Back up that truckload of
money right here
BY PHILLIPE & JORGE
In case you've been wondering just what it takes to make it big in
politics, we'll give you a little hint -- money, the more the better. US
Representative Nancy Pelosi, (D-California), the newly ensconced House minority
leader didn't exactly get the nod because Democratic colleagues were impressed
with her liberal credentials. The Center for Responsive Politics
(www.opensecrets.org) reports that Pelosi has donated more than $1 million to
other House candidates over the past few election cycles, making her the
biggest contributor to other US representatives. The money came from her
personal campaign account and leadership committee (PAC to the Future).
Let's see if you can figure out who the second biggest donor was? Give up? Why
it's the old roach killer, Tom DeLay (R-Texas), who just happens to be the
incoming House majority leader. Tommy boy forked over more than $800,000 do his
confreres, and trailing not too far behind, we find House Speaker Dennis
Hastert (R-Illinois) weighing in with $678,500 in largesse.
It sure is comforting to know that, in terms of political success, merit is
such an important consideration.
Profiles in courage or recklessness?
So what are we to make of the revelations, published in The Atlantic
Monthly (an excerpt from historian Robert Dallek's new book), that
President Kennedy was in far more pain than was hitherto revealed and that he
had to take a smorgasbord of powerful medications to function? It probably
depends on which side of the ideological divide people find themselves and
whether they think this showed incredible courage or was an example of
recklessness.
The daily agony faced by JFK, apparently without complaint, is hard to imagine
and we give him big points for having had determination and focus in the face
of it all. We also wonder whether the late president's well-documented fatalism
was a result of this suffering.
But there was also no doubt about his recklessness, of course. Roll over John
Hardwood and tell the news to Bill Clinton, Gary Hart, Wilbur Mills, Newt
Gingrich, Lyndon B. Johnson, Warren G. Harding, and countless other public
service lotharios. JFK set the standard, what with Marilyn, and the Bumper and
Thumper (or whatever they called them) girls from the secretarial pool coming
in to service the dude on a regular basis. Once again, we are faced with the
question, how much does it all matter? We've yet to see the evidence that
Jack's reckless streak ever determined public policy. It merely left him open
for blackmail and that's bad enough.
Put us firmly in the middle here. Courage and recklessness.
Travels with Charlie
This sweet old world lost a good un with the passing of Charlie Baldwin,
a beloved figure at Casa Diablo.
Charlie was the chaplain at Brown University when Phillipe and Jorge were at
college, and his thoughtful, intellectually challenging, and caring influence
on a large number of lunatic children was reflected by how many of them chose
to have him preside at their eventual weddings. Another indicator was his
memorial service at Central Congregational Church on the East Side, which
hadn't seen that many agnostics, Jews, Buddhists and animists sitting
side-by-side in its lifetime, as Charlie's wide range of friends gathered to
celebrate his life.
Baldwin made a remarkable impact in many ways. He helped found the Interfaith
Healthcare Ministry and was head of Hospice Rhode Island. According to his
estimable friend, Dr. Stanley Aronson, he brought religion and ethics fully
into the culture of Brown Medical School. He also helped seal and constantly
advance Brown's bond and working relationship with Tougaloo College, which is
as far from an Ivied institution as one could imagine. Both schools benefited
greatly from the alliance nonetheless.
Like all of us, Charlie had his demons, and it would have been perfect if the
post-service refreshments were simply loose Camel cigarettes and airplane nips
of Scotch. We know Charlie would have been looking for both. It's with the
highest respect that we salute the bluntness that Charlie used to win the day
and the argument in showing concern for -- and mentoring -- people like
Philllipe. He was the only religious leader we ever knew who could tell you to
go fuck yourself when taking that advice would have been both wise and
beneficial. (Note to college chaplains everywhere: Charlie was sui
generis, so don't try this at home unless you already have another job
lined up.)
Bye, Charlie. You truly were one of those magic 36 who God puts on Earth to
make sense of the chaos.
Jockular
Speaking of Brown University, kudos to Bruno alum and longtime P&J
pal Dan Woog, for the release of his book, Jocks 2: Coming Out to
Play.
Dan's 1998 book, Jocks, featuring interviews with gay male athletes,
made a huge impact in Mr. Man-land. Since then, when rumors appear that stud
pro athletes like Mike Piazza or Troy Aikman might be a little light in their
Nikes, many sports reporters are apt to say "Who cares?," rather than lighting
the torches for the witch hunt.
Woog, a sportswriter for years, chose to publicly come out long ago in front
of a mere few thousand parents while giving an annual meeting keynote as head
of the US Youth Soccer Association. The majority of those in attendance gave
him a huge ovation, a salute to his honesty and courage. And he has few
conceits. As he told one interviewer, "Let me say that I don't think the first
openly gay athlete will be an established pro coming out after winning the
Super Bowl and saying, `Hey, I'm here, I'm queer, I'm not going to Disney
World, I'm headed to P-Town.' "
Damn, Dan. Does that mean Tom Brady's straight? Nice work.
A ray of hope?
Phillipe and Jorge encountered our longtime buddy, Phil West, head
ramrod of Common Cause of Rhode Island, on a flight to Washington, DC. As some
obese woman stopped everyone in the aisle while trying to cram her steamer
trunk -- doubtless full of sausages and Cheetos -- into the overhead
compartment in front of us, we got a chance to chat about the new "reforms"
promised at the State House under the incoming speaker, Bill Murphy, and his
Tonto, House Majority Leader Gordon Fox.
Phil's outlook was hearteningly optimistic that Murphy may actually be serious
about reform, but he did agree with P&J that actions will speak louder than
words. Murphy has done all the right posturing about term limits for the
speaker. But other areas trouble P&J, such as his insistence on keeping
party caucuses closed to the public and press. And the fact is that his
predecessor, Johnny Hardwood, seemed delighted by the Murphy/Fox pairing,
suggesting that this is just who he wants to see in those positions. Talk about
the kiss of death. (Or would it be the BJ of death in Pucky's case?) We will be
keeping a close eye on Murphy's committee appointments. All we need to see is a
Neanderthal hack like Robert Flaherty keep his post as chair of the House
Judiciary Committee to know we've once again had smoke blown up our freckles.
Still, any time we've bumped into Phil over the year, we have gone on sodden
crying jags at the state of the ethical universe in Little Rhody, so the
possibility of actually having any glimmer of hope for the future is an
improvement. Ball's in your court, Billy. And we'll turn it into a hand grenade
for you if all this talk is just a charade. Kiss, kiss.
Serves 'em right
Maybe some of the political and civic leaders and media in Augusta,
Georgia, ought to grow up and face the fact that their annual party for swells,
the Masters Golf Championship, has had it coming. Protesters from the National
Council of Women's Organizations have targeted Augusta National, the muy
exclusive club where the Masters takes place every year, because it doesn't
accept women as members. Augusta National also makes the Red Sox look like
civil rights heroes by comparison since it didn't admit black members until
1990.
So all the people in Augusta whining about how the party has been spoiled this
year by "femi-Nazis" and "male-bashing nuts" (this from their alt-weekly,
The Metropolitan Spirit -- making us here at the Phoenix wonder,
"An alternative to what?") can kiss our flat, aging white-boy butts. We're
looking forward to the protests that, we understand, will feature some of the
women in forest-green colored burkas. One other point of interest, the Augusta
National's head ramrod goes by the name of Hootie Johnson. We'd bet you
couldn't even find his Johnson with a microscope.
Meanwhile, back on the home front
Unfortunately, we here in the Biggest Little can't get too huffy about
the troglodyte behavior down in Augusta. As the BeloJo reported on Tuesday,
November 19, a just-released report by the Women's Fund of Rhode Island
indicates we're a pretty pathetic bunch when it comes to gender equity issues.
We all know that the statewide officers' slate and congressional elections
meant that no women (or people of color) gained more representation in these
decision-making positions.
Vo Dilun women also make below the disgraceful national average of 72.7 cents
on the dollar, compared to men (not a huge gap, but aren't we supposed to be
progressive here?) and 75 percent of deadbeat dads are not made to pay their
legally mandated child support. Most shocking of all, however is the survey of
ninth graders by the Sexual Assault and Trauma Resource Center of Rhode Island,
whose most recent statistics (1998) indicate that 73 percent of boys and 78
percent of girls feel that husbands are entitled to have sex with their wives
without consent, which is known as "rape" around Casa D. Also, 70 percent of
boys and 53 percent of girls think that date partners have a right to sex
without consent if they've had sex before.
Somebody around here might want to consider churning out some forest-green
burkas. Looks like we need 'em too.
Send lime juice and Pulitzer-grade tips to p&j[a]phx.com.
Issue Date: November 22 - 28, 2002
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