Duty

Anyone reading the news today must be concerned. Groups of thugs are descending on state capitols that have Democratic governors and are demanding that the Covid 19 protections end. Members supposedly include neo-Nazis and other anarchists. The president of the United States of America is encouraging them to follow their worst instincts.

One thing, among many, scares me about these people. It is that it would only take a message from the Russian trolls, or someone they follow, to: "Grab your gun, put on your brown uniform, and meet us in the town square" for the America I served for four years to be at risk.

One thing, among many, dismays me. That is that people I’ve known and loved for years, some for most of my life, and some with post-secondary educations would, it appears from their FB posts, join the thugs. I don’t know what makes these people so mad. I know many of them to have been decent, loyal Americans for most of their lives. Somewhere, the Dark Side prevailed. The transformation started years ago, but seems to have taken on unprecedented strength in early 2009.

One thing, among many, nauseates me. I have seen many things in my long life, but I’ve never seen the president of the United States of America spew venom and incite resurrection toward states not governed by his political party. It is worse still for a president to include tirades about gun ownership in his exhortations. Even Dick Cheney didn’t stoop this low during his eight years as president.

I worry. I’m old enough to last out a normal life, so why speak out and risk my reputation and standing? It’s just that when I saw the blue waters of the South China Sea out the window of that eastbound airline, I could never have imagined an America like this. I never imagined an America that was run like a pro wrestling show. I never imagined that someone close to me who lives with a disability would suffer mocking and disrespect from a candidate for president of my country. I never could have imagined a president who sides with dictators and criminals over decent Americans. I am worried and nauseated in equal shares.

Silence translates to some as approval. I will speak out when I feel it is necessary, even if it is futile. I’m sorry if I offend anyone, but I will violate the oath I took in 1966, for which there is no
Statute of Limitations, if I don’t take a stand.

No, on second thought I’m not sorry. It’s time, actually past time, for us to make our voices heard concerning this insanity.

Friday Musings

I find myself unable to respond to Senator Elizabeth Warren’s decision to withdraw from the presidential race. As I face half the people I will see today, I am speechless. I haven’t suffered disquietude of this degree since I had to face my African-American shipmates on the day we heard that about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

There are some things that white American males can feel. There are some things white American males can’t feel. We can feel strongly about the ability of the current football coach. We can feel strongly about the men who repair our automobiles. We can feel strongly about the men who conduct our orchestras. We can even feel strongly about men of other races as long as we confine those feelings to their ability to do such things as dunk basketballs.

Hell, we can even feel strongly about women in the fields of cooking and dressmaking.

I guess we could, maybe, suppose things about our wives and sisters.

For example, I don’t suppose that Elizabeth Warren would collude with the president of South Vietnam to delay peace talks until after the next election, in order to boost her chances.

I don’t suppose Elizabeth Warren would countenance a band of thugs burglarizing the headquarters an opposing political party.

I don’t suppose Elizabeth Warren would announce her candidacy, as a sop to southern bigots, in the city where four civil rights workers were murdered in the 1960s

I don’t suppose Elizabeth Warren would countenance a maneuver to sell weapons to one of America’s most virulent enemies in order to finance, illegally, a foreign war.

I don’t suppose Elizabeth Warren would bomb the innocent citizens, and invade the land, of a sovereign country for political purposes.

I don’t suppose Elizabeth Warren would knowingly dishonor the disabled, veterans, veterans’ families, or the dead for the pure delight of her base supporters. I do suppose that as a former teacher she has read of the Roman gladiatorial contests and might eschew the spectacle of pain for enjoyment.

I don’t suppose that Elizabeth Warren would countenance a national effort to deny the vote to honest, hard working Americans who might not be her supporters.

Those are not “feminine things.” I could name dozens of our sisters that would apparently countenance such dishonorable things in a heartbeat.

I do suppose that where you sit says loudly, and with clear conciseness, who you are. I do suppose that Elizabeth Warren sits on the right side of history. I do hope that may turn out to be more important than one political race. I do think that, as a white male, is all I can say.

I do suppose Elizabeth Warren, as president,
would care for the least of those among us.

The End My Friend

Random thoughts on politics and the mess we’re in:

– I’m no expert on politics, and I try to stay non-partisan, but it’s beginning to look to me as though Mike Bloomberg is the only person with a “D” beside his name, (or Bernie Sanders for that matter), who has the faintest clue as to what it will take to change the administration of the U.S. in November.

– Since we’d best not buy any food that was processed in China and sent back to us, we checked our freezer yesterday for results from previous sale purchase and gardening efforts. We’ll probably be good until the Coronavirus gets us or wears itself out by some miracle. I don’t think we can last until a new administration to reconstruct our guardian federal agencies.

– Been reading about an America in which corporate America owned the supreme court, congress, and the presidency. The poor were only tolerated for cheap labor. Voting was a farce. Government refused to help the poor but allocated billions to assist corporations in making higher profits.

– The administration refused to help small farmers but awarded obscene contracts to corporations doing government work.

– The federal government participated in assaulting organized labor.

– Wrong. It was in the so-called “Robber Baron” era. Things went to hell in 1927.

Maybe Woody Guthrie said it best.

Crime

Yesterday, an old friend asked me a question:

“Most every city has a poor(er) area, with higher crime rates and all that accompanies. Given your expertise, what can cities do to uplift those areas? Or are even the best efforts doomed to fail because there will always be a poor(er) area with higher crime rates, etc.? I wondered whether "low-income" housing would help the area but then questioned whether higher-income development would result in forcing the truly low-income folks elsewhere”

My answer: You have asked question that has confounded the experts for years. As you know, that's never stopped me from trying.

First: ghettos are ghettos, no matter how many pretty bows we place on them or what many fancy names we use for them. A gated-community ghetto can still be damaging to society when it dooms interaction among socio-economic groups. Second, even at the highest levels of government, we cannot escape the cognitive failure of confusing correlation with causation, for example, some high-density areas are correlated with crime, so high densities must create crime. Well, we have a condo in the highest-density spot in Little Rock and the most common crime there is dumping over-sized loads into the garbage chute.

The question is much too complicated for a sound-bite. Maybe I'll post some ideas in the future. In my opinion, the systemic bigotry that has erupted like some 1950s subterranean monster accounts for much of it, maybe most of it. I can’t believe the epidemic of hatred and racism unleashed by America’s electing an African-American president … twice.

On the other hand, and I can't say this publicly, but drug use and the failure of some ethnic groups to self-police is retarding progress. On the other, other hand, forced busing led droves of generally law-abiding citizens to flee to sundown cities, facilitated by the decision of the Arkansas Highway Construction Department to facilitate the flight by building more and better commuter lanes. In addition, there’s

·       Income inequality

·       White-flight

·       The attack on public schools by the ultra-rich

·       Military spending instead of people spending

·       Emphasis by cities on growing population instead of growing their people

·       The almost sexual obsession with guns and violence by many Americans

Oh hell, don't get me started. Stay tuned.

As an aside, we had a late Christmas lunch with some Hispanic friends in the Lonoke area yesterday and heard a harrowing story from two (both long-term residents and model citizens) of how a police officer harassed them in one's front year for GTWWH (going to work while Hispanic. I'm having a hard time being optimistic these days.

One of the men was someone whom we helped gain a college education. We could have ignored him. Problem was, he was extremely intelligent and verging on bitterness. I kept thinking of the Bob Dylan line, "Yonder stands your orphan with his gun." Does the libertarian Nirvana of complete selfishness outweigh the cost of all those prisons?

Politically-inspired hatred of one another ain’t helping a bit. Old friend, you just had to pull my chain, didn’t you? 

Where You Stand and Why

After much thought, I’ve reached a conclusion. I will not, of my accord, lose a dear friend simply because your political views differ from mine. I will not discuss politics with you. History, science, and other fact-based or thought-inspired topics await us in legion. None of us will live long enough to exhaust the storehouse. If you bring up current politics, My response will be, “Our views differ.” Although not a particularly religious person, my views find basis in the Beatitudes, from The Sermon on the Mount. If yours don’t, you keep your Leviticus and I’ll keep my Galilean. Let’s talk about the 75 percent of things we likely agree upon. My only caveat is that if your beliefs force you into harmful actions against a decent person who means no one harm. It may well be Auf Wiedersehen.

Notice I didn't say "perfect person." I don't run across many in my day-to-day wanderings.

Why I Wear My Veteran's Hat

I often wear my veteran’s hat in public.

- It pisses redneck conservatives off because a liberal-commie-hippie served and they didn’t.

- It makes liberals feel a little ashamed to see I don't pose much of a threat.

- It scares the hell out of people at Walmart and they don’t block your way talking on their cell phones.

- A DD 214 carries much more prestige than a flag lapel-pin.

- It allows another Brother to spot me.

- And … twice I’ve had strangers pay for my meals.

Good enough reasons, I would say.

Once in a blue moon, someone will say “Thank you for your service.” I’ve wondered what to say back.

“You’re only 50 years too late.” – No, too snarky.

“I didn’t serve, I survived.” – No, too whiney.

“It was my honor.” Oh, for Christ’s sake.

“Thank you.” – That will do in a pinch, but too passive.

Lately, and until next week, I’ve come up with what I consider a good one.

“I just did my duty. Please do yours and vote.”

On Redemption

I use two redemptive concepts in holding out hope for America: “The Thomas Beckett Moment” and the “Saul on the Road to Damascus Realization.” The first happens when a person decides that there is a higher calling than political expediency or personal riches. The second happens when a person decides that one doesn’t have to be a jerk forever.

We can hope, can't we?