Years and years ago, when I first came to US (1973), I used to watch
Johnny Carson with great pleasure; he had a wonderful, understated
sense of humour, and delivered all his lines almost dead-pan, with
barely a twitch of a - self-deprecating - smile... Even though I no
longer watch TV (and wouldn't have seen him if I had, since he retired
long ago), I was saddened to read about his death; in '73 he was one of
the people who'd made me hopeful that my re-rooting to this new (in
many ways <g>) country might be a success... The date of the following
- 10 yrs to the day before *the* Sept 11 - is eerie.
From: R.P.
Johnny Carson delivered the following monologue on "The Tonight
Show" on Sept. 11, 1991, to the accompaniment of the studio band's
humming rendition of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic":
To me, democracy means placing trust in the little guy, giving the
fruits of nationhood to those who built the nation. Democracy
means anyone can grow up to be president, and anyone who doesn't
grow up can be vice president.
Democracy is people of all races, colors, and creeds united by a
single dream: to get rich and move to the suburbs away from people
of all races, colors, and creeds. Democracy is having time set
aside to worship - 18 years if you're Jim Bakker.
Democracy is buying a big house you can't afford with money you
don't have to impress people you wish were dead. And, unlike
communism, democracy does not mean having just one ineffective
political party; it means having two ineffective political
parties.
Democracy means freedom of sexual choice between any two
consenting adults; Utopia means freedom of choice between three or
more consenting adults. But I digress. Democracy is welcoming
people from other lands, and giving them something to hold onto -
usually a mop or a leaf blower. It means that with proper timing
and scrupulous bookkeeping, anyone can die owing the government a
huge amount of money.
Democracy means a thriving heartland with rolling fields of
Alfalfa, Buckwheat, Spanky, and Wheezer. Democracy means our
elected officials bow to the will of the people, but more often
they bow to the big butts of campaign contributors.
Yes, democracy means fighting every day for what you deserve, and
fighting even harder to keep other weaker people from getting what
they deserve. Democracy means never having the Secret Police show
up at your door. Of course, it also means never having the cable
guy show up at your door. It's a tradeoff. Democracy means free
television. Not good television, but free.
Democracy is being able to pick up the phone and, within a minute,
be talking to anyone in the country, and, within two minutes, be
interrupted by call waiting.
Democracy means no taxation without representation, and god knows,
we've just about had the hell represented out of us. It means the
freedom to bear arms so you can blow the "o" out of any rural stop
sign you want.
And finally, democracy is the eagle on the back of a dollar bill,
with 13 arrows in one claw, 13 leaves on a branch, 13 tail
feathers, and 13 stars over its head. This signifies that when the
white man came to this country, it was bad luck for the Indians,
bad luck for the trees, bad luck for the wildlife, and lights out
for the American eagle.
I thank you.
--
Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/
Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland)
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