A Note From A "Nattering Nabob" About Spiro Agnew

Before the election, I posted an entry that discussed my childhood memories of Spiro T. Agnew, the former Vice President and Maryland Governor who resigned about a year before Richard Nixon in a bribery scandal. Agnew was basically a small-time crook who for some unknown reason (no doubt involving bribes) was able to ascend to a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

Anyway - at the time I posted my Agnew story, I did not have a photograph of him with my parents... But thanks to my sister Jill, who never throws anything away, here are my parents, Jack and Linda Matthews, with Spiro T. ("call me Ted") Agnew and his wife Judy.

How cool is this? My Dad has been involved in real estate his entire career, and he's told me stories (though none specifically about Agnew) that basically, back in the day, builders would routinely include bribes in their construction budgets. You'd have a line for lumber, one for concrete, one for nails, and one for bribes for the building inspectors and politicians who made sure you received the zoning exception that you needed.

I guess this was just regular business for ol' Ted Agnew... Guess my Dad knows what Rod Blagojevich's constituents are going through, huh?

In Memory Of Spiro Agnew!

When I was 5 years old and Spiro Agnew was running for Governor of Maryland, my parents, who were active members of the Young Republicans, hosted a meet-and-greet for Agnew in the rec room of our home in Silver Spring. It was like a scene out of "Mad Men". I still have vague memories of it to this day, and I have better memories of faded Polaroid shots taken of the future Vice President sitting at my Mom's piano. It's neat to know that a national figure was in my basement, even if it was a national figure who would turn out to be a national embarrassment... and it's a story I will tell for the rest of my life.

So where am I going with this? There's a lot of hubbub being made over a campaign rally being held at Fairfax High School tomorrow for John McCain and Sarah Palin. The rally apparently breaks a county rule that prohibits political events from being held during the school day, and the Democrats are making a lot of noise about it, along with some unnamed teachers who say the rally will be "disruptive". I wonder if the rally would still be "disruptive" if it was being held for Barack Obama, but I digress...

I can see why rules like this would be in place... Under certain circumstances, I'm sure an event like this COULD be disruptive, and it certainly could portray the school system as taking sides. But we're not talking about a debate between two Congressional candidates. We're talking about an appearance by the potential future President and Vice President of the United States! What are the chances these students or even this school will ever have of having this opportunity again? I don't care if it's McCain or Obama or Ross Perot or Ralph freaking Nader. If they want to hold a rally at my kid's school, I'm going to say hell, YES!

I do think, in the name of fairness, just so no one's feathers are ruffled, that the county ought to afford the same opportunity to the Obama camp under the same circumstances, but at another Fairfax County high school... That way, the county might be able to allow another school body to share the same experience, and allow hundreds of other kids to say they remembered when (potentially) President Obama visited their school.

Come on... Is this REALLY that difficult?