That's Ridiculous ... And Yet ...

Whatever else you may say about him — and there certainly are many things one could say about him — House Minority Leader John Boehner is not bashful about expressing himself.In a conversation with NPR, Boehner said Republicans will seek to repeal the health care reform legislation if they win a majority in Congress in this year's midterm elections.My immediate reaction was twofold:I sort of took it for granted that the Republicans in Congress wanted...

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The Demise of Il Duce

Mozart's music would have madethe ideal backdrop on April 28, 1945.I've always been fascinated by the concept of time travel.If time travel was a reality, I'm guessing that the last week of April in 1945 would be a popular destination. That was when World War II was coming to an end in Europe.Tomorrow, for example, is the 65th anniversary of the wedding of Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun in the bunker in Berlin where they killed themselves the next day....

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The Standard of Excellence

It was 45 years ago today that Edward R. Murrow died of lung cancer — two days after his 57th birthday.When I was studying journalism in college, it seemed there wasn't a class I took in which Murrow's name did not come up. No matter what we were discussing in class, Murrow's life and career always had something relevant to contribute to the conversation.As far as I was concerned, that was as it should be.I didn't give much thought to what was the...

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While Pondering Life's Mysteries ...

I was looking at the CNN website today, and I saw an opinion piece by a woman named Anousheh Ansari.Ansari is an Iranian–American businesswoman who was the first Muslim woman in space.I'm glad to see articles like that because they show us things that cultures have in common, and sometimes they shatter myths that serve as barriers between cultures.Ansari recites a litany of the labels she has been given and protests the "labels we put on ourselves and let others put on us." I appreciate her resistance to labels.I, too, try to avoid labeling people,...

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Reversal of Fortune

In its own way, at its own pace, history fills in the blanks for us.On this day 15 years ago, the pain and the grief was intense in Oklahoma City and the rest of Oklahoma. Four days had passed since the horrific bombing that took 168 lives, and President Bill Clinton came to the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds that Sunday to speak at the memorial prayer service. He came to fulfill his presidential role as Comforter in Chief, but I am convinced the ever–pragmatic Clinton must have come with at least some political objectives in mind as well. Clinton's...

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Channeling Dead Presidents

I live in the state of Texas.I grew up in the state of Arkansas. Many of my friends, from childhood to adulthood, still live there.For awhile, I lived in Oklahoma. Some of my friends from that period in my life still live there.All three states voted Republican in what was clearly a Democratic year two years ago. A few months later, Barack Obama was in the White House, and lots of people — not just Democrats — were assuming that, because the Republicans...

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Mark Twain Knew the Truth

A few months ago, I observed Mark Twain's birthday by listing several of his noteworthy statements.Today, the 100th anniversary of his death, I wanted to try to focus on a single quote. I think he had perhaps the most brilliant mind ever produced in America, and I wanted a quote that could be said to be representative of his wisdom to mark the occasion.But Twain's wisdom was far reaching. He was wise enough to know there isn't one great truth in...

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Weep Not For the Memories

Today is the 11th anniversary of the Columbine shootings.And all I can think about is an incident from my own high school days.I guess I was a sophomore in those days. The weather was pleasant, and I was one of several students who had decided to eat lunch outside.Anyway, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine, and all of a sudden there was a disturbance off to one side. I didn't see how it started. By the time I looked in that direction, a black student was on his feet and keeping other students at a distance with the knife he held...

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Remembering Oklahoma City

It's really hard for me to believe — for several reasons — that it has been 15 years since the Oklahoma City bombing.On the day it happened, I was living about 25 miles from Oklahoma City. At the time, I was on the journalism faculty at the University of Oklahoma. I was in my office shortly after 9 a.m. that day, conversing with a colleague. I've heard some people say that they could hear the explosion from 50 miles away. Maybe they did, but I cannot truthfully say that I heard the explosion. Of course, I was inside when it happened. Maybe those...

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Of Men and Missions ... and Money

I will admit that I haven't always been sure how I felt about Al Neuharth.For the most part, I think he is a businessman, although he fancies himself a journalist. He founded USA Today, the crown jewel of the Gannett empire — and, as a one–time copy editor for the Arkansas Gazette, I have my share of issues with the way Gannett ran the Gazette in the last years of its existence — which I have always regarded as short–sighted, at best.Neuharth wasn't with Gannett when it decided to close the Gazette, but he had been part of its culture, part of...

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When Failure Was Not an Option

It struck me as ironic — perhaps that was by design? — that Barack Obama came to the Kennedy Space Center this week to defend the changes he has proposed for the space program.I say that, not because of the Tea Party's now annual April 15 protests or the increasingly strident criticism that comes Obama's way from the Republicans, but because this month marks the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 space mission.In fact, today is the anniversary of...

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I'm Shocked! Shocked!

I'm having a Claude Rains moment today.Did you ever see "Casablanca?" That's the famous Humphrey Bogart–Ingrid Bergman wartime flick — "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine ..."There are some really classic lines in that movie, but I think my favorite is where Claude Rains shuts down Bogart's nightspot. When Bogart asks why he's being shut down, Rains (who is being allowed to win at roulette in a deal that was mentioned earlier) says, "I'm shocked! Shocked! To find that gambling is going on here!"A second...

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The Hour of Lead

"This is the Hour of LeadRemembered, if outlived,As Freezing persons recollect the SnowFirst - Chill - then StuporThen the letting go."Emily DickinsonI know very little about my mother's taste in poetry. She was a first–grade teacher, and she had a poem by W.H. Auden on her desk at home.Actually, I know a lot about my mother's preferences in things like music and movies — but other than the Dr. Seuss books she used to read to me when I was small,...

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April Is the Cruellest Month

Depending on your point of view, I guess, just about any month could be deserving of the designation "the cruelest month."T.S. Eliot wrote that it was April. He pulled no punches."April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixingMemory and desire, stirringDull roots with spring rain.Winter kept us warm, coveringEarth in forgetful snow, feedingA little life with dried tubers."T.S. EliotThe Waste Land (1922)As I say, Eliot...

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You're Busted!

I've been an advocate of freedom of the press all my life.And let me tell you, it hasn't always been easy. Because if you're going to support something like freedom of the press, by definition you just about have to be opposed to censorship.But then we get into something of a gray area. You see, even the most ardent supporters of freedom of the press will agree that there are times when censorship is necessary — and, so, certain concessions had to...

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