Don't Get Me Started
It’s about– adherence to the Constitution. And the American people and the Congress is insisting that he allows us to do our job. Basically what the president has done and the Republicans have done, they’ve joined hands. And the Republicans have been basically not only blocking but become the defense counsel for the president. Okay. But no documents? I mean, come on.
60 Minutes
The House of Representatives will have to soldier on without him now.
This poem ran through my head for weeks as I watched my mother slowly fade away. As I watched my dad die. It is the only answer I have.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Dylan Thomas, 1914 – 1953
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Copyright © 1997-2002 by The Academy of American Poets
(Yes, I realize that posting the poem here constitutes a probable breach of copyright. The widget that allows for embedding the poem does not function. I would happily have used that function if it worked. It would have been easier.)
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Poor people across the world. Unite in brotherhood refuse to bear arms against the downtrodden and hopeless from another place, another time. Go peacefully into death if your only other option is to do injustice to those who do not deserve it.
Protectors across the world. Armed and organized people. Recognize your duty to your fellow humans. Do not do injustice to the poor and unlucky who, like you were once, simply cannot escape the life they were born into. Use your might to bring the evil to justice. The evil; those who profit without providing a return benefit, those who take without giving, those with power who want more power for power’s sake. The hoarding wealthy. The commanding despot. Bring them to justice if there is justice. Bring them death if there is no justice. Spread their hoards, their power, across the vast swaths of the poor who could use what the evil merely sit upon.
Finally, for the haves. The powerful. The wealthy. Recognize that your good fortune was not your own doing. That you were lucky as so many others were not. Teach. Nurture. Elevate. Make the world a better place for your having had the luck to be able to provide for others; because without those people you know, you would not have what you have now. Their willingness to follow is what allows you to lead. Understand that if you do not do these things, force will be applied in proportion to your evil nature. We will come for you, eventually.
Every week brings another e-mail to the inbox, generally with a syrupy message about keeping in touch with family and friends and not winding up regretting things when you’re an old fart.
Look, I love all of you, OK? There is no need to send me a message seeking my affections and approval. Really, if you feel the need to reassure yourself that I am your friend, take my word for it, you’re my best bud. Just don’t hit send on that chain letter, please?
Also, for the record:
There is no National Friendship and FAMILY WEEK
There is no National Friendship Week
Here’s a quote from Break the Chain (one of three places I check for debunking information):
Official declarations of special-interest “weeks” usually come from legislators and governors. “National” weeks or days will most likely be declared by the President or Congress. Searches on the White House Web Site and FirstGov.gov for “National Friendship Week” turned up nothing – as I hoped they would, since I don’t really want government involved with my social life at that level!
Of course, special-interest groups can also declare special “national” weeks and days. Heck, if I wanted to, I could declare this week “The National Week of My Left Eyebrow.” There’s no law and no person keeping me from doing it, all I need is a good public relations campaign. Oh, and if I send out a poem about my left eyebrow via e-mail and don’t date it, it can be the week of my left eyebrow all year long!
Break the Chain
I can say with one phrase (Carpe Diem!) what most of the friendship letters take pages to get across. It’s just not that difficult a concept to grasp. A better expression of this was heard a few weeks back on The View (no, I don’t watch the show, I was channel surfing during the day. No REALLY) When William Shatner was on plugging the Season Finale for Boston Legal. It’s also a song on his album Has Been (track title You’ll Have Time) which pretty much covers it.
I approach every day with the observation “this could be my last day” and I’ve done this for most of my life. That’s pretty much what he said, and that’s pretty much how I’ve lived for as long as I can remember. I recommend this approach to life to you as your friend.
Now, I need to go start that chain letter concerning the Week of My Left Eyebrow. That strikes me as being the thing to start a chain letter to promote.
It is today that we remember and honor the crews of Apollo 1 and Challenger. They made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives and service to their country and for all mankind. Their dedication and devotion to the exploration of space was an inspiration to each of us, and still motivates people around the world to achieve great things in service to others. As we orbit the Earth, we will join the entire NASA family for a moment of silence in their memory. Our thoughts and prayers go to their families as well.
STS-107 commander Rick Husband
I saved this quote on the day it was uttered by Rick Husband. I’m backdating this blog entry to the day he said it. I put it into a calendar entry that I made to remind me of the anniversary of the Challenger disaster. I made one for the Apollo 1 disaster at the same time, making note of the names of the three astronauts that died that day.
I remember watching the Moon landings on our black and white television in the little wood paneled room next to the kitchen, in that house in Leoti that I still think of as home, even though that place hasn’t existed for about 35 years. I remember it as clearly as anyone can remember something that recurs to them time and again over the span of decades; which is another way of saying, I probably have invented most of the details of what I remember, but I know that I watched the events of the Apollo program unfold on television in breathless anticipation. I’m sure I watched the news the day that Ed White, Roger Chaffee and Gus Grissom died, and I’m sure I cried at the news.
I probably cried as much as the day that I watched the space shuttle Challenger disappear into that infamous ball of smoke that nearly every person alive can probably picture just by reading the word Challenger. I didn’t watch it live. I know that much. I was out driving in my car that day with some of my friends, and we heard it on the radio. When we got back to the house and watched the news, that is when we finally saw the horror that most of us remember from that day. I wrote an article for the blog on the thirtieth anniversary:
A gushing, emotional piece that I desperately want to rewrite but refuse to touch because those were the emotions that motivated me that day to write it. The emotions that motivated me to put the events on my calendar. The emotions that continue to motivate me to mark the anniversaries with a moment of silence even to this day. In four days Rick Husband and his crew would fall victim to the same human errors that caused the deaths of the Apollo 1 and Challenger crews. That is the real tragedy of the words he uttered that day.
Featured image: arstechnica.com
