CROSSVILLE —
It is an unpleasant certainty that for the next five months politics will fill the news. For those of us who wonder what draws anyone into that profession I found several answers provided by creative minds.
Anthony Burgess, author of the 1962 novel “The Clockwork Orange,” published a serious essay in 1973 on the state of politics. Burgess wrote that he personally did not trust statesmen or politicians. His answer to why people go into politics was, “Men enter politics for the negative reason that they have little talent for anything else and the positive reason that power is always delicious.”
In 1959 the story of a popular New York City mayor became the musical, “Fiorello.” Politician La Guardia lives on as the one who destroyed Tammany Hall. During the war years there was no publicity when he spent several hours in Crossville.
One long scene in the show involves a group of politicians discussing possible candidates as they play poker. Some of the lyrics in “Politics and Poker” explain the draw of politics. One verse says, “Shuffle up the cards and find the joker, Neither game’s for children; either game is rough. Decisions, decisions, like who to pick, how to play, what to bet, when to call a bluff.”
Another says, “If politics seems more predictable that’s because usually you can stack the deck!” The final bit of wisdom, “Bless the nominee and give him our regards and watch while he learns that in politics and poker, Brother, you’ve gotta have that slippery haphazardous commodity, you’ve gotta have the cards!”
As the months wind down the answers are in the hands of the voter so be prepared before you cast that vote.
***
Not only politics fill the news but there are many stories about zombies and the chance of a zombie apocalypse in 2012. Although my memory of zombies had been stashed away in my mind for many years it came rushing back — again.
Long before movies were rated as suitable for children I saw one that was definitely not suitable for a ten-year-old. Good friends of my parents, a school teacher and his wife, took me to a movie starring the always entertaining Maurice Chevalier.
The trouble was it was a double feature. The main film was family oriented but the second was a story about zombies. As a little kid with an active imagination the word zombie meant nothing to me and I doubt if it did for many adults in those days. By the end of the film everyone in the audience had been educated about this voodoo belief that a supernatural power or spell can enter into and reanimate a dead body.
That 1932 film White Zombie starred Bela Lugosi and was the first zombie movie ever made. It was set in Haiti and Lugosi’s character brought back the dead to labor in the sugar mills. They no longer had souls and they shambled around doing the jobs their master demanded.
To an impressionable youngster the graphic scenes were horrifying. I never shared the experience with my parents but instead pushed the strange goings on into a dark corner of my brain.
That memory was stashed away for many years but was brought out of hiding in the 1960s when a British rock n’ Roll group, The Zombies, had three top-10 hits and their name was heard over and over.
That was followed by a renewal of zombie movies. Author Peter Dendle wrote “The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia.” He said, “What zombie movies do for the human consciousness is strip away layers of civilization.”
Bryan Senn wrote a book on the subject. He said, “Zombies have long lives. It’s both our fascination and fear of death that makes them so popular. We want to believe in something after death, but we sure don’t want to be a zombie. They attract and repulse.”
Now in 2012 we are living through another zombie period asking the question, is this the zombie apocalypse? Experts in human behavior explain it as one answer to the dark mood of today’s citizenry. The prevailing feeling grows more and more pessimistic about the state of the United States.
If ever there was a time for politicians to get really serious about their business it is now!
Opinion
RANDOM THOUGHTS: What draws people into politics?
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An American tragedy?
I knew a bond trader. Not well, but well enough to pity the man. Money was his only measure of worth. On a good day (if he made a lot of money), he was ecstatic. On a bad one, he was morose. He could be pleasant in conversation at times, but now and then he would appear clueless about the broader range of human experience. Although he was rich (by my standard, at least), there was something shallow and tawdry about his life.
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A creative retelling of history
A wonderful film, “42,” has been showing at the Rocky Top theater in Crossville the last several weeks. It takes us back to 1947 when the lives of two Methodists, Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson, first intertwined.
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Stumptalk: A super majority legislature
Much media attention has recently been focused on the inability of the super majority of Republicans in the 2013 legislature to enact every Republican bill into law. Why is this different from some of the recent super majority Democratic legislatures? If you were paying attention to the debates in the committees, and analyze that debate, you will find that Republicans don’t automatically follow their party leaders when it comes to doing what each individual legislator thinks is best for Tennessee. Republicans actually try to do what they think is best for our citizens.
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Tidbits: Jolie’s move a conversation starter
Angelina Jolie, named the “Sexiest Woman in the World” by People Magazine in 2005, stunned the nation last week when she revealed she had chosen to have a preventative mastectomy after genetic testing revealed she had about an increased risk of developing breast cancer.
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LION AND THE LAMB: Ten years in captivity
Traditionally male violence against women has been delivered by fist or gun. On May 6, however, another delivery system was brought to light: chains and rope.
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WE THE PEOPLE: Crashing those Pearly Gates
Too often when one of our “public servants” dies, even if he is a blot on the human race, he is elevated to sainthood before they can get a tag on his toe. Then the press eulogizes him right into heaven before St. Peter can check his credentials. Even those who are a bit skeptical of this revision of history tend to adopt a “forgive and forget” attitude. Margaret Thatcher’s recent death seems to indicate that the British are less forgiving and have a better memory.
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TIDBITS: Practical advice for new grads
Another graduation season is upon us, and soon a new crop of young adults will head out into the world, full of hopes and dreams for the future.
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STUMPTALK: The right to bear arms
The anti-gun activists are wacky as a June bug for their solutions to eliminate gun-violence. They have it backwards. Instead of going after those that perpetrate these despicable acts, they are mounting attacks on law-abiding citizens, restriction of access to firearms, limiting magazine size and universal background checks.
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Small Town Girl: Britain's missing royalty
Last week, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, after a 33-year-reign, abdicated in favor of her son, the now-King Willem-Alexander. He is now the youngest monarch in Europe and is the first Dutch king in more than 120 years. One has to wonder how Prince Charles of England felt while attending the coronation ceremonies. After all, he has been waiting to inherit the English throne from his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, for over 60 years.
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We the People: Minimum wage is not enough to live on
For folks too young or too unaware what has happened to our economy the past 30 years, here is an answer. Ronald Reagan, G.H.W. Bush and the Republican Party are responsible for what we know as "Reaganomics," an economy that continues today resulting in few "labor unions” and the resulting low wages and lack of worker benefits.
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