TV brings liberal a hero

I rarely agree with Daily Pilot columnist Steve Smith. My letter two

years ago taking umbrage to his adulation of what he termed

Schwarzenegger’s “family values” resulted in a call from a Pilot

editor asking me to write a column for this paper. So Smith is

ironically responsible for giving this liberal a chance to be heard

every few weeks.

I’m also beholden to him, since his point of view often provides

me with the counterpoint to create a column wherein I present an

opposing point of view. He fuels my creativity.

Smith’s eschewing of television never much bothered me. I’m a

reader myself, and I rarely watch any TV.

But since I’ve known my good friend Dave, I’ve been introduced to

public and other educational television. (I am also hooked on

“Deadwood” and mourn the passing of “Six Feet Under” from HBO, which

are, as is Shakespeare, full of sex and violence, and contain

outrageous amounts of cursing as well and intense grappling with

complicated life issues.)

Now Smith has said that we liberals watch a bunch of drivel and

believe God is a four-letter word. For the record, I believe in God

but read “Harry Potter” books the day they come out.

Since I do not have cable, I watch the HBO shows (including Bill

Maher’s) at Dave’s. When he isn’t watching these favorites, Dave is a

public television and CNN aficionado. So I watch the news too.

And CNN is how I got to hear Democratic Louisiana Sen. Mary

Landrieu’s Senate floor speech of Sept. 8. Dave TiVo’d it for me, or

I never would have seen it or read it.

I had pretty much given up on finding a strong, outspoken Democrat

who might bring together our party in the face of the Bush regime.

But Landrieu’s 20-minute speech contained the makings of a future

president.

In this speech Landrieu took responsibility for any mishandling of

the Katrina flooding disaster. She did not blame or point the finger

at her staff, as some in Washington have.

She told the Senate the buck stopped with her and strongly

defended her staff, her governor, parish leaders, and all the brave

citizens in her state who saved lives and kept up spirits.

“Our local leaders never once flinched from their duty to protect

their residents and save every man, woman or child, regardless of

race or income. It was so desperate that the law enforcement didn’t

have to triage. The people were triaging themselves. In other words,

when the boat drove up, they would put the old people first in the

boat. Then they would put the babies in the boat. And all the young

‘healthy’ people would just stay on the roof until the boat could

come back. Sometimes it did, and in some cases it was too late.”

Pausing often to prevent tears or anger, Landrieu thanked all the

people from other states who had offered help to her people. She

asked for help, noting that 8,000 of her National Guard has been to

Iraq twice, and 3,000 of them will return this month to no homes.

Then Landrieu fearlessly took on Washington. She told of how many

times she had asked for help to repair the levees. She said her state

had been neglected time and again.

She added, “Washington rolled the dice, and Louisiana lost.”

Her conclusion: “I intend to find out why the federal response,

particularly the response of FEMA, was so incompetent and insulting

to the people of our states.” (She included her neighbors in

Mississippi.)

She reiterated how she had cried in anguish on national television

and prayed to God. “It was an anguished cry of plea to the only

person that I thought could hear, and that was God himself.”

A native Louisianian, she, too, lost her childhood home. I can

only imagine her anguish with this next storm, Hurricane Rita. She is

the kind of leader who will mourn not only for her own citizens but

agonize over those in other vulnerable states.

I would never have heard this speech had I not had a friend who

watched television. If you missed it, you can search for it on Google

Mary Landrieu. Her speech is on that site.

So, to Steve Smith, thanks again for a column idea. And parents,

if your child is a senior in high school and needs to write one of

those college essays about whom they admire, I recommend Mary

Landrieu. And for you Republicans, she even believes in God.

* SUE CLARK lives in Costa Mesa and is a therapist in Newport

Beach. She can be reached at o7tallteacher@comast.netf7 or (949)

275-4905.