Change, Andy Rooney, and a Few Thoughts
by Barry Bauer
What used to be called Gross National Product (GNP) is now the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Consumers Energy used to be Consumers Power. Bling used to be called jewelry. The gas petal used to be called the throttle. Merry Christmas has been replaced by Happy Holidays so as not to offend anyone. We always have to be concerned about that now don’t we.
Har-ass-ment has become Hair-is-ment and putting an animal to sleep has become putting them down. When the time comes will they put me down too? I like to think of being put down in terms of being in the ring with Joe Frazier and him giving me one of his famous left upper-cuts and when I come to, I’ll get to go home.
If I pulled off a Rip Van Winkle and slept for twenty years, when I woke up could I communicate with anybody?
Makes you wonder.
* * *
I lost a friend last week, Andy Rooney. He didn’t know I was his friend but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t so. He was the ultimate complainer and we knew where he was coming from. We would always say after his “60 Minutes” segment, “I was thinking the same thing last week.”
Andy Rooney wasn’t a religious man, he asked too many questions. Religion is based on faith and not facts. To keep your faith you certainly don’t ask questions. When you do you’ve lost it. Nobody has ever really seen God but some say they talk to him and he responds. These are probably some things Andy wondered about too.
Anyway Andy’s lack of faith didn’t make him a bad man and I can also relate to that too.
When his wife, Margie, died, he slept in her bed. Nobody can say Andy was without feelings.
Rest in peace, Andy.
* * *
What the hell happened at Penn State? It’s sad that this great football coach, Joe Paterno, has to be involved with this. The idea that one of his assistants was accused of molesting a young boy at Penn State facilities and Joe knew about is shocking. How many more young boys were molested after this first came to light in 2002 and nobody did anything? Joe should have suspended the coach pending an investigation and reported it to law enforcement authorities that there’s a possible criminal problem with a member of his coaching staff. Apparently the people he did report it to at Penn State weren’t concerned enough about it to do anything either. Joe should have pursued it further; IT’S HIS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR for crying out loud! In the eyes of the law Joe becomes an accessory to the crime because he knew about it and didn’t report it to law enforcement officials.
Because nobody’s been convicted yet I thought it would be hard to fire Joe based on just allegations but I understood it would happen anyway. I thought they would let him finish the season with the understanding that he retired after the season.
It’s sad they had to tear down a legend but they did it anyway. Joe’s life judgments don’t appear to have been as good as his football judgments.
* * *
How much taxes are enough? Does 50% sound about right? Are people really telling the government to “Sock it to me?” I’m not. Keep in mind that 48% is the number that keeps floating around of people who don’t pay Federal income tax at all.
The remaining 52% is us. Is the 48% by choice or are they really in need?
The prophesy I heard back in the 1960s said the United States will spend itself to death and that’s where we’re heading.
It won’t be pretty, folks.
* * *
A few thoughts:
Am I the only one who thinks all this stuff about the Kardashians is nothing more than dumb entertainment?
Public works projects didn’t get us out of the Depression, World War II did so why would anybody think the proposed “Jobs Bill” will get us out of what the government no longer calls a Recession?
36 years ago today (Thursday) the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in Lake Superior. Today we’ll hear the Gordon Lightfoot song many times.
Until the next time . . .