This, that and the other …

    • I was saddened by the death of longtime CBS commentator AndyRooney the other day.

    Rooney, who died last Friday at age 92, was one of those peripheralpersonalities who would pop up on my radar from time to time. Asidefrom reading some of his books a number of years ago, I never madea point of sitting down for a “A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney,” butI did enjoy his “60 Minutes” segment if it was on the TV when Ihappened to be watching.

    Like many, I imagine my exposure to Rooney was a result of Sundayafternoon NFL football running well over into the timeslot for “60Minutes” and Rooney being about the only thing the news show hadtime to air.

    Oddly enough, I missed Rooney whenever “60 Minutes” was “shown inits entirety.” That meant the show was airing late and conflictingwith my other Sunday night viewing.

    Rooney had an interesting way of looking at life’s activities and aknack for making them relatable and thought-provoking for hisreaders or viewers.

    “Curmudgeonly” was a word often associated with Rooney, andimpersonators seemed to portray him as whiny, but I viewed him asmore like a grandfather recalling life’s experiences. Sometimes theobservations made little sense and sometimes there was much wisdomin the words.

    What I liked about Rooney’s segment was that it was “a few minutes”and not longer.

    I’ve always subscribed to the theory of, “Why take 30 minutes tosay what you can in five?” I appreciated Rooney’s ability to besuccinct like that.

    • I was glad to see the U.S. House of Representatives the other dayget around to reaffirming our national motto, “In God WeTrust.”

    “In God We Trust” has been our national motto since 1956 and hasbeen on U.S. currency since the Civil War.  Nevertheless, lawmakers from time totime apparently feel the need to revisit the issue for some reasonor another.

    Congress reaffirmed the motto in 2002 and the House took more than30 minutes on Nov. 1 debating whether it should continue. The nextday, representatives voted 396-9 that it should.

    “In God We Trust” is a great motto and it’s good that lawmakersrecognize that fact.

    But somehow, with a national economy in the dumps, highunemployment and unresolved budget issues at home and wars beingfought around the world, I would think legislators have a few otherthings to discuss than revisit this seemingly settled topic.

    • Also on the topic of politics, I was pleased to see the goodturnout during this past Tuesday’s state and local elections.

    That I can recall, Tuesday was the first time in my voting lifethat I actually had to stand in line for any significant length oftime in order to cast a ballot. I guess I was in line about 45minutes before getting to one of the voting machines at the OldBrook precinct.

    I’m still the tiniest bit irritated at having to travel as far as Ido to vote there, though.

    After moving last year from a place where I could walk to my votingprecinct, I now have to drive pretty much across town. The annoyingpart is that I can stand on the porch of my house and see thevoting place for another county precinct.

    But I’m told by the election overseers that I’m not alone in thissituation. So I guess I’ll just get used to it as a part of doingmy civic duty.

    And despite the lines in some places and the traveling distance inother cases, I applaud all who took the time to do their duty andexercise their right to vote Tuesday.

    That’s all for now.

    Write to Managing Editor Matthew Coleman at P.O. Box 551,Brookhaven MS 39602, or send e-mail tomcoleman@dailyleader.com.