Breathless and Speechless

Apologies for the delay in producing a monthly installment of Flight KL18. But the events of the last month—a combination of a busy personal and travel schedule and an unduly rich series of occurrences in the larger world have left me a little bit breathless, if not speechless.

Speaking of breathless and speechless…I was starting to warm up to the idea of Hillary Clinton as Barack Obama’s Vice Presidential running mate, if only because it reinforces the wisdom of former US President Lyndon Johnson’s old credo—“It’s better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in.”

But the one-time ‘inevitable nominee’s” comment about how 1968 Democratic frontrunner Robert Kennedy was assassinated late in the nominating process was effectively a justification for remaining in the race clearly trumps even the hoary wisdom of LBJ.

Forget about Hillary’s half-arsed pseudo-apology. From this side of the Atlantic, a comment of this nature seems less like a statement about a remote contingency and more like a wish to see her victorious rival’s sudden departure from the scene.

I don’t care if having Hillary on the ticket would make it easier for Barack to pull in the “hard working White Americans” that she has ever-so-recently become enamored of in such places as West Virginia and Kentucky. Hillary’s comments should finally consign her to the place she deserves—away from the limelight and well to the fringes of the most important general election campaign the US and the World have faced in 40 years.

NJDC: Its Time Has Come

One organization that will hardly be at the fringes of the US Presidential election with Barack Obama leading the ticket is the National Jewish Democratic Council, an organization for whom I managed communications, policy and public relations from 1994 to 1996.

For much of its existence, NJDC had been derided by some within the American Jewish community as being redundant—American Jews vote for Democratic candidates by 3-1 margins with very rare exceptions, and the Democratic Party has long been seen as a reliable supporter both of Israel and of domestic issues like separation of church and state and reproductive choice that most American Jews strongly support.

But the Obama candidacy, as exciting of a prospect as it is for many American Jews like myself, has raised considerable skepticism—particularly among older Jews—that will require a concerted and dedicated effort to overcome. And, as the Obama candidacy has aroused considerable support from Americans who are less-than-favorable towards Israel in particular, an equally concerted effort will need to take place to mobilize Democratic support for Israel and Jewish concerns over the course of an Obama presidency.

While the NJDC is not a campaign organization itself, it has a political action committee that actively supports Democratic candidates. The organization itself, under Executive Director Ira Forman’s determined leadership, actively seeks out opportunities to represent Democratic positions within the Jewish community and Jewish perspectives in Democratic circles. Those who would like to see a successful relationship between Barack Obama and the US Jewish Community would be well served to sign up with the NJDC at this crucial time.

Bastogne: Where Belgians Remember Their Liberators

One of the funny things about being an ex-pat is that it has accentuated my Americanness in a lot of ways. Despite having lived in London, Brussels and Delft for 8 of the last 12 years, I sound a lot more like Chicago Mayor Richard Daley than I do John Cleese or Jean Claude Van Damme.

But every so often, the link between my exaggerated Americanness and my sense of being at home in Europe comes together. Such was the case in Bastogne, Belgium two weeks ago.

Bastogne, for those who don’t know it, was the town in the Belgian Ardennes that was the objective of the Nazi offensive that culminated in the Battle of the Bulge. It is also the one place in Belgium that has completely embraced the American role in the liberation of Western Europe at the heart of its local narrative.

There are three defining features of this embrace—a memorial to the 80.000 American troops who fell defending Bastogne and defeating the Nazi offensive, one of similar size and grandeur to the World War II Memorial in Washington, a series of stones along roads leading to the memorial marking the “Voie de la Liberation” or the Way of Liberty, and the ubiquitous references to U.S. General Anthony MacAuliffe, (as it happens, a Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity brother of mine) whose one-word reply to a Nazi surrender demand (“NUTS!”) has become a cottage industry in the town.

The star-shaped memorial, called the “Mardassson”, is poised on hilltop with a view of town, and was built on the scene of fierce fighting. In addition to the more-or-less alphabetically arranged names of the US states (Alaska and Hawaii were added upon statehood in 1959 without rearranging the incumbents), there was an intricate story of the battle and the havoc it wreaked upon the surrounding area on ten giant panels. And in the center, underneath an open circle connecting the points of the star, is a black granite stone with the inscription in Latin: “Liberatoribus Americanis Populus Belgicus Memor. IV VII MCMXLVI”, or “Belgium Remembers its American Liberators, July 4, 1956.”

Flying in front of the Mardasson are the flags of the US and the European Union. While the US and Europe don’t always see eye-to-eye, and neither the US nor the EU make things easy for those who want to do anything more than vacation in each other’s territory, European life as it is known today would not have been possible but for the contribution of American, British and, yes, Russian soldiers who died in the process of liberation. These sacrifices are rarely given much thought in other places, but are close to daily life in Bastogne, where the American Stars and Stripes flies alongside the Belgian Tricolor and the Walloon Cockerel from the town hall, and where “Le Nut’s” café remains a popular watering hole.

2 Winners in Brussels

Naturally, history wasn’t the only item on my agenda in Belgium, as my hankering for quality and reasonably priced food has been accentuated by a long winter in the less-culinarily inclined Netherlands.

Le Petit Pont, while a trek from the centre of Brussels in the suburb of Uccle, once again reinforced its place as my single favorite restaurant in the entire world with a stunning Sunday afternoon rack of lamb. For the price of a mediocre Sunday Roast in London, the lamb arrived with an exquisitely herbed crust, dauphinoise potatoes, and some of the most delicately cooked haricots verts I had seen in ages. The service, as always was impeccable, and my restraint in ordering a small ‘pichet’ of the house red paid off masterfully with a young and unduly voluptuous number for a relatively modest investment. The exuberance of the weather on one of Brussels’ car-free-Sundays yielded an ambiance more reflective of Provence than of the Benelux.

Café Panisse, in my old neighborhood near Place Chatelaine, has a menu as reflective of Provence as was the weather on that particular evening, but it was the Magret de Canard avec saveurs de l’orient (Duck Breast with Flavors of the Middle East) that stole the show, with a mint-accented sauce and the addition of paper-thin slices of mango which added a hint of fruity sweetness to the delicately flavored dish. Café Panisse is very reasonably priced—the Magret was at the top of the menu at EUR 16 and was well garnished and amply proportioned (hint—no starter required!). I ordered a “Kir Rouge” as my beverage—leading to a chilled, uniquely flavored glass of red wine that complemented this dish exceptionally well.

Blogging In The Family: Fred Klein On Sports

Finally, I’m pleased to report that the Klein blogging clan has doubled in size recently, with the arrival of my dad, Fred Klein’s new entry—FredKleinOnSports.

I’ve been on my dad to blog for years—having retired from the Wall Street Journal, the blogosphere offered a viable outlet for his witty and often-lacerating analyses of the excesses and banalities of the sporting scene, but it has taken a while for him to seize the opportunity this media affords.

My dad will be blogging twice a month, and can be found at http://FredKleinOnSports.blogspot.com

Welcome to the Blogosphere, Dad…and thanks to everyone for being here with me.