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What is this?
The American safety net has become frayed
Published Saturday, October 18, 2008
Garrison Keillor, The Old Scout
The Scripture reading in church Sunday gave me a jolt — Exodus 32, which refers to the Chosen People wearing earrings, men as well as women, and I twitched when the lector read it. Yikes! Moses got his ears pierced? What else didn’t we know?
And then a bigger jolt. God is so furious at the C.P. for worshipping the golden calf (forged from their earrings) that He talks about consuming them with fire, but Moses talks Him out of it, which sort of dents one’s faith in divine omniscience, does it not, the Lord taking a sharp turn like that? (“Oh, I hadn’t thought about that — OK, cancel the thunderbolt!”) But I didn’t jump up in my pew and point this out — we like to keep things moving along in church, recite the Creed, confess our sins, pass the plate, sing the doxology, not stop for questions along the way — so I just brood over it, as I do about more and more these days. Walk at night down misty streets through yellow leaves and question everything and keep it to myself.
I let other people carry the conversational ball when it comes to religion, or politics, these days. I’ve known enough old bores to want not to be one of them. Old honkers with ratchety voices who hold everyone hostage and make their point 16 times and lay waste to the dinner hour. Not me, dear hearts.
As I write this, the sun is coming up over the Mississippi Valley, and in the orange swashes at the horizon is a long string of clouds that one could imagine are mountains. It rises on people facing challenges far beyond anything I’ve known in my rackety life. A beautiful cheerful woman of 26 has been handed a jagged diagnosis of cancer like a big wet albatross on a necklace. A friend struggles with severe depression, slogging through the day, wishing the meds would kick in. And then there is Patrick, whom I met on Saturday, a very bright boy who lies speechless on a gurney, a trach tube in his windpipe, a pump humming softly on a shelf below. His parents explain that he was stricken by a rare neuromuscular disease and that’s all they say about that. They’re both animated, buoyant, jokey, and Patrick smiles and raises his eyebrows — and suddenly one’s own tiny troubles aren’t worth mentioning.
The existence of human suffering seems to me to affirm the Christian faith. It’s the sacred duty of the faithful to uphold the Patricks of the world and their heroic parents against the prevailing Darwinist forces, but a Patrick shouldn’t be asked to sit by the roadside waiting for a kindly Christian motorist to stop — he is entitled to mercy as a basic human right, and it is merciful of Christians to expect government to carry out this duty.
The safety net has become seriously frayed, as the parents of the Patricks of America know very well, and now the sun has risen on an October day of pure blue sky and yellow and red boughs raised against it, and the day must be acknowledged. What a gorgeous life we lead, here in this gaudy forest, the smell of smoke and apples in the air, and three weeks to go before the election.
The American people are poised to do something that could not be imagined 10 years ago, or even five, which is to vote for the best man regardless of his skin color and elect him president. The campaign against him is not one that anybody will point to with pride in years to come. It is a long trail of honking and flapping and traces of green slime, as if a flock of geese had taken up residence in the front yard. But Barack’s cool poise in the face of blather is some sort of testament to American heart and humor. The man has walked tall and his wife has turned out to be the brightest figure in the whole political parade, an ebullient woman of quick wit and beautiful spirit. Bravo, Michelle.
Onward, America. We’ve all seen plenty of the worst — the sly cruelty, the arrogant ignorance, the fascination with trivia, the cheats, the weaselish and piggish and the buzzardly — but we can rise above it if we will only recognize a leader when one comes along and have the sense to let him lead.
Garrison Keillor is the author of a new Lake Wobegon novel, “Liberty” (Viking).
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Comments
Posted by Disgusted (anonymous) on October 19, 2008 at 2:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The weaselish, piggish, etc., must be a self description by this writer. He won't sell many books using this kind of rhetoric.
Posted by jcorey2 (Jeremy Corey-Gruenes) on October 19, 2008 at 9:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Well, "Virginian," you could view this "contradiction" in a couple of other ways as well. The type of conversation he's literally writing about in paragraph 3 is spoken political conversation, such as talking over dinner, which can often ruin a good meal. He's writing here--not conversing directly with anybody--which is different.
On another level, perhaps the contradiction you cite is an irony that Garrison is well aware of himself, doing this for intentional rhetorical effect in which he claims not to care for such things while actually caring quite a bit. It's like Socrates claiming to know nothing while at the same time proving through his dialogue that he actually knows a lot.
After all, if he had come right out in the beginning of his column with direct praise for Obama, many of the readers he wants to read the last couple of paragraphs wouldn't have read on. Instead, they read on through his reflections on human suffering and the specific examples of it he shares, which lead nicely into his main point--that America finally seems ready to elect a real leader who cares and is prepared to do something about this suffering, a leader who doesn't embrace social Darwinism, the "survival of the fittest" approach to government and community traditionally favored by some on the right. Instead this is a leader who recognizes the responsibility we all have to help one another.
It's a rather eloquently written column, in my opinion.
Jeremy Corey-Gruenes, Albert Lea.
Posted by NoDFL (anonymous) on October 20, 2008 at 10:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Again this is a waste of the paper's space and money. He is a joke. Why do people listen to his crap. He has no degrees in history or economics. He is a writter so why does he feel the need to spew such dribble? It is like the actor who thinks I care what he has to say about who to vote for. I don't.
Maybe we need a Joe the Plumber column. You know a real working man's point of view. Won't happen because those guys are to busy working and paying taxes so that others can spread the wealth.
and I told myself I was going to stop reading this junk and stop posting on it oh well there is aways next week.... Till then Comrade Keillor.
Posted by jcorey2 (Jeremy Corey-Gruenes) on October 20, 2008 at 3:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Virginian," since I sign my actual name to all my comments, please feel free to refer to me as "Jeremy" or "Mr. Corey-Gruenes," if you fee like being formal. I'd do the same if you signed yours.
Yes, Keillor writes fiction, but--as we see in our local paper each Sunday--he ALSO writes a nonfiction newspaper column. Is there a law that says those who write fiction can't possibly have anything else to offer the literary or journalistic world? Mark Twain wrote amazing nonfiction, which included some political commentary too, despite the fact that he is known primarily for his fiction.
YOU might not accept his point of view, but thousands of people across the country do, so I expect his work will continue to be published in many papers across the country for as long as he wants it to be. I don't always agree with him, but I also don't feel the need to vilify the man for writing something that isn't in line with my beliefs. This is America after all. And I'm sure Keillor loves America just like the rest of us, even if he does criticize its leadership now and then.
I've never met Keillor, but I suspect he'd be open to a respectful conversation with you. You might not change his opinion, but I bet he'd listen. He's a pretty civilized guy.
Jeremy Corey-Gruenes, Albert Lea
Posted by jcorey2 (Jeremy Corey-Gruenes) on October 20, 2008 at 10:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What was your real name again, Virginian?
Jeremy Corey-Gruenes, Albert Lea
Posted by jcorey2 (Jeremy Corey-Gruenes) on October 21, 2008 at 11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"Virginian," I just think people tend to act and write in a more respectful manner when their comments are attached to their own names. I'm not suggesting your recent comment was disrespectful, but I'd like to see more real names used in these discussions--here and throughout the net--because it encourages more respectful dialogue. What are peopel afraid of? Why hide behind an alias? My feelings aside, you are right. That's a completely different discussion.
I think I've said as much as I want to about Keillor's column for this week, thanks.
Jeremy Corey-Gruenes
Posted by purduekelli (anonymous) on October 21, 2008 at 5:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Virginian's real name is Mike Hunt, Albert Lea, MN.
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