Truth - Al Franken [125]
When I was growing up, I thought I was the luckiest kid in the world. And I was. Bill O’Reilly was, too. But he just didn’t seem to know it. That’s the difference between liberals and conservatives. They think it’s dog-eat-dog out there, that people’s position in life is the result of their personal success in the marketplace, and that if you’re rich or you’re poor, it’s only because you deserve it.
I just thought we lived in a great country.
Both my parents worked hard and had to overcome adversity in their lives. Like almost everyone does. My Mom developed rheumatoid arthritis at an early age and was in constant pain most of her life. She was married on crutches. Still, she told us, “It’s a great life if you don’t weaken.” And she didn’t. After my brother and I were old enough, she became a real estate agent. At dinner, she made sure we had meat and always, always, a fresh vegetable. At the table, she’d tell us about her business and things like “redlining.” Banks wouldn’t lend money to black people who wanted to buy houses in certain neighborhoods. She told us that was wrong. And that’s why your Granddad works so hard with Congressman Leach to make sure that banks continue lending money to the poor, to minorities, and to women, not just to buy homes, but to start businesses.
My Dad, your great-grandfather, was born in New York. His father died of tuberculosis when Dad was sixteen. That’s why Dad, who was a very smart man, didn’t graduate high school. Instead, he went right to work. A lot of smart people who don’t get a formal education end up being great businessmen and make enormous fortunes. Not your great-grandfather. Frankly, he wasn’t the most ambitious man in the world, but he sure was devoted to his family. He’d come home at about five and spend time with my brother and me. It wasn’t necessarily “quality time,” but “quantity time.” A lot of it spent watching TV. Dad loved comedians, and I guess that might be why I became one.
That’s right. Before I got so involved in politics, I was a comedian. Then I wrote my first political book, Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot. (Rush and I would become fast friends after his fourth rehab took, and he made personal amends to me and thousands of other people and started working a twelve-step program of rigorous honesty.) A few years later, I wrote Lies and the Lying Liars. The reaction I got to both books was different than anything I had done before. Don’t get me wrong. There’s still nothing better than making people laugh. But my books made me realize that maybe I could have an effect on the things I cared about.
That’s why I went into radio. And that’s why I eventually decided to run for the Senate, although I didn’t make the final decision until 2007.
My brother and I weren’t just lucky because we had parents who sacrificed for us. We were lucky because we lived in America, where millions of parents have sacrificed for millions of kids. And I want you guys, my grandkids, to know that you’re inheriting the same incredible gift.
There’s still a long way to go and a lot of work to be done. Before long, you’ll be old enough to pick up where we left off. You don’t have to go into politics or liberal radio to do it. Barack and Hillary, you could become teachers, like your mom. Or Joe III, you could design fuel-efficient cars like your dad. Or Joe could become a teacher, and Barack and Hillary could design cars. It’s a free country.
The best gift I got from my parents was my values. Mom used to give us lectures at the dinner table about ethics. My dad, your great-grandfather, Joe the First, mostly taught by example. What I learned from them was basically what Thomas Jefferson said: Be just and good.
Be just and good, kids, and you just might make your great-grandfather Joe smile down from Heaven. Though I doubt it. Because he’s on your Great-Uncle Owen’s mantelpiece in an urn.
NOTES AND SOURCES
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