Franklin Delano Roosevelt was first to bound up the steps to The Balcony\u2015as spry as he must have been at sixteen. He mixed a Bermuda Rum Swizzle and joined me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMr. President,\u201d I asked, \u201chow would you apply your famous words, \u2018We have nothing to fear but fear itself\u2019 to our current situation?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be frank, Randy,\u201d FDR said, \u201cand you can call me \u2018Frank\u2019\u2015we were at war when I said that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut aren\u2019t we in a kind of war now?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Frank took a long sip of his swizzle, exhaled, and thoughtfully surveyed the Square. He lowered his head and, with mist in his eyes, spoke. \u201cWar is hell. Look at me. Yes, I led us successfully through a World War, but we could see that enemy. I was a casualty of an enemy we couldn\u2019t see\u2015polio. Like polio, this Coronavirus is a horse of a different color.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt pays to know the enemy, doesn\u2019t it, Franklin?\u201d Margaret Thatcher approached. \u201cBut in this case, I don\u2019t think we\u2019ll ever have the opportunity to turn him into a friend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBully for you, Maggie!\u201d said Teddy Roosevelt, clearly not speaking softly. \u201cWe\u2019ll never turn this virus into a friend. But we must be certain to do the right thing. Knowing what\u2019s right doesn\u2019t mean much unless you do what\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd knowing what must be done does away with fear, doesn\u2019t it, Theodore?\u201d asked Rosa Parks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe enlightened ruler is heedful, and the good general full of caution,\u201d came a voice from the southwest corner. It was Sun Tzu, sipping warm saki.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His tablemate, St. Jerome, added, \u201cand the scars of others should teach us caution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How could one argue with that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust as with polio, there will be a cure\u2015eventually,\u201d said Dr. Jonas Salk. \u201cIntuition will tell the thinking mind where to look next.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut what about those raging for everything to totally and immediately open up again?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All was quiet for a few seconds. \u201cStupid is as stupid does.\u201d The voice was unmistakable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cForrest Gump!\u201d I said. \u201cI quoted you on that in my last column.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know,\u201d Forrest said. \u201cBut people with ears don\u2019t always hear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The clip clop of a horse\u2019s hooves came from the west. The Lone Ranger and Silver approached, both wearing masks. They stopped beneath the balcony. \u201cThe law here is doing yeoman\u2019s work,\u201d the Lone Ranger said. \u201cBe optimistic, but be cautiously optimistic. Keep your mask handy, Randy\u2015but not so you can get away with something. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember my creed: \u2018All people are created equal and everyone has within themselves the power to make this a better world. God put the firewood there, but everyone must gather and light it themselves in being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The morning sun peeked over the eastern horizon. We all raised a glass to the Lone Ranger\u2019s simple truth of personal responsibility. Silver reared up and the Lone Ranger shouted, \u201cHi yo, Silver, and away!\u201d and they rode into the sunrise, as if to say, \u201cIt\u2019s a new day. It\u2019s a new time. Let\u2019s be careful out there. Wear your mask, buckaroo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026and that\u2019s the view from The Balcony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n by Randy Weeks By the time you read this we\u2019ll have had a few days to venture out<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":262,"featured_media":39753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11902],"tags":[10286,10878],"class_list":["post-87988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-randy-weeks","tag-randy-weeks","tag-the-view-from-the-balcony"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/2017-5-11-View-from-the-Balcony.jpg?fit=600%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/TheLocalVoiceLigature-25web.jpg?resize=25%2C16\")
<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"