I am often inspired by selfless acts of kindness by people I know and total strangers. Ditto various nonprofit organizations that seem to go where no one's been before. And then there is music. When I was 15, it was the Beatles first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Today, I always stop and listen to renditions of "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen. Last Sunday I got inspired again. With this last thought in mind, I hope you'll find the following letter of interest. Happy holidays one and all.
Good tidings to all. It's time for a bipartisan Congressional Chorus
LagunaTunes is alive and well. After months of zoom rehearsals, the fully masked 25-member choral group finally performed live again after a two-year hiatus thanks to COVID. It was, in a word, joyous.
As the group was belting out traditional holiday favorites last Sunday, I couldn't help but wonder what it would take to bring members of both political parties together to perform as a bipartisan Congressional Chorus?
I am aware that in previous years, the Singing Senators and The Second Amendments used to perform. Personally, I think it would do today's lawmakers a world of good to stand in the well of the House of Representatives and entertain hundreds of their fellow electeds (and the nation).
About the only time the public sees members of the House and Senate together is at a State of the Union Address, a funeral for a former president or at a ceremony where the Congressional Gold Medal is being bestowed on a particular individual or group. Unlike the days leading up to Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and the new year, those official events typically are very somber.
If you are looking for fun, then I suggest you attend the highly competitive Republicans vs. Democrats annual baseball game. For those keeping score, the GOP won last September's slugfest 13-12. I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing the good will that was displayed on the diamond disappeared before the players took off their uniforms. The way I see it, that wouldn't happen if those same ballplayers, or others, were members of a truly bipartisan Congressional Chorus.
When I worked on Capitol Hill in 1972, wrangling members of Congress from both sides of the aisle often would meet for dinner and drinks at the end of the day. Perhaps the most celebrated meet-ups were between President Ronald Reagan and Speaker "Tip" O'Neill in the 1980s. Today, these kinds of get-togethers are few and far between. This is why it's time for the Congressional Chorus.
I have never sung in a choral group, but my friends in LagunaTunes tell me friendships not only are made during rehearsals, they endure long after the last song is performed. Wouldn't it be great to see Orange County House members Republican Michelle Steel and Democrat Katie Porter singing side by side during the holidays?
If that happened, then maybe their parties could figure out ways to harmonize later in the year for the good of the country.
Denny Freidenrich, Laguna Beach