This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on September 21, 2009 1:45 PM.
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To a crisis of the spirit, we need an answer of the spirit.
To find that answer, we need only look within ourselves.
When we listen to "the better angels of our nature," we find that they celebrate the simple things, the basic things -- such as goodness, decency, love, kindness.
Greatness comes in simple trappings.
The simple things are the ones most needed today if we are to surmount what divides us, and cement what unites us.
To lower our voices would be a simple thing.
In these difficult years, America has suffered from a fever of words; from inflated rhetoric that promises more than it can deliver; from angry rhetoric that fans discontents into hatreds; from bombastic rhetoric that postures instead of persuading.
We cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting at one another -- until we speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices.
Beautiful sentiments. Do you know who spoke them? Can you guess? (Spoiler here.) [Via this commentary.]
Nixon was delusional--but he was also brilliant. Caught doing what so many have done before (and after) him, Nixon became the symbol for that kind of behavior.
Unlike Bush, I get the feeling history will be somewhat kind to Nixon. Then again, history often softens the bloody edges of presidential performance.
My dad cried when Nixon resigned, because
as far as he was concerned, Nixon going to China eclipsed everything else. My mom danced with joy, never having spoken his name without a sneer.
Maybe that speech was written, misty-eyed, after spending 30 hours straight reading Robert Frost poems, and he might even have rewarded himself with a big dose of Librium and bed....
Why is it that mentally ill people get in to politics?
He was indeed great and got caught. He had China eating out of his hand and they loved him. Do you suppose that any existing or future president will ever charm China again?
The good cop appealed to the silent majority -- while bad cop Agnew (with the same ghostwriter) carped about the nattering nabobs of negativism. Nixon was a brilliant politician.
Like Cheney, Nixon was inherently paranoid. Thus significant poll numbers were not enough to satisfy his thirst for power. Watergate was as foolish an endeavor as occupying Iraq, but not nearly as deadly. Nixon was impeached then pardoned. Cheney should be prosecuted. But let's not look back.
"~ The paranoiac is the exact image of the ruler. The only difference is their position in the world. One might even think the paranoiac the more impressive of the two because he is sufficient unto himself and cannot be shaken by failure. ~"
Elias Canetti
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
Avignonesi, Montepulciano 2004
Lorelle, Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2007
Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
The Occasional Book
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 21
At this date last year: 52
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Comments (12)
Too bad he was a crook!
Posted by Truth | September 21, 2009 2:33 PM
Yet another reason to rename NW 23rd -- don't you think?
Posted by jhbjrpdx | September 21, 2009 2:33 PM
Love the punchline on this one. Egads, Nixon?!!
Posted by Brandon | September 21, 2009 2:59 PM
It takes a lot to make one yearn for Richard Nixon, but the current crop of "Republicans" are certainly more than equal to the task.
Posted by Allan L. | September 21, 2009 4:14 PM
Nixon was delusional--but he was also brilliant. Caught doing what so many have done before (and after) him, Nixon became the symbol for that kind of behavior.
Unlike Bush, I get the feeling history will be somewhat kind to Nixon. Then again, history often softens the bloody edges of presidential performance.
Posted by ecohuman | September 21, 2009 4:49 PM
My dad cried when Nixon resigned, because
as far as he was concerned, Nixon going to China eclipsed everything else. My mom danced with joy, never having spoken his name without a sneer.
Maybe that speech was written, misty-eyed, after spending 30 hours straight reading Robert Frost poems, and he might even have rewarded himself with a big dose of Librium and bed....
Why is it that mentally ill people get in to politics?
Posted by gaye harris | September 21, 2009 5:48 PM
He was indeed great and got caught. He had China eating out of his hand and they loved him. Do you suppose that any existing or future president will ever charm China again?
Posted by Stalin Sunstien | September 21, 2009 8:10 PM
Somebody else wrote that speech--and all its fine sentiments--but I don't think it was Pat Buchanan.
Posted by Gil Johnson | September 21, 2009 8:16 PM
It might have been William Safire.
Posted by Jack Bog | September 21, 2009 9:08 PM
The good cop appealed to the silent majority -- while bad cop Agnew (with the same ghostwriter) carped about the nattering nabobs of negativism. Nixon was a brilliant politician.
Posted by Let's Be Free | September 22, 2009 10:19 AM
Ray Price drafted both of Nixon's inaugural addresses.
Posted by ecohuman | September 22, 2009 10:31 AM
Like Cheney, Nixon was inherently paranoid. Thus significant poll numbers were not enough to satisfy his thirst for power. Watergate was as foolish an endeavor as occupying Iraq, but not nearly as deadly. Nixon was impeached then pardoned. Cheney should be prosecuted. But let's not look back.
"~ The paranoiac is the exact image of the ruler. The only difference is their position in the world. One might even think the paranoiac the more impressive of the two because he is sufficient unto himself and cannot be shaken by failure. ~"
Elias Canetti
Posted by genop | September 22, 2009 12:33 PM