| Author |
 Topic  |
|
kayjatta
2978 Posts |
 Posted - 12 Jan 2009 : 07:40:49
|
While the law makers in Illinois are applying the constitution of that state to remove (impeach) Governor Blagojevich (who allegedely attempted to sell off President Elect Barack Obama's senate seat to the highest bidder)out of office, the Governor relies on literature to fight back. Governor Blagojevich uses the lines from two of the greatest 19th century English poets and Nobel Laureates, Joseph Rudyard Kipling and Alfred Lord Tennyson, as quoted below:
"If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you; if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting, too; if you can wait and not be tired by waiting; or being lied about, don't deal in lies; or being hated, don't give way to hating," ..... Kipling's poem 'If", quoted on December 19,2008.
"We are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are. One equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." Tennyson's poem 'Ulysses', quoted on January 9, 2009.
Here is Rudyard Kipling's poem "IF":
[IF]
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!
--Rudyard Kipling
|
Edited by - kayjatta on 12 Jan 2009 08:02:54 |
|
|
kayjatta
2978 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jan 2009 : 08:07:29
|
| Despite the Governor's troubles, I cannot help admiring his taste for literature. My hat off to the Governor! |
Edited by - kayjatta on 12 Jan 2009 08:08:10 |
 |
|
|
anna
Netherlands
730 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jan 2009 : 10:33:04
|
Very impressive and beautiful poems, thank you for presenting us with the entire 'If' poem by Kipling. The governor has indeed good taste when it comes to poetry and i dare say in other fields as well. But....(i know i shouldn't say this, and one should never judge a book by its cover - to stick to literary terminology) there is something 'fast' about him that pushes the alert button of my female intuition: he looks untrustworthy..
What's your opinion, Kay? |
When an old African dies, it is as if a whole library has burnt down.
Amadou Hampate Ba (Mali) |
|
|
|
kayjatta
2978 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jan 2009 : 10:52:17
|
Anna, the governor is a politician. They are a different breed i guess; a Dana Milbank's species of Homo Politicus. I think a man like the governor with such keen taste for literature should not have found his calling in the corrupt world of Illinois politics. But may be, just may be ...
i have heard some argue that what the governor is accused of doing is actually not different from what eveyone is doing in Washington D.C. , so perhaps ... |
Edited by - kayjatta on 12 Jan 2009 10:55:50 |
|
|
|
Dalton1
3485 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jan 2009 : 14:21:34
|
quote:
Originally posted by anna
he looks untrustworthy..
It is important to note Anna that he truly might be in love with his wife.  (jokes!) Among the many things he is alleged to have committed - seeking to have a high paying job for his wife. Well, well, a CNN exclusive revealed that the FBI had him under wires for a short while but gathered a whole lot about him. In any ways, going by his conference speeches and addresses on TV, he looks like a tough cookie to crack -to the extent, he uses hard language on his critics. Going by what he is alleged to have committed, in its veracity, one won't be wrong to label him an untrustworthy person -once the courts rule that he is guilty of the act. I am just of the believe that things are relative everywhere, especially untrustworthiness. If the media gains advantage of you, it takes long to put back your repute.
D... |
"There is no god but Allah (SWT); and Muhammad (SAW)is His last messenger." shahadah. Fear & Worship Allah (SWT) Alone! (:
|
|
|
|
kayjatta
2978 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2009 : 09:02:21
|
| As the impeachment hearing continues in Chicago today (and Governor Blagojevich who boycotts it calling it a sham as he embarks on a media tour around the country) is inspired by and actually invoked Dr. martin L. King Jr, Mahatma Ghandi, and Nelson Mandela. Ah, can't help liking this man ... |
Edited by - kayjatta on 27 Jan 2009 09:30:55 |
|
|
|
anna
Netherlands
730 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2009 : 09:26:45
|
Can't like him or Can't help liking him? 
I'm afraid you have to like him, is that right Kay?
Read in the paper this morning that he wanted to ask Oprah Winfrey to take the empty senator's seat. Yeah well, if he goes on calling on all the great black icons he can be sure to have lots of people sympathise with him. Is it a strategy (cynical me is wondering) or is it sincere? Bah, i shouldn't be so suspicious!
Dalton, i sincerely hope he loves his wife and she loves him back and he never betrays her trust.
Sorry guys, he is just not 'my type'. |
When an old African dies, it is as if a whole library has burnt down.
Amadou Hampate Ba (Mali) |
|
|
|
kayjatta
2978 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2009 : 09:33:38
|
| Thanks for correcting me Anna. I think his call on Oprah and other Black candidates (as well as the media tour-appearing on the VIEW today and later on LARRY KING) is a strategy... |
|
|
|
anna
Netherlands
730 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2009 : 10:20:31
|
| Not out to correct you, my friend. Just wondering if you 'liked' or 'didn't like' - but my guess it you can't help but have to 'like'. Don't fall in the big PR trap. Though of course i have to admit that my 'infallable' female intuition got me into strange situations in my life! |
When an old African dies, it is as if a whole library has burnt down.
Amadou Hampate Ba (Mali) |
|
|
|
kayjatta
2978 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2009 : 10:24:31
|
| I trust your intuition Anna; the Gov.'s PR machine has got the best of me I guess... |
|
|
|
anna
Netherlands
730 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2009 : 10:43:30
|
Haha, there you go: you are only human .
But perhaps it turns out you are right and i am wrong (always a slight chance).
Keep me informed, because not all the news about him reaches my small country!
Rushing off to work now! |
When an old African dies, it is as if a whole library has burnt down.
Amadou Hampate Ba (Mali) |
|
|
|
kayjatta
2978 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2009 : 11:10:43
|
| Okay I will. Enjoy your day at work Anna . |
|
|
|
mansasulu
997 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2009 : 15:24:02
|
| Since they failed to call his bluff on the Burris nomination, I began to kind of like his bravado. I think the Governor outpolitiked the Senate Democrats in Washington, Harry et al, when he succeeded in naming a sucessor to Obama's seat. So he is no amateur. He is milking this thing for as long as it takes...Go Blago! |
"...Verily, in the remembrance of Allâh do hearts find rest..." Sura Al-Rad (Chapter 13, Verse 28)
...Gambian by birth, Muslim by the grace of Allah... |
|
|
|
kayjatta
2978 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jan 2009 : 10:24:04
|
| It probably won't take long though Mansasulu, a matter of days at best... |
|
|
|
kayjatta
2978 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jan 2009 : 09:03:59
|
The embattled Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich, now fondly called Blago is due to file a motion to present a 'closing remark' at the ongoing impeachment hearing that is likely to oust him from office. His closing remarks could come as early as today, Thursday.
Closing remarks often come at the end of a trial after the opening statements, presentation of evidence, and calling of (and direct- examination and cross-examination of) witnesses
If a trial is a puzzle where all the pieces are incoherently displayed during the evidentiary phase, the closing argument is when all the pieces are put together into a single understandable picture. This is the stage where the attorney’s eloquence is displayed in pulling together all the pieces of the case into one unit that is coherent and persuasive. Many attorneys build their trial strategy around the closing argument. But this is actually not a court trial; it is instead a political process without all the procedures of the adversarial system.
Unlike opening statements, the attorney can argue the essence of the evidence during the closing argument, draw inferences, and cite common sense, argue about what is good or bad for society, and what is a fair and just outcome. Blago, who has compared himself to the main character in the British Writer, Allan Sillitoe’s “The Loneliness of The Long Distance Runner” will passionately argue in terms of common sense and societies need to protect elected governors from the whims and caprices of the legislature. He will no doubt do a little bit of “table pounding” (as characteristic of attorneys who do not have the law on their side) and some more poetry. So please duck for cover Anna, cos I am
|
Edited by - kayjatta on 29 Jan 2009 10:25:14 |
|
|
|
anna
Netherlands
730 Posts |
Posted - 29 Jan 2009 : 11:15:36
|
Goooood - looking forward to whatever he comes up with. Read Allan Sillitoe years ago, must read it again. Am almost (just almost) feeling sorry for Rod. Just heard Mike Huckabee say 'we all have difficulty pronouncing his (=Mr Blagojevich's) name, but we will not have difficulty pronouncing his crimes'.
He will not make it, i'm afraid. Or do you think he will..? |
When an old African dies, it is as if a whole library has burnt down.
Amadou Hampate Ba (Mali) |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
|
|
Topic Locked
