#1014 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Friday October 25)
Good morning,
YOGI AND BASEBALL
We’re about to begin the World Series, to me among the happiest times of the year. I thought I’d kick it off with a great Yogi-ism:
"Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too."
-- Yogi Berra
Ordinarily, there often is a small market or “Cinderella” team that makes it to the World Series, with endless storylines about their pluck, their magic, and their unusual good fortune (both the Padres and Mets gave us a little of this in the playoffs). This time, however, the two large market teams, with the most money invested, loaded with future Hall of Famers, will face each other. The networks love the matchup. The Yankee and Dodger fans love the matchup. And the Yankee and Dodger haters love the matchup. It promises to be a slugfest, with each team boasting a star-studded lineup with many power hitters, while both teams struggle with pitching. The Athletic describes the Yankee / Dodger series as “Goliath vs. Goliath.” Indeed. Let the games begin!
THE GREAT LAWGIVERS
On July 4th, I mentioned some of the great enlightenment philosophers, whose thinking and writings informed the work of the Founders in framing the Declaration and the Constitution. Steven Fink noted that the Founders and leaders of our nation through its early days also had considerable knowledge of the Old Testament and the lessons contained therein. Very true. Indeed, the House of Representatives has profiles of 23 lawgivers around the frieze of its chamber. Twenty-two are in profile around the chamber, all facing Moses, whose full-face image is directly across from the Speaker’s Chair.
These lawgivers were chosen and installed when the Capitol was remodeled in the mid-19th century. The significance of these figures is emblematic of how lawmakers of the present must look back in history for guidance as they govern. I recognize most, but not all, of these figures, which include Jefferson, Mason, Napoleon, Blackstone, Pope Innocent III, Hammurabi, Justinian, Suleiman the Magnificent, Maimonides, Solon, and Edward I. I wonder how many can be identified by our lawmakers today…
PITY THE NATION
I’m ending the week with this poem by the great Khalil Gibran. It was written back in 1933. It was another time, but the prescient message of the poem is timeless and is warning to us all:
Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.
Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave, eats a bread it does not harvest, and drinks a wine that flows not from its own wine-press.
Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero, and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.
Pity the nation that despises a passion in its dream, yet submits in its awakening.
Pity the nation that raises not its voice save when it walks in a funeral, boasts not except among its ruins, and will rebel not save when its neck is laid between the sword and the block.
Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox, whose philosopher is a juggler, and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.
Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpetings, and farewells him with hootings, only to welcome another with trumpetings again.
Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years and whose strong men are yet in the cradle.
Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment deeming itself a nation.
ENDING WITH A LITTLE HUMOR
A woman walks into a bar and orders a double entendre.
So the bartender gives it to her.
Have a great weekend,
Glenn