Why is The United States Congress on a Week Long Vacation

Monday, February 18th, 2013 
(Presidents Day)



My Dear America:

Here we are again, My Dear Country.   

We are once again poised at the top of another Republican created Fiscal Cliff wondering if this may, indeed, be the big one, the big Kahuna that puts us all in the poorhouse and finally completely knocks the underpinnings out from under the increasingly weakened structure of Democracy in the United States of America.

                    Sequester  

It is an ugly sounding name and each day and time that we hear it as it comes closer and closer it becomes uglier and more frightening.  What is it?  When is it coming?  What can we do about it.  

It is becoming increasingly obvious that we are being governed by a Congress full of irresponsible Stupid Lunatics.  No, they are not all Stupid and Lunatics. But the Stupid Lunatics, while they have not completely taken over the Asylum, yet, seem to be increasingly willing to do whatever it takes to destroy, or at least damage the United States Government.  

Why are these wild men and women able to wreak havoc on our country, America?

The simple answer is that we let them do whatever they want, without consequences.  These maniacs in the House and Senate have been running amok for years and tearing this country apart and "We The People" have let them trample our rights and freedoms with little reaction from the more responsible members of our society.  

We have had elections in recent years.  Some of them have been stolen out from under us by tactics that would have seemed harsh and unlawful even in the USSR in it's heyday.  Certainly the Bush Family and Friends stole the election for George W. in 2000.  Karl Rove and Republican Secretaries of State in key Republican controlled states helped George W. keep his incredibly expensive warmongering lunatic policies in office once again in 2004.  Since then somehow or other, primarily due to the force of his personality, Barack Obama has been elected twice, once in 2008 and also in 2012.  

It seems to have made no difference at all, however, to the Republicans in Congress that we have had these past two Presidential Elections.  It seems as though the Radical Right Wing Republicans in Congress have had no message from the 2008 and 2012 Elections other than that they should in 2013 step up their irresponsible game.  

It is increasingly clear as we prepare to go over a Fiscal Cliff, possibly far worse than the one at the beginning of the year, that many Republicans, especially Tea Party Republicans don't give a damn about what is good or right for you, America, and are increasingly looking to dismantle, if not destroy, your Federal Government.

The truth is that we are very lucky that the Republicans, even with their fortunes spent to kill the Obama Presidency, were not able to do so.  Thank God, and the Constitution for that.  Obama's victory should have been a lesson for the Republican Lunatic Fringe that it was time to stop the Madness.  Clearly the Lunatics have not gotten that message and some of the things that are going on in the Republican party are mind shattering.

For instance, the ruthless Character Assassination of Secretary of Defense Nominee, Chuck Hagel, in his Senate Confirmation Hearings were clearly unnecessary and although he will be confirmed, he will be confirmed as a weakened leader of the Defense Department at a time when we need strong leadership in that role.  In the case of Chuck Hagel the Guilty Culprits were not Lunatics but instead were Senators who formerly (and in John Mccain's case still) counted Chuck Hagel as a friend.  The other main Senate culprit, Lindsey Graham, who along with John McCain demanded answers on 4 dead US Diplomats and their protectors in Benghazi, have prior to their present week long vacation from their Senate duties, held up the release of Hagel's name to the entire Senate for a Confirmation vote for no good reason.

In the meantime, these two Senators who claim to be concerned about National Security, allow the Defense Department, to be without a permanent leader for a week while one of the most dangerous worlds we have ever known  continues to spin out of any reasonable control in many spots all over the globe.  Both Graham and McCain have already indicated that when the Senate returns after their week long vacation they will vote to allow Chuck Hagel's full Senate vote to proceed provided that they don't find any more verbal ammunition to fire at their former Senate colleague and "friend."

Meanwhile the madness continues seemingly unabated not only in America but around the world, in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea, Lybia, Egypt, Pakistan, Mali and elsewhere.  It certainly would be more responsible to have had Senators McCain and Graham helping to get through former Republican Senator Hagel, instead of doing what they did before in killing what was a responsible choice for Secretary of State, Susan Rice, because of their obsessive and vindictive concentration on Benghazi.  While Certainly what happened at Benghazi was a matter of legitimate concern, so are all of the other matters of legitimate concern all over the world.

It is way past time for all of us who live in America to get involved in what is happening in our country and to let our elected leaders know what we want, no demand that they do.  Governmental Leadership in America should not be left to the Tea Party and other members of the Right Wing Lunatic Fringe.  

We need to get on our computers and E Mail our Representatives.  We need to call them.  We need to sign petitions.  We need to get involved in our local Democratic and/or Republican Parties and stay involved on local government and even run for office if the chance presents itself.  We need to get involved now or the Lunatic Fringe will continue to put the screws to Progressives
everywhere.  Lastly, I would recommend that those of us who can, commit some time and effort to get involved with Common Cause, the Peoples Lobby, sign their petitions as well as petitions from other sites and groups, get involved also with organizations like Moveon.org or other Progressive Organizations which are taking stands in which you believe.

If we don't do this, citizens, we may live to regret it, or our children and grandchildren may live to regret our failure to take actions.  The time is always now for taking action and it is always good to realize that real Freedom is not always Free.  We have gotten used to it being that way but we can lose our Freedoms very quickly, or even more likely, We can lose our Freedoms gradually, seemingly without our noticing until, it is too late.

Have a wonderful time Congress on your week's vacation before Sequestering puts America over the Cliff and on the skids once more.  

I have one question for you, however.

What are you on Vacation From?  Certainly it is not from work.



Sincerely Yours


Jerry Gallagher

The State of the Union is Still Strong

Wednesday, February 13th, 2013



My Dear America:

It is one day after the State of The Union Address by President Obama before Congress, The Supreme Court, the Cabinet, the Guests of the Politicians and the Televised American Public.

Once again, just like every time he has done it and other Presidents have done it, President Obama made the Grand Entrance to the Senate smiling, shaking any hand that moved, exchanging short conversations and looking every bit the part of The President of the United States.  

Anyone watching this speech by the President with its frequent standing ovations (even occasionally by the Republicans) would have to think that this apparent Lovefest is indicative of a form or Government with no problems whatsoever within itself or with regard to any other part of the world.  

Certainly that assessment is far from the truth of how things are in the United States Government but it is nice to know that on State of the Union Night every year our politicians can dress up in their Sunday Best and act like sensible, responsible, caring and bright individuals.  

To me, being old enough to remember the old days, it seems odd that in the past few decades the Congress has had the audacity not to give standing ovations many times over to the opposite party leader, namely the President.  I don't know when this started.  I think it was sometime in the 80's or more likely in the 90's when the Newt Gingrich Gang of Phoneys were hounding President Clinton like he was an escaped prisoner from and Arkansas chain gang.

Those were ugly times.  Maybe not as ugly as these days but even in those ugly days Newt and his extreme crew of Conservatives in name only took breaks from their madness on State of the Union Night when Bill Clinton came to the Senate podium.  The same Republican's who hounded Bill Clinton daily to the point of impeachment, were also waiting on State of The Union Night to hopefully be seen with and have their picture taken with the President.  It was a thoroughly bizarre state of affairs, when you think of it 

This year's State of the Union message echoed the many before it in pronouncing that "The State of the Union is Strong."  I have never heard in my long lifetime any President who announced on State of the Union Night that "The State of the Union is not strong" and I doubt that I or anyone else will ever hear those words spoken at the State of the Union Address.

President Obama was in prime campaign oratory mode as he stood at the podium on Tuesday night.  Behind him were Joe Biden looking a bit older and worn out than he has looked for awhile  (Lets hope he is in good health) and John Boner looking smug and unready to stand and cheer for the President's success.

The President had a good deal to say to the gathering of legislators and others listening to him.  He proposed legislation that he said would not increase the debt but would improve things in a number of areas, among them creating more jobs and training programs to prepare workers for those jobs.  The President also talked about immigration and especially praised those Republicans in Congress who seem to be actually trying to work with Democrats to do something about providing answers to problems involving both illegal and legal immigration.  The President also proposed an increase in the minimum wage to 9 dollars an hour.  Another proposal dealt with providing Pre School programs for every young American who might take advantage of it.  

Lastly, the President pointed out the guests in the balcony and on the floor who were victims of gun violence including the parents of the young student from Chicago killed a week after performing at the President's inauguration, former Representative Gabby Giffords and Newtown parents.  

One more issue that the President pointed out as he introduced  guests was a 101 year old woman from Florida who, despite having to wait almost all day to vote, was encouraged and cheered by those who waited with her when she put on her "I Voted" sticker.  The President reminded Americans just how lucky we are to be able to vote in our country and asked Congress to do what they could to protect the right to vote in every one of the United States of America. 

The President got well deserved applause as he finished his speech with "God Bless The United States."  He was treated like a Rock Star after the speech with many Congressmen and Women asking him to sign their copies of the speech.

The President had carried on the tradition in a manner he and we could be proud of.  He had once again shown Americans and individuals in other countries that truly the State of the United States of America continued to be strong.  

Certainly we have tremendous problems in our country but compared to many other countries in the world whose citizens have no rights to free speech or voting or other human rights we are once again reminded that America is the worst form of government in the world, except for all the rest.

American Presidents, despite what is going on in their Presidencies, in their parties, in their country, have always shown up on State of the Union Night in fine spirits, glad handing their constituents and their enemies alike and showing the world what you, America, are all about.

One sour note, or actually two sour notes about last nights State of the Union Address is that it was followed by two (Although I only saw one) Republican Responses.  One by Marco Rubio and one by Rand Paul.  

To be honest, Marco Rubio's speech was fairly well delivered but totally inappropriate to the topics that the President discussed.  

Although I don't really like to advocate for a lack of free speech I genuinely feel that the time has come to take a good long look at whether or not it is appropriate to have a Republican or Democratic response to the President's State of the Union Address.  

It's the State of The Union Address not just some campaign speech.  

How about, at least on this one night, advocating for that "Union" concept and putting away the daggers and disrespect for the President by the party that is not in the White House.

Somewhere, on another network that I wasn't watching, Senator Rand Paul also had a response that I am sure was less than positive toward the President's speech and agenda.

I was happy that CBS and MSNBC didn't carry Paul's speech.  If Rubio's speech was unnecessary and divisive, certainly Rand Paul's speech had to be truly unnecessary and on my part, unwelcome.

I salute those Presidents of the Television age who have given us so many Great State of the Union Addresses including Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon (Yes, even Tricky Dick looked good at the State of the Union Speeches), Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and, of course, Barack Obama.

We are lucky to have had these Presidents and all those who came before them (with the possible exception of Richard Nixon and George W Bush) showing up yearly and reassuring us time after time that "the State of the Union is strong."

Lets keep it strong and keep up the great Presidential speeches while giving thought to putting away the partisan rhetoric afterwards by the opposition party, whoever they might be, Republican or Democrat.

Also it might be a good idea for our leaders to recognize that maybe a little more "Union" might be a good thing to strive for all across the board.  Maybe with a little bit more "Union" we could actually accomplish what we need to accomplish in an increasingly dangerous and complex world.



Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher 

The (Character) Assassination Of Chuck Hagel

February 5th, 2013



My Dear America:

During his recent testimony before the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee former Senator Chuck Hagel might very well have wished that he was back in Vietnam where he and his buddies stuck together and his enemies  were easier to figure out than those seated in front of him in the Senate Hearing Room while he was in the Hot Seat.  

Although I did not see Hagel's full testimony before the Committee, what I did see made me realize that I did not want to see the entire testimony and responses.  Clearly anyone feeling as though it is still possible to be your own man in today's Republican Party should watch this ugly spectacle in which a thoroughly decent man and obviously a man who is a Republican through and through was the victim of an Epic Character Assassination seemingly because he had the nerve to occasionally misspeak about the influence of the "Jewish Lobby" or gays in the Military.  

Although Hagel took full responsibility for his verbal gaffes, the Foreign Relations Committee's Republican Members seemed to want far more than an apology from the Ex Senator from Nebraska.  They seemed to all want their individual pounds of flesh from the Obama Nominee for United States Defense Secretary.

Clearly one of the odder and most victimizing exchanges between a Committee Member and the Defense Department Nominee took place between Senator John McCain and his former friend, Chuck Hagel.  McCain's Grandstanding seemed to have no limits and although Hagel tried to reason with McCain nothing seemed to be able to satisfy McCain outside of an admission by Hagel that he had been wrong about his criticism of the "The Surge" in Iraq.  Although Hagel refused to admit that he had been wrong McCain's brutal interrogation of Hagel clearly must have seemed like an incredible betrayal by McCain by one Vietnam Vet to another.

The reason for McCain, as well as countless other Republican Chicken Hawks piling on the first Vietnam War Infantryman ever to be nominated to be Defense Secretary is clear, at least to me.  

We are living in an age in which Republicans are no longer allowed to have a mind of their own and express thoughts of their own.  Hagel saw what was coming in the Republican Party and decided to get out before "The Invasion of the Mind Snatchers" got him too, as it seems to have gotten McCain and many others.

Chuck Hagel is a Republican through and through in nearly every way.  He is a self made businessman who voted for nearly everything proposed by George Bush with the exception of the Prescription Drug Program addendum to the Social Security System.

Hagel has always been independent and unpredictable, however.  In 2008 Chuck Hagel made the unprecedented move of, along with Independent and former Republican New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, supporting and even campaigning for Democratic U.S. House of Representatives Member and former Navy Admiral, Joe Sestak, for Pennsylvania Senator in his fight against first of all, Turncoat Republican turned Democrat, Arlen Specter, who Sestak beat in the Democratic Primary.  Unfortunately Sestak then narrowly lost to Republican Right Wing Firebrand, Pat Toomey in the General Election.

Chuck Hagel has stepped out of the Right Wing Republican line only occasionally but enough times to show that he is someone who clearly thinks for himself and is unappreciative of others making his decisions for him.  

It seems clear that Hagel will in the end be approved by the Congress to take his place at the Defense Department and if he does Republicans should be happy that one of their own, despite being flawed by common sense, is in line to make decisions that they will more than likely be in agreement with.  

But what Governor Bobby Jindal has labeled "The Stupid Party" seems to have completely lost its mind and continues to rush off trying to beat into submission, not only Progressives, but also members of their own party who have the nerve to refuse to be stupid.

I hope, but do not anticipate, that the Republican Party will come to its senses soon and start doing what they should have been doing for the last four years, which is governing and helping to prop up rather than destroy and disrespect The United States of America and its government representatives.

We are living in an increasingly dangerous world and if the Republicans were not stupid they would start at least pretending to show the world that we, indeed, have a United Government and can function most times like we are not a nation of Clowns and Nincompoops. 



Sincerely Yours


Jerry Gallagher 

Three Days After Inauguration Day It's Back to Business As Usual For The Republicans

Thursday, January 24th, 2013


My Dear America:

Inauguration Day (Or more truthfully the day after the real Inauguration Day of Sunday, January 20th) was a wonderful day to celebrate the Re Election of our First Black President, Barack Obama.  The weather was cold but not as frighteningly cold as it would be later in the week.  The sun was out and it was bright and cheerful.  I was glad to be watching the festivities from the comfort of my living room on my HDTV.  Although I know it would have been a thrill to be there I felt sorry for those who went to the Inauguration and were locked out of the area and were not able to see, hear and enjoy the festivities as much as I did watching on TV not having to feel uncomfortably cold, in the least.

President Obama and his family appeared to be truly in high spirits and seemed to be enjoying the occasion.  I have to honestly say that the President's speech was a good one but perhaps not as truly stirring as some of his other Classic Obama Speeches.  It seemed to me to be shorter than many of his previous Oratorical Home Runs but more significant about this speech given on Martin Luther King Day, as well as Inauguration Day in America, on January 21st was what it said.

In a rather low key manner (at least for President Obama) the Inauguration Day speech echoed many of those Oratorical Masterpieces given by Dr. King in his Day.  On Inauguration Day President Obama made it clear where he stood and who he was standing with on this historic January Day in 2013.

Obama was standing With the Poor, With the Women, With the Immigrants and those who hoped to be Immigrants to America.  He was also standing With Gay Americans who were hoping to be able to marry whoever they chose to in their Home Country.  Most especially he was standing With the People of America as he repeated over and over the historic phrase "We The People."  Although the President did not demonize the Rich in America, he certainly made it clear that he was tired of the Right Wing demonizing the Poor and the Middle Class.

In the end the speech was an outline for where the President is hoping to move the country.  It was not a definitive detailed descriptive plan.  It was just a simple message of what his intentions will be for the coming four years of his Presidency.

After the speech as everyone in the main seating area around the Capitol Building filed out of the speech area and into the Capitol for a lunch with the President, Obama stood at the top of the stairs and stared out at the still people filled area and remarked that he wanted to take one last look because what he was seeing he would never see again.  

The President and Vice President got some crystal vases and some hurriedly developed framed photographs of the Inauguration and had a pleasant Luncheon with their families, (Certainly the President's daughters were now young ladies rather than just the kids they were during the last Inauguration) the Congress and other guests.    

The Presidential Parade was Great, as were the numerous Inaugural Balls that would come later.

Of course later on in the evening on CNN and MSNBC (and I'm sure on Fox, although I didn't watch them) Republican spokespersons such as Alex Castillio began their digs on Obama's Progressive Speech.  

The drumbeat of Republican displeasure with what certainly was a truly mild and inclusive speech began to pick up steam and yesterday displeasure with Obama and his Team of Rivals finally was back to where it had been throughout his Presidency.

Yesterday, Hillary Clinton testified on Capitol Hill before the Senate Armed Services Committee.  Although many Senators showed respect for the Secretary of State's outstanding Legacy of Service in the State Department there were those like Republican Senator Ron Johnson, who Hillary had to put in his place after he began to try to go after her regarding the Benghazi attack in Lybia that killed four Americans.  Senator John McCain also went after Hillary with little success.

Yes, America it is three days after the Inauguration and it appears that the Republicans, Fox News and especially The Tea Party Candidates like Senator Rand Paul are prepared to once again continue to savage the Obama Administration in service to their out of touch goals.  

But we are America and in Our Country we have to tolerate the bad with the good.  Sometimes we seem to tolerate more bad than we should have to but I guess that is the continuing price of living in a land in which all men are free to say and do what they want, within reason.

Someone once said that American Democracy is the worst system in the world, except for all the others.  

That is True and that is why I (and so many other Americans) are sticking with you until things get better.

I love you, America and I always will.

Thanks for being there for me and all the rest of us for so many years.




Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher 

A New and Quieter Tone on the Sunday Talk Shows One Day before Inauguration Day

Sunday, January 20th, 2013

My Dear America:

It is Sunday, One day before Martin Luther King Day and also One day before the Re Inauguration of President Barack Obama.  

On the Sunday News/Talk Shows there was a noticeably quieter and less confrontational tone than is normally the case.  Certainly part of the reason for this quieter tone was that many of the normally combative commentators were not sitting at this Sunday's News/Talk Roundtables.  Noticeably absent were people like Newt Gingrich, as well as both Democratic and Republican Party Constituent Stokers.

Rick Santorum was on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopolis but from what I could gather, even he seemed to be a bit more controlled as is normally the case.  

On The Bill Moyer's Show Larry Cohen of the Communication Workers of

America showed Bill a preview of a CWA sponsored Television Ad which advocates for a changing of Congressional Rules in the Senate that has made it extremely easy to "Filibuster."  In the old days Filibustering meant that a Senator who wished to tie up or stand in the way of a bill that they didn't want to pass stood up in the Senate and talked and talked and talked to keep  the Senate from voting on the bill one way or another.  

Today, Larry Cohen pointed out, a Senator just needs to make a phone call and doesn't even need to be identified when he or she Filibusters and ties up a bill for as long as they like.  Cohen pointed out that this painless (at least to the Filibustering Senator) process ends up tying up legislation, including approvals of Judicial Appointments, Administration Department Heads and Cabinet Officials and has lead to a Congress that has been one of the most dysfuntional, uncompromising and unaccomplished Congessional bodies in the history of The United States.

Following Larry Cohen on The Bill Moyers Show was Martin Espada, a Veteran Legal Services Lawyer and a Poet who read a very powerful poem which he wrote after visiting Fredrick Douglass's grave in Rochester, New York 3 days after the election of President Obama in 2008.  It was a very powerful and deeply moving poem which expressed the pride Mr. Espada felt following the Election of the First Black President of the United States of America.  

Considering the history of Slavery in the United States it is even more astounding to think of the fact that the United States has progressed so far that it has come from a Society in which Slavery was not only tolerated but was, in many respects, a building block on which this Country was founded, to become a Country which, not only elected a Black Man President one time, but also Re Elected this Extraordinary Man to a Second Presidential Term.

I think the President, under extraordinary conditions, has done an exceptional job in keeping the American Ship of State on track and going in a positive direction.  I, like most Americans, look forward to four more years of exceptional Leadership by President Obama in the long run and also look forward to a Great Speech by the President and some Fine Re Inauguration Festivities tomorrow as we Celebrate with the President as he prepares to give us Four More Years of Dynamic and Outstanding Leadership.

Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher

Darkness in the Morning in Newtown, Connecticut

Sunday, December 30th, 2012


My Dear America:

It was a typical Friday morning in Newtown, Connecticut just a little over two weeks ago.  The Children and their Teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School were preparing for the last school day before the weekend.  The Teachers were looking forward to Christmas shopping and spending time with their families and friends.  The kids were looking forward to Christmas visits from Santa Claus in the near future and a weekend playing video and other games with their friends and relatives.  There were smiles on the faces of the kids, as well as the Teachers and other Professionals working at the school as the day began.  A little after 9:30 AM no one was worried about very much in this pleasant school in this prosperous area of Connecticut.  It was just another day in Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Now, at the end of 2013 as we stand on the edge of the Fiscal Cliff, we know that on that seemingly pleasant Friday in Newtown just a short time ago that another young "Troubled Loner," had another agenda in mind for the Children and Staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  Adam Lanza, a bright young local Autistic man with access to his mother's guns had apparently found out that his mother was planning to have him hospitalized for Mental Health Concerns.

We now know, after the fact, that those Mental Health Concerns that Adam's mother, Nancy Lanza, had were quite justified.  After killing his mother, Adam and his guns headed for Sandy Hook Elementary School.  Why did he go there to continue to take out his rage on other people and finally on himself?  We may never really know what was the reason that Adam wanted to put himself in the history books as the man who killed the most very young children in the history of school violence.  

Since Nancy Lanza had volunteered at the school and was friendly with the principal and school psychologist (who turned out to be two of Adam's murder victims) it is possible that Adam was jealous of his mother's caring for the children in the school, as well as the friends she had there.  We will never know for sure why Adam did what he did on that dark and disturbing Friday morning.  All we really know for sure is that he did it. 

We suspect that although he certainly killed a lot of beautiful children, as well as school staff and himself, that he intended to kill many more before he was stopped by the arrival of First Responders.  First Responders indicate that they heard the shot that they think was Adam's last shot when they entered the school.  After that no shots were fired and Adam was dead.

Certainly when a tragedy of epic proportion like this one happens it is hard to have sympathy for the lunatic who orchestrated it and carried it out.  What did this young man have against the youngsters who were just going to school like it was a normal day before either their lives were taken or their sense of safety was taken?

Certainly there is no excuse for Adam Lanza's actions but there is also no excuse for the inaction on the part of State and Federal Legislatures and Leaders who continue to express their "regrets" following incidents like Newtown but fail to follow through with legislation to try to control and even possibly eliminate the prospect of unnecessary individual and mass shootings.

In Adam Lanza's case it will be argued that his weapons had been obtained legally.  It is hard to understand why Nancy Lanza, who apparently recognized that her son was unstable, lived in a house with him and with several extremely dangerous and destructive firearms on the premises.

Unfortunately we are never going to be able to totally eliminate gun violence without eliminating rights guaranteed to Americans by the Second Amendment.  We can, however, re institute the Assault Weapons Ban and eliminate the Gun Show Loophole in the area of Background Checks for individuals purchasing weapons.

We can and also should start using what little Government Funded Mental Health Services wisely.

We need to recognize also that in the case of nearly every school and other mass murder scenario that the shooters involved were almost always people who were fans of X Box, Playstation  and other Electronic Video Killing Games.  

Clearly there are no easy answers as to how to prevent gun violence in the Land of the Free. If we want to be safe and secure in the United States of America, however, it is certainly time to attempt to find a solution to how we can keep our country, not only free, but also safe, as well.  

President Obama has given Vice President, Joe Biden, the task of coming up with realistic recommendations quickly through a hastily formed task force of Law Enforcement and Mental Health Professionals, as well as others who have something positive to say regarding how to curb gun violence.  

We can, should and do wish the Vice President good luck in his endeavors to search for solutions to this incredibly complex and important problem.


Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher










  

Dave Brubeck's Dead: Long Live Dave Brubeck

Tuesday, December 11th, 2012



My Dear America:

Certainly there are other topics for me to write about today such as our race toward the Fiscal Cliff but I still find myself thinking about a subject that is not very political but may be the most significant American Story to have occured since the recent election of President Obama in November.

Last week Dave Brubeck died.

Dave Brubeck was an extraordinary musician who lived a long and musically prolific life.  His musical career took off in the forties and especially the fifties and sixties.  He was musically active throughout his later life and continued to tour well into his later years and also wrote and recorded an extraordinary amount of mainly Jazz.  He was not limited to writing and performing Jazz, however and he wrote classical and religious music, as well.  

In 1959 Brubeck recorded and Columbia Records released his "Time Out" album in which Dave Brubeck explored the jazz possibilities of mixing different rhythm signatures and timings within the same tune.  Columbia Records was not happy with "Time Out" and threatened not to put it out, apparently feeling that it was not commercial enough to make money.  They did finally release it, however, and found to their amazement that the album instantly became the first million selling Jazz Album.  Brubeck was on the covers of such prestigious magazines as Time and Newsweek and the album received rave reviews for its courageous and successful musical experimentation.

I am listening to "Time Out" on CD as I write this letter and I am once again overwhelmed by the talent of Dave Brubeck and "The Dave Brubeck Quartet."

I was lucky enough to see The Dave Brubeck Quartet" in the early 60's at Wilkes College in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, just down the street from my College, King's College.  

I was not a Jazz lover before the concert and primarily went to the concert to see what all the fuss was about with "The Dave Brubeck Quartet" and "Time Out."    

I did find out what all the fuss was all about and after that concert by Dave on Piano, Joe Morello on drums, Eugene Wright on bass and Paul Desmond on Sax, I was a total Jazz convert to the gospel of Dave Brubeck.

I was lucky enough to see Dave many years later playing with another great Jazz Band, this one made up of his Dave and his Jazz playing sons.

That concert was incredible too and after the concert Dave stuck around to talk to anyone who wanted to talk to him.

I didn't talk with him long and I don't really remember what we talked about but I found him to be a very friendly, engaging and humble guy.  His sons were awesome musicians, as well.

As I think about Dave Brubeck I am also taken back to an incident that happened several years ago.  I stopped in at The King George Inn, a local club  where a great jazz band was playing.  After the performance I began to talk to the band leader and Jazz pianist, Eric Mintel.  I told Eric that his piano playing reminded me of Dave Brubeck's and clearly Mintel was thrilled at what I had said.  Eric then told me that he had met Brubeck and that Brubeck had taken him under his wing and had become his Mentor.  Clearly Eric Mintel was thrilled with this happening.

Last year my wife and I went to see Eric Mintel play at Symphony Hall Jazz upstairs.  It was an extraordinary concert and you could hear Dave Brubeck's influence throughout the concert.  I bought the CD, "A Tribute to Dave Brubeck," that night and the band signed it.  I have been playing that and "Time Out" a lot this past week.

One other thing about Brubeck that I hadn't known until my wife pointed it out to me in the Morning Call Newspaper is that back in the early sixties Dave's Quartet played many black and white colleges in the south at a time when integration had yet to be accomplished.  Brubeck's incredible Quartet, including remarkable black bassist, Eugene Wright, helped to integrate several Colleges in the south.

So now that Dave Brubeck is gone after over 90 years on this earth how do we go on without him.  Well, Dave lives on in his countless recordings and in musicians like Eric Mintel, who have followed his lead and are now taking jazz to their own levels of expertise.  

We will love you and miss you, Dave but we are grateful for your music and your life and we will not soon forget you.  That's for sure.



Sincerely Yours

Jerry Gallagher