A VIEW FROM THE BENCH

AS A PARENT, occasional coach, and educational administrator, I often heard parents complain to anyone who might listen that their son/daughter was forced to sit on the bench, in spite of perceived  superior athletic ability, because the coach just couldn't recognize his/her talents and capabilities.  It just never seemed to occur to these angry folks that their child might actually be benefiting from a valuable learning experience.  I offer the case of Matt Cassell, quarterback in residence of the New England Patriots, as a big league beneficiary of just such an experience.  As you know, Cassell is replacing Tom Brady who was injured and is out for the season.   When he was in college, Matt sat on the bench behind All-American and Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer.  When Palmer turned professional, Matt again sat on the bench behind another All-American and Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart.  Turning pro himself, Cassell was drafted by the Patriots where he sat on the bench for four years behind All-Pro Tom Brady.  Was he discouraged?  Did he quit?  Absolutely not!  He took advantage of the situation, educated himself, and learned well.  As a result of his positiveness and willingness to learn, Cassell was not just  ready to replace Brady,  he was so well prepared that he recently was honored as offensive player of the week.  Surely Matt always had ability, but he found himself behind those who had superior ability.  He had to work and work hard to add to his repertoire.  It was the equivalent of making the most of being on a debating team behind Franklin Roosevelt and then Winston Churchill.  As in athletics, America is a meritocracy where the best are ultimately recognized. Whether in sports, business, law, or any place in the world of work at large, we need to stop complaining that our talents aren't being recognized, take advantage of what opportunities we have, study, re-learn, and fully prepare ourselves to be better at what we do. Watch Matt Cassell this season as he works himself into a position to earn a multi-million dollar contract next year.  Sitting on the bench has paid off.

CLEANING OUT THE RIGHT-HAND DRAWER OF THE MIND

I've been thinking!  Some might say, "Uh-oh!"  Others might say, "How novel!"  I say, "It's about time!"

I like Sarah Palin.  There - I've said it.  I like Sarah Palin.  I think she's bright, compassionate, and capable.  Tina Fey and all of the governor's detractors aside, I think she's able to handle the vice-presidency.  Al Gore did it.

What has happened since Radovan Karadzic was arrested and was scheduled to appear before the international war crimes tribunal?  How about his buddy General Ratko Mladic?  These guys roamed around eastern Europe for over a decade after they had been identified for arrest for their role in the Bosnian ethnic cleansing?  Why was that allowed to happen?  Why have they not now been brought to trial?  Why has that been allowed to happen?

In the 1940's we had leaders like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dean Acheson, and George C. Marshall among so many others.  Excepting Truman, they led by nobless oblige.  Wealthy, they served out of a sense of obligation.  Either wealthy by birth or wealthy by industriousness, they turned from comfort to government to offer their services.  Today the practice is the opposite.  Government workers first serve in an administration and then leave in order to act as lobbyists, make substantial money, and to live in comfort.  Could it be that our present-day patricians choose not to participate in governmental leadership in order to avoid undue public scrutiny and undue publicity placing their families into glass houses?

Why was Olympic drug cheater Marion Jones allowed to leave jail early from her already-lenient six month sentence?  She cried and lied for years before she was finally caught and convicted.  I had always presumed her innocent.  Silly me!  Feeling foolish, I vindictively want her to serve her full time.  Who let her out?  The president of the USA Track and Field Association wrote to President Bush asking that she not be let out of Jail.  "I have a moral and practical duty to make the case (against her request for early release)"  Who let her out?

Why is it that in our eyes Israel can never do wrong?  They are in huge part the reason that we are having so much trouble with Arab nations and, by extension, Al Queida.  I do believe that they need our overall protection, but not a rubber-stamped OK for all of their actions.  Read Jimmy Carter's book on the Middle East and their building of the wall that sections off huge chunks of Palestine separating neighbor from neighbor and family from family.  See who you think is responsible for much of the tension in that area of the world.

On a final, more mellow note, Italy's agricultural minister announced that some of that country's finest wines will receive permission to be sold in boxes.  Boxed American wines have an image problem somewhat similar to "white lightning".  However, wine in boxes makes a lot of sense.  It not only last longer, but decreasing transportation costs from the west coast to the east coast not only benefits the economy, but it also benefits the environment.  Figuring the saving on greenhouse gasses, transporting the lighter weight boxes would save the equivalent of taking 400,00 cars off the road.  That's each year!  Bottles are romantic.  Packages are practical.

   

Teddy Roosevelt and John McCain

        Mornings on Horseback, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Theodore Rex, River of Doubt, TR the Last Romantic - all admirable biographies or partial biographies of a currently popular past president from a prominent American Family, Theodore Roosevelt.  As an aside, Teddy was a Republican while his equally famous cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, FDR, was a Democrat - an interesting story in itself.  However, Teddy has become an icon of the Republican party featured on posters at Republican fund-raisers, and referred to frequently by party leaders.  Indeed, John McCain has stated that Teddy is his political idol.  Senator McCain is a longtime conservative and current Republican candidate for the Presidency of the United States, running against his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama.  McCain is an admirable man with an admirable history proclaiming a populist program "...for the great citizens of this wonderful country."  An admirable agenda.

        However, I'm wondering just how much Senator McCain has read of his idol.  I'm wondering because Teddy was a President who advocated positions that are the antithesis of the positions staked out by the current Republican platform.  During his presidency, 1901-1909, Teddy Roosevelt dismantled some forty monopolies.  He advocated for and attained regulations for foods, drugs, railroads, and labor unions.  Additionally, being sworn in after the assassination of William McKinley, he took the oath of office without benefit of a Bible.  

        After initially refusing to run for a third term in 1908, Teddy changed his mind and ranin 1912 against his originally hand-picked successor, William Howard Taft.  President Taft advocated positions remarkably similar to those put forth by today's Republicans, causing Teddy to advocate for a platform similar to that of today's Democrats.  Losing out on the Republican nomination, Teddy created the Bull Moose party and ran for the presidency against Taft and Woodrow Wilson.  Similar to 1992 when Republican Ross Perot ran as an independent against Republican George H.W. Bush, dividing the vote and electing Bill Clinton.  Teddy's third-party run resulted in the election of Democrat Woodrow Wilson.  

        In another venue it would be interesting to analyze Teddy's platform.  Among its many planks were the call for women's suffrage, limitation of campaign contributions, and the registration of lobbyists - all liberal points to the extreme in 1912.

        It would seem prudent that Senator McCain analyze a previous Arizona conservative senator's political positions. Barry Goldwater's brand of conservatism, "Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything that you have,"  would seem a better fit than Teddy's, "The most successful politician is he who says what everybody is thinking and says it the loudest."  A most un-McCain tendency.