Your Bag of Nothing for Friday, August, 23, 2024

  • I haven’t seen or heard from Tom Brokaw for a while. He’s 85 and battling an incurable blood disease.
  • Hey, just so we’re clear. Yes, I lean left, but that doesn’t mean I think one political party loves the country more than the other. Sure, I differ in thought, but I respect your freedom to think differently.
  • I’d really like to follow the nominee for president for either party the day of their acceptance speech. There’s so much I’m curious about. Everything from how many times they will practice their speech to what their appetite is like.
  • Watching the DNC, some of it with BoyGeeding, reminded me of watching it with my family when I was little. One vivid memory sticks out, and I think it occurred when Dukakis (90 and still living, btw) was nominated. During one of the speeches, the camera focused on Jackie Kennedy Onassis for a few seconds. I recall asking my father why the heck she was there because it didn’t make sense to my young mind. Because of that, I did a little research on her and, of all things, watched coverage of her funeral on YouTube and read about her final days.
    • One thing that stood out was that she was embalmed inside of her New York apartment. I wonder how much that is done? Is that common for the elite and non-elite in New York?
    • Unlike something you’d see today, no videos or photos exist of her service inside the church cathedral. The national news was only allowed to carry the audio, which they did, and displayed photos of her life and of her with the people who were speaking.
    • Senator Ted Kennedy told a story about waiting with her for President Clinton to step off Marine One for the rededication of the Kennedy Library. She told him, “Teddy, go greet the president.” He replied there was no need since their close friend was already in place to do so. She replied, “Yes, Teddy, but our friend is not running for re-election, and you are.”
    • All but one of her pallbearers were nephews. The one who wasn’t was her family’s longtime Secret Service agent Jack Walsh. They became particularly close when she took her two kids to Ireland, something her husband wanted to do. She went swimming one day and got caught in a terrible current about to drown. Walsh saved her. There’s a good story about it here. I was impressed at how she wrote about it in a letter and that she asked the Secret Service to award Walsh with their highest decoration. I guess the head of the Secret Service has no choice but to follow through with that request, considering how they failed at protecting her husband. Walsh protected the Kennedy family until the kids aged out of protection.
    • She died at 64. Caroline is now 66, living longer than all of her immediate family. I’m sure that carries a bit of weight.
    • In her final weeks, she would invite close friends to her apartment individually. In front of the fireplace, she would read from a collection of letters and share some photos. Most of them were in association with that friend. Then, they would toss them in the fire together and lose them for all of history. It reminded me of John Adams’ wife. I’m pretty sure it was she who burned most of the correspondence between her and her husband, as she considered it a private affair.
    • She was buried in a model 710 casket from the Marsellus Casket Company. The same as her husband and other presidents such as Nixon and Ford. The company went out of business in 2003, with the last of the 710 sent to Houston to a funeral museum.
      • President Kennedy was initially placed in the finest casket from Vernon O’Neal Funeral Home in Dallas. However, it wouldn’t fit through the door of Air Force One, so the handles had to be removed. Talk about having to improvise and make the best of things. The president’s open wounds also damaged the interior. Bobby Kennedy feared it would end up as a morbid object of curiosity, so he worked with the Air Force to have holes drilled in the coffin, weighed down, and dropped in the Atlantic far from shipping lanes.
  • Kerry Washington’s bit with those two young girls was the most adorable part of last night.
  • I’m surprised we haven’t heard from Rex Tillerson or Jim Mattis this election cycle. Either reporters are stupid, or they refuse to do interviews.
  • Jon Stewart mentioned “joy” last night, and I automatically started to sing this song.
  • I thought it was funny.

  • A California school board terminated the contract of its superintendent Wednesday, months after it was alleged that a mid-level supervisor and friend of the administrator’s played a cruel joke on a subordinate by putting his desk on a roof.

  • I’m highly impressed with Maddux’s mental and long-game forethought. He set up Biggio before they even played in the playoffs, and he fell for it. It also shows his willingness to sacrifice personal statistics for team gain. Talk about a cerebral game.

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