The Legacy of a Prominent Man

If you can stomach a swim through the major news networks, check out the big boys and consider what you have observed. News is no longer such but rather entertainment. There is not a single aspect of the news that is not infiltrated by and consumed with the entertainment factor. This includes everything from fancy graphics to theme songs to dramatic segment titles. However, within this sea of noise is one network that has managed, mostly, to avoid the entertainment element in news. And, behind this network for its entire history, one man has run it with dignity and focus. The network is C-SPAN and the man is its CEO (who has recently retired) Brian Lamb.

Famed cultural critic Neil Postman once discussed the nature of television news and how the paradigm by which news networks present was (and is) based on entertainment. It trivializes the concept of news and challenges the definition of what should be classified as news. The 24-hour news networks further distort what constitutes news and the appropriate way in which to present the same. Today, one can watch the news and observe the screaming, over-gesticulating anchors and wonder where the adults are. It is little wonder that fewer people watch the news on television because the viewers question the worth of what is being presented.

In the late 1970s, former political operative Brian Lamb proposed a network that would broadcast live coverage of House and Senate deliberations. What began as a peek behind the legislative curtain of the Congress has expanded over the years to include committee hearings, congressional testimony, British parliamentary proceedings and political and cultural interviews. The Sunday morning news show on C-SPAN includes a host with a newspaper, a highlighter and a string of callers posing questions. However, nothing is focused on the presenter and technology is non-existence. Brian Lamb conducted that Sunday morning show for decades and recently, shifted to interviews of authors and political figures and never made the conversation about himself or the presentation but solely about the subject.

Over the decades, Mr. Lamb has created a network that defies the trend and instead of making itself the story, simply points the lens at the news-makers and allows the viewer to determine their own opinion. No other network operates with such respect and deference to the viewers’ intelligence. As the shrill and antics of the other networks increase as their numbers dwindle, C-SPAN continues to provide the service for which all Americans should be thankful. As Brian Lamb steps down as CEO of C-SPAN, he leaves a legacy that will be compared to the news anchors and figures of days gone by and in the final analysis, viewers will see his greatness while further understanding the baseness and vacuous nature of those who purport to carry on the journalistic tradition.

The Reading List – The N’s and O’s

This is part of an ongoing series representing the books on my must read list. I encourage readers, if they see a book that needs to be added, to comment and do so, complete with your assessment of the book.

Thank you very much

Ross

Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
The Unfortunate Traveler, Thomas Nashe
Selected Poems, Pablo Neruda
The Idea of a University, John Newman
Lectures on Justification, John Newman
On Consulting the Faithful, John Newman
University Sermons, John Newman
A Grain of Wheat, Wa Thiong’o Ngugi
Beyond Good and Evil, Friedrich Nietzsche

Quodlibetal Questions, William of Ockham
The Complete Stories, Flannery O’Connor
Everything that Rises Must Converge, Flannery O’Connor
Mystery and Manners, Flannery O’Connor
The Violent Bear it Away, Flannery O’Connor
War Blood, Flannery O’Connor
One Thousand and One Nights,
On First Principles, Origen
On Prayer, Origen
1984, George Orwell
Animal Farm, George Orwell

Don’t Worry About Converting Dollars to Krona

Sweden has determined that it will attempt a cash-free society in the not-so-distant future. As it is, demand for hard cash is not prominent so perhaps, for Sweden, it will not represent that much of a change. However, hearing the story did make me consider whether such actions in the United States would be a good idea.

As it stands, few people in the United States uses cash on a regular basis. That fact is the basis of support for such a measure. Consider how often you use cash. At the store or online, credit cards are the preferred options. Additionally, in a society increasingly incapable of doing math, it prevents the slow, torturous experience of watching a 17-year-old struggling with how much change to give back if the register is down or some other calamity has prevented modern technology to do the calculations for them. There is also the safety factor claimed by many advocates for the doing away of cash. This, of course, would be predicated on the enforcement of businesses actually checking for identification when using a credit card to purchase. That is likely another issue to tackle at a later date. Lastly, and professed by the more technologically engulfed members of the opposition, cash simply is outdated and no longer needed. With so many other options available to pay, without handling actual money, why have the expense to print dollar bills?

Then, there are those who are wary of such a measure. From a strictly selfish point of view, I was told once as a child that the ridding of society of money was the first step towards the apocalypse. Personally, I’m trying to stave off that event. I have too much I would like to do. While true, there are plenty of other things that are hurtling us towards that final moment, this is my concern today. On a more serious note, are there not a host of smaller, sometimes off the books, purchases we make that would require cash? How do you pay the pimply kid mowing your lawn or other likewise requirements? These scenarios will provide a challenge. However, greatest of all is the psychological boost of having money in your hand. Having an American Express card is not quite the same.

In review, I don’t like the idea. I’m a fan of cash and use it as often as I can. I’m one of those people who are a little embarrassed about the idea of using a credit card for purchases less than $10. I’m also uncomfortable with a cashless society because I’ve been on the receiving end of identity theft and credit card fraud. I believe there will always be the need for cash and doing away with it altogether is potentially problematic. But, hey, if it works for Sweden as they swipe their cards instead of placing cash in the collection plate on Sundays, then good for them.

The Reading List - The M's

The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli
A Guide for the Perplexed, Maimonides
Buddenbrook, Thomas Mann
Death in Venice, Thomas Mann
The Magic Mountain, Thomas Mann
Homo Viator, Gabriel Marcel
The Mystery of Being, Gabriel Marcel
The Philosophy of Existentialism, Gabriel Marcel
Mediations, Marcus Aurelius
Art and Scholasticism, Jacques Maritain
Creative Intuition in Art and Poetry, Jacques Maritain
Introduction of Philosophy, Jacques Maritain
A Preface to Metaphysics, Jacques Maritain
Three Reformers, Jacques Maritain
Dr. Faustus, Christopher Marlowe
One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx
Chapters on Knowledge, St. Maximus the Confessor
On Charity, St. Maximus the Confessor
Moby Dick, Herman Melville
New Seeds of Contemplation, Thomas Merton
Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill
Paradise Lost, John Milton
The Misanthrope, Jean-Baptiste Molière
Don Juan, Jean-Baptiste Molière
The Imaginary Invalid, Jean-Baptiste Molière
Spirit of the Laws, Baron de Montesquieu
Principia Ethica, G.E. Moore
Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation, St. Thomas More
Letters, St. Thomas More
Utopia, St. Thomas More
The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami
The Tale of the Genji, Lady Murasaki

A Brief Message

Hello everyone. I am currently in the eastern part of Germany, the former communist area and I find this part of the country very interesting and charming. If you have not made it here yet, it needs to be on the bucket list.

For those breathlessly awaiting my next article, I ask that you hold off until the following Friday, allowing me to overcome my jetlag, clear the head and try to compose some coherent thoughts for your consideration.

In the meantime, take this opportunity to check out previous articles - perhaps go back to the beginning when I made less sense for a little amusement.

Take care and I will pop up again next Friday.

Ross

A Not So Super Statement on Super Tuesday

Several months ago, I proposed some prognostications on the Republican primaries and who will win the nomination and the chance to match up against President Obama in November. I said that Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, would win the nomination. I feel pretty good about that prediction, but former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum and former Georgia representative Newt Gingrich continue to hang in there. It appears Texas Representative Ron Paul will also continue to stay in to drive the debate. With Mr. Romney winning six of the ten states this past Tuesday, what does it mean?

Many pundits have suggested that Mr. Romney’s lackluster performance is due to Republicans not feeling completely comfortable with the former Massachusetts governor. He does have issues. His biggest stumbling block is the health care plan he passed as governor. He refuses to apologize for it, and he shouldn’t, but he should also emphasize the historic roles of the states, as opposed to the federal government. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis suggested that, “It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” The idea that the states should and can be laboratories of democracy should be trumpeted by Mr. Romney.

The worst attacks by his fellow Republicans, because they are Republicans, suggest there is something wrong with his strive for and achievement of success and personal wealth. One of the basic ideas of conservatism is that all people have the right, or should, to achieve as much as their talent and abilities allow them without the government infringing or impeding. It serves as the inspiration and the goal of all people, regardless of class. Apparently, it has not stuck as much as some of Mr. Romney’s opponents would like. Yet, Mr. Romney still suffers from a host of issues.

Greatest of them all, the former governor lacks that personal touch shown with a certain amount of expertise by Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. They had a way of talking “one on one” with people, even in front of a large audience. For whatever reason, Mr. Romney sounds like someone trying to connect but cannot quite bring it across. Furthermore, though shouting from the rooftop that he is a conservative, he has, as Bill Kristol once said, come across like someone using moderate-to-conservative dictionary and is mixing up his words. He has not ruled as a “strong” conservative, as Mr. Santorum and Gingrich have charged and the history of moderate Republican candidates is not stellar: Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole and John McCain.

Mr. Romney will have his chance. He has a great deal of friends, a loving family from all appearances and therefore, must have something going for him. He will need to find a way to speak in a truer voice. That could quell the discomfort over how “conservative” he is.

The Curious Case of Rush Limbaugh

I should likely make clear my affiliation. At the nascent stages of my political education, there were two people – William F. Buckley, Jr. and Rush Limbaugh. There are likely not too more different conservatives on the planet. One defines the intellectual, erudite and learned scholar of the political philosophy and the other defines the rather cartoon nature of radio and television entertainment. One spoke upon reflection and the other upon impulse. One’s objections were voiced in algonquinian verbiage and context while the other revels in the baseness and shoot-from-the-hip style that has earned him the reputation as one of the greatest radio broadcasters of all time. Yet, while the first of my mentors did not guarantee preciseness and economy of thought, the latter did not and has not guaranteed politeness and respect.

I understand what Mr. Limbaugh was trying to say. Unfortunately, that is not the point. The Democrats are really playing it up to mask their attack on the freedom of religion. That will keep the story going for a while. The 30-year-old woman seeking contraceptives from a private Catholic university that clearly does not agree with the practice has been turned into a small, frightened little girl, shocked and dismayed at the controversy and the vileness directed towards her. She is portrayed as an innocent who had no idea why her simple request of paid-for birth control would cause such a furor.

I get that the language towards her by Mr. Limbaugh was extreme. I’m a little confused at the people expressing outrage. Are these the same people who have heard conservative women called much worse yet expressed no outrage, barely even a peep of disagreement? Some writers have expressed and detailed the many cases of women like Michelle Malkin, Sarah Palin and others labeled in equal (or worse) ways. The recent death of 43-year-old Andrew Breitbart engendered a Rolling Stone piece by Matt Taibbi entitled, “Death of a Douche.” There was not much outraged there either though the conservative fire-brand left behind a wife and four small children who have to hear the pile-on and hateful rhetoric. No matter one’s opinion of him, I think we can all agree that the attacks are a bit beyond the pale.

I don’t mind people criticizing Mr. Limbaugh. He has it coming. However, it is the source of the criticism and the characterization of a patron saint of Planned Parenthood that dismays and confounds. Perhaps, at some point in the future, we will have the chance to view this without the hysterics and the hyperbole. Perhaps not.

The Reading List – The L’s

Piers Plowman, William Langland
Tao Te Ching, Lao Zi
Complete Poems, D. H. Lawrence
If This is a Man, Primo Levi
Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis
The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis
The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis
Essay Concerning Human Understanding, John Locke
Second Treatise on Civil Government, John Locke
Call of the Wild, Jack London
Appeal to the German Nobility, Martin Luther
Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Martin Luther
On the Bondage of the Will, Martin Luther
Christ and Apollo, William Lynch

In Pursuit of Sport Fantasies

People travel for all sorts of reasons, myself more than anyone. I travel to experience history first hand. I love to look upon landscape or buildings where historical figures have traversed or gazed upon. I love to experience a part of history as I walk through important hallways of power or fields of hard work. I love walking into restaurants that tourists are not familiar with and speak horribly the local language while hoping everyone takes me as a local. I just want to come across as inconspicuously as possible. However, beyond the history and culture, I’m also a fan of world sports and have even created a list of sporting events that are on a wish list.

This year, I’m actually living one of those fantasies – to attend a top league European soccer match. I’ll be in Germany later this year and I will see Kaiserslautern on their home pitch. The Bundesliga is one of the top soccer leagues in the world and to see two of its historic teams in action is an amazing opportunity. I’d like also to see a baseball game in Japan. If there is one country, outside of the United States, who has set new standards and represents the best of the sport, it is Japan. To see a game at the Tokyo Dome or the Nagoya Dome would be as amazing an opportunity as seeing the most sacred temple or the most beautiful mountain. I don’t understand the sport but how great would it be to see a cricket match in India as the national team played Pakistan or Australia? Or, what would it be like to watch a rugby match in France or Ireland? Or a footy match in Melbourne, watching the Essendon Bombers? I have some friends from the region so I’ve adopted the team.

The passion of sport can bring out the best in people as it typifies the best of character – perseverance, sacrifice and joy. As it portrays so much of what makes a people great, it is as important as a castle, a natural wonder, a hall of government or a concert venue. Now, my wife and others I know are not as enamored with the notion of going to exotic locales just to sit in a stadium, wedged between a sea of fans and trying to follow the action. My wife prefers the quieter and more serene environs of a museum or a park. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll hit those places eventually. However, the sport can capture the mood of a place, the temperament of a people.

If it is true that the purpose of the travel is to experience a place from within, consider this. One of the great thing about sports in general is that, within a stadium, ballpark or arena, caste and distinction disappear and in the joy of victory or the agony of defeat (yes, I stole that line) people experience it together. So, imagine being in a foreign port of call and attending a match. To those around me, I’m not an American but simply one of the fans. We will celebrate or bemoan our fate together, regardless of nationality.

I’m as proud of who I am as the next person but it is quite an experience to forget about yourself for a bit and see life through someone else’s eyes. That is what sports can do.

The Reading List – The K’s

Please feel free to comment with a suggestion of an addition with a little explanation. Thank you.

The Castle, Franz Kafka
The Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
The Trial, Franz Kafka
Critique of Judgment, Immanuel Kant
Critique of Practical Reason, Immanuel Kant
Critique of Pure Reason, Immanuel Kant
Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant
Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics, Immanuel Kant
Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone, Immanuel Kant
The Letters of John Keats, John Keats
The Poems of John Keats, John Keats
The Dharma Bums, Jack Kerouac
Fear and Trembling, Søren Kierkegaard
Sickness Unto Death, Søren Kierkegaard
Kim, Rudyard Kipling
Enthusiasm, Ronald Knox
Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler