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This is the weekend of the White House Correspondents Association
dinner.

I won't join the pack of those berating what the dinner has become (I've done that in the past, and Tom Brokaw does it so well anyway). But I do miss the way it was. Because I think what it was, was more a reflection of what Washington should be than what it's become. It has become, in a sense, the Hollywood-infused White House Correspondents Association, red-carpet dinner. 
 
In the old days, the dinner was aimed at reporters and their sources or subjects of their stories. An evening to let down your hair, share a dinner and drinks, enjoy some entertainment including the president making fun of himself, and get to know each other, peeling away the anger and battle of the past weeks.
 
Today, fewer reporters and their sources actually go. Their seats have been taken by the flavor of the moment in pop culture, some of the top Hollywood stars/cause leaders, such as Barbra Streisand, and lots of advertisers because
the dinner now is an opportunity for media companies to "build their brand" and impress those who fund those brands. So those advertisers can sit next to big stars rather than formerly ink-stained reporters.
 
The battles of the work week are not forgotten, because there are fewer of the combatants there to make peace. Just one more rip in the fabric of what Washington was, and I think should be -- a place for progress to be made and problems to be solved for the people of the country.
 
I live a few blocks from where the major pre-dinner big brunch is held. I walked by there today. There were 15 valets waiting to park big limos and black SUVs, average citizens staking out the entrance so they might steal a peek at the  Hollywood stars attending, and there were the well-appointed young women checking names at the gate.
 
I was tempted to try to get in to the party (that I once had been invited to but couldn't buy my way in today). I didn't
try. I envisioned the brief conversation with the young woman at the gate:
 
Me: Hi, I'm B. Jay Cooper.

Her: You're not on the list.

Me: Don't you know who I am?

Her: Yes, I do. You're not on the list.


 

So, the other day when George W. Bush (43) opened his presidential library, all the living presidents were
brought together. It's one of those great events in our country when that happens, former combatants joining together to honor one of their own. The Most Exclusive Club in the World.

One of the most fun things about the event though was President George H.W. Bush's (41) socks. In fact, I posted this picture of the presidents (39, 41, 42, 43, and 44) on my Facebook page and I received more than 80 "likes" (yes, that's how we measure ourselves these  days) and 20 comments. And, the picture was shared from my page twice.
Now, I'm no expert on the InterWeb or SocialMedia, but I think those are big numbers. If you look at the analytics on
my page (ok, i don't know what that means, but it sounded impressive), it was the most likes, comments, and shares I have ever had on a posting. Let me remind you, the topic was socks (and not the cat that 42 and his family had in the White House. Though Socks was cute too. See him briefing the press at the right).

I have to confess, in the past  few months I, too, have taken to wearing more colorful (loud) socks. They make me feel good. Few people notice them (I guess in a way that's a good thing that they're not focused on my feet). So, while I didn't adopt the fashion trend from 41, I do share that love of color on the ankles with him.

I think more important than the frivolity I show here, and more serious, I am happy that 41 is so well loved now.  He was a good president, in fact I think he was a terrific president (the comments section is open). I know he didn't end his term perceived that way but, with time, we see the decisions our presidents make in a different context and without the raw emotions that may have existed during their terms (and, if you think about, 39, 41, 42,  43 and 44 have all had their low points. As did presidents 1-38 and 40.).

So, cheers to President Bush --  for his presidency and his choice of socks!


 

Those who know me will tell you that I can be quite obnoxious when it comes to word usage. Use a word in a weird way  and I'll do an annoying rant for hours.  Let me be clear, I am not a grammarian. I am not good at punctuation (I once lost a promotion because I was told I didn't know how to use commas.) But I do favor plain English and not bastardizing the language to puff myself up.

All that as background before I rail about "take a listen" which I hear nearly every time I turn on a newscast lately. Chuck Todd just said "take a listen" on NBC's Nightly News as he introduced a piece. I think every reporter on CNN used it 40 gazillion times in the days since the Boston Bombing as they directed us to "take a listen" to the gunfights. Wolf Blitzer said it almost as many times as he told us he had "breaking news" when he didn't. (And almost as many times as he's told us CNN has the best political team on television. Which it doesn't.)
 
If a reporter would take the time to look up "listen" in a dictionary (but that would involve research and I don't think they have time for that anymore), they would learn that listen is a verb, not a noun. You cannot take a listen to a movie (if you did, what is the admission price?); you cannot take a listen to the beach (do they wear a one-piece or two?). You can listen. Oh my, you mean if I just said "listen to this," it would be the same as saying "take a listen" and use the same amount of words? And, on top of it all, it would be correct English? Yes, duckies, that is what I is what I am saying.

You can take a vacation. You can a break. You can even take a bathroom break. You cannot take a listen -- where
would you take it?

 So, football fans, take a gander here (<------) at the new University of Connecticut (UConn) football helmets. Look closely. Now, picture that helmet on a player's head -- you will see a Husky (dog) seeming to be devouring a Husky (football player's) head. 

Sports Illustrated reported this (http://college-football.si.com/2013/04/18/new-uconn-helmets/?sct=obnetwork) and it was spotted by an eagle-eye reader of this blog. (I won't mention his name because I want folks to think I have many people out there on the street coming to me with hundreds of ideas for this blog).

Now, many of you may not be aware that the Big East, the league in which UConn competes, is falling apart. In fact, the UConn football schedule this year includes such eclectic opponents as Towson Unviversity, near Baltimore, which plays in the Colonial Athletic Assocation (far from a Tier One football league) and the University of Michigan, one of the premier football programs in history, featuring grads such as New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady and NFL Hall of Famer and broadcaster Dan Dierdorf,  not to mention former President of the Untied States Gerald Ford, but I just did mention him.

As Sports Illustrated points out, more than helmets will be devouring the Huskies this year when the Michigan Wolvesines visit Storrs, Conn., on Sept. 21. Mark your calendars.

Moral of the story? I'm open to suggestions (do I hear a contest coming, so I can determine how many people actually read this blog?? Nah, not sure I want to know).

By now, every reporter, pundit, politician and others have complimented the Boston cops and all law
enforcement for the great job they did this week. Well, they can't get enough compliments or thanks...so let me add mine.

They handled a never-before-handled incident like they'd done it a thousand times, and let's hope they never have to do it again. From the bombs at the
Marathon to capture of the suspect in less than five
days. An amazing job.

 The symbolism may have begun when Mayor Menino signed himself out of
the hospital, and, on a broken leg, added his leadership to that of Gov.
Patrick, and all the law enforcement leaders and others involved. The coordination and egos alone could have taken weeks to sort out. 

And the citizens of Boston and its surroundings -- did as they were asked. And, with a bit of luck and a lot of hard work, they got the bastards. Like millions of others, I couldn't tear myself from the coverage, as bad as the reporting was sometimes. But that critique is for another time.

Today is for a return to the pahlah  (parlor for you non-Bostonians), the Sahx (the Red Sox), and the rest. I did love watching the Bahstonians being interviewed on TV with those unique accents. It was a return to college (I went to school in
Boston) or to family get-togethers.

Today, though, is a day to mourn the loss and serious injuries from the
bombs on Monday, to the MIT cop who was doing nothing at all but sitting in his
car, doing his job.

It's also a day to celebrate good police work. I'm glad they caught one of them alive. I hope he lives to tell us what the hell he was doing and why. So we can maybe prevent it from happening somewhere else. 

Before they caught him, I was hoping that, when they did, the Boston cops would take him in the  back room and "interrogate" him the old-fashioned way. A friend, when I told her that, said, "I hope they just drop him off in Southie and let THEM 'interrogate' him."

 Probably a more appropriate Boston solution actually.
 
But I don't want to end on anything approaching a light note. Too much
was lost this week. Lives, limbs. A feeling of safety. 

To all those who suffered losses, my thoughts are with you.

To everyone who was affected, my thoughts are with you,
too.

To law enforcement, thank you. You were magnificent.

To everyone in the country, a good reminder to be vigilant. Be safe,
live your lives and, be vigilant.

Let's talk about courage. It's a good time for two reasons:
 
Those folks in Boston -- first responders, hospital emergency doctors, nurses and staff, and those not-so-ordinary citizens who ran back toward the bomb sites to tend to people who were seriously injured, some who lost legs. Let me repeat that "not-so-ordinary citizens who ran back toward the
bomb sites (there could have been more bombs) to tend to people who .... lost legs." Have you ever seen someone who just lost a limb? I haven't and hope i never do. If i did, i'm not sure I could react as quickly, compassionionately
and unselfishly as those folks did.

Now, let's  move to Washington, D.C., and look at the lack of courage senators showed in voting AGAINST something that not only 90 percent of us agree with, but that  makes perfect sense even if "we" didn't and the Senate showed, i don't know, let's call it LEADERSHIP on something.

I mean, really, senators, you can't vote for extended background checks before someone buys a product that can kill someone else?? Give me a good, logical reason for that, please.

Bert Lahr played the Cowardly Lion for laughs in the Wizard of Oz. I guess those senators are playing it for laughs too. Not funny, guys.

A friend of mine, Barry Schumacher, was reading my recent posts covering the topics of my grandchildren and the Boston Bombings and said, “… tragedy and hope bound inextricably together” -- an insightful observation that I had not made.

Here are these nearly six-week old, innocent babies. Over there is a senseless act of violence that killed, maimed and injured folks from children to middle-aged adults.
 
We may never answer the question“why” regarding the bombings -- even if they apprehend the guilty party. I sat in a business meeting today and two colleagues each said they cried when they read about the 8-year who was killed and his mother who now has brain damage and his sister who is in critical condition. The father of that family started the day with the hope he could finish the 26.2 mile race. He had just met that hope of completing the race when the bombs went off, affecting his family forever. He crossed the finish line and entered a zone of tragedy. Then there is the man who lived the hope of two sons he fathered. He lost one lost his son to war, set himself on fire upon hearing that news and then lost another son to suicide.  Tragedy. He came to watch the marathon, and raced into the bombed area to save the life of a stranger.

Then there are these babies who have no awareness of what happened two days ago. Still crying to be fed or changed as their mom and dad cater to their every need, anxious to watch them grow and see what kind of people they
become.

Someone once had that feeling and hope about their baby -- the person who set those bombs. 
 

I've walked those streets. I've shopped those shops.

I'd say I can't imagine the violence and senselessness of it. But we
all are experiencing such horrible things more often.

I can't understand it. That's for sure

A crazy individual? A plot against our way of life?

Don't know.

Just  want it to end.

It's been a few days since I posted and the key thing that's happened
since then is...spring sprung here in DC!

We've gone from overcoat weather to, most days, no-coat weather. The cherry blossoms have come, and gone. 

 Two biggest signs of spring in my house -- the heat is off and the water guy came to turn on the lawn sprinkler! Better than seeing your first robin. 

What else is new? At the Master's golf tournament in Augusta, Sergio had a good first round, then fell back in the second (not news; Sergio's collapse is annual event just like the azaleas). Tiger had a good start, then hit bad luck, and a flag pole that caromed his ball back into the lake  (I've made that shot a few times myself -- well the hitting ball in the lake part anyway --, don't know what the big deal is). And a 14-year-old from  China made the cut after he, a 14-year-old from China, was penalized for playing too slowly. Hey, officials, haven't you been watching the PGA tour? You'd think they were performing open heart surgery with the care (and time) they take to before striking a two-foot putt.  But the 14-year-old, from China, gets the penalty playing in his first Master's. I'd say it was payback for buying our debt but it was a European tour official who
made the call.
 
On a bigger news front, that Millennial who runs North Korea is stoking the nuclear fires apparently just so he can get more money from other countries. That's diplomacy in his playbook. Extortion in mine.