1-29-02
Typing the date each week on this column during February will put a 2 on each end. Washington's birthday will be especially balanced that way. It seems to be that balance is what has kept our nation great; call it Republican/Democratic, conservative/liberal, nationalist/internationalist or whatever. The American ethos means "freedom and justice for all." So now that we're seeing that wartime unity created by 9/11 being tested in domestic affairs, we must not loose our balance. G.W. has the same initials as our very first president, George Washington. It was a balanced year, 1771, when the Washington's, George and Martha, were living retired from Virginia's public life on their plantation there. Just four years later he'd be called by the Continental Congress to become commander-in-chief of the newly formed Continental forces. After the Revolutionary War, General Washington was the unanimous choice for our first president and served as a model of balanced leadership: "first in war, first in peace..." so that even today we see Democrat/Republican, Liberal/Conservative, Internationalist/Nationalist etc. as wholesome aspects of the body politic. Such balance will be in the date of his birthday too, 2-22-02. It also shows on each dollar bill along with his picture, where lady justice wears a blindfold as she holds up decisions being weighed in the balance. And I expect to hear that tone in tonight's State of the Union address by President Bush, with the war as it's primary focus. A year ago when reporters asked Bush how he started each day, he answered that he first read the Bible. What an example for all of us. So Lord protect him from being amBushed by poison politics, or becoming Bushed by the burdens of his office. Instead, let him be a burning Bush for this world today, I pray.
There's a reporter being held by terrorists for ransom in Pakistan who may be number eleven from the press to die if he doesn't get released or rescued. That would be about as many lost from the media as from the military. And reporters shoot only with their cameras, not to kill but to tell. What a major role they are playing in Operation Enduring Freedom! We get so disgusted at times with the media, but what would we do without them? Another American had called home claiming he was a captive there, but has now come home safely raising doubts about his story. But he supposed to be taking humanitarian aid rather than reporting the news. Still, he's back with his wife and I'm glad for that. If he lied to look heroic, he'll just have to live with that the way Jesse Jackson has about holding MLK jr. in his arms as that great leader died from the assassin's bullet back in '68. Now Jesse wants to be the spokesman of Enron employees who lost their life savings when it collapsed. He goes where he can get in front of the cameras and be the story, instead of getting it as reporters do.
I went to Tulsa Sunday to see my twelfth grandchild, Grant Hazlitt McCollough. He arrived at St.John's hospital weighing 10-lb. 3 oz and 22 inches long. That makes two girls and ten boys on the list. His home in Claremore, where he has three older brothers. Then I drove home through eastern towns I'd never seen in my state just to celebrate having another Okie: Okmulgee, Weleetka, Wetumka, Wewoka (sounds like the Internet), Seminole and Bow Legs. I always wondered what Cowboy the last was named after, but learned it was an Indian chief instead: Billy Bowlegs. The Baptist pastor there told me. His church is the nicest looking building in town and nobody I saw had bowlegs. Those Ws mentioned were important for me to visit because I'd already seen Wewoka across the state in past years and have lived now at Wynnewood for eleven. Besides, our fine president is also a W. It was such a pleasant trip (being off the Interstate) that I kept pulling over on the shoulder to let those in a hurry get past me. There's truth in that warning "Slow down and live." Made me want to write it as LIVE. Driving through all those hills was such a pleasure to me that I didn't even listen to the radio. Just praised the Lord for His goodness and this state that I love. Way back when I was in the navy with a bunch of Yankees, they used to call me "Okie Joe." It seemed like a put down then, but now I wouldn't mind at all.
As I had predicted, our State of the Union address was very well balanced. Bush was at his best again and the press loved it. So moderation is in and extremism certainly out these days. On the global scene there seems to be a polarity between Christian/Jews vs. Muslims, but we must pray that balance is maintained instead of a crusade/jehade. And tomorrow is Superbowl Sunday with all eyes on New Orleans, whidh will be under the tightest security ever for a sporting event. I guess our concern with safety is offset by our appetite for sports. And maybe that's a kind of balance we need. The phrase Fox News uses all the time, "fair and balanced," is an apt description of America in my opinion. Other terms for it are even handed, middle of the road, dialectic truth, objective/subjective, polar opposites, right/left, symmetrical, or even walking a tight rope with barbells in hand. Our two national heros, Washington and Lincoln, seem to be that balance too: aristocratic/common man. The first a wealthy plantation owner and the second born in a log cabin. A new anchor on CNN, Aaron Brown, is the sort of person who partakes of both I feel. While Alan Keyes on C-NBC seems to be of the intellictual aristocracy. I like them both a lot. And keeping our balance is such an important thing to me. GOD (continue to) bless America, especially with balance. In the scales that blindfolded Justice holds, may she be weighed in the balance and not found wanting. As I read from Genesis 22 this morning, I found the name of Hazo in the 22 verse. He was a relative of Abraham and if he was a Hazlitt ancestor, he must have been balanced: Genesis 22:22.