COMMENT COMMENTARY

From www.dictionary.com, definitions 1 and 2 of 6:

o⋅pin⋅ion   [uh-pin-yuhn] –noun
1. a belief or judgment that rests on grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.
2. a personal view, attitude, or appraisal.

Origin: 1250–1300; ME < OF < L opīniōn- (s. of opīniō), deriv. of opīnārī to opine

Is each of us entitled to our own opinion? Most would offer a resounding “yes.” Perhaps the reason for said justification lies in the second half of definition #1 above - that there exists “grounds insufficient to produce complete certainty.”

That means that whether you are Rush Limbaugh, Nancy Pelosi, (lest I say it) Rod Blagojevich, proponents or opponents of Proposition 8, or yes, even the Intramuralist, you have a right to your opinion. It also means that we, (lest I say it again) that I, could be wrong. Egad.

I am encouraging you to comment on this blog with that in mind: the reality that each of us could be wrong. But I am also encouraging you to comment on this blog with the goal of sharpening one another. We can learn from those whose perspective begins from a different angle.

The purpose of the Intramuralist is not to make everyone think like me (not as if that would be such a terrible thing to do!). But the purpose is to prompt respectful dialogue. With respectful dialogue, we can model to the Washington partisans, media pundits, and Hollywood postulators that it is ok to listen to one another. It is ok to learn from one another. It is ok to admit you don’t have “it all figured out.” We can model an intellectual humility that is productive and beneficial to us all.

So today I invite you to join me. I invite you to join me by commenting on this blog regularly as we model to the rest of the world what respectful dialogue looks like. Simply below the blog entry which sparks a reaction in you, hit the link expressing the number of comments pertaining to that entry. That will take you to a window where comments are solicited. You may comment as a Google account holder or simply anonymously. Then your comment will be forwarded to me, and I will publish it, assuming one criteria: your comment is expressed in a way which is respectful to persons who feel differently than you.

That is what the Washington partisans, media pundits, and Hollywood postulators have yet to learn.

Just a commentary...

AR

AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER

It is time to address this so-called media love affair with the Obamas. Now please pause before your defenses and blood pressure both begin to rise. Let me first opine 2 appropriate caveats: 1) The question of infatuated impropriety rests not on President Obama but on the media; it is an unrequited adoration. And 2) I am not speaking of partisanship; I am speaking of those whose journalistic opinions now drip with enamored affection.

Follow me here...

Lee Cowan, Obama reporter for NBC News during the campaign: "When NBC News first assigned me to the Barack Obama campaign, I must confess my knees quaked a bit."

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews... "I've been following politics since I was about 5. I've never seen anything like this... [Obama] comes along, and he seems to have the answers. This is the New Testament!”

Printed in the UK’s Daily Mail, 6 weeks after the election: Michelle Obama is "a goddess [who] stepped onto the world stage and made it her own...married to someone who is, frankly, a sex god."

Andy Rooney, closing CBS’s “60 Minutes” last Sunday: "Obama just looks good every time he does anything."

And back to Matthews, who arguably provides the most comic relief, reacting to Obama’s shirtless, beach vacation: "The sun glinted off chiseled pectorals sculpted during four weight-lifting sessions each week and a body toned by regular treadmill runs and basketball games." (“Chiseled pectorals?” ... ok... give me a moment for the laughter to subside... that would be the laughter from BOTH the President and me!)

A quick glance at the magazine covers with the Obamas’ pic... GQ’s “Obama Rules” ... Us’s “Why Barack Loves Her”... Der Spiegel’s “Der Messias-Faktor”... Ebony’s “Black Cool”... even Tiger Beat’s “I Sing in the Shower”... wow... I sure miss those days of Leif Garrett and Parker Stevenson.

Let me re-state that this infatuation in no way reflects negatively on our 44th President. The reality is Obama has the potential to be an excellent leader IN SPITE of those who are seizing the Messiah complex on his behalf. But this affair has caused me to google the following: “...and there he was... effortlessly gliding across the East Lawn via his strong, stalwart strut, with his robust shoulders as only a bold Texan could muster... the master from Midland... and when he spoke, it mattered not if there was a babble... a blunder... his divine slang still captivated us all...” Uh, I’m still googling.

Enough, enough! ...time to read my new Women’s Health mag that came in the mail last week... oh, look on page 82... I kid you not... “Michelle Obama’s 7 Secrets of a Sexy Marriage!”

AR

BLINDED

Read a great story yesterday. Actually, I’ve read it before, but there was something that struck me differently this week...

A band of brothers has their share of family dysfunction. Fathom that idea. The dysfunction swells to a state where the older brothers detest one of their youngest brothers, as the younger’s youthful pride, natural self-assurance, and father’s favoritism erode any empathetic, brotherly relationships. They detest the young man so much, that at 17, they fake his death and sell him to the nearest bidder. The young man is taken away from his home, sold into slavery.

As the familiar story is told (sometimes rhythmically with a very attractive, eye-popping coat), the brother, Joseph, finds himself in the house of Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharoah’s officials. Potiphar’s wife was so smitten with Joseph’s well-built and handsome physique that she had him discarded to prison, after he rejected her overt sexual advances. Still Joseph earned much favor in prison by his exemplary behavior, and when he was empowered to interpret the dreams of those in Pharoah’s service, his reputation grew... even though his sentence remained forgotten. Joseph spent 2 more years in prison... again due to his brothers’ initial betrayal and his master’s wife’s deception.

When Joseph later accurately interpreted the God-given dreams of Pharoah himself, an astonished Pharoah placed Joseph in charge of the whole land of Egypt. Here Joseph would confidently and courageously lead the country through a 7 year famine, dispersing both resources and hope to a malnourished people.

10 of the people craving nourishment shared his name. They were his brothers.

In contemporary society, I shudder to think of what we would do were we in a position of power when someone who previously wronged us bowed before us in their time of need. Would we be merciful? Would we choose wisdom? Or would we... for lack of better ways to put it... make them pay?

Through a process of clever and creative discovery, Joseph reveals himself to his family. Quite naturally, they are aghast, thinking, too, that the so-called system of payback is entirely appropriate. But instead, Joseph offers these words: “Come closer to me... Don’t feel badly. Don’t blame yourselves for selling me. God was behind it. God sent me here ahead of you to save lives. There has been a famine in the land now for 2 years; the famine will continue for 5 more years... God sent me on ahead to pave the way and make sure there was a remnant in the land, to save your lives in an amazing act of deliverance!”

How many of us see good (or God) in previous misfortune? How many of us seek the silver lining? How many of us are too blinded by past betrayal that bitterness is the only thing qualifying as leftovers?

Seems as if there is much more to admire in Joseph than a technicolor coat.

AR

DARK NIGHTS

“Step aside, Spider-Man 2 and Superman II,” says People Magazine. “The phenomenal The Dark Knight now reigns as the greatest superhero film of all time... While [Christian ‘Batman’] Bale again astounds, The Dark Knight’s real star is the late [Heath] Ledger.”

Listen to these pans of Ledger’s performance as the villainous Joker... “I’m tired of the early Oscar talk too, but when you’re talking the best performance in years, if not decades, it’s worth talking about.” Or try: “I can only speak superlatives of Ledger, who is mad-crazy-blazing brilliant as the Joker.”

Heath Ledger was a talented actor. His credits include 19 films, most notably Monster’s Ball, Brokeback Mountain, and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. I especially enjoyed him in The Patriot, as Gabriel Martin, the independent, eldest son who moves into manhood all-too-quickly, witnessing the horrifying carnage resulting from the Revolutionary War.

But even though I, too, was a Ledger fan, there is something about the current rave reviews and Oscar rumblings that make me uncomfortable.

Ledger died at the age of 28 from an accidental drug overdose. Note his interview with the New York Times 2 months prior to his death, having recently completed filming The Dark Knight: "Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night. ... I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." Ledger said prescription drugs were not helping. It is reported that Ledger suffered significant insomnia and nightmares, as he portrayed a character dripping with evil. This wasn’t your DC Comics Joker or the 1960’s Cesar Romero, whose comedy-themed crimes entertained some of us as children. Ledger’s character was, according to film reviewers at www.pluggedinonline.com, “an embodiment of nihilism, a manifestation of pure, unapologetic evil.” In other words, the role had the potential to create in its portrayer an unprecedented “disturbedness.”

Shortly after Ledger’s death in January of 2008, Jack Nicholson, who played the Joker in 1989, simply and eerily stated, “I warned him.”

My question is this... Obviously, the ability to portray a character so striking showcases Ledger’s natural talent. He was gifted. But if that role led Ledger to the nightmares, prompted such unrest, and motivated him to take an overabundance of pills (oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine) - should we be celebrating that role? Should we ignore the impact that role had on his mind? Would Ledger even want us to honor a performance which polluted his head with pure, unapologetic evil?

When the Oscar winners are announced on Sunday, February 22nd, I will tearfully smile when I remember Heath Ledger and his consummate gifts. Yet if the Academy awards him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his 2008 Joker performance, I’m not sure I can applaud.


AR

ALL CHILDISHNESS LEFT BEHIND

“When I was child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child...”

As President Obama said in Tuesday’s inauguration address, “In the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things."

TOP 10 THINGS TO SET ASIDE (...ahem, this could lead to change ALL of us can believe in...)

10. Partisan disrespect. From those who vehemently vowed to avoid viewing any celebration of a President Obama - to those who taunted President Bush with “good riddance” in accordance with his exit. Intelligent as they may be, both fall into the disrespectful category.

9. Celebrities who wish to come back as a politician in their next life (...but still want me to buy tickets to their movies and watch their TV shows NOW!).

8. Vulgar attacks on candidates for their lack of experience. I will continue to promote the idea that character trumps experience. While acknowledging that public service has value, I would still rather elect a man or woman of integrity before one who has been elected 43 times and has polished the ability to recite partisan talking points without cue cards.

7. Trash. Did you see the mall after all those people?

6. The craving for a monarchy. Surely we can find future candidates other than Clinton’s and Bush’s to lead our country.

5. The belief that President Obama is a beard short of the Second Coming. Yes, he brings hope. Yes, his unifying words are refreshing. But his own words will also tell you he is simply a man... not the Savior of the world.

4. Governor Blagojevich. He was thrilled with the inauguration! It meant no cameras on him.

3. The facade that the persons behind those cameras are objective. Respectful kudos given to David Gregory, Brit Hume, Jim Lehrer, Bob Schieffer, and the late Tim Russert. If they had/have an opinion, they kept it off their sleeve. But some journalists (i.e. MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann) cling to those partisan cue cards.

2. Mexican food in the White House - the favorite food of our last two Presidents. Pass the salsa! Here’s to Obama's All-American pizza.

Last but not least... 1. Campaigning. It's too long, too partisan, and full of too much manipulation and self-righteousness. (...at least for another couple of years... wait... won’t Hillary be running in 2012? Won’t she start in 2010? Oh, wait... Barack took care of that... smart man, that guy...)


AR

DEAR MR. PRESIDENT (#2)

Greetings, Mr. President. I write you today for two purposes: one, to thank you for your service, and two, to share a few, layman’s insights for the coming 4 to 8 years.

It comes as no secret, that you have been graced with a fairly immediate public popularity. According to Scott Rasmussen’s “Rasmussen Reports,” 65% of Americans already approve of your performance, and let me acknowledge that this is prior to any swearing kind of ceremony. As one who believes in tackling truth straight on, this is a gift not forded to your two most recent predecessors. Also tackling truth, whether it is deserved is not the question. It is simply an opportunity to begin your service well, knowing you have awakened an expectant hopefulness in many... even if you failed to secure their vote. I pray you utilize the opportunity well.

Part of me wonders if the excitement you have stirred is similar to what JFK experienced. I haven’t heard historians declare that JFK was our most successful President; his time in office was far too short to discern said evaluation with certainty. But for those who were of adult age during Kennedy’s campaign, they spoke of an individual hope that previously was dormant. When Kennedy said on that cold, snowy inaugural day, “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty... This much we pledge—and more...” I believe Americans made that pledge with him. They believed we would pay the price, bear the burden, and meet the hardship, as they were motivated by the swelling sense of confidence they had in JFK’s leadership.

That is the kind of leadership we desire from you, Barack. And we are with you. As Americans, we are each and all with you. I pray you lead us well.

A couple of specific concerns...

First, one of the many reasons your candidacy was refreshing was because you unequivocally articulated an opposition to the political captivity silently sought by special interest groups (...somewhere in here is the colloquial assertion, that “if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”). I’m sure it is not a surprise to you, sir, that several fringe special interests still clamored for your election. Several will base their vocal support for your RE-election, leveraged against how you gratify their peripheral issue. Just as those who’ve come before you, remember those groups are “fringe” for a reason.

Second, please be prudent with our national checkbook. As noted on these pages, there exists a trendy line of thinking that we can limitlessly spend without ever experiencing a negative financial consequence. That seems a little different than what we’re teaching our children. According to a FOX News poll last week (egad, did I say that?), 80% percent of the American public believes “debt is ruining the economy.” Lest you think that FOX pollutes the polling perceptions, 78% of Democrats polled concurred with such assertion. But my concern to you is this, Mr. President: be discerning about your spending decisions. Some President, someday, needs to be intentional about spending less instead of more. President Clinton and his congress encouraged us to balance the budget, but for the good of our nation, we need to go a step further; we need to pay down the debt. You currently possess the clout and the public following to confront this fragile state - albeit potentially, politically unpopular. But this may be the answer to JFK’s question of “what you can do for your country.”

And finally, if you put your country first, be sure to put Michelle, Malia, and Sasha a very close second. They need you. And since the world is watching, we will notice when you cherish your wife. We will notice when Michelle conveys her tremendous respect for you. And we will notice when you love on your girls, teaching them the difference between right and wrong. Your family will be an example to us all.

Best wishes to you in Washington, President Obama. Again, thank you for your service. Thank you for your leadership. And thank you for respectfully accepting “the torch” from President Bush. Our country needs that. We need the example of respectfully accepting that torch. We are too polarized. We are so polarized, in fact, that some of us will refrain from acknowledging the good you can accomplish.

Best wishes. God bless you. And thank you.

AR

DEAR MR. PRESIDENT (#1)

Greetings, Mr. President. I write you today for two purposes: one, to thank you for your service, and two, to share a few, layman’s insights from the past 8 years.

It comes as no secret, that your polling numbers have plummeted these past 3 years (sorry, I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but I’ve never been one to ignore the truth). In fact, Scott Rasmussen’s “Rasmussen Reports” posted this week that 57% of the American public now believe you are one of “the five worst Presidents in U.S. history.” Also in the name of one not ignoring truth, I ponder the depth of information those polled possessed, assuming they were equally knowledgeable of the 42 others who have held your position. Sometimes, we Americans, criticize and praise most those we know best - those who are freshest in our minds - without ever acknowledging that we are historically ignorant in regard to the intricacies of those who came before you. Funny thing, we Americans.

Primarily, I think the most sensitive events during your Presidency were: one, the decision to invade Iraq, and two, the perceived slow response to Hurricane Katrina.

For some of us, sir, our judgment of you shall always center around those two events. Some of us are fairly passionate in the expression of our objection. Some of us are even disrespectful (save any reader encouraged by “the Intramuralist”). But as I reflect on some of the decisions on which I disagreed, I am reminded of your words from Thursday’s adieu: “I have followed my conscience and done what I thought was right. You may not agree with some decisions I have made. But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions.”

Juxtaposing being a citizen to being the President, I have to assume you had more information at your disposal than I had when you made those tough decisions. Truth is, we ordinary citizens have to rely primarily on the mainstream media, which has proven to be somewhat of an unbalanced filter of objective information. Hence, I have to trust that you knew more than I. Hence, I have to trust your conscience - agree or not. Based on your recent words on behalf of Presidents Bush 41, Carter, and Clinton, I know you desire we ford the same leniency and respect to your successor.

A few specific thank you’s... Thank you for your work on AIDS in Africa. President Clinton had a similar desire, but you made it a reality. You initiated a 5 year, $15 billion plan to fight AIDS in 2003, and then you followed such priority with an additional 5 year, $30 billion extension 4 years later. In the words of U2’s AIDS activist, Bono, “I’m standing up and I’m applauding the President.”

Thank you for your leadership “post 9/11.” Pundits are quick to acknowledge that we haven’t faced an attack on American soil since that tragic September day. For you or against you, that is a tremendous accomplishment. On 9/11, so many of us asked, “How could this happen? How come we didn’t know? How did we allow this to happen?” Under your leadership... under your establishment of the Dept. of Homeland Security... under the passion with which you confronted terrorism and the Islamic jihadists, it hasn’t happened since. This is arguably your greatest accomplisment. We are each safer and better because of it.

And thank you, finally, for introducing us to Laura. Her grace and authentic, ladylike feminism is an example to us all. She has been a advocate for literacy, early childhood development, and women’s health - specifically heart disease and breast cancer. Sometimes she even seemed more popular than you, Mr. President. But noting that unique Texan smirk, you never seemed to mind.

Best wishes to you as you return to Texas, President Bush. Again, thank you for your service. Thank you for your leadership. And thank you for respectfully handing “the torch” to President Obama. Our country needs that. We need the example of respectfully handing off that torch. We are too polarized. We are so polarized, in fact, that some of us will refrain from acknowledging the good you have accomplished.

Best wishes. God bless you. And thank you.

AR