NUMB

This one was easy pickins for Death. It had been coming for so very long, so visible that so many prognositicated how it might arrive, and feared what other damage it might inflict. In the end, it was solitary, alone, undiscovered perhaps for days. Still, the finality of it all seared, indelibly etched on the chalkboard of life. Too soon, so much left to do, so much more to see, so much that could have been, but now, will never be.

There are great memories, sure. Sitting in the Forum rafters, staring at balloons that will never fall, as a large chunk of the NBA Hall of Fame battle it out below - Havlicek, Russell, Baylor, Chamberlain, West, Jones, unbelievable. Watching those "Bums" from the nosebleeds. Having someone in "my" corner when the 7th grade teacher went a little crazy, or when the Freshman football coach was a bit exclusive. Magical Christmastimes - much of which were authored by his deceased bride. These endure, the unpleasant memories have a way of fading as the stark reality of the passing settles coldly in.

Still, the sense of loss is not stark - owing, no doubt, so much to the anticipation of it all. Could something have been done to prevent or postpone this? Not really. This was a course set decades ago, and choice was its captain. Is there a good outcome form all of this? Surely, if God is Merciful and forgiving, and in the same measure as powerful and knowing, then a good outcome is all there could be - it is the only option. Is there a lesson to be learned from this? Can we all - thank you Rodney King, just get along? No clue, not without recognition and reconciliation. In some cases, not without recognition and treatment of the wounds, deep and ugly and no less real simply because they are of the spirit, of the psyche. Could he teach us all that, by his death, we finally, simply, utterly recognize to accept each other, to admit to each other our shortcomings, rather than walking these square corners of "I'm OK but you're a mess?" or "you're already dead" or "you've been screwed up for a long time?" At last, the source of the numbness is identified. Treatment, its form, duration and modality, there's a matter of a different sort.

IGNORANCE IS TREATABLE; STUPIDITY IS A CONSTANT

The President is not welcome to speak to schools. LOST can't get his head around these people who see the President as this Evil Force ready to entrance impressionable young minds with buzzwords and catchphrases that will send them home, zombie-like, requesting their own personal copy of Chairman Mao's Little Red Book, or humming the Al Qaida Fight Song (whatever that is!) This mind set is being fanned by all of the usual suspects (Fox News, the AM Radio talk show chorus, and certain sectarian denominations), to a point where anything this President does is immediately suspect - if not nefarious. It transcends ridiculous in and of itself; it is funny in a "Pulp Fiction" sort of way (laughing but you're not sure why) when one realizes that so many of the same people so concerned right now about a speech to school kids universally wore blank stares while the drumbeat to invade Iraq - on illegitimate claims of weapons stockpiles - was ramped up to Rumba tempo.

Imagine how much less onerous the current fiscal crisis would be without the waste of nearly a trillion dollars that was the Iraq war - and without the billions more that palliative care and treatment of thousands of young servicemen and women wounded and maimed in an elective war will ultimately cost this nation. But, no, let's prevent the President from speaking to kids. That's the fight, the hill where we will plant our flag or die trying. Disgustingly shallow, and oh, so stupid.