Roy Exum: My Garden On March 1

  • Sunday, March 1, 2015
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum

As I try to do at the beginning of each month, I stroll through my garden to see the good and the bad. This morning there is still a solid covering of snow but, as usual, there is still a lot to see. March is historically known for “coming in like a lion and leaving like a lamb” so let’s see who gets what:

A LAMB to the fact 90-year-old Floyd Hartwig of Easton, Calif., and his wife of 67 years, 89-year-old Violet, died within five hours of each other on Feb. 11. Their children pushed their Hospice beds side-by-side so they could hold hands for the last time.

“We told both of them on the last day, when they were really struggling, that it was okay to go,” daughter Donna Scharton told Fox News. “We wanted them to know it was okay with us. It was time. They wanted to go together.”

A LION to Vice President Joe Biden for his new-found reputation as a “creepy uncle” type. Biden whispering to Ash Carter’s wife with his hands on her shoulders as the man was being sworn in as Secretary of Defense was appalling but cartoonists had a field day. AL.com ran a contest of what they thought Biden was whispering and hundreds of people responded with such captions as “Your hair smells like my pillow,” and “Don’t make any sudden movements – my dental work is caught in your hair,” and “Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?” My favorite? “Do you buy your clothes when they are on sale? At my house they’d be 100 percent off.” Yuck.

A LAMB for the fact that on Dec. 12 this year it will be the day legendary crooner Frank Sinatra would have turned 100 years old. All kinds of events are being planned and his buddy Dean Martin would be delighted to learn Tennessee’s Jack Daniels distillery will have a new blend called “Sinatra Select.”

A LION to the three Brooklyn men who were arrested last week as they tried to leave the country in order to join Islamic State, or ISIS. Yes, this is a free country where we can go and do as we please but the three foreign nationalists were charged with conspiracy after police discovered compelling evidence for their arrests.

A LAMB to the fact this week’s best-selling book is “The Girl on the Train,” a psychological thriller about the disappearance of a young woman. Or, put another way, I’ve had about as much of “50 Shades of Grey” as I can stand…please, let’s change the subject.

A LION to the drug company Janssen Pharmaceuticals after a Philadelphia jury awarded a 20-year-old from Alabama $2.5 million in damages. When the man was eight, he was prescribed Risperdal for autism and Janssen claimed at the time there was a low risk of gynecomastia, a condition that causes men to grow breasts. Imagine what the jury thought when the frail man appeared with a 46-DD chest. News reports also claim the man is too frail to undergo mastectomies, thought to be his lone recourse.

A LAMB to Vanderbilt basketball coach Kevin Stallings, who was thrust under the nation’s microscope after shouting a profanity at one of his Commodore players after the player mocked a Tennessee player on the court. Stallings is right when he said, “I am disappointed in me” as he apologized but he was right, very right, to take a stand for proper sportsmanship.

A LION to whoever is responsible for a recruiting website that features Daron Bryden of Connecticut as “the next Tom Brady.” For what it’s worth Daron is in the sixth grade, is 5-2 and weighs 105. That, dear reader, is sick and sports psychologists are furious over what such senseless pressure and expectations do to children.

A LAMB to Lexus after being overwhelmingly chosen as the most reliable car in the United States, which was just announced by J.D. Power and Associates after they researched owners who had cars from every auto maker for three years. Buick was a distant second and beat out Toyota – which makes Lexus – by one. Lexus also topped Consumer Reports’ list recently. Cadillac was fourth on the Powers’ list and Honda was fifth.

A LION to Dave Hart, the UT athletic director who is intent on doing away with the “Lady Vols” and, in a gender equity sort of way, making men’s and women’s teams and the student-athletes who play on them as the Volunteers, or Vols. Hart told the Knoxville News-Sentinel that “divisiveness brings out the worst in people, especially if you’ve got vindictiveness involved, and that’s present in this … It’s one of the bad sides of human nature.”

A LAMB to Keith Sheldon, who was taking pictures of downed power lines last week for the Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation when he spied a gray car in an icy ditch. He snapped a few pictures and, as he did, he was shocked to find a 74-year-old woman from Franklin, Tenn., literally frozen to the ground in front of the car. The temperature was 15 degrees. When paramedics lifted her onto a stretcher, witnesses could hear the ice breaking. Miraculously, the woman survived. Her family, after reporting her missing two days before, said she suffered from brain damage from a horse-riding incident in the past.

A LION to the calloused news reporter who asked Florida Sheriff Grady Judd if he regretted saying his officers would shoot any criminals after a hold-up if they tried to evade arrest and that his officers were ready for a gunfight if it was necessary. The sheriff’s answer? “I not only have no regret, I’m pretty excited about telling you that’s exactly what would have happened,” Judd fired back. “Make no mistake about it, there’s nothing about politically correct in a gunfight. If you start pointing guns at us you can not only plan on, but you can guarantee, we’re going to shoot you.”

A LAMB to the same Polk County (Fla.) sheriff Grady Judd for continuing to stand his ground. Judd, you may recall, is the law enforcement officer who had the best answer ever given to a similar question several years ago when a reporter asked him why his men shot a criminal suspect over 60 times. Sheriff Judd looked the reporter right in the eye and replied, “ … because that was all the bullets we had.”

royexum@aol.com

Latest Headlines
Opinion
Democratic View On Top State Senate Issues - March 18, 2024
  • 3/18/2024

Campbell bill seeks to save lives by studying suicide trends in Tennessee 3 p.m. Senate Regular Calendar — SB 1787 , by Sen. Heidi Campbell, would require state health officials to produce ... more

The Odor Of Mendacity - And Response (2)
  • 3/16/2024

The Fulton County judge, Scott McAfee, overseeing the Fani Willis prosecution of Donald Trump and eighteen other defendants has spoken. In response to a motion by defendants to remove Willis ... more

Capitol Report From State Rep. Greg Vital For March 15
  • 3/15/2024

General Assembly confirms new Tennessee State Supreme Justice Members of the General Assembly confirmed the appointment of Mary L. Wagner to the Tennessee Supreme Court in a joint session ... more