Two Yalies pay tribute to Jackie Robinson
By Beldar on Sports
On tonight's PBS News Hour, I just watched two Yalies, tall men in good suits, speaking about Jackie Robinson. As described elsewhere:
Bush and Kerry ... shared the same stage at a U.S. Capitol ceremony honoring Robinson, who broke Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947 by becoming the first black player in baseball's modern era. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award Congress can give.
Both men spoke eloquently in the short video clip I saw, but only one man used short sentences and plain, powerful words. One seemed to me to have a special gleam in his eyes that bespoke an involvement with and passion for baseball and its heroes. The other seemed to me to be reading a prepared text in that sonorous, somnorific drone we all came to know so well last year.
As the ceremony ended, the man who sounded less like a stereotypical Yalie was standing by Jackie Robinson's widow, applauding with the crowd. He spotted someone in the audience, made eye contact, nodded toward a back exit, and clearly mouthed the words, "You wanna ride?"
One of these men paid tribute from the heart to an American hero, and his ego and personality are completely compatible with thinking of someone else's convenience (could have been Laura's, could have been some aide's, I dunno) despite his high office, weighty responsibilities, and busy schedule. The other man showed up for a photo op, and will be forever associated with the phrases "Do you know who I am?" and "That son-of-a-bitch ran into me!"
I've been thinking I ought to update my banner image at the top of this page, just because it's been there since before these two men squared off in the November election. But I think I'll leave it there a while longer. |
