Okay, right, many of the Kitchen Table posts have been a bit dour lately, as befits a rather gloomy December, without snow (so far) and the news about the economy, government corruption (Rod Blagojevich), and Plaxico shooting himself in the leg, all heads in that direction. And, yes, we did see the big picture in today’s paper of a huge tree stump being hurled through the air offering fairly clear evidence that the county is moving ahead with the Bigelow Gulch expansion despite the Center’s efforts to block the project on behalf of the Prairie Protection Association. Now, that will cause some talk around the water cooler today for sure. Except (and I’m not making this up) our water cooler is gone now, the latest result of CFJ belt-tightening and the related discovery that tap water in Spokane is actually pretty darn good. Bottoms up everybody.
On a seriously more uplifting note, there is today’s story by Katherine Seelye in the New York Times reporting that invitations have been sent to the surviving members of the all-black, air squadron, known as
the Tuskegee Airmen, who fought valiantly in World War II on behalf of a nation that had yet to grant them basic human and civil rights. During the war, the segregated unit was comprised of nearly 1,000 pilots and 15,000 ground crew. Today, less than 350 are still alive, but the ones that are alive, and still able to travel, will be seated on the terrace below the podium (each gets to bring a guest) when President Obama takes the oath of office on January 20th.
In recorded human history, 67 years is nothing when you consider, for example, that the Dark Ages dragged on for six centuries, and the Renaissance lasted for three. But this is a remarkable shift, in the space of a lifetime, that says something deeply positive about the U.S. at a time when so many other things about our nation are burdened by doubts and misgivings. As for the Tuskegee Airmen, themselves, it’s hard to imagine a group of people who more deserve a seat below the podium next month than they do. Let’s hope most can make the trip.
No comments yet.