Summit Up

Good morning and welcome to Summit Up, the world’s only daily column that’s tired of Labor Day hurricanes, and just hurricanes in general. We love New Orleans, and we hope the levees hold.

We’re also tired of political conventions and ideological sloganeering, and we can’t wait until the GOP winds up its business of nominating yet another conservative puppet for the military-industrial complex to run against the recently nominated candidate for the left-wing, welfare-for-everyone, bleeding heart camp.

There, we’ve said it, and now we’re wondering if we’ve gone too far. After all, this column is meant to be fun and entertaining, and the above statement could prove to be the most blatantly political commentary ever to grace this space. But we cherish our freedom of speech. And felt like we needed to get it off our chests, especially after the past few weeks of watching what we consider to essentially be political theater, designed to market candidates and entertain the masses, something like the old Circus Maximus in Rome, if you know what we mean. You want real change, you gotta get rid of the whole Repub-li-Cratic (or, if you prefer, Demo-Publican) so-called two-party system and bring in some fresh blood. For now, as far as we can see, it’s all just The Man.

In case you can’t tell, we’re feeling a bit grouchy, perhaps because we stayed up well past 1 a.m. to work on some miscellaneous projects, then woke up at about 6:30 a.m. to start a new week before realizing it was a holiday. So pardon us for whining a bit.

We’ll try and move into a more upbeat mode momentarily, after we get the sour grapes out from between our toes. We will say this: We’re psyched because we're getting some important and fun stuff done. And our grilled cheese sandwich, made with smoked Fontina cheese and washed down with some fresh-brewed Columbian coffee, made for an A-1 breakfast. Better than Pop-Tarts, anyway.

So now we’d like to nimbly put on our media critic hats and tell our readers how we’re especially tired of seeing weathermen and news anchors in red, yellow or blue Gore-Tex standing out in the wind and rain, breathlessly reporting the speed of the latest wind gust. Get over it! We’re tired of seeing Anderson Cooper standing in a relatively safe spot in the French Quarter of New Orleans, pontificating on the politics of disaster relief, or interviewing another reporter about the status of the levees … reporters interviewing reporters — American journalism at its stunning worst — yech!



Give us a break. He doesn’t need to be out there. We think he just likes the way he looks when the wind blows through his hair. We think it looks kind of punk, and we really would like to suggest that these guys stay indoors. We understand that people want to see what’s going on out there, but that could easily be done by remote cameras. What’s the deal, anyway? First they order everyone out, mandatory evacuations, and all that, then the news and weather anchors go hang out in the very places that have been evacuated? Doesn’t make sense to us, but then again, we’re not the experts.

For sure, our hearts and thoughts are with the people of New Orleans and the rest of southern Louisiana. Hang in there! Maybe this year, being an election year and all, the government won’t totally fail its citizens as it did three years ago.

We know that nobody in the Crescent City is celebrating today, but we thought we’d take just a few inches of space to reflect on the history of this holiday. Guess what people? It’s not just about a chance to sit on the deck and drink brewskis one more time. It’s not about one last gasp for the summer tourist trade.

Labor Day was conceived in the late 1800s as a way to honor “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations.”

How quaint! Aren’t we all so happy that working conditions are now so universally fine that there’s no longer a need for trade and labor unions?

We’re also putting away our straw hats and white linen suit, because, as everyone knows, it’s a serious fashion faux pax to wear white after Labor Day. And straw hats are only to be worn in the summer. From Labor Day through Memorial Day, it’s felt hats only, if you please!

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We know that one good way to commemorate the rise of the working class is to play some serious blue-collar golf, so don’t forget the STP sticker on your cart. And while you’re at it, why not make it pay off for a good cause. The Summit Daily is hosting the second annual Brad Odekirk Memorial Golf Tournament on Sept. 12 at Keystone Ranch, to honor the long-time Summit Daily photographer who died in a 2006 accident at his home.

Proceeds from the tournament and the raffle that follows benefit the Brad Odekirk Scholarship fund, held by the Summit Foundation.The scholarship fund provides money for education to area high school graduates seeking a career in photography. To date, the fund has provided two graduates with thousands of dollars for higher education.

This year, we here at the corporate mothership are looking to up the scholarship ante by taking more donations for a raffle, so call us now at (970) 668-4632 to get the skinny. Someone will contact you soon to discuss your interest in donating an item, and answer any questions you may have.

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And finally, we have a big “Congrats!” message going out to 2nd Lt. Darren Withers, who just graduated from U.S. Army Ranger School. Darren, who graduated from Georgetown University last year with a degree in international business, is visiting his parents, John and Carol Withers, in Breckenridge before reporting to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. next week.

John Withers sent us this

message, along with a disclaimer saying he is only a part-time

residents of Summit County, so he wasn’t sure if this item

would qualify.

John, our home is your home. We love our second-home owners and want you to feel like you belong under the Big Tent, right along with all the rest of us Summit Uppers.

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Keep ‘em coming, folks! We out, laboring over a crossword puzzle.