Tag Archives: Massachusetts
On Scandalous Behavior: A Radio Essay for June 11, 2011
There were a lot of headlines this week from which to choose the subject of this week’s essay. A continuing war in Libya that is escalating in cost; a secret war in Yemen involving US forces; the US economy nearing free fall; Presidential hopefuls who have declared themselves to be “in;” those who have declared themselves to be “out;” and those who said they were “out” but who really mean that they’re “in.”
As compelling as those topics are, I found myself nearly obsessed with the Twitter scandal of the Congressman from New York City, Anthony Weiner. Please let me explain. This is not about the sordid details of the transgression, once denied but now admitted. Many, but certainly not all, of the facts are now in evidence. This is not intended to be a psychological analysis of what drove him to his actions. I will leave that to the long discussions he will have with his analyst.
Rather, this is intended to be a discussion of what is relevant to the conversation we are having about the future of our Republic. Every day, we slide deeper and deeper into debt to nations that do not have our best interests at heart. Every day, we make financial gifts to unstable foreign governments. We write checks against borrowed money. Every day, we are undermining long standing relationships and alliances with nations who have been our only friend in regions of great turmoil. Every day, we add fuel to the fires of the Arab Spring cum Summer that will have outcomes in the transference of power that, once again, do not have the best interests of the United States in mind, much less that of Israel.
Gas prices hovering near $4 per gallon; food prices skyrocketing; engagement in 3 military conflicts that snatch the treasures of our youth; the US Dollar depreciating against all currencies, including the Yen! (One would think the one country we should have an advantage against is one whose industry has been ravaged by tsunami and earthquake and radiation.) Home mortgages underwater in record numbers; State and municipal budgets in shambles; the 2011 Federal budget the product of a continuing resolution and the 2012 budget not yet proposed by the President.
There is a lot on our plate. And what dominated the conversation in Washington? A photograph did. A self-portrait, if you will, of the member of a Member of Congress, and the deceitful behavior that followed. While Rome burned, Congressman Weiner was chatting it up with hotties across the country whom, supposedly, he had never met, exchanging sexual pleasantries as if they were his with his wife. His wife. Did I mention that he has a wife?
So, now Congressman Weiner joins a long line of recent reprobates from government: Elliot Spitzer, Bill Clinton, John Edwards, and Wilbur Mills to name a few. I could go far back in time to other notables but these will suffice.
Call me a Pollyanna but I really do love the Jimmy Stewart/Frank Capra classic movie, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” It premiered in 1939 and remains quite relevant to contemporary times. Mr. Smith was tempted by fame, fortune and femme fatales but managed to cling to the roots of what made him the man that he was.
Ultimately, the real Mr. Smith prevailed. It was a happy ending. I hold out less confidence for the current crop of long term incumbents in Washington. The problem is this: I cannot trust them: not with my finances; not with my liberty; and, certainly not with daughters!
I am astounded that so many people remain un-offended by Congressman Weiner’s actions. Imagine if it were your daughter on the receiving end of the photo texts or intimate telephone chats. Imagine if it were your daughter were an intern in the Clinton White House. I, for one, cannot separate public performance from personal behavior. They are linked.
There was a time when serving as an intern or page was nothing but prestigious. Now, it is tainted with scandal by self-serving narcissists who think that government is them. We are the government and we deserve better. I want to hold my Congressman in high esteem. I want them to behave in the best possible manner. I want them to be a reflection of a society that I believe is good, true and moral.
Jerry Springer Nation has arrived in Washington. If they won’t resign on their own, let’s do it the old fashioned way. Vote the bums out.
Press on.
On Memorial Day: Radio Essay for May 28, 2012
Have you ever really seen wind? Not really. We feel it. We see its’ effects: tree leaves blowing; foam on an ocean whitecap; an umbrella turned inside out on a city street. Some winds give gentle relief to a warm summers’ day and some wind stokes the flames of a wild fire. We know that wind is a consequence of weather. We can’t see it but we know it’s there.
Have you ever really seen freedom? Not really. Like wind, we feel it. We see its’ effects. We participate in peaceful gatherings; we pursue our happiness with friends of our choice; we live life to the beat of our own personal drummer. Freedom is a consequence of national character. We can’t really see it but we know its’ there.
We have faith in the weather and we have faith in freedom. But there is a very real difference. Weather simply happens. We batten down the hatches and wait for the consequences. We take it for granted.
Not so for freedom. Freedom is a demanding mistress. Freedom must be nurtured and this freedom nurturing is very complicated. Freedom is not achieved as much as it is compiled. Its’ durability comes from generation after generation of patriots who were willing to take a stand.
Every generation of Americans has had to answer the question that the siren of freedom asked of them: are you willing to shoulder the mantle and defend the foundation of freedom that our forbearers laid for us? At the dawn of our existence, are you willing to take up arms at daybreak on the Lexington Green against a superior force of Red Coats; as a member of a newly founded country, are you willing to take to sea to face the Barbary Pirates thousands of miles from home along the shores of Tripoli; four score and seven years after the founding of this most imaginative country, are you willing to preserve the Union at Little Round Top in Gettysburg; as the industrial revolution engages, are you willing to enter the trenches at Verdun; as fascism spread across the world are you willing to wade ashore in the face of withering fire at Omaha Beach or Guadalcanal; in the wake of an unsteady peace among giants, are you willing to advance up Pork Chop Hill; in the shadow of the Cold War, are you willing to pilot your helicopter at the nap of the earth in the Central Highlands of Vietnam; in the age of religious extremism, are you willing to fight house-to-house in Fallujah to root out terrorists? Most of our veterans did not sign on in the face of certain danger but did so because some things in our lives are worth defending. It is that simple.
These questions are by no means fair. No one knows with any certainty how they will react in crisis. When the stakes are high enough we fight for things we believe are worth defending. As parents, we instinctively defend our children. As humans, we instinctively defend ourselves. As soldiers charged with the defense of freedom, we fight alongside each other as our nation dictates.
If you have ever raised your hand to serve and defend this country, I salute you and honor your service to this marvelous experiment of America. She has proven herself to be worth fighting for. Without that commitment to protect and defend our way of life, the circumstances would for us, and our world, be different, indeed.
The noble profession of arms is a calling to a selective slice of our countrymen. Upon their shoulders do we place the terrible burden of the defense of this great nation and the defense of freedom for ourselves and our posterity. Time after time, and generation after generation, our youth has borne the horrible cost of freedom in its defense against the onslaught of tyranny. And they have never wavered in their commitment. They have never failed to deliver.
So what is required of us? It is more, I think, than simply placing a flag on the graves of the brave. It is more, I think, than giving inspirational speeches every Memorial Day. If they, who have given their last full measure of devotion, have willingly defended freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and freedom of religion is it not up to us to express ourselves as our founders intended and as our sons and daughters have defended?
In short, we must work hard to become the best citizens we can be; to accept and appreciate the gifts of those past generations of Americans who have borne every burden on our behalf. We must never take life and the many choices and opportunities it brings for granted.
Honor their commitment. Get involved in civics. Vote. Write. Speak. Assemble. Protest. Celebrate. Pray. Pursue happiness while ensuring it for our children’s children by teaching it through our actions. Children listen. Children watch. Children pattern behaviors. And so do adults.
Become worthy of the sacrifices of the many millions of Americans who have worn the uniform of their country: Some to fight; some to wait; but all to serve.
May God bless each and every one of them. And may God bless us all in this greatest country that has taught the world what freedom means; this country that knows the dear price of freedom and its burdens. Long may our flag wave over a free and freedom loving land.
Press on.
the american century 