Watching Brett from Baghdad
New York Times Baghdad bureau chief James Glanz has filed a wonderful first-person report on watching the Jets-Bills game last Sunday from a war zone.
It turns out Glanz has rooted for the Packers his entire life; his dad covered the team for a Madison television station. So, amazingly, he uses the piece to approach the question of what Brett Favre is doing playing for the Jets, not as an expert or even a sports journalist but as a fan.
He compares the sensation of watching football from Iraq to what it must feel like to observe life on Earth from Mars. Glanz shares the experience of explaining football to an Iraqi soccer-loving colleague whose cell phone keeps ringing with requests for help understanding the shoe-throwing at President Bush incident.
It’s a great read.
And now for something completely different.
By now you’ve probably heard that Caroline Kennedy is being considered for the Senate seat being vacated by Hillary Clinton.
Nobody’s asked me, but I’m all for it.
Perhaps it’s appropriate that I disclose my close, personal relationship with Miss Kennedy. One of my earliest memories was seeing pictures of Caroline and John, Jr. when they were kids living in the White House. As young as we were (you see we are virtually the same age), I realized then and there that Caroline and I would be married some day.
Caroline Kennedy was my first crush.
Edwin Schlossberg?
So our paths may have diverged but I haven’t forgotten about her.
I’d notice when she’d turn up on television promoting a book or stepping up to the plate to address the challenges facing the New York City school system. (I have the greatest respect for Sr. Joel Read but she ain’t no Caroline Kennedy!)
And my thoughts were with her when her brother died so tragically in that plane crash in 1999. That left her as the sole keeper of the Camelot flame and I knew we’d hear more from her in time.
I know that some will protest that she hasn’t the credentials to step into such an important office.
What nonsense!
Like her mother and much of the rest of her family, she has been extremely active in public affairs though without the high profile normally associated with political candidates.
Her books, including variations on her father’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Profiles in Courage,” show her high regard for public service and her management of the Kennedy image demonstrates the gravitas and political savvy that bode well for her ability to serve the Empire State.
Fare thee well, sweet Caroline, for I harbor nothing but good wishes for you.
And if you happen to tire of that Schlossberg guy, give me a holler!
