Paul Newman, American

It is especially important at this moment to applaud the life of a great man who was, genuinely, a great American.
Paul Newman was a great actor. He was a great figure in automobile racing. He was, in my opinion, a great political figure, as he once reckoned his spot on Nixon's Enemies List as "the greatest achievement of my life." Newman and his wife, Joanne Woodward, gave generously to liberal candidates and causes, and raised millions more for them through fund raisers thrown in their homes. None of these items is the reason for my deepest appreciation of the man. And that reason is why he matters so much right now.
Paul Newman appreciated the blessings of his life, and showed that appreciation by using his notoriety to provide camps for ill children. That would be, he cared for people outside his own home, circle, and those who were not his economic peers.
That's not the way it's done among American leaders today.
We have been taught, throughout the Conservative Revolt (as in, to channel Mel Brooks' History of the World, Pt. 1, Crony: "Your majesty the Conservatives are revolting!" King: "You're telling me!") that the whole point is that "Greed is Good." Yes, Gordon Gecko's gospel from Oliver Stone's Wall Street came to life. Is it totally lost on the NeoCons that Stone's character was named for a slimy lizard? What, Bush missed the satire? Who'd have thought!
Nonetheless, Goober may have seen the movie, and thought it was an instruction manual. (and by the way, a friend refers to the alleged President as Gomer. No, no...Gomer did his military duty. Goober hid out at the gas station; hence Bush is Goober. Only Goober was smarter. Paul Begala was close to the truth; I don't think the moron is that high-functioning. But I digress.)
If Paul Newman had started a food company as a family business, and handed it down to his kids and grandkids to grow the Newman family coffers, no one would have thought anything about it. And you can be damned certain he wouldn't have run the company looking to loot pension funds, cut insurance benefits and disregard his firm's footprint in the environment. We know that, because he didn't do any of those things, creating one of the most responsible companies environmentally, and one of the friendliest for employees. Newman gave away over $250,000,000. Two Hundred Fifty Million dollars. No wonder he wasn't welcome in conservative circles. He didn't pass the selfishness test.
The Hole in the Wall Gang camps serve children who suffer from cancer, HIV/AIDS, hemophilia and sickle-cell disease. There are six of the camps in the U.S. and six more around the world. None of the families are charged for their participation; Mr. Newman saw to that. (If you would like more information, http://www3.holeinthewallgang.org/default.html)
How different the world would be if the Friends of Henry Paulsen had spent their lives and their blessings focusing on the needs of the world's children, the poor, the sick, the neglected and the desperate, rather than seeking the end of one more regulation that would enable them to cut one more corner so that they could have a solid gold umbrella stand ($15,000, Dennis Koslowski, former CEO of Tyco, out of over $600,000,000 pilfered from his company), or a birthday trip dropped on the wife, paid out of company funds ($200,000, Ken Lay, CEO of Enron, out of billions stolen from pension funds and kept off the books by crooked accountants, some of whom went to jail, while others committed suicide when exposed for what they were).
Retirees from one coast to the other wouldn't be making decisions between food and medicines. Parents who had held good jobs wouldn't be despairing for their sick children's lives because of the health care that died with their looted companies. And that's just if the deregulated crooks had been honest. Imagine the change if they had consciences and souls!
We need to celebrate Mr. Newman. We desperately need to be instructed by him, as a nation. We need to see those who need assistance the way Paul Newman saw them.
And, God knows, we need to be different from our pathetic, grasping ways.
We need to, uh, change direction!
"Repent, and believe the Gospel," someone said.
God bless you, Paul.