Legend has it that conquering Roman generals, in their homecoming parades celebrating their victories, would be accompanied on their chariots by a slave whose only function was to whisper in the general’s ear, “Remember all glory is fleeting.”
This brings us directly to the new junior Senator from Illinois, Roland Burris. Say what else you will, this worthy is clearly a man of foresight, and of no mind to consider the transience of fame. The ethically-challenged Gov. Blagojevich’s appointment to fill Obama’s seat in the U.S. Senate, Mr. Burris has already had completed most of the work on his tombstone which will eternally grace Oak Woods Cemetery on Chicago’s South Side. Save for his entombment, of course, and some final memorializing.
Actually, “tombstone” rather under-describes this bold edifice; “momument” seems more appropriate. And like most monuments, this one comes complete, even at this premature date, with inscriptions, testimony to the greatness of its future inhabitant.
Among whose signal achievements, helpfully listed under the heading “Trail Blazer, First African-American To Become:” are Illinois State Comptroller and Illinois Attorney General. So far, so good. But Roland would also have it known that his accomplishments further include being the first African-American son of the Land of Lincoln to be “S.I.U. Exchange Student to University of Hamburg 1959-60.” One imagines his frustration at having been just barely nosed out by another who scored as first exchange student to the University of Paris.
Not content with this list of “firsts,” Mr. Burris cleverly found space on another panel of this shrine for such “Other Major Accomplishments” as “Board of Directors, Illinois C.P.A. Society (First Non-C.P.A. Member) 2000.” This last is of some curiosity – as would be the American Medical Association being led by someone other than a doctor.
But leave such churlish thoughts aside. What’s more interesting about this monument to ego are the, albeit understandable, omissions. It might have been enlightening to future generations to read, for example, that Mr. Burris’s firsts also include not one or two, but fully three unsuccessful runs for the Governorship of Illinois, including in 2002 against one Rod Blagojevich. Or perhaps that as Attorney General, Mr. Burris ignored a request from his Assistant Attorney General to re-open the case of a convicted murderer, who was subsequently exonerated by Governor Ryan on the basis of exculpatory evidence.
Well, in his defense, it must be said that with the departure from the “world’s most exclusive club” of such exemplars of probity as Ted Stevens and Larry Craig, there is an evident need for replacement members at the shallow end of the Senate’s talent pool. As another Senator once said about a (subsequently rejected) candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court accused of being a mediocre judge: “Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren’t they?“ Indeed. Welcome, Senator Burris.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
He Did It His Way
In an only maybe unintentional reference to President Bush’s dyslexic-like difficulties with the English language, the New York Times headlined their article about his last press conference “Mistakes, I’ve Made a Few Bush Tells Reporters.” Or perhaps the writer was channeling Frank Sinatra. Either way, it comes as scant solace to learn that The Decider has finally decided that, yes, there might actually have been a thing or two in the past eight years that could have been better handled or enjoyed more positive outcomes.
“Mission Accomplished” for example. That stunningly premature assessment was given, let us recall, nearly six years ago, since when the majority of Iraqis living in their capital city have been without respite dealing with such minor annoyances as no electricity, no running water, and no certainty that their next shopping foray won’t result in an involuntary hospital visit.
Hurricane Katrina, you mention? “I thought long and hard about (it),” he said, leaving aside any suggestion that perhaps his thinking was, at the extreme of charity, insufficient to the task.
“Regrets, I’ve had a few?” Well, he did admit that “Not finding weapons of mass destruction was a significant disappointment.” And even more, that the grotesqueries perpetrated by U.S. military forces at Abu Graib were “a huge disappointment.” This surely retires the trophy for unadulterated, monumental gall. We are to accept that remorse for the result expunges the responsibility for bringing it about. This flawed logic is, of course, familiar to any eight-year old who blames the cookie jar for its fatal plunge to earth. In the instant case, the fevered efforts by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al to concoct a rationale for an invasion already green-lighted or the wholesale mangling of the law and human decency are consigned to Orwell’s memory hole.
As the historian George Santayana famously observed, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” But the very capability to learn something from anything, or anyone, necessarily presumes sufficient humility to accept not having total command oneself of everything known and knowable.
We have every right – even a defensible need – to expect our President to have a healthy level of self-confidence. When it gives way to self-delusion, it’s past time to back the moving trucks up to the White House.
So long, George.
“Mission Accomplished” for example. That stunningly premature assessment was given, let us recall, nearly six years ago, since when the majority of Iraqis living in their capital city have been without respite dealing with such minor annoyances as no electricity, no running water, and no certainty that their next shopping foray won’t result in an involuntary hospital visit.
Hurricane Katrina, you mention? “I thought long and hard about (it),” he said, leaving aside any suggestion that perhaps his thinking was, at the extreme of charity, insufficient to the task.
“Regrets, I’ve had a few?” Well, he did admit that “Not finding weapons of mass destruction was a significant disappointment.” And even more, that the grotesqueries perpetrated by U.S. military forces at Abu Graib were “a huge disappointment.” This surely retires the trophy for unadulterated, monumental gall. We are to accept that remorse for the result expunges the responsibility for bringing it about. This flawed logic is, of course, familiar to any eight-year old who blames the cookie jar for its fatal plunge to earth. In the instant case, the fevered efforts by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al to concoct a rationale for an invasion already green-lighted or the wholesale mangling of the law and human decency are consigned to Orwell’s memory hole.
As the historian George Santayana famously observed, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” But the very capability to learn something from anything, or anyone, necessarily presumes sufficient humility to accept not having total command oneself of everything known and knowable.
We have every right – even a defensible need – to expect our President to have a healthy level of self-confidence. When it gives way to self-delusion, it’s past time to back the moving trucks up to the White House.
So long, George.
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