Free Press – May 15, 2008

Anna Neamand, Greenwood, Oliver Landis, We Get What We Deserve

Dear Friends,

Good morning. There are plenty of topics on today’s front burner. Before I get to a theme which we’ve addressed before…We get what we deserve…there are two local items to review.

First, be sure to reserve the Fifth Annual Anna Neamand program at the Quakertown High School Cafeteria (6^th and Park Ave.) on Thursday, May 22 at 3:30 PM. The featured speaker will be former congressman James Greenwood who is the President and CEO of Biotechnology Industry, an association headquartered in Washington.

Greenwood represents more than 1,150 biotechnology companies, academic institutions and related organizations throughout America, plus more than 30 nations. His topic will be biotechnology research.

During four terms in Congress, Greenwood made his mark as a leader on health care and the environment. He was a champion of women’s rights and stem cell research…subjects, which often found him at odds with the Bush administration.

Anna Neamand was a wonderful Quakertown High School teacher who spent 44 years in the Quakertown schools. “The series honors her dedication as an educator by inviting a distinguished guest to meet with students, faculty, and community on topics of contemporary interest in social studies,” its charter says.

Please join me at QHS on May 22.

Item.

I recently attended Oliver M. Landis’ memorial service at the St. John’s Lutheran Church in Richlandtown. His father was its first pastor. Oliver was an old friend and a leader in the Quakertown area for 50 years. He was 94. I saw his twin sister, Olive (Landis) Hoerner, and Henrietta (Landis) Jahnsen at the church. Henrietta was among my favorite teachers at QHS. Another sister, Ellen (Landis) Weaver survived Oliver as well.

He served in the South Pacific during World War II before establishing a successful insurance practice in Quakertown. Like his sisters, Oliver was very musical in voice and violin. He also was a gifted athlete and played golf and tennis very well.

But I remember Oliver as a thoughtful gentleman. He was truly interested in his community and his friends. During each election season, we’d discuss local, state and national politics. Oliver was a fiscal conservative but had a sensitive mind for the underclass. His philosophy was very similar to former Congressman Jim Greenwood’s.

Those of my generation and older remember Oliver with great affection.

Item.

Terry Madonna is one of the best-known pollsters in Pennsylvania. A few years ago, he was the principle speaker at the Anna Neamand series in Quakertown. I always enjoy our conversations and pay close attention to his predictions. Madonna is seldom wrong.

Recently, he wrote an op-ed piece about Chris Matthews, the host of MSNBC’s “Hardball.” Madonna believes that Matthews will oppose Arlen Specter for his U.S. Senate seat in 2010. If Madonna is correct, Matthews will present an interesting contrast for voters. Should Specter win and complete another term, he’ll be approaching 90 in 2016! Matthews is a native Philadelphian and a television star. Will Specter’s age stand in his way? We’ll see.

Final item.

We get what we deserve.

As we wrestle with this presidential election year, I thought about the last two sentences in Jeffrey Toobin’s bestseller about the United States Supreme Court, “The Nine.”

“It’s an illusion that the Supreme Court operates at a higher plane than the mortals who toil on the ground,” Toobin concludes, “but the Court is a product of a democracy and represents, with sometimes chilling precision, the best and worst of the people. We can expect nothing more, and nothing less, than the Court we deserve.”

Toobin claims that we get what we deserve and he’s right.

After eight tumultuous years, George W. Bush’s approval ratings are in the 20 percent range. Even when Bill Clinton had been impeached (but not convicted), his approval ratings were at 60 percent.

Some day, historians may wonder why Americans chose George W. in 2000 and reelected him in 2004. I have little doubt that they will. Why did this happen? Worse, it will probably happen again? In my opinion, there are two reasons, which explain it.

The first is that Americans are too impatient for complete news. And that sets the stage for the media to get it wrong. Media competition is so acute that no news organization…broadcast or print…is willing to risk being scooped. So all media outlets publish or broadcast news on a snippet basis only. Alas, it’s often incomplete and often incorrect.

We get what we deserve.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith