Well, today's my birthday. Gonna hope for a Bruin victory at Arizona State tonight in football. But this diary? It's not about me. It's about much more important people around us who also share my birthdate.
Follow me below the fold to see what heroes were born on this day.
Gary Hart (born 1936)
Hart was a Senator from Colorado who ran for President in both 1984 and 1988. He was the one who went neck and neck with Walter Mondale all the way to the Democratic National Convention in 1984. He was supposed to be the frontrunner for the 1988 race, until this photograph was published by the National Enquirer.
That was after Hart had dared the media, saying:
Follow me around. I don't care. I'm serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They'll be very bored.
Yeah, we all know how that worked out. He's kept a relatively low profile since then, though he does blog at Huffington Post occasionally and is considered an expert on national security issues.
Randy Newman (born 1943)
Newman's made so many great songs, written one of the greatest paeans to Los Angeles ("I Love L.A."), and is a UCLA grad to boot! What's not to love?
And of course, who among us doesn't love his screeds "Political Science" and "Rednecks"?
His song "Louisiana 1927" came back to prominence with its poignant lyrics after Hurricane Katrina.
And his latest piece came last year, "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country".
There's also another well-known piano player born on this day, Paul Shaffer (born 1949), the band leader for David Letterman.
And of course, the guy on DailyKos who has a lower ID than you do, and gets to post on the front page, Meteor Blades (born 1946)! Words can't do him justice, so I'll just leave it at that. Moving on....
Actors Ed Harris (born 1950), Judd Nelson (born 1959), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (born 1984), and director Alfonso Cuarón (born 1961) also share this birthday. But they pale in comparison to someone who is arguably a DailyKos hero (I mean, TiaRachel dedicates almost all her diaries to him to keep us up to date on what he's saying):
Jon Stewart (born 1962)
What more needs to be said about Jon Stewart (along with his good friend Stephen Colbert) as they've woken up a generation to what's really going on in politics and the world around them? Heck, he even published his own textbook! He's been with us through good times and bad, always getting us to laugh. Except one time. On September 20, 2001. This remains one of the more powerful moments I've ever seen on TV.
I should also note that Paul Dinello (born the same day as Jon Stewart) is one of Stephen Colbert's good friends from their days together on Strangers With Candy, and appears on The Colbert Report as Tad the building manager.
Sam Seder (born 1966)
Former Air America host, guest at liberal blogger conventions, and all-around funny guy. I got to meet him at Yearly Kos 2007 (pictured above). Awesome.
apl.de.ap (born 1974)
will.i.am's now more famous, but apl.de.ap is one of the founders of the Black Eyed Peas. Just for helping write "Where Is the Love?", he gets a spot. (Though he gets a demerit for his role in "My Humps". Yeesh.)
There's others too, born on this day, who probably won't be viewed so positively here, like the late actress Anna Nicole Smith (born 1967), and Rep. Joe Knollenberg (born 1933), the Republican from MI-09 who lost to Gary Peters earlier this month. Oh, and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was killed on this day in 1994, though I view that as a source of evil being removed from the face of the earth.
Chamillionaire (born 1979)
Born Hakeem Seriki, Chamillionaire is known for his #1 hit "Ridin'".
I dunno, me, I prefer "Weird Al" Yankovic's version "White & Nerdy". And nothing says "I understand the devastating effects of poverty in my community" as calling yourself Chamillionaire. < / snark >
So here's to the heroes who were born on this most awesome day, November 28th. :-)