“WHAT’S A TEDDY?”

Definition:  1) a woman’s one-piece undergarment

2) a soft toy in the form of a bear. Developed in the early years of the 20th century, and named after President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, the teddy bear became an iconic children’s toy, celebrated in story, song, and film. [Since the creation of the first teddy bears, which sought to imitate the form of real bear cubs, “teddies” have greatly varied in form, style, and material. They have become collector’s items, with older and rarer “teddies” appearing at public auctions. Teddy bears are among the most popular gifts for children and are often given to adults to signify love, congratulations, or sympathy.] –Wikipedia

3) an award given annually by Joe Klein, of TIME magazine, for “doers, diplomats, and leaders who ignored our worst instincts.”

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes up short again and again … who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” –Teddy Roosevelt

 

Note: Joe Klein’s Teddy Awards for 2015: Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Jerrold Nadler, Bob Corker, George H. W. Bush, James Baker, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, John Kerry, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and Fox News Presidential Debate (“proving that good politics can be substantive and entertaining”).  (See, TIME, December 21, 2015, p. 46)