Month: September 2024

Full Disclosure

 I am not a “cat person”.  I earned that right honestly, at three years old.  We lived on Glenmary Avenue in Cincinnati, not far from the Zoo; with a cat named Bimbo. She was our house cat for as long as I remember, but somehow just disappeared. 

We had  woods behind the house. It seemed huge to a three-years old, like Winnie the Pooh’s hundred acre wood.  It was actually a quarter of an acre.   Anyway, one day I found Bimbo and went to grab her.  Now fully feral, she didn’t allow any of that, and I got scratched.  

So from that day forward, I was not, and am not, a cat person.

Cat Ladies

But since cats (and dogs, and geese) are playing such an important part in our politics today, I am standing up for cats.  The whole thing started a couple years ago, with an ill-advised comment by then-candidate for Senate from Ohio, JD Vance.  The “Hillbilly Elegy” author was talking to a conservative commentator, and used a glib and in-artful description of Progressives, and women Progressives especially.  He called them “childless cat ladies”. 

When Vance became the Republican nominee for Vice President, it started a deluge of “childless cat ladies” memes and references.  T-shirts supporting Kamala Harris appeared with the “childless cat lady” comment and pictures from kittens to tigers on the front.  Even Taylor Swift posted her endorsement of Harris with her cat.  But MAGA-world being what it is, Vance continued to double-down, further commenting that “post-menopausal” women’s role was to help raise children.  It seemed that Vance and the whole Trump campaign wouldn’t move off of the insults to younger women and older women, and, of course, to cats.

But Vice President Harris and Governor Walz were getting the better of the “cat lady” fight.  They called it what it was:  weird.  And that weird comment stuck in Trump’s craw like a hairball.  He spent time in his rallies ranting that he and Vance weren’t “weird” at all.  And, of course, the more he talked about it, the weirder he seemed to be.

Flip the Script

MAGA-world had to open up a second front, to flip the “cat” script.  And what better way to do that, then to make Trump the cat “savior”.  So it should be no surprise that a woman’s rant on Facebook, complaining about Haitians, made it to national attention.  As the REO Speedwagon song goes:  “(She) heard from a friend who, heard it from a friend, who, heard it from a friend…”.  Pets were being taken and eaten by Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio. Of course, (fact check) that wasn’t true.

But the MAGA internet network acted like a cat on catnip.  A video was attached to the comment, supposedly showing a Haitian in Springfield, Ohio, eating a dead cat in the street. (Turns out, it was a life-long, mentally deranged not-Haitian resident of and in Canton, Ohio. She was really eating a cat).  Added  to it was a photo of a black man carrying a dead goose along the road. (The picture was taken in Columbus, and the man was removing a goose that was run over).  So now, the Haitians were eating cats and geese. 

Fact Check

So there was “video evidence” of what now-illegal (they aren’t) Haitian migrants were doing in Springfield.  They’ll take the geese from your parks, and the cats (and soon dogs) from your neighborhoods, and eat them.  Trump and Vance, stood for pets and geese, and against their consumption by humans, especially illegal migrant humans from Haiti in Western Ohio. They took a Facebook rant (since retracted) about a rumor in Springfield, and made it a national “emergency”.

Of course, it’s all a fabrication, a very demonstrable fabrication.  But in our “post-truth” MAGA world, fact-checking is just another “tool” of Democrats to “lie”.  Fact-checkers used to generate righteous indignation; “How dare you question my ‘facts’”.  Now they’re just another “Boomer” or “Karen” to be ignored. As Ex-President Trump said in his debate with Vice President Harris, it must be true because, “…I saw it on TV”.  Along with the “Illegal immigrant gangs over-running cities,” in Aurora, Colorado and Dallas, Texas; it all fits in with the nativist MAGA message.  Illegal “brown” people are wrecking our country: vote for Trump.

Not Fair

There is an old phrase; “All’s fair in love, war and politics”.  And if this was all just an ugly, racist “Facebook fight” then, it wouldn’t really make a difference.  But there are real world consequences to the lies told by those running for the highest offices in the land.  Those lies impact people, and particularly the legal Haitian immigrants, of Springfield, Ohio.

The schools and city buildings have been closed by bomb threats.  Yesterday even the hospital was closed. The hard working Haitian migrants are worried that someone will take all of the nonsense to heart, and come to their town to “stop the madness”. A couple dozen “Proud Boys” just marched through town. Someone is likely to get hurt.  Someone is likely to get killed.  And all because the MAGA world had to get back at those “childless cat ladies”.

It was completely foreseeable.  And a man who was and wants to be President again should put community ahead of political gain.  But, of course, that’s far too much to ask.  Instead, all Springfield can do is hang onto their cats, and try to fortify themselves for the onslaught.

The Crisis

The famous pamphleteer Thomas Paine, wrote “The Crisis” in December of 1776, as Americans entered the second winter of the Revolution.  It’s opening paragraph starts with these epic words:

THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. 

The “summer soldier and sunshine patriot” were literal:  George Washington’s Army was encamped for the winter in Morristown, New Jersey. His victory in Trenton (the battle after the famous crossing of the Delaware River) occurred two days after “The Crisis” was published. The war would stretch four more long years until the final victory at Yorktown. 

American Winter

American history has several times when it seemed crisis had no end in sight.  The Civil War winters of 1863 and ‘64, the Great Depression winters of 1932 and ‘33, and the World War II winter of 1943 all tested “men’s souls”.  And historians will look back at the decade from 2015 to 2025, sadly – the “Trump Era”. They’ll see it  as a struggle to determine what view of the American Dream we will follow. 2024 is the pivotal year of that era. 

Like the Civil War, both sides today lay claim to American history.  Those that follow Donald Trump harken back to the patriots of the American Revolution just as much as those favoring Kamala Harris.  Both sides claim the flag and the trappings of American tradition and lore.  And one side will win out; at least in terms of the vote count in November.  

But it will take more than an election to consolidate a new foundation for the United States. We thought it was over in 2020, with the Pandemic election of Joe Biden.  But here we are again, four years later, caught in another alligator “death-roll” struggle to determine the American dream. These truly are, “The times that try men’s souls” – and women’s too.

He that Stands

A decade ago, there is no possible scenario that would put someone with the ideology of former Congressman Liz Cheney and I on the same side of a political argument.  Judge Luttig, the national “model” of a conservative jurist, would never have a spot on “my side” of the table.  Nicolle Wallace, was the Bush White House press secretary and senior advisor to Republican Presidential candidate John McCain. She supported those that I campaigned against.

They have all “stood up”, against their former political party and for what in their lifetime has been the “opposition”.  They all see Trumpism as such a threat, they are standing for Democrat Kamala Harris.  Trumpists derogatorily call them “RINOS” (Republicans in Name Only), and they all have paid a steep political price.  They have lost lifetime friends. But in these times, in this struggle to determine the American Dream, they stand against Trump.

But there are two individuals who recently joined the fray, that shocks the soul.  This morning Alberto Gonzalez, the Bush Attorney General who supported torture as a means of extracting information from terrorists, came out for the Democrat.  And, last weekend, the “Darth Vader” of the Republican Party; the man perhaps most responsible for the misdirected war in Iraq and the privatization of American intelligence gathering that led to the excesses of Abu Gharib, now supports Kamala Harris.  Former Vice President Dick Cheney, father of Liz and one of the pillars of the “old” Republican Party, is now on “our” side.

Bedfellows

In normal times I would have to consider:  if Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzalez, and the rest are on the same side I’m on – am I on the “right” side?  There is politically almost nothing that we have in common, except, for a vision of a Trump America that ends our American Dream.  And that’s enough.

Shakespeare in The Tempest wrote: “(M)isery acquaints a man with strange bed-fellows.”   We Democrats awaken today in bed with – Dick Cheney!!   There could be no better proof that America is in an “existential struggle”, an “alligator deathroll”, for the nature of the American Dream.  It’s made many of us swallow hard to accept the alliance of these opponents of decades duration.  But, as Paine put it, “Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily conquered”.  We need all the help we can get, whatever the source.

Alberto, Dick, welcome to bed.  It’d be nice if you could convince your friend George to climb in too, to join his good friend Michelle.  We all make “strange bedfellows”, but a powerful alliance against Trump.  Remember:  “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

Dawn Thirty

The dogs didn’t sleep well last night.  Atticus, our nervous Lab, whispered in my ear about 4:30am:  “Dad, there eating dogs”.  I rolled over – “No Att, they’re not eating dogs, that’s just a Twitter rumor.  Go back to sleep”.  Then, at 5:20am, Keelie, our motherly Australian shepherd, was barking:  “DAD, DAD, DAD; He said they’re eating cats AND dogs”.  So I got up, and went to calm her down.  “Keelie”, I said, “This is what happens when you listen to the Presidential debates.  It’s not real.”

By then four of the five dogs were up, all talking about someone, nearby, eating dogs.  (The youngest, CeCe, slept through the debate and the discussion). After all, the Republican candidate for President, the forty-fifth President of the United States said it was happening, just an hour away in Springfield.

Nightmares

When I was a kid, maybe three, I watched a Twilight Zone episode about large ants from space taking over the earth.  To this day, if I’m going to have a real nightmare, big ants the size of shoes are the protagonists.  But I didn’t think watching the debates last night with the dogs would scare them so badly.  There was no going back to sleep.  So I calmed them down, gave them breakfasts, and started writing.  Atticus was still so scared, he wouldn’t eat.  He’s lying right here, beside my chair, as I write this essay.  I even had to go outside with him in the pre-dawn darkness this morning – “they are eating dogs in Springfield!!!!”

They say that only the Super Bowl gets more viewers than the Presidential Debates.   The Biden debacle in June had over 50 million.  The numbers for last night aren’t out yet, but it’s likely that many more than that watched this one, the only scheduled Presidential debate in this current election cycle.   And for the 45^th President, Donald Trump, the line that everyone remembers is the same one that scared the dogs so badly; “They’re eating cats and dogs in Springfield”.  

Fact Check

First of all, according to Trump, “they” are “illegal” Haitian immigrants in Springfield.  “They” are in fact, not illegal, “they” are legal migrants settled in Springfield after escaping the disastrous conditions on their home island.  “They” speak Creole, and that’s causing some pressure on the Springfield Schools,  caught unprepared for Creole translators.  So there’s that.  But “they” aren’t eating Dogs, Cats, or the local geese in the city ponds.  In fact, Ohio Governor DeWine is increasing some services to the city for the new residents.  Dogs, cats and geese are safe. (In fact, the only one I know who is eating dogs, is Bobby Kennedy Jr, who recently endorsed Trump for President).

Ex-President Trump didn’t have a good night.  When Vice President Harris said that foreign leaders were concerned about another Trump Presidency, Trump searched for a  character reference that Americans would appreciate.  He chose Victor Orban, the Hungarian President who is working to end democracy in his own country.   And Trump yelled, a lot, as if yelling would make the “fake facts” he was spewing real. 

On Message

As for the Vice President, she was controlled, on message, and sharp.  She definitely goaded Trump into some of his more out-of-control moments and got the exact contrast she was looking for.  Harris wanted to show Trump as an agent of chaos, rumor, and craziness.  She wanted to remind Americans what the day-to-day life was like during Trump’s term, the constant fear of what the next bad thing would be.  And in contrast, she presented a plan for the future, with solid proposals for improving life in the middle class.  Her overall goal:  show a potential Presidency of hope and joy, or the dark return of Trump.  And that’s exactly the image Donald Trump gave her.

Can you criticize Kamala Harris?  Sure, she could have been more definitive in answering questions.  There is a clear answer to the “flip-flop” on fracking question:  the US is meeting our environmental goals enough that we can continue to frack.  But she chose not to go into those details, rather falling back on her “pat” and true answer:  “My values have not changed”.  But if she didn’t hit all the “facts” to the final point, she did achieve the “art” of this debate.  She made the contrast, and the choice, clear to the American people.

Trump tried to scare Americans with the dark and gloomy future he sees.  And there are problems; that’s why choosing a President is so important.  But Harris offered solutions, and hope, and even some joy in our future.  

All Trump did was scare the dogs.

Debate and the Nation

Tonight is “THE DEBATE”.  Vice President Kamala Harris will meet Ex-President Donald Trump on the stage in Philadelphia.  It’s on ABC without an audience, but in front of the Nation and the World.  How much can we expect?  In the end, we will remain a Nation divided. But, as they said in 1968 in Chicago, “The whole World is watching”.

We are a polarized Nation.  There are 45% of American voters who will support Donald Trump, and 45% of American voters who will support Kamala Harris.  That leaves 10% who are somehow undecided.  But the most important factor in this November election is which candidate can motivate their own voters to show up.  Of the 45% on both sides, there are “diehards”, maybe 35% MAGA supporters, and, now with Harris, about the same for her.  Who beyond the diehards shows up to vote; that will make all the difference.

Being divided over politics is nothing new.  What is new in America is the vitriol and fear connected with political positions this year.  For many diehards, it comes down to, “Choose my candidate or I hate you”.  And that’s new for the modern era.  In fact, you have to go back to the Civil War to find that kind of discord between supporters of one side or the other.  

Back in the “old days”, the 1970’s and 80’s, there were certainly issues that divided us.  The Vietnam War, school desegregation, the more extreme version of conservatism that Ronald Reagan represented, are all examples.  But, through most of those times, it didn’t pit neighbor against neighbor.  I could put a Carter/Mondale sign on the corner, my opponent could put a Ford/Dole sign, but somehow we still respected each other’s right to make the choice.  It doesn’t feel like that anymore.  

Curating the Divisions

Families are divided.  Conversations are carefully “curated”. (That’s the word of the month, everything is “curated” from restaurant menu items to bed frame upgrades).  There are times you can speak your “truth”, and times when a casual conversation could put you at risk.  The traditional American Thanksgiving or Christmas is now conflicted, some topics “verboten”.    

In 1976, I was on the Carter/Mondale staff.  Teachers had me into their classes to talk about campaigning. As a  twenty year-old college student with a “uniform” blue blazer and a American Bicentennial flag tie (still hanging in the closet), I didn’t pretend to be unbiased.  But that was allowed, back then.  Teachers let their students know that I was obviously biased, but a good source for what campaign “life” was about.  

Today, I don’t think that could happen.  Students would feel quite comfortable attacking “the other” side, either way.  Parents would be outraged.  Teachers would be questioned for inappropriate class materials, or political bias.   

So what happened in the 1980’s and 90’s that led to this change, from a time when we could mutually disagree without, as the saying goes, being disagreeable?  Who’s to blame for our current division, not just in politics, but in conversations?

I have an answer, but first, I need to give a “full disclosure” notice.  My father was the head of Multimedia Programs and Production.  He created and sold individual television shows across the country, a process called “syndication”.  His most famous show was “The Phil Donahue Show” (Phil passed away a couple of weeks ago, the end of an era for my family).  So I had more than a little exposure to some of what went on behind the scenes in syndication, and with some of the personnel behind those shows.

Rush

Remember that the late 1980’s was still an era before cable TV took hold.  Most of the programming America watched came “over the air” (no wires, you could watch TV for free – still can, though today it feels kind of like the rotary dial telephone – antique).  Instead of thousands of viewing or listening choices at any given time, there were only six or so channels to see.  So most Americans were familiar with most shows; we’d all at least “tried” them once.

There are two figures that I lay “the blame” for America’s path to being “disagreeable”.  The first is Rush Limbaugh.  Limbaugh was better known for his radio broadcasts, but he also had a TV show for a few years.  Rush brought a whole new style to conservative “talk show” radio/TV.  He would make a point, then attack any who argued against him as not only wrong, but stupid.  It was a machine gun spray against any other view than his own. He would never acknowledge even a single “point” by the other side.  Listening to Limbaugh, or trying to have a discussion with his adherents, was a completely different, frustrating, “take no prisoners” kind of political discussion.  It was frustrating because no one listened to your points, they simply moved onto to their next talking point.  Sound familiar?

There wasn’t a “give and take”, a debate of point and counter-point.  It was simply “give” it, and you either “took it” or something was wrong with you; your intelligence or your motivation.  Limbaugh (and to a lesser extent, Glen Beck) became the “model” for the new conservative movement.  It’s how “conservatives” learned to “fight” for their cause.  There’s a straight line from them to the Sean Hannity’s and Mark Levin’s and Steven Millers’ of today.

Jerry

The second figure was Jerry Springer (The Jerry Springer Show was one of Dad’s).  Jerry Springer was originally a politician out of Cincinnati, who became a Democrat and Mayor, then fell from grace in a sex-for-money scandal.  He recovered and returned to prominence.  After a failed Gubernatorial race, Springer turned to television (just downstairs from Dad’s office), first as a commentator, then a news anchor, and finally as a host of his own show.  The original idea was a Donahue kind of show, a talk show about serious political issues. 

But Springer found that the more outlandish he got, the higher the ratings were.  So the Jerry Springer show became synonymous with scandal: who’s your Daddy, I had sex with my step-mother, the man who was a girl, then couldn’t decide.  Jerry had “professional referees” on site, able to break up physical altercations between “guests”, and sometimes, the audience.  

But the real point was that the Springer Show blurred the lines between reality and “show”.  It was all presented as “truth”, but it wasn’t.  Americans suspended disbelief, because we were entertained by the craziness, shocked at the subject matter, and fascinated to see when the “conversation” would turn to physical blows (and who would win, the husband or the wife).  It was, to put it concisely, coarse; the worst view of what of America was.  And America loved it (and the company made a lot of money).  Jerry sat back, shook his head, and seemed “above” the fray.

Channeling

With Limbaugh and Springer, insults became common place, and reality became blurred.  It’s that “lineage” that brought us to “spectator” politics; the more outlandish, the better.  It all sounds like a Trump Rally, doesn’t it?  Trump tapped into all the tools, the derision, the open hatred, the breaking of every norm.  But he didn’t start it:  Rush and Jerry did, forty years ago.

So what about tonight’s debate?  Expect Trump will channel Limbaugh.  After all, as President, Trump awarded Rush the Presidential Medal of Freedom, “So much better than the Medal of Honor”.  And while Harris may try to be more “Donahue”, in all likelihood she’ll be “Springer”, shaking her head at the craziness of Trump World.  

A rational political debate is unlikely.  But, don’t worry, it will sure be a show.

This is a “Sunday Story” – no politics here, just the story of a cross country “institution” in Ohio – “the McGowan”.

Covid

I guess it’s one of the “benefits” of Covid.  The Cross Country (running) Invitational at Watkins Memorial High School started with just a few schools back in 1974.  It grew through the 1980’s and 90’s, then exploded in size during the 2000’s.  It was renamed for its founder, Coach John McGowan in 2003, and to the Cross Country world of Ohio it is simply known today as “the McGowan”.  This year there were 2187 runners who completed the course (high school 3.1 miles, middle school 2.0 miles), and a total of 146 teams fighting for trophies in the sixteen races.

And what about Covid?  Well technically the Watkins/McGowan Invitational traces all the way from 1974 to 2024, fifty-one years.  But in 2020, the “Covid” year, only ten teams were allowed in the “Woods and Mud” meet on that Saturday in September, carefully distancing their team camps, arriving late and leaving early in cars rather than buses, and masking until two minutes before the race (it was the rule).  So there was a meet, but it wasn’t “the McGowan”.  

So 2023 was fifty years of a meet at Watkins, and 2024 was the fiftieth anniversary of the Watkins/McGowan Invitational.  Thanks to Covid, we got to celebrate twice. 

Cool and Fast

It was an anniversary, but that wasn’t the only exception of the 2024 edition of the McGowan.  It’s seldom that the Saturday after Labor Day starts with a cool 40 degrees, and even less likely that there was no rain for weeks before the race.  What’s bad for the local farmers is great for cross country running conditions.  The paths through the woods were hard and fast, and the typical “mud spots” were completely dry.  So it wasn’t a surprise to coaches and knowing fans that times were fast, and when runners run fast, everyone is happy at a cross country meet!! 

Why do teams like to come to Watkins Memorial High School, year-after-year?  Sure “we” (well, I used to be a bigger part of we, but I still take a little credit) run a great meet.  The races start on time, the management bends over backwards to solve problems, and the course is well marked and prepped for running.  There’s always great competition, individually and for teams.  There are lots of races,  and not just for the “best” runners.  John McGowan taught us that Cross Country is for every kid on the team, from the fastest to the kid struggling at the “end”.  So every kid on the team gets to run at the McGowan.

The Woods

But the biggest draw is “the woods”.  Over two miles of the 3.1 mile the high school course are on wood trails.  That used to be a lot more common in high school cross country, but “modern” courses are likely to be around playing fields; smooth and fast, but not challenging or interesting (and unshaded for the hot late summer meets).   So teams come for the meet, but they really come for a run “in the woods”. 

 John McGowan set it up that way, and built some of the trails himself.  Those of us who came “after” John, continued to work on the trails, widening them out, and improving things a little more each year.  The creek crossings now have bridges, the “swamp” now has a boardwalk.  But the “woods” at Watkins still remain unique in Ohio cross country competition.

Tradition

I’ve only been a part of the meet for forty-six years.  John McGowan was with me on the finish line yesterday. He’s still helping the kids struggling after they spent their all on the course.  So was his brother Lonnie, and others who can measure their “McGowan” service in decades.  And the current Coach, John Jarvis, and his staff, Nathan Corum, Scott Parks and Lance Westbrook do a great job of the tough work of putting the meet together, from maps and starting assignments to erecting fences and filling holes in the fields.  It’s an effort that includes the whole current Watkins cross country team, the “labor” of Labor Day practice. They carry on the tradition, from John, to me, to them.

The officiating crew has been the same for at least the last thirty years as well.  Doug and Jeff O’Brien and Penny Zuber do a great job of getting kids “within” the rules. They quietly and calmly deal with whatever infractions might occur.  They fit in perfectly with a meet designed, not for management, or for officials, or even for coaches.  The “McGowan” is about the kids, the runners; and Doug, Jeff and Penny are too.

Finish Line

For me, the finish line is fun.  It’s also the place to see “everyone you ever knew” from decades of cross country coaching.  Old runners, old coaches, old friends; all stop by for a conversation, held in about twenty minute increments between the finish of one race and the next.  Some are still coaching, some come back to reminisce about “their years” at the McGowan. And some just want to catch on the “old retired guys”.   

And there are always the stories.  This year:  a girl from Olentangy Orange High School ran within seconds of the course record, set way back in 2007 by Claire Durkin who went on to win the state championship.  And this year, an unnamed middle school boy discovered why a lunch of bean and bacon soup wasn’t a great pre-race meal (it was evident at the finish line – I’ll leave it at that – so did he).   Orange juice for breakfast isn’t good either. 

The Saturday after Labor Day, like the phases of the moon and the change of the seasons, is just what it is:  the day of the McGowan Invitational at Watkins.  It’s a checkpoint on the calendar, and after all of these years, a moment that echoes back in time.  And it was a good day yesterday, though it will take me a week to recover.  But don’t worry, I’ll be back in the woods, and on the line next year too.  Come say hello.

The Sunday Story Series

• Riding the Dog  – 1/24/21
• Hiking with Jack – 1/31/21
• A Track Story – 2/7/21
• Ritual – 2/14/21
• Voyageur – 2/19/21
• A Dog Story – 2/25/21
• A Watkins Legend – 3/7/21
• Ghosts at Gettysburg – 3/14/21
• Lessons from the State Meet – 3/28/21
• More Lessons from the State – 4/4/21
• Stories from the Road – 4/11/21
• A Bear Wants You – 5/1/21
• My Teachers – 5/9/21
• Old Friends  – 5/23/21
• The Gift – 6/6/21
• Echoes of Mom – 6/20/21
• Stories of the Fourth – 7/3/21
• Running Memories – 7/25/21
• Lost Dog of Eldora – 8/1/21
• Dogs and Medals – 8/8/21
• The New Guy – 9/5/21
• Stories of 9-11 – 9/12/21
• The Interview – 9/26/21
• Night Moves – 10/3/21
• Funeral for a Friend – 10/11/21
• National Security – 10/24/21
• Boots on the Trail – 10/31/21
• Taking Care of Mom and Dad – 11/14./21
• Dogs Found and Lost – 11/21/21
• Watching Brian 12/12/21
• Stories from Shiloh – 12/19/21
• Team Trips – 12/26/21
• Uphill, Both Ways  – 1/9/22
• Old Trophies – 1/30/22
• The Last Time – 2/7/22
• Olympic Miracles – 2/13/22
• Mind Numbing – 2/20/22
• Track Weather – 4/3/22
• What’s Missing – 4/11/22
• A Scouting Story – 4/17/22
• Waterproof Paper – 5/8/22
• Origin Stories – 5/22/22
• Origin Stories – Part Two 5/29/22
• Back at State – 6/5/22
• Out in the Country – 6/19/22
• Pataskala Downs – 7/4/22
• Car Stories I – 7/24/22
• Car Stories II  – 7/31/22
• Old Man Experience – 8/7/22
• Cross Country Camp – 8/14/22
• New to the Pack – 8/21/22
• Car Stories III – The Bus – 8/28/22
• A Day in the Life – 9/4/22
• Stupid Human Tricks – 9/18/22
• Fair or Foul – 2/26/23
• Immigrant Story – 3/12/23
• Busy Season – 5/15/23
• Of Jeeps and Bucks – 5/28/23
• A Pole Vault Story  -6/11/23
• End of an Era – 6/25/23
• Paybacks – 7/2/23
• Graying in Pataskala – 7/17/23
• Being a Goat – 7/23/23
• Toy Truck – 8/20/23
• Medical Terms – 8/27/23
• Missing Margaritaville – 9/3/23
• The McGowan – 9/10/23
• Who’s Watching – 10/22/23
• The Saturday Before – 10/29/23
• A Tale of Turkey, and Dogs – 11/26/23
• Bruno’s Story – 12/3/23
• Out in the Country – 12/10/23
• Christmas Eve – 12/24/23
• Rube Goldberg – 1/12/24
• Our Pataskala Kroger’s – 2/5/24
• A Sad, Sad, Dog – 2/11/24
• Singing in the Tornado – 3/3/24
• Your Safe Spot – 3/17/24
• Easter Dawn – 3/31/24
• Swarms – 4/14/24
• Lowest Common Denominator – 4/28/24
• Seniors – 5/12/24
• Season’s Over – 6/22/24
• Camp Morning – 6/30/24
• Jeeping – 7/7/24
• How Mondo Won the Gold and Started a Dog Fight (almost) – 8/6/24
• Fifty Years of the McGowan – 9/8/24

Biden

It takes courage to sacrifice for a Nation.  We learned a lot about that this year from President Biden.  He’s a man whose whole life aimed at reaching the Presidency.  After three decades in the Senate and two runs for the Presidency, Biden got the ultimate consolation prize, the Vice Presidency.  In what should have been “his time”, his final “shot” at the Presidency:   his son, the scion of the Biden political tradition, died. It crushed him.  Hillary Clinton got the call.

It took a combined Constitutional crisis of the Trump Presidency and the world pandemic to open the door to the White House one more time.  Biden finally earned the top position.  And after three years of one of the most successful Presidency’s in history, he was poised to win a second term.  His campaign was well financed, and developed the best “ground game” in American politics.  Then the debate happened.  Joe Biden was betrayed by his own body, showing the wear of forty-five years of political combat.

He could have continued.  The nomination was his, as was the hundreds of millions of campaign funds.  Sure, other party leaders wanted him to quit, most notably, Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi.  But he could have defied their Machiavellian efforts.  Instead, he put the future of the Party, and the Nation, ahead of his own ambitions.  It was the most politically courageous act of this century.

Kinzinger

But Biden isn’t the only politician to demonstrate that rare quality this year.  Adam Kinzinger, the former Republican Congressman from Illinois, joined the January 6^th Committee against the “orders” of his party’s leadership.  He knew the “price” of his actions:  he faced being “primaried” from the right.  He didn’t even try to run for re-election.  

And when Trump was nominated again by the Republican Party, Kinzinger stood up at the Democratic Convention. He showed other Republicans “the way” to vote against him.  To use modern psychological parlance, Kinzinger gave doubting Republicans a “permission structure” to vote Democratic, for the good of the Nation.

Cheney

But perhaps the greatest act of political courage of all, is by Liz Chaney.  She is the daughter of Dick Cheney; former Vice President, Secretary of Defense, White House Chief of Staff, and Congressman from Wyoming.  Liz followed in her father’s footsteps, a Congressman herself from Wyoming, and the first woman to Chair the House Republican Caucus.  She was third in line in the Republican power structure, poised to ultimately ascend to the Speakership.  

But then Donald Trump came along.  And Liz Cheney made a choice between what was good for her political future, and what was good for the Nation.  She voted to impeach Trump, and along with Kinzinger, accepted appointment (and the Vice-Chairmanship) of the January 6^th Committee.  It cost her everything.  She lost her leadership position in the caucus, and then, she was “primaried” out of her Wyoming Congressional seat.

But Liz Cheney makes it clear:  a vote for Donald Trump is a vote against the Constitutional Democracy of the United States.  Sure Cheney and Kinzinger have policy differences with Vice President Harris, serious differences about the role of the Federal government.  But those are nothing compared to the existential threat that Donald Trump represents to our Nation.  (I know, Dems aren’t supposed to say that anymore, that’s “old-school speak”.  But it’s still the unspoken truth of the 2024 election – check out Project 2025, the playbook for the second Trump Administration).

This week Liz Cheney endorsed Kamala Harris for President of the United States.  She’s going on the campaign trail to support her.

Timidity 

Over the past decade, I have looked to Republicans for political courage.  From Ohio politicians like Rob Portman and Mike DeWine, to national figures like Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio; again and again they have turned to Party over Country, and their own political careers over national interest.  Some, like Portman (and Speaker Paul Ryan) left the “field”. DeWine, “laid low” when the pressure was on.  Others, like Graham, became Trump sycophants.  But few stood up against the MAGA takeover of their own Party.  Even Vice President Mike Pence, who showed personal courage and stood against the mob on January 6^th, tried to have it “both ways”.  He campaigned against Trump, but still as part of the Trump/Pence team.  It didn’t work.

I lamented that the courage of John McCain was gone.  Instead, in the (supposed) words of retired Senator Lamar Alexander, they supported Trump because, “Who will I eat lunch with at the club if I don’t”.  And I wonder:   where is George W Bush or Condoleezza Rice, or the Generals who made it clear that Trump is dangerous.  Are they too worried about losing their “lunch companions”?  Are they to remain “profiles in timidity”?

But there is still courage in American politics today.  If you’re looking for proof, look to Biden and Kinzinger.  And most recently, look to Liz Cheney, a “Profile in Courage” putting country over career and party.  I hope her fellow Republicans listen.

Another

Two children and two teachers are dead.  Nine more are in the hospital.  A fourteen year-old with an AR “style” weapon is the cause.  Sure, our hearts are with them, the students and faculty and administration of Appalachee High School. They are “just” another high school that now is “on the list”.  But there’s little more to say.  

We, the people of the United States, have made a choice.  We could choose to make changes, to make a difference, to protect our children and our people. Instead, we choose to be helpless.  

I’ve been writing essays on Our America since 2017.  Twenty-six times I’ve written about America’s sick willingness to allow mass shootings.   I don’t have much new to say except – when we decide to change, we can.

Guns

• Guns and Sadness   10/3/17
• A Teacher with a Gun   2/23/18
• Don’t Change the Subject   3/25/18
• Again   4/15/18
• Staying Small   5/3/19
• Saving Lives Is Not Politics   8/4/19
• The Pain Becomes too Great  8/5/19
• Who’s Your Daddy  8/21/19
• A Good Guy With a Gun   9/1/19
• Rights and Guns   5/17/20
• Pittsburgh  6/17/20
• Our Choice   12/1/21
• Toxic Mix   5/16/22
• Apple Pie    5/25/22
• Prairie Dogs   6/9/22
• The Will to Do It   7/6/22
• Hanging Together   8/12/22
• Swatted    9/23/22
• They Aren’t Pro-Life   5/26/22
• Motive, Means, Opportunity  1/25/23
• Accepted Losses   2/14/23
• German Rights   3/28/23
• Fear Itself   3/30/23
• The Gravel Pit   4/16/23
• Butcher’s Bill    5/8/23
• Right to Live     10/26/23

Who’s Smart 

Our politicians think we’re not very smart.  And, surprisingly, it’s not just one party.  Politicians on both sides of the aisle seem to think “we the voters” just are, well, kind of dumb.  That’s a dangerous assumption to make.  American voters are often very astute.  An example: here in Ohio on the recent abortion amendment, voters who wanted the amendment to pass first had to vote No on Issue One in August, then Yes on Issue One in November.  That mental gymnastics was awkward, but voters got it.  The Amendment passed.

I listen to commentators telling us that Donald Trump is shifting on the abortion issue, or that Harris is more pro-Palestinian than Biden.  With deep and knowing voices, they let us know that the candidates are “moving” to the middle, and might be in danger of losing their base voters.  As the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas kids so often said:  I call “BS”. 

On the Ropes

Let’s take Trump’s “gymnastics” on abortion.  First, Donald Trump was pro-choice, way back before the end of the “Apprentice” and his reinvention as a Presidential candidate.  Then he was pro-life, so much so that he talked about how women having abortions ought to be punished, on air with Chris Matthews back in 2015.  It was part of his campaign to earn the pro-life vote, and it worked.

He is the man who brought us Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch (in place of Merrick Garland), Kavanaugh, and Comey-Barrett (in place of what should have been another Democratic appointee).   Trump changed the nature of the Supreme Court, and the course of American legal rights.  And he assured the Nation that over-ruling Roe v Wade  was what “everyone wanted”:  millions of American women lost control of their own health care choices.  He paid back his pro-life supporters in full.

But Trump is up against “the ropes” in what may be another narrowly decided election.  He needs to expand his “base” of voters, a very difficult political maneuver.  So now he’s against a national abortion ban, and he’s so in favor of In-Vitro Fertilization that he wants the government to pay for it.  Trump thinks that there’s some incredibly narrow segment of voters who will say, “Oh, he’s kind of pro-choice again, I’ll vote for him”.  

Soccer Moms

Really:  the guy who (with the help of Mitch McConnell) single-handedly change America’s abortion policy for the first time in fifty years?  The man who “slayed” Roe? He’s Pro-Choice?  Few voters are going to be fooled by that.  And as for his “base” slipping; the pro-life voters know who exactly who their candidate is.  With “a wink and a nod”, they’ll let him say anything he wants.  Donald Trump has “told them who he is”, and they listened.  They’re certainly not going to vote for Kamala Harris, and they aren’t going to stay home either.  They know a “feint” when they see one.

So, it’s all about what is condescendingly called “soccer moms”.  It’s the suburban women’s vote, in places like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Milwaukee (and Columbus, Ohio too; though probably not enough to make a difference in the state’s outcome).  That’s the voting block most mobilized by the end of Roe. States as “red” as Ohio, Kentucky and Kansas stood for pro-choice at the ballot box.  Soccer Moms normally vote Republican, but the abortion issue may have altered that paradigm.  This is the first Presidential election where abortion is more than just a theoretical issue, and the Trump strategy is to throw those Moms “a bone” of pro-choice rhetoric.  I don’t think that “bone” is going to work; Soccer Mom’s aren’t fools.

Thread the Needle

Meanwhile, Vice President Harris has her own issue to deal with.  A narrow segment of her “base voters” are pro-Palestinian, and believe that the American government hasn’t done enough to stop the Israeli destruction in Gaza.  The Harris campaign “ain’t so dumb”:  they’re letting President Biden take the heat when it comes to the Middle East.  While Harris has made it clear, even in her nomination acceptance speech, that she supports Israel; she is trying to shade a little closer to the Palestinian cause than Biden.

Her base voters have nowhere to go either.  It’s not like Trump, beholden to the Sheldon Adelson fortune and close friend of Bebe Netanyahu, is going to be anything but “all-in” for Israel.  The Harris campaign’s concern is that those pro-Palestinian voters will simply choose “not to play”, and stay at home on election day. 

So, it’s a second group, one numerically more significant, that Harris is trying to motivate:  young college kids.  And that’s where Harris is trying to thread the Middle East needle; for Israel, but, not so pro-Netanyahu.  

Young voters are notoriously fickle.  They usually don’t show up at all.  The last time they made a significant difference was in the Obama 2008 victory. That’s not about “lazy kids”, it’s all about motivating them to make a difference.  If they can find their way through the Harris-Palestinian dilemma, maybe they can impact the election.  But they are just as likely to also take the third route, and choose “not to play”.  

 As George Bush so eloquently misquoted The Who: “ fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.”  Be sure though:both candidates and both campaigns;  they probably aren’t fooling the voters.

October 7^th

On October 7^th, 2023; the terrorist organization Hamas launched a devastating attack on Israel.  The attack wasn’t on military targets.  It was on civilians; people in their homes in Southern Israel, the elderly, babies; and notably a music festival in the Negev desert.  Over 1200 Israelis (and citizens of other nations) were killed in the widespread assault, and 251 were taken as hostages.  Some of those were exchanged in the first ceasefire last year.  Some of them were rescued by Israeli forces.  And thirty-five are confirmed dead, including six found today.  Around 100 are still in captivity.

There should be no question:  when Hamas took the hostages, they took responsibility for their lives.  There are a whole lot of issues about what Israel is doing in Gaza, and now in the West Bank. But none of these change that  “duty of care”; the responsibility  for the lives taken over.  Those young adults in the desert, those senior citizens in their homes, those babies; had no say in the matter.  

Hersh

For those of us who watched the Democratic Convention; we heard the anguished story of an American citizen, twenty-three year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin, told by his parents.  He went to the concert in the desert.  When Hamas attacked, he took shelter with dozens in a small bomb shelter.  The lower part of his left arm was blown off by a grenade, but Hersh survived the attack to be taken hostage.

He was alive two weeks ago while his parents stood at the Democratic Convention podium in Chicago and asked for help.  He was alive when they asked Democrats, the President, the United States, Israel and Hamas, to finish the deal and get their son freed. Hersh was alive yesterday morning.  Today, he is dead in a tunnel in Gaza. He was murdered by his captors as Israeli forces closed in, along with five other hostages.

Those that support Hamas have nothing of value to talk about.  Terrorism is beyond any reason; it negates any legitimate grievance.  Those that killed and continue to kill thousands of innocent Israelis, and Americans and others, deserve only just retribution for their acts.  

Lay Waste

But it is the Middle East, and like every other issue in the region, it’s not that simple.

Hamas is not every Palestinian: it doesn’t even represent every Palestinian.  The 1200 and now more killed by Hamas does not justify the utter devastation of Gaza and the death caused by Israeli actions.  Over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed.  Even accepting the Israeli estimates that 17,000 were Hamas fighters, that still leaves 23,000 civilian deaths, many of them elderly and babies.   The Israeli forces attack indiscriminately, which makes it difficult for the world to discriminate between terrorist and aggrieved victim.  

It is clear that the Israeli policy, led by Prime Minister Netanyahu, is to “lay waste” to Gaza.  Their action does not look like an attack on Hamas. It looks like the ancient Roman army laying waste to Carthage, destroying the city and selling the population into slavery.  It is clear that not only is Israel determined to kill every Hamas fighter, but also every innocent Palestinian in the way.  

US President Biden is committed to getting a ceasefire in the region.  It’s hard to imagine: through all of the destruction and innocent death, there are still representatives from all sides in the same city.  They are not sitting at the same table, but they are still attempting to reach some kind of agreement to stop the violence. But it’s now too late for Hersh, and too late for the thousands of Palestinian innocents.  

But the block to agreement isn’t Hamas.  It’s Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.  And it’s time to ask why.

One State 

Netanyahu is in a tenuous political position.  Not unlike ex-President Trump’s situation, Netanyahu faces criminal charges in the Israeli Courts, held in abeyance while he serves as leader of the government.  Should Netanyahu be removed from office, he faces possible conviction and imprisonment.  The coalition that keeps him in office is a deal with his “devil”, the far-right political parties of Israel.  They are intent on not only the destruction of Gaza, but also the end of talk of a “two-state solution” for Israel and Palestine.  They don’t want two states, they want an Israeli state that includes all of the Palestinian territory, but not the Palestinians themselves.

Israel is a democracy, but the far-right’s “one state” would not include Palestinian citizenship.  In the end, there are as many Palestinians as Israelis; a single democracy would mean that Israel would no longer be a Jewish state.  But democracy cannot exist with an equal group that is not free to express themselves – so getting rid of Palestinians is the only choice for their “one state” solution.

Provocation

As long as war continues, Netanyahu is safe from calls for an Israeli election, and from the collapse of his own coalition.  So each time it looks like there is progress in negotiations, he allows one more act to push Israel deeper into war.  He allowed the assassination of the Hamas negotiator.  He antagonized Hezbollah, another terrorist organization to the north of Israel.  And now, he is sending Israeli forces into the West Bank, the other Palestinian enclave under Israeli control.  

Of course President Biden is frustrated with Netanyahu.  Every time the negotiations seem close to success, the Prime Minister adds one more provocation.  But Biden also recognizes the original premise of this conflict:  Hamas attacked Israel.  So he must balance the two as he continues to pressure Israel to sign a deal.  It’s “easy” for those suffering for the Palestinians to say, stop sending weapons to Israel.  But those weapons are the only real leverage Biden has.  He can’t just “stop”, if he does then he loses the US seat at the negotiating table.

And, of course, President Biden is devastated by the all the death, but particularly the death of Hersh.  No one knows better the pain of the death of a child than the President.

This ends when Netanyahu decides it ends.  A majority of Israelis, and it sounds like, a majority of Israeli military advisors want it to end as well.  So what is Netanyahu waiting for?  Why does he continue to deepen the conflict?

Perhaps he hopes for the election of Donald Trump.