SO WHAT'S THE GOOD NEWS?
George Will once wrote, “…’good news’ is a journalistic oxymoron. An axiom of the journalist’s trade is: ‘We do not report planes that land safely.’ “ Will went on in that philosophical appraisal to say, “There is a tendency…to think that what matters, journalistically, is what goes wrong.”
Nearly every time someone greets me, “Hi Bill, what’s new?” I have to admit I usually give some glib response like, “New Jersey, New Concord or New York.” And sometimes they ask, “What are you up to?” Again I have a stock reply, “9’ 10” – don’t seem to be growing any taller.” Perhaps I test what friendships I have by such replies but the beat goes on—in my unsophisticated responses.
The political climate ought to present sufficient fodder for any writer or speaker to make comments about “What’s new” or “What are you up to?” but the older I get I find myself wondering when will our candidates start getting really sincere or honest with the voters? And those who do seem to be taking on the task of tossing their hat into the ring of presidential candidates are probably thinking their issues are serious. A few might even be considered to have an integrity that has somehow become hard to find in Washington. One, former Senator Fred Thompson, has joined that list of candidates; apparently he has searched his soul and gave up on entirely going back to Hollywood or TV filmdom, and his going back (into that business) for whatever reality he made mention of existing therein.
Again, in my regular “fast food contacts” I often hear, “Why would any one want to become president?” In all honesty it becomes difficult to find a truthful answer. Loyalty? Patriotism? Integrity? A better plan or program? I for one would like to believe that someone, maybe like Fred Thompson, might be an interesting candidate for the presidency. I am not sure, but President Ronald Reagan made the office glow with patriotism and integrity by his “natural” speeches. It has been revealed that he too had writers to prepare his speeches and no doubt he had more innate ability to deliver speeches because of his background of years before the camera. His ability to speak with such apparent sincerity was flawless, at least in my opinion. He sounded patriot and honest. But, doesn’t any good actor? Every actor, from Clint Eastwood to Anthony Hopkins (and all between) could be described the same way. I have to admit that after I saw Anthony Hopkins play C. S. Lewis, a popular Christian apologist, whenever I think of C. S. Lewis, the face of Anthony Hopkins comes to my mind. As Lewis held the hand of the woman he loved, and married for some very strained reasons, and ultimately saw her die – again, I see the image of Anthony Hopkins, weeping real tears as he holds his sep-son in his arms, weeping with the boy.
Whoever gets on the bandwagon of the presidential parade will soon be on the lips of every standup comic in the nation. The way a candidate speaks, gestures or suffers from tics of every degree in movements of his hands, face or any other part of his body, will be the reason for applause, hoots and hollers on every TV late-night show or bars across the nation. Johnny Carson got more mileage out of one word when he spoofed President Ronald Reagan, with a slicked back hairdo and fixed his facial image while expressing, “Well…” It was a good as any play-acting Jack Benny ever did when he would give his one-word or shrug response to some criticism. I still remember Carson getting a lot of laughs when he used a near-Bud Abbott & Lou Costello piece with familiar sounding names of cabinet members of Reagan – they really brought the laughs.
Pictures are broadcast daily about presidential candidates, especially on You-Tube and other video purveyors. What do we believe? How can we believe? It all goes back to perceptions we personally have been led to make because of what people say or do? Not too many years back one of our presidents was called “Tricky Dicky” and he even claimed the opposite of the criticism of being a liar. Not too many months later he spoke to a national captive audience on TV and resigned from the presidential office taking on an image of a sad dog with his tail between his legs. Another president a few years later, looked the camera in the face, and the eyes of the nation fixed on that image, heard him state emphatically that he was not guilty of crimes too gross to repeat here. Again, he appealed to our emotions and our loyalty to the respected office of the President of the United States of America. We sadly learned later that he was guilty of once again lying to the citizens.
Lying is a crippling concept. We all do it, in one way or another. Oh we will rationalize and talk our way out of the truth. But, the way we think and our God knows all our thoughts, is evidence alone to God, if not anyone else who really knows us, that we are not telling the truth. We say we will do something and somehow that time never arrives when we “write that note, say that prayer, or visit that person…” We say, “How are you?” and is it a glib question or do we really care?
When it comes to what kind of a president we will get it really will be what kind of a president we have allowed ourselves to deserve. Polls across our land are not worked or attended with the same integrity it once had. In our little town of 35,000 it was claimed a mere 30+% of registered voters turned out for a November election. Why? If you ask any of them, those who did turn out, you will hear every kind of excuse imaginable. Preachers get the same kind of answers when they ask why people do not “join the church” or more appropriate, “come to church”. “There are too many hypocrites in the church.” That same kind of logic doesn’t seem to wash when it comes to any other subject like “sports personalities” – and there are surely hypocrites in the sports whether it be baseball, basketball, football or foosball! Hypocrisy is here because we are all-human and have a propensity to “speak with a forked tongue”. A lot of us would have longer noses if the story about Pinocchio were real-life.
So what do we do about all this? First, I suppose we ought to re-examine ourselves daily and admit our own faults. Are we really any better than the person we accuse as being dishonest or self-driven? Morality really starts with us – it is a very personal thing. What we think about the driver who just cut us off or blew his horn at us for whatever infraction he-she determined we have committed – that little thought, even unuttered, is what counts. We are judged by our own lives.
Also, we cannot be forgiven until or unless we are able to forgive. This is a great theological fact that bears down on most daily. How we sleep at night or how we eat or how we deal with people—sometimes even our friends, proves that what we eat is not the problem, but what is eating at us, that’s the problem.
Our nation has changed drastically during the past 30 or 40 years. We are getting, for the most part, what we deserve. The majority voted for Roe vs Wade – and thus the garbage dumpsters are still being filled with innocent aborted babies daily. We allowed prayer to be voted OUT of the school system and in its place we have seen blood splattered floors and walls from students gunned down by a psychotic. We have experienced untruthful politicians and city leaders spending too much money foolishly and indiscriminately and we’re getting tired of it. Pulling up to the gasoline pumps is almost enough to give a person heartburn and we wonder, “Does anyone really care?”
I have only touched a few issues and if we honestly want to see a change made – let it begin with us first! Individually is how we walk, one step after another. Individually is how a deal is made. Individually, breath-by-breath is how we live. Maybe, just maybe, if enough of us individuals get our act together, the majority will see we really are sincere.
By the way, “What’s new?” Believe it or not, everyone is not all bad – journalists just have a way of telling us all the bad news – remember?
THE WORDWRIGHT