This year's Republican race for the Presidency kept reminding me of a story I read years ago.  Yesterday I got a book in the mail, a collection of humor, and there it was "The Greatest Man in the World' by James Thurber.  It's a story about a surly bully named Jack Smurch that managed to fly a monoplane around the world without a stop, tanks of fuel attached to the sides of the plane, and a gallon of bootleg and six pounds of salami.  The world watches his progress, and he becomes more and more of a hero, finally landing safely.  Meantime, the reporters and government have been researching his past, and it is a terrible one, he stole from church, knifed his principal, long history of arrests.  And when he meets the press, it gets even worse.  He insults Lindberg, calls the French men who died in their plane "frogs" and wants money for his success. Every sentence is full of swearing.

The government tries to hide him away, but the people adore him, and finally they have a conference with the governor of New York, the Senators, and even the President.  It's in a hot room, and Smurch opens the window.  Bad mouthing everyone, and demanding lots of money and women, the President gives a nod and the Secretary of State pushes him out the ninth floor window. His funeral is extravagant and attended by thousands, but not his mother, who is smirking, in his same style, as she fries hamburgers in a run down joint. 

Now this is all written in the Thurber manner, amusing and witty, but certain similarities do appear.  Whenever our Smurch talks, I shiver, and an embarrassment comes over me - embarrassed for our country, for the people who are cheering him on, for me.  Even the name is kind of familiar.  Well let's see what happens.

February 3 is St. Blaise Day and this Sunday our throats were blessed in his honor. "May God at the intercession of St. Blaise preserve you from throat troubles and every other illness".  The original saying was every other evil but I suppose that is too broad a subject for today.

We knew all bout St. Blaise - Bucky told us.  He saved a boy's life that had a fishbone caught in his throat.  She told us this because Daddy was a fisherman and we often had to eat whatever fish he brought home.  Poppy too fished, so there was fish at Grandma's as well.  And there often were bones that we had to pick out.  Thus the story.  Bucky had another solution.  "Chew a piece of bread and that will get rid of the bone,"  To this day, I only buy filleted fish, no bones for me.

An interesting part of the blessing, is that two candles are crossed and thrust around your neck while the priests says the words.  The first time I took the kids to St. Blaise's Day, I said to them that I had had enough sore throats (Maria used to take a note every day to school - "Please allow Maria to chew asperin gum - she has a sore throat.").  And so I thought a blessing might help.  I explained to them that the priest would put two candles around their throat while giving the blessing.  Paul looked worried and asked "Are they lit?"  I remembered that yesterday.  It would be more dramatic if they WERE lit.