Christmas Trees and Angel Trees!

When Priscille and I visit the Bridgewater Commons Mall each year in early November, we never fail to observe how much earlier signs of the Christmas season seem to appear.

The large Christmas tree at center court in the Mall is one such harbinger. It has been up since early November, and Santa has already been quite busy greeting his little visitors, listening to their wishes, and getting them to pose with him for pictures.

There’s one group of disadvantaged children and seniors though, that you are not likely to see visiting Santa at the Mall. Some of those people will most likely not be getting too many gifts this season.

There is, however, a very easy thing that you can do to help out and to make their holiday (as well as your own!) a little cheerier. Those are the people whose names will appear on tags on each of two Angel Trees.

One of those trees will be just outside the indoor entrance to Macy’s on the main level. The second tree will be located near the  Guest Services counter on the lower level. Both trees were behind schedule this year, but they should be in place by now.

All you need to do is to select one of the “Angel Wish” tags from a tree, purchase the item indicated on it, and drop off the unwrapped gift at Guest Services in the lower level, just a few yards away from where Santa is located. Someone will be thankful for your thoughtfulness.

Photo by Dick Bergeron:  Click on it once and once again to see large, high resolution image.

Palin Derangement Syndrome

On Wednesday afternoon, when I drafted this blog post for Saturday publication, the Courier News website was running a poll in the carousel of its home page. The question was, “Is Newsweek’s cover shot of Sarah Palin Sexist?” At 2:40 PM that day, the responses were split 50/50.

Newsweek’s editor Jon Meacham – a Pulitzer Prize winning author – appropriated the cover photo of Palin from Runner’s World magazine without its permission, taking it completely out of its original context and salting it with the provocative statement, “How do you solve a problem like Sarah?” I didn’t know that “Sarah” was a problem. Did you? I can think of a lot more significant troubles facing this country than little ‘ole Sarah from Alaska.

Such media myopia brings to mind the unanswered question of why it is that some middle-age guys in the Fourth Estate – intelligent ones at that – have such a problem with females who look good and who strike such a decisive public impression.

In his Top of the Week essay accompanying the cover shot, Meacham exposes his insecurities as he discusses the potential threat of “Palinism,” calling her “… an heir to the Goldwater tradition.” It’s a very weak comparison. It was President Lyndon Baines Johnson, not Goldwater, who made a mess out of the Vietnam War by escalating it beyond control, a folly which cost him his second term in office.

Anyway, let’s get serious and reduce this thing to its essence: Which image is more likely to draw your attention more than once on the cover of Newsweek, that of Sarah Palin or that of suspiciously botoxed Nancy Pelosi? Crafty Jon Meacham knew which one would be most likely to boost circulation.

One Week to Go!

Yesterday, after glancing at the calendar, I realized – as is the case each year – that the Thanksgiving Holiday had crept up again without notice. It’s one of my favorites because it encapsulates and memorializes very well the concept of gratitude.

It’s a time to pause and to reflect upon the fact that all of us in America sit upon the broad shoulders of all the others who preceded us and who sacrificed to build the great social, economic, and religious platforms upon which this nation rests.

The European Pilgrims who landed in Massachusetts Bay would be only among the first of a long line of immigrants streaming in from all points of the globe – voluntarily and involuntarily – to cast their lot for the success of America. They would work their butts off to found this nation and to make it grow over the centuries into this expansive country which so many of us have grown to love, despite all of its shortcomings.

I only wish our President would spend as much time proclaiming the proud history of America, as he does minimizing it before other countries and apologizing for what we are and for the less-than-perfect way in which we have developed.

An attitude of gratitude is not merely a slogan. It’s a concrete expression impelling us to be thankful for what we have, and a strong incentive to remember that in this nation and world, there are others not so fortunate with needs that have not been met.

I’ll try to remember that as I weave my way through the joyous season dawning upon us.

Ted Kennedy, Healthcare & Abortion

In the course of reading The Boston Pilot, together with data culled from the Internet, I discovered a one-page letter penned by the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, dated August 3, 1971. It was addressed to one of his friends and supporters, Mr. Thomas Donnelly of Great Neck, New York. Mr. William Donohue, President of the Catholic League – a Catholic civil rights organization – vouched for the letter’s authenticity.

I found its contents remarkable, because I have always thought Senator Kennedy to have been a staunch abortion supporter. Prior to his recent illness and death, he was not only a pioneer for healthcare reform, but was also a strong advocate of abortion rights.

His letter is very striking though, because it reveals that in 1971 the Senator held a completely different position on the legitimacy of abortion.

Here is an excerpt of his original views as stated in his 1971 letter to Donnelly:

“While the deep concern of a woman bearing an unwanted child merits consideration and sympathy, it is my personal feeling that the legalization of abortion on demand is not in accordance with the value which our civilization places on human life.”

Kennedy added, “Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized -- the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old. When history looks back at this era it should recognize this generation as one which cared about human beings enough to halt the practice of war, to provide a decent living for every family, and to fulfill its responsibility to its children from the very moment of conception.”

Resolving the question of Federal funding for abortion was the decisive factor in the recently successful passage of a healthcare bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill prohibits any type of funding by the U.S. Government for the procedure. That topic will continue to be a major issue as the Senate puts forward its own version of a healthcare bill.

The Lone Terrorism of a Lone Killer

I’m watching the beginning of a broadcast of the memorial ceremony for U.S. Soldiers who were killed and wounded on one of our largest military bases, Ft. Hood, Texas. The preliminary music has just stopped and I am anticipating the rest of the program, including an address by President Barack Obama.

Last Thursday, after first hearing of this incredibly heinous act of evil, I was subsequently taken aback in the following days by the official Washington response in which the word “terrorism” was never used. Instead, we heard only platitudes about how there was no evidence that the alleged murderer, Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan, may have acted conspiratorially: As if anyone allegedly acting unilaterally should keep this crime from being designated as an act of terrorism.

But one stalwart Washington leader, Senator Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said he will hold hearings. He is one of the few who has the courage to describe this brutal act: The senator declared, “This was an attack on American troops. You've got to see it as if 12 American troops were killed in Afghanistan." Lieberman went on to call it "The worst terrorist attack since 9/11."

Good for him.  It’s a welcome recess from a type of political correctness which has transformed segments of our population into a bunch of sops.

We in New Jersey are honored to have a direct connection with this tragedy – Private Second Class Alan Carroll, a 2007 graduate of Bridgewater-Raritan High School. A wounded survivor, he plans to return to this area, on leave to celebrate the holidays with his family.


Material for some of this post came from the Courier News, The Star-Ledger, The Nation, and The Hill