Great Writing, Part I: MacArthur's Telegram to Jacqueline Kennedy

Again putting off American Idol because something in USA Today, of all things, really caught my attention.

As you know, really great writing has largely dissappeared from our culture. No one knows how to write the english language. Every day I become Henry Higgins , recoiling in horror as I read page after page written by people with one, and sometimes many, advanced major American university degrees. Not that you could tell by reading their work, of course. The typical American lawyer writes about as well as the average molding cheese block left in a post-Katrina New Orleans abandoned refrigerator. Ok, maybe that's a bit harsh. Let's say the cheese was a really nice brie, or smoked gouda. Not that other professions can lord it over the attorneys. Reading most major American newspapers and magazines (those that haven't gone bankrupt or exclusively on line) is just like reading Shakespeare. Except exactly the opposite.

So those extremely rare occasions when I read some brilliant writing are thrilling. Well, interesting anyway. So much so that I've decided to pass them on to you, particularly to contrast with my own Top Gun-laced harangues and diatribes.

First up, a very brief contribution from an unlikely source: the telegram Gen. Douglas MacArthur sent to Mrs. Kennedy upon her husband's assasination.

Despite his brilliance and his towering list of achievements, MacArthur was also a giant enormous blowhard. Having advance warning of oncoming Japanese troops and doing nothing to safeguard the Phillipines against attack. Getting a Medal of Honor for essentially losing the Phillipines. Losing thousands of men through attacking dug in Japanese troops rather than bypassing their islands as Nimitz' naval forces were doing. Protecting the Emperor and other highly placed Japanese leaders from war crimes trials. Ignoring intelligence on Chinese troop movements into North Korea, and disobeying orders not to approach China or attack near the border. Attacking Truman to individual Senators and Congressmen. Coming home after getting fired and going on what was essentially a Zeppelin-esque North American Summer Tour.

But he wrote a moving telegram. It exhibits two qualities that make it particularly remarkable. Its only two sentences. The best writing ends quickly, or at least seems to. That's why my posts go on forever. The telegram was the Twitter of its day; only a Rockefeller could send lengthy telegrams. To the second point, and it manages to meet the depth of despair and grief that Mrs. Kennedy must have felt that week. The phrase "words fail" is a cliche precisely because words really can't capture the utter shock and anguish at a close loved one's sudden death. This telegram, however, succeeds:

TELEGRAM Mrs. John F. Kennedy. The White House. I realize the utter futility of words at such a time, but the world of civilization shares the poignancy of this monumental tragedy. As a former comrade in arms, his death kills something within me. General MacArthur

I'll continue to look for other bits of excellent writing and post them here.

No that does not include anything by Maureen Dowd or Molly Ivins. Sorry libs.