Thursday, December 26, 2013

Helmut Schmidt's 95th Birthday and the Critical Mom

For what would Herr Schmidt like to be remembered?
Taking a drag on his cigarette, Herr Schmidt gazed thoughtfully into middle distance, and replied, "That I recognized my duty and I did it."
Should Obama live so long, and should he have any successes, would he say, "That yes, I did it!  I fulfilled my dream of leading the American nation!"
What would Queen Elizabeth say?  Prince Charles?  Any Brit?  That they did the moral thing.  (Take that, coloniality!)
We have recognized our duty:  to eat, drink, and be merry, and we are doing it right now.  The children sit before their tablets and cell phones, making horrid luridly-colored figures hop up and down on railroad tracks, and I sit answering my email, and my husband slept a little later than usual, and we're about to go shopping for things we don't need one little bit.
It's Christmas.

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