Sunday Open Thread

Happy Sunday Democratic, Independent, and Republican readers!

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend, so far.  As always, there's plenty to chatter about in the world of politics.  But Sundays, if we so choose, can be a day of tuning out and relaxation.

Today is no exception in that regard as documentary filmmaker extraordinaire, Ken Burns, and his new series on our national parks begins today on your local PBS station.  The series is six episodes and will run every night this week through Friday.   As they say, "check your local listings."  I know I already have my DVR set for the week.

The latest Burns series is titled, "The National Parks: America’s Best Idea" and was written and co-produced by Dayton Duncan.  The twelve-hour series took ten years to make and it cost a whopping $15 million dollars.  Wow! 

Burns and crew went from the Grand Canyon to Yellowstone, to Denali, to Glacier, to Yosemite and our other national treasures.  He called Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road “the most amazing highway in America.”  In speaking of Yosemite with its stunning waterfalls and ancient giant sequoias, Burns thinks it might just be “the most beautiful spot on our planet.”  As an American, I think he may be a bit prejudiced.  But take a look, who can blame him?

One television writer has already been quoted as saying:  "Ken Burns sees our national parks as many things — unifying, balancing, redemptive, a respite from tough times and workaday worries."  Burns himself has recently said:  "We spent much of our history saving such landscapes when we, in turn, have been saved by these wild places."  They remind us why we Americans cohere, at a time when everyone is screaming at each other in the din of talk radio.”  Well, amen to that, Mr. Burns!  I wish there were more ways our American brothers and sisters could cohere.

At a recent sneak preview of "National Parks...", a boyish-looking and enthusiastic Burns (he just turned 56, can you believe it?  Um, I'll have what he's having!) told the audience:  "the saga of the national parks “is one of the greatest and most inspiring stories I have ever come across.  The national parks are purely a democratic idea."  Think about it.  For the first time in world history, huge tracts of land were not set aside for only royalty, but for everyone to enjoy whether rich or poor, famous or a simple unknown citizen.  We the people, Burns has noted, “own some of the most spectacular mountains, oceanfront property and the grandest canyon on Earth.”

 Other than beautiful vistas and breathtaking scenery, what is the story of our national parks?  It's so very American in concept in that individuals "fell in love" with these places and helped to preserve them.  You gotta love democracy in action.  Today we own 58 national parks and the whole national park system includes over 390 sites.  "When you go to these places, you are reminded of how tiny you are in the universe — a visit to the Grand Canyon will affirm that in a millisecond,” Burns said. “But paradoxically, that makes us larger. When you feel that humility, it makes us bigger, not smaller.”

But Burns feels our parks are threatened, deeply suffering from neglect.  “...mainly from the (George W.) Bush administration,” Burns has noted.  He pointed out a $9 billion backlog of just maintenance projects.  (Yikes, where are the CCC's when you need them?)  "The danger", he added, "is that many people think the parks have always been and will always be around."  I hope Mr. Burns is wrong and it is only some people who feel this way.

 At the end of one of the episodes, Mr. Burns wrote of the parks: “They allow us to arrest — if only for a few hours — the momentum and distraction of our lives.  What are you doing today to drown out the chatter and the noise? 

What's on your brunch plate?  Is it Eggs Benedict or steak and eggs with a side of red-flannel hash, or is it bagels, cream cheese and lox?  Fresh squeezed orange juice, anyone?  Eat up, drink up, and then tell us all about it. 

By the way, have you every visited any of our national parks http://www.nationalparks.org/ ?  Do tell!