OPINION R. R. Reasoner: My Name It Means Nothing

After a hiatus of more than fifteen years and in my seventh decade, I take up the pen again to comment on politics, the economy, the social condition and anything else the sacred First Amendment allows me to say.

Some teachers of rhetoric recommend using a bit of verse to open up, so, being a bit rusty at opining, I’ll follow that advice and give you this bit of doggerel sung by Bob Dylan in his iconic 1963 performance at Town Hall in New York:

“My name it means nothing, my age it means less

The country I come from is called the Midwest”

If you find any hint of consistent political or social doctrine in what I say in this or any future commentary, it is unintentional and  I apologize in advance if it occurs.

Having been a political junky for a very long time, I have considered more political doctrines than I can count and have concluded that most such are “sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.” Hackneyed expressions like “liberal” or “conservative” or “libertarian” or “Republican” or “Democrat” or “Family Values” or “Pro-Choice” or “left wing” or “right wing” have come, through careless and confused use, to mean nothing at all. They are but empty “buzz words” used now by vulgar politicians and unlearned talking heads to harangue those they would hoodwink.

Seemingly gone are the days when rational debate, demonstrable facts and concern for the greater good had a place in forming or commenting upon public issues

The proprietors of this Internet website have known me for years, and thus require me to declare upfront that what I say in no way reflects what they believe.  I have promised the proprietors these rantings will be brief, so will conclude this first one by passing out a few samples, id est, making a few one-sentence statements on subjects that will be the themes of some future posts in this cyberspace:

SAMPLE ONE:  First Congressional District voters should elect a new congressman based not on who is the smartest or the best looking or the most honest or most articulate, but the wise decision would be to elect whomever among them is the youngest.

SAMPLE TWO:  Jimmy Carter, the notoriously pious 39th president of the United States, should bend his knee daily and thank Providence for the presidential performance of the 15th president, James Buchanan, known by his contemporaries as a “doughface,” and it had nothing to do with Old Buck’s physical appearance.

SAMPLE THREE:  State law requires a balanced budget and, that being the case, the current talk in the Mississippi legislature and from the governor’s office about a “tax cut”  is a cynical election year shell game.

Time now for my keepers to carry me back to the institution.  More later.

R. R. Reasoner

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