502 Exit the Drama Queens

502  Exit the Drama Queens

Shlomo Tzedaka, the last Bronx Jew is at the table at his kitchen, cube of sugar between his lower lip and lower jaw, glass of tea on the 1954 Formica table with the rusting chrome legs and, sitting on the only one of the vinyl chairs that hasn't a rip, he says "you notice Hillary started acting and sounding like a world leader as soon as she found the ladies' room nearest her office at the State Department?"

"Yes," says the visitor.  "She sounded like a Secretary of State.  Lot of gravitas.  Full throated. Smart."

"I'm down in the coffee shop with Irving this morning," says Shlomo, "and he says 'she sound like that during the campaign, she'd be President now.'  I can't think of a way to deny that."

His visitor says "yeah, maybe.  But it's sure a far cry from the cackle and the shriek we saw for so long..."

The drama queen is gone, long live the secretary of state.  Where was she when we needed her?

Shlomo says "then there's the Kennedy girl."

His visitor notes Ms. Kennedy is over 50 and only guys his age think of her as a "girl."

"Yeah, waddever.  She's got 'personal issues?'  What?  She broke a nail?  Another Kennedy Family Crisis? I mean I feel sorry for Ted, but he's old and we all gotta go sometime.  She don't want us to know how rich she is?  We know how rich she is.  Who cares.  And the governor?  Whoever he picks'll be okay.  We're not likely to get another Jim Buckley out of him."

The drama queen is gone, long live the junior senator from New York.

Shlomo says "we've been pretty lucky with senators and governors in this state.  We've been pretty lucky with secretaries of state, even when we've had schmucks as President.  It's gonna be fine."

The visitor reminds him that Colin Powell was a nearby Bronx neighbor.

"Yeah, when he was a kid.  Now, he's got Queens and Saigon written all over him.  But not bad."

One drama queen turns into a Foreign Secretary or Minister of Foreign Affairs of note -- at least for now.  One drama queen exits, period.  

"We'll do okay," says Shlomo Tzadeka, the last Bronx Jew.  "We always land on our feet.  Come, have some tea."


Shrapnel:

--We asked earlier in the week whether we should keep "subheads" in the body of the posting.  The "Focus Group" has spoken.  And the answer is "no," so, no it is.

--Listen carefully to those commercials trying to sell you gold.  When you do, you'll find them so full of "shoulds" and "mays" and "coulds" and "mights," they really say nothing.  I'm sticking with the late Chet Currier's advice:  don't bother.

--Hold on to this datum:  a new survey shows Americans feel three-to-one are more optimistic now that Obama is President.  It's a great start.  But let's see where it is a year from now.

I'm Wes Richards.  My opinions are my own, but you're welcome to them.®
©WJR 2009