All posts by Steve Stern

Lewis Hamilton, Barack Obama, and black role models

Cars, Politics

Lewis-Hamilton (1)I was watching the British Grand Prix a week or so ago and the camera panned to a small boy holding up a sign that said It’s hammertime Lewis. This was a home crowd for British driver Lewis Hamilton who is generally considered  the best race car driver in the world – as an aside, I say British but I am not sure of the British/English rules, so I only suppose he is British and not English. I once introduced Marion Kaplan, Michele’s cousin who was born in England, as English. Later she corrected me, saying It is not like America where you are American if you are born there, I am British, not English. She went on to explain that English means one’s heritage is English and her heritage is eastern European. End aside – but Hamilton is a crowd favorite almost everywhere.

When I was a boy/man getting interested in cars and racing, my hero was Stirling Moss who was pasty English white guy and my President was primarily Eisenhower, another pasty white guy. Today, my idol would probably be Lewis Hamilton – well, duh! even as an adult, he is – and my president would be Barack Obama, two black guys. I keep thinking how much different this would be growing up than when I was a kid.

 

My Obama fantasy

Americana, Politics

Several days ago, I listened  to President Barack Obama’s eulogy of Reverend Clementa Pinckney. He gave it a week ago but I didn’t hear it until after the weekend. The eulogy thrilled me – and I hope that thrill isn’t too irreverent a way to put it – both as a sincere, heart-rending, eulogy and a suburb political speech. For a while, I forgot about the whistleblowers and the drones and remembered the Obama for whom I had walked precincts in Reno, almost seven years ago. About 9 minutes into that eulogy, Obama says What a good man…he is talking about Reverend Clementa Pinckney but when Obama says,  sometimes, I think that’s the best thing to hope for when you are eulogized…after all the words, recitations, and resumes are read…to just say somebody was a good man, I think his hesitation, his body language, is Obama being self reflective.

During both summers just before both of Obama’s Presidential elections, Obama seemed to go AWOL. The same thing has happened several times during Obama’s presidency. The good thing is Obama is a clutch hitter.

I think that we are going to see an awakened Obama, an energized Obama, an Obama acting from his heart, rather than politically, for the next 570 days. I hope so.

Listening to the entire eulogy, I think that this is one of the major speeches of this presidency. Maybe of this time. And if you haven’t heard it in its entirety, do yourself a favor, when you can take the time, maybe after dinner, whatever, pour a glass of wine, sit down, and listen, let it engulf you. It is one of the best religious speeches I’ve ever heard and one of the best political speeches.

Congratulations America,

Americana, Politics

the Supreme Court has agreed that Equal justice under law means Equal Rights under law. After so much resistance for so long, the United States made a seismic shift to the left in this week’s two major rulings. As far as I am concerned, it is a seismic shift for the better.

The Right to Marry who we want is not a right that the Supreme Court has the prerogative to give, still, it is great to see them confirm the self-evident truth that all people are created equal with certain unalienable rights (to paraphrase the Declaration of Independence).

The Supreme Court does have the prerogative to rule that Obamacare, as now practiced, is the Law of the Land and their ruling has saved health insurance for millions of Americans (and, as an added bonus, I love the irony that Obamacare – first put out as a derogatory putdown – seems to have become the preferred name for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act).

The Right to be offended while Black is not the prerogative of the Supreme Court and it is not a Right that has been practiced in the United States for most of our history but that may be changing. The realization that the Confederate Battle Flag is offensive to many citizens is starting to sink into our national conscience and that hateful flag is starting to come down.

It has been a great week made even greater by Obama lighting the White House to show his approval of the ruling.

Photograph by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images

 

An overheard snippet of conversation

Americana, Around home, Current Affairs, Local events

PV Concert (1 of 1)

Last evening, we went down to the Town Center to hear and see the Lara Price Band performing, what they call, rootsie rock’n blues. There were kids running around everywhere, perfect dogs – on very loose leashes – sniffing each other, and beautiful people relaxing in the twilight. It was idyllic and, the day after a white terrorist murdered six women and three men in Charleston, it made me sad.

Looking at the people around me, the kids playing, the adults laughing, everybody relaxed and comfortable, feeling safe, I kept thinking that everybody should have this. The right to a safe, open, public space with music every once in awhile, should be a Civilization’s highest priority. What is the purpose of government if it can’t or doesn’t want to keep its citizens safe. As Americans, to feel safe in public should be our birthright.

If the state doesn’t provide safe places for everybody and anybody, what is the point of having a State?

Oh, and The Overheard Snippet? We were standing in line, waiting to order a panini from a food truck, when I overheard part of a conversation. It was just a snippet as the line momentary contracted enough to hear the couple standing behind us. He: How was your lunch with Alice? She: We had an interesting conversation about failure. About the importance of failure to learning and  growth and building character. He: Everybody fails. She: It worries me that Emily and Ryan are so afraid of failure. Then the line moved, we stepped forward out of hearing range, and my eavesdropping was over.