A Few Steps Back in Kansas

When I began this blog a few years ago, part of the thinking was that we needed to re-evaluate how we deal with issues and in turn, how we deal with one another.  We should discuss events, not people.  Additionally, those who have opposing viewpoints are not adversaries or worse, enemies but simply those who don’t agree – nothing more or less.  Sadly, often one can see the violation of this principle.  This past week, the ridiculousness ventured out of the world of politics and into the state of Kansas.  The target was the First Lady and the subject was a commencement address. 

In Topeka, Kansas, Michelle Obama was approached to give a commencement speech at a combined ceremony for the city’s high schools.  It is typical that during this time of year, celebrities, politicians and other noteworthy individuals span throughout America’s campuses to provide parting words of wisdom for high school and college graduates.  Throughout the country, various schools manage to provide for honored guests as well as the parents and friends of the graduates.  However, a group of students and parents in Topeka felt the presence of Mrs. Obama would prevent friends and family from attending the ceremony and additionally, take away the attention from the graduates.  Those who oppose the First Lady’s address have certainly done that.  

First of all, the First Lady is not a political figure but simply a well-known one.  The address would likely not include any political content.  So, what is the objection?  It is hard not to see this as the political salvo the protestors fear might come from Mrs. Obama.   Oscar Wilde once said that “man is least himself when he talks in his own person.”  So when students and parents face television cameras and say this has nothing to do with politics, I don’t buy it.  Call me dubious, but it seems the situation is nothing but politics.  It is not hard to imagine the uproar if the president, also approached to speak in Topeka, were the one to appear.   

Part of the reason for the appearance of such a highly-placed figure is the fiftieth anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas – the case that struck down the legality of segregation.  Whether people in Topeka have it in for Mrs. Obama or have never gotten over the Warren Court’s push toward desegregation, the message comes across the same.  During the presidency of George W. Bush, there was so much disrespect directed at the president, including a book published to highlight how to assassinate the chief executive which met with no Democratic outcry, one would think that Republicans would know the importance of respecting the office, if not the man.  However, some have decided that turn-about is fair play.   

Historically, the extraordinary partisanship of modern politics seems to have borne out of the Watergate scandal and the Robert Bork nomination process.  Since, the rhetoric has been contrarian to the point of being childish.  It needs to stop and the only way to do so is begin the respect process.  So, for all the Republicans out there seeking affirmation for their bent notion of politics and political gamesmanship, grow up.  Barak Obama is the president of the United States.  He was elected to the office not once but twice.  His wife is the First Lady and Michelle Obama deserves the respect of her position.  How can one demand respect without first giving it?  

Since the days of Jefferson, Americans have accepted the will of the people in changing the government and conservatives, throughout the years, have championed respect for the state.  Still, it was decided Mrs. Obama will speak at a separate ceremony away from the graduation.  Meanwhile, those who protested will sit in the graduation arena in May and feel smug in the notion that they kept “that woman” out.  Then, ten or twenty years later, their kids will morph into people whose jaded outlook of life will include a lack of respect in all things that should be important to Americans and they will wonder where they learned such unflattering notions.  They will be able to find their answers, provided there are mirrors in the house. 

Shadows of Munich

In 1938, a group of diplomats and leaders met in Munich, Germany.  The occasion was Adolf Hitler’s claim on the western part of Czechoslovakia – the Sudetenland.  Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom were represented.  The Czechs were not there; a group forced to watch in the background as their country was torn apart for the sake of peace.  The Americans were there, unofficially in the form of U.S. ambassador Joseph Kennedy, and quietly went along with the agreement.  That pact would eventually give way to the wisdom that appeasement only makes the aggressor stronger.  Against this axiom, the European powers and the U.S. made the ravenous Russian beast stronger and the implications could be quite dire. 

Since the showdown in the Crimea, events that smack of the demands for breathing room by the Nazi government, the Russians have grown increasingly aggressive towards its former state.  Russia has also tacitly approved of the actions of pro-Russian mobs who, throughout eastern Ukraine, have been pushing buttons, pushing around Ukrainian authorities and generally increasing tensions throughout the region.  The Europeans and the Americans have been content with sanctions in hopes that Mr. Putin will realize the folly of his ambitions.  However, the Russian president has been making threats of his own in the form of the gas supply to the Europeans.  If European leadership and President Obama cannot think beyond sanctions, I fear history might repeat itself.  

In the last couple of days and after weeks of pro-Russian gangs running rough-shod over the Ukrainian civil government, the Ukrainian forces struck back in Slovyansk, in the eastern part of the country.  This follows attempts by the government to mollify pro-Russian protestors with the promise of more autonomy.  However, as the mobs’ takeover increased and solidified, special forces were employed to eject the protestors from government and police buildings as well as destroy barricades and checkpoints.  The Ukrainian government has been placed in a winless scenario as pro-Russian forces within the country have created havoc and Russian forces along the border have orchestrated more threats and pressures.  

This past weekend, Sen. John McCain lambasted the president for an increasingly weak and irrelevant international voice, suggesting that sanctions are not enough.  He further suggested that what the president and the Europeans need to do is supply intelligence and weapons to the embattled government.  However, that is not happening.  President Obama has no intention to place troops on the ground as there is little to no support for such a measure in the U.S. but one must wonder why the president has seldom discussed this situation at length.  As the Democrats prepare for the 2014 mid-term elections and the party seeks to salvage those Democrats, especially in the Senate, whose re-election efforts are jeopardized, the attention seems to have drifted away from international concerns.

As an historian, I do not make references to the Nazis and Germany’s pre-World War II behavior lightly.  It is too often referred to and often, incorrectly.  However, given the level of inaction and lack of measures taken by the western powers, it does make one wonder how this farce will eventually play out.  The president has often suggested his uneasiness with the notion of the U.S. as a superpower and the authority and force that comes along.  However, it is countries like the U.S., along with the European powers, which share a responsibility.  Teddy Roosevelt said it was of little use arguing that we hold an international presence but what was most important, is what we did with the duty.  I fear we are ignoring those obligations and the Ukraine will be only the first victim. 

The Legacy of a Late-night Anarchist

I’ve never had an interest in celebrities and don’t understand the attraction.  The fact that our culture is so obsessed with celebrities makes me feel out of step with society but I’m willing to accept that.  Having said all this, there are those whose work I enjoy and those who I feel are very talented and contributed.  One of them announced their retirement this week – David Letterman.  For those who only know the more recent version of Mr. Letterman, you are missing out on some of the brilliance he displayed during his career. 

It has been often said by people more in the know than I that the careers of Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Conan O’Brien would not have happen were it not for David Letterman.  He introduced strange and wonderful components to his show, sometimes with little to no explanation.  “You figure it out” was the message.  It was not surprising because as television goes, Mr. Letterman was a strange man himself. 

Consider deadpan Larry “Bud” Melman who would read poetry and other ramblings for no apparent reason.  Mr. Letterman once had a rerun of his show dubbed into Spanish with Mexican actors.  Again, no explanation and if your Spanish was not up to it, you were lost.  He would host these rather strange confrontations, as when comedian Andy Kaufmann and wrestler Jerry Lawler were on the show together.  Allowing Andy to be Andy, Mr. Kaufmann yelled and screamed at the wrestler until Mr. Lawler got up and smacked the comedian to the floor.  Then there was the program where he used over ten cameras to make the show appear it was rotating 360 degrees.  The madcap king of late night was an anarchist and it was fun to watch.   

Then, there were the interviews.  He hates pomposity and loves to poke holes in the sanctity of celebrity.  He can be acerbic, biting and even cruel.  It is also Mr. Letterman at his best.  Sometimes, he simply allows people to make fools of themselves, such as Crispin Glover who gave such a bizarre performance back in the 1980s in the aftermath of his Back to the Future fame and Farrah Fawcett who he lampooned and mocked while she was in an apparent drunken state.  For those who he clearly has little interest in or respect for, he can dismiss the “celebrity” status as with Paris Hilton (“So, how was prison?”) and Lindsey Lohan (“Shouldn’t you be in rehab?”).   

Others came in with an under appreciation for the man, not understanding the intellectual wordsmith and comic mind on the other side of the desk.  Bill O’Reilly, who is no slouch in the debate department himself, nevertheless met a worthy opponent.  An angry Madonna, upset at Mr. Letterman’s suggestion that she had slept her way through the music and film industries, tried to shock him with crude behavior and a string of profanity.  The unflappable host, who had seen much more imaginative attacks, simply dug deeper and mocked the “queen of pop.”  In the process, he made her look ridiculous.   

For the former Indianapolis weatherman and stand-up comic, he could also handle the serious moments as well.  He was brilliant in this first monologue after the September 11^th attacks.  Additionally, the fiercely private man was surprisingly open after his heart attack and his infidelity.  Mostly, he kept things to himself.  After being passed over for the Tonight Show, he was on Johnny Carson’s show and the legendary host (whom David Letterman idolized) asked him, “So, just how pissed off are you right now?”  The private man did not take the bait and simply let it go.  A trait that some have said cost him his coveted ideal job – that and not sticking up for himself.  Yet, to do so would put himself out there more and that, he could not do.   

I once met Jay Leno while serving in the first Gulf War and I’m sure on some level, he is a nice guy.  Yet, he won’t take risks in his observations and comedy and for me, I was drawn to the near reckless willingness to explore options that has characterized David Letterman’s show.  He was the guy who was cool to watch and there was some status in a select club for those who watched.  What drew people in were Mr. Letterman’s sense of disorder and chaos.  He is not what he was but he will always be the man who set the standard for late night television.