Jim Jordan Should Scare the US and Australia's Recent Vote Should Scare the World
Jim Jordan Embarrasses Himself and Congress, Australia's Vote Encourages Ignorance, A College Degree Means Longer Life Span and Less Divorce, What I'm Watching on TV, Bob Dylan Sings
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: John Lennon reminds us of our true place in the universe.
Australia Vote Is a Cautionary Tale for the US: One side’s slogan “If you don’t know, vote no,” is the first sign of a zombie apocalypse.
Jim Jordan Runs for Speaker: He’s an embarrassment to his party, to Congress, to the country. Worse, he’s dangerous.
Study Shows College Degree Benefits: Longer Life, More Career Opportunities, Less Depression, Better Chance of Marriage, and Less Divorce: Why we need to pay more attention to the needs of those without college degrees.
What I’m Watching on TV: Dark Winds and The Irrational are two highly entertaining mystery shows.
Kareem’s Daily Video: Prepare your feet for some cool dance moves.
Kareem’s Jukebox Playlist: Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan sings “Tangled Up in Blue” and a bonus song, “The Times They Are A-Changin’”
Kareem’s Daily Quote
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
John Lennon, “Beautiful Boy,” 1980
The origin of this quote, in slightly different wording, is actually from a 1956 Mary Worth comic strip by Allen Saunders. But most of us today remember it from John Lennon’s touching song to his son, “Beautiful Boy,” which I featured a few newsletters ago.
That line always stays with me whenever I play the song. To me, it’s an urgent reminder of how silly and inconsequential so many of our plans are and how little control we have over the trajectory of our lives. There’s a Yiddish saying very similar: “Man plans and God laughs.” That saying is even a Public Enemy song. And, of course, there’s Robert Burns’ poem that warns: “The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley.” (“The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.”) In other words, we need to put our planning in perspective and accept the unexpected joys in life as blessings rather than obstacles.
Today, with two active wars being fought, election turmoil here, and a general degradation of reason and compassion, the quote reminds me not to be frustrated by what I can’t control, but to nevertheless fight for what’s good and right—because that’s something I can control.
House Delays 3rd Vote After Jordan Fails Again (The New York Times)
SUMMARY: Jim Jordan, a hard-right Ohio Republican, couldn’t gain enough support from his party to become speaker. The House remains leaderless after two weeks of Republican infighting and will return Thursday, according to a person familiar with the plans.
MY TAKE: I debated with myself about commenting on this story because Jordan has lost twice—the second time, getting even fewer votes than the first. But he’s apparently still going after the job in an attempt to gain more power. The fact that Jordan is in Congress offends me, offends my sense of what this country stands for. The fact that he might become Speaker of the House is way past offensive—it’s dangerous to the well-being of our country.
I’ve encouraged sports figures to use their platform to improve the lives of others. Jordan has done just the opposite. We elect people to advance our interests while protecting us from threats both external and domestic. Jordan was an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State where former wrestlers have accused him of knowingly allowing sexual abuse of the students to occur.
That’s a guy protecting his job, not vulnerable kids.
As for advancing public interests, Jordan has not had any legislation passed. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Instead, he storms around without a jacket to promote the image of a hard-working representative, but that image is a mirage. All he’s done is start meaningless investigations against anyone who opposes right-wing agendas, including the district attorney prosecuting Trump for attempting to overturn the 2020 election. The results of his investigations: Nothing. Nada. D.A. Fani Willis summed up Jordan’s ineffective efforts: “Your letter makes clear that you lack a basic understanding of the law, its practice and the ethical obligations of attorneys generally and prosecutors specifically.”
This is the man who would be Speaker. He shouldn’t have even been a coach.