Last week, the contrast between true champions and the morally bankrupt crowd that supposedly leads our nation hit us with the force of a tsunami.
As I sat in front of my TV marveling at the skill of Roger Federer and Kim Clisjters,it occurred to me that these two champions on and off the courts have left examples, not just of their personal courage on the court, but also of their moral courage in the face of adversity.Roger Federer, of course, is a tennis champion for the ages but, more importantly, through his service to the people of South Africa suffering from AIDS has shown the kind of human being he is. Kim Clisjters, another fine human being, has shown remarkable courage in the face of an injury that could have derailed her entire tennis career at the tender age of 23.
These two young people have one advantage that our Fuehrer in residence lacks.They have accomplished something worthy of emulation even at this young age.Having done so, they have gained a moral authority that they have invested wisely in everlasting tasks.
I stand in awe of these two young champions.
Contrast that with our politicians starting at the very top.The American people, rightly or wrongly, gave them the authority to lead this country.They have at each and every turn squandered that authority by a pattern of deceit.They have started a war on spurious grounds and spent blood and money in the pursuit of aims that to this day they have not explained.While they have already spent billions, they could not find the funds to protect poor people in New Orleans.Having left them to die,they are now scrambling not to repair the true damage, but to rehabilitate their own images with PR ploys.
One of the most disgusting apologia for this crowd emanated from the stinking verbiage of George Will the Shill.He recommended that poor people not get pregnant and graduate from high school as a remedy for their poverty.It did not occur to Will the Shill that dead people cannot graduate from high school or even worse serve as cannon fodder for George Bush’s wars.This is a man that gives sophistry a bad name, having sat out the Vietnam War, that he supported, hiding in a draft deferment, of all things, in a divinity school.That divinity school obviously failed to teach this privileged bowtied coward that one does not preach what one does not practise oneself.
So, to me the contrast between Roger and Kim on the one hand, and Bush and Will on the other is clear.Give me my tennis champions any day.