"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Wednesday 11 June 2014

A Passing Thought

Four senior journalists were guests on Charlie Rose last night. Hilary Clinton  and a potential bid for the Presidency was the subject.

All had been following her activities since  the husband was President.

They spoke with clinical detachment. Merciless .Without feeling.And yet without hostility.

Brad Cranston who won the Tony last week for his role as Lyndon Johnson was  Charlie's guest a couple of weeks ago.

Lyndon Johnston was  the topic for the full hour of the show. Both men were totally engrossed in the subject.

The  actor provided a quote ;  Lyndon Johnstone all eleven of him,  was the best  President the United Sates ever had.

From this tiny  spot on God's Green Earth , it' s impossible to imagine what its like to be President of the United  States of America.

It continues to surprise me that journalists and authors and Charlie  continue to focus on the human being in the office and  where they fail, and not on the office itself.

I think it's  not possible for a mere human  to do what that job requires.

I'm amazed by the  strength and courage of those who try



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Photos taken of the various President before & after their terms in office show the physical toll. We have to imagine the interior strain.

Anonymous said...


Lyndon Johnson would certainly rank near the top of the list because of his Great Society social program and the Civil Rights Act.

He was an expert at manipulation during his many years as a Congressman and Senator, including into his presidential years.

But all this came to nought as a result of his escalation of America's military presence and engagement in Vietnam.

Before completing his full term in office he announced that he would not be a candidate for president. "I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party as your President."

Johnson retired to his beloved Texas ranch, where, within a few years he died.

The negative aspects of his presidency would not see him ranked at the top, but well up the ladder.