Speak EZ: In light of LBJ quotes

Lyndon B. Johnson was long before my time, but after Morton Mayor Norm Durflinger quoted him during his state-of-the-village speech last week, I was intrigued.

Excerpt from this article:

In a bid to defend what was a rarely split village-board vote in favor of the sales tax rate increase in March, Durflinger quoted Lyndon Johnson, saying “'when you’re explaining, you’re losing.' And, I don’t like to lose.”

I tried to find that quote somewhere online, but I am thinking the way it was presented was not verbatim. Here is the quote from which I believe Durflinger derived that statement. However, I have not confirmed this with him: "While you're saving your face, you're losing your (butt)."

LBJ was somewhat of a fountain of printable quotes ... some, of course, needed to be censored. But, I found myself laughing at some of his statements — often very straight forward and sometimes vulgar. It reminds me of the "This is a big ****ing deal" quote recently blurted by Vice President Joe Biden after the passage of healthcare reform.

Here is a website loaded with LBJ quotes. I encourage readers to give them a look.

LBJ liked to take shots at various individuals. One of them hit extremely close to home:

"The fact that a man is a newspaper reporter is evidence of some flaw of character," he was once quoted.

Perhaps that comment has gained additional meaning more recently, particularly as readers often criticize the mainstream media in how it covers national topics.

So, I tried to pinpoint my exact flaw of character. How did I decide to become a journalist? Well, a variety of flaws brought me here:

1. I started my college career at Bradley University on academic probation. This was due to poor ACT scores (I think I scored 19 twice). My initial field of study was business computer systems. But, I decided to change majors after I realized I could not make it through college math courses. The university's math teachers at the time, unfortunately, were extremely hard for me to understand. Many were natives of different countries that had accents that interfered with my understanding of subjects. Math is not my forté. That's a flaw. So, I switched to what was often considered by students as the "bailout major," journalism. Let's be honest, studying journalism is a piece of cake. Executing it effectively is not.

2. I like writing.

3. I have a big mouth.

4. My opinion is often in the minority. But, please don't compare me to Glenn Beck.

5. I enjoy criticism. But, I cry about it when nobody is looking.

I think I better stop there.

Dangit, LBJ was right — I have a number of character flaws. But, don't we all?

According to LBJ, journalists aren't the only ones. Perhaps Durflinger should consider the following:

"When the burdens of the presidency seem unusually heavy, I always remind myself it could be worse. I could be a mayor."

Quotes are fun to play with, particularly when expressed without context.