SAGE REMINDERS
The oft celebated Sage of Ccncord – Ralph Waldo Emerson – left us a wealth of maxims which we find, so often, apply readily to present-day events and circumstances.
One such use came to mind Thursday when Dr. Condileezza Rice was testifying under oath before the group of five Democrats and five Republicans serving as a board of inquiry concernig the causes of the September 11th debacle and a the possibilities that it could have been prevented.
Several factors kept me on edge throghout the entire session. A vaguly antagonistic attitude was seen in Democratic members who seemed intent on how they could estalish an illusion that President President Geoge W. Bush was reponsible for the entire affair and that he did not give the problem the importnce it deservd. They kept setting forth the idea that Bush was the sole person who could have prevented "September11th from happening";' that he had not done so because he was, they claimed, too preoccupied with a project to send troops to invade Iraq and ignored threats from the Al Quada.
Another point which worried me was that the questioners, at times, revealed their weaknesses and uncertain grounds by repeatedly and rudely interupting the speaker as she testified in reply to their questions. I felt that one particularly aggressive individual spoke to her in a tone of voice which was very close to condescending and addressed Dr. Rice as "Mrs. Rice" even though the proper desognation had been firmly established by common usage at the start of the procedings.
Where does Emerson fit into all of this?
In spite of promises that that it would not be so, the panel is defintely partisan which indicat that nothing can be expcted to come directly from it. However, it's actions may cause individuals to think through thematter ontheir own.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny next to our awareness of what lies within us."
Dr. Rice, I felt, spoke with calm assurance. She exhibited quite well her qualificatins for her place in our govenment. Her questioners did not alway speak with such assurance. She took their blantant attempts to confuse and confound her without stopping, but continued to make her point over the obstacles. At times. Her train of thought was actually given emphasis by the fact that it surmounted their crude attempts at derailment. If one could listen to a tape of such verbal constrictions, it might sound more like a tape editor had "beeped out" unwanted words and phrases, but her thought goes on.
Considering what we have heard thus far in the hearing it would certainly suggest that Emerson's words will sum it all up for most of us when the panel has completed its charade.
L.M. April 8, 2004 [c479wds]
