Cocktails Await
Farm and ranch work never ends, but let me tell you, it's a heck of a lot easier when it isn't so hot. These days of autumn are glorious, and ending them with all the neighbors gathered in the great room, sipping one of Schuyler's new concoctions, well, you can't beat it. Tonight he made us Perfect Manhattans, using rye whiskey, sweet and dry vermouth, and Angostura bitters. At the drinks table, he had a pitcher of nonalcoholic fruit juices.
Out, Out Damn Spot, Cried Lady Macbeth
Jim was telling us what Lady Macbush would famously say: "The poor? The dregs of humanity? Why should I trouble my beautiful mind with such filth? Besides, I don't have to, my two lovely holier-than-thou, dysfunctional sons take excellent care of them, if you get my drift," she foxily said as she dried her hands (even though she couldn't get all the blood off.)
It seemed to Jim that the Damn Spot, or the blood on her hands, was the blood of the poor, those infamously bothersome and inconvenient people who do so blight the earth. Wouldn't the world be a better place if there were no unsightly poor?
Two Dysfunctional Megalomaniac Sons and The Poor
President Lyndon Baines Johnson wisely, kindly, generously and bravely fought all who stood in his way until he got his Medicaid bill passed. And guess what, Jim said, he never went around trumpeting to the four corners of the world that he was holier than, can we say it, bull manure? He just went on and did the right thing, never once comparing himself to the Almighty, as the Bush boys do. You see, the one really did have cojones, the other two, to paraphrase Ms. Richards, were born with a silver spoon in their mouths, though the spoons were full of barnyard manure which through the years has slowly migrated to fill their empty skulls. And lo and behold, as Gabriel would say, it also migrated downwards to where their hearts should have been.
Again, Out Damn Spot, or As The Bush Family Calls It: Medicaid
Well, after all the good President Johnson's Medicaid has brought to the poor who needed and continue to need Medicaid in order to stay alive, those two sons of, oh you know, I just can't think of the word right now Jim said, but anyway, those two are beginning to whack away at Medicaid, with every intention of dismantling it because it isn't something that helps the rich. On October 19, to the praises of secretary and health and human services [vomitus] Michael O. Leavitt, Jeb Bush, he of the cheeks like a bare baby's behind, began dismantling Medicaid in Florida.
His plan, approved by the other demonic brother in Washington, will significantly and dangerously cut how much is spent on the 2.2 million beneficiaries of Medicaid in Florida, in other words, Jim said, in this administration that toots its horn as the "administration that follows a culture of life," now the state will be able to pick and choose who gets treated with the best medicine has to offer, and who gets placebos and just quietly dies and gets of the rolls.
Mr. Leavitt, repugnantly chirped: "Today will be remembered as a day of transformation for the Florida Medicaid program. Florida's framework will be helpful to other states." Yeah, it means that with Dubya's approval, other states will start cutting back on medications the poor elderly and disabled need, cutting back on doctors' visits, the flourishing of draconian measures to deny care, and rapid emptying of nursing homes. In other words, saving the state money by killing the poor.
Now Back to Terry Schiavo
Carmen, Jim's wife, wanted to know what all the hoopla was about, when cheeky Jeb Bush attempted to get the Supreme Court to intervene and forbid the removal of Terry Schiavo's feeding tube. His butchering Medicaid is proof that there's no compassion in him, so the Schiavo thing had to have been only a circus attempt to entertain the country and pull the wool over the country's eyes, making the foolish believe that the Bushes believe in caring for the disabled, like Mrs. Schiavo but, the truth is out. Just a big show folks! Carmen handed us copies of the following treatise, and after giving us a chance to read it, she quietly asked us to consider if any Republican can truly be a Christian when really they seem more instruments of Satan. How dare, she asked, the Republicans and their followers profess to be Christians when they cannot grasp even the most basic tenets of that faith?
The story of the 'rich young ruler' is well known. It is found in three Gospels: for Matthew he is young, for Luke he is a ruler, for Mark he is just someone, like you and me, but not as young for he had kept the commandments (mitzvoth) since his youth. All 3 Gospels insist he had many possessions. Using Jesus' harshest language, Mark warns us against attitudes that in fact are a barrier to our faith and a substitute for God: so he warns against scandals of power, urge to dominate, selfish arrogance and greed for possessions. Jesus' teaching shocks and grieves the rich ruler, while at the same time, it greatly astounds the disciples: how can wealth be such a barrier to Christian faith?
Isn't it a sign of God's blessing? True the Torah teaches to use wealth wisely and justly, but somehow Jesus takes for granted that all possessions are amassed through exploitation, since even the Torah-teachers swallow up widow's houses, and make a show of praying. Over the centuries, the story of the rich ruler has made a deep impression on Christianity: many saints, took literally Jesus' advice to sell everything and founded Religious Orders -of men & women-, who live a life of Evangelical Counsels, even if at times attract the criticism of having nothing but possessing everything (2Cor 6,10).
Jesus' Option for the Poor:
The teaching of Jesus on poverty is firm, harsh and radical. Mark could not be more intense: Jesus looks steadily at the rich ruler and says: do not be possessed by possessions. And, looking just as steadily at his disciples he says: It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle! The disciples are left to plead: if this is so, who can be saved? To understand Jesus' praxis and teaching on poverty we must look at the context of his times and social conditions. Jesus is not asking us to live as destitute beggars (ptochos), or as penury-stricken people (penes) although their welfare must attend to. But He urges us to be familiar with those who lack the necessities of life, since he lives in them: I was hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless, unemployed, despised. With these needy people we are all metaphorically united: the New Testament speaks of a pervasive, spiritual poverty or indigence (endees), as in God's house, we are all needy.
The latest biblical scholarship (both Liberation & Feminist) has provided deeper insights into the times and social conditions that motivated the evangelism of the radically poor for the radically poor. Experts suggest that Mark wrote his Gospel for a poor Church community in Roman-occupied Syria, at a time of persecution, while the Roman army was suppressing the First Jewish Revolt in Holy Land in A.D. 67-70. Tragically this ended up with the destruction of the Temple and the Old Jewish religious life. While addressing his message to a rather settled, structured and orderly Christian community, Mark writes about the life-style of John the Baptist, of Jesus himself and of his first disciples, all radical wanderers, all promoting a movement of the poor for the poor, all requiring a radical concern for all oppressed and marginalized. This was the setting which God had chosen to launch a New Order, and ransom all nations, all cultures, all times. The worldly rich and powerful would never see God's designs in such a mission.
Pretty Serious Considerations Force an Interlude
Sadness at the Bush brothers' destructive actions might have dampened our enthusiasm for dinner, but since Max and Charlotte were preparing most of our dishes.
First, Max and Charlotte served us some small but complex Provençale Toast Points. They were complex because on such small triangles of whole wheat toast, Max and Charlotte had spread a delicious mixture of Niçoise olives, anchovies, potatoes, olive oil, onion, garlic, capers and oregano. Max served those who wanted them, small glasses, called "copitas" of very slightly chilled very dry sherry, the Tío Pepe Muy Seco, from González Byass.
Charlotte then served us a Ceviche Limeño (from Lima, Peru), with shrimp, avocado, cilantro and limes. With the ceviche, Max poured a nice dry Spanish sparkling wine, a Freixenet Brut Cordón Negro. They brought out small dollops of pear sorbet to ready us for the next course. Max and Charlotte brought a wonderful Cabernet Sauvignon from their wine cellar, a 2001 Louis M. Martini Reserve, Alexander Valley, to pair with his Seared Filet Mignon. By now, you know that when Max and Charlotte take over the kitchen, the fare for the evening is not going to be humdrum. With the Filet Mignon, they served fingerling potatoes roasted with extra-virgin olive oil and white wine, a mushroom risotto, and to please us all, Max made some of hi classic, baked on the grill, squash blossom and cornbread skillet bread.
Satisfied? Yes, but we still wanted some of Charlotte's, sorry, but this is the name of her classic dessert, Strawberry Charlotte, paired with another wine they brought from their wine cellar, an excellent Riesling from Idaho, Château Ste. Chapelle.
End of an Intense Evening
Each of us found the Bush brothers' attitude towards Medicaid beneficiaries disgusting. Carmen apologized for the long religious treatise, but thought we should, even those of us who are not Christians, think about the message.
We enjoyed Max's after-dinner coffee back in the great room with the teenagers, hoping, with all our hearts, that if any of them at some time in the future needed good social services, they would be there for them.
Summary:
If George and Jeb throw their arms up in rapture and profess to be holier than you know what Christians, how come they're dooming millions of poorer people to an early death by gutting Medicaid. Is that the culture of life, or is the culture of life only for the haves and the haves more?
