Delusions of grandeur

Watching the Republican debate from South Carolina last night, a thought occurred to me: Newt Gingrich exemplifies nearly every negative trait he and the right wing ascribe to baby boomers.

Conservatives love to criticize the baby boomer generation, or should I say its liberal members, of being self-absorbed and dedicated to nothing more than their own pleasure. Few people attracted as much of that scorn as former President Bill Clinton and, I will admit, a lot of that criticism has been deserved. As a baby boomer myself, I confess some of that generational critique might just contain a fraction of truth.

But, when it comes to being a poster boy for the worst traits of my generation, I suggest Newt Gingrich takes the cake. And then eats the cake. And then licks the frosting off the plate.

Newt's self-absorption is the stuff of bad novels which, coincidentally, he has some experience writing. If you go back through some of his public writings and speeches, it's amazing what a high opinion he has of himself.

Questioned about some of this last night, he agreed -- as if it was a good thing -- that he has "grandiose thoughts" about himself and his prospects. I expect he meant "grand," though I doubt he would now admit he misspoke. Dictionary.com defines grandiose as: pompous... overblown... having an exaggerated belief in one's importance, sometimes reaching delusional proportions... Seems about right to me.

Here are a few choice quotes from our genius candidate and preserver of American values:

“She isn’t young enough or pretty enough to be the President’s wife.”
After divorcing his first of three wives.

 “I’m not a natural leader. I’m too intellectual; I’m too abstract; I think too much.”
If only we could get him to rest his enormous brain once in a while.

“The idea that a congressman would be tainted by accepting money from private industry or private sources is essentially a socialist argument.”
Addressing questions about corruption in Congress.

“The problem isn’t too little money in political campaigns, but not enough.”
Unless the big money is backing Mitt Romney.

“I have enormous personal ambition. I want to shift the entire planet. And I’m doing it. I am now a famous person. I represent real power.”
At least he has some perspective.

“Gingrich – Primary mission, Advocate of civilization, Definer of civilization, Teacher of the rules of civilization, Leader of the civilizing forces.”
Then again, I could be wrong. Can a Super Newt action figure be far behind?

“The most serious, systematic revolutionary of modern times.”
OK, this is getting ridiculous.

 “It doesn’t matter what I do. People need to hear what I have to say. There’s no one else who can say what I can say. It doesn’t matter what I live.”
Discussing his own concurrent marital infidelity while attacking President Clinton for the Monica Lewinsky affair.

“The left-wing Democrats will represent the party of total hedonism, total exhibitionism, total bizarreness, total weirdness, and the total right to cripple innocent people in the name of letting hooligans loose.”
Do I really need to comment on this one?

“These people are sick. They are so consumed by their own power, by a Mussolini-like ego, that their willingness to run over normal human beings and to destroy honest institutions is unending.”
Or this? The ego on this guy and his ability and willingness to project his own personal failings to his political opponents is astonishing.

Even his language is bloated. There should be a drinking game based on the number of times he uses self-inflating words like "fundamentally," "serious," or "absolutely." He tries to establish an image of being so knowing, so important, and so certain that none should criticize him, that clearly he is the smartest guy in the room. One of my favorite comments about Gingrich came from the NY Times' Paul Krugman: "He’s a stupid man’s idea of what a smart person sounds like." Exactly.

Self-confidence is an important asset in a leader. It takes a certain level of self-assurance to command the respect of your employees, your troops, your citizens. But Newt's posturing is not that of confidence, it is that of delusion. Whether he truly believes what he is saying or not, I can't tell.

He might really think he is the second coming of Pericles, or Churchill, or any of the other historic figures to whom he compares himself. If that's the case, he may also be a little deranged. If he doesn't really believe all that claptrap, he's just another posturing politician trying to lie his way into office. Either way, he is clearly not qualified to be President.

But he is fun to watch.

As simple as black and white?

On this day, when our nation honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., there have been many celebrations, memorial events, and news stories about his legacy. Most concentrate on the work Dr. King did to expand civil rights for his fellow African-Americans, but I believe his greatest achievement went well beyond that. Rather than just freeing his fellow blacks, Dr. King brought liberation to us all.

I was fortunate to live through the era shared by Dr. King and other giants of human rights. I won't pretend to have had any great insight into their work as a child, no great moment of youthful clarity when I realized what a difference they were making.

We moved a lot when I was young, living all across the country before settling in Virginia when I was nine. I went to Catholic schools until my junior year in high school, and the only African-Americans I knew were kids I met in those schools. Largely because of my parents and the teachers I had, those kids did not seem all that different to me. They were just kids.

I was ignorant of what their lives must have been like. I didn't even hear the N-word until I got to high school. My parents were very devout Catholics and, if anyone in my family had uttered such a word in front of them, there would have been hell to pay.

My family moved to Virginia a year before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. When we moved here, there were still separate drinking fountains for "whites" and "coloreds" at a department store we frequented. That landmark legislation got to President Lyndon Johnson's desk with the votes of just seven Democratic Congressmen and one Democratic Senator from the southern states. Not one Republican from a southern state voted for it.

My parents and my teachers had, by example more than words, instilled in me that we were all equal, created with the same possibilities, opportunities, and rights to achieve. That my country didn't feel the same way was a reality that took another year or two to comprehend. When one of my brothers wanted to marry a black woman and couldn't do it in Virginia because it was illegal, I began to realize life was a lot more complicated than the childhood I was enjoying.

The biggest turning point, for me and for America, was 1968. That year started with the Tet offensive in Vietnam and continued with political unrest, the assassinations of Dr. King...

Walter Cronkite reports the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King on the CBS Evening News.

... and Robert Kennedy, turmoil at the Democratic Convention in Chicago, and finally ended in December with the first manned Apollo mission orbiting the moon. It was quite a year.

I'd gotten involved with the Eugene McCarthy campaign to unseat President Johnson because Johnson continued ensnaring us deeper in the Vietnam War, where a second brother of mine was serving in the Air Force. At 14, I might have been the youngest person in the Alexandria, Virginia, campaign office, but I was thrilled. I was involved. I felt like I might make a difference.

The night Dr. King died and the riots erupted, I began wondering what was happening to my country. Another brother of mine was in the Army, and he spent the next week or so guarding the streets of Washington, DC, from rioters and looters. (Ironically, he met his future wife while on duty there.) Two months later, Robert Kennedy was killed, and it seemed all might be lost.

Except it wasn't. Movements are always more than one person, no matter how heroic that one person may be. The battle King fought was righteous enough and its supporters dedicated enough to see through the pain and sorrow and view a better tomorrow.

Yet the struggle goes on. Republicans across the country are trying to enact new restrictive voter ID laws that target the same people who fought Jim Crow voting laws just a few decades earlier. Our first African-American president is vilified for his skin color; just this morning, a reporter told of a conversation with a South Carolina voter who said, without shame or embarrassment, "Oh, I couldn't vote for that black guy." At least the voter didn't use the N-word. Maybe that's progress.

I said earlier that Dr. King had liberated us all. His struggle not only brought civil rights to African-Americans, but also broke the chains of prejudice that held back white America for centuries -- if only we would let it.

In the 1980s, I had the distinct honor of photographing Coretta Scott King, Dr. King's widow, at his grave site in Atlanta. I still remember the serene grace in the way she carried herself. I never had the opportunity to meet Dr. King or hear him speak in person, but photographing Mrs. King was my own humble way to pay my respects. I've tried to live my life as a decent person to further honor his life.

On this day to honor and celebrate the life of Dr. King, perhaps his greatest legacy can be found in the crowds that visit his memorial on the National Mall in Washington.

When I visited the memorial the day before its scheduled dedication, I found hundreds of people of many colors, creeds, and nationalities. Many were elderly veterans of the struggle Dr. King epitomized, paying tribute to the man who had inspired and led them. There were large, extended families, with grandparents telling the smallest children what Dr. King had done to merit such a wonderful honor. And there were a lot of white people, too, there in the knowledge that what frees some of us, frees us all.

Random Thoughts

Mitt Romney said this morning in New Hampshire that he likes firing people. Really. And yet he's leading the Republican field?

Romney brought campaign surrogate NJ Governor Chris Christie up on stage with him, which only served to illustrate how stiff Romney is. Christie, while obnoxious and crude -- he referred to a female protester as "sweetheart" today -- is very good at throwing red meat to the right wing. He likes to portray himself as a no-nonsense man of the people, but he's really just a bully throwing his ample weight around. Romney always looks awkward and forced trying to summon up some "common man" persona; Christie portrays that role much better.

Speaking of the Republican race, Newt Gingrich -- sorry, a Super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich which, of course, has no connection to the candidate, nudge-nudge, wink-wink -- has launched TV ads in South Carolina slamming Mitt Romney for being a "predatory capitalist." It's nice to see some of the Occupy protesters finding work writing campaign spots for the Republicans.

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I understand some commentators are wondering whether Denver Broncos' quarterback Tim Tebow would be "the next Michael Jordan." I suggest they wait until Tebow wins multiple league championships and transforms his sport before succumbing to Tebowmania.

Granted, Tebow led his Broncos to victory in electrifying fashion in overtime against the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday. The Broncos built a lead early, then watched the Steelers tie the game late in the fourth quarter. On the first play from scrimmage in overtime, Tebow threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Demayrius Thomas, winning the game in eleven seconds, the fastest overtime win in NFL history. Not too shabby.

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Long distance motorcyclists, a group in which I humbly include myself, tend to enjoy riding challenges. Some are for fun, some serve charity interests, some are basically pointless (and I say that in a good way).

I'm signed up for a few of these challenges this year. One that started on January 1 is a Waffle House Grand Tour, in which the goal is to photograph yourself or your rally flag (a numbered flag identifying you) with your motorcycle at Waffle House restaurants around the country.

There are several mini challenges included, one of which was for the first person to document the original Waffle House in Decatur, Georgia. Russell Dickerson (right) took that prize with a photo taken shortly after midnight on New Year's day. I am SO not going to win this thing...

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There was a report that Kim Kardashian was offered $600,000 to attend a Las Vegas party on New Year's Eve. I mention this solely as additional evidence there is no god...

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Any motorcyclist who takes riding seriously acknowledges certain dangers inherent in our passion. As such, we are unfortunately used to hearing about accidents or crashes and, working at a motorcycle shop, I hear more than the usual number of such stories.

When those accidents involve another vehicle, the majority of the accidents can be tied to the actions of the driver of the other vehicle. I've known friends injured and killed by those drivers, and the usual outcome -- aside from the loss of a friend, a family member, a solid citizen -- is a ticket issued to the driver of the car or truck. A rider is injured or killed, his or her property is damaged or destroyed, and the perp has to pay a $75 ticket. Not much justice to be found there but, again, something we're used to seeing.

So, it was refreshing to read in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, my local newspaper, that a judge actually issued a sentence in some proportion to the offense. In September 2010, Donald Upton was riding his motorcycle when Paul Miller pulled his SUV out in front of him. The resulting collision killed Upton at the scene, while Miller took off and drove home, where he told his wife he had "done something bad."

Miller then returned to the crash scene, but left again without identifying himself. He later reported his SUV stolen, apparently to avoid any responsibility for the accident and resulting fatality.

Miller was ultimately convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and Circuit Court Judge William Shaw, taking into account Miller's behavior at the scene, his attempt to cover his tracks, his arrest for speeding while out on bail, and the horrible impact of his crime, sentenced Miller to ten years in prison with five years suspended. Hallelujah!

I don't revel in the pain that Miller and his family will now face, but their suffering is trivial compared to the loss suffered by the Upton family. It will be interesting to see how the sentence fairs under appeal, which I assume would be forthcoming, as the sentence exceeded state guidelines.

That's Entertainment

This weekend marks the start of the NFL playoffs, leading up to the biggest orgy of TV-viewing, commercial-evaluating, beer-drinking, and snack-eating of the year. So, being a good American, I did my part. I watched the New Hampshire primary Republican debates.

My name is Steve and I'm a political junkie. Hi, Steve.

Oh, I watched some of the football, too. But, with my Washington Redskins on the sidelines -- yet again, I might add -- the games don't have the emotional impact they would otherwise carry. It's hard for me to get excited watching Cincinnati play Houston.

The debates, on the other hand, continue to entertain. While it's seeming more and more inevitable that Mitt Romney will eventually capture the Republican nomination, watching the race evolve has been fascinating.

You've got Newt Gingrich, the virtual father of modern divisive politics, who applauded the Citizens United Supreme Court decision allowing Super PAC advertising, taking umbrage at ads -- paid for by those same Super PACs -- bringing his tawdry litany of past transgressions to light. When they're aimed at him, and when he can't raise enough money to respond in a similar fashion, those ads are apparently unfair.

On policy differences with the President, Gingrich's multiple views on Libya reveal much about his thinking. When the Libya uprising started, Gingrich said we should institute a no-fly zone. President Obama worked with our NATO and Arab allies and instituted a no-fly zone that limited risk to Americans and had the others shoulder much of the burden. Gingrich promptly criticized that action, saying he wouldn't have set up a no-fly zone. This weekend, Gingrich said we should have gone into the Libya conflict more forcefully -- perhaps with our own troops on the ground? Two points: 1) Actual presidents cannot be so flippant about issues of deadly impact; 2) Why is it the ones who have never served in the armed forces are always the first to jump into sending Americans into war?

Then there's Rick Santorum, devout Catholic and famous defender of the unborn. He'd ban abortion in every situation, including the traditional "safe" exceptions of rape, incest, and health of the mother. In fact, he'd like to see contraception outlawed. But when it came to his wife's health and safety, when a difficult pregnancy and a terrible infection could have killed his wife, he gave doctors the go ahead to induce labor, knowing it would mean the loss of the unborn child she carried.

By the way, Santorum also wants to start pulling Social Security protection from current recipients. Seriously. It's one thing, and probably a reasonable thing, to look into changes in long-term funding and benefits of the Social Security system. There are certain economic realities we have to face as a country, but pulling aid from those who entered into a social compact with the country 50+ years ago when they need that aid to survive is beyond cruel. It's crazy. And politically stupid.

Rick Perry? Last night, he said he would immediately return U.S. troops to Iraq in force. I could smell the burning toast all the way down here in Virginia.

Ron Paul is an interesting case. A certain percentage of what he says -- maybe 30% -- appeals to my liberal-libertarian side. The rest, the other 70%, is just nuts. While I support his approach to individual liberties regarding privacy and could support his idea to decriminalize marijuana, his comments about established civil rights law are, to say the least, outrageous.

Questioned about 1960s-era civil rights legislation ending segregation in public places, Paul clearly feels that property rights -- in this case, the right of restaurant owners to ban African-Americans from their establishments -- trumps the public's right to free access to public places. He clearly sees no practical difference between the bedroom and the public's right to be free and unfettered in that space (which I completely support), and a public facility's supposed right to discriminate on a racial basis however the owner sees fit.

Jon Huntsman seems like a decent enough fellow, and he rides motorcycles, which is always a good thing. In this field, he comes across as a moderate conservative. He served as ambassador to China under President Obama, which the other Republicans seem to feel is a betrayal of the highest order. Huntsman has proudly stated that, as an American, he was serving his country. For that, I can applaud him. Unfortunately, that likely means he has almost no chance of lasting more than a few more primaries before his inevitable withdrawal. Republicans these days do not value or reward bipartisanship.

Which leaves us with Romney. Or should I say Romneys. Over the years, it's been hard to know which Romney is running. Is it the one who vowed support for gay rights when he was running against Ted Kennedy? Is it the one who proudly signed into law a health care program he crowed should be a model for the nation, and which was a model for the federal health care act. You know, the same health care act he now promises to "repeal on day one"?

That's old news, of course. Nearly every commentary has spoken of Romney's flip flops, his 180° changes in policy ideas, his apparent total lack of conviction to anything other than his own self-interest. And making money, lots of money. I find especially amusing his claims to be a "private sector" guy who is merely answering his country's call to service. He slams others for their long years in public office, when the only reason he isn't in the same boat is because he kept losing elections.

This is all very entertaining but, if hypocrisy was sugar, we'd be awash in diabetes right about now. This should be serious business. Observing the horse race is fun for political junkies, but America is facing difficult times and these guys (and women, if you include the now-withdrawn Michelle Bachmann) are falling well short of what is needed.

Granted, I'm supporting President Obama in his re-election effort, but I'd like to see some spirited debate and exchange of ideas. No single person has all the answers and, if we're going to solve our problems any time soon, we'll need contributions and compromise from every side. I don't want to see this election devolve into the mud, as I'm afraid it will. In today's debate, Rick Perry proclaimed for all to hear that the President is a socialist. If I thought he even knew what a socialist was, I might be surprised, but Perry is a candidate who is currently irrelevant and on his way to oblivion.

Is it any wonder that most Americans ignore all this? With all the mud, the hyperbole, the lies, and the posturing, it's easy to see why so many feel politicians are unworthy of trust. Perhaps we should be amazed that about half the country actually does vote.

Hey, look at that. The playoffs are on again...

New Year's Day

I like to ride motorcycles. A lot. Among motorcyclists, there's a tradition of riding on January 1, almost regardless of the weather. It's something you do, unless there's snow or ice on the ground.

Today was a little easier than that might sound. With a morning temperature in the high 30sF and a high around 60F, it was a beautiful day for a ride. I headed out early to meet fellow members of the BMW Bikers of Metropolitan Washington at a restaurant in Nokesville, Virginia, for breakfast. After 90 minutes of eating, talking, and just enjoying each others' company, we dispersed, some heading out alone, others in small groups.

I rode off alone, as I usually do, through the rolling countryside of the Virginia Piedmont, through counties named Fauquier, Culpeper, Spotsylvania, and my home county of Orange. I took familiar roads and just wandered around, soaking in the sunshine, knowing bitter cold was just a day or two away. This was a no-pressure journey, with no schedule to keep and no reason to be anywhere.

When I ride, politics, work, the economy, and any concerns I might have are far from my thought process. When I ride, my head is clear, my mind refreshed. My focus is on the road, the traffic, the sights and sounds of my trip.

About 150 miles later, I rolled into my driveway, smiling at a few hours and gallons of gasoline well spent. Every year should begin like this. I hope your 2012 had as good a start as mine.