Death of a President and the Godfather
OK, so Gerald Ford, the 38th President of the
United States died yesterday. He was President when I was ages 6-9. He is
really the first President that I have a real memory of. I do have a vague
memory of Nixon, more of my Dad saving the front page of Nixon's
resignation.
As a kid, especially at
that age, you really don't have that much of an opinion of a president.
However, I do remember saying that I would vote for him during the 1976
election. I really don't know why other than that he was the President at the
time, and there was something about Jimmy Carter that I didn't like. I also
remember secretly watching Saturday Night Live (I had a B&W TV in my room at
the time) and seeing Chevy Chase doing parodies of him. And the funny thing is
that those parodies made my like the real Ford more.
So let's move a few decades in the
future. Since I work in an environment of early to mid-20s someone like Ford
would be the equivalent to LBJ or even Kennedy to me. OK, so Kennedy is
considered a great President and Ford is not. But the point is that I never
knew Kennedy, and while LBJ was President when I was born, he died when I was 6
years old and he was voted out of office when I was an infant. So he was
literally no one to me. Especially since he died just a short 5 months after I
moved to Texas. Yes, I know all of you think I am from there, but I am
not!
So all these young pups I work
with would consider Ford and Nixon as ancient history. Carter and Reagan are
their first memories of Presidents. Not that Carter was horrible, but he will
be remembered to me as the President that couldn't get the Iranian hostages back
and Reagan is the one who got them back just by being elected and the one who
won the Cold War (did you get that part right, Kim?). Actually, IMHO, Carter
became a better person AFTER his Presidency rather than during it. I personally
believe he has done more to help the world since he was the President than when
he actually was in the Oval Office.
So
what does that say about our world? Well, look at who we've had since Kennedy.
Yeah....there was Reagan. Reaganomics, Iran-Contra, "winning the Cold War",
great economic growth, and some other positive and negatives. Since then?
Well, let's just say that the rest of the Presidents have had some moments of
"glory" but many moments of mediocrity and worse. Yes, Bush II has had the
worse attack on American soil since WWII and I personally believe he conducted
himself extremely well during that time. Despite what those whack jobs who
produce "Loose Change" would have you believe. Since then? Well, I'll just
leave it at he and his administration are not
perfect.
Kennedy and Reagan are
probably the most successful Presidents in the past 40+ years. And yes I chose
my words carefully. We are still waiting for another President that can
electrify a nation like them. Clinton came close, but it was really a
"preaching to the choir" thing. He really didn't reach to the Republicans. And
while "G Dub" may have had a bi-partisan relationship in Texas, it hasn't
translated to the Federal Government. And for those that live outside Texas,
you need to realize that the Governor and Vice Governor are elected separately
and are often from opposite parties. So , it's kind of natural that you develop
a good bi-partisan relationship in that
state.
So back to Ford. He seemed like
a nice guy. He got the job by the most unusual of circumstances. And he didn't
do that bad of a job. But...you pardon your old boss for a controversy that he
basically admitted to doing, and you are not going to be remembered very
fondly.
OK, so after all of this, how
can I not mention the other major death just the day before. The Godfather of
Soul - James Brown. Wow. Easily one of the most influential musicians that was
still alive. Just think, many of his peers from the 50s and 60s are dead. And
have been for a while. Yes, The Who, the Rolling Stones, Led Zepplin, The Beach
Boys, B.B. King, and a few others are still around. But notice, out of that
list, only one - B.B. King was around in the 50s. Yes, there are many others
still alive, but let's think about the greats that died back then - Buddy Holly,
Frankie Valens, Jim Morrison, Jimmie Hendrix, Keith Moon, Janice Joplin, etc.
from that Era died BACK in that Era.
Since then, there have been only a
handful of truly influential musicians that have died. The 50s - early 70s had
a lot of musicians die from stupid things like drugs, alcohol, and plane
crashes. Now, it's drugs, and guns. Even then those that have died have been
fewer and more confined to a genre that influences itself. Not that the "rap
culture" has not influenced the mainstream, but rap music, or really any music,
doesn't seem to have the same world-changing influence that 50s and 60s
rock/pop/soul had on the world. Now it's more about marketing. Hell, even the
old-school bands like the Stones, Deep Purple, David Bowie, are "selling out" to
commercialism. And Moby is a perfect example of someone who embraced
commercialism to become popular. His early music was licensed to be used in
multiple commercials. THAT is why he became popular. Not from radio
play.
So James Brown. Despite his
personal life, he was a great musician. And he will be sorely miss. Maybe
instead of Pappa Has a Brand New Bag, it's
Jesus.
R.I.P., J.B. and
G.F.
P.S. Bonus if you can tell me the
ORIGINAL meaning for R.I.P. (as in the Latin).
Posted: Wednesday - December 27, 2006 at 09:41 PM