Thursday, August 23, 2012

Will the bells toll for the GOP revelers?

It was good to see that Ohio will get some attention at the Republican Convention, even if it's for all of the wrong reasons.  On Tuesday night,  Gov. Kasich will be wedged into the program to speak on  something that might be called, "How to succeed in business - no matter what Barack tells you." It's been one of "Myth" Romney's theme songs to satisfy  his uber-capitalist base  even if he was born with a big silver spoon in his crib.

It matters not to him that his quest for the Oval Office is being heavily financed by  some of America's richest right-wing escorts, without whom he would be a footnote to presidential history.

Meantime, we can only hope that Kasich won't rely on his previous word for Californians as "wackadoodles" even though many of that state's delegates probably are.

Until then, we turn to John Donne, the oft-quoted English poet, lawyer and clergyman, for inspiration  in hopes that somebody down in Orlando will  repeat it to the "we built it"  GOP revelers:

Here, in full and not out of context, are the words of John Donne:

No man is an island
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent.
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea.
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine  friend's were .
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

2 comments:

Grumpy Abe said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
David Hess said...

Ah, the sonorous rhythm of poet Donne's most famous verse summons back my memory of the time that the late Ohio Gov. James A. Rhodes recited it before an audience attending a building dedication. As I recall, Rhodes stood at the lectern, mispronounced the poet's name as Donny, then proceeded to recite the verse: "No man is an Ireland ......." Somehow, the rest of the poem was lost in the translation. From English to Rhodish. The late Rick Zimmerman, of the Plain Dealer, and I stopped taking notes.