Just saw a segment on Comrade Jennings' evening news program featuring one of my old bosses, Bill White, who's now the Mayor of Houston. Mr. White was talking about his program to keep the traffic moving in Houston. Pretty neat, if not dramatic.
Bill White's kinda vanilla, frankly, but my favorite memory of working on his staff when he was the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party is from some time spent in South Oak Cliff, an old and low-rent suburb of Dallas.
We were sent there one morning before the state convention to do some community outreach stuff; in particular, to tear down and clear out a few old dilapidated garages and dead trees from some elderly citizens' property. I was pitching in around a tree in one lady's backyard while my friend Corey was up on a ladder, sawing into a branch. We were chatting and working away when along comes Bill White with some camera crews in tow.
In no time at all, Mr. White had wheedled the saw from Corey's hand and got up on the ladder for an action shot. You know: the natural posture of any millionaire businessman. We just stood around and giggled.
The future mayor was pretty shameless about it, but what the hell? As far as introductions to phoniness go, that one was pretty palatable.