Yesterday morning I awoke, at a ridiculously early hour (5:30AM), in Florida, preparing to travel home to NJ after a satisfying and wonderful visit with my parents. I hate to fly and really don’t take to it well at all. I packed, breakfasted, shaved, medicated, bid my folks a fond farewell, and met my childhood buddy for an early lunch at the airport. I relished the opportunity for a nap on the plane. Finding my car and driving home was a welcome “ordeal” because I so dislike air travel and so much prefer to be home. So boring! Unpacking is another welcome chore. Jami had some dinner for me, just some leftover chicken, but even home-made leftovers are welcome to me. By the time I got around to checking my e-mails, I was getting sleepy. I had awakened so early and traveling, even with a nap, takes a lot out of me. There on my computer was just what I needed to invigorate me. Billy’s e-mail informed me that he and some of my friends were playing at a local friendly joint. Shortly thereafter I found the original e-mail inviting me to show up.
Sleepy as I was, nothing excites me like playing the blues. That’s my one true love. I’m married (for 37 years), have two wonderful sons, but my harps and the thrill of performing is an overwhelming passion. Jami wondered out loud if I could even make it to the bar. I dragged myself out the door. Through the back roads of Hillsborough, I began my “trek”. The road I usually travel was closed, for another in an unending series of repairs, further confusing and frustrating my tired self. Finally, I could see my destination approaching. I parked and we entered. I saw my friends, Rich, Barless, BAM, Don and Billy. I slowly began to come alive. The hum of the amplifiers and, the stray strings of tuning guitars, the shuffle of drums, the crash of cymbals and the pleasant tinkle of the keyboards teased me to consciousness. The band played their sets and I waited impatiently for my turn. I sometimes liken this to a lion pacing in his cage. BAM came up to me and asked: “Are you going to play?” What a question. I should have been in bed. Of course I was going to play, barring a nuclear attack.
My turn came; never soon enough. Billy turned to me and said: “Call the tune!” I did and the ride began. I hollered and sang and blew my harp, joining my friends in the band and, of course, Billy. First we did some rousing tunes, I sang, then Billy. There is a great comfort in my collaboration with Billy. Somehow, no matter how long it’s been since our last time together on stage, a familiarity informs a seamless and effortless blueswork. I call it the “slippery hole”. We just fall in, in perfect synchronicity. We finished with one of my favorites, on old slow number. I don’t know what force of nature carried my exhausted, travel-weary, big old man body through this blues exorcism, but I finished strong. As I left the stage, Bill asked me if I was going home, and I replied, sweat dripping off my face, that there was nothing left of me. That’s just how I like it. I left everything on that stage. The depletion of myself is like emptying a vessel, one that needs to be refilled and, once again, depleted.
Thanks guys for the ride and the company. Special thanks to my “brother in the blues”. Long Live the Blues!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Severe Language
Recently, I wrote derisively about Obama administration actions to remove certain severe language from the public lexicon. Terrorism is no longer terrorism. The “War on Terror” no longer exists. It would appear that Obama wants to “soften” the image of America as viewed by the outside world. We are called upon to redress grievances held by others in the world against our nation. Our appetite for drugs causes problems for our neighbor, Mexico. Our attitude of national pride and our recognition of our nation’s accomplishments causes resentment by our ally, France. Our desire for the preservation of our way of life, including freedom of religion and speech, causes consternation among our Islamic friends and masters. Our desire to remove destructive influences from our home hemisphere causes conflict with our “peace-loving” friends in Venezuela, Cuba and Bolivia.
Where is that conciliatory attitude when dealing with Americans who voice their dissent with domestic policies? Those who oppose current government actions are now identified as extremists. We now know that the Department of Homeland Security considers returning veterans as a potential threat to the security of the nation which they volunteered to risk their lives to defend. Whether one agrees with the rectitude of entering into the armed conflicts which these folks joined the armed forces to wage, their service is cause to exalt them, not to suspect them of, as yet , unspecified subversion. When these kind of sentiments are voiced by our government, who in their right minds would ever volunteer to serve? What about all of those folks who opposed the policies and practices of the Bush administration and subsequently voted for Obama? Who amongst us has never voiced opposition or disapproval of our government? WHAT NEXT?
As I put on my soothsayer’s hat, I can see a day in the, not so distant, future when dissent will be illegal. Will it also be illegal to belong to the Republican Party? How about opposing incumbents? I am afraid that, in the “eyes” of our government, it is more acceptable to hold jihadist beliefs than to voice political opposition to Democrats, or to be a returning veteran with a voice of political dissent. Which of our founding fathers ever said that freedom of speech was destructive or that dissent should be suspect or be made illegal? JOSEF STALIN!
Notice how many questions I have posed. I have no answers. Our nation is poised on the precipice of tyranny. I wonder what, on earth, we can do to drag her back. I will, however refrain from using severe language to describe those who wish to disable the Constitution and establish the dictatorship of incumbency. Such talk may offend.
Where is that conciliatory attitude when dealing with Americans who voice their dissent with domestic policies? Those who oppose current government actions are now identified as extremists. We now know that the Department of Homeland Security considers returning veterans as a potential threat to the security of the nation which they volunteered to risk their lives to defend. Whether one agrees with the rectitude of entering into the armed conflicts which these folks joined the armed forces to wage, their service is cause to exalt them, not to suspect them of, as yet , unspecified subversion. When these kind of sentiments are voiced by our government, who in their right minds would ever volunteer to serve? What about all of those folks who opposed the policies and practices of the Bush administration and subsequently voted for Obama? Who amongst us has never voiced opposition or disapproval of our government? WHAT NEXT?
As I put on my soothsayer’s hat, I can see a day in the, not so distant, future when dissent will be illegal. Will it also be illegal to belong to the Republican Party? How about opposing incumbents? I am afraid that, in the “eyes” of our government, it is more acceptable to hold jihadist beliefs than to voice political opposition to Democrats, or to be a returning veteran with a voice of political dissent. Which of our founding fathers ever said that freedom of speech was destructive or that dissent should be suspect or be made illegal? JOSEF STALIN!
Notice how many questions I have posed. I have no answers. Our nation is poised on the precipice of tyranny. I wonder what, on earth, we can do to drag her back. I will, however refrain from using severe language to describe those who wish to disable the Constitution and establish the dictatorship of incumbency. Such talk may offend.
The Elimimination of Severe Language
I feel compelled to comment and ridicule some changes I have noticed in the way the administration in Washington has chosen to adjust its “newspeak”. Driven by a desire to eliminate severe language, which can be more destructive than even some of the destructive elements it describes, politically correct adjustments in reference terms must be made.
Henceforth, terrorists will be referred to as “wayward partisans”, in respect to today’s post partisan atmosphere. Enemy combatants will be called “unfriendly brothers” because, after all, aren’t we all brothers beneath our petty differences. What we used to consider acts of terrorism will now be “man-made disasters”. In consideration of the feelings of those poised to strike against us, the ACLU complains that their enemy combatant clients are afraid of terroristic indictments. In order to tone down judgmental rhetoric, the Department of Justice will now refer to felons as the morally challenged and their victims as, the more acceptable, ultra-late term abortions, since we are all really victims. Out of respect for the dietary practices of our Jihadist brethren, bacon will now be called “crispy meaty strips”.
These positive changes in linguistics have been adopted by other governmental agencies as well. The National Weather Service wishes to remove the stigma and bad connotations from many meteorological terms. Hurricanes will now be referred to as “rain parties”. Blizzards are “overwhelming snow and wind”. Tornadoes will be called “bloviating sky”. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced that floods are now “excess hydration” and wildfires are “unwanted forest warming”.
Administration sources tell us that they hope that bullshit hating Americans will not undergo consternation over these changes, or as we may have previously referred, shit hemorrhages. The new administration watchwords have become “trillions for wasteful spending, but not one cent for unwelcome criticism”.
My outrage has actually been fueled by the administration’s abandonment of the term “war on terror”. It appears to me as if the administration wishes to draw our jihadist blood enemy closer to us so that their thankless task of damaging and subsequently destroying our nation and our culture will be more within their grasp. Most Americans just don’t realize how incredibly difficult the jihadist goal of bringing the once great nation of America to its knees actually is. America is the homeland of dysfunction and destructiveness and it’s about time we began to live up, or down, to that potential.
Henceforth, terrorists will be referred to as “wayward partisans”, in respect to today’s post partisan atmosphere. Enemy combatants will be called “unfriendly brothers” because, after all, aren’t we all brothers beneath our petty differences. What we used to consider acts of terrorism will now be “man-made disasters”. In consideration of the feelings of those poised to strike against us, the ACLU complains that their enemy combatant clients are afraid of terroristic indictments. In order to tone down judgmental rhetoric, the Department of Justice will now refer to felons as the morally challenged and their victims as, the more acceptable, ultra-late term abortions, since we are all really victims. Out of respect for the dietary practices of our Jihadist brethren, bacon will now be called “crispy meaty strips”.
These positive changes in linguistics have been adopted by other governmental agencies as well. The National Weather Service wishes to remove the stigma and bad connotations from many meteorological terms. Hurricanes will now be referred to as “rain parties”. Blizzards are “overwhelming snow and wind”. Tornadoes will be called “bloviating sky”. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced that floods are now “excess hydration” and wildfires are “unwanted forest warming”.
Administration sources tell us that they hope that bullshit hating Americans will not undergo consternation over these changes, or as we may have previously referred, shit hemorrhages. The new administration watchwords have become “trillions for wasteful spending, but not one cent for unwelcome criticism”.
My outrage has actually been fueled by the administration’s abandonment of the term “war on terror”. It appears to me as if the administration wishes to draw our jihadist blood enemy closer to us so that their thankless task of damaging and subsequently destroying our nation and our culture will be more within their grasp. Most Americans just don’t realize how incredibly difficult the jihadist goal of bringing the once great nation of America to its knees actually is. America is the homeland of dysfunction and destructiveness and it’s about time we began to live up, or down, to that potential.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Personal Archive I
(300) Personal Archive 1
In the Spring of 1968, I was a student at the Brooklyn Technical high School. It was considered an honor to be chosen and to qualify to attend this local iconic educational institution. At that time, I was in my senior year, eagerly anticipating my graduation. My “Social Studies” teaches, Mr. Anger (no joke) asked our class to each write a speech addressing foreign affairs. Greatly influence by my jibberish speaking father, I proceeded to compose the following masterpiece, which I just “discovered” amongst some of my personal papers:
“When the extraculous brigations of the world occur in splorriel hendexity as they do today, we have no choice but to infalgitate the arblidationary staishics of our society. In this inflagitation, we must entrabulate all the brizzens to come up with the most cramdagulous leibocracy in dealing with these foreign problems. When we trabucate the problems facing us today, not only do we obtain a more strabacious view toward these problems, but we malumstrate them into a more briscandic hefexity”
I received a grade of “A+”. Thank You, Mr. Anger. You encouraged, in me, a sarcastic and cynical interpretation of politics and politicians that I, obviously, still hold today.
NOTE: Be aware that my computer, not understanding the complex yet subtle language of Jibberish, underlined all of the jibberish words in this speech in red, as well as the actual word “jibberish”.
In the Spring of 1968, I was a student at the Brooklyn Technical high School. It was considered an honor to be chosen and to qualify to attend this local iconic educational institution. At that time, I was in my senior year, eagerly anticipating my graduation. My “Social Studies” teaches, Mr. Anger (no joke) asked our class to each write a speech addressing foreign affairs. Greatly influence by my jibberish speaking father, I proceeded to compose the following masterpiece, which I just “discovered” amongst some of my personal papers:
“When the extraculous brigations of the world occur in splorriel hendexity as they do today, we have no choice but to infalgitate the arblidationary staishics of our society. In this inflagitation, we must entrabulate all the brizzens to come up with the most cramdagulous leibocracy in dealing with these foreign problems. When we trabucate the problems facing us today, not only do we obtain a more strabacious view toward these problems, but we malumstrate them into a more briscandic hefexity”
I received a grade of “A+”. Thank You, Mr. Anger. You encouraged, in me, a sarcastic and cynical interpretation of politics and politicians that I, obviously, still hold today.
NOTE: Be aware that my computer, not understanding the complex yet subtle language of Jibberish, underlined all of the jibberish words in this speech in red, as well as the actual word “jibberish”.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Too Much Time on Their Hands Vol.1
This marks another series of “Tears”. It seems that every once in a while, a story surfaces which, rightfully, makes me fitfully angry. Ever wonder how some people find the time to complain, or sue, over an imagined, idiotic wrong? I think that such “people” have too much time on their hands and I will chronicle and ridicule such reports. Here is my first:
This report comes from Harrisburg PA. I’ve been to Harrisburg PA. It is the capitol city of Pennsylvania. It seemed like a nice enough place and the folks I met there were always nice to me, and always seemed to be sane.
There is a crossing guard in Harrisburg PA, whose behavior has spurred complaint. It must be acknowledged that crossing guards are, generally, worthy of respect and consideration. They are responsible for the safe passage of little children from their homes, through areas of high vehicle traffic, to their schools, and vice-versa. They stand out on the streets in all kinds of weather. Our children know them. Sometimes these folks are called upon to interfere in our kids’ questionable behavior and remind them that there is a grown-up watching, who WILL notice what they are up to. Crossing guards don’t get paid for that, they perform that function just because they are there and they are human.
My story is about a crossing guard who is only too human and a busybody asshole who is definitely NOT. There is a gentleman crossing guard in Harrisburg who has taken to wearing funny hats while on the job. He subjects himself to the comments of children for the purpose of entertaining them on their way to school, where those kids will NOT be entertained. I’m sure some of the kids laugh at him. I’m sure some of the kids poke fun at him. This requires a generous attitude and a thick skin. I salute him. I wish I could remember his name so that I could properly honor him.
I wish that this story ended here. If that were the case, I certainly would not be angry. But these are “Tears of Blood”; you can bet that inhuman stupidity will be chronicled herein. Yes, the folks who run the crossing guard service in Harrisburg PA must be immune to intelligence, as must certain townsfolk. Someone in Harrisburg, probably some Mrs. Gulch-like (see “The Wizard of Oz) crone, has complained about the funny hats sported by our heroic crossing guard. As if that isn’t bad enough, the worthless drones (rhymes with crones) who run the crossing guard service, find fault with his humorous approach to his work. It is alleged that the wearing of funny hats by a school crossing guard poses a threat to the children and the public by virtue of its entertainment value, as opposed to the valueless status of bureaucrats and busybodies. Our heroic school crossing guard has been ordered to desist from this objectionable behavior and adopt a dour, humorless demeanor while working. Town official Bah Humbug issued the following comment: “What if everyone in Harrisburg behaved in such a pleasant, self-effacing and good-humored manner. Pretty soon we’d have folks waving at each other in friendliness, greeting each other pleasantly and acting in a polite way. We can’t have that. What kind of example does that set for our youngsters, who are schooled in mirthless political correctness? Humanity is innately no good and it’s about time our behavior reflected that immutable fact. I know mine does.” Mr. Humbug was then seen kicking a little stray doggie, ripping flowers out of the ground and throwing out all of the candy he could find. “Enjoyment, who needs it”, he said.
Come to Harrisburg, the town without humor (see: A Town Without Pity, thanks to Gene Pitney)
This report comes from Harrisburg PA. I’ve been to Harrisburg PA. It is the capitol city of Pennsylvania. It seemed like a nice enough place and the folks I met there were always nice to me, and always seemed to be sane.
There is a crossing guard in Harrisburg PA, whose behavior has spurred complaint. It must be acknowledged that crossing guards are, generally, worthy of respect and consideration. They are responsible for the safe passage of little children from their homes, through areas of high vehicle traffic, to their schools, and vice-versa. They stand out on the streets in all kinds of weather. Our children know them. Sometimes these folks are called upon to interfere in our kids’ questionable behavior and remind them that there is a grown-up watching, who WILL notice what they are up to. Crossing guards don’t get paid for that, they perform that function just because they are there and they are human.
My story is about a crossing guard who is only too human and a busybody asshole who is definitely NOT. There is a gentleman crossing guard in Harrisburg who has taken to wearing funny hats while on the job. He subjects himself to the comments of children for the purpose of entertaining them on their way to school, where those kids will NOT be entertained. I’m sure some of the kids laugh at him. I’m sure some of the kids poke fun at him. This requires a generous attitude and a thick skin. I salute him. I wish I could remember his name so that I could properly honor him.
I wish that this story ended here. If that were the case, I certainly would not be angry. But these are “Tears of Blood”; you can bet that inhuman stupidity will be chronicled herein. Yes, the folks who run the crossing guard service in Harrisburg PA must be immune to intelligence, as must certain townsfolk. Someone in Harrisburg, probably some Mrs. Gulch-like (see “The Wizard of Oz) crone, has complained about the funny hats sported by our heroic crossing guard. As if that isn’t bad enough, the worthless drones (rhymes with crones) who run the crossing guard service, find fault with his humorous approach to his work. It is alleged that the wearing of funny hats by a school crossing guard poses a threat to the children and the public by virtue of its entertainment value, as opposed to the valueless status of bureaucrats and busybodies. Our heroic school crossing guard has been ordered to desist from this objectionable behavior and adopt a dour, humorless demeanor while working. Town official Bah Humbug issued the following comment: “What if everyone in Harrisburg behaved in such a pleasant, self-effacing and good-humored manner. Pretty soon we’d have folks waving at each other in friendliness, greeting each other pleasantly and acting in a polite way. We can’t have that. What kind of example does that set for our youngsters, who are schooled in mirthless political correctness? Humanity is innately no good and it’s about time our behavior reflected that immutable fact. I know mine does.” Mr. Humbug was then seen kicking a little stray doggie, ripping flowers out of the ground and throwing out all of the candy he could find. “Enjoyment, who needs it”, he said.
Come to Harrisburg, the town without humor (see: A Town Without Pity, thanks to Gene Pitney)
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
It's Too Scary for Drugs
In order to understand me, and this Tear, you have to know that I am a child of the sixties (and early seventies). Drug experimentation was a rite of passage, much to our detriment AND benefit. I have decided to no longer get high. I have come to the realization that the world is just too scary for me to enjoy life if I’m high.
Please remember that we Hippies were tripping on L.S.D. in a world with Johnson, Nixon and Agnew, but today’s world is too scary for me. With the crop of losers we have running the world today, folks long for the days when we had Johnson, Nixon and Agnew. We diced with nuclear catastrophe, but today’s ridiculously risky world is just too scary for me. When I am stupid enough to waste my drug money watching the news while I am high, the downer is just too strong for me. There is no drug yet discovered or invented which can provide an effective escape from the living hell in which we are all immersed.
The earth is on the brink of total destruction from an environmental Armageddon which will leave us all in a shrieking misery. Any psychotic madman can wipe out life on our planet, any time he wishes, just by opening up a canister of lethal chemicals. Our leaders fritter away our time and our lives in a drunken stupor while they are acclaimed on TV as heroic public servants. Our culture is so debased that we can no longer satirize it anymore because these representations just aren’t funny, only tragic. Every tasteless satirization made during the hallucinogenic sixties has been surpassed by real life. I laugh at real culture the way I used to laugh at “Kentucky Fried Movie”. Our presidents, justices, senators, congressmen and other public figures have actually become the caricatures I imagined while I was tripping. No wonder I’m too scared to get high. At least in the sixties, we trippers carried around a healthy dose of thorizine, in case the trip was too much for us. Nowadays, a person could wind up on thorizine, permanently, just from absorbing everything around him.
This revolting development could spell the victory in the war on drugs; just create a world where life is too damn scary to enjoy being high. Think of this: spontaneously, without any further action, people everywhere in our great nation will quit altering their consciousness because it just isn’t fun anymore. Why? Because when you come down, you’re in the same crummy world as when you took off. Drug dealers and producers will all go broke. Dope fields will lie fallow and their crops will go unharvested. I can see it all now; televised Congressional hearings where we will see the “CEO’S” of the major drug cartels demanding a government bail out. They will tell us that our nation is in danger of losing the arts of methamphetamine, cocaine and hallucinogen manufacturing. The agrarian art of marijuana farming will go the way of buggy whip production. The taxpayer needs to help these endangered industries, before it’s too late.
There I go again, scaring myself. The government would never, in a million years, bail out failing private industries to protect them from the excesses of their own failures. I must be tripping. Such a thing could never happen. That’s why I have decided that I will no longer get high anymore. Things have just gotten too scary for me. I’ve thrown away my hashhpipe and my rolling papers, and I have flushed my stash. God Bless America! PLEASE.
Please remember that we Hippies were tripping on L.S.D. in a world with Johnson, Nixon and Agnew, but today’s world is too scary for me. With the crop of losers we have running the world today, folks long for the days when we had Johnson, Nixon and Agnew. We diced with nuclear catastrophe, but today’s ridiculously risky world is just too scary for me. When I am stupid enough to waste my drug money watching the news while I am high, the downer is just too strong for me. There is no drug yet discovered or invented which can provide an effective escape from the living hell in which we are all immersed.
The earth is on the brink of total destruction from an environmental Armageddon which will leave us all in a shrieking misery. Any psychotic madman can wipe out life on our planet, any time he wishes, just by opening up a canister of lethal chemicals. Our leaders fritter away our time and our lives in a drunken stupor while they are acclaimed on TV as heroic public servants. Our culture is so debased that we can no longer satirize it anymore because these representations just aren’t funny, only tragic. Every tasteless satirization made during the hallucinogenic sixties has been surpassed by real life. I laugh at real culture the way I used to laugh at “Kentucky Fried Movie”. Our presidents, justices, senators, congressmen and other public figures have actually become the caricatures I imagined while I was tripping. No wonder I’m too scared to get high. At least in the sixties, we trippers carried around a healthy dose of thorizine, in case the trip was too much for us. Nowadays, a person could wind up on thorizine, permanently, just from absorbing everything around him.
This revolting development could spell the victory in the war on drugs; just create a world where life is too damn scary to enjoy being high. Think of this: spontaneously, without any further action, people everywhere in our great nation will quit altering their consciousness because it just isn’t fun anymore. Why? Because when you come down, you’re in the same crummy world as when you took off. Drug dealers and producers will all go broke. Dope fields will lie fallow and their crops will go unharvested. I can see it all now; televised Congressional hearings where we will see the “CEO’S” of the major drug cartels demanding a government bail out. They will tell us that our nation is in danger of losing the arts of methamphetamine, cocaine and hallucinogen manufacturing. The agrarian art of marijuana farming will go the way of buggy whip production. The taxpayer needs to help these endangered industries, before it’s too late.
There I go again, scaring myself. The government would never, in a million years, bail out failing private industries to protect them from the excesses of their own failures. I must be tripping. Such a thing could never happen. That’s why I have decided that I will no longer get high anymore. Things have just gotten too scary for me. I’ve thrown away my hashhpipe and my rolling papers, and I have flushed my stash. God Bless America! PLEASE.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Another Look At History
This morning I watched a news report, which exact one is irrelevant because they all seem to be the same regarding this issue, on the Senate confirmation hearings of Timothy Geitner as Secretary of the Treasury. We all may, but should, be familiar with the secretary designate’s “minor” problem with the IRS. In the real world, no one has a minor problem with the IRS. That agency is famed for its tenacity and “brutality” in evaluating, penalizing and collecting the delinquent taxes owed, by its own reckoning. No legal or moral entity can overturn the decisions of the IRS. That is, unless the violator is designated as the next Secretary of the Treasury, the head of the agency which oversees the IRS. Secretary Designate Geitner has been allowed to remain indebted to the IRS until his impending appointment was called into review by the Senate. Then, and only then, Geitner agreed to settle his delinquency. I heard a critic wish that he might be allowed to maintain an outstanding account with the IRS until he, himself, may be so designated. In general, the various media news entities have dismissed the importance of Geitner’s delinquent status as an “unintended error”, mirroring the statements of the incoming Obama administration. I bet Mr. Bush wishes that these media “Obamaphiles” had been so supportive of the Bush party line in their various broadcasts. Our press has been afforded, by the constitution, certain privileges which render it immune from any government attempt to silence or influence it. That privilege comes with an unstated responsibility to be vigilant and inquiring, not a rubber stamp of their favorites.
What can we expect from a press sector which, privately and publicly, anointed their favorite, Obama, and excoriated his opponent for even raising questions about Obama’s readiness or suitability to serve, during the campaign? Some Obama detractors have inappropriately, I believe, referred to him as the “Savior” or the “Anointed One”, due to their frustration with the thinly veiled advocacy within the press. To be fair, it must be noted that Obama never requested or demanded such partiality from his erstwhile allies in the press, and it could hardly be posited that he should have rejected such support on the basis of fairness. Nonetheless, he did benefit unjustly. The “impartial” reporters seemingly anointed their choice. This reminds me of the overall reaction, in the news media, to the candidacy of President Kennedy in his campaign against Nixon. It also reminds me of the adoration given to another iconic anointee.
Over five hundred years ago, between 1495 and 1498, creative genius Leonardo da Vinci devoted his unequaled talents to the depiction of a scene of great religious historic significance, the Last Supper. This great inspired work of art shows Leonardo’s imaginative picture of the last supper of Jesus Christ. It also depicts the attendance of his twelve disciples, in an arrangement meaningful to many. This great masterpiece serves as our representation of that event.
What will Americans five hundred years hence say and think about the untarnished admiration afforded to President Obama by his adoring press? Will they adopt a more discerning view of the press’s sycophancy? Might future Americans develop a sarcastic attitude about the role played by an adoring press, as they ignored all of Obama’s flaws and branded those who detracted, by virtue of those flaws, as racists or worse ( although in today’s politically correct atmosphere there can hardly be a designation more severe than alleged racism)? Let us look at the Last Supper as an example of the unconditional admiration one, however righteous he may be, can enjoy. Will Geitner be depicted as an adoring disciple, immune from any attempt at inspection? He has been lauded, without ever having indicating worthiness, much to the contrary, as necessary to our nation’s economic recovery. Will Gates, Secretary of Defense (leftover from the “evil” Bush administration) be depicted as Judas, especially if he ever differentiates himself from the views Obama may hold regarding the War on Terror? Will Hillary be depicted as the androgynously swooning John? Has Leonardo given us an inspired warning against unquestioning hero worship as opposed to the actual worship of heavenly, truly religious figures?
We have afforded the utmost respect and admiration to Leonardo for his inventive nature, his sensitive artistic talents and his apparent genius. We should reserve such regard for those who have shown that they are deserving of it. We should not regard those who have never demonstrated such qualities as “extra-humanly” endowed until such time as their actions and accomplishments justify that, nearly unique, regard. We should not infuse into the nature of any person infallibility reserved for the most holy and revered among us.
Although I wish him every success, and although I did not vote for his opponent, I hope we look at Obama, our nation’s first African-American president, with an undaunted eye capable of evaluating his accomplishments according to their real value and not infused with a false sense of unqualified admiration, due only to electoral distinction. I hope that Obama hopes for the same thing, as well, regardless of whatever his sycophantic followers may hope. Otherwise his presidency will not be measured, for posterity, by his actual accomplishments, only by his adoration. I think any man deserves better than that.
What can we expect from a press sector which, privately and publicly, anointed their favorite, Obama, and excoriated his opponent for even raising questions about Obama’s readiness or suitability to serve, during the campaign? Some Obama detractors have inappropriately, I believe, referred to him as the “Savior” or the “Anointed One”, due to their frustration with the thinly veiled advocacy within the press. To be fair, it must be noted that Obama never requested or demanded such partiality from his erstwhile allies in the press, and it could hardly be posited that he should have rejected such support on the basis of fairness. Nonetheless, he did benefit unjustly. The “impartial” reporters seemingly anointed their choice. This reminds me of the overall reaction, in the news media, to the candidacy of President Kennedy in his campaign against Nixon. It also reminds me of the adoration given to another iconic anointee.
Over five hundred years ago, between 1495 and 1498, creative genius Leonardo da Vinci devoted his unequaled talents to the depiction of a scene of great religious historic significance, the Last Supper. This great inspired work of art shows Leonardo’s imaginative picture of the last supper of Jesus Christ. It also depicts the attendance of his twelve disciples, in an arrangement meaningful to many. This great masterpiece serves as our representation of that event.
What will Americans five hundred years hence say and think about the untarnished admiration afforded to President Obama by his adoring press? Will they adopt a more discerning view of the press’s sycophancy? Might future Americans develop a sarcastic attitude about the role played by an adoring press, as they ignored all of Obama’s flaws and branded those who detracted, by virtue of those flaws, as racists or worse ( although in today’s politically correct atmosphere there can hardly be a designation more severe than alleged racism)? Let us look at the Last Supper as an example of the unconditional admiration one, however righteous he may be, can enjoy. Will Geitner be depicted as an adoring disciple, immune from any attempt at inspection? He has been lauded, without ever having indicating worthiness, much to the contrary, as necessary to our nation’s economic recovery. Will Gates, Secretary of Defense (leftover from the “evil” Bush administration) be depicted as Judas, especially if he ever differentiates himself from the views Obama may hold regarding the War on Terror? Will Hillary be depicted as the androgynously swooning John? Has Leonardo given us an inspired warning against unquestioning hero worship as opposed to the actual worship of heavenly, truly religious figures?
We have afforded the utmost respect and admiration to Leonardo for his inventive nature, his sensitive artistic talents and his apparent genius. We should reserve such regard for those who have shown that they are deserving of it. We should not regard those who have never demonstrated such qualities as “extra-humanly” endowed until such time as their actions and accomplishments justify that, nearly unique, regard. We should not infuse into the nature of any person infallibility reserved for the most holy and revered among us.
Although I wish him every success, and although I did not vote for his opponent, I hope we look at Obama, our nation’s first African-American president, with an undaunted eye capable of evaluating his accomplishments according to their real value and not infused with a false sense of unqualified admiration, due only to electoral distinction. I hope that Obama hopes for the same thing, as well, regardless of whatever his sycophantic followers may hope. Otherwise his presidency will not be measured, for posterity, by his actual accomplishments, only by his adoration. I think any man deserves better than that.
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