This year, I'm thankful for two things.
1. Joe Biden winning. 2. Everything else.
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So, today we're turning these pages over to material about Thanksgiving. And we'll start with how one should -- Stan Freberg and his classic album Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America: The Early Years. This is actually two sketches in one -- "Pilgrim's Progress," with the song "Take an Indian to Lunch" and Freberg's version of how "The Thanksgiving Story" actually came about. As we continue on with our Fest -- During the years that The West Wing was on television, series creator Aaron Sorkin seemed to have great affection for Thanksgiving Day episodes. And he always seemed to come up with wonderful ones for the day. Here are a couple of sequences that especially have always stood out for me. This first is from the "Shibboleth" episode when President Bartlet discovered that there was actually something called the Butterball Hot Line Also from the same episode, this is when a turkey was dropped off to press secretary C.J. Cregg so that it could be pardoned. This is a Mary Poppins reunion of sorts. It comes from 2004 when Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke and composer, Richard Sherman got together to reminisce about the film and sing some of the songs. There's even a small snippet of a song not used in the movie. One quibble. Richard Sherman tells a story about how he and his lyricist brother Robert came up with the word of “Super-cali-fragjil-istic-expial-idocioius.” And it's not true. It may be something that after 50 years he thinks is true. But it's not true. And I know it's not true because I not only recall hearing a near-identical word several years before the movie was released in 1964, but the story became part of family lore. And making it more fun, it tangentially relates to the oft-mentioned here Nell Minow. Not directly, though. It actually involves Nell's husband -- attorney and art historian David Apatoff, who among his many talents is also the art critic of the Saturday Evening Post.. David and I grew up together, just a couple of blocks from one another in Glencoe, Illinois, about 40 minutes north of Chicago. (I note this to make clear we were nowhere near Hollywood, where the Sherman Brothers lived and worked.) In fact, I not only knew David before I met Nell (though I met her at a fairly young age because our parents were friends, and my dad was even her father's doctor)...but I'm pretty certain that I met David before Nell did, since I think David and I knew each other from when were were about five years old and went to grade school together. I believe that Nell and David met in junior high -- and have been together pretty much since. Now, that's a love story. Anyway, one year when young -- still a few years from Mary Poppins hitting the theaters -- David taught me a funny word he'd learned, as kids tend to do. The word was "super-cadge-a-fradge-ilistic-expia-lodge-idocious." (Not exactly the same as the word used in Mary Poppins, but clearly almost identical.) It was a fun word that I'd toss into conversation around the house every once in a while. And when two or three years later when the movie of Mary Poppins was released, with its wonderful score -- I thought it was pretty cool to hear "that" word as the song, “Super-cali-fragjil-istic-expial-idocioius” which became wildly popular. And my older brother John would always refer to it as "David Apatoff's word." And did so for decades after. So, whatever Richard Sherman's memory of coming up with the word was -- it's just not conceivable that he thought of it two or three years earlier to use in a song that wouldn't be released for several years and it somehow made its way to Glencoe, Illinois. More likely, it was just one of those "kid's words," not unlike slang, that got passed around the country as part of the zeitgeist, and Sherman or his brother heard it from their children. But I just wanted to clarify a story that, if anyone deserves credit for the word, it's not the Sherman Brothers but David Apatoff. And even since he never claimed coming up with it himself and heard it from someone else, possession is nine-tenths of the law, so I'm giving him squatter's rights... By the way, I don't know how carefully he used it word, or if, in fact, it changed his life. But I suspect once he said it to his girl, and now Nell is his wife. Photo credit: Mike Morgan All that one story aside, the rest of it is a very fun video. 'Tis the season for pardons. Fa la la...
And so, as the Pardon Season starts to crank up, Trump has started things off by pardoning former National Security Director Michael Flynn. A few brief comments: First, accepting a pardon is the legal equivalent of making a guilty plea. Related to this, Flynn already pled guilty twice in court. So, this is a Flynn Trifecta. Second, It is my hope that voters in Georgia make note that Trump pardoned someone who was the National Security Advisor and twice pled guilty to lying about illegal dealing with our adversary Russia -- and the two Republican senators in the run-off seem just fine with that. And finally -- and importantly -- by accepting a pardon Flynn no longer has a Fifth Amendment protection and therefore will be required to testify in full and honestly if he is ever subpoenaed in court. And if he doesn't do so, he can be tried for obstruction of justice, which is not covered by the pardon. I was watching the presentation yesterday when Joe Biden introduced a half dozen members of his national security team. And I was surprised that I was moved by how terrific they were – smart, decent, understanding of what America means to the world, and focusing on their willingness to speak truth to power, and on science.
What I loved too was all the professional reactions about the event from career diplomats and security professionals. To a person they were not only bowled over, but moved by it, as well. And rightly so. Former U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power said she used up a lot of tissue. And all the reasons they each were moved by it made it all the more special. I particularly loved former Senator Clare McCaskill saying how it stood out to her that not one person went out of their way to praise Biden for how great he was and how he won the election by so much. What stood out most for me was when Avril Haines, the nominee to be Director of National Intelligence, said that to Biden that she knew he was aware she'd never had trouble speaking truth to power when she thought something different from what people were hoping for, and that wouldn't she stop doing so now -- and she was sure he wouldn't want her to. As another TV analyst noted, related to this, how wonderful it was to hear all these people talking about that their responsibility wasn't to Joe Biden but to the United States. The day before, when Biden announced all these names, he was asked why almost all his initial selections were in the national security realm. It was near-impossible not to love his simple answer. What he said was, “Because it’s national security.” |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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