This blog is about two quotations and the dancing of Ginger Rogers. I hope you will see the connection between these two things by the end.
The first quotation occurred during my freshman year of college, several decades ago. At that time a US Senator from the State of South Dakota, Karl E. Mundt, was coming to address the Young Republicans at my college. For some reason, I was briefly a Republican in those days before switching to the Democrats. I think his visit had something to do with my change of heart. After the meeting, we were asked by the state chairman to assist at a nearby dinner meeting of Republicans, who were coming to hear the same distinguished visitor. I agreed to join the other students and had a good time at my first ever large scale political rally, but was shocked to hear Sen. Mundt claim that JFK was solely responsible as president for the country's economic problems. After his speech I was so outraged that I sought him out backstage and voiced my objection. I said it was wrong to blame the president, as if he controlled the economy by fiat, and that as a former teacher and economic specialist himself that he knew better and shouldn't mislead people this way. Mundt looked around to make sure no one was listening to us and then leaned forward and quietly said the following : When I was first running for office, a veteran politician told me that the most important thing was to get yourself elected. If you couldn't do that, nothing else you believed in or wanted to do would matter, so don't worry too much about what you say. That was the end of my conversation with Sen. Mundt, who served in the US Senate from 1948 to 1973. I never forgot his words. They guide me now whenever I hear politicians speak, particularly when they make campaign promises. Mitt Romney may or may not make a good president, but nearly everyone-- Democrat or Republican-- and maybe even himself privately, would agree that he sure takes that advice to heart.
The second quote comes from a member of my extended family, who shall remain nameless for obvious reasons but might not actually mind being quoted by name. Unlike Senator Mundt, this family member is one of the few Republicans in our family (I think) and sincerely believes what I am going to tell you. At a recent family gathering, after discussing current adverse economic conditions in the country and the millions of ordinary Americans who require help desperately, this otherwise quite nice and very religious person said the following : My question is-- How much of MY money do I get to keep? Spoken like a true Republican and TEA (taxed enough already) Party supporter. He was totally unsympathetic to the plight of his less fortunate fellow Americans. The only thing that mattered was his earnings after taxes. I wouldn't look forward to higher taxes either, but this total rejection of any thought to the concept of being in the same boat together was as shocking to me as what Sen. Mundt had said many years before. I'm sure he'd change his tune in a minute if he were the one suffering !
This brings me to Ginger Rogers, the great Fred Astaire's dance partner. I sure wish I could dance like Fred Astaire. I rarely watch "Dancing With the Stars" on TV but I am endlessly mesmerized watching Fred Astaire dance in old movies. I thought he had no equal until I heard some commentator say the following about Ginger Rogers: "She did everything he did, except she did it backwards and in high heels." This quote was as startling and revealing to me as the two discussed above.
All three comments are permanently etched in my mind, but I like the third quote best. All three provide great insight but only the third is inspirational in a way that the prior two will never be.
Toucan
Friday, March 23, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
Republican Politicians
This is my first political blog. To people who know me, having a blog and never commenting on the political scene may seem surprising. After all, I majored in Government in college, had a summer internship with a New York congressman, worked in the Koch administration for several years (in a non-political position),and follow the news passionately. I think my reticence derives from all the passionate noise I hear lately, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, as William Faulkner wrote, and not wanting to add to the din.
Anyway, here goes. I am appalled at the Republicans and what they are doing. It has nothing to do with my being a life-long Democrat. Some politicians I most admire were Republicans, such as Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and more recently, Senators Everett Dirksen, Howard Baker and Lindsay Graham.
My objection stems from their obstructionism and hypocrisy. Regarding the former, I do not think it is OK to block action in Congress on almost any matter simply to make a Democratic president look bad. That is what they are doing, and as an American first and foremost, I consider this to be cynical, destructive behavior. The hypocrisy part is that they are intelligent people and, when you look closely, it is obvious they treat themselves differently. For example, I have yet to hear the Republicans in Congress say that they would be delighted to ditch their own gold-plated health plans provided by the US Government and accept the eviscerated health care plans they are attempting to foist on 99% of the American people. To top it off, they raise smoke screen issues like contraception and prayer in school to distract the American people from the real issues facing them at a critical time.
It amazes me how many Americans seem to be seduced and misled by these false prophets and their "concerns" which to me have as their primary and sometimes sole objective to garner financial support from special interests and ensure their continued tenure in political office. No wonder moderate Republican Senators like Evan Bayh and Olympia Snowe a leave their seats and retire. To be fair, many Democrats these days are also problematic, but I think the Republicans in general are far worse.
My main reason in writing these words is to express the (vain?) hope that America will wake up and insist upon the election of good, moderate, pragmatic leaders from both parties who have the nation's best interests at heart and will restore our pride and achievement. This may be far too idealistic to expect when big money has so poisoned our political well that it is sometimes hard to differentiate us from some countries around the world that would never be thought of in the same way before.
When I watch the Republican presidential candidates on TV, I daydream a little. Mitt Romney, except for the dog on top of the car thing, strikes me as intelligent, steadfast and pragmatic, if only he could say what he really believes. Rick Santorum seems very appealing personally, and if what came out of his mouth didn't spoil everything, I could understand why his support is rising. Though I would not vote for him, Newt Gingrich has a certain rogue appeal. Lastly, Ron Paul seems sincere and lovable. But I digress.
The needs of the people are all that matter, and obviously many millions today are in dire need of assistance. Sadly, the Republicans are capable but not stepping up to the challenges. I wish it were otherwise and I was in a position to consider voting for a Republican for President.
Anyway, here goes. I am appalled at the Republicans and what they are doing. It has nothing to do with my being a life-long Democrat. Some politicians I most admire were Republicans, such as Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and more recently, Senators Everett Dirksen, Howard Baker and Lindsay Graham.
My objection stems from their obstructionism and hypocrisy. Regarding the former, I do not think it is OK to block action in Congress on almost any matter simply to make a Democratic president look bad. That is what they are doing, and as an American first and foremost, I consider this to be cynical, destructive behavior. The hypocrisy part is that they are intelligent people and, when you look closely, it is obvious they treat themselves differently. For example, I have yet to hear the Republicans in Congress say that they would be delighted to ditch their own gold-plated health plans provided by the US Government and accept the eviscerated health care plans they are attempting to foist on 99% of the American people. To top it off, they raise smoke screen issues like contraception and prayer in school to distract the American people from the real issues facing them at a critical time.
It amazes me how many Americans seem to be seduced and misled by these false prophets and their "concerns" which to me have as their primary and sometimes sole objective to garner financial support from special interests and ensure their continued tenure in political office. No wonder moderate Republican Senators like Evan Bayh and Olympia Snowe a leave their seats and retire. To be fair, many Democrats these days are also problematic, but I think the Republicans in general are far worse.
My main reason in writing these words is to express the (vain?) hope that America will wake up and insist upon the election of good, moderate, pragmatic leaders from both parties who have the nation's best interests at heart and will restore our pride and achievement. This may be far too idealistic to expect when big money has so poisoned our political well that it is sometimes hard to differentiate us from some countries around the world that would never be thought of in the same way before.
When I watch the Republican presidential candidates on TV, I daydream a little. Mitt Romney, except for the dog on top of the car thing, strikes me as intelligent, steadfast and pragmatic, if only he could say what he really believes. Rick Santorum seems very appealing personally, and if what came out of his mouth didn't spoil everything, I could understand why his support is rising. Though I would not vote for him, Newt Gingrich has a certain rogue appeal. Lastly, Ron Paul seems sincere and lovable. But I digress.
The needs of the people are all that matter, and obviously many millions today are in dire need of assistance. Sadly, the Republicans are capable but not stepping up to the challenges. I wish it were otherwise and I was in a position to consider voting for a Republican for President.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Good Fortune
The day began routinely enough. There was a GROUPON offer for a restaurant deal in the West Village that I remembered to get. Unfortunately, by the time I logged on, there was a "Sold Out" banner across the offer and the words "Limited Quantity Available" written underneath. This was not a major loss, but it was annoying to acknowledge that all I had to do was press a few buttons several hours earlier and it would be like finding a $20 bill on the street.
This disappointment was a good warm-up for what came next. The telephone rang and it was my younger son calling on his cell phone from Michigan to report that he had inadvertently left his new laptop in the airport bus on his way back to college and was now in a cab racing across Michigan in an attempt to recover it. Since we had recently gone through a similar experience with my older son, who left his laptop in a taxi returning to Boston and failed to recover it, I was not optimistic about the outcome. The benefit of the call was that I stopped thinking about the prospective "loss" of $20 on the GROUPON dinner and could now concentrate on the loss of a computer costing well over $1000. As time went by and there was no word from Michigan, I started thinking about my good fortune earlier in the morning when my loss was only $20.
After waiting over an hour and imagining what else might go wrong, the phone rang again. My son reported that they had arrived at the bus stop in East Lansing, MI two minutes before the bus arrived and that the nice man who had been sitting next to him came out and handed him the computer with a big smile. The taxi mileage was more than half the distance from NYC to Albany, but at only $1 a mile and a total bill of $90 with tip, I considered this loss to be a gain ! The taxi driver said this occurs more often than you might realize. The bus driver felt bad for my son and let him ride back to Ann Arbor for free.
Soon enough all of the preceding events were put into sharp perspective when the phone rang again. This time it was my wife, calling from work to report that a friend had just sent a long email with the heart-breaking news that the friend's breast cancer had recurred and that another operation and round of chemotherapy would be required. I immediately realized how ridiculous I was to concern myself about a GROUPON, a 78 mile taxi ride, or even the loss of a new Apple laptop in the face of something like this. In passing, I also couldn't help thinking that even if my "losses" materialized, they were nothing compared to our friend's chemo injections at $4000 each and that she had to self-administer them, not to mention that she would be fighting for her life.
Now it is evening and all is quiet. There were no more phone calls and soon it would be time for dinner. On a net profit/loss basis, I am roughly in the same position as I started out this morning. However, my actual good fortune is boundless.
This disappointment was a good warm-up for what came next. The telephone rang and it was my younger son calling on his cell phone from Michigan to report that he had inadvertently left his new laptop in the airport bus on his way back to college and was now in a cab racing across Michigan in an attempt to recover it. Since we had recently gone through a similar experience with my older son, who left his laptop in a taxi returning to Boston and failed to recover it, I was not optimistic about the outcome. The benefit of the call was that I stopped thinking about the prospective "loss" of $20 on the GROUPON dinner and could now concentrate on the loss of a computer costing well over $1000. As time went by and there was no word from Michigan, I started thinking about my good fortune earlier in the morning when my loss was only $20.
After waiting over an hour and imagining what else might go wrong, the phone rang again. My son reported that they had arrived at the bus stop in East Lansing, MI two minutes before the bus arrived and that the nice man who had been sitting next to him came out and handed him the computer with a big smile. The taxi mileage was more than half the distance from NYC to Albany, but at only $1 a mile and a total bill of $90 with tip, I considered this loss to be a gain ! The taxi driver said this occurs more often than you might realize. The bus driver felt bad for my son and let him ride back to Ann Arbor for free.
Soon enough all of the preceding events were put into sharp perspective when the phone rang again. This time it was my wife, calling from work to report that a friend had just sent a long email with the heart-breaking news that the friend's breast cancer had recurred and that another operation and round of chemotherapy would be required. I immediately realized how ridiculous I was to concern myself about a GROUPON, a 78 mile taxi ride, or even the loss of a new Apple laptop in the face of something like this. In passing, I also couldn't help thinking that even if my "losses" materialized, they were nothing compared to our friend's chemo injections at $4000 each and that she had to self-administer them, not to mention that she would be fighting for her life.
Now it is evening and all is quiet. There were no more phone calls and soon it would be time for dinner. On a net profit/loss basis, I am roughly in the same position as I started out this morning. However, my actual good fortune is boundless.
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