It's may be hard to remember, but it used to be that White House news barely made the news.
BANTER BITE BACKSTORY: At the risk of sounding like the description of "Seinfeld" – a show about nothing …
We're going to be very honest when we say that today's Banter Bite's really about nothing – nothing special. Or, maybe it's better described as nothing earth-shattering, nothing alarming, nothing controversial.
And although there were plenty of stories in the news, there wasn't anything that we felt compelled to comment on (but that didn't stop us from talking on the phone throughout the day). Now, don't get us wrong. There's plenty to talk about in terms of what's going on in D.C., but politics aside, you must admit that, on the surface anyway, things are significantly less volatile and a lot more measured. And for that, we're grateful. So …
We're not going to talk just for the sake of talking, or write for the sake of writing, as much as our readers might think that we always have something to say about everything and anything. Instead, we should all take a deep breath and enjoy the calm and quiet.
Labor Day celebrates the American worker. However you may celebrate, we wish you a Happy Labor Day!
Quick! If someone says "Julius Caesar," what comes to mind?
Almost everyone has heard of Julius Caesar, but how many of us really know much about him, or at least that's what Red starts to wonder when she receives the usual flippant, but still accurate, reply from her sister, after feeling very proud that she knew that July was named after the famous Roman.
Which is what got Red to realize, much to her surprise (shock, if truth be told), that even as a straight-A student with a love of history, that when it came to Julius Caesar, a famous historical figure and possibly one of the greatest generals and statesmen of all time, she couldn't tell you dates or battles or anything "historical" associated with him.
Even as a theater major in college, she never read Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," although she knew just enough about the play to know that it was where the fortune teller warned Caesar to "Beware the Ides of March." Instead, her knowledge of Caesar came from her love of movies.
My first, and probably my most enduring, memory is of a brilliant general who not only commanded armies as he conquered lands far from home but was a great statesman who was also involved with one of the world's most beautiful women. And while he was Julius Caesar and the woman was Cleopatra, to me, they'll always be Rex Harrison and Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra, a movie almost as controversial as the general himself.
And Black? Besides knowing that Caesar Salad was invented by a different Caesar, she appreciates Julius Caesar's leadership skills and way with words,
There is much we can learn about leadership from Julius Caesar, whether on the battlefield, in politics, or in business (start small, take risks, communicate well), including what ultimately led to his death (always consider worst-case scenarios, never get complacent or arrogant). Many of his quotes speak (pun intended) to his powerful way with words, and the ability to not only deliver a message but to inspire (and story tell), with my favorite being, "I came, I saw, I conquered."
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