THANK YOU, LYNDON JOHNSON

I am not expecting anything great from Rob Reiner's new movie LBJ, with Woody Harrelson playing Johnson and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Lady Bird.   I like Reiner on a personal level as I agree with him and appreciate his political activism and I also like his professional output with such films as This Is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless In Seattle, and The Princess Bride.  Reiner's only attempt at a "serious" film was with Ghosts Of Mississippi, with the subject being close to my heart.   

My brother quipped, "Oh, I guess he's at his serious Spielberg stage in life.";  his comment comparing when Spielberg went from making lighter entertainment to Schindler's List. 

It would be difficult for Harrelson to surpass Bryan Cranston's brilliant portrayal of LBJ from last year's HBO presentation All The Way.  I have liked Jennifer Jason Leigh since seeing her portray Dorothy Parker in Mrs. Parker And The Vicious Circle. 

I will rely on Robert Caro's monumental four-volume biography:  Path To Power, Means Of Ascent, Master Of The Senate, and The Passage Of Power to reveal the quintessential Johnson.  The 82-year-old Caro is working on the fifth volume, with a planned trip to Vietnam for research.

If Johnson had not become mired with the Vietnam policy, he would probably be ranked among the greatest of Presidents.  I have been known to actually say, "I get down on my knees every day to thank Lyndon Johnson for the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and Medicare."

Recently a person was praising hospice care a relative had received and I remarked, "Yes, we can thank Lyndon Johnson for that!" The person, who just happens to be a Republican, asked, with a great deal of incredulity in her voice, "WHY would you say that?" I answered, "If Johnson hadn't enacted Medicare, Hospice couldn't have been made a part Medicare." 

The woman did not know that Hospice Care was covered under Medicare.  She actually thought that Hospice was a charity and was just funded by donations.