JFK Fifty Years On

It was 50 years ago today--November 8th, 1960--that John F. Kennedy was elected president. For the next three years there will be continuing anniversaries of great moments in his administration finally culminating in the 50th year since the motorcade through Dallas. These memories will be almost always inspiring and full of pleasure and promise and beauty. But November 22, 2013 will come and we will feel the finality of that day, the end of the sheer joy and fun of the Kennedy years again.

In our historical and mystical heart this day may feel like an impossible new beginning, but this time we know the end and will be left to look to ourselves for the true completion of Jack Kennedy's presidency.

Crazy Times & Crazy People

Glen Beck tells his audience he has not written a detailed talk for his Washington appearance on the Mall because he wishes to leave room for "The Spirit" to speak should he/she/it want to speak through him. This guy's head is going to explode any day now. Sinclair Lewis nailed Beck and all other charlatans in Elmer Gantry many decades ago. So did P.T. Barnum when he said there is a sucker born every minute, one hundred thousand of them came to Beck's tent meeting this weekend.

A new poll in Newsweek shows that over half of Republicans today believe, or think it plausible, that President Obama is a Muslim and desires sharia law to be imposed world-wide. If a fire has a small, contained start it can be beaten out easily with a good broom, but if it is ignored it can destroy the forest and everything in it. The Democrats and however many sane Republicans are left need to grab their brooms now because real madness is on the march in our town.

On Needing To Be Held

Books, like dogs, get lonely and need to be picked up, held and read. That book you see every day as you pass by--read it. And speaking of lonely, President Obama turned 49 years-old today and his family were all out of town--older daughter at camp, wife and younger daughter in Spain. That's summer for you.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

Tony Bennett, Newsweek, Two-buck Chuck

Today is Tony Bennett's 84th birthday. A few weeks ago he sang for 10,000 people in Istanbul, Turkey, of all places, and has a gig coming up in Philadelphia. His own favorite recording of his work is of a beautiful song by Richard Rodgers and Martin Charnin called "I Do Not Know A Day I Did Not Love You." It takes you to a different and lovely place for a few minutes. You must return but can go again as often as you wish. Happy Birthday, Maestro!

Newsweek has been sold for $1.00 to the billionaire husband of Congresswoman Jane Harman, a Dem from LA. That's one dollar and assumption of all debts which are considerable. I hope this is a change for the better, for the past few months Newsweek hasn't been worth a minute of your time. Mr. Sidney Harman is 91 years old and apparently wanted a new challenge. Go for it, Sid!

I have lately taken a shine to Charles Shaw Merlot, popularly called "Two-buck Chuck" because it sells for about two dollars a bottle. It's more than okay and has been a big hit in Southern Cal for for the past few years. Trader Joe's is the place to go for it.

Publish and Perish

The presidential campaign of 1976 between the incumbent Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter was coming down to the wire when the ex-president, Richard Nixon, pardoned two years earlier by Ford, announced that he would go again to China, and go at the time of the election. He was strongly criticized for shamelessly drawing attention back to himself and the Watergate crimes--and his pardon--at the very time the man who had unpopularly pardoned him desperately wanted the voters to forget all that and concentrate on voting Republican one more time. Nixon went, Ford lost. Most certainly this was not simple cause and effect, but it illustrated the presumed negative influence of a failed president on the next election.

This all comes to mind with the news that George W. Bush's presidential memoir will be released on Tuesday, November 9th, precisely one week after this year's mid-term elections. Book publishing being what it is today, it is reasonable to assume that there will be leaks of juicy parts and even sales of Dubya's scribbling before Election Day, with
Republicans everywhere being called upon for comment on the late Bush Administration's policies about this and that and everything. The exactly last thing they wish to discuss now, then, or ever. Roll the presses!

The New Look

The editor of this often laggard commentary has seen fit to choose a new format so that readers may not merely have a change of ambience but also get a glimpse of the sky as it usually appears here, minus the trace of clouds. After half a century in dear Minnesota this view brings great cheer to the heart of an aging Irishman. I hope the new look brings pleasure to all who read here.

If I was a seer with a crystal ball trying to see the state of the Obama presidency I would say that it is too murky to see anything definitive yet. He has not hit his stride; there is greatness in him but the man has not yet met his moment. It is surely coming to him as it has to all the men who have lived in that house.

Hitch Is Sick

Christopher Hitchens has announced that he has esophageal cancer and needs to begin chemotherapy. I am very sorry to hear this, Hitch is a brilliant writer and tireless battler against hypocrisy and sham in all their forms. I am currently reading his memoir, Hitch-22, a glorious, hilarious, beautifully written report on his life thus far.

You are not dismissed, Mr. Hitchens. Great work remains to be done, as you know better than most. Get well soon.