Right after I posted the foregoing on Michael Jackson's funeral coverage, a friend sent me a story from the Orlando Sentinel.
Its a story of a Little League father who loved his son, and when it came down to it was willing to give his life that his son might play. Briefly, here is what happened:
"As Austin was swimming in that mountain river, he got caught in the current, his foot got jammed beneath a rock and he couldn't pull free. We all say we would give our own life for the life of our child, and we would. But Mike did it. He actually did it.
He plunged into the icy river like a shot, made his way to Austin and got himself stuck between two rocks to keep his balance. He then proceeded to hold his son's head above water for 30 minutes until he and others were able to dislodge Austin, who is named after the city where Mike went to college and rooted on his treasured Texas Longhorns."
They got a rope to Austin and the Dad gave a last heave and they pulled Austin free. But:
"Moments after he saw Austin being lifted to safety, he died in the river of hypothermia, exhaustion, drowning."
He was buried on July 2. No TV. no national coverage, no sympathy from our free press, except in Orlando.
This Dad was a better man than an infinite number of Michael Jacksons.
Perhaps we can determine the character of people by whom they celebrate. If so, there are a lot of Americans who fail the test.
Sad.
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