The Cloak of Fame

The cloak of fame is woven from smarts, sinew and serendipity. It can last for many years or fall to tatters in a trice. It can be a glorious raiment or a gaudy schmatta ... so wearers should shoulder it with humanity and humility. -- Anon.

Tom Terrific

The quarterback of the New England Patriots, Tom Brady, is most likely at his life's pinnacle ... having won his fifth Super Bowl ... a record. And he also won this game in a spectacular manner ... scoring 25 points (with 2 two-point conversions) in the last half to tie the game and then scoring the winning touchdown in overtime. He was also awarded this game's Most Valuable Player.  This scenario was bigger than what any Hollywood scriptwriter could have imagined ... and had TV viewers, even many liberals, in awe.

No wonder Brady has earner the moniker "Tom Terrific" ... an outstanding 39-year-old quarterback married to a gorgeous supermodel with three wonderful children and yet still exhibiting appealing humility ... a rarity in the NFL. However, there is still a downside to such eclat ... and this is that  it is hard to imagine that things could get any better for Sir Brady. In a palpable sense, everything else in his life will likely be downhill from this existential summit. So, with all this accomplishment and adoration, comes the sadness that, alas, the best is likely not yet to come.

Afterword: Out driving today and listening to NPR I was saddened to hear a number of Bostonians who were rooting against the Patriots only because of the political persuasions of Brady and Coach Belichick. Of course, I eschewed Lady Gaga's half-time show because of her lefty rants ... hypocrite that I am.

A McKinney Lesson?

There was a bit of a contretemps in McKinney, Texas recently when a group of black teenagers crashed a pool party and police were called after fighting broke out ... resulting in another cell-phone video that purports to show police brutality against minorities ... see: Breitbart News Story.

This incident reminds me of an experience that I had in my distant past that might offer a lesson to these put-upon teens in McKinney:

In the late 1950's I was getting a ride home from college for Christmas vacation with a few classmates when we were pulled over in Vermont for speeding. The policeman directed us to a nearby justice-of-the-peace where the driver was summarily found guilty and fined $50 (a lot of money in those days.) During this proceeding we were acting like a bunch of teenage wisenheimers ... faking our ability to raise this money ... and behaving like stupid teenagers. This was annoying the judge and the policeman ... much more than I was able to decipher.

After we had paid the fine and were leaving the judge's chamber, I placed my hand on the policeman's shoulder and tried to smooth things over by saying, "Merry Christmas anyway." To my shock, this gendarme turned on me, grabbing me by the shoulders and threw me against the wall, saying that I was under arrest for assault. It took about 30 seconds before, even after my plea for leniency since these event was right in front of the judge, I was fined another $50. Fortunately we were even able to raise this additional amount and were then on our way ... a much wiser bunch of callowed youths.

I am white by the way, yet I still wonder if these black McKinney teens will learn a similar life-lesson? Probably not ... since all the rabid race-baiters around our country are coming to the defense of these doofuses. Instead of humility, they probably will be encouraged toward even more hubris.

His High Horse

Our puke of a president spoke at the annual National Prayer Breakfast this morning and I think that I am again agast by how un-presidential he always is. Here is an excerpt from the apologia he gave to this religious crowd:

And, first, we should start with some basic humility. I believe that the starting point of faith is some doubt -- not being so full of yourself and so confident that you are right and that God speaks only to us, and doesn't speak to others, that God only cares about us and doesn't care about others, that somehow we alone are in possession of the truth.

Him? Humility? Not full of himself? I have yet to see one iota of humility in this man … he who claims he can make the seas recede and our planet heal. To me it’s a wonder that his head didn’t explode as he spoke these pious words! But. the heavens didn’t part and lightning didn’t strike him down, so he was able then to pontificate further:

Humanity has been grappling with these questions throughout human history [those who seek to hijack religions for their own murderous ends]. And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was [sic] justified in the name of Christ.

A little reading of history will reveal that the crusades were 800 years ago and were meant to recapture Christians’ most holy places from the Muslims … and the Inquisitions, however shameful, were 500 years ago during the time that Spain was retaking its land from the Muslims. And those who even know a smidgen of slavery’s shameful past will recall that Muslims were the primary slave traders in Africa. And, in the meantime, Christianity has experienced a fundamental reformation, slaves in this country were emancipated 150 years ago and Jim Crow laws were overturned 50 years ago. But, brutal slavery is still a widespread and evil blot practiced in the Muslim world.

And ISIS, in the name of Islam, is committing heinous acts on a daily basis! Not 800 years ago … not 500 years ago … not 150 years ago … not 50 years ago … but NOW! And it would, I think, have been very appropriate, nay necessary, for President Obama to have augmented his idiotic moral equivalencies with a call for a reformation within Islam. But he won’t praise or even acknowledge to the slightest those Muslims who have so advocated recently … see: A Modern Crusade.

If you wish to read the entire transcript of this Reverend Jeremiah Wright's protégée’s pap pronouncements please go to: Christian Post Article. 

But first take a healthy dose of Pepto Bismol.

Afterward: For more strong words on this matter from John Hinderaker see: Powerline Blog.

Wagyu Beef

China has just surpassed the United States in the volume of its foreign trade; it has the world’s second largest GNP … and is expected to surpass the U.S. in this decade; the U.S. owes China over one trillion dollars … with billions more to come; and now it has outshone Uncle Sam on one more front … humility.  The Chinese have now decreed that ostentatious displays of power and privilege for the ruling classes are now forbidden … and that the nation’s media need no longer fawn at the feet of the plutocrats.  See:  Telegraph Article.  Wow!  Double wow!!

I just wrote a blog entry on how our White House has erected 54 Christmas trees (see: Oh Oh Tannenbaum) and it was recently revealed that U.S. taxpayers spent $1.4 billion last year on the trappings of our President and his family.  Moreover our national media and East/West Coast glitterati can’t lavish praise enough on our current leadership.  I guess if Barack Obama really want’s to go down in history as another Abe Lincoln, he needs to take a lesson from the Chinese … and lay off the wagyu beef ...