A Salute to Our Founder
Posted at 6:00 AM on February 22, 2010
by Dale Connelly
(43 Comments)
On my desk this morning I found the following message laser printed on an ordinary piece of paper that had been treated to look like parchment. It was rolled up and neatly tied with a silk ribbon.
Hear Ye, Constituents of Minnesota's 9th District (all the water surface area in the state).It's me, your congressman, Loomis Beechly.
I want to wish a happy George Washington's Birthday to every single American!Even though most of us haven't got a clue what he was like and virtually no idea what Washington did in his life, I think it's pretty darn wonderful that we still can have a holiday to honor a politician right here in the United States of America! The man was a marvel. Republicans and Democrats still agree he was a patriot and a paragon. That's incredible!
And I'm not one of those cynics who thinks George Washington is popular with the masses because his face is on the dollar bill. That really sells the American people short. I happen to believe that the dollar bill isn't all that useful. People like the Five LOTS more than they like the One. The One is chump change, and if you had your picture on it, people might begin to think of YOU as a CHUMP. Worthless! Think I'm wrong? Look at how people toss the One around and throw it away! But in spite of that, they still LOVE George Washington.
And Washington is going to continue being great. Since he's safely dead, the chances are good that he won't do anything stupid and mess up his fantastic reputation. I'm happy for him, and I wish him a great birthday. As a living politician, I'm not so lucky. I have to keep a close eye on everything I say and most of what I do to be sure I don't screw things up and send my popularity numbers into the dumper. Unlike Revolutionary War times, the battle today is all about publicity and perception. As a politician in the 21st century, your career can rise and fall based on the smallest things, including something as simple as whose name is used in the same sentence with yours!
And that's why I'm asking you, as Americans and as kind and reasonable people, to stop comparing me to George Washington! I'm never going to be as cool or as noble or as wise or even as handsome as the Father of Our Country. Look at him! Is there a man alive today who would look as good in that flouncy shirt? I don't think so. Not even George Clooney! And what is that on the back of his neck? Some tory raccoon, crawling up his back to nibble the powder from his hair?
And yet ... look how calm and composed he is!
Freud says we all want to eclipse and maybe even replace Dear Old Dad, but when it comes to our national daddy, I'm ready to admit that I'll never beat him.
He led our army in the War for Independence. That war is over and we won - I can't top that.
He suffered disappointment and deprivation during that campaign, and proved brave and resolute in the face of overwhelming odds against him. It's hard to find odds stacked that strongly against you when you're a free 21st Century American who has had every advantage and opportunity fall in his favor. I'm not saying I couldn't be as tough as Washington, but the sad (wonderful) truth is - I'll never have the chance to find out. Again, I'm not worthy.
He had terrible dental problems and endured discomfort and pain on a daily basis. I have had great oral hygiene my entire life, and my teeth are perfect - all lined up in a tidy row of rectangular pearls - dazzling to behold. How do you think I got elected?
Washington served two terms as president and voluntarily gave up power to return to his private life. He was a well-to-do farmer. I don't have a farm OR a much of a private life to go back to. I might even be unemployable. Still, people send messages every day asking (demanding!) that I resign and return to whatever I was doing before. Impossible. There just aren't that many video stores left, and those that remain already have clerks! Do you really want me to force someone out of a job?
It's great to have role models and people we admire, but let's be reasonable.
Please, stop comparing me with George Washington. I am NOT HIM. I am simply your humble congressman ...
Loomis Beechly
Have you ever been unfairly compared to another person?
Comments (43)
we've probably all been compared to our mother, father, siblings, i imagine. whether that was fair or not depends.
i have not been compared to a summer's day nor has anyone ever said my hair is like golden fleece. that's fair, because i'm not and neither is my hair
a quite fair comparison of my personality was to a mule, i believe. :-)
good morning, All!
Good Morning All,
I don't think any one is comparing Beechly to George Washington, but I guess he likes to think this is true. In that light, perhaps I might like to think I am being unfairly compared to Jim Ed. However, I have too much hair and I am not good at sound effects.
Perhaps most people would not want to be unfairly compared to Jim Ed, but I did very much enjoy listening to him for many years on MPR.
Fortunately, Barb, for those of us who tread upon the ground, Shakespeare also has a sonnet (130) that sets more realistic expectations for us. ;-)
I am the oldest of the children in my family of origin and so I eluded that kind of comparison in school.
Good morning, all!
Aaah Elinor, what a nice way to start the morning, with a jolt of the bard. Like you, I am the oldest in my family - both my sisters have complained that they got compared to ME. I can't think of anyone that I've been compared with, but maybe that's just because no one voiced any comparisons out loud. Or maybe I just don't remember!
We finished filming "Lumber Jill" yesterday...and though some people think they see Meryl Streep in my (not Creepy Old Woman) face...they would never compare my acting nor mention that I cannot hear and/or duplicate accents like she can. But I smile and enjoy the compliment with the grain of salt in my hand.
G'Morning Monday, Radio Heartland!!
Off Topic: Yesterday I received an email on an e-group I belong to exclaiming the discovery of and praising Dale Connelly and Radio Heartland. He had stumbled across the Saturday night show when looking for music by the Brothers Frantzich (featured last Thanksgiving)
.
"This guy is a dream d.j. He finds ways to put together music that is both familiar and unfamiliar and which is flawless and satisfying, too. "
Indeed, a DJ in a class of his own.
Wait a minute, that wasn't off topic at all...it was right on...Dale sets the standard for DJs and all others are to be compared with and to him!
So everyone can see what elinor is talking about, here's Shakespeare's Sonnet 130.
Her breath "reeks"?
SONNET 130
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
Even poor GW had to endure comparisons. You can see my favorite sculpture of him here
This giant work is in the Smithsonian. George is made to look like Zeus wrapped in a bedsheet. My favorite part of the work is the giant feet in sandals.
Myhigh school American Studies teacher helped us learn about all the image enhancement done to GW in the mid 1800's so that America could have a story.I wonder if the sculpture and the idea of comparing the father of our country to the father of the gods came from Spin Williams.
Hope you celebrate George's birthday with the cherries not the pits!
When I was in high school, there were two kinds of people I was too shy to talk to: the boys and the girls. I especially was too shy to talk to Rita and Katie, the gorgeous cousins, and I managed to sit in classes with Rita for six years without telling her how much I adored her. Instead of risking a conversation, I used to walk around the hallways with a certain expression on my face that I thought made me look like actor Audie Murphy.
All this came out when Rita and I struck up an email relationship a few years ago. Rita wondered why I never asked her out since I was so cute back then. I wrote that, apart from the fact her boyfriend Lee would have stomped me into a grease spot, the only impediment was that I didn’t have the courage to approach her. I would have fainted dead away if I’d tried to ask for a date.
“But you should have,” wrote Rita (some forty years after we had graduated). “I used to see you walking around the halls. I thought you looked just like Audie Murphy.”
Greetings! Steve, that is a such a cute story -- thanks for sharing.
I have 4 older sisters, so I was always compared to them. Plus, having 6 girls and 1 boy, my mother had a hard time getting our names correct. When she was flustered or busy, she would look at me and try 2 or 3 other sister's names before she would get to mine. I find myself doing the same now, and I only have 3 boys.
I was the younger sister (who didn't apply herself in band like the older brother), the next female in line through the theater program in design (who wasn't quite as good with scenic painting), the person who took over the summer program (after the prior director who had done the job for years)...but, to quote Seuss' "My Many Colored Days", "...it all turns out alright you see, and I go back to being me."
good morning heartlanders. i get compared to my dog regularly. he does have longer hair and shorter legs but there are simalarities. i think it is the wet nose and dedicated waiting for the family to come home to be welcomed when i lick their hands and curl up at their feet and watch tv with them. i also get compared to a piece of toast. a lottle dry to the touch but very tasty with butter or peanut butter. and of course my favoruite comaprison is to a summers day where the warmth and glow make you want to savor the moment and relish the day
i hate it however when i get compared to a rusty gate a crust of bread or a ripe banana, we all have our momoents some documented some not. lets forget the rusty nails in the coffee can and remember the rose pedals on the summer morning.
In my family, it is an ultimate insult to be called or compared to Amelia, Lois, or Louie. Amelia was particularly vitriolic great aunt, Lois was my dad's sister, who my mother considered to be spoiled, and Louie was my grandfather, a man of great temper. I was called all three by my mother when I was a teenager.
spell checker anyone?
i like that, Anna -
good story, Steve -
and thanks for sonnet 130 clarification, Dale. and for knowing it, Elinor!
i second Cynthia's emotion - Dale is the best; there is no comparison.
congrats on finishing filming, cynthia--send me the dvd whenever possible, pls!
love that your friend(s) have discovered "our" Dale!
i'm with Kierkegaard on this one: comparisons between people are not good for the spirit!
morning, everyone---it's snowy here in utah today--et vous?
I just read on Writer's Almanac that George Washington's inaugural speech was the shortest ever... 133 words, 90 seconds. Maybe ALL our politicians should try to live up to that!
One of many stories about being my sister Cleo's little brother, one of many:
First day of geometry teacher read my name and said, "Oh, you must be Cleo's brother." I said that I was, to which she said. "I hope you are just like her." I told that I was not like her. She said, "That's too bad." I had her fro three years and never measured up.
Despite all of that I have always been proud to be her brother, still am. But here's an Escher moment (see Dale's weekend blog). As a curr. dir. she set up workshops in her district. One year her opening day all-day presenter pulled out two days before. So she hired me to do it but did not want people to know she had hired her brother. At morning break 50 people rushed up and said that I was Cleo's brother. What mostly tipped them off they said that watching me was like watching Cleo's two sons.
Bought the Patt Griffin album over weekend--wonderful.
Jim--how went the weekend conference?
tim--rare form this a.m.
thanks clyde, i see you were there over the weekend, wonderful nap poem. go to comedy central today and take a look at the joke of the day. it is sinbad and i think you'd enjoy it. i think it is comedycertral.com
http://comedians.jokes.com/sinbad/videos/sinbad---old-and-married
Clyde, thanks for asking about the conference. There were a few people there from the Duluth area that knew why I was wearing the RH goat pin. Most people ignored the pin, but I explained it to a few.
I've been going to the Sustainable Farming Conference for a long time and there were many people there that I enjoyed meeting and greeting so it was a good conference for me.
tim--good, thanks. My wife and I go to movies together to keep each other awake, which is not a fail-proof system.
barb in blackhoof--did you see my goat tale, I think on Friday's blog but posted over the weekend?
barb in Starbuck--where's the poem? (I'm not posting poems when people but up a Shakespeare sonnet.)
Steve--a moment to keep your mouth shut: My sometimes HS girlfriend on band and choir trips used to room with the beauty of our class, and a true beauty she was, After one trip she was talking about how that made her compare herself negatively to the beauty because she was alwasy a beauty. So my girlfriend said to me, about the trials of all that, "How would you like to have to roll over in the morning and look at the face."
Beth Ann & others,
For a truly goofy image of George Washington, go to google images and put in his name and "Pittsburgh Airport," where you will see him not only looking more British and noble (some might say foppish: white gloves and all) than Lord Pitt--nothing at all like the young commander who defeated the French at nearby Jumonville, not to mention Valley Forge, but you will discover he is paired with a life size statue of Franco Harris, making his famous "Immaculate Reception" to defeat the Oakland Raiders in the Steelers first ever playoff game. The rest, so to speak, is history. But talk about invidious comparisons: couldn't; they at least have had George doing something other than looking good?
And a question: does anyone know of any other major statue in a welcome-to-our-city place that commemorates a single sports play, and on a par with our Founding Father?
jimck--one of my personal hot button issues is how we have let sports become much too important in our culture.
This is like your statue.
Someone used to poll HS students on their heroes. Up to about 1960 they were world and national leaders, historical figures and religious figures. About 1958 the top 5 were something like Jesus, Churchhill, Lincoln, Eisenhower, Roosevelt. By mid to late 60's they switched to all entertainment and sports figures. Still all male. Took awhile for Madonna to make it on their.
So how did I miss those statues in all of the time I have spent in the Pitt airport. Where are they?
Clyde,
I know what you mean about heroes, though it's harder to know what might be done about it.
Those statues are really worth a look, even through Google images. They are prominently displayed right before descending escalators from arrival area to the trains to the main terminal building.
P.S. It was a great fluke catch Harris made; some say that play is what began the Steeler tear through the record books in the Seventies.
Don't lose all hope though, I think that airport also has a commemorative display to a prominent Pittsburgh educator, the gentle Mr, Rogers.
Clyde - I'm in total agreement with you about how sports and sports figures are so revered in our culture. While I enjoy sports and there's a lot of positive aspects being in sports, there's too much emphasis on winning at all costs.
That was one factor why I started karate for my younger boys -- my oldest is not a natural athlete. He did welland enjoyed playing, but when you start HS it's not about having fun anymore, so he spent more time on bench.
While martial arts has gone crazy with Extreme or Mixed Martial Arts, a local dojo is still a great place to learn discipline, respect and enjoy a great sport that grows with you and gets more interesting with time. Plus, as an advanced belt, you become an immediate role model and mentor to the lower belt students, so it's about giving back as well.
I can't say enough about how karate has helped us personally, physically, confidence, etc. We've met a lot of cool people that are good friends. Just my two cents ...
I am not anit-sports. Played college football, at a very low level, and coached. Not against sports, just want it in its proper place.
How did I miss those statues. Maybe they are new. Have not been there in about 5 years.
I have no idea what to do about it. Have some ideas about how to deal with it in HS but people do not really want it reined it.
I have been to Mr. Rogers real neighborhood several times, Jeanette. PA.
Just as a side note: if any of you happen to be in downtown Minneapolis on Sat March 6, my 15-yr old son, Ben, will be graduating to Black Belt in karate at the Convention Center starting at 12:30pm.
It's a large advance belt graduation that lasts about 3 hours, and you will see EVERYTHING that we do as part of earning a black belt, including sparring. It's a grueling day for the candidates, but you know you've truly earned that belt. I'm currently a Brown Belt, and hope to graduate in Sept to Advanced Brown Belt. FYI ...
no tribute to august wilson?
its funny how supreme court justaces, people who give back to society and great people of other fields have a hard time gaining recognition. i remember years ago someone told me that all tv was greared toward a mentality of a 14 year old. that is what level i gather the american public feels comfortable coming at the world from. it surprises me how many people strike up conversations that can go on forever when talking sprots and yet the same is seldom true on other subjects unless you are in a room full of music buffs, art buffs, science geeks, math heads etc. there is not a common bond because it is so foreign, you either know it or you don't. sports is pretty simple. simple rules and athletisism which is pretty or fun to look at. george washington and franco harris,... i'm not sure it could be summed up any better.
congratrs to you and your son joanne, karate is a wonderful sport. my son did it from pre age to a n advanced brown bwelt until he dropped out when the politics at national karate got him i had 2 daughters who were getting a lot out of it too. good training and a great way to learn to the best you can with what you've got. not a bad premise.
Maybe we should have our own TB Hall of Statues, like in the Capitol Building in D.C. August Wilson is a great nominee.
Any other nominess out there, the important but ignored? Who was the MN person who died recenlty--Nobel Prize winner? Duh? SEE? But I know who Franco Harris is.
Another question for all: we know this group has theatrical and musical talent in great number. How many out there do visual arts? Needlwork of some kind, painting, drawing, pastels, carving, ceramics, mixed media, etc.?
BTW--My other work computer picked up a bad virus. Sigh. Cannot get it out. What if I bumped it off the desk and it broke and I told the company that? Of course, since I barely work right now . . . Sigh But I apprently got it downloading music from a seemingly legtimate site.
do you run spybot and adaware? they help norton with stuff that sneaks by. but i was told when you open to that kind of site you are bypassing all nortons protection. the virus' just come streaming in. good luck. find a cheap geek if you can to get it out of there it will kill your computer if you leave it in place.
to download go to shareware and these are the top 2 free downloads.
hi All -
Clyde, i did see the story about the one, lone buck driving all the bulls crazy on the st. paul campus. pretty funny. what a waste of time for a bull though....
you said you had two stories - what is the other?
unrelated, but in a way related because this is about poems:
my Steve gave me a poem he cut out of The New Yorker mag (author is Mark Doty)
The little goats like my mouth and fingers,
and one stands up against the wire fence, and taps on the fence board
a hoof made blacker by the dirt of the field,
pushes her mouth forward to my mouth,
so that i can see the smallish squared seeds of her teeth, and the bristle-whiskers,
and then she kisses me, though i know it doesn't mean "kiss,"
then leans her head way back, arcing her spine, goat yoga, all pleasure and greeting and then good-natured indifference: she loves me,
she likes me a lot, she takes interest in me, she doesn't know me at all
or need to, having thus acknowledged me. Though i am all happiness,
since i have been welcomed by the field's small envoy, and the splayed hoof, fragrant with soil, has rested on the fence board beside my hand.
again, author is Mark Doty in Feb. 8 2010 The New Yorker
where are you going with your visual artist thought? start an arts blog? for radio heartlanders? talk about starving artists!
i love to paint and know those who are serious vs my screwing around. photgraphers, sculptors etc. the arts are hurting so bad right now it is especially hard. with no make believe upper middle clas to buy art they are out of options. gotta do it for love i guess.
barb, thank steve for us. put it on the wall
tim--I never use Norton. The two programs the closest to being a virus are Norton and Explorer. Have Adware and Spybot. Was using Malwarebytes free stuff, which has alwasy worked before. It's buried deep. Am going through a process to send them details on my tree and then they will answer in time. I have this computer in the meantime.
Visual arts stuff was only a question with no agenda. Curious how about this community. I mean both pro, serious, and for fun things this group does.
barb in blackhoof--U of M was doing an experiment about breaking down goat manure (not a good fertilizer, or something, or maybe it burns like horse manure??). So they took an old small building they were going to tear down, put a few goats in it and just dressed the build-up with some straw and fed the goats for two plus years until it was about 5 feet deep. For five hot days one summer I and a couple of other guys got to remove the pile--by hand--could not get any machinery through the doors. The stuff at the bottom looked pretty much like the stuff at the top. The PhD who was doing the experiment showed up when we were almost done (good timing). One of the guys working asked him if they were just going to tear down the building anyway, why didn't they tear a hole in the wall so they could use a loader. He said that was a very good idea that had not ouccred to them.
perfect example of a time to apoligize if you need to rather than wait for permission.
good luck with the virus.
love arts and arts folk.
tim--tell us about your painting--subjects, media, what you do with it, etc.
barb--excellent poem. I have a French poem in which the poet says he wants to go to heaven with donkeys because they are such humble animals.
clyde it is abstract expressionist ala pollack ,kline,hoffman, dekooning, if there is a subjsct it gets buried pretty deep. feelings of angst and jubilation. i keep working them until they are done and then hang them on a wall to see if they stick. acrylics because of cost and speed opposed to oils and the challanges involved. 3x4 foot stuff so its big enough but still hangable. would like to try bigger and smaller. will do this summer.
Clyde - since you are so good at clearing out the deep bedding - i have a deal for you. we'll have ONLY about six months of wasted hay/poop/pee to clean out this March. want to come help? it'd be so easy compared to five years.
we use composted barn cleanings and our garden grows like mad. but those little pellets don't break down very easily. that's probably why. the upside is that they are PELLETS not sloppy pies, like some animals we know but won't mention.
and donkeys may be humble, but the woman who helps me with hoof trimming says that they are sly and have a "killer kick."
i studied for a couple years with the university of minnesota artists and they were wonderful, somberg, meyers,cowette, feinberg, morrison, busa, the place was an attitude in building form. my bass player from rock and roll days went on to be a big time artinst whose shows and whose students work are in the hot venues in the world. joe havel is his name and bronze is his media, great stuff. he got it early and helped me to see the light.
tim--cool. love to see it. We have too much art work in our house, Recently did two walls in one room floor to ceiling. But only three abstract works of art--two paintings and a flat ceramic.
barb--will you pay for my next back surgery? And the one after that? Maybe I could sue the U for the back problems from digging that out.
I had a man in my church, who just died at 91, who had horses, mules, donkeys, jackasses and a burro or two. He said the mules were the meanest. Are they donkeys? Cannot remember what's what, what's the cross. Also, can I come dump a computer in your compost pile?
any time
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