A lesser man, someone who didn’t love Delaware so much, might have succumbed to pressure to declare the state bankrupt in the wake of huge loan losses by Farmer’s Bank, which in 1975 was state controlled.
But Sherm Tribbitt stood firm.
He saved the state that embarrassment, a feat for which he never received the full credit he deserved. I was a friend of his, along with thousands of other Delawareans, and mourn his passing.
*****
After the airplane crash death of former Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska the news media were filled with references to the fact that he had been the longest serving Republican senator in the history of the U.S. Senate.
Stevens’ death at 86 followed by only a few months the death of the longest serving Democrat senator, Robert Byrd of West Virginia.
Both men held increasingly powerful positions in the Senate during their long tenures.
Both also were known for their devotion to their home states, an allegiance that resulted in truckloads of federal money being spent in their states (and Alaska with a population less than Delaware’s).
You could say they practiced state partisanship to excess.
But both men wouldn’t have been able to generate so much pork for their states if legislation introduced by the late Sen. John Williams of Delaware had been successful.
As the last of his four terms was coming up in the late 1960s, he introduced legislation to bar anyone serving in the Congress after reaching the age of 70.
Had this legislation been enacted, Stevens and Byrd simply wouldn’t have been on Capitol Hill for so long and therefore wouldn’t have garnered so much clout among their colleagues.
Williams, elected in 1946, served four six-year terms. He felt that was long enough. His standing with a majority of the voters in Delaware was so strong that if had simply declared he wanted another term the outcome would have been automatic.
Instead he left office in 1971 and returned to Sussex County, resuming the quiet life he had left before running for office.
His proposed legislation got nowhere, of course. The very people who would have first been affected by it were the powerful committee chairmen. None of them wanted to be kept from staying in office as long as they pleased, including Byrd and Stevens.
As matters stand, the only way to enact legislation imposing an age limit on holding Congressional office, or imposing term limits, would be for the nation’s citizenry to rise up and demand it.
Don’t hold your breath. The power of incumbency — including “bringing home the bacon” for home states — is too strong. The country needs a shuffling of its Congressional representatives but tepid interest on the part of the electorate unfortunately assures we will continue to have people holding office for much too long.
(I know the above is a little unusual in this space but the Delaware connection prompted me to include it).
*****
Saw a man wearing a very full sweatshirt the other day that carried the words: “I don’t skinny dip any more. I chunky dunk!”
*****
You might think that a succession of hot and sunny days would be good news for businesses at the beach. Wrong. What storeowners who cater to vacationers want are enough sunny days to draw people to the ocean in the first place but also enough cloudy or rainy days to get them to get them off the beach and into the stores.
You can’t please everyone.
*****
From some of my recent comments, you might think that I am spending a lot of time seeing doctors. That’s not quite true, although tests and then follow-ups involving eyes do result in return visits.
The other day I was fortunate enough to have a conversation with my ophthalmologist, Dr. Ortiz, who mentioned the simple problem members of the medical profession have when it comes to their patients following through with the prescriptions given them for treating illnesses or conditions.
Nearly half of the people who make return visits to the doctors treating them do so after failing to follow what the doctors had prescribed they should be doing to cure an illness or improve their health in one way or another.
He mentioned an incident that happened years ago in his practice. A man came to him who reported he had been driving on the highway when suddenly, without warning, everything went blank. He couldn’t see. Fortunately his wife was in the passenger’s seat and talked him into stopping safely by the side of the road.
And then, fortunately, his sight suddenly returned.
“I had been feeling fine,” he told the doctor, although adding that he was taking pills for high blood pressure.
“But you haven’t taken your medicine for three months” his wife exclaimed at this point.
His blood pressure was found to be something like 250 over 150, a figure so high that Dr. Ortiz told him he had been perilously close to having a major stroke and might have killed himself and others.
“That’s a problem with high blood pressure and diabetes,” Dr. Ortiz said. “You may feel fine and yet be in danger of having something drastic happen.”
Obviously, I am not equipped to give medical advice but I can emphasize this: If you are seeing a doctor, and he or she has prescribed certain medicines and activities, follow that advice faithfully.
You might not only keep your own health longer but you also will likely be seeing your doctor or doctors less often. And if enough people act likewise, the whole medical system could benefit.
*****
The recent and untimely death of Tammy Brittingham, who served the Delaware State News in many capacities, including editor and publisher, is still a shock to the community. The DSN fittingly honored her with a tribute written and compiled by Frank Fantini, who himself was a mainstay of that newspaper before beginning another business of his own.
A Celebration of Life ceremony will be held at Nassau Valley Vineyards on Route 9 in Lewes at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 5, to which all are invited.
*****
This one is so old perhaps you haven’t heard it:
Q: “What do they call the cabs lined up at the Dallas airport?”
A: “The yellow rows of taxis!”
