{"id":358,"date":"2018-08-04T13:08:27","date_gmt":"2018-08-04T20:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bruceramsey.net\/?page_id=358"},"modified":"2018-09-12T09:17:33","modified_gmt":"2018-09-12T16:17:33","slug":"the-litmus-test-2009","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bruceramsey.net\/index.php\/the-litmus-test-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"The Litmus Test (2007)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Self-reliance is at the core of my political philosophy, so I bring it up when I have a chance. PBS, which in uncharitable moments I think of as State Television, gave me an opportunity to make a point about self-reliance on a national stage. The McNeil\/Lehrer Productions invited me to a national gathering to talk about citizenship. I was one of only two journalists there. I never knew why they chose me. Anyway, I went and vowed to make the most of it.<\/span><\/i><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Of course, I made a column of it. It ran in the Seattle Times on November 28, 2007.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A few weekends ago, I was flown to the old Virginia House of Burgesses in Williamsburg to be a representative in a kind of assembly. McNeil\/Lehrer Productions had chosen 47 people from around the country as part of a program on America in the 21st century. Each of us arrived with the thought, \u201cWhy me?\u201d<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0None of us was a public figure in a big way. The highest-level official was the attorney general of Illinois, followed by the mayors of Nebraska City, Neb., and Youngstown, Ohio.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There had been an obvious attempt to touch certain social fence posts by including an Episcopal bishop, a Muslim chaplain and a professor at the Catholic University of America; a fundamentalist pastor from Florida and a lesbian psychologist from San Diego; a lawyer from an Indian tribe and an organizer from the black neighborhoods of St. Louis; a high-tech businessman born in Hong Kong and a Cuban immigrant living in a FEMA trailer.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There was a woman who designs cars and another who runs a Shakespeare company. There was a lecturer from the U.S. Army War College. Besides me there was one other editorial columnist, from the\u00a0Courier-Journal\u00a0<\/i>of Louisville, Ky.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We all were supposed to discuss fundamental issues \u2014 life, liberty and pursuit of happiness stuff. TV cameras would capture it and editors would make a PBS special of it, to run in 2008.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0All 47 of us had opinions, but only a few made a living by marketing them, and we few tended to be more outspoken.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The McNeil\/Lehrer folks divided us into four groups to debate resolutions. They further divided us into twos to write the resolutions. My co-conspirator and I were assigned to write a definition of citizenship. In five minutes we came up with this:<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Citizenship means to take responsibility for ourselves and our families so that we are not an unnecessary burden on others; to keep abreast of public questions, participate in public deliberations, to speak out when necessary and serve our country in time of need; to live exemplary lives and pass on our values and wisdom to the next generation.<\/i><\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 That would be bland enough for unanimity, I thought. But I was wrong. I have read the italicized statement to several folks and asked them to pinpoint the offending clause. So far, none of the conservatives has been able to find it. Liberals see it right away. I think of it as a kind of litmus test.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The offending phrase is, \u201can unnecessary burden on others.\u201d<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That grated on the ear of Lisa Madigan, the Illinois AG. She said it put an unfair onus on the acceptance of help. She moved that the words be taken out.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt says unnecessary<\/em> burden,\u201d I said.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Still, she wanted it out, and when she made a motion to take it out a majority of our group raised their hands. But by our rules, my partner and I\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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could leave the language in and see if the group would adopt the resolution anyway.<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My partner \u2014 the Hong Kong immigrant \u2014 refused to budge, as did I.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe leave it in,\u201d I said.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The group then voted\u00a0for\u00a0<\/i>it. Why they did, I don\u2019t know. Maybe they agreed with it and maybe they were being nice. Niceness came in buckets that weekend. Anyway, they accepted it, and I was able to read it to all 47 delegates.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Betty Bay\u00e9 of the\u00a0Courier-Journal<\/i>, former president of the National Association of Black Journalists, opposed it. She didn\u2019t like the idea of self-made Americans, she said. All of us had been burdens on somebody. The greatest public value, she said, is compassion.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On my side were two Asian Americans. One argued that it had been no favor to the American Indians to put them under a regime of federal compassion.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Here was a fundamental divide, though we didn\u2019t get far exploring it. I got the impression that Jim Lehrer, who was running the show, was more interested in the things that united us. There were plenty of those \u2014 but I think the divisions would make a better PBS-TV special.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

\u00a92007 The Seattle Times<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I had several responses to this column. Maggie Orth of Seattle wrote: \u201cShame on you, Bruce Ramsey. You were asked to … work with your fellow citizens and come up with a definition that all agreed to. Rather than LISTENING, learning, possibly rethinking your ideas, or working to reach a consensus with your FELLOW CITIZENS, you ignored their point of view.\u201d<\/i><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I stuck with mine and they stuck with theirs.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jeanie McBee of Kenmore wrote: \u201cWhen I read your definition, I thought, \u2018Oh, boy, I wonder if he got that one by them.\u2019 I was surprised to read further and learn that when you\u2019ve since read it to people, the conservatives couldn\u2019t pick up on the clause that offended some. I did right away, even though I agreed with the statement.\u201d<\/i><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The TV special did show me in an exchange with Jim Lehrer about self-reliance. But the program was too much like the weekend itself, which was a half-successful exercise in creating order out of chaos. Maybe if we\u2019d had three or four days we could have done better.<\/i><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I had a fine time, though. We had several nationally prominent thinkers talk to us, including linguist John McWhorter. And at one of the meals I sat next to the Craig of Craigslist. I mentioned jauntily that I was from the industry that he was putting out of business, and he said it wasn\u2019t so. Maybe I should have listened, learned and rethought my ideas about the newspaper industry but then, maybe not.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Self-reliance is at the core of my political philosophy, so I bring it up when I have a chance. PBS, which in uncharitable moments I think of as State Television, gave me an opportunity to make a point about self-reliance on a national stage. The McNeil\/Lehrer Productions invited me to a national […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-358","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bruceramsey.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bruceramsey.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bruceramsey.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bruceramsey.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bruceramsey.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/bruceramsey.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":736,"href":"https:\/\/bruceramsey.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/358\/revisions\/736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bruceramsey.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}