CapeCodToday Blog Chowder

Silence and Inaction in Falmouth

I've been chewing on it for a couple of days, and I'm still not sure what I saw last Monday night in the Selectmen's Meeting Room.  I saw inaction that was decisive and inaction that caused me to scratch my head by its indecisiveness.  I saw silence that spoke volumes and silence that said nothing.

As I left in a daze, trying to figure out what it all meant, I observed the aftermath of some poor soul who had gotten sick on the sidewalk right in front of the large picture windows which allow the public to glance into the inner workings of the seat of local government.  As I lamented the unknown person's plight, I overheard a senior town official quip, "If you were just at that meeting, wouldn't you get sick too?" That frustration was pervasive.

There was certainly action by inaction Monday night.  By saying nary a word on the discussion to reconsider the appointment of former Constable George Morse, the Selectmen loudly declared that issue closed.  No matter what side you lined up on for this first of two title bouts, the Selectmen declared a TKO before the bell rang and forced Morse to hang up his gloves.  With that, they took a major source of contention off the table. That is good for the community, as our local mood has suffered greatly of late with a host of negative issues swirling around our collective consciousness.

On the main event of the evening, a discussion on the fate of Town Manager Bob Whritenour, the Selectmen allowed a pre-bout comedy routine by their attorney, but shrank into their corner when the bell rang.  Attorney Lenny Kesten might have thought he was Lenny Clark when he quipped that if each employee faced with a discrimination claim was suspended, there may not be any Selectmen left in the Commonwealth, which "may be for the better," according to the Boston barrister.  This comment drew a few giggles and snickers from the assembled supporters and detractors, but did little to lighten the somber mood.  Similarly, the conclusion of the Selectmen to simply ask Kesten to deliver a note to the MA Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) did little to lift the cloud over the corner office and the larger Falmouth community.

This type of silence and indecisive inaction is precisely what Falmouth does not need in one of its darkest and most difficult times in the last decade. Few who left the meeting seemed to understand what happened.  The assembled groups and cliques who opined and quibbled outside of Town Hall after the meeting seemed to all reach the same conclusion - little happened in the Selectmen's abbreviated public Executive Session to give either the Town Manager or the public at large the tools to move forward with any remote sense of closure.  The division between the Selectmen, and by extension, the chasm between the Selectmen and the Town Manager, lingers and widens.

In his brief statement after the meeting on a particularly canicular August evening, Bob Whritenour offered the most salient point of the night: "There are serious issues facing the town, and that's where my energies are," said our town's CEO.  Amen.

The problem is, with no action, no hint of resolution from the Selectmen, Bob's ability to lead will be hampered if not crippled moving forward.  If the Selectmen have confidence in the Town Manager's judgment and abilities, they owe it to him - and to us - to say so.  If that confidence has waned to the point of no return, we all - including Bob Whritenour - need to know that as well. This silence is deafening by the clamor it is creating.  This inaction is fostering a bustle of destructive discontent.

Leadership at the local level is about so much more than setting the budget and approving dock locations - it is about setting the local mood and creating a direction, a course for our community.  It is also about setting an example for performance under pressure.  I'm not sure that the course and the example set Monday night is one we collectively want to follow and emulate.

 This column is reprinted from the Falmouth Enterprise.

Ted Kennedy, The Senator, The Man and His Church

The Senator

As a professional, he deserved the accolades that came his way as he lay silent in his casket just a few days ago.

Ted Kennedy was a senator for almost a half century.  He became justifiably known as the lion of the left, the unwavering supporter of federal economic programs aimed at easing the way for the aged, the sick, the poor and the immigrant; the steady advocate for high progressive tax rates and even higher spending; the dependable protector of personal rights dealing with abortion, gay marriage and embryonic stem cell research; the dependable opponent of the free market, profit-based economy; the fierce defender of the Supreme Court against the invasion of justices who disagreed with his social views; the opponent of all wars entered into by, or continued by Republican presidents; the caster of the most dependable partisan vote in the Senate and one of its most effective members.

For these principles that guided his professional life, Kennedy is justifiably loved and respected by about half of the American electorate.  The other half disagreed with his principles and his views, but share the admiration of his supporters for his diligence and for the passion he brought to his work.

As a professional, he deserved the accolades that came his way as he lay silent in his casket just a few days ago.

The man

This is not the time to review the private life of Kennedy.  His faults and escapades have been widely reported elsewhere.  It is sufficient to say that he was a voluptuary for most of his adult life (until, at 60, his marriage to Vicki), whose days and nights were filled with fast women and hard liquor.

He was a voluptuary for most of his adult life.

He was as well an attentive family man and the active head of the widespread Kennedy clan.  The continued mystique attached to the family name is largely the creation of him and his public relations organization.

Kennedy's relations with fellow senators were, for the most part, congenial and good natured.  He was known as a man of his word, even by his opponents.    

Kennedy's family, friends and colleagues will remember him fondly.  The price for his follies is a subject reserved for him, his first wife and his God.

His Church

Kennedy was born a Catholic.  He never publicly disowned his religion; the Church never excommunicated him.  In that limited sense, therefore, Kennedy was a Catholic when he died, eligible for Catholic rituals. 

The scandalous role of the Church in the Kennedy funeral, in Boston and in Washington D.C. is just one more example of why too many Catholics are dropping away.

Accordingly, it was entirely proper that he be given a funeral mass, and -- given his reputation, and space requirements for the crowd that wanted to share his final days on earth -- it was appropriate to move the religious ceremony from the limited facilities available in Hyannis to the spacious ones available in the Mission Church in Boston.   And so it was done.

Until that point, the Kennedy funeral was properly handled by the Church.  However, from the time the casket entered the church in Boston until the minute it was lowered into the ground, the Church -- once again -- stumbled badly.

A digression: The Catholic Church, it may be said, is two things: 1) The faith, the theology (as approved by the magisterium) and the congregants, all of which are still faithfully represented by Pope Benedict in Rome and, 2) the bishops who manage Church affairs and assets. 

The first aspect of the Church, as defined above, is being weakened partly because of the anti-religion sentiment that pervades the world, but also because the second aspect of the Church in America is so dismally weak and contradictory. 

At a time when unified leadership and good example are of urgent importance, America's bishops regularly send out conflicting messages, for example: the recent homosexual sex scandal and how it was handled by bishops; the recent appearances of President Obama at Georgetown and Notre Dame and how the Church and its representatives handled them.

Now comes the Kennedy funeral. 

The scandalous role of the Church in the Kennedy funeral, in Boston and in Washington D.C. is just one more example of why too many Catholics are dropping away; of why seminaries are relatively empty; of why conversions have dropped; of why theologians are in disarray; of why more and more Catholics ignore the Church's moral teaching, which is ignored by rich and powerful members without penalty --which is sometimes rewarded with praise or with honors by bishops for reasons about which one can only speculate. 

Senator Kennedy, one of the leading advocates in the Senate for abortion rights, also  supported embryonic stem cell research despite the fact that adult stem cell research, which presents no moral questions, has been so successful; he supported gay marriage and indirectly supported the introduction of homosexual sex instruction into public schools; he, as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has for years been trying to ban from the federal bench those nominees who disagree with his position on  abortion rights -- in effect, he has tried to keep Catholics, and other pro-life nominees, out of the federal judiciary system. 

It is fair to speculate that few people have done more to undermine Catholic doctrine on such matters.

Kennedy has been applauded for these positions by the many who share them.  That is perfectly appropriate.  But when the Church whose doctrines he abused joins the parade, something is amiss.  And there is no excuse for it, especially since the Pope himself set the proper tone.

Before he died, Kennedy gave to President Obama for hand delivery to the Pope a personal note.  Obama obliged when he visited the Vatican.  The note had the ring of a campaign brochure.  A politician to his last breath, Kennedy clocked off his many contributions during his political lifetime, carefully omitting such subjects as those noted above, and he asked for the Pope's blessing.  The note did not contain even a hint of remorse over his persistent violations of Church teaching and the harm that ensued. 

Pope Benedict did not respond personally.  Through a delegate, he wished Kennedy well and extended his blessing -- a perfectly appropriate, kind, professional, removed and impersonal response.

Church representatives in Boston and Washington could have done the same.  The facilities of the Mission Church could have been made available, as they were.  Bishops could have been conveniently too busy to attend, or those with unusual courage could have released reasons for non-attendance, an act that would have been warmly welcomed by practicing Catholics.    

But that wasn't the case.  Cardinal O'Malley greeted the casket in the center aisle of the Mission Church; the Mass was a lavish affair with many co-celebrants, demonstrating in form the approval of the Church of its departing member; an approving homily was rendered by Kennedy's parish priest.  And, finally, the illustrious Cardinal McCarrick greeted the casket at the Arlington National Cemetery and sent Kennedy on his way with warm statements of personal friendship and approval.      

And so another bad day for the Catholic Church ended.  How many Catholics did the bishops turn away this time?

A great politician, deserving of sectarian honors, was buried last week. As a man, he was failure and triumph pressed together into one flawed personality.  As a Catholic, he was a disaster who deserved prayer and the hope for forgiveness, but not the tribute that is the due of a loyal son of the Catholic Church.   

Live and Alone....and Always Awesome

I have never missed a concert with Melissa

After Danny had shed his buckets of rain over the coast of Cape Cod, the crowds emerged into the Melody Tent despite the high winds at times. We were there to see our icon deliver her summer rituals of songs that have sustained us through the good and bad times in our lives. And as usual she delivered this time without the back up band but leaving us more in touch with her and more a part of her music.

It was as if it were a party with just us, inside that windy tent Saturday night. I have never missed a concert with Melissa yet, except for when she was going through a tough time with Chemo. It's been five years since her cancer and she looks strong and renewed. She said sometimes " You get a little gift with the diagnosis as it changes your perspective on everything". 

 She honored our late Senator Kennedy with a song that she had written many years ago, " All the Way to Heaven". She sang a song for the storm's namesake  Daniel and spoke of the story behind the lyrics. She had told us of a time when she met Bernie Taupin who had written the song made popular by Elton John. He told her it was about a guy who's brother had returned from war but who  couldn't deal with the stresses of his life after war and so he took off to Spain. I will forever listen to that song now with a deeper and clearer understanding of the lyrics. But that's what Melissa is like. She writes songs with stories and is always willing to share her discoveries along her journey in life. And the best part of going to a Melissa Etheridge'd concert is that it is an interactive concert and you can sing along.

Thanks Melissa for Sharing !!!

Daniel             (written by Bernie Taupin and music by Elton John)

Daniel is travelling tonight on a plane
I can see the red tail lights heading for Spain
Oh and I can see Daniel waving goodbye
God it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes They say Spain is pretty though I've never been
Well Daniel says it's the best place that he's ever seen
Oh and he should know, he's been there enough
Lord I miss Daniel, oh I miss him so much Daniel my brother you are older than me
Do you still feel the pain of the scars that won't heal
Your eyes have died but you see more than I
Daniel you're a star in the face of the sky Daniel is travelling tonight on a plane
I can see the red tail lights heading for Spain
Oh and I can see Daniel waving goodbye
God it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes
Oh God it looks like Daniel, must be the clouds in my eyes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY5_CNHRqqk

And thanks for a song that was so long forgotten in the past.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL83Z0YTj4g

Mya makes a voyage without him

Ted Kennedy Jr. Sails the "Mya" the day after his father's Funeral

Ted Kennedy Jr. and his wife Kiki went sailing on Senator Edward Kennedy's sailboat the "Mya" a day after Senator Edward Kennedy's funeral on Sunday, August 30, 2009. The pair sailed for a few hours on Nantucket Sound off of Hyannisport, Massachusetts. (All photos by David G. Curran)

Ted Kennedy Jr. and his wife Kikki walk along the dock of the Hyannisport Yacht Club in Hyannisport, Massachusetts on Sunday, August 30, 2009- the day after the Senator Edward Kennedy's funeral.

Ted Kennedy Jr. and his wife spent the afternoon sailing Nantucket Sound on Senator Kennedy's sailboat the "Mya".

Below, Max Kennedy (below left with the cellphone to his ear) and Robert Kennedy (below in the middle) along with members of their families head out on a powerboat in Hyannisport, Massachusetts to spend an afternoon sailing on Max Kennedy's sailboat "Glide" a day after Senator Edward Kennedy's funeral on Sunday, August 30, 2009.

Ted Kennedy Jr. and his wife also went sailed near Robert and Max Kennedy in Senator Edward Kennedy's sailboat "Mya".

All photos by Davis Curran.

Death Only Slows Me

You know... all that feed-the-hungry stuff in the Senate was all well and good... but Heaven to this Mick is talking about football with all my good friends here at Cape Cod Today.

I got to know Stacey socially through various alcohol-driven fundraisers, and Ellen was one of my nurses right up until the end. She was probably my favorite. It was sort of like how Father liked Jackie O better than his own daughters. Abdullah has always been a fine and ready drinking companion, and I was happy to join The Belly Check team when Stacey contacted me through Solon the Medium.

Football is really a simple game, once you scrub all the bristles off. It's not unlike the Senate, where you have to work together with the Team to force something by the Enemy. Even a Kennedy can't go it alone, and we all saw how fragile even a God like Tom Brady can be if one of his people slips up a little.

Remember, I'm a veteran of many a Cape Cod football game at the Compound. While it was a fairly lily-white affair, you also learn a lot about how a team is run when a future President is the quarterback, the NY AG is the tailback, and a ruthless bootlegger patriarch is watching the game like a hawk from the sidelines. If Plaxico Burress was a Kennedy child, he'd either be slapped in the head or lobotomized.

Besides.. my contemporaries here are a soccer mom and a nanny. Abdullah knows more than I do, but he's more of a source than a writer... I'd be very surprised to see Abdullah manage to create an account here and utilize it. But that's neither here nor there...

Today, we're going to examine Tom Brady's latest scare.

In last Friday's exhibition game, Tom went back to throw a pass... and big ol' Albert Haynesworth burst through the line and clobbered him. Tom left the game as soon as he picked himself up off the turf. He did not return.

Tom was listed as having a bruised shoulder, and that most likely is the case. However, Coach Belichick is well known for keeping the status of his injured players close to the vest, and an injury to Tom would set off a repression of truth among the Patriots that would make the JFK murder conspiracy look like 2 teenaged girls on the phone trying not to burst with gossip about the town slut.

I'm not kidding, nor am I exaggerating. For example.... former Patriot defensive lineman Marquise Hill was killed in a boating accident on Lake Ponchartrain in Louisiana a few years ago. Belichick, for the rest of the following season, had him on the injured list as "probable."

Which is why I'm so worried about Tom Brady. Andrew Walter and Kevin O'Connell are probably very nice boys who are good to their mothers, but I don't want either of them in control of my Football Happiness for the next 6 months. I might have to kill someone if that happens..

Granted.. it wasn't a hard hit. Tom left the field under his own power. Now..... this is a hard hit on a quarterback:

You don't come back from that. Joe was doing Monday Night Football telecasts at that time the next season, and he still walks with a limp. It my have been the worst thing I ever saw happen to another human being until they invented YouTube.

Now, Tom took one a lot softer than that. The thing that worries me is that it was Haynesworth on the delivery end. Haynesworth is 6'6", a conservatively-listed 330 pounds, and has an antisocial streak as wide as the Cape Cod Canal. If, before this game, you had handed me a list of NFL players and asked me which one I would least like to see get his hands on Tom Brady... I would immediately- without pause- have circled the name of "Albert Haynesworth."

He's an all-pro player, and Washington just gave him about 1o0 million dollars to make sure no one tries to run up the middle on the Redskins. His is an ugly, mean job.. all of the glory goes to the linebackers who make the tackles and get to yell at the camera. He got paid, but most of his contemporaries are relatively anonymous.

The only chance you get to have fun in that business is when you shake off the center, rush through the middle of the line, and put a hurting on the pretty boy quarterback with the bags of cash and the supermodel wife. Defensive lineman live for those moments, and are rarely content to lightly take Brady off his feet and gently lay him upon the ground, as I like to see done.

Here he is in his most infamous moment...stomping on the bared face of Dallas lineman Andre Gurode, or however he spells that. This doesn't look THAT bad, until you consider that Haynesworth is 330 pounds, angry, and wearing size 17 spiked cleats on his feet.

Football players are as tough as it gets... I mean, just look at what they do for a living. In this clip above... as well as the LT/Theisman clip... notice the reactions of the nearby players. When football players look all scared and wave frantically to the sidelines for medical attention, you know the injury is bad. In the Theisman clip, notice that LT- who delivered the hit, and generally celebrates after crushing a passer- is the most urgent of the players trying to summon a doctor after the play.

Anywho... you can understand the state of Fear that we have sunk into here at The Belly Check. Stacey views Tom Brady as her favorite child. Ellen has at least three posters of him in her dorm room... or so they tell me, yuk yuk yuk. Abdullah most likely has conducted thousands of dollars worth of business with the assumption- a fair one, seeing how well he has looked- that Tom Brady is perfectly A-OK healthy. They are, as a trinity, very, very upset at the moment.

Me? Those things are behind me now. I just want to sit up here in Heaven at the Senator's club (Huey Long can really put them down, let me tell you), have some liquid fortification, and watch the Patriots. Everyone has health care up here, and the term "universal" doesn't really cover it. I don't really have that much to do, to be perfectly Barney Frank. I just want a 13-3 record and a Super Bowl win. It really isn't that much to ask.

 So... let's all light a candle for Tom Brady this week. I'm almost sure that he's fine, but I can assure you that God really does pay attention to stuff like that... and while it isn't official Christian policy or anything, He does tend to favor those who make that extra effort.

BREAKING PATRIOT NEWS;

WEEI is reporting that linebacker Teddy Bruschi is retiring. Here's the press release Abdullah just forwarded me:

WEEI.com confirms Bruschi retirement

WEEI.com has confirmed the news that Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi will announce his retirement from the game of football at a 10:45 a.m. press conference Monday.

One of the most beloved players in the history of the franchise, Bruschi was a third-round pick out of Arizona in 1996, and played the last 13 seasons for the Patriots. Over the course of his career, he was a part of nine playoff seasons, eight division championships, five conference titles and three Super Bowl titles.

The 36-year-old linebacker came back from a stroke in early 2005 to play nine games the following season.
For more, please visit the "It Is What It Is"' Blog: http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/

Tropical Storm Danny... and pie

Link: http://www.facebook.com/hitandrunhistory

Obama visits Xiarhos family; Tainted, flawed maker of a president; $15.5 M awarded to area; Packard's grand view; Public flocks to Ted's grave; Third try for Atlantic rower; Obama encounters

TODAY's quote: "Whether it was court-ordered busing in Boston in the 1970s, or the affirmative-action policies that stymied the careers of so many of his family's traditional voters, Kennedy never grasped the depth of the blue-collar frustration as he veered left. What infuriated them even more was that so many of them had grown up in homes where on one side of the mantel was a faded photo of the martyred JFK, and on the other, the Pope, with a dried-up Palm Sunday frond between them." - Howie Carr.

Obama visits family of fallen Cape Cod Marine

President Obama has visited with the family of a Marine corporal from Yarmouth who died last month in Afghanistan. Obama met briefly with relatives of Marine Corporal Nicholas Xiarhos yesterday at Cape Cod Air Station before he returned to Washington as his vacation ended.

Xiarhos, 21, died July 23 while serving with the Marine Expeditionary Brigade...

Xiarhos, who was 21, is the son of police Lt. Steven Xiarhos and his wife, Lisa. He joined the Marines after graduating in 2006 from Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High school...  WTEN. The YouTube video is by JackRyan57.
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Some close Obama encounters

Susan Guerin has had the famous come to The Sweet Life Cafe, the Circuit Avenue restaurant she co-owns with husband Pierre. Usually, she has to be told by her staff who they are, but Tuesday night, she knew the man she greeted at the door.
   "I said, 'Welcome back, Mr. President,'" she said...  Most of those who did make a sighting focused their attention on Mrs. Obama."Do you see here? Do you see her? ...White! White dress!," shouted one female onlooker to a friend. "Hey Michelle, you look beautiful!" yelled another.... Gazette.

Man's dream of solo ocean cross is weeks away
Will leave from Cape later than anyone before

Crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a rowboat has been a lifelong dream - and in a few weeks, Wave Vidmar hopes it will come true.

"The coolest thing, after all this time, is that I'm finally getting to do this," the 45-year-old boat builder and explorer said. "I've been working on this for years."

The Martinez man, who moved to Georgia from California last year, is midway through assembling a unique, manually powered boat he helped design for the purpose of a solo trans-Atlantic voyage...

The adventure will involve rowing from a point near Cape Cod, Mass., to Europe... Augusta Chronicle.

Read the previous stories about Vimar's attempts to row from  Cape Cod:

• Rower to tackle Atlantic again, April 8, 2009
• Chatham to host another trans-Atlantic rower. February 20, 2006

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Anne Packard surveys the grand view

Painter Anne Packard makes it easy to fall under her spell. Walk into Provincetown's Packard Gallery, go online to her website, or look through the appreciative books that have Packard's artwork as their subject, and it's all there: timeless, classic painting of the highest order.

Intrepid mother and grandmother, world traveler, gallery owner who shares space with painter-daughters Cynthia and Leslie, Packard has a way with paint and color that makes the viewer want to climb into the world of the canvas, or find the source of her vision and stand rooted in that spot forever... The Banner.
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Tainted, flawed and the maker of a president
He lived through Chappaquiddick, a broken, alcoholic marriage and the deaths of two nephews

"So why all the fuss? The answer is dynasty, one of democratic America's greatest and most endearing self-contradictions." - Andrew Sullivan

If the Kennedy funeral looked a little like a royal one, we should not have been surprised. Three living former presidents attended the rites. The tributes have been pouring in across the political spectrum. Orrin Hatch, the arch-conservative Utah senator, even composed a little song and sang it on YouTube (on right). Among the memorably awful lyrics: "Just honour him/ Honour him/ And every fear/ Will be a thing of the past."

The iconography of Kennedy's passing was laden with memories of the Kennedy past: the death in the famous compound at Hyannisport, the family mass in the little room that overlooks Nantucket Sound, the tour through Boston (across the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway), the burial at Arlington next to his two brothers. It felt like a national day of mourning, rather than a 77-year-old pol's passing.

This is unusual because Edward Kennedy dies not a martyr as Bobby and Jack did, nor as a war hero, like his oldest brother. He died a mere senator, whose career was so long, as George Will noted, that it comprised more than one-fifth of the entire existence of the US constitution... Andrew Sullivan in The Times of London.
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$15.5M to Supply Electricity for Northeast US Military Facilities
Air Station Cape Cod, Nantucket Coast Guard Station included

The supply of electricity is vital to maintain any modern facility, especially a US military facility. And the Defense Logistics Agency's Defense Energy Support Center (DESC) ensures that contracts are awarded to companies to deliver that electricity.

DESC recently awarded 3 contracts worth $15.5 million to supply electricity to US military facilities in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. And the winners are:

• Hess - $9.4 million contract (SP0600-09-D-8027) to supply electricity to the US Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT; Cape Cod Air Force Station in Bourne, MA; and the US Naval Station Newport in Newport, RI. The contract has a maximum value of $23.1 million, according to a US DefenseLink announcement.
• Constellation NewEnergy - $4.1 million contract (SP0600-09-D-8029) to supply electricity to US Coast Guard facilities in Nantucket, MA; US Army Soldier System Center in Natick, MA; and US Army - Barnes.
• Consolidated Edison Solutions - $2 million contract (SP0600-09-D-8028) to supply electricity to the US Army 94th Reserves facilities in Massachusetts and US Coast Guard facilities in Massachusetts.
  

Defense Industry Daily.
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Regular folks flock to Ted Kennedy's grave - 'he worked for little guy'

Ted Kennedy's fresh grave was piled high with roses, mums and cards Sunday as a steady stream of regular folks came to pay their respects... Virginia Morlock, 56, a native of Cape Cod, knelt beside the new gravestone and carefully placed 10 red roses among the pile of flowers, American flags, cards and a wooden Jetfire model airplane.

"He's been my senator my whole life," she said, tears hidden behind her sunglasses. "It's very emotional and it makes me very proud."

She recalled racing against Kennedy in the annual Memorial Day sailboat race between Hyannis and Nantucket... NY Daily News.

Chapter 54-The Operation

Copyright 1995
By David Rojay

THE LONG BRIDGE RUNNER
Book One/THE MIDWEST

The time for Daniel's operation finally arrived. It was scheduled for early Monday morning.
________________________________________________________________________
Friday night when the rooms filled with parents and friends, Daniel roamed the halls with a breaking heart. He was glad the other bed in his room was empty so he would not have to invent explanations about his family's absence.

Dorothy finally arrived on Saturday----bearing gifts. A book on the African Velt" and a box of Dutch chocolates. "These are from a chocolate store near the hospital. Dr. Gurion said they were good for you. They'll give you energy."

The chocolates were so chocolaty that Daniel didn't particularly like them but he pretended to for his mother's sake. As time passed, nothing was left to say. Daniel wanted to scream out his fears but he did not, partly because his mother seemed distant as if she had already dismissed him from her life.

"Well, Glenn's waiting for me in the waiting room; I have to go," she finally said.

Daniel lay awake that night wondering if he was going to die. It seemed that this was so, so little had been done for a son who would live. All the lonely nights of the past months, and now this. Again he cried out in pain. He cried for a Savior but the image of Jesus didn't work. As he fell into the chasm of sleep, he saw the little blond girl's smiling face, her golden hair radiant in the sunlight, her welcoming blue eyes. He could hold on to this, he thought.

He awoke to see his father's face.

"Hi, son," said Jake with an awkward grin. Jake, the tough guy, seemed transformed back to a boy like himself. He reached out to touch his son and then fell into great heaving sobs.

"I didn't think you'd come," Daniel said as Jake sobbed even louder.

Upon hearing this, Lynn came into the room. She smiled and bent to kiss him then her eyes filled with tears.

I'm going to die for sure, Daniel thought, all this sadness.

"You look just like your dad," Daniel heard his nurse say as she arrived with a needle. As she injected him, Daniel held his hand out to his father as if the need to console was reversed.

"Here, son," said a finally composed Jake as he handed Daniel another cap pistol, a big one this time. Daniel Could only laugh at his growing gun collection.

The exit of Jake and the entrance of Dorothy seemed to have been choreographed down to the minute. Toys, games and candies were stacked on Daniel's bed. "For after the operation," Dorothy said as if to guarantee the future. The stuff was mostly junk and Daniel wondered how his mother had had the foresight to buy him "Animals of the African Velt."

"It was for sale in the Dutch Chocolate Shop. That's why it says Velt instead of Jungle," she said, still not understanding the meaning of "Velt".

As Dorothy talked, Daniel thought about the little blond girl and how he longed for her and his grandmother. He formed his grandmother's image in his mind and saw her waving from the farmhouse veranda as he heard his mother say, "I'll be back tonight and Glenn is coming in with me." She kissed him and was gone. A terrible pain filled his chest, his whole body and he trembled in fear.

That evening as the morphine wore off, Daniel saw his mother and Glenn standing in the bluish light. "Hey, buddy." Glenn said with his usual awkwardness.

His mother leaned over him and in her theatrical voice said, "Son, we have brought Reverend Early with us. He's from a Baptist Church here in St. Louis and he's going to talk to you."

The Reverend moved into place beside Daniel's bed and said, "Daniel, have you received the blessings of the Holy Ghost and the saving salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ?"

He sounds like a vacuum cleaner salesman with his recited speech, Daniel thought as he shook his head "No."

The minister continued, "Daniel repeat after me John 3:16 'For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.' You know that verse don't you Daniel? Your mother told me you did."

"He knows the whole New Testament when he wants to," his mother said testily.

Daniel focused on the Reverend's smile, so forced, so much at work.

"What are we doing?" he asked.

"Never you mind that," the minister said, "Just repeat after me John 3:16."

Daniel smiled and looked at his mother then at Glenn who returned his puzzled look with one of his own.

"Mom, are you trying to get me saved before I die?" he asked.

Dorothy flushed red and then the words burst out, "I'm trying to get you saved so you won't go to hell."

The minister turned to her in surprise.

"What you're doing mom, is taking out insurance at the very last moment."

The minister's smile was gone and Dorothy was shouting unintelligibly.

"Be quiet." Glenn commanded her.

After a moment of silence Daniel said, "All this is unnecessary. I'm under the age of accountability."

His mother sobbed.

"Isn't that right?" Daniel asked the minister.

With a pained expression Minister Early answered, "Yes, in a strictly theological sense, it is."

Dorothy sobbed even louder and then screamed, "If you weren't in this hospital bed, I'd whip you within an inch of your life."

A nurse came running into the room. "What is all this shouting about?" she demanded. "This boy's in surgery at 6:00 a.m. You'll have to leave immediately."

Dorothy seemed to realize the seriousness of her outburst as she was pulled outside by the nurse.

"Well, God bless you, my boy," said the rattled minister as he left.
Glenn remained standing ever more awkward than before. He coughed a dry cough and stepped forward. "You'll be all right, buddy," he said as he patted Daniel's head in his very first gesture of affection.

Dorothy was allowed back into the room and held Daniel in a sobbing embrace. He could hear his mother protesting as he was pumped full of morphine. He fell into a deep sleep and dreamed of sunlit days by the reservoir; clouds coasted overhead and his father lay on his back snoring softly. But he awoke back in the hospital, being wheeled down the hallway to a room where he was bathed and shaven until his body was free of hair.

He was moved again and saw his mother in a blur. He could not understand what she said, then he passed through double doors into a room of green tiled walls and a ceiling of lights. Several persons awaited him, their faces and bodies covered in green fabric. He was placed upon a padded table, next to it a tray where row upon row of instruments lay-scalpels, forceps, saws, prying bars. "These are to be used on me." Daniel thought as the tray was covered by a green cloth. Two nurses began to swab him with iodine.

This is it, Daniel thought. I cannot flee now; I cannot leave.
A cold numbness settled upon him as an I.V. was placed in his right arm. Eyes in masked faces searched his eyes, muttering words. Someone patted his face and he looked up to see familiar blue eyes.

"Hello, Daniel," came a voice from behind the mask.
"Dr. Gurion?"

"Yes, Daniel," the voice replied, "I'm here beside you."

A moment passed and Gurion nodded to another doctor as he said, "Look at the tube in your arm, Daniel."

Daniel watched as the Phenobarbital traveled down through the tube and into his arm, then-blackness, blackness without thought.

Dorothy had been told that the operation would take most of the day-eight to ten hours; but by the sixth hour she grew faint and had to be put in bed. Her dizziness grew worse and she complained until a sedative was administered.

In the operating room, Dr. Gruber had encountered complications that had slowed his progress. At one point he felt hopeless; but the soft-spoken German spoken by Gurion encouraged him, gave him new strength. As for Gurion, his brain drained down the energy of every moment. In his heart, Daniel was transfigured into Abraham and he stood by, ready to save him.

When the operation was finished at 8:00 p.m, fourteen hours after its start, Dr. Gruber reeled with exhaustion, but Gurion who had drawn his being into a fist, rejoiced. Standing in the recovery room, he waited for Daniel's first glance. When the boy's eyes opened and saw him, tears fell down his cheeks.

"Is he all right?" Dorothy asked from her bed of pain. She could hardly release her expectations of his death, the expectations of his funeral, the expectations of condolences and regret that would have been heaped upon her. But she struggled to her feet, full of self-pity and when she first looked at Daniel's face, the words that leapt from his eyes were, "I lived!!!!!!!!"
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Chapters change on Mondays and Thursdays:
Be sure to watch David Rojay on The Dan and Dad Show each Saturday night at 9:30 on Channel 17. Read A RED STATE HERO by David Rojay on capecodtoday.com. Read Sea Street-David Rojay's blog on capecodtoday.com and finally check out David Rojay on YOUTUBE. For more information, Google "David Rojay".
Check out my Sea Street Blog: Promises and Plans on Martha's Vineyard

Wait a while before renaming things for Ted

Unseemly haste during time of grief always causes regret

The Zakim Bridge is one of the World's Top Ten and should be renamed for Ted Kennedy. Above is the Amber Alert sign on the bridge during yesterday's downpours as the state mourned his loss. Walter Brooks photo.

Let's try to learn from history rather than repeat it

By Walter Brooks

The minute a great or famous person dies there is always a rush to rename things in their honor. Boston did it a decade ago when it named the majestic new bridge crossing the Charles River the Leonard P. Zakim Bridge. The roadway on that bridge is the John F. Fitzgerald Expressway (Route I-93) named for Ted Kennedy's maternal grandfather.

Not one person in a thousand today knows who Zakim was.

The bridge's name commemorates Zakim who was a Boston civic leader and civil rights activist. Originally Massachusetts Republican Governor A. Paul Cellucci wanted to name it the "Freedom Bridge," however in 2000 local clergy and religious leaders, including Cardinal Bernard Francis Law, requested the Zakim name shortly after Mr. Zakim's death from myeloma. Gov. Cellucci agreed to the naming, but community leaders from the insular community of Charlestown objected to the name as they felt that since the design reflected the nearby Bunker Hill memorial, it should be named the "Bunker Hill Freedom bridge". Today the unwieldy full name of the bridge is "The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge".

Today not one Massachusetts resident in a thousand has the slightest idea who Zakim was. The unseemly haste in naming what is now a symbol of our state's capital city for him seems ill-advised in the extreme.  The Travel Channel has ranked the Zakim Bridge 9th in their list of the World's Top Ten Bridges.

Cape Canaveral becomes Cape Kennedy becomes Cape Canaveral

When Ted Kennedy's brother, President John F. Kennedy, died in 1963, his widow Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis suggested to President Lyndon Johnson that renaming the Cape Canaveral facility would be an appropriate memorial. However, Johnson recommended the renaming not just of the facility, but of the entire cape which had born the name Canaveral for four centuries. Accordingly, Cape Canaveral was renamed Cape Kennedy.

Honor Ted in a manner in which the ages will approve.

This was not popular in Florida, and a decade later the state passed a law restoring the former 400-year-old name. The Kennedy family issued a letter stating they "understood the decision". Jacqueline also stated if she had known that the Canaveral name had existed for 400 years, she never would have supported changing the name of the cape. The Space Center itself retains the "Kennedy" name.

A serendipitous way to honor Ted and undo a mistake

Senator Kennedy must also be honored, but let's do it after the hysteria has settled and in a manner in which the ages will approve.

One idea would be to undo the state's mistake of a decade ago and rename one of the World's Top Ten Bridges in his name, the Ted Kennedy Bridge with his grandfather's name on its roadbed already.

And while we're at it, let's ask the President to rename his Healthcare Bill as "Kennedy Care" and let his former Republican colleagues votes against that.

A ?kind and tender hero' is laid to rest at Arlington; Mihos beats the field; Canonization of Ted Kennedy

TODAY's quote: "The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die." - Ted Kennedy at the 1980 Democratic Convention.

Kennedy a ‘kind and tender hero' Senator laid to rest at Arlington;
family, friends reflect at funeral

The Amber Alert signs on Massachusetts highways yesterday reflected the state's sorrow. This one is on the Zakim Bridge in Boston. Walter Brooks photo.

On the day he was carried to his final resting place, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was remembered as a legislator of almost unequaled prowess, a political force who left a lasting imprint on the country.

But he was also remembered Saturday as a husband, father and patriarch whose private acts of love and devotion helped his star-crossed family endure tragedy and misfortune.

President Obama led the mourners at a solemn Roman Catholic Mass attended by 1,500 people, including three former presidents, at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston, where the Kennedy family dynasty was born. A steady rain fell, adding an elegiac touch to a day already drenched in sorrow.

Just after sunset Saturday, after Kennedy's last flight to Washington, the burial service began. Kennedy was buried near his two slain brothers, John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, on sloping ground at Arlington National Cemetery.

Before arriving at the cemetery, the hearse carrying Kennedy stopped at the plaza on the East Front of the Capitol at 6:25 p.m. There, former Kennedy staffers, lawmakers, other congressional aides and members of the public were gathered to pay their respects.

As the crowd broke into applause, Kennedy's widow, Victoria, emerged, offering hugs and embraces. After a short prayer service and the singing of "America the Beautiful," the motorcade proceeded along Constitution Avenue to the cemetery... Journal Gazette.
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Poll finds Mihos' lead over Patrick growing

Republican gubernatorial candidate Christy Mihos, who held a 41-40 lead over Gov. Deval Patrick in June poll, leads Patrick 40-35 in the latest Rasmussen Reports survey of Bay State voters.

The poll showed Patrick leading Republican candidate Charlie Baker 40-39. Rasmussen later today will release new numbers on what Massachusetts voters think of their state health care reform plan.

According to Rasmussen, "the fact that the numbers are similar regardless of which Republican is mentioned suggests that the race for now is a referendum on the incumbent rather than a choice between competing alternatives." The phone survey of 500 likely voters was taken on Thursday, Aug. 20. Herald.
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Christy Mihos edges out Chalie Baker in latest poll
Maybe Healthcare Execs aren't all that popular these days

Gov. Deval Patrick is facing eroding political support following an unpopular tax hike, according to a poll released yesterday that showed him losing to scrappy Republican challenger Christy Mihos in the upcoming 2010 election.

The poll by Rasmussen Reports showed Mihos defeating the incumbent Democrat by 5 percentage points, 40 percent to 35 percent, with a margin of error of 4.5 percent. Patrick was down by 1 percentage point in a matchup with Mihos in a Rasmussen poll in June.

"Making the difficult decisions needed to ensure Massachusetts is the state best prepared to recover from the current economic crisis is bound to impact the latest pollster's results," said Patrick campaign spokesman Steve Crawford. "Governor Patrick is making those tough calls, and we're confident in the outcome."

The latest Rasmussen poll shows another Republican candidate, Charlie Baker, beating Patrick by 1 point... Herald.
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Canonization of Ted Kennedy ignores his record
Not all of America feels about Kennedy the way Massachusetts does

I thought it may be too soon after Sen. Ted Kennedy's passing for an honest analysis of his life. After watching the canonization of Kennedy this past week, though, I finally decided it's never too early to tell the truth.

Had the mainstream media offered a frank assessment, it would not be left to those like me, immune to the Kennedy mystique, to remind the forgetful of things we ought never forget.

Sure, Kennedy served in the U.S. Senate for 46 years. To make a nearly 50-year career out of what our founding fathers envisioned as a temporary position passed among the citizenry is nothing to brag about. Kennedy's rise to the Senate was while - and because - his brother was president of the United States. That's not to say that his tenure was wholly undistinguished. His work on the Americans with Disabilities Act, his work on cancer research and mental health benefits are all to be applauded...

Kennedy was supposedly a champion of the environmental movement. He voted against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and nuclear energy. He had a 100 percent rating with the Campaign for America's Future, a "progressive" group dedicated to, among other things, radical environmental policy.

However, when it came to being a part of any energy solution, Kennedy opposed the Cape Cod wind energy project. This would have allowed construction of 134 wind turbines eight miles off the coast of Kennedy's Hyannis Port home. Even though the turbines would be barely visible on the horizon, if at all, he put the skids on the project... The Tennessean.