Generally, 98-year-olds can get away with things the rest of us can’t.
Talking about politics in polite company, for example.
I enjoyed a lively visit with my 98-year-old grandmother today, and at some point in the conversation (I believe it was right after her praise for the “Biography” episode on John Tyler, U.S. president from 1841-45), she observed that she’s lived through the terms of 17 U.S. Presidents.
Grandma was born in 1915, about halfway through World War I when Woodrow Wilson was president.
I marvel about that. She was alive when Woodrow Wilson was president.
She remarked that her favorite presidents were Franklin Roosevelt and Bill Clinton. Before you dismiss her as a hopeless liberal, she said this about Barack Obama: “I don’t know about him.”
I think she’s still not forgiven him for ruining the chances of Hillary Clinton to be the first woman in the highest public office in the land which, for a woman who’s seen a parade of 16 other men through the Oval Office during her lifetime, probably would have been a nice change of pace.
Whatever her politics, it’s impressive that my grandmother — who still lives by herself (with some help) — follows politics and can form valid opinions about goings-on in Washington. My personal presidential count: I’ve been alive through the terms of nine U.S. presidents, roughly half of what Grandma has seen.
Don’t piss me off, Inside-The-Beltwayers, when I’m PMSing.
I listened to way too much National Public Radio in the past 48 hours, and I am completely fed up with the hand wringing about sequestration from the current administration and spokespersons for every federal program this side of Mexico.
You can’t cut 10% from your bloated budget? Really? The American people and every surviving American corporation in the country had to figure it out during the Great Recession, and you can, too.
I don’t care if there are fewer meat inspectors. We all should be eating beans once a week anyway.
I don’t care if there are longer lines at the airport. The TSA is waste of resources that should be financed by airlines and its fliers anyway.
I don’t care of federal unemployment benefits are cut 10%. They don’t pay the mortgage anyway.
I don’t care if the Pentagon has to do more with less. We all have had to do it, and you can figure out how to buy fewer $3,000 solar-powered toilets, too. Word to the wise: You can probably get a good deal on used AK-47s confiscated from the streets on Chicago’s South Side; America’s housewives could teach you a thing or two about couponing.
I don’t care if HIV patients in Washington, D.C., will get 10% fewer free condoms. Have 10% less sex in the name of patriotism.
I don’t care about the so-called multiplier effect — seriously, did the bank bailout in 2008 multiple the good effects of spending? I don’t think so! The bad effects of spending cuts are an illusion, too!
So I called my elected representatives — I’m talking to you Sen. Dick Durbin, Sen. Mark Kirk and Rep. Randy Hultgren – and told them not to make any deals. Seriously, I looked up the phone numbers and called them. “Let sequestration happen!” I shouted into their answering machines (OK, spoke loudly — I don’t need more trouble. Sen. Durbin had a live person answering the phone — I guess that’s one of the perks of 16 years in the Senate, but for the record, we all could have made do with an answering machine!
I’m not only a fan of sequestration (fanatic?!), but I’m a fan of 10% more cuts in six months! Bring it on!
Is a good leader the same as what matters most to you in a leader?
These two questions crossed my mind as I was reading Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Computers.
In a fit of insomnia, I read 100 pages of the 571-page tome in the middle of the night last night just after I found an article in November’s Real Simple magazine about “What Matters to You Most in a Leader?”
Real Simple was posing the question in light of Election Day, but it’s relevant in light of Obama’s inauguration, too.
Answers from Real Simple readers included:
“An open mind and a tolerant attitude.”
“Humility.”
“Kindness and sympathy.”
“The ability to help people with opposing viewpoints find common ground.”
Meanwhile, Isaacson uses words like “bratty,” “arrogant,” “demanding” and “harsh” to describe the perfectionist behind such products as the Macintosh personal computer and iEverything.
Which leads me to wonder, “Is what we want in a leader what we really need?”
After reading just the beginning of Jobs’ biography, I know I’d never have made it at Apple Computers. I would have hated working for such a jerk. Yet I admire the work of that jerk.
I wonder if, like a spoiled 5-year-old who gets everything she wants and then throws tantrums anyway, we’re getting exactly what we ask for in our politicians and business leaders?
U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk returned to work today, an impressive act for a man who suffered a major stroke a year ago.
Kirk, 52, represents Illinois. I’m not exactly a fan of Kirk’s or politicians in general, but I’m interested in his recovery.
For a while, I was irked that Kirk could be absent from his job representing me and the other residents of Illinois while he underwent multiple surgeries and months of rehab, but as I reflected, I’m glad he can retake his place in the Senate. If he were a school custodian, I would want the district to offer him his job back, so why not a politician?
His condition reminds me of my great uncle Art, who suffered a stroke in the mid-60s before I was born. I remember nothing of a man who must have been strong and effective as a life-long farmer in north central Minnesota except his halting walk and garbled speech. He and his wife, Great Aunt Freda, were frequent guests around our holiday table because Art was my grandfather’s brother and Freda was my grandmother’s sister (yes, the pair of brothers married a pair of sisters).
Great Uncle Art used a four-pronged cane to get around, on which I read Mark Kirk also depends. To tackle the 40-some steps of the Capitol, as Mark Kirk did today, would have been impossible for Great Uncle Art, I believe.
Art farmed when he was struck down by his stroke. My dad tells me my uncle and grandfather took over Art’s cows and chores for a while until it became apparent Art would never be able to farm again.
Art lived for nearly 20 years after his stroke. He scared me as a child because I couldn’t understand a word he said; I’d like to think I as an adult would be more kind to him. Dad said Art was most articulate when he swore, which he didn’t do much before his stroke, probably because he was frustrated with his state. Nowadays, Kirk likely benefits from better stroke medications, better rehab and a senatorial staff of dozens.
In any case, Mark Kirk gets points for perseverance. Great Uncle Art was nothing if not indomitable to endure his weakened condition for nearly two decades.
Kirk’s return to Congress also is heartening for its symbolism. The Republican was greeted at the Capitol steps by Illinois’ Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and Vice President Joe Biden (read the Chicago Tribune’s story here). If only Congress as a whole could share that perseverance and nonpartisan support.
Whatever you call it — electricity aggregation or utility revenge — it saves customers money and it’s an example of our democracy at work for its residents.
I appreciate the power of electricity (excuse the pun) to transform my life (and transmit this post to the blogosphere, for example), so when I think about paying a hundred bucks a month for electricity in my home, I think I’m getting a good deal in any case. But why pay more if you don’t have to?
Several months ago, village residents approved a plan for electricity aggregation in the village of Hampshire (aha! a direct benefit of showing up to vote!). This allowed the village to purchase electricity in bulk for all its residents and theoretically pass the savings along to users.
In the case of Hampshire, residents are indeed saving money. Just looking at my bills for the past two months and comparing them to the same time last year, I saved 4% in October and 23% in November even though I used more electricity in 2012 than last year.
How it works: First Energy Solutions provides the electrical supply at a rate 38% less than ComEd. ComEd continues to deliver that electricity (and, of course, charges for that service) and provide the billing. So without lifting a finger, residents of Hampshire are paying less for their electricity.
I wondered if ComEd increased their delivery charges to account for not supplying the electricity, but no; deliver charges are actually down slightly. I also wondered if the village was taking a cut. No on that count, too. Some municipalities add a surcharge, but not Hampshire.
Long ago, in a galaxy far away (OK, if you must be a stickler, a state far away), I was a radio deejay.
I was in college, and the university had its own radio station, and said radio station had dozens of shelves of vinyl albums (for you tweeners and teens, “albums” were those big black round Frisbees that looked and behaved a lot like music CDs — remember those?).
Anyway, back in the dark ages, radio stations didn’t have recorded satellite announcers, so they required live deejays to introduce various music selections, and volunteer college students looking for experience and possibly class credit were perfect for the position. This radio station provided index cards for various songs with the pertinent information for aspiring deejays to recite, but deejays added personality to their “shows” by ad libbing. And as you might imagine, underpaid and overtired college students came up with plenty of clichés to fill dead air.
That’s a long way to introduce this next post, the clichéd “oldie but goodie,” from Feb. 4, 2010, when the presidential election was but a twinkle in Karl Rove’s eye. Enjoy.
On prayer, a president and a poll from Feb. 4, 2010
Even if you don’t like President Obama, perhaps you will find his words about prayer at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning to be inspiring.
I am trying to be a better pray-er. One of my resolutions this year was to start each day with prayer. I’ve created a prayer journal (that I am actually using!). I’m reading “A Woman’s Call to Prayer” with my book club. Improving my communication skills with other human beings is a lifetime project, so I expect no less effort is required in improving my communication skills with the Creator. But I am working on it, slowly but surely.
So this morning, as I was running on the treadmill without my headphones, which I managed to forget to bring to the gym, I had to read Obama’s remarks on the closed-captioning on the TV, rather than hear them. But perhaps they were sinking in better for me that way.
He mentioned many topics, including Haiti and health care, but about prayer specifically, he said:
“For while prayer can buck us up when we are down, keep us calm in a storm; while prayer can stiffen our spines to surmount an obstacle — and I assure you I’m praying a lot these days — prayer can also do something else. It can touch our hearts with humility. It can fill us with a spirit of brotherhood. It can remind us that each of us are children of an awesome and loving God.”
Indeed. Love that sentiment.
If you want to read his whole speech, try this website here.
And if you have a thought about prayer, or Obama or Obama’s remarks on prayer, or something else, please comment. But be civil. As Obama said this morning, “Civility also requires relearning how to disagree without being disagreeable.”
“I wish I could give you a lot of advice, based on my experience of winning political debates. But I don’t have that experience. My only experience is at losing them.”
~ Richard M. Nixon
Set your citizen’s clock: The first presidential debate is tonight at 8 p.m. Central time tonight.
Voting is a privilege of citizenship, and informed voters are better voters. During the party conventions, I encouraged people to watch Romney‘s and Obama‘s speeches, and I believe watching at least one of the debates between the two men would be instructive as well.
Don’t follow the lead of so many members of the media who cover a political campaign like it’s a horse race. Unlike the experience of Nixon, who was not a good debater and turned out to be a flawed president, I would encourage voters to watch the debate without looking for a winner or a loser. Gaffes and gotchas might be entertaining, but I don’t think they really reveal the integrity or intentions of the candidate. Everyone blows it once in a while so to judge on a slip of the tongue, which the media is just obsessed with this election season, isn’t fair. Rather, listen to what Romney and Obama say they want to do and how their position might complement your own.
Tonight’s debate will be broadcast live on C-SPAN, ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC, as well as all cable news channels including CNN, Fox News and MSNBC among others. You can also watch online. Jim Lehrer, host of NewsHour on PBS, is the moderator. I have plans tonight until 8, so I’ll be listening to the debate in my car on National Public Radio.
Here’s your preparation check list for a citizen’s minimum effort in electing a president:
Watch Romney’s speech. Check.
Watch Obama’s speech tonight. Check.
Watch at least part of one presidential debate.
Vote on Nov. 6.
This is not too much to ask in return for the American infrastructure and freedoms you enjoy every day.
The candidates also debate again Oct. 16 and Oct. 22.
Thinking isn’t agreeing or disagreeing. That’s voting.
~ Robert Frost
It’s that time again: Time to be an engaged citizen.
As an engaged citizen, I implore you to check out Barack Obama’s nomination acceptance speech tonight at the Democratic National Convention.
I’m not suggesting you actually vote for Obama — that’s up to you. I’m only suggesting you be informed — that you think for yourself, no matter who you intend to vote for — and collect your information right from the horse’s mouth, as it were.
A lot of hooey is dished from politicians’ mouths during campaign speeches, but if you listen to them yourself, you get to decide what’s hooey and what’s not, rather than letting your friends or the dreaded media tell you (as a former member of “the media,” I can tell you there is a lot of group think going on, but not all media reps think alike or have any interest in conspiring– or the time to do it).
As I mentioned last week, if it was already on your evening schedule, this post is not for you.
But if you didn’t even know the Democrats were meeting this week or you didn’t know Obama had to accept the party’s nomination (“isn’t he already president?”), please pop some popcorn, dress comfy and spend a few minutes listening to the most powerful man in the free world — your world — lay out his plans for a second term.
Barack Obama is running for a second term as president of the United States. A six-word resumé for him would be this: Big thinker, attorney, former Senator, black. He’s running against Republican Mitt Romney (and a number of minor party candidates even I can’t name) for a second term as president. The election is in 60 short days on Nov. 6.
I’ll repeat what I wrote last week about watching Mitt Romney’s acceptance speech: I completely understand why you think your vote doesn’t matter or why you might believe all politicians are greedy and deceitful or why politics is more boring than watching paint dry. But I think voting is a privilege and a duty of being an American, and if you’re going to vote, you really ought to be informed. A lot of other campaigns may be boring and not worth watching (such as the one for village clerk or state representative), but determining who the man who becomes president of the United States is important.
I am not here promoting either candidate, only that a citizen’s minimum effort in electing a president should include:
Watching Romney’s speech. Check.
Watching Obama’s speech tonight.
Watching at least part of one presidential debate.
Voting on Nov. 6.
This is not too much to ask in return for the American infrastructure and freedoms you enjoy every day.
In conclusion, I’ll put my Minnesota native tongue firmly in my Illinois resident cheek as I share this quote:
In most places in the country, voting is looked upon as a right and a duty, but in Chicago it’s a sport.
I invoke this quote from Pierre Corneille, a French playwright, to compel you to believe it is your duty to watch Mitt Romney’s nomination acceptance speech tonight at the Republican National Convention.
If it was already on your evening schedule, this post is not for you.
But if you didn’t even know the Republicans were meeting this week, or you didn’t know Romney was speaking tonight or you don’t know who Mitt Romney is, please reconsider your decision to watch “Project Runway” or enjoy Thirsty Thursday specials at the local watering hole. (I will, however, permit you to tape Heidi Klum & company — that’s what I’m doing — or watch Romney while imbibing — I might be doing that, too.)
Mitt Romney is the Republicans’ candidate for president. A six-word resumé for him would be this: High-powered businessman, former governor, multi-millionaire, Mormon. The back story: Romney, who battled it out in the most exciting Republican primary elections in ages, is running against Democrat Barack Obama, who is attempting to secure a second term as president. The election is in 67 short days on Nov. 6.
I completely understand why you think your vote doesn’t matter or why you might believe all politicians are greedy and deceitful or why politics is more boring than watching paint dry.
But I think voting is a privilege and a duty of being an American, and if you’re going to vote, you really ought to be informed. A lot of other campaigns may be boring and not worth watching (such as the one for village clerk or state representative), but determining who the man who becomes president of the United States is important.
Who is in charge might not make any difference in the country’s direction, but I’m with Corneille: Do your duty, and leave the rest to heaven.
I am not here promoting either candidate, only that a citizen’s minimum effort in electing a president should include:
Watching Romney’s speech.
Watching Obama’s speech next Thursday.
Watching at least part of one presidential debate.
Voting on Nov. 6.
This is not too much to ask in return for the American infrastructure and freedoms you enjoy every day.
To conclude today’s lesson, I will invoke another Corneille quote:
Note from Minnesota Transplant: Here’s an oldie, but a goodie, reprinted from Minnesota Transplant on Jan. 5, 2011. It’s perfect for celebrating our country’s 236th birthday today. Enjoy!
Do you know the preamble to the U.S. Constitution? You might if you watched Saturday morning cartoons in the 1970s. Thanks to School House Rock, which put the preamble to music, all I have to hear is “We, the people” and I’m off and running. Here, you can sing along, too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLP_HGKq-jg
When John Boehner, the new speaker of the U.S. House (and third in line to the presidency, by the way), officially takes the gavel today, one of his first directives will be to have the Constitution read on the floor of the House on Thursday. He’s tipping his hat to the conservative Tea Partiers, who consider the Constitution to be the sacred scripture by which all law must be measured.
I believe in the Constitution, too, but I would politely point out that the Founding Fathers thought good government would “insure domestic tranquility” (are you listening, Fox News?) and “promote the general welfare,” which doesn’t grow on trees but has to be funded by, yes, taxes.
What I’d really like to see, besides progress by both major parties in Washington during the next two years, is John Boehner singing the preamble to the Constitution tomorrow. In fact, if he agrees, I’ll sing with him!
