The Color Of Patriotism, Ethical Tightrope & A Poem
By MICHAEL SCHENKLER
Outdoor parties, barbecues, the water: that’s what Independence Day means to me. Don’t question my patriotism; we children of the 60s are committed to the freedoms and principles that this day stands for. We just don’t wave the flag and we do seek every opportunity to encourage our nation to study war no more.
We each express our patriotism in our own manner; we each march to the beat of our own patriotic drummer – or horn player.
We find ourselves celebrating the fact that on this day, July 4, in 1900, a man by the name of Louis Armstrong was born – or so the Queens jazz legend would have had us all believe. He celebrated his birthday on the day of the nation’s birthday and the colors of his Wonderful World are my red, white and blue:
I see trees of green, red roses too
I see ‘em bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
I see skies of blue, clouds of white
The bright blessed days, and dark sacred nights
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
The colors of the rainbow
Are so pretty in the sky
It’s also on the faces
Of people goin’ by
I see friends shakin’ hands
Sayin’, “How do you do?”
They’re really sayin’, “I love you.”
I hear babies cry, and I watch ‘em grow
They’ll learn much more than I’ll ever know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
Hope you enjoyed your July Fourth!
Ethical Tightrope
Two separate and unconnected people contacted me about last week’s story concerning Greg Meeks’ co-sponsorship of a bill which would curb public disclosure of some ethics investigations perhaps benefitting Meeks, whose home purchase has been the subject of ethical questions.
One friend, a journalist notes: “If allegations turn out to be false no one cares, the damage is already done to the reputation.”
Additionally, a writer knowledgeable with the neighborhood writes:
“As for the ‘sweetheart deal,’ they’re investigating, I know the house intimately and I do think that the $830,000 he paid was fair market value at the time. The neighborhood is nice but not worth $1.2 mil, they’re suggesting it was valued at a year later. For sure if it was in Jamaica Estates, Hollis Hills or Douglaston, it would most certainly be worth that and maybe much more. But not in regular ol’ Hollis. He didn’t get a sweetheart deal on the property; but he’s getting a raw deal about it. Having said that, it is an ostentatious monstrosity that he should’ve known would’ve brought unwanted attention.”
Now we like Meeks and certainly intended to be fair. As a matter of fact we held the story several weeks in an attempt to get him to comment.
But like many public officials, he chose silence. We understand the dilemma elected officials face when ethical questions arise, and are not suggesting silence is an indication of wrongdoing.
We do suggest that if elected officials walked the straight and narrow and never took advantage of their position and influence, they would never find themselves in the uncomfortable gray area.
It is a tough road to hoe, but the harvest is its own reward.
We believe nothing will come from the Meeks house story but we also believe there are far too many gray area questions haunting many of our electeds.
Our message is for all electeds.
It’s real tough doling out the gazillions of dollars they do each and every year without being tempted by the offers of the recipients of some of those big bucks. Whether it is a gift, campaign contribution or some other goodie, walking the line between right and wrong is trying to keep your balance on a windy tightrope.
If you stay off it, you’re not going to fall.
Budget Poem
No budget, no money
No legislative progress
No solution, no resolution
Just a governmental mess.
No budget, no money
New Yorkers will remember,
It’s a time for accounting
In the Primary and November.
MSchenkler@QueensTribune.com
