James Mahlon White
Publisher
When my Grandfather White died back in 1981, the music played at his funeral consisted of his favorite songs by Stephen Foster, including “Swanee River” and “My Darling Nelly Gray.” Nobody sang, their melodies were played in the background for the service. The only song with a singer was “Crossing The Bar” which has been a part of almost every family funeral I can remember. It begins:
“Sunset and evening star and one clear call for me...”
Back to Grandfather White. He taught me to sing the “The Ballad of Jesse James”. Years later, I used the melody and part of the words to write a ballad about a Missouri governor who changed the fabric and texture of the Republican Party in this state. It was never the same again. This ballad contained a number of rather well known names and hasn’t been made public and won’t be. An illustrated version might be in the cards, however. How did I get started on this? Something reminded me of my grandfather who I called “Boppy.” I’ve thought a lot about him over the years and remember how kind he was to me. It may be some cosmos, still blooming away, that brought him to mind this morning.
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There is a lot going on in our cosmos. Dr. Fauci says school closures during the pandemic led to “Deleterious and collateral consequences” but refuses to take the blame. How can he say he wasn’t responsible? He was on TV every day saying, “SHUT IT DOWN! SHUT IT DOWN!” We not only had children who couldn’t go to school and who struggled with on-line learning, but businesses shuttered. Meanwhile, Walmart stayed open with 10x the amount of customers inside. Good riddance to the good doctor. He is the perfect example of a government bureaucrat. They take no blame because there is no consequence for lying.
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China’s ex-President Hu Jintao has disappeared after being removed from his seat next to Xi Jinping. It happened during a meeting of the Communist Party Congress where Xi was essentially named President for life. China says Hu was dragged away because he wasn’t feeling well, but is now much better. If this happened in Russia, he would have fallen out of a window. Must be dangerous over there always looking up to avoid falling bodies. This is a return to their communist roots. The purges, disappearances and mass re-education programs are on the way. Mao suits too. If The Donald regains power, old Mitch McConnell will probably disappear from the halls of the Capitol.
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James Mahlon, wind this up! Okay. Okay. I will. Take care of yourself this week and next week, too.
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Til Next Week:
J.M.W.
P.S. Several birthdays in the White family this month. This week it’s my old buddy on Locust Street. Some words of wisdom from JWB are “Don’t borrow trouble” and “Put yourself out there. Something good may come from it”. That’s pretty good advice. Happy birthday Aunt Jane!
