First say to yourself what you would be;
and then do what you have to do.
Epictetus
Barack Obama, "Of Thee I Sing":
A Conceptual Review: Thumbs DOWN!
I'm sure Obama doesn't like seeing his new children's book at #11 on Amazon.com (as of the time of my post), behind George W. Bush's #1 bestseller Decision Points. Obama's book is written in the form of a picture book, with leading questions stressing admirable qualities and then an accompanying description of an American whom embodied that character. When I give a thumbs down, it wasn't so much the project itself or its general format and style, but Obama's rather quirky selections, many of which reflect a specific political viewpoint I reject. (I have to admit I haven't read the book yet and am relying second-hand sources, but the selections are publicly known.)
Barack Obama focuses on a baker's dozen of Americans, some of them predictable (George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and Neil Armstrong), others more puzzling (Albert Einstein, Sitting Bull, Cesar Chavez, Billie Holiday, Jane Addams, Georgia O'Keefe, Jackie Robinson, Helen Keller, and Maya Lin).
I tend to focus more on specific accomplishments of leadership: for example, Nixon, an ardent anti-Communist, reopened channels with China; George H.W. Bush led an impressive international response to Hussein's temporary conquest of Kuwait; George W. Bush unified the country after the 9/11 attacks and spoke out against scapegoating American Muslims; Harry Truman sacked an insubordinate WWII war hero. But each of these leaders had issues in other areas of performance; John F. Kennedy set an ambitious, yet fully realized objective of landing a man on the moon in less than a decade.
I can go with Obama's more predictable choices. George Washington presided over growing pains of the young constitutional government in a balanced, independent fashion, between the nationalist/pro-growth Hamilton faction (the Federalists) and Jefferson faction (the Democratic-Republicans), wary of the federal power grab at the expense of the states and vulnerability to corruption between the government and business. Abraham Lincoln inherited a divisive issue (slavery) that had been papered over in the early days of the Republic and was no longer sustainable. Martin Luther King led a nonviolent movement intent on actualizing the full participation of people of color as citizens. Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, who could have probably exploited his fame for political or other purposes, remained humble, recognizing that his accomplishment was based on the shoulders and help of others.
His other choices seem to reflect a diversity/progressive honor roll (an Asian American (Lin), a Native American (Sitting Bull), a Mexican-American labor activist (Chavez), a disabled person (Keller), a prominent feminist artist (O'Keefe), the first major league ballplayer of color (Robinson), an immigrant scientist (Einstein), a prominent settlement house founder (Addams), and a jazz singer of color (Holiday).
I just want to make a couple of additional points, beyond the obviously politically motivated selection of most of these historical figures. First, I have been a strong proponent of math, science and engineering, and Einstein was a brilliant genius. In fact, my high school nickname was "Einstein", for two reasons: my strong academic performance and my unruly hair (which is naturally curly). But most of Einstein's brilliant work was done as a German citizen before the Jewish scientist was compelled to seek US citizenship, which he received in 1940. Second, whereas I respect the sacrifices by and injustices experienced by various minority groups, I think there are unsung heroes in the achievement of relevant goals which Obama fails to acknowledge: for example, for every Jackie Robinson, there was a Branch Rickey whom defied racially restrictive policies. It was primarily white soldiers whom liberated slaves, a coalition of LBJ, non-Southern Democrats, and Republicans passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and a majority of men voted in favor of suffrage.
OK, it is fair to ask me who would be on the Guillemette list... unlike Obama, who had a third book to deliver under his contract, I don't have a book deal. This is just a brief list off the top of my head which may surprise some folks. I'm focusing on American archetypes (e.g., the pioneer), risk-takers, self-starters, innovative businessmen, inventors and multi-talented, highly intelligent or creative people, many of whom enjoy an international reputation. [I wonder if the fact that not one politician makes my list tells you something...]:
- Benjamin Franklin (diplomat, author, Founding Father, scientist, inventor)
- Thomas Jefferson (another multi-talented Founding Father, genius, whom as President made the Louisiana Purchase)
- Alexander Hamilton (Founding Father, strong national currency and pro-business growth agenda)
- Lewis & Clark (legendary transcontinental explorers)
- Thomas Edison (inventor)
- Alexander Graham Bell (inventor of the telephone, the beginning of the road to the Internet
- Dr. Henry Plummer/Mayo Clinic (architect of the modern medical practice, quality medicine at a fair price)
- William James (philosopher, pragmatism)
- Irving Berlin (American songwriter)
- Robert Frost (American poet)
- Charlie Chaplin (actor, comedian, producer, songwriter)
- Henry Ford (legendary auto producer, the assembly line)
- Charles Lindbergh (legendary transoceanic aviator)
- Frank Lloyd Wright (architect)
- Babe Ruth (legendary baseball slugger whom transformed the game)
- Thomas J. Watson (legendary president of IBM, distinctive business culture, great marketer of industry-leading technology)
- Audie Murphy (legendary WWII soldier and patriot)
- Chuck Yeager (a test pilot whom first broke the sound barrier and set the stage for space exploration)
- Elvis Presley (singer/performer)
- William F. Buckley (father of modern American conservatism)
- Milton Friedman (influential free market apologist, economist, monetarist)
- Andrew Grove (immigrant, Intel founder/CEO, the flagship microprocessor bringing computer power to the masses)
I can't wait to hear how Sarah Palin spins this: "I placed first at Oxford..." Well, she created the 2010 Word of the Year ("refudiate") for the New Oxford American Dictionary. However, if people do a reference check on this, they will find that the "word" has not appeared in and will not appear in any of the Oxford edition dictionaries... I will give an illustrative example of using the "word": "The American people will refudiate any 2012 Sarah Palin campaign for the Presidency."
Rightpundits have a history behind the divisive tweets (I do not have a twitter account yet, but I would infer that there's no intrinsic spell-checker). Sarah Palin posted the following tweet during the (unresolved) Ground Zero mosque issue: "Peaceful New Yorkers, pls refudiate the Ground Zero mosque plan if you believe catastrophic pain caused @ Twin Towers site is too raw, too real."
[Disclosure: I've made it clear in past posts that I support the construction of the mosque on the basis of fundamental principles. People who are trying to rationalize their bias behind a facade of concern for the victims, e.g., Bill O'Reilly and other media conservatives, lack courage and integrity and a principled belief in our Bill of Rights. There are millions of Muslim American citizens whom have not conducted or condoned terrorist attacks; all the sham arguments being presented are shameful and pathetic, e.g., there are dozens of other mosques in the greater NYC area: why can't they attend services elsewhere? Well, how many times do you hear the same thing about Catholics or Protestants? It's apparently all right to have a Catholic church or an adult entertainment in the area but not a mosque for the benefit of people, whom may have suffered losses of their own on 9/11 and are being judged as guilty by association? Another common phony rationalization is: "Oh, we KNOW they have a LEGAL right to build there; it just isn't prudent out of respect to victims' wishes." Victims' wishes are not salient, particularly in terms of trumping the rights of people not responsible for the crime; the rule of law is.]
Anyway, it's clear from context that Sarah Palin meant to say 'repudiate' instead of 'refudiate', i.e., reject the Ground Zero mosque plan. But somehow the tweet is edited to substitute 'refute'. You refute an argument, not a building plan.
Sarah Palin just can't admit when she's wrong; it's a character flaw. Instead of just admitting she made a typo and meant to say 'repudiate', she overreacts and digs herself in deeper, saying "English is a living language" (just like progressives often say "the Constitution is a living document".) [Apparently Ms. Palin is also now a language expert...] I kept on typing in my posts 'McDonnell' instead of 'O'Donnell' for weeks. You should see what other people do to my own surname.
In the following clip for one of Barbara Walters' annual year-end celebrity reviews, she queries Sarah Palin on Palin's future political plans, i.e., the 2012 Presidential election, and whether Sarah Palin is thinking of running. OF COURSE, SHE'S RUNNING. There were rumors in the closing days of the 2008 campaign, when it was clear McCain was heading to defeat, that Todd Palin was on the phone to various state party contacts, wanting them to keep Sarah in mind for 2012. That was clear when Sarah Palin was outdrawing John McCain all through the campaign. It's a misjudgment. Republicans want to win. Whether it's fair or not, Sarah Palin was defeated by the Obama ticket in the 2008 election, and despite extreme favorable conditions with Obama approvals with little downside, most of the polls I've been seeing show Obama beating Palin by at least 6 percent. And it isn't lost on Republicans that a number of Senate candidates she backed (O'Donnell, Angle, Buck, and Miller) all went down in flames in the biggest election cycle for the GOP in over 60 years. Let us not forget that in the 2008 election, McCain had the "wrong" positions on immigration, tax cuts, and campaign reform, but got the nomination, coming back from single digits in late 2007. It's because the Republicans saw him more electable than the others, and they were right. The only way that Sarah Palin can win is if all the other candidates split the vote enough for the motivated Palin supporters to come out on top.
Political Humor
"Sunday night was the debut of the reality show, 'Sarah Palin's Alaska.' It got huge ratings. Even people over in Russia were watching and they didn't need TVs. They could see it from their porch. " –Jay Leno
[It's like people rubbernecking an auto accident: people are watching to see if hockey moms get into catfights.]
An original:
- Sarah Palin insists to Barbara Walters that she can beat Barack Obama in the 2012 race. The Obama campaign once again told the Palin campaign they will not agree to a snowmachine race with the Presidency on the line.
Mike Douglas, "The Men In My Little Girl's Life". The original album is in my folks' LP collection; with 4 sisters, I wonder why... Very sentimental song by one of the best talk show hosts ever
