The joy and the pain of yesterday

August 25, 2009 will go down in history for a number of reasons, both regionally and nationally. But for me, it was a day I'll never forget -- yes, for some historical reasons, but also for some very significant personal reasons as well. For whatever reason, I feel compelled to share these reasons here, not because they have great importance to my readers (really, to either of you, I imagine), but just so you can see a human side to this profane, ranting DFH.

The most personal thing that made yesterday special long had been anticipated and didn't have anything to do with something that actually happened on that day. You see, yesterday was my son's 10th birthday. While I wasn't with Jr. (as he's known around these parts; he's the kid in the pool above) to celebrate it in person, I had spent the weekend with him and his sister, Jrette., and we had some great quality time together to commemorate the Big Day. Little did I know, however, just how emotionally draining -- and ironic -- this birthday would end up being for Jr.'s dad.

In the morning, I learned of the sudden death just hours earlier of a man whom I knew somewhat peripherally, albeit not exactly distantly, but whom I always respected highly and whose counsel and wisdom I valued tremendously during the years I worked with him. Dr. H. Douglas Lee (left), chancellor of Stetson University, had been the university's president for 22 years, from 1987 until his retirement just this past May. His presidency encompassed all the years I worked at Stetson, from 1997 until 2001, and I knew him as a humble yet very effective leader who always had time for a kind word or conversation for any students, staff members, faculty, and alumni whom he encountered. Known to all of us simply as "Doug," his unpretentious leadership style gave a character to the university that was uniquely his. Although I'd had no contact with him since leaving the university, he was just one of those people you figured would always be around and that he'd greet you with a warm smile and handshake anytime you returned to campus. Surely no one anticipated that he would die at 66, still vibrant and energetic and embarking so recently on his well-deserved retirement, and I certainly never contemplated that he would die in the same hospital where my son was born, 10 years earlier to the day. It's a shame for him and his family that he only had this summer to enjoy that retirement, but the university will feel his loss profoundly as well. But in a way, as far as Stetson is concerned, I guess he always will be around.

Just as I was reeling from the news of Doug's death, I found out that a dear blogfriend was hanging up her political keyboard for good. Sure, it's not as permanent or profound as death, but Scout Prime's announcement yesterday that she is retiring from First Draft leaves as great a void in the liberal blogosphere as any death would in its own community. I first got to know Scout (pictured at right in the white shirt, with her First Draft colleague and friend Athenae) on the First Draft Krewe's trip to New Orleans in April 2007, and I instantly was impressed with her devotion to the cause of recovery after Katrina and her understated yet everpresent anger at the Bush crime syndicate (my label, not hers) for their abandonment of that great city, which Scout, despite not actually moving there, in a very real sense had adopted as her own. Her consistently excellent and insightful blogging at First Draft and that of her co-blogger Athenae have served as models for my own blogging; while I know I can never touch them in terms of talent, they certainly provide a gold standard for which to strive. Scout will continue to blog about another passion of hers, biking, but I think I speak for all of us in the lefty blogosphere when I say how very much we will miss her contributions as a member of our community.

Finally, of course, the entire world was shaken today by the news of the death late last night of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), the "Lion of the Senate." While the right-wing corporate media reports predictably were saturated with words like "Chappaquiddick" and "Kopechne" and "lost 1980 nomination," the rest of the world that doesn't earn its living by pushing the radical conservative viewpoint mourned a great statesman, a legendary legislator, and a man whose own privileged upbringing never caused him to lose sight of the needs of the "common" people of Massachusetts and, indeed, of the world, who looked to him for help when they needed it most. In a lifetime of memorable statements and stirring speeches, perhaps none is more widely acclaimed as his address to the 1980 Democratic National Convention, when he conceded a bitterly contested presidential nomination to Jimmy Carter as excerpted here:

For me, a few hours ago, this campaign came to an end. For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.

Our bodies may fail us, our foes may assail us, but our dreams live on. Thank you for your service, Senator Kennedy.

Many Americans will never forget August 25, 2009, if only for the loss of "Teddy." I assure you that I will remember the date as long as I live ... for a lot of reasons.

Painting into a corner

I'm leaning towards insulted ...

WASHINGTON - Paint brush in hand, President Bush helped spruce up a high school Monday and tried to draw attention to a broader point — the value of community service on a day honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"I encourage people all around the country to seize any opportunity they can to help somebody in need," Bush said from the library of Cardozo High, a predominantly poor, minority high school about 10 minutes from the White House.

"By helping somebody in need, you're honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King," the president said. "And by helping somebody in need, you're really helping yourself; you're lifting your soul."

If you look at what Drunky McStagger was wearing, it looks more like a staged photo op than a real effort to perform community service. I very much want to give Drunky credit for being altruistic -- I really do -- but in light of his actions in calling for the deaths of many more, probably hundreds, of young Americans in the fight to preserve his legacy, painting a wall at a high school seems obscenely trite.