Spring is in the air.  The birds are singing and the tweets are waking up to business.  Some tweets are regrouping from injury, others are spreading their wings to nest in the promise of a new day.

 

It all depends which side of the aisle you are on.  Bride's side, full of hope.  Groom's side, you wonder how long the euphoria will last.

 

It's Spring in America, and in our busy lives something always stands out in the calendar, year in and year out. 

 

We have some serious horse racing to do.

 

Spring always takes my mind back to a very special horse that lifted the spirits of a nation in a time of great trouble.  A time when the economy was tanking, a very unpopular war was ending, and the country suspected the government was totally corrupt.

 

Sound familiar?

 

I was a kid in 1973.  Before I knew what the word Watergate meant, I knew a horse named Secretariat. 

 

My Father loved horses.  In his salad days, he was a runner for a bookie in the old neighbourhood.  A runner would carry bets and money between the bookie and the gambler.  This was a time before Alexander Graham Bell had made headway into the working class market.  A story that was retold in my family had my ethnic Grandmother, with her thick accent, acting confused with the cops at the door, saying, "Hobby Horse!  Hobby Horse!"  No, we aren't of Italian descent, but considering Cleveland was all mobbed up at the time, no doubt there were members of my family working for somebody who looked like Al Pacino.

 

Back to Secretariat.

 

Here was a horse who started the race running dead last.  He ran the entire race on the outside.  He not only won the race, but set a Kentucky Derby record that still stands today. 

 

Sounds a bit like Rocky.

 

It is, and I will tell you why.

 

Secretariat is the epitome of the American Dream.

 

Secretariat came out of the gate as the underdog of the Kentucky Derby by virtue of running dead last.  His original owner got him by losing a coin toss.  He came out of the womb and out of the gate second best.

 

But he had grit.  He had determination.  He had heart.

 

And in the process, he reminded America what it's all about.

 

Barack is in London for the G20.  He has just met the Queen and given her a few gifts. 

 

One of those gifts was an iPod that contained video of her 2007 visit to America.

 

President Obama, did you pay attention to her interest in the Kentucky Derby during that visit?  Or did some minion of yours load the video onto the iPod without briefing you on the content?

 

I suspect the latter.

 

I wish you would get over the idea that you just have to show up and everyone will wave palms.

 

You would have really impressed the Queen if you showed some knowledge of her interests.  She likes horse racing.  For all your bleating on how Americans should learn more about the world, you don't give the appearance to this travelled Yank that you have any clue how other people in the world live their lives. 

 

And with your insistence that Americans need help, you don't give the appearance of having a clue what really motivates us.

 

Secretariat sparked the hope of a nation.  Not because Secretariat got bailed out, but because he succeeded against all odds.  Somehow, I don't think Secretariat would have meant as much if .gov was deciding how much money he could make, who could ride him or who could own him.  Somehow, I suspect you would have fired Ron Turcotte. Yes, you are older than me, but I have a sneaking suspicion that you would have to google Ron Turcotte.

 

You made a to-do during your press conference about not having any knowledge of "European football," but you couldn't even talk horses with the Queen. (By the way, President Obama, football, or "soccer", is very popular in Latin America.  Perhaps you weren't briefed on that, either.)

 

Horse racing is an American sport.  It's a British sport, too. 

 

You droped the ball. 

 

Next time you give the Queen an iPod, try gifting her with the best of American horse racing.

 

You totally missed the significance of horse racing in America and Britain.

 

And you totally miss the significance of Secretariat.