Tag: ‘Monkey Business’

Once Upon a Time . . .

Former Colorado Senator Gary Hart embodied the ‘change’ and transcendence he talks about in this article. Oh, God, what might have been, if not for ‘Monkey business‘ on the turbulent waters to the island of Bimini?

I don’t want to revisit the past but Mr. Hart’s article moved me. He was a change agent brimming with ideas to galvanize a nation long before Mr. Obama had any notion of transcending anything.

Isn’t it always the case though that leaders with the best ideas often possess fatal flaws? Gary Hart, Gary Hart, Gary Hart. I remember the time now like it was yesterday. ‘Where’s the beef?’ Walter Mondale, parroting doggerel from a television jingle, kept bellowing. So when Mr. Hart was caught with a woman not his wife, it became easy to throw the man overboard and forget his ideas.

The intervening years, I believe, proved him prophetic on some of those ideas. For instance, Mr. Hart saw the dangers we faced as a nation from terrorism, yelled enough about them, but went unheeded, until the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. We then proceeded to ignore him some more. But, I guess, there’s no solace in thinking about being right. Not now. Not for Mr. Hart. Not for Mrs. Lee Hart, his wife, who had to live with the pain of his wanderings. Not for the former Donna Rice. And certainly not for us.

I don’t know anything so I am not suggesting Sen. Barack Obama has some skeleton in his closet. Whatever it is, if there is a ‘it,’ I just don’t want to know. I want this moment to last. I believe Mr. Obama is as good as we seem to think he is. And he has to lead now. Our nation needs him to.

BUS FIRM CITED FOR POLLUTING RIVER

By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, January 5, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A04

The state has cited a borough bus company for polluting the Saddle River after state police Thursday found motor oil draining from the company’s parking lot into the river, officials said.
The civil citations against Saddle River Tours Ltd. at 119 Graham Lane were filed by state police and the state Department of Environmental Protection, spokesmen for both agencies said Friday.
A unit of the state police Marine Investigation Bureau, while on routine patrol of the Saddle River about 10:30 a.m. Thursday, found a large amount of oil running into a drainpipe along the parking lot that emptied into the river, state police spokesman Capt. Thomas Gallagher said.
While checking for the source of the oil, the marine police unit also found oil running through a hookup from the parking lot into the borough sewer system, officials said.
Sgt. Kevin J. Harnett of the Bergen County Police Emergency Management Unit, who also responded to the scene, said the environmental crime unit of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating possible criminal violations by the company.
Gallagher said the state police contacted the Lodi Police and Fire departments and the Prosecutor’s Office because of the hookup into the sewer line.
County Prosecutor John J. Fahy said he could not comment on the matter.
Representatives of Saddle River Tours could not be reached for comment Friday.
Bruce Doyle, an emergency response specialist with the DEP, said the department’s division of hazardous waste management will oversee the cleanup and remedial measures to be taken by Saddle River Tours.

Keywords: LODI; BUS; BUSINESS; RIVER; OIL; CRIME; ENVIRONMENT

ID: 17328582 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)