By Dean M. Shapiro

When I was a kid . . . I don’t remember how old I was . . .
I read a biography of William Penn, founder of Philadelphia and
namesake of Penn’s Sylvania. As a young boy in the late 1640s,
he watched Oliver Cromwell riding triumphantly through the streets of
London after overthrowing the self-indulgent Stuart monarchy and
preparing for his role as “Lord Protector” of the British Isles.

Cromwell was cheered and welcomed as a conquering hero at the time
but, soon afterward, the British people he was supposedly “protecting”
realized what they were in for. England became a somber place under his
Puritan “protectorate.” Bars and theaters were closed. Drab dress codes for
men and women were strictly enforced. Boys found playing football (soccer)
on Sundays would be whipped. Cussing in public was subject to heavy fines.
Even the traditional celebration of Christmas, with food and festivities, was
banned. On top of all that, Cromwell hated Catholics and terrorized the Irish,
slaughtering them by the thousands, even after their villages surrendered to
his army.

By the time Cromwell died in 1658, England was eager to go back to its old ways.
The monarchy was restored and gaiety returned. Cromwell’s body was exhumed,
hung in effigy and dismembered.

As I watched New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton riding up St. Charles
Avenue proudly holding aloft the Vince Lombardi Trophy his team won in the Super
Bowl two days earlier, my mind flashed back to the biography I had read on
William Penn. Yes, Payton and his team are conquering heroes, deservedly
being honored by the city that has faithfully supported them through good and
bad and worse for 43 years. They well earned the adulation of those who
jammed the streets of New Orleans last night to welcome them home.
Estimates of 800,000 or more people braved the cold and the wind to extol
their heroes and chant the “Who Dat!” mantra that carried the team through
its greatest season.

Not to rain on anyone’s parade – literally – but, as history has shown,
euphoria is a very fleeting commodity. It is gratefully bestowed on those
who deserve it but it can just as easily and quickly evaporate. Success is
often a tough act to follow and, after a Super Bowl victory – especially the
first one by a team that has waited so long for its opportunity to come – what
does one do for an encore? Win it again the following year? The feeling can’t be
duplicated the second time around.

By Dean M. Shapiro

Just call me the harbinger of doom!

Several days ago, when my latest blog was posted listing potential Republican presidential candidates for 2012 and discussing some things about them, I had this to say about South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford: “Doubtful that 98.6% of Americans even know who he is or can point to any of his accomplishments. But he has 2-3 years to convince us he might actually be serious. Good luck!”

Well, as “luck” would have it, those numbers might suddenly have reversed after Sanford’s well-publicized Argentine escapade. Or should we call it what it really was: a fiasco. Now 98.6% of the American people may know who he is but not necessarily in a way he would WANT to be known. Way to go, Mark! Presidential aspirations? Fuggetaboutit!

THE SINS OF THE FATHERS (ON FATHER’S DAY)

By Dean M. Shapiro

When my kids were younger, my late ex-father in law and I used to go on an annual retreat at Manresa House of Retreats in St. James Parish. We did this together for about 15 years, always on the same weekend every year.

Before leaving on the Sunday the retreat ended, Manresa’s director – a Jesuit priest – would offer a special blessing for us before sending us back into the real world after three blissful days of silence and introspective contemplation. The special blessing was for Father’s Day, which it nearly always was, and nearly every man in the room was a father. Many were grandfathers. And when I arrived back home, my kids were waiting there with open arms for their Dad.

By Dean M. Shapiro

Some people, it seems, just don’t know when to quit. They don’t know when their time is up. They don’t know when to get off the stage. They don’t get the message. They just don’t get it – period.

Such is the case with Newton Leroy “Newt” Gingrich. For those with short memories, here’s a brief refresher course. He was the ringleader of the so-called Republican Revolution of 1994 and one of the chief architects of the so-called “Contract With America.” With the Republicans firmly in control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years, Gingrich became the all-powerful Speaker of the House and third in line for the presidential succession. So powerful, in fact, that he engineered a virtual shutdown of the federal government, all because he got his poor little feelings hurt over President Clinton relegating to the back of Air Force One. Under his leadership, the House began an inquiry that drafted and sent to the Senate the first articles of impeachment against a President of the United States in 130 years. The same president, mind you, who sat him at the rear end of AF One.

Every now and then – roughly every 30-40 years, the approximate span of a generation – the United States is given an opportunity to move forward with progressive change. This is the focal point of a new book by Mike Lux.

Mike who? Although not a household name (yet!) Lux could be on his way to becoming one. He has worked quietly behind the political scenes for several decades, most notably in the Clinton administration and most recently on the Obama-Biden Transition Team, and is beginning to emerge as one of the leading voices of a new progressive movement. His new book, THE PROGRESSIVE REVOLUTION, is getting considerable exposure on the Web. If it turns into a bestseller, it could become a new bible and blueprint for a wave of change that will transform our nation and its way of life for the better.

I haven’t read the book yet but I definitely intend to. I have read a lot about it and watched YouTube interviews featuring Lux and his views. And though I haven’t yet read the book, I’m already in his camp.

I have always preferred the term “progressive” over the much-maligned “liberal” label anyway, and have always corrected people on that count when they accused me of being a liberal. The root word of progressive is “progress.” I like that and I can identify comfortably with that. The term “liberal,” on the other hand, conjures up connotations of an old Phil Ochs song, “Love Me, I’m a Liberal.” In it, among other things, Ochs sings of people who “go to civil rights rallies,” “love Harry (Belafonte) Sidney (Poitier) and Sammy (Davis, Jr.),” “hopes every colored boy becomes a star” and “loves Puerto Ricans and Negros as long as they don't move next door.”

Having come of age in the late ‘60s, the term “liberal” was already a dirty word, long before Rush Limbaugh and others of his ilk plunged their fangs into it. But, regardless of labels, like many others with whom I have shared an ideological bond since that time, I’ve been waiting a long time for a return to the opportunities for change that we had back then. Forty years, to be exact, which – not coincidentally – is roughly the span of a generation, as well as the time frames Lux uses in his book to denote the eras of great change in our nation’s history.

Lux identifies five “Big Change Moments” in American history, starting with the American Revolution in the 1770s and including the 1860s, the early 1900s, the New Deal Era of the 1930s and the 1960s. Inexplicably, he fails to include the Jacksonian Era of the1830s, in which “the common man” finally found a voice in the Nation’s Capital after six presidencies dominated by the Virginia/Massachusetts aristocrats who had or whose families had a hand in the founding of the nation. It was during this time, under Jackson’s leadership, that the plutocracy governing the National Bank was humbled and laid low. However, regarding the other “Big Change Moments,” Lux is right on the money.

Big changes did, indeed, come about in the 1860s under Lincoln and his immediate successors. Former slaves were freed and enfranchised. People with nothing were given an opportunity to settle on and own their own land under the Homestead Act. Land grant colleges gave educational opportunities to those previously shut out of a closed system.

In the early 1900s, under Teddy Roosevelt and his two successors, monolithic business “trusts” were broken up. Millions of acres of scenic and historic land were preserved for posterity. Laws were passed to ensure the safety of our food, drugs and workplaces. American-made products were shielded from foreign competition by protective tariffs.

Under the New Deal, labor reform was enacted into law. Jobs were created for millions of out-of-work people who were supporting families. Social Security became a much-needed safety net for retirees. Public works projects were constructed, many of which survive to this day. Faith and trust in our national leadership was probably at an all-time high.

In the ‘60s, presidents Kennedy and Johnson worked to ensure the voting rights of all citizens. Civil rights evolved from Martin Luther King’s “dream” to reality. Medical help for the elderly and needy was made available. The nation was moving forward on the right track until Vietnam derailed it.

But Vietnam wasn’t the only thing that derailed the progressive era of the ‘60s. A succession of reactionary presidents did their part as well -- Nixon, Reagan and George II being the chief executioners. Now, finally, after all these years, a historic opportunity has arrived again with a new president representing a new generation and new philosophies that are actually recycled old ones; throwbacks to earlier times were they were bandied about but never enacted. The windows of opportunity for enacting those reforms in earlier eras closed too soon.

And, wouldn’t you know it, before he is even dry behind his ears, Barack Obama is under attack for daring to express and beginning to enact a bold vision for the country he now leads. The critics have been gleefully sharpening their swords since his election in November, waiting to unsheath them on January 20, the day he took office. From their camp, Obama will not be granted the luxury of enjoying the honeymoon traditionally granted to incoming presidents.

Barely four or five weeks into the Obama administration, Limbaugh is telling the world, “I hope he fails.” On March 7, in his column, Charles Krauthammer is saying, “ . . . the list of causes of the collapse of the financial system does not include the absence of universal health care.”

That last statement is certainly a revelation to the millions of Americans whose PERSONAL “financial systems” have been decimated by skyrocketing medical and prescriptive drug costs. Close to 50 million citizens of the richest nation in history are without a health care safety net, yet high-paid columnists and commentators have the gall to pontificate about government interference in the people’s rights to free choices. What choices? The ones they can’t afford?

In earlier times, especially during the New Deal Era, there was a name for these types of callous, insensitive and reactionary loudmouths. They were called “obstructionists.” And that they were. They were obstructing “progress” which, once again I reiterate, is the root word of “progressive.” Fortunately at that time there weren’t enough of these obstructionists to block the needed reforms FDR was promulgating. We enjoy some of the major benefits of those reforms today, even despite the best efforts of later administrations to undo them.

In his book, Mike Lux urges us to “think big” and act quickly while the momentum for “profound change” is in our favor. The majority of Americans want change. They are not happy with many of the things they see around them today; from million dollar bonuses going to CEOs of failed corporations to skyrocketing medical and pharmaceutical and insurance costs to no-win wars against nations whose ideologies we have little or no understanding of. The list of grievances today is probably longer and more complex than those enumerated in the Declaration of Independence.

When George W. Bush took office in 2001, he was given a very long honeymoon; in large part thanks to the rallying of a nation behind him after 9/11. By my estimation he had at least a year and a half to two years before his game plan became clear and he started coming under scrutiny. Many of us, myself included, were actually cheering him and our troops on, praying they’d bring back bin Laden’s head on a stick. But, as we were to eventually learn, it was never about bin Laden at all; it was about Iraq and oil and Cheney and Haliburton and war profiteering and Bush Junior’s determination to outshine his daddy in bringing Saddam Hussein down. And, in so doing, a mess was left for the successor to attempt to clean up.

And so, if the Republicans in Congress continue to take their marching orders from Limbaugh and other non-elected windbags, it’s time for Obama and the Democratic majority to take the gloves off and steamroll right over the obstructionists. Call it payback for the past 8-12 years the Republicans were in control and bullied their opponents and the rest of us into this mess. If the honeymoon is over, so be it. If bipartisan olive branches are offered and spat upon by those to whom they’re being offered, then it’s time to start playing rough. Obama & Co. need to work with what they have, and what they have is a Congressional majority and a mandate from a large enough segment of the populace. It doesn’t get any better than this. They need to strike now while the iron is hot.

It cools off very fast.

Comments TO Contributor Dean Shapiro

On Feb. 28, Rush Limbaugh brought a cheering crowd to its feet
several times Saturday in Washington as he called on fellow conservatives
to take back the country in the keynote speech at the Conservative
Political Action Conference. He actually said the following:
"We want every American to be the best he or she chooses to be. We
recognize that we are all individuals. We love and revere our founding
documents, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. We
believe that the preamble of the Constitution contains an inarguable truth,
that we are all endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights,
among them life, liberty, freedom. And the pursuit of happiness," he said,
pausing several times for enthusiastic applause.
The blathering idiot who claims to “love and revere our founding documents”
doesn’t even know the difference between them. It is the Declaration of
Independence, not the Preamble to the Constitution that speaks of “inalienable
rights” and “life, liberty (not freedom) and the pursuit of happiness.”
Oh well, don’t let the facts get in the way of your venom, Rush.

By Dean M. Shapiro

Those New Orleanians who chose to brave the cold and the crowds
in Washington, D.C. for Barack Obama’s inauguration on the 20th,
certainly deserve all the ink and air time they received for their enthusiasm,
optimism, dedication and sacrifice. But what about those of us who chose
to stay home and celebrate the historic and jubilant occasion in the comfort
of our warm homes or favorite watering holes? Where were the cameras
and reporters for us?

Obviously the media couldn’t have been EVERYWHERE but, by their absence,
they missed some potentially good, heartwarming stories. They would have had
some good ones had they been, for instance, at Ernie K-Doe’s Mother in Law
Lounge in the 1500 block of North Claiborne Avenue. But they weren’t there,
so dust off some of the old Journalism training and report on some of the
story possibilities they missed.

Coincides with Lincoln's Birthday Celebration

On February 12, the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, a historical marker will be unveiled at the site where, in 1892, New Orleanian Homer Plessy attempted to board the “Whites Only” section of a passenger train and was arrested. This bold action resulted in the landmark “Plessy vs. Ferguson” U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1896 that ruled “Separate but equal” facilities for Blacks and Whites were legal and constitutional. This decision was one of the catalysts for the Civil Rights Movement, which spent the next sixty years trying to overturn that ruling; a struggle that goes on today. The unveiling ceremony will be at 2 p.m. on the corner of Royal and Press streets adjacent to the railroad tracks between the Faubourg Marigny and Bywater. Speakers will include Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Bernette Johnson, Tulane professor and race relations authority Lawrence N. Powell, UNO Professor and longtime NAACP officer Raphael Cassimere and historian/author Keith Weldon Medley. There will be musical performances by students from nearby New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA), Frederick Douglass High School and McDonogh #35 High School. Also on hand will be Keith Plessy and Phoebe Ferguson, descendents of the principals in the 1896 Supreme Court decision, who will announce the Plessy and Ferguson Foundation for Education, Preservation and Outreach. The foundation will work to “create new ways to teach the history of civil rights through film, art and public programs designed to create understanding of this historic case and its effects on the American conscience.”

A brief reception will follow the ceremony, which is free and open to the public.

By Dean M. Shapiro

I received this invitation in my email inbox the other day. It reads
as follows:
“Reason for Celebration: Bush's Last Day In Office
Host: The United States of America
Party: Goodbye Party
Network: Global
Date: Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Time: 11:55 a.m.-12:05 p.m.
Location: Everywhere in the world
City/Town: Washington, DC
Description: Monday, January 19, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. will be the final day
of one of the worst political eras America has faced. Exactly twelve hours
later, the new, 44th President of the USA, Barack Obama will take over
from what was one of the worst presidencies this nation has gone through.

OUR GENERATION GOES ON (DESPITE WHAT OTHERS MIGHT SAY)
By Dean M. Shapiro

In the wake of Barack Obama’s historic victory in the recently (and thankfully) concluded election, there is little that I can say or add to the millions of words that have already been written and spoken. He won and on January 20, 2009, he will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America. Fittingly, less than a month after his inauguration, he will be the president who commemorates the bicentennial of the birth of one of the individuals who made his election possible – Abraham Lincoln. But there were others; in fact, a whole generation of “others.”

In his syndicated column, published in the Times-Picayune’s November 6 issue, David Brooks would have us all believe that our generation – the post-World War II generation – the one universally referred to as the “Baby Boom” Generation, has failed. Or, to put it more bluntly in his own words, “Generationally, it (Obama’s election) marked the end of baby boomer supremacy which began in 1968.” To continue: “The baby boomers, who entered adulthood promising a lifetime of activism, have been a politically undistinguished generation. They produced two presidents, neither of whom lived up to his potential. . . . They pass their political supremacy (on) having squandered the fat years and the golden opportunities.”

He is wrong. Dead wrong. Flat-out wrong, even.

Previously Published in the Maroon, by Dr. Larry Lorenz
Distinguished Communications Professor, Loyola U NOLA

Barack Obama’s election as President of the United States was a thrilling moment for me, and I was electrified by his eloquent words to the tens of thousands of people in Grant Park who celebrated his victory Tuesday night and the millions of us watching on television.

As I listened to him, I thought back to the tumultuous week of the 1968 Democratic National Convention and that small army of young people, members of the Youth International Party—“Yippies,” they were called— who had come to Chicago from all over the country to protest the prolonged war in Vietnam. But they also targeted the undemocratic way in which Democratic presidential candidates were chosen, a government that seemed to ignore its citizens, and the national shame of denying civil rights to black citizens. In sum, they wanted to call attention to the great gap they saw between what America was meant to be and what it was.

By Dean M. Shapiro

In my rather lengthy tirade of October 2 giving my two-cents-worth on our nation’s current financial crisis, I subtitled it “J.P. Morgan to the Rescue.” The name I have affixed to this column’s title is nowhere near as well known as ol’ J.P. but he, too, has come to the rescue: namely yours truly’s rescue.
In my recent commentary, I took columnist Charles Krauthammer to
task for what I felt was his unfair blaming of former President Jimmy
Carter for today’s subprime crisis because it was Carter who signed the
Community Reinvestment Act in 1977. Now, in a comment on my column
posted the day after it appeared, I am being somewhat taken to task myself
for my feeble attempt to shift blame away from the CRA and onto the shoulders
of the lenders who profited from it. In one of my opening paragraphs I stated up
front that “I may not know a whole lot about the fine points of economics,” and
now my greatest fear appeared to be coming to realization: namely that I
REALLY DIDN’T know what I was talking about. Now I was being called out
by someone who DID – one of my best friends, by the way (and I hope he still
is, even after he reads this).

By Dean M. Shapiro

As I read the headline, "Washington Mutual is sold to J.P. Morgan”
on September 26, 2008 I thought to myself, “There’s something very déjà vu
about this.” Déjà vu, for those who don’t know their French (and I basically
don’t), loosely translates to, “already seen,” meaning been there, done
that. And we have. In 1895.

I may not know a whole lot about the fine points of economics,
but I do know more than a little bit about history, having majored and degreed
in it in college. So, when I saw the name J.P. Morgan in the headline,
I put my one-man research team to work. And this is what I found.

By Dean M. Shapiro

When I arrive in New York on October 9 will Wall Street still be standing?
The once-nearby World Trade Center isn’t, but New Orleans is.
Three years after disastrous levee failures that inundated 80 percent
of our city and weeks after two near-misses, we’re still here.
When I’m working the room at the Tappan Zee High School Class of 1968’s
40-year reunion in Orangetown, NY, I am certain that people I haven’t seen
or heard from in four decades will be asking me the same question:
“Is New Orleans still standing?”

Amazingly, more than three years after Katrina and two recent storm passings,
a perception persists that New Orleans is still in ruins and – even more amazingly
– still underwater!

By Dean M. Shapiro

Well, folks, looks like our old friend Jerry Corsi is back at it again. Obviously buoyed by his success of four years ago when he hit the daily double of having both a bestselling book and the satisfaction of undermining someone’s bid for the U.S presidency, he’s back again with another slam book hoping lightning will strike twice.

What is being referred to is the new book by Jerome R. Corsi, that is already on the New York Times Bestseller List. Its title is OBAMA NATION which, in Corsi’s cutesy little world, is a snide way of implying that the election of Barack Obama to the presidency would be an “abomination.”

By Dean M. Shapiro

As a rule, I would never make public what is essentially a private correspondence between me and another individual, but in this case I must make an exception. Here’s the skinny.

Last week I received in my mailbox a 6” x 11” color flyer on high-grade card stock encouraging me to switch my political party registration. Apparently so did 12,000 other voters on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish who are registered as Democrats. Featured prominently on the front of the card was a picture of Ronald Reagan with the quote, “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party, it left me!” So what’s the big deal? The return address on the flyer was that of Jefferson Parish Registrar of Voters Dennis DiMarco, which might have led one to believe that the mailing originated from his office.

Several days later, on Friday, August 8, an article appeared on the front page of the Metro section of the Times-Picayune under the headline, “GOP flier irks Democratic leaders.” “Irks?” Infuriates, would be more like it. That’s the reaction it elicited from me.

Shameless plug for our favorite guest commentator!

The Eleventh Commandment, published by PublishAmerica of Baltimore, Maryland:

“How far will a reporter go to get a story? Tom Foster is about to find out. As the Religion Editor for a large daily newspaper, Tom goes undercover to expose a fanatical, polygamous cult leader suspected in the deaths of more than a dozen followers. He gets more than he bargained for when his own life is on the line, especially after he has fallen in love with one of the cult leader's wives. Can Tom save her -- and himself -- when his deception is discovered? The answer comes after a tragic climax that shocks the world.”

Here’s how you can order the book. Go to the following link on the Barnes & Noble website http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp? WRD=eleventh+commandment .

A mock-up of the book cover will appear and all you have to do is place your ordering information, which means giving them your credit card number and expiration date. It’s $24.95 (a few dollars less if you’re a B&N book club member). Then, once the book is in your hands and if you want Dean to autograph it for you, contact Deanslist2@aol.com. When Dean becomes rich and famous, you can always say, “I knew him when . . . “

Link :   search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?WRD=eleventh+commandment

By Dean M. Shapiro

It is something I haven’t seen yet and hope not to, but the way things are going, the sight of it is inevitable sooner or later.

The “It” being referred to here is the sight of the $30 or $40 that will appear on the gas pump if I fill up the 11.3 gallon tank of my ’03 Kia Rio. To avoid having to see “It” I always cut the pump off at $20 or, at the most, $25. So what if I don’t top off the tank. I’m only running around locally, anyway, and staying at home most of the time so why do I need a full tank for that? I’d rather keep those extra few dollars in my pocket for various and sundry items I need to sustain myself while I stay home and do my work here. In the past few weeks we have seen gasoline prices come down slightly. By “slightly” I mean like about 20 cents a gallon. In years past 20 cents a gallon would have been a significant drop. It could have translated into another gallon or two at the going rate. However, today, a 20 cent drop -- from $3.99.9 a gallon to $3.79.9 a gallon – merely adds about 3/10 of a gallon to the tank. In the immortal words of Archie Bunker, “Whoop dee doo!”

How prepared are we for the next hurricane?

By Dean M. Shapiro

On the comics page of the daily newspaper, “Blondie” characters Dagwood Bumstead and Elmo, a young boy from the neighborhood, are in Dagwood’s living room watching a “Superman” rerun on TV. Dagwood explains to Elmo that Clark Kent transforms himself into the “Man of Steel” by changing clothes in a telephone booth. Perplexed, the young boy replies to Dagwood, “I still don’t get it. What’s a telephone booth?”

Good question. What IS a telephone booth? Many younger people today couldn’t answer that question, either. The few that are left are in the lobbies of old hotels or in museums of vanishing Americana, but there still are a handful of their downsized counterparts – pay phones – around. And the handful of those still surviving were among the few things that were working in New Orleans immediately after Hurricane Katrina passed over us. Ironically, the comic strip appeared in the paper the day before the official start of the hurricane season. As always, this is the time we start asking ourselves, “How prepared are we?”

By Dean M. Shapiro

If you’re one of those people bellyaching about paying $3.69.9 for regular unleaded and $4.69.9 for diesel, you had better be among the 49.3% of American voters who didn’t vote to reelect the BushCheney ticket in 2004. As for the other 50.7% who did . . . y’all can just shut up and pay the price! Y’all are now getting what y’all voted for.

Problem is, so are the rest of us. Paying the price, that is.