Last R-E-S-P-E-C-T-s and Half-(m)ast Efforts

The recent deaths of two notable Americans has the Savant thinking about their legacies in these divisive times and the sharp contrast of their lives with that of the current resident at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. One of these celebrated individuals performed much of the soundtrack of the Savant’s youth and had a significant effect on the advances of the 60’s civil rights movement. The other, a Viet Nam war hero and Republican Senator, had views widely divergent from the Savant but a basic integrity and patriotism that one can admire. Both were esteemed in their fields and remarkable for the desire and the ability to bring people of differing views together for a greater purpose. It is that loss that Limerick laments the most. Here then are two elegies on what that loss "means to me" and what seems to be missing from the White House this week and probably in general.

Aretha, you taught us to see

What a beautiful world this might be

When we sing with one voice

And make the right choice.

And that spells RESPECT to a “T.”

His dis of McCain, now complete,

The cowardly Trump sent a tweet

On the patriots end;

But he’ll ne’er comprehend

How a hero can conquer defeat.

Survivor

The cardinals' conclave is nigh and
They'll give it the old college try and
Select a new pontiff.
It's what we all want if
He's not voted off of the island.

Where are you ever going to find reality TV as good as this?

Did a Cross-Dressing Priest Sex Ring Bring Down Benedict XVI?

by Barbie Latza Nadeau Feb 22, 2013,The Daily Beast

The Catholic Church Is Insular and Intolerant

by Robert Shrum Mar 8, 2013, The Daily Beast

You were there

He needn't rely on some buzz.
He was Cronkite! We watched him because.
When New Media rules
While forgetting the tools,
We'll remember the way that it was.

It seems fitting to honor this man on the anniversary of the moon landing. How can we forget the shared mix of excitement and relief we felt when "Uncle Walter" took off his glasses and said "Whew! Boy!"

Cronkite -- that's the way he was
Colleague Daniel Schorr says that legendary newsman
Walter Cronkite represented something deep
in the psyche of America, embodied in the word trust.
By Daniel Schorr, Los Angeles Times, 7/20/09