Spies

  When I lived across from TCU 1978-79, it was an enjoyable time.  I should have gone to a football game or two, because I lived near the stadium, but I settled for free programs.  It was there I saw Jim Dickey read his poetry and talked to him afterwards.  It was there that I went to the Van Cliburn International Piano Festival and see him there.  It was also there, where I had an interesting encounter with a man I really respected.  William Colby.

 He had been in the Central Intelligence Agency for many years and served as the Director under Presidents Nixon and Ford.  He had left the CIA, when Ford left office and wrote a book which was published in 1978.  He came to TCU to promote his memoir and to lecture on spying.  He was very interesting talking about his life doing spying during World War II and then later with the CIA.  I got him to sign my book afterwards, and then I told him the story about what happened to us five years earlier in Jerusalem.  I had been told at the time not to tell anyone about our frightening experience, but I felt I could tell the former director of the CIA.  After all, he had been the deputy director of the CIA, when we were in Jerusalem.

 He listened intently to my story, and then he had a wry smile on his face.  He told me that he remembered that operation that we were involved in.  He then said something that I will never forget.  He told me that the CIA uses civilians all the time to gather intelligence.  He also included journalists in that admission.  He then apologized to me for the stress and danger that the CIA put us through, but that our intel was very important at the time to thwart an attack on Henry Kissinger who was in Jerusalem at that same time as us.  He then told me never to tell anyone about it, which I didn't for another 13 years, until I told I guy I knew who was in Special Forces in Vietnam.  If anyone wants to read that story, search for it down the line with my stories about our 1973 trip to Europe and Israel.  Bill Colby was a bonafide spy for the United States.  I was a civilian spy for the United States.  Both were very dangerous jobs.  He got paid to do it.  They didn't buy any Alka Seltzer for me.  I still have that box.

 

Impressions

  I have another confession to make.  I am bad about first impressions.  When I meet someone for the first time, I generally will have a first impression of that person that is usually wrong.  I have found that it is very important to get to know someone and not judge them on our first meeting.  Most people have some depth to them that surprises me.  I have heard that I am the same way to others.  One woman called me "deep" once.  I guess she thought of me as shallow, but then she learned to have more respect for me, and I for her.  Gert Weisberg was more than an old Jewish lady.  Her son was a championship bowler, and she survived the Holocaust.  To her, I was "deep".

 That brings me to the next two people I have met.  Another two who are very different by trade, but very similar in their trades.  The first was Mark Sanford, who was the governor of the great state of South Carolina.  It was 2009.  As I have said before, I try and find something that I have in common with the person I am meeting, so that we can have an actual conversation.  I was working the state Republican convention in Columbia for Lt. Governor Andre Bauer.  He was running for the office of Governor in 2010.  It was my job to greet people at the door, as they came into the convention center.  I saw Sanford come into the door with his entourage.  I stuck out my hand to him and introduced myself.  I told him that my cousin George was his doctor.  He brightened up and said that he loved George.  His entourage saw that I was working for Andre who was his rival, and he was whisked away.  A few months later, Mark would be embroiled in a scandal involving the Appalachian Trail, but that's another story.

 The next person was Pierre Cardin.  A famous French fashion designer.  I was working one night in the Sanger Harris record department.  Not too much was going on, when a nicely dressed short man came in with a younger and taller man.  I recognized the shorter man as Pierre Cardin.  He had been in town for a show.  Cardin spoke in French to the younger man, and then he came over to me to ask if we had an eight-track tape of "American Graffiti".  I told him that we did.  He told me that his boss would like to buy it.  All along, I heard Cardin speak things in French about me that were not flattering.  Thanks to my five years of French in High School and College, I knew exactly what he was saying about me.  His minion also knew what he was saying, but was pretending that it was just chit-chat, as he gave me the money for the tape.  As they were leaving, I told Monsieur Cardin that I knew what he was saying and that I understood French.  His face turned red, as did his assistant, and they scurried out of the door into their waiting limousine.  Thanks to Mrs. Busdicker, Mrs. Douglas, Miss Crocker, and all of my other French teachers, I was successful in putting this man in his place.  That felt good.  

 Both men got where they were in life by stepping on others' heads to get their way.  Sometimes, they can step in something else that they may have to scrape off of their shoes.  

Juniors

  I suppose it can be hard for a son to live up to the name "Junior".  One has to be thought of as a part of their father and try to live up to the name.  My brother was a junior.  He tried his best to be his own person, but our father would remind him that he was the junior in our family.  Thankfully, I didn't have that problem.  I was just the baby in the family.  

 I met two men who were referred as the "Junior".  One was mostly a military man with a touch of being a politician.  The other was an entertainer.  Both did well in their careers, but they were also compared to their fathers.  In this case, they were together at a hotel dining room in Columbia in the late 1960s.

 The first was Will Rogers, Jr.  He was a burly man whose father had been a famous humorist.  Junior had been in politics in California and served in the Army during World War II.  He was cordial to me, even though he seemed a bit rough.  He looked like a guy you could play poker with, and he would probably beat you.  Or, he would intimidate you to the point that you would have to lose.  His father was much more beloved than himself.  He had a hard time living up to that reputation.

 The second was Emmett Kelly, Jr. He was a circus clown like his father.  His act was much like his father's, and he lived up to his father's reputation.  He was truly a gentleman.  Since I was a teenager at the time I met these two men, Kelly took the time to meet me and warmly greet me.  He wasn't in his clown makeup, so I saw him as a real person.  He was warm to me in the brief time I said hello.  I could tell that he loved his life.

 Juniors can have a tough life living up to their fathers, if they let it consume them.  However they approach it in later life can be the difference between happiness and bitterness.  I got the impression that Mr. Kelly was happier than Mr. Rogers.  

 

Senators

  I have been fortunate, or maybe cursed, to meet a lot of interesting people over the years.  Politicians can be some of the most interesting.  After all, they can be your best friend and your worst enemy all at the same time.  Some can be inspiring, while others can be disappointing.  It isn't so much in their personalities, but rather in their actions.  Here, we have an inspiration and one not so much.

 It was 1959, and my father took me to what would be the last "Big Thursday" football game between the University of South Carolina and Clemson University.  Out in the parking lot stood a giant of a man.  He was Olin Johnston who was a U.S. Senator from South Carolina.  My father knew him, because we were somehow related.  I was 6 years old, and I looked up at him.  I could barely see his face.  It seemed like his face was in the clouds.  He leaned down to me and shook my hand.  He said he was glad to meet me.  I don't know if he really was glad, but he came across as he did.  We talked for a few minutes, and then we went into the stadium for the game.  He was the first Senator that I remember meeting.  It was a big deal for me.

 Through the years since that encounter, I have met other senators and congressmen.  In 2009, I met another one whose name was Lindsey Graham.  He also was a U.S. Senator from South Carolina.  I was working for Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer in his bid to become the Governor for South Carolina.  I was getting ready to be in a parade and walk the length of it passing out stickers to children.  I saw Senator Graham getting into a convertible to ride in the parade.  I went over to him and introduced myself.  He was very warm in meeting me.  I told him that I was working for Andre Bauer, and he was very complimentary of Andre.  I went back to a fellow worker and told him what Lindsey had said.  My compadre told me that Lindsey would have said that about a dog catcher, if it meant he could get some votes.  

 Our paths would cross a few times after that day in 2009.  I talked with him again in 2018 at my church.  Lindsey and Senator John McCain were close friends.  We all knew that McCain was near death.  President Donald Trump had said some bad things about Senator McCain that didn't sit well with Lindsey Graham.  I saw Lindsey at my church and went up to him after the service.  He said he remembered me.  I guess he did.  I asked him to stand up to President Trump, and he said he would.  After McCain died, Lindsey went back on his word.  It really wasn't unusual for him.  

 Both senators in this story were good politicians.  They knew how to work the voters.  One had integrity.  The other maybe not so much.  Both could tell you what you wanted to hear.  One with respect.  The other maybe not so much.  One had strong convictions.  The other looked to see which way the wind was blowing.  That is the nature of politics.  

Joes

  In the political world, there are many personalities.  Some good and some not so good.  All have egos that need to be pampered by the voters.  One cannot be a politician without having an ego.  Another quality is that you need to be able to press the flesh.  You need to get out and meet the people.  Shake some hands.  Make the voters feel like you care about them, even if you might not.  After all, these people keep you in office, if they think you care about them.  Once they no longer have that feeling, you are out of a job.  That is why voting is so important.  In theory, it is to keep those who care in, and those that don't out.  That is also why you hear some politicians promise the sun, moon and stars to you, so you will vote for them, even though they can't deliver on those promises due to the system we live under.  Some call it "lying".  Others call it "deception".  Still others call it "smoke and mirrors".  It is actually just politics.

 Back in 2008, the senior senator from Delaware was running for President of the United States.  He was at the State House in Columbia to try and get support before the Democratic Primary in the state.  His name was Joe Biden.  I went to the press conference.  He made mention that he started his political life campaigning for George McGovern for President in 1972.  After the press conference was over, I went up to him and shook his hand while introducing myself.  I told him that my first campaign was working for McGovern in 1972.  He laughed and said, "That was the loneliest job".  We both had a laugh over that.  Nixon won almost every state that year.  In case you have lived under a rock for all these years, Obama picked Biden to be is running mate and then became Vice-President.  He later ran against President Trump and became the President of the United States.  He had a really good sense of humor.

 Another Joe on my list is Joe Wilson.  He represented the 2nd Congressional District in the House of Representatives in Washington for South Carolina.  You may remember Joe as the one who yelled out "You Lie!" while Obama spoke to Congress about Health Care.  I had met him on a few occasions throughout the years.  During the service for my pastor's retirement at First Baptist, he came to make a short speech about our pastor.  After the service, I went up to him to say hello.  He was very cordial to me.  I told him that I couldn't vote for him, even though his district was just a stone's throw away from where I lived.  He said with a straight face, that the Legislature should change the District lines, so I could vote for him.  That is called "gerrymandering".  I hope he was kidding, but it is hard to know with Joe Wilson.  I haven't seen him joke much.  

 Two Joes.  One is a Democrat and the other a Republican.  Vastly different politically.  Both Americans.  It would be nice if there was bipartisanship in Washington.  Like in the old days.  That's how things get done.  Politics can be a very messy business.  Votes count.  If you don't like someone, vote them out.  Just make sure that the one coming into that slot will be someone that will work for you and not for themselves.   How many politicians do you know came into office with nothing and left as a millionaire?  Why?  Because they stopped caring about the voters and cared more about the money from lobbyists.  As you are shaking your head and saying, "My vote doesn't count.  That's just the way it is.", it doesn't have to be that way.  We are Americans!  Let's act like it.