Pino closings Monday. Maybe we will watch. Maybe not.
Our 2021 Juneteenth post admitted our ignorance. We knew little or nothing about the day and its meaning. We become stronger when we own our failings.
We did not know and do not know what it means to be the descendants of slaves. What it means to be immediately judged when you walk into a room because of the color of your skin instead of the content of your character.
But we learned about what people who would become our brothers and sisters others felt and experienced.
And you know what we decided? That diversity, equity, and inclusion is a good idea, not a bad one. That when President Lincoln formed a cabinet of a "team of rivals" he was endorsing the idea that accepting and respecting our differences makes us stronger. Listening to others and honoring their lives is a good thing, not a bad thing.
That when President John Kennedy said during his commencement address to the American University in Washington DC in 1963 that "Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we all are mortal" he was eloquently explaining that our humanness envelopes our petty differences.
There are many holidays we do not partake in. Christmas. Ramadan. St. Crispins Day. The list goes on and on. But we respect those who do celebrate those days. We have been to midnight mass, invited by friends. We have broken bread on El ad-Fitr with our Muslim brothers and sisters, and of course we read Henry V on October 25 for the poetic summary of the closeness of those sharing an ideal worth dying for.
So to our brothers and sisters who celebrate June 19 with friends and family and gather to remember, and to enjoy traditional dishes, we thank you for including us in your celebrations and allowing our journey from ignorance to understanding to continue.
And (being Rumpole) we could not resist in leaving you with these words spoken before the Battle of Agincourt:
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,But he’ll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember’d.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
Pinos defense attys advised him to reject the lesser included offense of careless homicide - a second degree misdemeanor. Based on what I’ve seen, a careless homicide would be a win.
ReplyDeleteAll hail Rumpole. Truly. You will be missed.
ReplyDeleteThank you. No one has stepped up to take over. I am concerned and weighing certain options. I don't just want it to go dark.
ReplyDeleteSAO can’t wait for the blog to go dark.
DeleteKind of like the SAO, no one wants the job
DeleteI understand your concern. I don't know anyone who toils at the REGJB who has your scope and skill. I'm surprised no one has offered to take it over; so many of your readers are arrogant and over-confident.
DeleteIt would be terrible if this space goes dark. You've spent years creating a community, must have been like herding rabid unfixed cats. I have been uplifted and enlightened by your posts. Could you consider posting less frequently, say, once a week, and asking one or two of your colleagues to post in-between?
I offered but Rump wants the new admin to be named. I asked to remain anonymous.
DeleteThis is our place.
DeleteAgreed that diversity and inclusion are important. Equality is important too. But not equity in the DEI context. Starting each generation from square one, and not passing on skills, knowledge and the fruits of one’s labor to one’s children is not good policy.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is too great to go dark. We all love it and spend countless hours per week learning, considering, debating, commenting and thinking about your intellectual posts and the smart comments.
ReplyDeletePlease don’t go Rumpole. Not to mention that if you leave, we will have to necessarily rely upon Cramer and Mr. Wonderful to sustain our Wall Street winnings. Thanks to you Sir.
"Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we all are mortal"
ReplyDeleteYou can't even take these banalities for granted.
Legions of people kill and burn other people's children because they think it gets their own children a bigger piece of the pie.
Legions of people would sacrifice their own children for hubris, hatred, and delusion a million times over, to say nothing of other people's children.
Please don't go Rump. Your posts are so stimulating. One of my daily perks.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I learned from this post is that you only know black people with the exact same political views as you, the coastal elite ones. I guess living a sheltered life where you don't have any actual black friends means you have to somehow understand them.
ReplyDeleteMaybe if you treated them like people and found common ground you wouldn't have to solve some great mystery to understand. As someone from more of a blue collar background growing up I just talked with them about sports, chasing girls, joked with them and got in trouble with them as school etc... They are actually not that different.
Never once did I think I have to understand them, but that's because they were actually my friends and I understood them more than you could ever hope to.
You must be someone very close to Rumpole. No other way you would know whether he had a sheltered life. Or are you assuming that, because he is well-read and articulate, he cannot have come from a working class background. If you aren't close to him, how could you know the history of his relationships with people of color. Or are you assuming that someone of his accomplishments could not have had Black friends and colleagues? Your comment says a lot more about you than it does about him.
DeleteI have a ton to say in reply. But I’ll start with two questions. 1. Where in any post do I discuss whether or how I know black people? The posts are about my lack of understanding the holiday not about people. 2- show me one post - just one- where I have discussed the economics of my upbringing Whether I came from a family with money or not. Or even if I was raised by my natural parents Just one and we can go from there. Otherwise I suggest you go to the Disney blogs. The level of writing and discussion there is more your level.
ReplyDeleteIf Pino is found guilty - and sentenced to 30 years of state prison - is there any doubt that with his connections to the Cuban community elite that a pardon by Governor DeSantis will be in place just before he leaves office this year?
ReplyDeleteAnybody disagree?
Rump don’t shut the blog! Don’t give in to the SAO Gestapo.
ReplyDeleteThe gestapo lurks on here
ReplyDeleteA guilty verdict for Pino is only a minor inconvenience. Is Mr. Pino a dear friend of Florida Fish and Wildlife Chief Commissioner Rodney B? Is Rodney B a dear friend of the Governor? Is Mr. Pino a dear friend of Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Albert Maury of Coral Gables? Is Commissioner Maury appointed by the Governor?
ReplyDeleteWill the Judge immediately take Mr. Pino into custody and send him the state prison upon a guilty verdict?
Who thinks that an immediate pardon is already in the works?
No way an affluent and politically connected defendant, as classy and a social elite, would ever be placed in custody. No way. He is untouchable. Rich and powerful Miami folks have it all figured out.
Hermes or Louis Vuitton would probably post his bond.