This morning, just five days before the inauguration of a new president, I had a detailed conversation with my grandson and namesake.<\/p>\n
I mentioned, in all sincerity, that Bush had ended the year on a positive note. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He demonstrated remarkable leadership, was strong, was quick to make the right decisions, acted courageously and, in the final distillation, made a lot of people happy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Arthur, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s grown accustomed to hearing more vitriol than panegyrics at the name Bush, seemed a wee bit incredulous. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, Pompah, do you mean you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re now praising Bush? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve heard you being very critical of him,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n
My response: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When it comes to leadership and getting the job done, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcmission accomplished.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 It gives me hope for a brighter 2009.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
From there we launched into the pros and cons of my late-2008 observations, covering many forward strides but not overlooking the few setbacks Bush experienced.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The trouble,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I added, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153is that one man can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t carry the load by himself. There are many people who are supposed to support him, and unfortunately, just as many people trying to drag him down.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
At this point, Arthur seemed a bit puzzled. He continued, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Some people say, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcHe kept us safe,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 but is that really true?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And then he asked, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What about the economic collapse, Gitmo, the gutting of the U.S. Constitution, torture, massive deficits, tax breaks for the wealthy, oil dependence, the Iraq war? Did you \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcmisunderestimate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 him?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (Here Arthur alluded to Bush\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s words, which he re-used, for not-so-comic effect, during his last press conference this week.)<\/p>\n
Then Arthur said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153To save time, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s read the fine print just above this column \u00e2\u20ac\u201d let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s do it now, Pompah \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see what I mean.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
So together, we are looking at the editorial cartoon immediately above the Work of Art in progress and we read, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He kept us safe*,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d along with the list of exceptions, those highlighted by an asterisk: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Workplace safety, Karl Rove, signing statements, maintaining national parks, Katrina, SCHIP programs.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d We read through Cheney, Halliburton and Alberto Gonzales, all the way to lying about WMDs.<\/p>\n
A comedian even suggested a way to facilitate the planned razing of the Dallas football stadium, where the Cowboys played their final game in December.<\/p>\n
How? Simply ask President Bush to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bring Democracy to Texas Stadium.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
At this time, I wondered what tack my grandson had been taking, and he must have wondered about mine. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pompah, are you talking about Bush, the president?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153No, absolutely not,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I answered. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Are you?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when we started to unravel the misunderstanding. You see, the strength, leadership and courage I was referring to when I started complimenting Bush referred to MICHAEL Bush, the rising star running back for my Oakland Raiders. I asked Arthur, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Did you think I was referring to the president?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Maybe I could have been clearer. So let me explain:<\/p>\n
The Raiders weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t having their best year and were eliminated from NFL playoff contention weeks ago. About the only thing they could do to salvage a mediocre season would be to derail the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the same team that destroyed the Raiders, who were weak and weary in a long-forgotten Super Bowl earlier this century.<\/p>\n
A seldom-used fullback named Michael Bush, playing in lieu of two injured running backs, got 177 rushing yards, scored two touchdowns, and led the visiting Raiders to a 31-24 win over Tampa Bay. And that ended the Bucs\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 post-season hopes.<\/p>\n
That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Bush I was referring to. With his 245-frame, he simply wore down the defense and gave us Raiders faithful new hope for the coming year.<\/p>\n
The setbacks to which I referred were simply his inability to punch in the football for a final touchdown, which would have turned the game into a slaughter. But we can blame the offensive line, not Bush, for that. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Now, does my reference to \u00e2\u20ac\u02dccourage,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcleadership\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and keen decision-making seem clearer?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some people insist on inspecting every word someone else writes. My sister Dorothy Maestas called after last week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s column on misspellings on signs and said, correctly, that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d incorrectly used \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dessert\u00e2\u20ac\u009d rather than \u00e2\u20ac\u0153desert\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in reference to the appearance of a group called The Santa Fe Desert Chorale.<\/p>\n
Ironically, it was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153chorale\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d misused, years ago, when I used to arrange letters on the Chamber of Commerce sign on North Grand. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d gotten up at midnight because of the nagging suspicion that I had used \u00e2\u20ac\u0153corral\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in place of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153chorale.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
But \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dessert\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s different. After giving the Santa Fe chorus a sweet touch, I received an e-mail from Maridell Monnheimer, a local speech therapist. She wrote, in part, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You spelled desert, dessert. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m pretty sure you meant desert as in the Sahara and not dessert as in cherry pie. Probably just a typo unless there is some kind of group that sings in return for dessert.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Well, how can I wiggle out of this one? I could say, for example, that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153desert\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is pronounced two ways, depending on whether we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re referring to an arid plain or to the verb, which means to abandon.<\/p>\n
I watched the chorale\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s performance, back in 2004 and left there enriched, with the same feeling I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d get after swallowing a chocolate eclair.<\/p>\n
I admit the troupe didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly sing \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sweet Caroline,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Home Sweet Home,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sweet Hour of Prayer,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How Sweet It Is,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sugar, Sugar\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Honeycomb.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
However, the director and everybody else comported themselves well, even sweetly, and therefore, maybe they should get their just deserts and be called the Dessert Chorale.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This morning, just five days before the inauguration of a new president, I had a detailed conversation with my grandson and namesake. I mentioned, in all sincerity, that Bush had ended the year on a positive note. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He demonstrated remarkable leadership, was strong, was quick to make the right decisions, acted courageously and, in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}