By Edwin Cooney
Last
Monday, July 9th, 2018, the day many of you got my previous column, was a “red-letter
day!” True, I can’t, for physical reasons, enjoy the vividness of red letters
the way most people can, but as I understand it, a red-letter day is full of
bright and sheer gaiety.
The cause
of this gaiety was a response to last week’s column from my personal
representative in a certain Great Lakes community. Nothing pleases a budding
columnist more than a deliciously flavored response.
My friend
is exceedingly bright. However, he’s often overwhelmed by what makes him mad.
Come to think of it, he tends to be a liberal reactionary. That is, he verbally
strikes out at what annoys or angers him rather than seeking to master its
defiant challenges.
On the
other hand, I pummel challenges to death by trying to strip them of their
historical, emotional and, if I can, even their spiritual legitimacy. The
reason I do this is my belief in the significance and even legitimacy of two
vital conditions, cause (the reasons that make things happen) and effect (the
results of any reaction). This all comes from Isaac Newton’s third law that for
every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
By
asserting the connection and significance of General Edward Braddock’s death to
the greatness of George Washington and the legitimacy of national greatness
(which I conceded was difficult to define), I apparently rubbed raw his sense
of frustration over some current events. Hence, this is what he wrote me:
“I was
somewhat distracted as I read this, by the fact that I was watching some paint
drying on the wall of my neighbor's house!
“Anyone
with any sense knows that what Trump means when he speaks of America's
greatness is its whiteness!
“This
column is, at least for me, an exercise in pedanticism, if such a word exists.
“This is
some heady dude trying to speak loftily about greatness which is a synonym for
luckiness and/or silliness!
“Washington
was lucky that Edward Braddock died. Lou Gehrig was lucky that Wally Pipp
couldn't play; and he was lucky he was strong like a bull, until ALS came
along. Dizzy Gillespie was lucky he could play the trumpet really well, and
that the right people heard him at the right time! No one is great, nor is
anyone minimal. It's all luck, it's all random, it's the luck of the draw.”
My friend
really and truly is deeper than that; he’s merely and legitimately frustrated,
as I am, too. The problem as I see it is that he probably simply loses interest
in what concerns or bothers his strong sense of equality or equity. In the
tradition of 20th Century enlightened liberalism, he is outraged by injustice --
especially institutional injustice such as racial prejudice and the death
penalty along with the license to kill which too many people and politicians
are willing to hand out to the National Rifle Association.
My
friend’s response to last week’s column thus gives me a stage from which to
encourage him and others to try and examine the existence and significance of
cause and effect.
While
mastering the significance of cause and effect in every situation won’t
necessarily bring about a balmy satisfaction as to why something happened and
what the effect was, it will, I think, give one a sense of orientation with
respect to a controversial issue. Orientation often brings about perspective
and perspective amounts to understanding and even mastery of an issue or
circumstance.
As for my
“pedanticism” as he puts it, being called pedantic is a risk anyone takes who
seeks to enlighten or inform. Sometimes we teachers, preachers, and budding
columnists are really and truly guilty of the charge.
I’d try
and wax eloquent on the topic of luck, but you need a break after all this!
Since
this is my fourteenth year writing these columns I guess I shouldn’t refer to
myself as a “budding” columnist, but if I do stop so identifying myself, I’ll
have to come to grips with the possibility that I’ve actually grown up!
What a
terrible thing to have to both grasp and acknowledge!
Oh, one
more thing: as they often used to say at the close of television programs: please
keep those cards and letters coming!
RESPECTFULLY
SUBMITTED,
EDWIN
COONEY
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