Clinton.  Despite the success of the Gulf War, a subsequent recession wiped all out all the political capital GHWB (41) had accumulated and ushered in the first Democratic president since Jimmy Carter:  former Arkansas governor Bill Clinton.  And unlike Carter, Clinton won re-election in 1996, beating the Bob Dole-Jack Kemp ticket easily.  Clinton brought his wife Hillary and daughter Chelsea, and even did this NAFTA thing.  Clinton had enough charm and humor that it was difficult to dislike him unless you were a hardcore Republican.  Even G. Gordon Liddy, who had a radio show back then, had to admit he supported Clinton’s position on NAFTA.

However, as noted, the GOP didn’t appreciate him and tried to bring him down with Monica-Gate, Paula Jones, Ken Starr, and this business of Vince Foster’s suspicious suicide.  Sadly for them, he served his full term.  He’s still around though somewhat older – possibly wiser.   

“I didn’t inhale”.  By the way – pot brownies have been around for awhile, so it’s possible Bubba got stoned without inhaling.  Speaking of which, California legalized medical marijuana in 1996, leading the nation in this regard and beginning the process by which MJ became far more potent:  4% THC in the early 1990s vs 24% THC for today’s stronger strains.   For those of you who care about these matters.

The Internet.  In 1990 most of us had no clue what the Internet was.  By 1999 most of us did.  There was Prodigy, AOL, and the Web.  At this time it was dialup, so we needed dedicated phone lines – no cable modems or DSL back then.  No Myspace or Facebook either – mostly we were on AOL back then, or for those of us on the Web, Netscape Navigator.  Nor was there streaming, but there was Napster (beginning in 1999), much to Metallica’s dismay. 

Cell Phones.   Same deal here – only snotty Gordon Gekko types had them before 1990, but by 1999 most of us had some kind, though they were flip-open types with cheesy screens and by no means “smart” – and you couldn’t get the Internet on them. 

TV Shows.  I'm neutral about TV, neither being a devoted aficionado nor a snob who refuses to watch, considering it all crap.  I'll watch some and not others as it suits my particular fancy.  Of the shows on during this time, these were my favorites that I watched the most:  

ALF, The Drew Carey Show, Frasier, Friends, Home Improvement, L.A. Law, Married...With Children, Seinfeld, and That 70s Show.  Of these, I'd list Friends, L.A. Law, and Seinfeld as my top shows, which I watched on the most regular basis.  

Movies.  Likewise with movies.  My favorites were Terminator 2, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Heat, The Big Lebowski, The Matrix, and my top favorite of many decades, Saving Private Ryan.

Grunge.  Taking care of the overindulgent metal of the 1980s was grunge, four bands in particular:  Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden, all out of Seattle.

Pearl Jam is still around and is the only band to remain continuously active.  Nirvana released Bleach (1989), Nevermind (1991), and In Utero (1993), but Kurt Cobain died in 1994 – by killing himself.  AIC’s Facelift was released in 1990, its third and final album, self-titled, in 1995, the band stopped in 1996 (though not formally disbanding), mainly due to Layne Staley’s drug use (he died in 2002).   Soundgarden were the oldest of the four, beginning in the mid 1980s, releasing Ultramega OK (1988), Louder Than Love (1989), Badmotorfinger (1991), Superunknown (1994), and Down on the Upside (1996) before disbanding.  Of the four, I didn’t like Nirvana or Pearl Jam enough to see them in concert, but I did see Soundgarden as a headlining band on the Superunknown tour in 1994 and Alice in Chains opening for Clash of the Titans (Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth) in 1990 and for Van Halen in 1991.

As you can see, I remember the 1990s.   How much do you remember?  Hopefully the same, and ideally as fondly as I do.  

George HW Bush

I tried going to the post office on Wednesday, December 5, 2018, A.D., and found it closed in memory of George HERBERT WALKER Bush, who died the week before.  The next day, because no other former presidents had died, and regrettably the current President was still living and breathing, the post office was open, so I could mail out what I needed mailed out.  So this makes my blog quest a little easier. 

As you all may well know, President #41, George Herbert Walker Bush, the father of George W. Bush and Jeb Bush, died last week.  He was old.  Barbara Bush, his long-faithful spouse, had died last April.  Here are my thoughts.

WWII Pilot.  Navy pilot.  No bone spurs.  One of our last Presidents who actually served in combat.  He served with distinction in the Pacific, was shot down, rescued, and continued flying missions until the end of the war.

Brief review of recent presidents’ military records:

Trump.  Exempt from draft during Vietnam War for medical issues.

Obama.  Too young to serve in Vietnam (born in 1961).

Bush II.  Served in Air Force National Guard during Vietnam, widely seen as a military role unlikely to have him sent overseas.

Clinton.   Somehow avoided inhaling weed in London during Vietnam War.

Bush I.  See above.

Reagan.  Exempted from overseas service in WWII due to poor eyesight, but served in Army doing training films with chimps who were non-communist.

Carter.  Was at the Naval Academy during WWII and in the nuke sub service during Korea. 

Oil Man.  After the war he finished up at Yale, joining both Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) fraternity and Skull & Bones.  He went back to Texas and became an oil millionaire by the early 60s.  Although he apparently had help from his father, Prescott Bush, his natural talent was also considerable and substantial.

Congress.  He served as US Representative for the Seventh District of Texas, which includes Houston, from 1966 to 1970 (two terms).  In that year he ran for Senate but lost to Lloyd Bentsen, the future VP candidate for Dukakis (see below).

CIA Director.  In the 1970s he was director of the CIA.  There’s an SNL sketch in which Garrett Morris’ character, a private citizen, is invoking his prerogative under a FOIA claim to view his file, and the CIA officer, played by Dan Aykroyd, solicits all sorts of incriminating information from him in order to “narrow down” the search in a room hopelessly disorganized.  On the wall are portraits of Gerald Ford (President) and George HW Bush (CIA director at the time).   Though aside from that, I’m not aware that Bush Sr. had any major impact, for the better or worse, on the Agency nor any notorious deeds. 

Vice President.  Ronald Reagan easily beat Jimmy Carter (and Jon Anderson) in 1980, making GHWB the Vice President.   At some point Reagan was incapacitated, possibly due to the John Hinckley shooting, and Bush became acting President.  This prompted all sorts of chuckles, including from Doonesbury (Garry Trudeau, current PM of Canada).  Of course, the laughs would be on them when he easily defeated Dukakis in 1988.

Voted.  I actually voted for him both in 1988 and 1992.  In ’88 he easily defeated Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis, the former governor of Massachusetts.  That was not only my first vote in a Presidential election – I was 19 – but also the only election in which the candidate I voted for actually won, though given that many of my votes were for Libertarian candidates that’s hardly much of a distinction.  My most recent non-LPA vote was for Mitt Romney in 2012.  

Personal Meeting.  He was the only President I actually met in person.   At some point when he was vice president, I shook his hand at the US Embassy in Paris.   This was at one of these “meet the VP” affairs in a modest room with about 100 people present.  Then later on, when he was President, he came by the same room under the same circumstances and I got to briefly shake his hand as yet another anonymous crowd member.  In neither case did I have any opportunity to speak to him directly or assassinate him. 

Administration.  He took office as President on January 20, 1989 and left office, replaced by Bill Clinton, on January 20, 1993.  The major events of his term were the Gulf War in January 1991 and a massive recession in 1992.  The latter erased any political capital from the former.  Invoking SNL yet again, there was a sketch well before the recession, when the President’s Gulf War popularity made him appear politically invincible in the upcoming election, so the presumed Democratic candidates, including Bill Bradley and Mario Cuomo, all zealously attempt to convince the party faithful NOT to nominate them to be defeated by Bush in the election.  Of course we know what really happened.  I don’t recall Bill Clinton being one of the potential candidates in that sketch. 

Dana Carvey.  As with every president, #41 was subject to his fair share of ridicule and satire, but his somewhat subdued nature made this a bit of a challenge.  I’d say his most famous portrayal was on SNL by Dana Carvey, with such catchphrases as “not gonna do it….wouldn’t be …prudent…at this ….juncture”.  Unlike our current Orange Fuhrer who can’t accept Baldwin’s humor, GHWB was a fairly good sport about Carvey.  This article does an excellent job of discussing this

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/12/dana-carveys-george-h-w-bush-impression-saturday-night-live/577186/

Overall I don’t have any many negative impressions of #41.  He was a standard issue Republican without any major scandals.  The US kicked Saddam out of Kuwait and went no further on his watch.  Others may disagree, and with both his son (#43) and the current occupant, inevitably I think recollections of #41 are going to be more favorable now than they were when he was in office.  And I know someone on Long Island who may have far more to bitch about than I do.