“Through the grave the wind is blowing,
Freedom soon will come,
Then we’ll come from the shadows.”
“The
Partisan,” Leonard Cohen
Armistice Day, celebrated November 11 on the anniversary
of the end of World War I, morphed into Veterans Day following World War II – a
phenomenon similar to Decoration Day becoming Memorial Day. MSNBC carried Obama’s moving speech at
Arlington National Cemetery honoring those who sacrificed for our country and
promised to help those suffering physically and mentally as a result of their
service.
At breakfast I noticed in the obits that Shirley O’Rourke
had passed away. The wife of former Post-Trib managing editor Terry
O’Rourke, who I got to know while writing a weekly Gary history column, she was
a warm, friendly woman and the mother of one of my favorite students, Kathy,
who worked for the Archives in its early days before we even had a permanent
home. I hadn’t seen Kathy since her
wedding, but we have exchanged Christmas cards for over 30 years. The viewing was that morning in Hobart, near
where I had planned to watch James bowl, so I paid my respects. Kathy gave me a warm hug and introduced me to
her bright, attractive 16 year-old daughter and to her husband. A nephew who lives in the area had played in
the five-overtime 67-66 Andrean playoff football victory the night before. Kathy’s dad was a huge Notre Dame fan and a
Democrat, and we agreed he would have happy over the election and the Fighting
Irish’s undefeated season.
At Camelot Lanes Kevin Horn mentioned meeting comedian
John C. Reilly (who starred in “Step Brothers” and “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox
Story”) at the Star Plaza. Reilly’s
sister lives in Crown Point and, her daughter is a softball teammate of Kayla
Horn. He was in the area doing
appearances in Chicago, his hometown, in connection with being the voice of “Wreck-It
Ralph.” Kevin said he was friendly,
down-to-earth, witty, and gracious with his time, signing photos for the girls
and others who recognized him. I first
saw Reilly in “Boogie Nights” as porn star Reed Rothchild.
I invited Dick Hagelberg to watch the IU game, but by the time he
arrived, Wisconsin had put it out of reach.
Phil, Miranda, and boyfriend Derrick arrived from Michigan, and it was
so balmy, they went to Porter Beach, as did quite a few others.
(Derrick Fry and Miranda at Porter Beach)
We played cards and watched Texas A and M, led by a QB
nicknamed Johnny Football, upset number one Alabama, giving hope to Notre Dame
having a shot to play in the BCS championship.
James and Becca also spent the night and brought a bunch of Wii games
with them (but, alas, no bowling).
The political world is abuzz over the resignation of CIA
director David Petraeus, who had an affair with his biographer Paula
Broadwell. Investigating a complaint
that one of the former general’s friends had received anonymous threatening
emails, the FBI discovered that Broadwell was the source, and that in her
possession was classified information.
Even though Petraeus was not the source, the probe exposed the affair
and led to his leaving office. Some
Republicans initially suspected a cover-up until after the election or that it
was a nefarious plot to prevent Petraeus from testifying before Congress about
Benghazi.
I picked up Dunkin Donuts, boiled eggs, and fried up smoked
sausage before the crew went to “Wreck-It Ralph” and Tom Wade picked me up for
gaming. I won all three games (lucking
out in St. Pete when not a single orange upgrade card was turned in the final
round) and enjoyed burgers Dave cooked up before settling in for a dismal day
of football. Both Michael Vick of the
Eagles and Jay Cutler of the Bears went out early with concussions. Losing to Houston won’t hurt Chicago much,
but Dallas put a nail in Philadelphia coffin unless they sweep their last seven
games. It being Veterans Day, the
networks showed frequent shots of men and women in uniform, including some
boogieing with cheerleaders.
The media has virtually ignored the hundredth
anniversary of the 1912 election, save for a Smithsonian magazine article about the assassination attempt
against Bull Moose candidate Teddy Roosevelt in Milwaukee. TR’s bolting the Republican party when the
forces of President William Howard Taft denied him the nomination despite his
sweeping 12 primaries virtually assured Democrat Woodrow Wilson’s victory. Keynote speaker at TR’s Progressive Party
convention was Indiana’s two-time senator and ardent imperialist Albert J.
Beveridge.
Anne Balay passed on this witticism of Katie
Stephens of United Against Homophobia: Colorado passing laws legalizing gay
marriage and marijuana on the same day gives new meaning to the line in
Leviticus 20:13 that “a man who lays with another should be stoned.”
Darcey Wade replied that Jerry looked depressed and suggested that perhaps he “needs a therapist to deal with that sweater.”
Chris Young thanked me for the magazines with
Lincoln on the cover and invited me to attend the Spielberg film with his class
Friday evening. I told him it might be
crowded since that is opening night in NW Indiana. IUN’s Student Activities office showed the film
“Girls on the Wall” about teenagers incarcerated at Warrenville State Prison in
Illinois who made a documentary incorporating rap, dance, and oral interviews
in an effort to tell their stories. According to the tag line, the inmates “get a
shot of redemption in a most unlikely form: a music al based on their lives.”
At Gino’s in Merrillville Lee Christakis gave an
excellent report to book club members on Douglas MacArthur’s
“Reminiscences.” I chimed in that FDR
considered him, along with Huey Long, one of the two most dangerous men in
America and that’s why he got sent to the Philippines. When someone mentioned that “dirty Japs”
killed many civilians during their occupation of Manila, I couldn’t refrain
from pointing out that the pacification campaign that MacArthur’s father took
part in 40 years earlier had resulted in several hundred thousand civilian
deaths. Reviewing “Reminiscences,”
William Styron noted the General’s inability to accept being overruled by
higher authorities and, unlike most autobiographies, the complete absence of
soul-searching or self-doubt except when young MacArthur was asked to testify
about being a victim of hazing at West Point. Rather than tell the truth, he took his
mother’s advice and refused to be a “tattletale.” David Halberstam’s Korean War book, “The
Coldest Winter,” points out that MacArthur remained in Japan rather than be
near the front lines except for a brief triumphant tour of Inchon and acted on
faulty intelligence from underlings fearful of telling him something he didn’t
want to hear. There was general
agreement that MacArthur was a megalomaniac.
I congratulated Lake County Surveyor George Van
Til on his election victory over Republican challenger Eric Krieg and had an
interesting conversation with Hobart attorney Fred Ball. When a conservative sitting across from us
commented that he wouldn’t want to live in San Francisco because of all the
“weirdos,” Fred replied that he’d love living there and that diversity adds to
the spice of life. Joseph Gomeztagle, a
friend of Judge Lorenzo Arredondo, introduced himself and asked me several
questions about Latino history. After I
plugged the most recent issue of Traces
and mentioned my article “Mad Duck from Gary,” Lee Christakis said that Alex
Karras bloodied his lip when the two were kids.
As lucky as I was the first seven weeks of
Fantasy Football, the opposite has recently been the case. I was a cinch to defeat Anthony except Ben
Roethlisberger went down with a shoulder injury. I was still ahead by three points until the
next to last play of regulation when Kansas City’s Dwayne Bowe caught a 20-yard
pass, leading to a tying field goal.
Then he caught another in OT to enable Anthony to prevail 81-80. On the other hand, I edged out Phil to win the weekly pool because the 49ers game ended in a tie. We both picked San Francisco, but I had fewer points on the contest. Pretty amazing since the last tie in the NFL occurred in 2008.
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