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Thursday, September 2, 2010

I Don't Know About You...
















...but I've always enjoyed the political commentary of George Will.  Straightforward, thought provoking commentary about politics and history seems to be his forte.  While I don't agree with all of his views on things, I'm always left with the conclusion that they are well thought-out and believable, undoubtedly more so than my own.

Yesterday I sat next to George Will on a plane from Washington DC to Columbia, SC.  He's shorter than I thought, but with a head of hair I can only hope for at his age.  Sort of a less wrinkled Lou Holtz, minus the bubbly personality.  Well, that's not exactly correct because he giggled several times while reading a biography of the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan, underlining the best parts with a blue pen.

"I see you're reading about the late Senator Moynihan, Mr. Will.  Did you know him well?"
"Yes.  He was a very dear friend", he said.
"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss", I said. 
After a pause, "Why are you heading to SC?"
"I'm presenting to a group of local veterans tomorrow about the Battle of the Bulge", Mr. Will said, never looking up from his book- that dirty blond hair being blown gently by the airplane's overhead air spout.
Giggle, followed by an underline with the blue pen.

For those who don't know, I only appear idiotic.  It's a mere surface trait to a brilliant mind.  I actually have some scope of knowledge regarding American history and knew that the "Battle of the Bulge" was not an Oxygen channel original reality show about weight loss.  I decided to go for the throat and impress this tiny but wicked-smart politico.

"So, er, who's your favorite historian on the subject. hmmmm?", I said.
Giggle, sigh, blue pen underline. 
Never looking up from between the pages of his dear friends life he said, "The memoirs of Truman".

Oh, yes of course, the memoirs of Truman!  Darn, I should of thought of that.  After that brief exchange I left the poor man alone, lost in his memories of the distinguished gentleman from New York.
Sniffle, sigh, underline...

4 comments:

Rick said...

You sell yourself short - your brilliant mind has no outer idiocy showing at all. Pretty cool brush with greatness.

The original actual Battle of the Bulge was a heroic turning point in WW2.

You may be remembering that "Battle Of The Bulge" was in fact a Lifetime Movie starring Valerie Bertinelli.

Bill from the Parking lot said...

Wow in an economy like this, you are still flying first class? Or was George Will stuck in coach with you :-)

Alan said...

It was a small commuter plane. No first or business class. All passengers were considered special in their own way.

James said...

I really enjoy his columns. He is a very smart man, who writes about baseball with the same intelligence and circumspection as he does politics.