lundi 22 octobre 2012

Kaddish for Sen. George McGovern 1922-2012


KADDISH FOR SENATOR GEORGE MCGOVERN

Once on my way to the Yankton Indian Reservation in South Dakota, I was excited to see that the name of the next town on the road was AVON.
Avon, South Dakota
I scratched my head and looked at the mist of memories.
In the heady days of kindness towards others in the world of politics, there was an international surge of Giants.Whitlam in Australia, Trudeau in Canada, Manley in Jamaica…
And believe it or not, for someone growing up in Australia, USA was represented in his mind by none other than George Mc Govern born in 1922 at the village of Avon, South Dakota, son of a Methodist minister. At one time he was the only senator with a PhD or other doctorate degree!
Later I arrived in the USA, to find a country, too distant from the visions of Sen. George McGovern. What would have happened if he had become the President? While visiting Yakima in the state of Washington, Bernal B, a good friend of mine said: Justice Douglas, the most liberal judge ever seated in the supreme court of America, had a great chance of becoming the President…
Politics is such. Fake people become leaders, with their polite talk and deceiving tongue.
I arrived in South Dakota on a flight from Miami via Chicago. The young man who was the driver for the shuttle was from California and was ignorant of the senator. I had chances to talk about him to a couple of others I had a chance to meet that day. In this state that is so conservative at the moment that it is hard to believe that it also gave birth to Senator George McGovern.

Rest in Peace, Senator, your influence was much greater than you could have ever imagined…Many in Australia saw in you the hope and optimism and liberalism of what they considered to be the prime qualities of America.

I shall say Kaddish for this gleam of light from the Plains who shone so brightly for so many years. May his memory help others remember, that this country holds great promise, the elections are very close, don't be fooled by fake, insincere people who are more interested in themselves and their ilk, than the welfare of the other half of the population….

featured posts

CUBA IS THE FUTURE FOR LATIN AMERICA AND PERHAPS THE WORLD

CUBA IS THE FUTURE FOR LATIN AMERICA AND PERHAPS THE WORLD On my way out of Cuba, from La Habana, on COPA airlines flight to Panama, I w...