The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Tonight I Was Chatting With My Daughter

Posted on | February 26, 2010 | 24 Comments

I’ve been neglecting Facebook lately — Twitter is my new cool thing — but I logged on to see the uproar I’d caused at Lisa Graas’s Facebook page. (Long story.) Anyway, so my 20-year-old daughter Kennedy pops up on Facebook chat to tell me that she heard the Montgomery Gentry song “One in Every Crowd” and it reminded her of me:

Uh, I think she meant that as a compliment. But honestly? Yeah. You should have seen the reaction in CPAC Bloggers Lounge when I showed up for the Glenn Beck speech with two cold Coronas — and finished them both before the speech ended.

Of course, I’d been getting jacked up on coffee all day, so the two Coronas were just balance. Sometimes I worry that other people who aren’t blessed with my cast-iron constitution might try to imitate the party-guy act and spiral out of control. But I don’t worry too much. There are enough worry-warts in the world without me helping them worry.

Worrying is bad for you. I tried to explain that to my daughter last summer after I showed up to see her new apartment and greeted her by lighting off fireworks in the parking lot. I was gone before the police arrived. Why worry?

Fortunately, Kennedy inherited her mother’s genetic predisposition toward responsibility. She’s a straight-A student who is studying to be a teacher, and I’ve told her exactly what she needs to do in her career: Start a private accelerated-education school for gifted children. Naturally, she thinks this is crazy-talk, but my experience is that the most brilliant schemes always sound crazy at first.

Rattling the tip jar all the way to Pasadena? Crazy.

A Republican winning Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat? Crazy.

Sending Da Tech Guy to CPAC? Crazy.

Here’s another crazy idea: My daughter getting engaged to the most popular boy in school, captain of the soccer team.

America is too great a country to limit yourself to small dreams. And somebody needs to hit the tip jar, because the wedding’s in July and they’re expecting me to pay for it.

Yeah, there’s one in every crowd. And it’s usually me.

UPDATE: Obama thinks the Falklands belong to Argentina? Oh, we’ll see about that! (Daughter’s fiance is Argentine. When she was 12 years old, I took her to hear a Margaret Thatcher speech, which may have inspired Kennedy’s own imperial conquest. Rule Britannia! Britannia rule the waves!)

Category: Family

Comments

24 Responses to “Tonight I Was Chatting With My Daughter”

  1. Jamie Holts
    February 26th, 2010 @ 1:04 am

    A friend of mine just emailed me one of your articles from a while back. I read that one a few more. Really enjoy your blog. Thanks

  2. Cousin Sam
    February 26th, 2010 @ 1:29 am

    “….the most popular boy in school, captain of the **soccer** team.”

    Who knew your daughter went to school in Europe? That must have been expensive! 🙂

  3. TR Sterling
    February 26th, 2010 @ 2:25 am

    You and Sarah using your props as kids again? hehe

  4. Finrod
    February 26th, 2010 @ 3:26 am

    Two Coronas? That got a reaction? Personally I don’t bother with alcoholic drinks that aren’t at least about 20 proof, myself. I just be sure to drink water along with it, saves me from hangovers most of the time.

    Oh, fyi, the Lisa Graas facebook link seems b0rken.

  5. Bob Belvedere
    February 26th, 2010 @ 7:39 am

    What starts off as a nice little story about a father and daughter bonding, quickly turns into Daddy-O’s ego self-messaging time.

    Jeez Louise, Stace, you’re turning into Barry O!

  6. ‘American Idol’ Top 24 results: Did the right people go home tonight? – Entertainment Weekly | World Online Review
    February 26th, 2010 @ 7:54 am

    […] Tonight I Was Chatting With My Daughter : The Other McCain […]

  7. Robert Stacy McCain
    February 26th, 2010 @ 9:04 am

    Jeez Louise, Stace, you’re turning into Barry O!

    At least I still pick my boogers in private!

  8. Bob Belvedere
    February 26th, 2010 @ 9:33 am

    At least I still pick my boogers in private!

    Yea…true…but what’s this with the GQ appearance?

  9. wombat-socho
    February 26th, 2010 @ 10:40 am

    Isn’t it great to have a daughter you can be proud of?

  10. Dave C
    February 26th, 2010 @ 11:20 am

    One word: Elopement.

  11. In Defense of Ideology
    February 26th, 2010 @ 12:09 pm

    […] Everyone has an ideology whether they realize it or not. "We gotta beat the Democrats" is an ideology. "We need to elect more Republicans" is an ideology. But I contend these ideologies are like the man who shoots for the moon, while the American Creed is the ideology of the man who shoots for the stars. She’s a straight-A student who is studying to be a teacher, and I’ve told her exactly what she needs to do in her career: Start a private accelerated-education school for gifted children. Naturally, she thinks this is crazy-talk, but my experience is that the most brilliant schemes always sound crazy at first. – R.S. McCain […]

  12. Patrick
    February 26th, 2010 @ 2:01 pm

    Heh…. 😛

  13. Roxeanne de Luca
    February 26th, 2010 @ 11:10 pm

    What a great picture of the couple! 🙂 You have a very beautiful daughter, Stacy. Congratulations to them both.

    So… details! What kind of wedding are you looking at? Venue? Food? Wine? Time of day? C’mon, some of us are living vicariously here!