DIARY OF AN OLD CRANKY GUY
I don’t know where to start.
Perhaps at the end – the end that ultimately claims us all – even The Sheet.
I received a press release this week from Shanna Johnson, Director./Owner at Discovery Point Kidz in Bishop. The P.R. was about Discovery Point receiving WASC accreditation.
But I’d never heard of Discovery Point. And as I read through the press release, I can’t figure out why it’s relevant to me, The Sheet, et. al. In other words, the press release assumes we know who Discovery Point Kidz is. This is an innocent mistake for a person/organization not used to writing press releases.
Instead of writing a nice note back asking for clarification, I’m in a pissant mood. Impatient. Irritated. All the things I would counsel against. All the things I am too often guilty of.
My reply: “The press release offers zero context. Where is Discovery Point based? Who does it serve? Why should I care?”
Johnson: We are based in Bishop, CA and have three programs for children 18-36 months, preschool and a private elementary school we serve around 90 families each year. This accreditation is a big milestone for our school and community because it reflects our commitment to high-quality education and continuous improvement. Maybe you don’t care…no worries.
Again, I could have been a bigger person and asked polite follow-up questions to glean what I wanted. Nope. Pissant mode.
Lunch: I care. The press release, however, was poorly written. Please don’t take offense. Further … where are you located? How do people apply or get more information about the services you provide? Do you offer scholarships to those of lesser means? Etc.
Johnson: I have two locations, The Early Learning Center is at 687 West Line Street, the preschool, after school program and Elementary Academy are all located at 711 North Fowler. They can visit us on Instagram or on our webpage www.discoverypointkidz.com Yes, we do offer scholarships through our PTO which is a 501c3 non profit designed to raise funds for extra curricular activities, field trips, and scholarships.
If she’s this patient and professional with me, imagine how she’d be with your kids. I’m sold.
This exchange, of course, made me question whether I still have the elasticity to effectively perform this job. Is this the end, my only friend, the end?
Another revelation courtesy of Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan. Noonan’s a straight shooter. She doesn’t whack people without cause.
Noonan wrote a piece on Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) from 1984 to 2022, in the August 1-2 weekend edition.
Fauci also served as President Biden’s Chief Medical Advisor from his inauguration through the end of 2022.
The column got into Fauci’s pandemic diary, which should be a reminder to every public official on the planet NOT to keep a diary.
I hadn’t really paid attention to it, figuring it was more partisan nonsense, but you look at these diary entries and are reminded just how much politics is personal.
And how much leash a vain, career bureaucrat can have. The far-reaching impact of an unelected man placed in an extraordinary position of power.
Whose character and temperament for the occasion was oversold
The entries are so embarrassing. He comes across as an attention-starved teen. The sample from Noonan’s column:
Jan. 30: “All my friends kept saying I was a national hero” and that they “felt safe in my arms.”
March 8: “Nice profiles of me in Politico and NY Times today.”
March 15: “I did all 5 Sunday shows today (My third ‘Fauci 5’)” Then an aside from Noonan: Apparently this is Fauci’s version of ‘the full Ginsburg’ named for Monica Lewinsky’s attorney, when he did five Sunday shows in one morning.
March 26: “Donuts are being named after me; T shirts have my picture on them.”
April 7: “Press still hot and heavy about me.”
May 21: “POTUS seems to be enamored of me.”
As Noonan says, “It screams Seven Deadly Sins. He gave in to his pride … I saw no deep reflection on the sufferings of his countrymen”
Noonan concludes her piece with this:
“Looking back on the Covid crisis, a lot of professionals were trusted beyond the point they deserved. So were many politicians. As people on the ground in America rose up against lockdowns, closed schools, mask mandates, closed churches, they were often unheard, or heard slowly, reluctantly and disrespectfully. The medical and scientific establishment didn’t seem to be a part of the public anymore, but handling the public. And by the end, a lot of people thought they couldn’t trust the politicians and couldn’t trust the scientists.”
I guess stories like this always unnerve me because of the age we live in – the age of self-dealing crony capitalism, of taxpayer-supported fiefdoms.
Capitalism these days largely flows from the state, not vice-versa.
And Musk, Zuck, Bezos … they’re all at the head of the line with their hands out.
When I started The Sheet, believe it or not, the advertisers were entirely small businesses.
We were not an adjudicated paper, nor were we recognized as a legitimate news source by public agencies.
These days, probably half our business comes from the public sector – the same sector we are largely tasked with covering.
The potential for abuse is substantial.
You can see in Fauci’s diary entries how easily he was able to sway the media in his favor. The carrot being a reserved place at the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program)/Covid handout trough.
There was definitely financial interest in alignment.
What has become apparent to me is how reliant we are locally on the good character of public officials, who have incredible latitude in how they do, or don’t do, their jobs. Whom they favor. Whom they ignore. How selectively they “listen.”
I recently finished “The Village on the Edge of the World: Writing and Surviving in Ceausescu’s Romania” by Herta Muller.
This book features a back-and-forth dialogue with Muller and her editor Angelika Klammer.
Muller, born in the early ‘50s, grew up in Eastern Europe behind the Iron Curtain. And deserves a larger review (next week?).
But just one anecdote I’d like to share here. There’s a point where the secret service approaches Muller about becoming an informant. And much to their absolute disbelief, she refuses (because, well, no one refused).
Of course, her refusal and subsequent punishment convinces those around her that SHE MUST BE an informant.
Anyway, there’s a passage in the book where Muller describes her fellow work colleagues.
“For them, it went without saying that you would work for the secret service. And it was beyond comprehension that would do yourself injury. They weren’t malicious, they didn’t view my refusal as treason, they simply didn’t believe in anything: not in any form of Socialism, nor any party. They wanted to rise up into the nomenklatura, that was all. They got special food, special doctors, were awarded privileges by all the authorities, could buy Western cosmetics and clothing … privileges stemmed from a mixture of physical beauty, calculation and political indifference.”
