The Return of the Governor
I'm writing this before the Democratic Convention has finished for the night -- or even got started much. I want to watch, rather than type...and don't want to write until late in the night. So -- sorry that there's no look at it all.
That said, I was thinking of starting this article by writing what an amazing, rapturous, emotional, blow-the-rooftop-off reception that President Biden got from an enthusiastic crowd that seemed to go on forever. And what a great "farewell" speech that was a perfect foundation for starting this campaign by his Vice President. However, since he hasn't given his speech yet, I figured it was best to go with the opening above -- no matter how sure I am that I'm right.
Instead, I want to repost an article I wrote a year ago, not for the article, but the video. The governor of Illinois J.B. Pritzker will be giving a primetime speech tonight, and I'm a big admirer of his. I would have been happy if he had been the VP selection -- he was on the short list, but I didn't expect it -- though I'm very pleased with Tim Walz getting the nod. But Pritzker is a great, smart, well-spoken surrogate for Democrats, and he also is a very good speaker. In fact, that's the point of this all.
This is his commencement address at Northwestern University last year. It's wonderful. Really smart and extremely funny -- taking as its theme lessons you can learn from watching The Office. And as terrific as the speech is, there's an added twist to it all that the article explains.
If you only decide to watch it for five minutes, fine -- but...if you do, it's so enjoyable that I'm pretty sure you're going to stick around for the whole thing. I said that to a friend the other day I sent it to -- and it's precisely what happened.
That's What HE Said
June 14, 2023
On Monday, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker gave the commencement address at Northwestern University (of which he himself is a graduate of the NU law school). It’s a wonderful speech, that uses as its theme the life lessons you could get from the TV sitcom, The Office. It turns out that he and his speechwriter were big fans of the show. (Further, there was a fun twist to it all. More on that later.)
The speech is very entertaining and often quite funny, but thoughtful, as well.
One of his references to The Office came when discussing having to deal with the pandemic in 2020, which he said gave him “a greater appreciation for just how much you don’t know.” He added that “I knew that my job was to minimize the damage this deadly disease was doing, but no one could guide me toward the absolute best way to do that. As Michael Scott said, ‘I knew exactly what to do. But in a much more real sense, I had no idea what to do.’”
I particularly liked when Gov. Pritzker discussed dealing with idiots, which he told the graduating students everyone will have to do as they go through life. And also got a political dig in, as well --
“I wish there was a foolproof way to spot idiots,” he said, “but counterintuitively, some idiots are very smart. They can dazzle you with words and misdirection. They can get promoted above you at work. They can even get elected president.
“If you want to be successful in this world, you have to develop your own idiot detection system,” Pritzker continued. He said that he considers “empathy and compassion” as part of his “idiot detection system” — as well as judging people on the basis whether they have or haven’t seen the original Star Wars movies.
And being a parent with two college-aged children, he spoke a bit on the subject.
“If you think your parents are crazy, it’s important that you understand you made us this way,” he said to laughs. “We are experts in worrying about you. And this affliction just gets worse with time and distance.”
Also on being a parent, he said “Like most of the parents here, having children turned me from a fun, cool, spontaneous person who could stay up past midnight to a functional madman who answers the phone, ‘Yello’ and won’t let anyone in my house touch the thermostat,”
But there’s something else notable about this The Office-themed speech, good as it was. And that's where the "twist" comes in.
It’s that one of the graduating students there at the ceremony was the daughter of -- Steve Carell. And being her father, he was (unbeknown to Gov. Pritzker) there in the audience!
And yes, afterwards, Carell went over to the governor and introduced himself.
Here's the 20-minute speech.
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