The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe - 36: Oh Brother!

Episode Date: January 12, 2017

Thanksgiving isn't complete without a second helping of Presidential election politics.

This is the way I heard it. Ed and his little brother had a lot in common. Both were talented actors. Both were genuine patriots. And both loved turkey with all the fixings. Unfortunately, Ed was a staunch Republican, and his little brother, a devoted Democrat. And that was not a recipe for a peaceful Thanksgiving dinner.

Before the election, the brothers had bickered over everything. the economy, immigration, taxes, race relations, the future of the Supreme Court, and, of course, the border. Their arguments were heated, but respectful. It was difficult for Ed, though, because his kid brother had been so damn smug. Like so many in the entertainment business, he had seen the election as a fe accompli. Ed's little brother not only believed the Democrat would win, he believed victory would arrive in a landslide. All the pundits said so. All the pollsters said so, and all the media agreed. Well, on November 8th, all that went out the window.

To Ed's great relief and his brother's abject horror, the Republican prevailed. And now, a few weeks after the most contentious election in American history, Ed was trying not to gloat. So he concentrated on his turkey, as his little brother called for an end to the Electoral College. He enjoyed his mother's candied yams, as his little brother bemoaned the future of the First Amendment and the fate of the Supreme Court. But when his little brother loudly predicted the end of America's democracy and proclaimed to everyone in the room that the buffoon in the Oval Office was not his president, Ed pushed back. The election is over, he said. The American people have spoken, and like it or not, he is your president. now please shut up and pass the gravy.

Ed's little brother passed the gravy, but he did not shut up. He offered instead an impassioned warning against the perils of dictatorships. He implored everyone at the table to resist the coming police state and beg them to defend the Bill of Rights, lest it vanish from existence under the despot, now in charge. With each new sentence, his face grew more and more flushed, his voice, rose higher and higher like a Shakespearean actor addressing the last row of a sold-out theater. The man is a tyrant, I tell you, a tyrant, and on my honor, he will never be my president. With that, Ed's little brother leapt to his feet and stomped off into the night,

slamming the door so hard, a picture fell off the wall. Ed sighed, apologized to his guests and turned his attention back to the turkey. Later, Ed would find a line in his brother's diary that stuck with him. It read, fame, fame, fame, I must have it. I must have fame. Ed wondered if maybe the divide between them might have been more than political, because even though both brothers were talented actors, only Ed was famous. It was Ed who traveled to Europe and toured the United States.

It was Ed, whose name appeared on Broadway Marquise. It was Ed who basked in the glow of critical reviews after playing the role of Hamlet for 100 consecutive nights. And it was Ed whose statue was erected in Gramercy Park, the first American actor to be honored in such a way. So why is Ed forgotten today? because five months after ruining Thanksgiving dinner, Ed's younger brother gave a performance that would forever upstage his older brother and shock the entertainment industry. It was only a cameo with a single line, but he delivered it with unforgettable passion like a Shakespearean actor addressing the last row of a sold-out theater. Seek Semper to Rhinus. thus always to tyrants.

It was a curious thing to say about a president who wanted to make America great again, unless, of course, you wanted a different kind of America, a divided America, an America where one man could legally own another man. That's why, at the end of America's long and bloody civil war, Ed's little brother leapt onto the stage at Ford's Theater and delivered his one line, seconds after shooting a tyrant named Abraham Lincoln. That's why today we barely remember Ed, the former A-List celebrity whose name was once the toast of Broadway, lives now forever in the shadow of his younger sibling, a lesser-known talent who dreamt of fame, but settled

for infamy, the murderous little brother of Edwin Booth, whose full name no longer bear. is repeating. Anyway, that's the way I heard it. When you manage procurement for multiple facilities, every order matters. But when it's for a hospital system, they matter even more. Granger gets it and knows there's no time for managing multiple suppliers and no room for shipping delays. That's why Granger offers millions of products in fast, dependable delivery. So you can keep your facility stocked, safe, and running smoothly.

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