Month: December 2018

America Sbagliato

Sbagliato

As we leave 2018 behind, let’s hope we can begin to correct the wrongs we have been suffering through in 2019 — mistaken ideas of government, of policy, and of culture, that betray the ideals of what America is supposed to be.

Before you get to the fancy Champagne toast at midnight, warm up for the main event with a slightly bitter aperitivo, the Negroni Sbagliato cocktail.

Sbagliato means mistaken or incorrect in Italian. It was added to Negroni in the early 1970s when a happy accident at Bar Basso in Milan subbed prosecco for gin. You can get the whole story from Gaz Regan in his fantastic book Negroni. I pulled the recipe from the book Spritz, however, though it can be found easily in many cocktail books or across the internet.

It is much easier to find the recipe, apparently, than it is for the administration to find the traditional or ethical, or even competent, path to govern our country. From putting kids in cages, shutting down government over an ill-conceived wall, to betraying allies in favor of dictators and up-ending a world order we helped put in place after World War II (among many examples), we have clearly lost our way.

The aftermath of our current administration will take a lot of work to recover from and rebuild our standing in the world. However, if we can take this historic mistake and use it to renew our democracy, the rule of law, the engagement and participation of a majority of Americans across all demographic groups, then like a Negroni Sbagliato we will come away with something that is both familiar and different, and good.

My hope for 2019 is to begin working our way back and correcting the mistakes.

In a rocks glass over one big ice cube, build:

1 oz Campari

1 oz sweet vermouth

3 oz prosecco

Garnish with half an orange wheel.

Cheers and Happy New Year!

 

Brace for Impact

Tailspin

In the final days of his presidency, Nixon was brooding, unstable and alone in the White House. The parallels with Trump continue over this holiday season, with the “poor me” tweet being Exhibit #1.

Of course Trump is feeling all alone, just look at all of the close advisors in jail or under indictment, unprecedented turnover in the administration, and now he’ll have to deal with Democrats having some power in DC. Trump definitely seems to have lost control. It is hard to tell at this point whether it is due to incompetence, Russian/Turkish/Saudi design, or a combination.

The decision to pull out of Syria, with its ill-conceived and possibly foreign influenced origins, is not helping Trump with Republicans — adding to that lonely feeling. The resulting resignations, and the scathing resignation letter from Defense Secretary Mattis (and Trump’s late realization on the letter’s negativity) only deepened Trump’s spiral.

The one place Trump had tried to find solace, in the economy, is also turning south on him (by his own hand primarily). Shutting down the government to appease right wing commentators over his border wall, threats against the Treasury Secretary and Fed Chairman have created massive volatility in the markets and brought a wipe out of most of the gains for the year.

Trump is clearly in a tailspin and the ground is fast approaching, represented by the Democratic takeover of the House on January 3. While we keep our fingers crossed that the country can pull out even if Trump can’t, have a Tailspin cocktail.

From Death & Co. Modern Classic Cocktails the Tailspin is:

1.5 oz London Dry Gin

1 oz Carpano Antica Formula Vermouth

1 oz Green Chartreuse

1 dash Orange Bitters

Rinse a coupe with Campari and dump. Stir the ingredients over ice, strain into the coupe, garnish with a lemon twist

Cheers!

Banana Republicans

Banana Boulevardier

Democracy, the rule of law, and the competition of ideas were all once at the core of the belief system of people who called themselves Republicans and conservatives. There may still be some conservatives holding on to these concepts, but it is no longer a required — or even desired — dogma to be a Republican at any level.

It has been coming for a number of years, but after the 2018 midterm elections, the GOP has accelerated its anti-democratic, authoritarian tendencies to Ludicrous Speed. The voter suppression and hyper-gerrymandering practiced by Republicans in the 21st Century has now given way to an utter disregard of the electoral process.

In North Carolina, Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris has resorted to outright election fraud to steal the election by stealing ballots. Of course, NC also provided the playbook for other state Republican parties when they lost the governorship to a Democrat and changed laws to limit his power before the Democrat took office. In both Wisconsin and Michigan, the GOP is working overtime to make sure newly elected Democrats will not be able to take actions they campaigned on, with regard to health care, for example..

In Wisconsin, this power grab comes amid aggressive gerrymandering that saw Democrats receive 54% of votes for the state assembly, but only get 37% of the seats.

This disregard for the will of the people can also be seen in Washington, where very clear signs the President* has committed crimes — potentially including treason — are dismissed by Republicans in Congress. They simply don’t care.

Republicans have gone bananas, doing anything to hold on to power, satisfy their greed, and deliver for their patrons (Trump or Putin or both?), turning the U.S. into a Banana Republic.

As you try to navigate the streets of the crazytown our politics has become, have a Banana Boulevardier cocktail. Then we can get about making sure to return Democracy to the USA.

I got this surprisingly tasty drink via Frederic Yarm @cocktailvirgin. The Banana Boulevardier is a variation on one of my favorite cocktails, the Boulevardier, essentially a Negroni with whiskey. It is:

1 oz Bourbon (Bulleit)
1 oz Sweet Vermouth (Dolin)
1/2 oz Campari
1/2 oz Giffard Banane du Bresil

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass (or a rocks glass with a large ice cube). Garnish with an orange twist.

Cheers!