ANGER IS NOT AN ARGUMENT” --Daniel Webster (1782-1852)

A couple of my friends have been waiting for me to say kind, affirming words about an American Conservative Republican. Well here goes. My hat is off to Daniel Webster, not the newly elected Republican Daniel Webster from Florida, but to the famous one who served ten years in the House of Representatives (New Hampshire) and nineteen years in the Senate (Massachusetts). He also served as Secretary of State for three presidents. As philosopher, statesman, and orator he said many things that bear quoting today... especially relevant in the aftermath of the recent elections. He made a lot of people mad, especially when he spoke as an abolitionist during the long long run-up to the Civil War that almost destroyed our country. And when people get mad, they sometimes mistake their anger for strategy or plan or argument.

Another American whom I have always liked is Mark Twain. What he said about anger also make good sense. “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.” For months before the recent election I received a steady stream of e-mail messages from a nephew who wanted me to know that he and his friends “are mad as hell and aren’t going to take it anymore.” They hate President Barak Obama, and their anger is enough. Like immature children, they think a tantrum is enough. They expect their anger to be enough to persuade newly elected Tea Party legislators to resist any program that has the approval of the President.

David and I met for coffee this morning near Fenton Parkway where Mark Twain hangs out on a bench by a neat fountain. Both he and David were were pretty mellow today... REMINDER: BARK