海角大神

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2018
December
03
Monday

Monitor Daily Podcast

December 03, 2018
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Amelia Newcomb
Senior editor

After President George H.W. Bush鈥檚 passing, the Monitor鈥檚 Howard LaFranchi messaged me. Like several Monitor staffers, he had a memory to share about Mr. Bush鈥檚 well-known love for letter-writing and personal connection.

It revolved around Houston鈥檚 Buffalo Bayou, which Howard wrote about in 1988. The story mentioned that two decades earlier, then-Congressman Bush backed an effort to protect the river. Soon, Howard received a letter from a preservationist he had interviewed. She enclosed a letter from now-Vice President Bush, who鈥檇 seen the article and written that he remembered fondly her good works for Houston.

鈥淚 remember thinking, 鈥榃ow, this guy is VP, and he takes the time to write,鈥� 鈥� says Howard. 鈥淚鈥檝e never forgotten it.鈥�

Then Bush became president.聽Senior Washington writer Peter Grier recalls witnessing Bush鈥檚 connection with troops he visited during the Gulf War. 鈥淗e started throwing presidential pins and cufflinks into the crowd with a left-handed sling motion, so much like the Yale baseball player from long ago. He was smiling 鈥� and the troops loved it.鈥�

And then there was Bush鈥檚 failed bid for a second term. Retired Monitor political writer John Dillin recalls interviewing Bush at the White House. When it emerged John was from Florida, Bush asked how he was doing there. 鈥淧retty well with most of my family,鈥� John replied, 鈥渂ut not my mother.鈥� Bush asked for her number and picked up the phone. 鈥淪he wouldn鈥檛 budge,鈥� John recalls, chuckling, but the effort was impressive.

Now to our five stories, including an appreciation of President Bush鈥檚 long career and an editorial about public service.

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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Trump and Xi step back from trade war, but for how long?

( 6 min. read )

The US-China cease-fire was the headline of the G20 summit. But there's another story worth watching as well: China's President Xi presenting himself as the new champion of multilateralism.

By Howard LaFranchi , reporting from Buenos Aires
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Scott Applewhite/AP/File
President George H.W. Bush and first lady Barbara Bush walk across the South Lawn as they return to the White House in Washington Aug. 24, 1992. The last president to serve in World War II, Bush鈥檚 greatest accomplishment in office was to oversee a peaceful end to the cold war.

Remembering George H.W. Bush, a calm hand in a turbulent time

( 9 min. read )

As the United States pays tribute to President George Herbert Walker Bush, who died Friday, many are recalling a long r茅sum茅 of public service that profoundly shaped his tenure in the White House.

By Peter Grier
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Oakland鈥檚 plan to battle homelessness: Stop it before it starts

( 6 min. read )

When a city offers a model for dealing with the social impact of rising rents, it's worth taking note. In this case, the story is about Oakland, Calif., which is working to fight homelessness and gentrification before they take root.聽

By Martin Kuz , reporting from Sacramento, Calif.
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Perception Gaps

Comparing what鈥檚 鈥榢nown鈥� to what鈥檚 true

Beyond opioids: America鈥檚 overlooked epidemic

Many Americans struggle with addiction. As experts work to address everything from opioid to alcohol abuse, many say a much-needed element is empathy, which squelches shame and encourages social connections.
SOURCE:

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

|
Karen Norris/Staff
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NOAA GOES-East/Reuters
The intensity of hurricane Michael, seen in this Oct. 9 satellite image of the Gulf of Mexico, caught many Florida residents off guard. Hurricane models have come a long way in recent years, but scientists are still struggling to be able to predict sudden intensification of a storm.

Dissecting a hurricane: What makes a superstorm?

( 6 min. read )

For centuries, hurricanes have been viewed as chaotic forces of nature. This story looks at the valuable insight we're gaining about cyclones courtesy of daring pilots and advancing technology.

By Eva Botkin-Kowacki , reporting from Miami
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The Monitor's View
AP
President George H.W. Bush gets up close with kids at the Shiloh Baptist Church day care center in Washington on May 9, 1989.

Bush as the necessary model of a public servant

( 3 min. read )

If a common thread can be found in the tributes for George H.W. Bush, it is his role in elevating the dignity of public service. Policy leadership, such as the late president鈥檚 guiding hand at the end of the cold war, was almost secondary to what is termed today 鈥渟ervant leadership.鈥�

Or as Mr. Bush simply called it, 鈥減itching in.鈥�

From war hero to congressman to CIA director to diplomat to vice president and president, he was a model of that honorable profession known as career government worker. Even in his passing, Americans were reminded about being of service to others in the photo of Sully, his service dog in later years, lying beside his coffin.

Bush chose Texas A&M University, in College Station, as the site of his presidential library in part because of its school in public administration. Since 2000, his foundation has given awards to world leaders for 鈥渆xcellence in public service.鈥� Last year he assembled other living former presidents to join in fundraising for aid relief after hurricane Harvey. He also left behind a legacy of two sons with their own records as high elected officials.

Bush saw politics 鈥� despite its worst aspects 鈥� as a means for public service, not as a vehicle for money, fame, or personal power. Perhaps he was inspired by a father who volunteered to run town meetings in their community. In his tribute, President Barack Obama said the late president鈥檚 life 鈥渋s a testament to the notion that public service is a noble, joyous calling.鈥� Or as Bush himself said in 1992, 鈥淚 saw a chance to help and I did.鈥�

In an era of high distrust of government and a decline in volunteering among Americans, his record should be a reminder of the need for more people to help citizens and communities with practical skills and selfless humility. In 2017, Congress was so worried about the state of the nation鈥檚 civic health that it set up a panel called the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service. Its 11 members are crisscrossing the United States looking for ways to inspire young people to serve the country in some way. Its recommendations are due in 2020.

In October, another notable civil servant, Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, came out with a memoir, 鈥淜eeping at It: The Quest for Sound Money and Good Government.鈥� In it he writes, 鈥淥ne cannot sit here in 2018 without a strong sense of concern about ... the state of public service.鈥� He has formed a nonpartisan think tank, the Volcker Alliance, aimed at strengthening professional education for public service.

But not all is bleak. In a survey of 1,000 鈥渞ising government leaders鈥� released earlier this year, the Volcker Alliance found about 75 percent report they intend to continue in government for the long term and that they work among trusted peers. More than 80 percent said their work requires 鈥渇ostering a culture of responsive service to the public.鈥澛�

At root, service to others is a reflection of a higher good. That good can best be seen in the civic virtues of exemplary public servants. Bush senior was certainly one of those. But as his wife, Barbara, might have reminded him, it is better to inspire others to such a calling than call attention to one鈥檚 own deeds.

By the Monitor's Editorial Board
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A 海角大神 Science Perspective

About this feature

Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication 鈥� in its various forms 鈥� is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church 鈥� The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston 鈥� whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.

No longer 鈥榮tarved for reality鈥�

( 4 min. read )

The temptation to spend time on our devices seems constant, but today鈥檚 contributor shares how she learned to be better balanced by considering what is truly satisfying and fulfilling.

By Laura Lapointe
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A message of love

Michel Euler/AP
Ambulance workers protesting changes to working conditions hold flares outside the National Assembly in Paris on Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. More than 100 people were injured in the French capital and 412 arrested over the weekend in the worst riots Paris has seen since 1968. The 鈥測ellow jacket鈥� protests, named for the neon emergency vests drivers must carry for roadside emergencies, erupted Nov. 17 over gas taxes and other economic reforms activists say favor the wealthy, and they represent a big test for French President Emmanuel Macron鈥檚 government.
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( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Karen Norris and Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Thanks for starting your week with us. Tomorrow we鈥檒l take you to North Dakota, where there鈥檚 a raging debate over wind power and a question: Do聽rural Americans have a right to an uncluttered view?聽

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More issues

2018
December
03
Monday

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