Men's Men, A Dying Breed

"Life's journey is not to
Arrive at the grave safely
In a well-preserved body,
But rather to skid in sideways,
Totally used up and worn out, shouting '..man,what a ride!"

Two men who many might describe as "men's men" passed away while the rest of us complained of being snowed in and having sore backs rendering us little more, in comparison, than a colloquial term for...uhm...yeah, that's it, cats.

First was former Representative ["Good Time"] Charlie Wilson, recently immortalized with a typically fine performance by Tom Hanks in the movie, "Charlie Wilson's War". He was everything I often rail against in our politicians: corrupt, womanizing, drunk more than sober, Democrat. He used his office to avoid accountability for countless indiscretions and even alledged (and probable) felonies. But man oh man, did I like him.
Granted, the movie didn't hurt, but I really learned a lot more about him from a less Hollywoodified documentary for one of the cable channels. What I admired, perhaps in the way liberals who can't stand men who use women as sexual objects (or who leave them underwater in their cars) yet still admired Ted Kennedy, is the way he let absolutely nothing stand in the way of that in which he believed. NOTHING. And he was unapologetic about how he chose to live his life, especially when so many made it clear they were looking for just such an apology. The Washington Post does a much better job recounting this man's contributions (and foibles) to (and in) society and if you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend it (get the kiddies out of the room for the opening scenes--better still, put them to bed then watch it). BTW, no doubt his finest accomplishment in life was to graduate, barely, from the US Naval Academy and to serve as a Naval Officer.

The second man's man to pass was Captain Phil Harris, of The Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch". I've experienced a fair share of harrowing moments at sea, a few of them in command of a ship and its crew. These are times when, with but a few "controllable forces", you are pretty much at the mercy of a far more powerful set of "uncontrollable forces" wrought upon you courtesy of the winds and seas. In the few fleeting moments of reflection such circumstances allow you, you feel the gut-punch reminder that you, and you alone, are responsible for the lives of the crew counting on you to make the right decisions at the right time. Now keep in mind, these moments were relatively rare compared to what we got to witness with nearly every episode of "Deadliest Catch". Captain Harris probably felt that gut-punch pretty darned regularly given that he made a point of frequently going out into one of the worst weather places on earth and doing so in a much smaller vessel than anything I ever sailed in. Oh, and while I would have ordered all my crew into the far safer refuge of the ship's hull and superstructure, he ordered them out on deck to work deadly equipment, hauling tons of destabilizing weight aboard so he could pay them when (if) they made it back to port. He rarely slept, he smoked like a cheap diesel and I'm guessing he tipped more than a few when he made it back to port. But again, I admired this guy. He was smart, courageous, a master of his trade. He would have sooner put on a skirt and walked out in public before he would have complained about having to shovel some snow like I and others sometimes do. Hell, he didn't complain when he started coughing up significant amounts of blood while underway one season. Tough, like you read about.

When we lose men like these, I can't help but wonder whether our kinder-gentler, struggle-avoidance society is going to be able to replace them. Some would say "thank goodness, NO!" but I value having such men's men as examples of how to face challenge, make the tough decisions and live life always with the wind in their hair.

Fair winds, men.