Happy October, friends and neighbors and near and far away –
I guess it really is fall, the 90 degrees my thermometer showing notwithstanding. Because the climate is a damaged thing, outside doesn’t feel like it’s “supposed to” feel. What does a fall day feel like? Or a Spring day?
If I’ve told you this before, I apologize, but when I was growing up, there were four distinct seasons in the mid-Atlantic region. Spring was a WHOLE SEASON; not a day or a week. I’m serious! Would I lie to you? I owned a garment called a “spring coat.” Because sometimes it was very blustery and you just needed more than a sweater. (I grew up in the olden days, before jean jackets, and quilted jackets were stylish.). I also had a heavy winter coat. Which meant wool. (Parkas, in the 60s and 70s were for skiing and snow sports only.). Don’t @ at me. I didn’t make the rules.
Wherever you live or wherever you are while you’re reading or listening to these thoughts, if I sound sermony – and I don’t mean to – it’s because I have just celebrated the Jewish new year, and I am full of some wise words I’ve heard. Happy New Year to all those who observe.
NOTE: If you are reading this, this is my written Blog. To LISTEN, please SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio – or wherever you get your Podcasts. It helps get my podcast noticed. And if you’d like to rate it as well, PLEASE DO!
Norm Ornstein, Resident Scholar - American Enterprise Institute
This week’s guest is someone I’ve long admired.Norm Ornstein is a long time expert and pundit known to anyone who consumes news on television and in print.As the scholar in residence at the American Enterprise Institute, an essentially conservative think tank, he’s studied the way our government was intended to work, and is not afraid to call people and institutions out, regardless of party or orientation.He is the co-author (along with Thomas Mann) of It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism.
Now on to my five great things for the first week of year 5780.
1. After hearing a wonderful sermon about the environment and sustainability from a rabbi whose mother is a long time lawyer for the EPA, I want to thank my friend Diane, and my partner’s daughter Izzy for being the people who patiently remind their friends to be extra conscientious. Using reusable glass bottles instead of plastic, being smart about the dishwasher, and so on. I appreciate you two, even if it doesn’t always seem I do.
2. A shout out to my longtime partner, Michael, for being the kind fellow he is. Never have I felt as supported or known. I hope he feels the same from me.
3. The art of conversation. I know it is an important feature of my life, but it feels like it needs to be reiterated: R U Coming? is not a conversation, nor is K. We have come to rely on texts as a painless and static free way of connecting, but it’s not really connection. In person is the very best way. Your eyes, your body language, your words…. It seems practically intimate. As my friend Susan Bird says, face to face conversation has become a luxury. But it’s something we’re missing.
4. This Venn Diagram says it all to me vis a vis my current earnings. I am kidding, but I spend most of my life choosing projects based on how interesting they are, not based on what income they will generate. It seems that resonates with a lot of my friends. (To be clear, I have nothing whatsoever against earning a living.)
5. Using the good china and flatware. I usually keep them wrapped up in their felt pajamas. In fact I put them back already into their hibernation, but I exhumed them for our holiday dinner, and they made our table so much prettier. I think they made the food taste better. It’s lovely and fortunate to have nice things, but I’m resolving to use them more often. They do not serve any purpose when they are stored.
Norm Ornstein, Resident Scholar - American Enterprise Institute
NORM’S 5 THINGS
1. Twitter – for three reasons: One, it is cathartic. He can rail against the horrors and get reaction from a lot of people, instead of yelling at the television or the wall; two; he has made a lot of great friends on the medium; and three, he can learn a lot from them.
2. His foundation work on debate. The Matthew Harris Ornstein Memorial Foundation His late son was a national champion high school debater. For five years, he has funded a summer debate camp for public school kids in the DC area—this summer, two weeks, with almost 200 kids, mostly Title 1 schools, from 5th grade through high school. Teaching life skills. Very rewarding.
3. His foundation work on mental health. He is doing a documentary on a remarkable judge in Miami-Dade County who has transformed the way the criminal justice system deals with people with serious mental illness, saving lives and saving money at the same time. It will air on PBS in April 2020.
4. His son Danny’s startup. Bundlertv.com, with its guide, makes it easy for him to find whatever TV show or movie he wants to see and get to it immediately. No more searching on cable, which drives him nuts!
5.Red wine. Good red wine, from the US, Australia, Italy, France, Argentina. Or a lot of other places!
NORM ORNSTEIN
Resident Scholar – American Enterprise Institute — https://www.aei.org/profile/norman-j-ornstein/
Contributing Editor, The Atlantic — https://www.theatlantic.com/author/norman-ornstein/
Twitter: @NormOrnstein
The Matthew Harris Ornstein Memorial Foundation — http://mornstein.org/
BOOKS:
One Nation After Trump: A Guide For the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported
By E.J. Dionne, Norm Ornstein and Thomas Mann
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/one-nation-after-trump-ej-dionne-jr/1126191318
It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism
By Norm Ornstein and Thomas Mann
https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/thomas-e-mann/its-even-worse-than-it-looks/9780465096206/
Podcast produced in New York City by The FieldTV
