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This essay is in direct violation of “Godwin’s Law”, comparing present political actions to Nazism. On the other hand, I would counter with an older proverb: “If the shoe fits – wear it”.

Niemoller

Reinhold Niemoller was a German Lutheran minister in the 20^th century.  During World War I he defended Germany, serving as an officer in the German Navy.  When Hitler and Nazism first came to power, he, like many Germans, thought it was “good” for the economy.  It took years, but Niemoller ultimately stood against the Nazis prior to the beginning of World War II.  

He was arrested and sent to the concentration camps, first at Sachsenhausen and then Dachau.  He managed to survive the war, and continued to minister, becoming the head of the World Council of Churches in the 1960’s.  After the war, he wrote the following “confessional” for his inaction at the beginning of Hitler’s rise to power.

The Confession

First they came for the Communists  
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me.

Who Speaks

We live in a time when “they” are coming.  We see it in our nation, the United States of America, today.  “They” are coming, right now, for the trans-gendered.  They are denying medical care for trans children, determining that “they” know better what’s good for them; better than the parents, the doctors, the kids themselves.  It’s happening now. “They” are determined that those children must suffer.  And many of “us” are not speaking out, because we are not trans-gendered.

“They” are coming, coming for those that are gay, or even simply cross-dressing.  “They” are banning drag shows that children might see, even though drag shows are as old as theatre.  Even the ancient Greeks dressed in drag in amphitheaters; women were not allowed to perform.  But now “they” are calling drag shows some kind of “grooming”, tapping into America’s fear of the “molester with candy” in the shadows.  “They” are banning even the mention of gay in elementary and middle schools. Even a gay Disney movie character caused a teacher to be suspended. And many of “us” are not speaking out, because we are not gay or cross dressers.

“They” are coming, coming for the rights of women.  It starts with forcing women to bear children, but it will move onto restrictions on birth control and ultimately what women (alone) must do to raise a child.  But, many of “us” are not speaking out, because we are not women.

Happening Now

“They” are coming, coming for educators who dare to teach that America is “imperfect”.  “They” don’t want children to hear about a diverse nation with a history of discrimination.  Instead, “they” want a literally whitewashed version of our story.  In fact, “they” are denying our own Constitution, which establishes our nation as becoming “more perfect”.  “They” demand that we are already “perfect”, that all of those who continue to face discrimination are simply “weak” or “whiners”.  But many of “us” are not speaking out, because we aren’t teaching, or minorities, or disadvantaged.

It’s Happening  — right now in Florida and Texas, Montana and Iowa, and even quietly here in Ohio as well.  “They” are taking away rights, taking away votes, taking away the truth in classrooms.  But don’t worry.  “They” will make sure there’s plenty of weapons of war in the streets.

And if we don’t speak out, “they” will ultimately come for “us”.

This is a “Sunday Story”, even though it’s Monday.  No politics here, just stories about one of my favorite topics – Pole Vault.

Track Official

If you’re a high school track and field official, this is the busy season.  It’s “championship season” as I told my teams for forty years:  the moments when all the work, the training, the sacrifice and the competitions come to a peak.  It’s the conference championship, then onto the two meets that lead the elite few to the State Championship.  As a coach it could be (as Dicken’s said) the best of times and the worst of times.  In championship season the successes are the sweetest, and the failure are the hardest.  Either way, it’s all over in a few short weeks.

As a track coach, I taught every event.  I worked with sprints, hurdles and relays; distance, long and high jump; shot and discus, and, of course, pole vault.  It was in that last event that I made a “professional” reputation, working to make the event safer.  I still teach coaches how to coach pole vault safely, something I’ve done for thirty years here in Ohio (Ohio Pole Vault Safety).  And while I was a “licensed” official for most of my career, I didn’t start “full time” officiating until 2019, two years after I retired from coaching.  In the last five years, I’ve scheduled more track meets (forty-three this year).  Championship season is my “busy season” too:  five meets last week, five meets this week, four meets the week after.

Not surprisingly, I officiate the pole vault in most of those meets. 

X Games

Back in the 1990’s, one of my vaulters said to me: “Pole vault should be separate from the rest of track and field.  They just put it in there, because there aren’t high school ‘X Games’!”  There is a whole different feel around the pole vault from the much of the rest of track competitions.  It’s a small enough “ecosphere” that most vaulters from different teams still know each other.  Coaches often share the expensive poles (more than $500 per) with other schools. Many of the better vaulters train together outside of the regular track season.  The competition in pole vaulting is more often “with the bar” than with each other, and it’s not unusual to see fierce competitors cheering each other on.

I was an “old school” pole vault coach, really two generations from the current crop of “modern” coaches (in technical terms – more Tarasov than Mondo).  But my decades of coaching help me to better officiate competition.  It’s not just knowing the rules, the nuances of “makes and misses”.   It’s also managing the “flow”, keeping the competition rolling along, giving each athlete a fair shot at the bar, and creating the best atmosphere for the final vaulters as they attempt to soar higher than ever before.

Altius

Saturday was a good example.  The small, six-man conference championship competition was radically divided.   The lower three vaulters were young, first or second year competitors.  We started the bar at 8’, and when one cleared 10’, his teammates ran over and cheered his personal best.  He was “pumped”, and while he failed at 10’6”,  he was still proud of his progress.

Then we “skipped” to three of the best vaulters in the state, all seniors and from the same school. They entered the competition at 13’.  At 14’ they all soared over the bar, including the “third man”.  In most competitions, only two are allowed from each school, including the state qualifying meets. This particular conference decided to test a track team’s depth by allowing three in every event.  And this “third man” is one of the top vaulters in the state, but won’t get to prove his prowess on the biggest stage.  He can’t beat his own teammates, and while he might be in the top dozen in Ohio, since he is only third at his own school, this was his last high school meet. 

He ultimately cleared 14’6”.  When he failed at his third attempt at 15’, there were tears in his coach’s eyes, and warm hugs from teammates and friends.  He’ll go onto vault in college.  But these were the bittersweet last attempts of his high school career; at home, with friends, family and teammates watching.  He was third in the Conference.

Battle at the Heights

Then the two best vaulters in the state continued, battling each other in a good hearted competition for the Conference Championship.  They tied for first at 15-6, then “jumped off” in a tie-breaking procedure.  When neither cleared 16’, we moved the bar down to the conference record 15’9”.  One cleared, one didn’t; and the champion was determined.  The winner was pleased.  The runner-up  concentrated on video of his vaults. What could he improve for the next competition, as he works to hone-in his skills for his final high school meets?  Three weeks and two competitions left until the state finals.

This season, I’ve had the privilege of officiating these young men in vault at six competitions.  They are always polite and welcoming; their enthusiasm and dedication “spills out” onto the runway.  As an official I am a “neutral observer”, but as a former coach, it’s still fun to have just a little part in what they and their coach are accomplishing. 

I won’t officiate these guys again. I’m at different state qualifying meets from their school in the next weeks. And I’m privileged to be on the women’s pole vault crew at the State meet, just as competitive and intense as the men.  But be assured, I’ll have a “pit-side” seat for their efforts come that first Saturday in June.  

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 of Foul – 2/26/23
• Immigrant Story – 3/12/23
• Busy Season – 5/15/23

Doorkeeper

The cold hard fact is this.  The “Lamp beside the Golden Door” of the United States was always limited.  Not every person who crosses the border legally can stay.  We, the American people, pick and choose.  Regardless of the political propaganda, there is no “open border”.  There never has been.

In history, immigrants came by boat.  They were “evaluated” when they disembarked, many in New York or San Francisco.  The “Great Migration” of the late 19^th century is what most of us remember from eighth grade history class, as ships sailed into New York harbor past the Statue of Liberty herself.  The passengers disembarked at Ellis Island, what we now would call a “holding facility”.  They were examined, physically, mentally, and legally.  Most were then allowed to go “ashore” into the teeming metropolis of New York City.  My great-grandparents then moved onto Cincinnati.  Some though, were sent back on the boat they came in on.

There were always some who slipped through.  The derogatory name for migrants of Italian descent, “Wops”, came from the acronym for “without papers”.  But the post-Civil War American economic engine needed all the workers it could get.  The steel mills of Pennsylvania, the grain fields of Minnesota, the railroads stretching across the prairies and over the mountains, the meat packing factories of Chicago and Cincinnati, the coal mines of West Virginia – all needed  cheap human labor.  And many of those workers came “through the golden door”.  

Migration Forces

We are not a “hermetically sealed” nation.  In the last “normal” year, 2019, over 1 million immigrants gained legal entry into the United States.  And there is a “standing” population of around 12 million “illegals” here.  So what are the factors driving folks to come to America?

People come to America for the same reasons our ancestors did:  for a better life.  It’s not just about jobs and money, it’s also about safety and survival.  Many countries in Central and South America are dangerous places to live.  Gangs in El Salvador and Guatemala, political and economic upheaval in Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba; all make life dangerous.  It’s so dangerous that migrants are willing to risk the dangers of travel to the US Border, including the fifty mile jungle trail in the deadly Darian Pass in southern Panama. And organized crime controls the passage, extorting the traveler every step of the way.  

Climate change created a real impact on Central America.  The area is hotter and drier, and for many who depend on agriculture for subsistence, that cropland is gone.  In the Dust Bowl era of the 1930’s, the agricultural land of the US Southern plains literally dried up and blew away. People moved to survive.  They travelled from Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas to find jobs in California’s Central Valley.  Now many residents of the Northern Triangle of Central America are faced with the same dilemma. And the combined medical and economic disaster of the world Covid pandemic made life even worse.

The Law

Title Eight of the US Code is the set of laws regulating immigration.  To legally immigrate into the United States, a migrant must have legal permission to enter.  After gaining that permission, they then can make a case that they should be granted “asylum”; permission to stay.  Asylum is granted for political reasons, a return to the home country may well result in injury or death, or because the migrant has a skill needed by the United States.  Coming to the US for “a better life” is no longer enough to get permanent entry.

Title Eight also deals with those who cross the border without permission.  If a migrant crosses illegally, they have a much higher standard to prove to gain legal asylum.  Otherwise, they are returned to their “country of origin”.  So getting into the US legally is a two step process.  First, get legal permission to cross the border (a visa), then make a case for asylum.    Cross the border illegally, and face penalty (a bar from entering the US again for a number of years) and a higher standard for asylum.

The Flood

Our system is set up to grant visas from the “home country”, not at the border crossing.  We don’t intend to use The “Ellis Island holding facility” model anymore. However, with so many migrants at the border, we are establishing “Ellis Islands” in the Southwest, trying to process both the illegal and legal migrants asking entry.

And what about the now-expired Title 42 everyone is talking about?  Under the emergency of the Covid crisis, illegal migrants were just rounded up, quickly processed, and immediately sent back across the border.  No claims of asylum were allowed, and no “bars” on future immigration were placed.  It was a temporary short cut to deal with Covid and the migration issue.  But it also created a continual flood of migrants, surging back and forth across the border.

The Fix

So the problem is easy to describe:  there’s a firehose of migrants coming to the border, and a system set up for a trickle.  The bottleneck on both sides of the Southern Border creates a human crisis, with people sleeping in the streets, lacking food and medication, and prey to criminals of all kinds.  To solve the problem requires an overhaul of US immigration law by Congress, but also intervention into the causes that are sending migrants on the long, hazardous journey in the first place.

And the US does have the economic need for more labor.  The migrants represent the workers we need to “feed” our current economic engine, just like we needed them in the late 19^th century.  So we have more than just altruistic reasons to fix the problem.  It’s not just in the migrants’ interest. A fix is in our National interest as well.

Verdict In

Yesterday,  a civil jury of nine citizens (six men, three women) unanimously found that Donald Trump, the defeated and twice impeached former President of the United States, sexually attacked E Jean Carroll. That jury awarded almost $5 million in damages to Ms. Carroll for a 1996 assault in a department store dressing room in New York City. 

Don’t worry though – the leading Republican candidate for the 2024 nomination already has an answer.  He doesn’t even know who Carroll was or is. And, of course, it’s all just a part of the “Witch Hunt”.  Besides, as the trial reminded us, Trump thinks; “if you’re a star you can do anything…you can grab them by…(you know the rest)”. 

Really – no one is surprised that Trump is a sexual predator.  Even his supporters swallowed that fact whole, way back in 2016.  In our era of polarization, saying the “truth out loud” doesn’t change much.  Either you see the “Emperor” naked – or you don’t.   And the MAGA world will dress him in victim’s robes.  According to them, the New York verdict is just another in the long line of unfair attacks, another spear in the side of their martyr. 

Only Stronger

There’s more to come.  He’s criminally indicted for corrupt business practices in the same Manhattan Court House. And then there’s the Atlanta election interference cases, and the looming flurry of Federal cases. Two different groups are already convicted of conspiracy to commit insurrection on January 6^th. It’s not a “bridge too far” to see Trump as the top of that conspiracy.

But in the end, the MAGA world will continue to support Donald Trump.  The charges, the trials, and the ultimate convictions will, to abuse a Star Wars quote, “Only make Him stronger” in the eyes of his followers.  If this sounds more like a cult than a political movement, well there we are.  Our Nation is so divided, that even the Courts no longer have validity.  And that’s not just on the MAGA side of the ledger.  Ask “my friends” how they feel about the Supreme Court, and particularly the Thomas-Gorsuch-Kavanaugh triumvirate of potential corruption.  It’s both sides now.

2024

What does all of this say about the 2024 election?  It’s very possible that the Republican Party will ride the “Trump Train” to its ultimate doom.  Almost no one currently in power in the Party, will stand against him.  Sure Mitt Romney, John Kasich, Liz Cheney, Larry Hogan and a few others are standing “for good”, waiting for their Party to come to its senses.  But that’s not likely to happen, and so far, they remain in painful isolation.

Standing against this existential threat to our Democracy, is eighty-one year old Joe Biden.  He’s achieved a lot as President, but failed at the most important goal. That goal is the one he established as the measurement of his Presidency.  He has been unable to return our Nation to “normalcy”.  While the “old men” of the current administration, Biden and Merrick Garland, try to make things like “they should be”, like they were two decades ago; it isn’t working.  And many fear that their commitment to “normalcy” is dooming us to more MAGA cult craziness.  

And for those of us on the Democratic side who see less MAGA-ism; fewer Trump flags on the porches or Trump craziness on the internet:  MAGA isn’t gone.  It’s simply moved out of your “information space”.  Just because it no longer is in your face, isn’t proof that it’s “over”. 

Two Friends

That’s been made very clear to me in the past couple of weeks.  Here’s a story of two friends.  One friend was at the height of his career, a coach in a powerful track program.  Inexplicably, he quit and went to work at a much lower level.  I ran into him and he told me the story.  There were several reasons, but the real answer was, he couldn’t stand the “politics” of his fellow coaches.  He’d rather leave than be exposed to their rhetoric.  It doesn’t even matter which “side” he was on, he symbolizes what’s happening in America.  The political rhetoric is so toxic, that it poisons the atmosphere of things that have nothing to do with Trump or Biden, like coaching track in high school.

Another friend works in a world where Trump is rationalized.  His coworkers accept the “imperfect vessel” theory of Trumpism.  Biden is the “existential threat” to them; not because of his age, but because of the policies he advocates.  They view Biden’s plans as so dangerous, they are willing to accept a known liar, cheater, sexual predator, and incompetent as President.  It’s not that they are “fooled” by Trump, they just consider him a “reasonable alternative”.   And my friend is concerned that those “rationalists” will win the day in 2024, electing a man who cares little for Democracy, or the Constitution, or American traditions. 

Bottom Line

What’s at stake in 2024 seems clear:  the very survival of the American experiment.  We “stressed tested” it from 2016 to 2020, and ultimately, millions of Americans paid the price with their lives for Donald Trump’s incompetence.  That Covid became a political litmus test instead of a national health crisis marks the true definition of America’s political insanity.  And that’s not even “over”.  More than 1000 Americans are still dying a week (CDC).  But our politics are so much more important, we don’t even talk about that now.  The testing kits are stored on the bathroom shelves, the masks dusty on the top of the grandfather clock.  

Our Supreme Court Justices are corrupt, Congressmen are on trial, kids are being shot in schools and at the Mall, and a failed President still supports those who attacked the Capitol and the Constitution.  

The words “existential threat” are extreme,  and reality.  What happens in the next year, in the battle between two “imperfect vessels” of Biden and Trump, will determine the course of America.  We thought it was over in 2020, when all the cars pulled into the Drive-In and Biden gave his victory speech to flashing lights and beeping horns.  But MAGA-ism is still “strong among us”.  We have to do it all over again.   To quote Ben Bradlee from the movie “All the President’s Men”:

“Rest up, fifteen minutes, then get you asses back in gear.  Nothing’s riding on this except the First Amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press and perhaps the future of the country”. 

It’s the future of the country that should worry us all.

Old News

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the number of mass shootings in the past few days.  The “Butcher’s Bill” for this weekend:  twenty dead.   No part of the Nation was safe:  three “incidents” in Mississippi, two in Missouri and California, one in Maryland, New Jersey, and one right here in Columbus, Ohio.  And Saturday, eight killed in an Allen, Texas shopping Mall, just outside Dallas. 

There are so many that we have to carefully define “mass shooting”.  According to the Gun Violence Archive, mass shootings, “…have a minimum of four victims shot, either injured or killed, not including any shooter who may also have been killed or injured in the incident” (GVA).

Almost 15,000 are dead this year due to gun violence.  Over half of those are gun suicides, the rest are homicides or unintentional/accidental deaths.  For comparison, estimates put the number of car accident deaths at around 12,000 so far this year.  Of course, there are “only” 278 million vehicles in the US.  There are over 400 million guns.

Hearts and Prayers

One politician is embroiled in the argument, “is sending ‘Hearts, Thoughts and Prayers’ enough?”  For those who say it’s not, Texas State Representative Keith Self says,  “Well, those are people that don’t believe in an almighty God who, who has, who is absolutely in control of our lives. I’m a Christian. I believe that he is (Newsweek)”.

What else can he say?  Texas is offering no solutions to mass shooting, except to make sure guns are even more available.  Texas politicians, from Representative Self to Governor Abbot, are doing everything they can to talk about prayers, or mental health, or California’s strict gun laws.  The home to mass shootings in El Paso, Santa Fe, Midland, Uvalde, Cleveland, Sutherland Springs, and now Allen; is sending it thoughts and prayers; and greater access to semi-automatic weapons.

Symbol of Our Time

There is no solution for America.  We cannot, will not, take the appropriate action and gain control of the weapons and/or ammunition that makes us fear schools, churches, malls, theaters, or just driving down the road.  We are even past blaming the NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION, the bankrupted, Russian financed backers of unlimited gun rights.  It’s not about their political clout anymore.  It’s just another “sign of our times”. Possession of a “AR-style” rifle is part of many Americans’ political identity.  They have been sold the “idea” that guns represent the “keys” to a “lost American culture”.  

Who’s winning the “gun” issue? It’s the gun manufacturers.  Sig Sauer is marketing a “civilian” version of their new military weapon, the XM7.  It’s called the MCX SPEAR (cool name, right?) and here’s what they say:

X SPEAR – the civilian version of the Army’s XM7 rifle – is now available for purchase. The first runs will include 7.62×51 and 6.5CM with the .277 SIG FURY (6.8) version due shortly thereafter. Following a multi-year test and evaluation process, SIG Sauer took home the winning contract for the Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) program that includes a the MCX-SPEAR, the SIG Light Machine Gun, suppressors, and SIG’s hybrid case 6.8 ammo (Firearm Blog).

Follow the Money

In All the President’s Men, the book and movie (Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman) about breaking the Watergate scandal story, the shadowy source in the government “Deep Throat” told the reporters to “…follow the money”.  The money is right here, in the new MCX-Spear, $3000 to own one.  Gun manufacturers are having record sales, and profits; an estimate $9 Billion a year (Everytown).  That money finds its way into political campaigns, developing close “ties” with the government that somehow cannot control guns.

It’s an American tradition, in the tainted steps of the tobacco industry and the manufacturer of Oxycontin.  The “gun party-line” is simple.  We need better mental health.  We need God to hear our prayers.  And we need a new MCX-Spear SIG Light Machine Gun, to protect us from those who want to take away our guns.

Don’t hold your breath.  Just make sure you, and your kids, know what to do when (not if?) there’s an “active shooter”.  Say a prayer.

Guns

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                9/23/22
• 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

Late Start

I got up late yesterday.  The dogs were “on time”, about 5:30 am, but I was too willing to go back to bed.  So we didn’t get up until 7:00, and a few minutes later I remembered:  the Coronation.  King Charles the III of the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth of Nations was officially “crowned” yesterday, and I missed the first two hours.  But I got some of the pomp and circumstance at Westminster Abbey, and the glory of parading in the rain with 7000 troops and a golden coach made in the mid-1700’s back to Buckingham Palace.  

I can tell you one thing –  my Mom would have loved it.  As much as a “Democrat” as my mother was in America, when it came to her homeland, she was an absolute “Monarchist”.  The King, the Crowns, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Grenadiers in their bearskin hats; I suspect she would have been in tears.  

Tow, Row, Row

Some of my earliest memories are from when I was three, and Mom took us to England to see the family.  I remember walking down a London street, gaining my “independence” when my “Bampa” let go of my hand as we went opposite sides around the lamp posts.  And I remember the trooping of the colors, the daily march of the Palace Guard in their red coats to protect the Queen.  My grandfather was once a soldier of Great Britain, fighting in the Boer War in the 1890’s.  No bearskin hat though, but he taught me a marching song, “…(W)ith a tow, row, row, row, row, row of the British Grenadiers”.  It was 1960, and Mom introduced me to the ancestral ceremonies of her nation.

It’s hard to imagine that a family from Hanover (Germany) somehow ended up on the British throne in 1714. It’s even harder to imagine that an entire Nation and the world celebrates the eldest son of that family ascending to that throne today, three hundred and nine years later.  The coronation ceremony itself is a Christian Mass of the Anglican Church, like a wedding or funeral.  It underlines the ancient myth, that God Himself has placed this man on the throne to rule.

Out of the Shadow

And I think a lot about King Charles the III, the man who was born to the monarchy, but waited seventy-four years to ascend to the throne.  How difficult it must have been to be “second” to his mother for so many decades.  When folks spoke of skipping Charles, and his entire “Boomer” generation to raise up Prince William, I get why that wasn’t ever going to happen.  

Charles reminds me a lot of Joe Biden.  While Charles was meant for the throne literally from birth, Biden first tried to “ascend” to the American Presidency in 1988.  That campaign floundered badly, just as Charles “screwed up” in the public mind with his divorce from Diana and her untimely death.  And Biden too was a “second”; Vice President to Barack Obama for eight years.  It was an important role, but still second, in the very large shadow of the Obama Presidency.  No wonder Biden ran once again for the highest office, and now, despite his age, is unwilling to relinquish it.

Old White Men

As I watched the Mass at Westminster, there are some changes in this world.  What once was the exclusive “club” of old White men, now includes older women and men of color.  The change is subtle, the robes and miters blend everyone into a mass of hues and swish, but their world is still changing.  And even the famous boy’s choirs are now boy’s and girl’s choirs, with a mix of races as well of genders. 

The United Kingdom is changing, even if the Windsor family continues to maintain the throne.  The Prime Minister is Rishi Sunak, a man born of Indian ancestry in Southampton, and raised in the Hindu faith.  The Mayor of London is Sadiq Khan, born in London of Pakistani descent and raised in the Muslim faith.   So while the Christian Mass of Coronation may have been led mostly by old White men, the Nation is not.

Steady Hand

Mom would have been OK with that too.  She saw the monarchy as the historic glue that held her homeland together.  Her King, George the VI, grandfather of Charles; helped lead her Nation through the darkness of World War II.  And her generation was led by the young Queen Elizabeth, who went from a War duty of fixing engines, to the shock of an early ascent to the throne.   But perhaps most of all, Mom admired “her” Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, a man elected by the people to lead the Nation, and her “boss” of the Special Operations Executive in World War II.

So as the United Kingdom changes, the monarchy is the single steadying institution.  Even though there is little political power that resides in the throne today, there is the historic momentum, the symbolism of what “England” always was.  That’s what this ceremony represents for our twenty-first century.  

“Hip, Hip Hooray!!!! God Save the King!!”

Civil War

The United States actually broke apart during the Civil War.  President Lincoln pretended to maintain control of the Union for legal purposes, but it wasn’t true. His legal “nicety” of the Emancipation Proclamation, freed slaves in territories the US government didn’t control.  The Confederacy was real.  For four years, Americans battled each other for control of the destiny of the Nation.  Both sides claimed that the “Founding Fathers” were on “their” side.  It was a war of rebellion, an Insurrection against the existing government. And despite what the Confederate apologists say today, the South rebelled over the question of enslavement.  

When the Confederacy was defeated and their government on the run, the United States tried to determine what our new path would be.  Lincoln’s Second Inaugural is often quoted: 

“With malice toward none with charity for all with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan ~ to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

Reconstruction and Retrenchment

But Lincoln was dead.  The Thirteenth Amendment was passed, ending enslavement in the United States.  Almost immediately, the defeated Confederate states began the process of re-instituting slavery. The Black Codes were created to form of a new version of that “peculiar institution”.  And while the President, Andrew Johnson, stood against the Confederacy, he was sympathetic to the “Southern” way of life.

Congress was faced with the specter of winning the war but losing the peace.   In response, John Bingham, a Congressman from Northeast Ohio, authored the 14^th Amendment. It was the single most important change in the history of the US Constitution. 

The 14^th Amendment expanded protection of rights from just the Federal government, to the state governments as well. Here’s how it works.  The First Amendment states:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The Fourteenth

That is written specifically for the Federal Government, the Congress.  But the 14^th Amendment says:

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Now the “privileges and immunities” secured for the citizens of the United States were guaranteed by the separate states as well.  So, Constitutionally, all states were bound to the same standard guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.  And, since the 14^th also defines citizenship as “…All persons born or naturalized in the United States…”, it held that the Black Codes, which treated some citizens as “less than” (the freedmen), were also unconstitutional. 

Government Under the Constitution

The 14^th was intended to apply the Constitution to all governmental authorities, federal, state, and local. It was the “dam” to stop the flood of Southern legislative attacks on the freedmen. But the Supreme Court was slow to accept the original intent of Bingham and the Congress. It took “damn near” a century to be fully enacted, in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New Voting Rights Act of 1965. It was only then that the stage was set for ultimate civil rights.

The 14^th was written to secure the victories of the Civil War. And it was about preventing the re-birth of the Southern aristocracy that dominated American politics from the writing of the Constitution to the attack on Fort Sumter. It was put in place to stop retrenchment, and prevent future insurrection.

The Congress wanted to make sure that those who led the Rebellion were kept from regaining power in the government.  The third article of the Amendment states:

“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”

War Debt

But in case they did manage to return to power and wanted compensation for the loss of “enslaved property” or other war damages – the fourth article added:

“The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.”

The public debt of the United States, the Union, would “…not be questioned”.  That included the “war debt”  But the war debt of the Confederacy, the Secessionist States, or personal debt incurred supporting the rebellion; would not be honored.

Insurrection

Here we are in 2023, a full one-hundred fifty-five years after the passage of the 14^th Amendment.  Like the United States in the 1860’s, we are still in the throes of Insurrectionist behaviors that hopes overthrow our government.  Two years ago, the Confederate battle flag was paraded through the US Capitol for the FIRST time.   So perhaps the lessons and the power of the 14^th Amendment will have some answers for today’s concerns.

The 14^th made it clear, the insurrectionists were NOT welcome back in the government, “…with malice towards none…” be damned.  And while they ultimately managed to wend their way back to power in the 1800’s, Americans need not make that same mistake twice.  The 14^th is still in effect:  “No person shall hold any office…who shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion”.  

Faux Crisis

 In our hyper-partisan political environment of today, it isn’t far-fetched to think that some in the Congress would use the “debt ceiling” to wreck the economy and win further political office in 2024. Isn’t that just a “sanitized” form of Insurrection?

Perhaps the 14^th can be of service there as well.  “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law… shall not be questioned.”  Congress can always reduce the debt, simply by spending less money.  But to go ahead and authorize spending that creates a debt, and then refuse to pay it (by the legal construct of a “debt ceiling law”) is unconstitutional.   Representative Bingham and his colleagues saw that risk in 1867, just as we are facing it now.

They solved the problem, making paying the debt “black letter law” in the Constitution. We should honor that today, and stop this ridiculous “faux” controversy about the debt ceiling. Congress already raised that roof when they authorized the money.

No Labels

A new “political movement”, stocked with millions of dollars from anonymous donors is contemplating a run for President in 2024.  It’s the “No Labels” party, hoping to find a “middle lane” in the American political spectrum.  Notable leaders of “No Labels”:  Joe Lieberman former Democratic (and Independent) US Senator from Connecticut, and former Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan.  

The ”No Labelers” offer three things to American voters.  First, they avoid the extremes of Democratic Progressivism or Republican MAGA-ism.  They are “centrists”.  In the old days we called them moderate-right, where the two political parties used to “intersect”: Rockefeller Republicans and Manchin “Blue Dog” Democrats.  Second, they claim “common sense” solutions, and even take credit for creating the bipartisan “Problem Solver’s Caucus” in the House of Representatives.  And third, they hope to offer an alternative for voters who held their noses to vote in the “Biden v. Trump” dilemma of 2020.  

In short, they hope to claim the “middle ground” of American politics.  And they have enough money to get on the ballot in most of the fifty states. 

The Middle Ground

It’s a seductive idea. America is polarized to the extremes, and has been for over a decade. A “No Labels” party running centrist candidates like John Kasich, Larry Hogan, Liz Cheney, Joe Manchin, or John Hickenlooper might appeal to Americans “in the middle”. Leave Trump his 33% of MAGA crazies, and give Biden his 40%, and that means that – the math doesn’t work. It adds up to 27% of the vote left – not a winning number.

And that’s the assumption we need to think about.  Is there really a “middle-ground” of American thought, or is today’s polarization so extreme that, simply, no one is left in the middle?  Does a “No Labels” ticket offer a way out of our crisis, or would it just assure a minority candidate victory either in the Electoral College or in a House of Representatives tie-breaking vote?

1860

Here’s an imperfect historic example.  The last time the United States was so heavily divided was prior to the Civil War in 1860.  In that election there were actually four national candidates running for President.  One “extreme” was the new Republican Party led by Abraham Lincoln of Illinois.  Lincoln was considered “anti-enslavment”, though he was really against the expansion of enslavement into the new US territories.  The alternative extreme was the break-away Southern Democratic Party led by John Breckenridge of Kentucky.  Breckenridge wanted legal enslavement for the entire United States, North, South and terriories.

In the middle was Stephen Douglas of Illinois, the nominee of the “rest” of the Democratic Party, who favored “popular sovereignty”; allowing individual states and territories to determine the enslavement question by vote.  And finally, there was Constitution Union Party nominee John Bell of Tennessee. Bell took no stand on enslavement, only stating that he would follow the existing Constitution and the laws.

Minority President

The number of candidates shaped the outcome of the election.  No one candidate received a majority of the popular vote.  Lincoln got 39% while Douglas received just over 30%.  And while Douglas was a strong second in several Northern states, Lincoln was able to win every one, and gain enough electoral votes to win the Presidency.  Breckenridge had 18% of the popular vote, but with a strong showing in the South, ended up second in the Electoral College.  And John Bell won three states and came in third in the Electoral Vote with only 12% of the popular vote.  Douglas ended up fourth in the Electoral College.

Add Douglas and Bell together, the “middle ground” votes, and while together they might have a plurality of the popular vote,  they still wouldn’t do much better in the Electoral College.  America in 1860 was locked into two camps, enslavement and anti-enslavement; there was little left in the middle.    Had the Democrats somehow avoided splitting into two camps, they likely would have won.  But the point was, that even a “popular sovereignty” guy from Illinois was too “extreme” for the enslavement South.

2024

So where are we today?  If the nominees of 2024 are a repeat of 2020, we know that the election will be a knife-edge choice.  While Biden won the electoral vote by seventy-four in 2020, the popular vote in the swing states was incredibly narrow.  Less than 100,000 votes out of the 152 million determined the election winner, just like in 2016, where Clinton won by three million, but lost the crucial electoral states by a total of 74,744 votes.

How did Joe Biden succeed in Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin in 2020?  He picked up the “Never Trump” voters, those Republicans who couldn’t stomach MAGA-ism.  And they are the voters most likely to go to a “No Labels” candidate, along with those few independents and  moderate Democrats convinced that Biden is under the thrall of the “radical” left.  

Those voters cross age groups and genders.  We know that the MAGA “Red Wall” won’t crumble to what they view as a “RINO” movement.  But we do know that those few voters still “in the middle” can’t win an election, but do control the outcome. 

Our Republic

Our politics today aren’t like a multi-lane interstate highway.  We are driving on a two- lane “Red and Blue” country road, and the “No Label” movement is trying to take it’s half out of the middle.  There’s only one result from that; a head-on collision with one Party or the other.

The Republicans of 2016 didn’t split into two parties like the Democrats of 1860.  Instead, they signed onto the MAGA “pledge”.  Even the so-called “establishment Party” of the time, Paul Ryan, Reince Prebis, Mitch McConnell, Dan Quayle and Dick Cheney; jumped on board the MAGA train.   By staying together,  they orchestrated the Trump win in 2016.  And while all of those leaders have disavowed Trump now, they created a new MAGA Republican Party that they can’t control.

Many Americans are uncomfortable with that, just as many were uncomfortable with the choices of 1860.  But, at least for now, there isn’t a “moderate” movement that can create a majority to win the Presidency. Which leaves us with that same “binary choice”, the one we made in 2016 and 2020.   What the “No Labelers” can do, intentionally or not, is guarantee an extremist victory, of the side with the most loyal followers.  In short, the well-meaning “moderates” of No Labels, will end up giving America another four years of Donald Trump.  They’re driving down the middle of the road, and they’ll take-out the Democratic Party in the Blue lane.

I’m not sure the Republic can survive that.

FDIC

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation just seized First Republic Bank, the 14^th largest bank in the United States.  First Republic had $104 Billion in deposits.  Some of those were insured by the FDIC (up to $250,000) but the vast majority were not.  If First Republic went bankrupt, billions of dollars would be at risk. More importantly, it might shake the faith of Americans in the banking system, and shatter the foundation of our financial structure, trust in banks.  Like the first domino in a long line, one bank failure could lead to the next.

What was wrong with First Republic?  Like their Northern California fellow failed Silicon Valley Bank, they invested too many of their deposits in “unavailable” assets, like market or government bonds.  Banking hasn’t changed that much over the centuries.  Just like the Bailey Savings and Loan in Jimmy Stewart’s movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”, people expect to go to the bank and get their money when they want it.  If word gets out that the bank doesn’t have their money “on hand”, then more and more depositors demand their savings.  It’s called a run on the bank, and if the bank can’t access funds to cover that “run”, they close.

Henry Potter

So it’s not that the money wasn’t “there”, but it wasn’t available.  The First Republic money managers chased profits, and forgot the first rule of banking:  cover the deposits.

But if you’re worried about a widespread “bank failure”, relax.  First Republic was seized by the FDIC. It was then sold off to the largest bank in the United States, JP Morgan Chase.  Remember the scene in “It’s a Wonderful Life” when the mean old Henry Potter offers to “save” the Bailey Savings and Loan, by buying it?  It’s kind of like that:  First Republic was done, and the “insurance company”, FDIC, sold it off to big old mean Jamie Diamond and Chase Bank.

Of course that’s another problem with American banking.  

Too Big To Fail

First Republic had $212 Billion in assets when it folded like a “house of cards”.  For JP Morgan Chase, absorbing it was hardly a  gulp.  Chase is over fifteen times bigger, valued at over $3.2 Trillion.  The other “big four” are Bank of America at $2.41 Trillion, Citigroup with $1.77 Trillion, and Wells Fargo with $1.72 Trillion.  Number five, US Bancorp, is far behind at $585.14 Billion.  For perspective, my bank, Park National Bank headquartered in Newark, Ohio, has $9.6 Billion in assets.  And here in Pataskala, the Pataskala Bank has $40 Million (the 4,457^th biggest bank in the US).

Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo have a “vested” interest in keeping the American banking system working.  Only a systemic failure of the whole structure would dramatically impact them.  So they not only work to “make money”, but they also are willing to absorb the “minor” losses of smaller banks to keep the system rolling along.  It’s in their best interest, besides the interest of the American economy.

And the FDIC did exactly what they are supposed to do.  They protected the assets of the First Republic depositors without having to pay out from FDIC insurance funds.  Now, instead of First Republic controlling those assets, Jamie Diamond does.  First Republic customers seamlessly become Chase Bank customers.  The FDIC transferred the responsibility rather than “eating” the loss themselves.

How Big is Too Big?

But how powerful does that make Jamie Diamond, President of Chase, and the other “Big Four” bankers? Sure, absorbing First Republic was in the best long-term interest of Chase, but how much “public faith” is now invested in a few “private” individuals?  Jamie Diamond (Chase), Brian Moynihan (Bank of America), Jane Fraser (Citibank) and Charles Scharf (Wells Fargo) have tremendous sway over the American economy.   We (Americans) depend on them to do the “best thing” for our Nation – at least, as long as it’s in the best interest of their banks.

In “It’s a Wonderful Life”, the entire community came together to save the Bailey Savings and Loan.  It’s beautiful, and very socialistic (really – I used that word in an essay!!).  In the economic crisis of 2008, some of the biggest banks were forced to swallow banks almost their own size (Lehman Brothers).  After that, the US determined that we shouldn’t have single banks that could “tank” our entire economy.

And I guess we don’t – we now have four.  That’s not what was in mind twelve years ago, but it’s exactly where we are now.  And that’s the very definition of power and vulnerability. 

Common Courtesy

We all know one thing for sure.  We aren’t going to live forever.  No one has to go into great detail about that, it’s just a fact of life.  We know it from “anecdotal evidence”.   When you get to my “great age” of sixty-six, you have a whole list of folks you knew (and loved) who no longer are with us.  And we also understand the correlation between old-age and death.  The older you get, the closer you are to dying.  It’s what it is; dwell on it and get depressed, or accept it and, as the Tim McGraw song goes, “Live like you were dying”.

 But, at least here in America, it’s not considered polite to talk about other folk’s impending death.  Even in politics, where, like a knife fight, there are no rules (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid); you still don’t talk about someone dying.

Lack of Oxygen

Unless, of course, you’re Nikki Haley, former Governor of South Carolina and United Nations Ambassador, running for the Republican nomination for President in 2024.  The problem Haley has, is that all “of the oxygen” is gone in the Republican race.  First there’s Trump:  on civil trial for rape, indicted for business fraud (both in New York); awaiting indictment in Georgia for election interference; and facing Federal charges for stealing classified documents and fomenting an Insurrection.  Talk about a lack of oxygen, all of that turmoil sucks the media coverage completely dry.

And then there’s the quixotic DeSantis campaign.  The Governor of Florida can’t travel to Fort Lauderdale to view the flooding, but he can fly to Israel on an “economic excursion”.  And speaking of economics, DeSantis is attacking the biggest economic force in Florida, Disney Corporation.  So we get the “side-show” of DeSantis versus Mickey Mouse, which makes the Governor look more and more like Mickey’s friend – Goofy.

There is so little “oxygen” left, that Haley can barely light a match, much less light her campaign “on fire”.  What’s the phrase, “…desperate times require desperate measures”?  And there is nothing more desperate than a Presidential campaign ignored.  It’s not just media, it’s the money that media coverage generates.  Haley can’t raise cash, and that’s a death sentence for a political campaign.

Do the Math

In a Fox News interview, Haley said:

“I think that we can all be very clear and say with a matter of fact that if you vote for Joe Biden, you really are counting on a President Harris, because the idea that he would make it until 86 years old is not something that I think is likely.”

Can we Nikki?  Is it really so clear that if you reach 80, it isn’t likely you’ll reach 86?  Let’s look at the facts.  The Social Security Administration is in the business of estimating life expectancies.  They have a whole country, and almost ninety years of data, to get a clear estimate of the life expectancy of eighty year-olds.  And here it is:  while the life expectancy of a newborn male in 2023 is a little over 74 years, the life expectancy of an 80 year-old male in 2023 is…7.74 years.  The life expectancy of an 81 year old male is 7.25 years.  Simple addition shows that Joe Biden, on average, can expect to live until he’s at least 87 – after a second term of his Presidency is over.

Goofy

So, Governor-Ambassador Haley; as a matter of fact we can estimate that Joe Biden will outlive his Presidency.  That’s clear.  But what’s also clear is the desperation your ill-fated campaign for the Presidency must feel.  This is not a slip, a mistake.  You made a clear strategy choice, trying to “Call a spade a spade”. The problem is, that the “spade” you called was actually a “heart”.  It was a dumb move, and it made you and your campaign look impolite, socially inept, and willing to “light your hair on fire” to get attention.  

But there really is so little oxygen left on the Republican side of the campaign, that your hair didn’t light.  So, like Governor DeSantis, you just look a little,“Goofy”.

By the way, the same actuarial table says that a 66 year old man faces a life expectancy of a little over sixteen years.   Thinking back, I realize how quickly sixteen years goes by.  Not just the first sixteen, birth to driver’s license, but the middle sixteens, like thirty to forty-six or fifty until now.  I better get going – and “start living like I’m dying”.  

Morning Routine

My morning routine is set in stone:  get up and take care of the five dogs, all looking for affection. They get their time outside, the morning round of medications (cased in cheese), and then breakfast.  Once they are satisfied, I begin the existential consumption of Starbuck’s French Roast coffee and face a blank word processor page on my MacBook Pro.  

 The “background noise” to all of this is MSNBC’s Morning Joe.  I always have “half an ear” on what’s going on in the country and the world as I prepare five breakfasts and  grind a batch of beans for the thick-black coffee, though I tune that ear out when Joe (of Morning Joe) goes off on his daily rants.  

There’s always a recap of the nation and the world, and there’s often the most important guests of the day.  Co-host Miki Brezhenski has a strong interest in empowering women.  Not only does she bring the most powerful women in the country on “the air”, but Miki ramrods world conferences designed to advance women. Such strong figures as Huma Abedin and Amal Clooney are often on, as well as former Senator Claire McCaskill and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

And that got me thinking:  I’ve always thought women could do anything.  I’ve always anticipated that women are powerful, in the family, and as co-workers, bosses, and friends. Then I realized:  I’ve been surrounded by powerful women my entire life. No wonder I anticipate powerful women, it’s been that way since I was born.

Mom

I always knew my parents had an equal partnership in their marriage.  They made decisions together and shared equally in all of the important moves our family made.  There wasn’t, ever; “Wait ‘til your father gets home”.  In my youngest days, Dad was on the road selling television shows for much of the week.  Mom “ran the show” here at home, through six different houses and five different towns. 

But I didn’t find out until I was fourteen that Mom was a member of British Special Operations Executive during World War II.  Mom was essentially a spy, dropped into enemy territory by small airplanes to deliver messages, supplies, and plan and carry out espionage missions.  She was one of the small percent of SOE agents who survived the war.  She handled that, then left her home in England, family and country to come to America with Dad. After that, three kids, a house, a dog and the world really weren’t that big a challenge.  (To read more about my Mom – here’s her writing – My Story.)

Mom always took on projects, but was happy to take care of us kids (there were three) and partner in Dad’s career.  They were a team as he moved up the corporate ladder, from salesman to sales manager, station manager to Vice President, and finally President of Multimedia Program Productions.   When Dad wanted to “make a sale”, or evaluate a future employee, or needed advice – Mom was the go-to.  Whether it was a fancy dinner in New York, or around the family table in Cincinnati; they were a “team”.

No Limits

So I never learned that there were “limits” about what women could do – Mom broke all of those “rules” before I was ever born.  That was the lesson she taught my sisters as well.  In fact, all of us learned that there really weren’t limits.  Mom and Dad encouraged us to reach for whatever dream we wanted to follow – then put in the hard work to get it done. 

 And even though Mom didn’t have a “job” or “profession” while we were growing up, we all inherited the “Dahlman trait” of working hard.  In fact, we all still share that, a willingness to lose ourselves in our work, both physically and mentally.  It’s the “work ethic” (perhaps of the 1960’s) that doesn’t really understand the new term “work/life balance”.

In the Family

My older sister became a brain surgeon.  She was a woman entering a “man’s” field, not the first by any means, but an early barrier breaker in the 1970’s.  She was hazed and emotionally abused by her “mentors”; both as part of the “traditional” internship process, and even more so because she “dared” to think she could be “one of the boys”.  

But she ultimately succeeded.  They redesigned the operating table so she could work while she was pregnant with twins. She became the “premier” neuro-surgeon in her hospital and had a full career, retiring at the “top” of her game.  Her skill set didn’t just include surgery.  She brought unusual empathy for the patient and their family to the table as well.

My middle sister dedicated her life to her artwork.  She followed her art from New York to Seattle to Oakland and back to the “Big Apple”, always putting in the hard work that makes artistic expression a reality.  She switched from printing, to painting, to three dimensional “soft” sculpting.  It was her passion, her vocation and avocation, and she continues to put in those long hours even to today.

Mom made sure there were “no limits” on what they could do, and certainly not  limited as a woman.

Profession

I worked with powerful women.  One co-worker became the first woman to coach a men’s team at our high school.  Through example, she taught both girls and boys that women had the knowledge and skills to be a powerful force, and achieve whatever goals they set.  She coached at the highest high school levels, guiding athletes of both genders to the State finals.  She was a pioneer, in a field dominated by men who learned to respect her knowledge and dedication.  And she was (and is) a good friend.

Another co-worker was an early woman in the ranks of high school administration.  After a career as a superb teacher, she was overlooked for administration again and again.  But she stayed in the fight, finally achieving an assistant principal’s position, and ultimately running a high school as the principal.  She brought a whole different skill-set and attitude to the job of running a high school, one that included empathy as well as control and leadership.  To this day, former teachers and students speak her name with a special fondness and even reverence.

Jenn 

And finally, I married a powerful woman, Jenn.  She too broke into a field where men were the“norm”, computer programming for the US Government.  She wasn’t the first, but faced the same prejudice that my sister faced in medicine, and my friends faced in education.  And she did it the hard way, learning in an industry that completely changed over and over again throughout her career. 

She raised a great son as a single mom, designed most of the changes as we expanded our joint home, and now, in retirement, is dedicated to returning lost dogs to their owners.  Jenn and I, like my parents, are full partners in our lives, making  our decisions together.  It’s the way we both are; neither would have it any other way.

For those men who are uncomfortable “competing” with women – get over it.  Women learned how to overcome prejudice and misogyny a long time ago.  In the process, they became strong and skillful.  It’s made them more than “equal” to the task at hand.   The sooner men accept that, the better we all will be.

Golf

I am not a golfer.  Golf is one of the most frustrating athletic activities I’ve tried.  It’s not that I can’t hit a “good” shot, it’s that every good shot is followed up by one going the wrong direction.  Golf just isn’t enjoyable for me; I can walk outside in beautiful settings (and drink a beer) without ruining it with golf clubs.

But I did try for a couple of years, dutifully going to the golf course and putting in “my time”.  And while it had nothing to do with golf, I did learn some things.  One of the most important:  don’t screw around with geese.  If a goose wants your ball, GIVE IT TO HIM!! I’m not sure how smart geese are, but I do know that once they determined your former ball is now their present egg, it’s best to drop a new one and head on down the line.

Geese are determined, and at full wing-span and running straight at you, very intimidating.  Sure, in the end you would probably win a full-on battle with your nine-iron, but at what cost?  Blood, feathers, spectacle and probable removal from the golf “community” for eternity.  So leave the geese alone, and let them have their “eggs”, even if it’s a fancy Titleist that cost $15.

Golden Eggs

Aesop told the famous tale of “The Goose and the Golden Egg”.  The story goes like this:  a man had a goose that laid a golden egg each day.  He took the egg to the market, and made a good profit.  But the man got greedy, and wanted more eggs. So he killed the goose and cut it open to find more.  But, alas, there were no more golden eggs.  He killed the goose that laid the golden eggs, out-smarted by his own greed.

Into our language came the phrase, “Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs”.  If you’ve got a good going, don’t mess it up and lose everything. 

Florida Man 

Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida is a man used to getting his way.  He was a successful collegiate baseball player on the Yale University starting nine.  He was a successful academic, going to Harvard Law school, and serving in the US Navy.  While still serving, he was appointed an Assistant US Attorney in middle Florida, and soon after his honorable discharge he was elected to Congress.  

He was narrowly elected Governor of Florida in 2018, then overwhelmingly reelected in 2022.  The Governor is using his powers and a gerrymandered Republican super-majority in the state legislature, to make Florida his “golden goose”.  From “anti-woke” and “Don’t Say Gay” laws to ignoring Covid protocols, DeSantis uses Florida as his “example” of how he would run the United States as President.  The Governor hasn’t “tasted failure” in his life:  to mix fables, everything he’s touched has turned to gold.  

Disney

The Disney company is a huge economic presence in Florida.  Just in state and local taxes, Disney pays over $1.1 Billion a year.  Disney employs over 75,000 Floridians, not just at Disney World, but at Disney Resorts, Disney cruises, and other Disney owned businesses throughout the state.  Disney World alone has an appraised value of over $2 Billion.

And Disney brings in millions of tourists to Florida each year:  tourists who stay in non-Disney hotels, drive on Florida toll roads, eat at Florida restaurants, and visit other Florida businesses (NBC).  The Disney businesses bring an estimated $75.2 Billion into Florida each year (Tallahassee). Florida has a total gross domestic product of $1.07 trillion, Disney represents over 7% of that total (Statista).

Disney, a multi-national corporation, has a huge media presence in the United States.  The Disney Corporation owns the ABC network, the Disney Channel, ESPN and ESPN2, ABC Family, Fusion TV, Disney Junior and Radio Disney.  And Disney still makes and markets movies, including their 2012 purchase of the Star Wars franchise.  So Disney is so much bigger than just Disney World. The total value of the company is over $200 Billion.  Disney World represents one percent of that value (Statista). 

So why in the world of Aesop, Mickey Mouse, and Golden Egged Geese; would DeSantis pick a fight with Disney Corporation?

This Goose Won’t Die

The Disney Corporation had the audacity to “buck” DeSantis on the “don’t say Gay” law.  DeSantis demanded corporate obedience, Disney responded with rainbow colors and union protections for gay employees.  When DeSantis didn’t get “his way” with Disney World, he threatened to take away their “special status” in Florida law.  

Disney World is so big, it takes up a “county’s” worth of land.  In their original agreement with the state, the area encompassing Disney World was designated the Reedy Creek Improvement District.  Essentially, Disney World was the governing entity, including responsibility for police, fire, sewer, water and roads in their territory.   The Board of Disney World (Reedy Creek) is the actual governing body with legal jurisdiction.

Who Pays

Governor DeSantis passed legislation to end the agreement, and place his handpicked representatives on the Reedy Creek board.  But before they could officially take office, the Reedy Creek Board perpetuated their agreement with Disney, nullifying the state legislation.

Meanwhile, even if DeSantis can rest control, the state government will find itself responsible for roads, police, fire, water and sewer, instead of the Disney Corporation.  Sure, Disney might have to pay more taxes, but in the end the state is likely to pay more for services than it gets in taxes.  If DeSantis goes through with trying to “ruin” Disney World, with a possible state wetland or even a prison built nearby; he will be, as my mother used to say, “Cutting off his nose to spite his face”.  The big loser of screwing with Disney is DeSantis’s constituents – the people of Florida. 

Cooked Goose

Disney is bigger in Florida than even Ron DeSantis.  Like violating the  “etiquette” of the golf course, the Governor is taking a nine iron to the Disney goose.  The problem is, like the banks, “that goose is too big to kill”, and unlikely to lay eggs for DeSantis either.  

But the man who “can do no wrong” is convinced that attacking “woke” Disney will make him the darling of the MAGA Republicans who control the primary process.  So far though, all he’s done is make Disney look smart, and DeSantis look – well – just Goofy.   As far as Florida is concerned, Disney is laying an egg every year; in taxes, in income, and in helping to drive the economy.  DeSantis might somehow be able to fend off the Disney Goose with his Nine Iron of a legislature, but in the end, you know what he’s doing.

He’s killing the Florida goose that lays the golden eggs.  The headline will ultimately read:

“Florida Man Kills Golden Goose, and cooks his own”.

Just a note:  This essay was done – finished, or at least ready for more editing on Sunday morning. Then, I managed to do something I haven’t done since I was typing on my Apple IIC back in the 80’s.   I was just finishing up a chapter of my Master’s Thesis, twenty pages of cross country running history. Then lightning struck.  No, it wasn’t a brilliant workout plan to win the State Meet, it was real lightning, and close by.  The power went out, and so did my Apple IIC, along with twenty pages of text NOT saved to the floppy disk drive (5 ½ inch floppies – kids today would have a whole different definition for that!!).

Somehow, today’s essay disappeared:  not saved under the wrong name, not in the “recovery” file, not out in the ethernet – just gone.  So here’s round two, maybe better, maybe worse, but no way to compare and tell. I’ll definitely save.  Enjoy the fruits of my duplicate labors!!!

Guns

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an essay in the “Guns Series” called Fear Itself.  It was about the historic linkages between Americans, guns and fear, right from the very beginnings, even before the American Revolution.  I won’t repeat all of that (you can click the link above if you’d like), but this past week has been the “example to prove the point”.

In Kansas City, an old white man shot a skinny young black man for mistakenly knocking on his door.  No words were spoken, just gunshots through the door, hitting the young man in the head.  In North Carolina, a middle-aged black man shot a white neighboring six year-old girl and her father.  The cause:  a basketball rolled into his yard, and they tried to recover it.  In upstate New York, a white man shot and killed a twenty year-old white girl.  Her mistake:  pulling into his driveway.  

There’s more.  There’s the cheerleader in Texas who was shot for getting in the wrong car.  And the Florida men: the mistaken grocery delivery drivers shot at by a home owner, and the University of Tampa man (white), shot and killed for getting into a private car he thought was his Uber ride.  Both district attorneys declined to file charges.  Under Florida’s infamous “stand your ground” law (remember Travon Martin back in 2012?) the homeowner and driver were “in the right” defending their property (save).

Legal Tender

All of these incidents have three things in common:  fear, guns, and innocent victims.  The shooters were fearful:  of the knock on the door, the neighbor in the yard, the strange car in the driveway, the stranger opening the car door.  And they all had guns.

Fear is the “legal tender” of our media world.  Here’s today’s “random” feed from my Fox News app as I write this essay.

• Mass shooting leaves at least nine people hurt at after-prom party in Texas
• Wisconsin attorney reacts to trans woman flashing male genitalia at girls in locker room
• Christian prayer warriors to attend Satanic gathering in Boston
• Dangerous Hawaii man scales razor wire fence in jail escape
• Texas cattle found dead with tongues cut out with “apparent precision”
• Backlash intensifies following transgender state lawmaker’s “hate filled” remarks
• Former Disney World employee took hundreds of “upskirt videos” (save).

Be afraid. Don’t send you kids to parties, or locker rooms.  Satanists are out to out-pray you, and dangerous criminals aren’t stopped by razor wire.  Transgendered women are full of hate, and even at Disney World the employees are perverts.  I’m not sure what’s up with the cows, but it’s pretty weird, if not scary (save).

Orientation

It’s not just about guns.  When I was a kid back in the 1960’s, homosexuality was illegal in much of the United States.  Saying you were homosexual – gay –  wasn’t illegal itself, but having physical love was against the law.  Of course there were gay people, but most were “in the closet”, rumored and secretly discussed, like the man who lived across the street in Cincinnati.  I remember being seven and trying to understand the whispered, “ He’s a man who left his wife for another man”.  

The famous Stonewall Protests weren’t until 1969, and when I started teaching a decade later, teachers still “weren’t allowed” to be gay.  Of course some were, but their secret was closely kept; open knowledge would cost them their jobs.  Americans feared what they didn’t understand.

Even in the 1990’s I was teaching when a male student had the “audacity” to come out in high school.  He was beaten up in the locker room and constantly bullied in the hallways.  It seemed that many male students, and even some of the staff, thought he “earned” the beatings by being honest about his orientation.  That was all about fear, that somehow being openly gay might cause an “epidemic of gayness”, or that he represented a threat to the other males in the school.  Even just thirty years ago, we didn’t understand the forces that drove sexuality.

It’s not that it’s easy to “come out” as a gay person now.  But there’s a lot more understanding, and a lot less institutional bias then there was just a couple of decades ago (save).

Gender

Today, transgendered kids face the same kinds of discrimination.  They face the fear of others who don’t understand, and aren’t willing to allow them to live their lives.  Some of the persecutors are folks my age, schooled that gender is all about a single ‘Y’ chromosome and genital equipment.  And parents worry – will “peer pressure” make my kid trans?  Are you kidding? Science now knows that there are dozens of factors that go into gender, and that, as difficult as it is for the “regular” world to understand, there are boys trapped in girls bodies, and girls in boys bodies (save).

But multiple state legislatures across the United States are outlawing medical care for those trapped kids. Instead of allowing the kids, their parents and doctors to determine what course they should take, legislatures are virtually requiring them to grow up in bodies that are betraying them daily.  The state legislatures are doing it to “empower” the parents, but really they are stripping them of their ability to make the best decisions for their kids.  And as for the surgical solutions – hysterectomies and castrations followed by reconstruction; there are almost none of those performed on minors in the US.  That’s the “straw-man” argument, just like the “gay child molester” boogie man.  

Legal Cruelty

It’s cruel.  We’ll look back in a score of years, and wonder just how we could have stooped so low, just as we look back at the 60’s gay laws.  We are bullying the most vulnerable, using them as political pawns; and generating fear.  And, as the transgender state legislator from Montana so eloquently put it, there will be “blood on the hands” of the lawmakers who wrote those laws.  It will be the blood of suicidal young people, forced to grow up in the wrong gender.  Some fear what they are told “not” to understand – and so they don’t.

If I were a parent, already struggling to help my transgendered child, I would be more than outraged.  Those states are not just legislating, they are putting already at-risk children in greater danger.  For parents trying to “save” their kids, that’s an unacceptable threat.

And for those legislators with future blood on their hands, it’s unconscionable.

(save)

 

Artificial Barrier

The “debt ceiling” is an artificial barrier.  It was created by Congress, and it can be altered, expanded, or abolished by Congress. But while it exists, it poses a serious hazard to the American economy.

The concept of the debt ceiling is pretty simple:  Congress sets a hard “ceiling” on the amount of debt the United States Government can have.  Once the government reaches that limit, it can no longer borrow money to cover expenses.  Since the US Government is in debt to the tune of almost $32 trillion, and is running a negative budget this year of $1.3 trillion (CBO), the practical effect of “hitting the ceiling” is the US Government will stop paying its debts.  And part of that is payments for the US Government bonds that finances debt.  In short, the US Government will default on its loans.

One thing to get very clear, is that the debt ceiling is not a “budgeting” item.  Congress operates on a “double entry” system.  They pass a law, say to build a dam.  Then they pass a second law, to spend the money to build that dam.  Twice Congress had the opportunity to NOT spend the money, the actual dam law, and then the dam finance law.  So all of the spending that causes the US Government to reach a “debt ceiling” is money already twice agreed to in the US Congress.

Dishwashers

Or to put it in more personal terms, like most Americans, we carry some debt.  We have a mortgage on the house, we have a car loan, education loans, and we have a few credit cards with debts on them.  Every time we spend money creating a debt, we make a choice.  Jenn and I chose to buy a new washing machine (the old one broke).  We spent the money to buy it.  (We chose not to replace our broken dishwasher – yet. After all, there’s only two of us…)  

But what if we said, one day, that we have hit our “debt ceiling”, and we aren’t paying on the loans or the credit cards anymore.  After all, we’ve hit a “ceiling”.

For a couple of weeks there’d be silence from the creditors.  Then would come the flurry of notices, failures to make payments, threats of debt collection and perhaps even foreclosures.  And ultimately, the full force of the law would be used to require us to pay our debts.  And meanwhile our credit rating would be trashed, and no one would allow us to borrow money from them, through loans or credit, again.  Or, if they did, they’d charge a huge cost, high interest, to protect them from the risk of our defaulting again.

Interstate Highways and Aircraft Carriers

If we didn’t want to hit the ceiling, we shouldn’t have spent the money in the first place.  Once we spent the money, and made the commitment to pay it back, anything other than paying it back is reneging on the deal.

What is the practical impact of the US Government “reneging” on its debts?  No one is going to send the “world sheriff” to foreclose on the Capitol Building.  Unlike our personal debts, they won’t be evicting the military from their bases, aircraft carriers, or repossessing the Interstate Highway system.

What will happen is that folks will no longer buy the US Bonds that finance the trillions of dollars of debt, at least at the interest rate the Treasury Department is offering.  So Treasury will have to pay more in interest to sell the bonds, costing us (both the you and me ‘us’, and the United States ‘us’) more money.  In the long run, just like personally trying to borrow money after defaulting, the “cost” of that money will be higher because the risk is higher.

That will echo throughout our financial system, as the price to borrow money goes up.  Mortgages, car loans, credit card interest rates, home improvement loans, second mortgages and flexible interest rates all will jump. 

And, of course, since the Government can’t spend money, they can’t pay workers.  We’ve been through Government shutdowns in the past (for other reasons).  Millions of workers go without paychecks, and government functions come to a standstill.  Those “essential workers” who are required to work, do it with the “faith” that they will be paid in the future, but in the meantime, they can’t pay their personal bills.  And things we depend on, from the Internal Revenue Service to the National Parks, close.

The Brink

Congress created the debt ceiling to “make a point”.  It put every legislator “on notice” that the debt was going up.  It started in 1939, after six years of the New Deal legislation to combat the Great Depression.  But it was raised for the Second World War, lowered after the War was over, then raised again for the Korean War.  Since 1960, it’s been raised seventy-eight times, forty-nine times under Republican Presidents, and twenty-eight times under Democratic Presidents (US Treasury). 

The point obviously wasn’t made.  The first debt ceiling law in 1939, placed the maximum at $45 billion.  

Both parties used the debt ceiling as a negotiating chip in the past.  But neither Party allowed the US to default on its obligations, because of the danger of catastrophic economic consequences.  In the end, leadership has avoided, “Cutting off our nose to spite our face”.  

But we live in unprecedented times.  Our era of political polarization, the tenuous hold the Republicans have on the House of Representatives, and more significantly, the slim margin that Kevin McCarthy holds on the Speakership, brings us much closer to the brink.  McCarthy knows:  Republican John Boehner lost his Speaker’s seat because he “gave in” on a debt ceiling negotiation with President Obama.   McCarthy has an even narrower margin of support than Boehner had.  

Sure we’ve got until sometime in June before we fall off the cliff.  The “wizards” of the Treasury can manipulate the debts and borrowing to keep us clear for that long.  But, come June, we will hit a “hard ceiling”.  

We, the American people, are depending on our leadership (on both sides) to find a way to step back from disaster.  Hold your breath, it’s going to be a scary “ride”.

Precedence

 The law is really all about stories of the past.  The decisions made by jurists long dead still influence our law today.  The origins of the American legal system goes all the way back to the English Courts of Assizes, the first circuit judges in the 12^th Century whose decisions set precedence that still carry weight in the English legal system, and even here in the United States.

In the 1980’s I spent a brief sojourn at the University of Cincinnati’s Law School where I made it through “Torts” class.   “Torts” are damages committed by a person against another. Today it is the basis for many of our civil law suits.  On the first day we learned this “story”.  In the 13^th century,  two boys on a hill found almost identical rocks.  Being boys, they determined to simultaneously throw their rocks over the crest of the hill. (As a teacher and coach, I found that throwing rocks was a genetic predisposition of boys, not unlike spitting off of bridges, cliffs and overhangs).  

So the rocks were launched, soon followed by a cry of pain.  The boys raced to the top of the hill to see a man on the other side with blood streaming down his face.  A rock struck him in the eye, putting it out.

Neither boy knew whose rock hit the man.  Neither did the man himself.  But he still took the boys to Court, as it was clear that one of the boys launched the rock that took his eye.  And the judge wisely determined that the boys acted with such reckless disregard for the danger of their actions they were BOTH responsible, and the man needed to be compensated for his loss.  Each boy’s father had to give the man a pig.  There is no record of how the fathers punished their sons.

And there it was:  not an “eye for an eye”, but two pigs for one. 

Cold, Hard, Cash

The second story is more recent.  In a car accident, a young man was paralyzed from the waist down.  It wasn’t his fault, but for the rest of his life, he would require special care, including hospitalizations and procedures, to deal with his paralysis.  In addition, he would never stand to be married, or “walk his potential daughter” down the aisle.  In fact, his ability to create that daughter would be especially arduous. 

So there was all the costs of his care, plus all the costs of his suffering.  And then then there were limits on how much he could earn.  He was seventeen, with a life expectancy of seventy-two years.  Add all of those care, suffering, and loss of income together – and those were the damages that his lawyer would ask in court.  It was more than two pigs.

What If

Law School is all about “what if”. Alter the facts of a case slightly, and then figure out the impact of the change. So, alter this “equation” just slightly, and make the young man a Division I Football prospect, already signed to a major university.  Now his earnings potentials are much greater, and so are the prospective damages.  It might not be “fair” to the person who caused the accident – he didn’t “intend” to hit a football star.  But he acted in the same “reckless disregard” as the two medieval boys with rocks.  And he (or his insurance company) will pay.

The moral that my Torts professor taught us was this:  in civil law, the only punishment is money.  Courts can’t make others feel the pain and anguish of paralysis, or the loss of an eye.  All Courts can do is try to recompense the injured for their damages.  And that’s all calculable, in cold, hard, cash.

Libel

Libel is a special kind of a “tort”, and the law is a bit more complicated.   It is defined in the legal “Bible”, Black’s Law Dictionary, as a, “Defamatory statement published through any manner or media.”  Libel is a lie, that “defames” someone or something.  But libel often runs up against the American “black letter law” of the First Amendment, guaranteeing freedom of the press.  So if someone goes on the news and tells lies about someone else, they might be subject to libel, but the news broadcaster might not be.  

What if a news broadcaster intentionally lies about someone (or something), and does it with full “knowledge aforethought” and malice (the intent to harm someone). Or maybe they have that same reckless disregard for the truth of the two boys throwing the stones. Then they can be held accountable for their libelous statements.  And like the poor one-eyed man, or the paralyzed seventeen year-old athlete, the damages are calculable in cold, hard, cash.

We Know

We now know that Fox News broadcasters intentionally, willfully, and with “full knowledge aforethought” lied about the Dominion voting machines in the 2020 election.  They did it, because the lies improved their ratings, kept their viewership, and therefore maintained their profits.   They not only lied, but they did it for their own financial benefit.

It wasn’t just about Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, and other the sad Trump lawyers appearing on Fox News and telling their lies over and over again.  It’s that the Fox News personnel knew that they were lying, and continued to amplify those lies.  We have the texts, even recordings, where Fox New personnel acknowledged the lies, and that they were doing it to continue their profits – “malice aforethought”.

Get What You Need  

I know that many of those politically “aligned” with me are disappointed today.  We were all hoping for a weeks-long flagellation of Fox News by the Dominion lawyers. But yesterday, as the Court prepared for opening statements, Fox and Dominion settled. There will be no weeks of airing Fox News impropriety, no Tucker Carlson on the stand admitting to his lies.  But remember, it’s a civil case.  No one, not even Rupert Murdock himself, would ever go to jail from this case.  So we should take this “win”.   

Fox Corporation is going to “for sure” pay Dominion (and its lawyers)  $787.5 MILLION.  And they’re going to do it soon, not in a few years, but in months.  Sure Dominion asked for $1.6 Billion, and there was the potential for even more in punitive damages.  But Dominion has the right to determine the “value” of their “eye”.  And if $787.5 MILLION makes them “whole” – then good for them.

Fox News may never admit the lie, but they sure as Hell are paying for it.  To quote the Stones, “You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.”

High Priests

When I was a younger man, I thought of the Supreme Court as a kind of “Temple of the Law”.  I saw the Justices as the “high priests” of American jurisprudence, bringing their differing views of the Constitution to the table to have “learned” discussions about what our Law should be.  They had carefully orchestrated private sessions, held around the table and strictly regulated by protocols developed over centuries.  It was almost a religious experience, like the Christian Council of Nicaea.  

No staff, no prompts, no outside influence allowed.  The most “junior” Justice did the housekeeping “chores”, getting the water and closing the doors.  And around this exalted table, from the Chief to the most Senior then down the list, they gave their views, and listened to each other.

And after that first conference, the Chief would call for a preliminary vote.  If he was in the majority, he assigned a Justice to write an opinion (or took it himself).  If he wasn’t, then the most Senior Justice in the majority would make that decision.  It was ethereal, almost like the angels determining the pathways of heaven.  

Battles of Intellect

As I grew wiser, I realized that many of these Justices held fierce views, and had other influences in their lives.  Some were former Governors or Senators, one even a President.  Of course they brought a keen sense of politics to the table, a better understanding of the results of their actions in the “real” world, down from the “Mt. Olympus” on Capitol Hill.  

The “most activist” Court of the 1950’s and 60’s, was led by a former Republican Governor of California, Earl Warren.  Among the members of his Court:   Senator Hugo Black, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission William O. Douglas, Harvard Professor and founder of the ACLU Felix Frankfurter, Attorney General Tom Clark and former NFL Player Byron “Whizzer” White.

Even into the 1990’s and early 2000’s, there was still the view of the Court as a battlefield of intellectual prowess and conviction.  There was the “great conservative” Antonin Scalia, versus the “great liberal” Ruth Bader Ginsburg. They had battles of will and intellect, tempered by a best friendship outside of the building.   They brought their “best” to the Court, and fought fiercely for their view of America.

Tattered Robes

Sure there were “hiccups”. Justice Abe Fortas, nominated for “Chief” by President Johnson in 1968, was taking $20,000 as an annual retainer from Wall Street corporate raider and convicted felon Louis Wolfson.   While that wasn’t illegal, it definitely was unethical.  Ultimately Fortas resigned under pressure from the Republican Nixon administration, who were anxious to get a liberal off the bench for a more conservative voice.  

$20,000 a year:  that’s “chump change” compared to today’s Court.  I’ll get to that soon enough.

The “holiness” seemed to fade as the appointment process became uglier.  Nixon had his troubles replacing Fortas (paybacks – for sure).  Then there was the infamous late 1980’s Reagan appointment of Robert Bork, a devout conservative, that became an ideological battleground in the US Senate.  Led by Senator Ted Kennedy and a younger Joe Biden, the Democrat majority refused Bork’s nomination.  It was “hardball” politics, without the façade of politeness.  It was soon followed by the Bush Administration’s nomination of Clarence Thomas, accused of sexual impropriety.  Bork failed to win approval, but the Biden-led committee ultimately approved Thomas for the Court.  From then on, politics were raw and open in Court appointments.

Ideology and Law

The big change in the US Supreme Court is that now that the law seems to comes second, ideology comes first.  An avowed political group, the Federalist Society, wraps the law around to advocate for their own political beliefs.  The concept of precedent, one of the “holiest of holy” precepts of American Law, is tossed aside to achieve seemingly political ends.  (To my remaining conservative friends who read these essays, I freely admit that precedent definitely favored MY views, not the Federalist Society’s). 

The nomination hearings for some recent Justices of either “side” were tame, like Sonja Sotomayor, Neil Gorsuch, and Katanji Brown-Jackson.  But there also was the contentious hearing for Amy Conan Barrett, and the accusations of sexual misconduct, tears and beers about Brett Kavanaugh.

Under the Robe

But we got a revealing look at the pockets under the robe with recent reporting on the financial actions of Justice Clarence Thomas.  He took millions of dollars in free vacations from conservative “friend” Harlan Crow, and even sold his mother’s house to him (his mother is still living there).  Oh, and Crow also provided the funds to start Ginny Thomas’s conservative political action committee (the Justice’s wife).  If $20,000 a year was enough to force Abe Fortas out, then Thomas is definitely far beyond that (inflation included).

Don’t expect him to resign.  Besides Thomas’s obvious hubris about ethical concerns, there is a “world” of conservative pressure to keep their most Senior and devout member on the Court.  That’s especially since a Biden replacement would make Chief Justice Roberts the “swing” vote again.  Robert’s is as conservative as they come, but more concerned with precedent and the moral standing of the Court, than the current majority of Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Barrett and Kavanaugh.

High on the Hog

It’s kind of ironic.  89 year-old Senator Diane Feinstein of California is recovering from shingles.  She’s missed almost two months of attendance in the Senate, and fifty-four Senate votes (though she is working from home).  Some of her fellow Democrats from California are calling for her resignation.  Her absence is holding up Democratic nominees to lower Federal Court benches.  While Feinstein isn’t resigning, she voluntarily allowed her seat on the Judicial Committee to be temporarily reassigned to another Democrat.  If Senate procedures won’t allow that, and she isn’t ready to return, don’t be surprised to hear Democratic calls for her resignation increase.

But Thomas, with daily reports about even more ethical violations, stands firm.  And so does his party.  Personal ethics aren’t an issue to today’s Republican Party leadership.  Anything is fair game, as long as Thomas continues to push their agenda.  The sanctity of the “Temple of the Law” ain’t what it used to be.  One of the “high priests” is living “high on the hog”. 

Memes

There’s a meme going around on Facebook.  

            “A Rock in bad hands killed Abel.

              A Rock in good hands killed Goliath.

              It’s not about the Rock.”

The National Rifle Association is holding their annual convention this weekend in Indianapolis.  Just an aside:  you have to go through a metal detector to get into the Convention hall to hear Trump or Pence; no personal guns allowed in there.

The NRA’s famous “gun rights” claim is:  “The best protection from a ‘bad guy’ with a gun, is a ‘good guy’ with a gun.” 

That definitely was true in Nashville and Louisville in the last couple weeks.  The “good guys” stopped the killing, responding immediately and courageously to mass shooters.  One rookie Louisville police officer is still in the hospital.  But it didn’t save the six already dead in Nashville, or the five in Louisville.  And that didn’t work out for the twenty-one kids and teachers in Uvalde, Texas.  The “good guys” stacked in the hallway for an hour, unwilling to take out the “bad guy”.  Meanwhile, kids bled out from their wounds.

How Many Rocks

To push the “Rock in hand” analogy a little bit farther, try this.

“A fight in a gravel pit uses rocks.

  A fight in a sand pit uses sand. 

  Sand is ‘safer’ than ‘rocks’.

 Don’t fight in a gravel pit.”  

And that’s where we are in the United States today.  We live in a “gravel pit” of guns, with 1.2 guns per person, all 334,625,932 of us.  For us non-math majors, that’s over 400 million guns in the United States.  We don’t live in “gravel pit”, we’re buried in gravel.  No wonder the weapon of choice in the United States, from gang-bangers to mass murderers to suicides, is guns.

It’s not that other countries don’t have mental illness, crime, gangs, suicides, or even wars.  It’s that they are in a “sand pit”, not a gravel pit.  There are fewer guns.  Canada, for example, has .34 guns per person.  Even in Yemen, wracked with civil war and battling with Saudi Arabia; .53 guns per person.   

And of course, we don’t just have guns, we sell guns designed for warfare.  The “assault style” rifle (yes, I know AR originally stood for Armalite) was designed for war.  The “trick” was a rifle that would be light and efficient.  But the real “value” of assault weapons in war:  the wounds created by these rifles were devastating, disabling the wounded and requiring massive and immediate care.  When someone got hit by the high velocity round from an assault rifle, they were “taken out” of the battle, and so were a couple of others to care for them. 

There are eleven stores where I can buy “my” rifle within twenty minutes of the house.  I not only live in the gravel pit, but I can easily access the “big rocks”.  So can everyone else.

Books not Rocks

The NRA claims that if “everyone” had a gun, our Nation would be much safer.  But we know that’s just not true.  Statistics aside; if we were all safer, then people wouldn’t be so scared.  But we know that many Americans are afraid:  afraid of strangers, afraid to go to the mall or the city, afraid to send their kids to school. 

 Here in our community, we just had a big “dust-up” about temporarily moving the public library into part of a school building.  The concern – that the library threatened the safety of the kids in that school.  And you know what?  After months of discussions, the library was temporarily moved — somewhere else.  Why is the library such a threat?  We live in a gravel pit, and we need to fortify our schools against any “stones”.  Even the public library, is now a threat.  Who thought books were so threatening?  

Out of the Pit

I know, “…the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”.  I’ve already written about the Constitutional dilemma of taking a single phrase out of full context, but the reality is this.  We, the American people, can regulate guns.  We can regulate the size, the style, the numbers and styles of bullets.  And we can regulate the gun owners, including their “qualifications” to own and use guns. 

 Supreme Court Justice Jackson (and others) noted that the Constitution is not a suicide pact.  But for thousands, 12,237 in the United States in 2023 to date, our current interpretation of the Second Amendment is a literal suicide pact.  In fact, half of those deaths were actually suicides (Gun Violence Archive). If gravel is killing our children, then get them out of the gravel.  Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in the United States (New England Journal).  

It’s time to start crawling out of the pit.

Essays on 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	9/23/22
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

Runaway Train

Our Nation is on a “runaway train” of events.  Just now, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld part of the abortion drug ban of an extremist Texas Federal Judge.  It’s not the nationwide ban he called for, but it still limits access to the drug, Mifepristone, that’s been used for over twenty years and shown to be safer than Tylenol and Viagra.

Monday, we got started with another mass shooting, this time in Louisville, this time a bank.  The common theme is what we’ve heard over and over again:  a young white man, an assault “AR-type” rifle, untreatable wounds.  Five died, more wounded, including the two young police officers who heroically confronted the shooter within minutes.  They did their “job”:  one officer sworn in just days before, was shot in the head.

US secrets about Ukraine were leaked to the open internet. Donald Trump is back in New York for another court action and trying to silence Michael Cohen with a massive lawsuit.   President Biden is rejoicing in his Irish ancestral homeland, and there’s an internal Democratic spat over Senator Feinstein’s absence.  It’s hard to catch your breath, difficult to keep up.

New York Minute

But let’s pause for a second (maybe a New York minute), and look back at what’s happening in Nashville.  Last week, the super-majority Republicans in the Tennessee State Legislature expelled two young Black men who represent parts of Nashville and Memphis.  The two Democrats had the audacity to join children protesting the lack of any gun regulations in Tennessee, after three nine year-olds and three adults were killed in a school shooting.  Justin Pearson and Justin Jones took to the “well” of the chamber along with White representative Gloria Johnson to join in the chants for change (see last week’s essay, Tennessee).

The Republicans voted to expel Pearson and Jones.  Johnson narrowly remained in her seat.  The point was obvious:  young Black men in the Tennessee State Legislature should barely be seen, and never heard.  The Leadership of the House seemed to take pleasure in removing them.

That created a national firestorm.  The “Justins” (the signs read “No Justin, No Peace”) were vaulted to national prominence.  Not only did the old Republicans in Tennessee make them martyrs to the civil rights cause, but the Tennessee Democratic Party was reinvigorated with both energy and funds.  The Democratic controlled local governments in Nashville and Memphis, charged with filling the interim open seats, reappointed the Justins.

Republican Leadership

On Monday Justin Jones paraded from the Nashville City Hall to the Tennessee Capitol in a triumphant return.  Yesterday Justin Pearson was reappointed in Memphis and paraded through that city. He will return to the Capitol today.   By the end of the week, both will be back in the small minority of Democrats in the Tennessee legislature.  And the Republican leadership has to answer the question: what was the point?

Surely all of this was foreseeable, even to them.  Regardless of their political viewpoints, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson are charismatic and politically seasoned, able to take clear advantage of what the “old white men” of the Tennessee legislature decided.  The protests, the parades, the rallies on the Capitol steps and the reinstatements – all were perfectly obvious to anyone with a sense of Tennessee’s political climate. 

Representative Johnson claims it was out of sheer pique.  The Republican leadership lost control of “their” House when the three went to the rostrum “in the well” and began chanting.  The great “capital sin” was that they were “out of order”, violating the “decorum” of the House.  That the three would dare do such a thing was so outrageous that expulsion was their only remedy.  Johnson sees the action as simply wielding the absolute authority that a super-majority of Republicans have, regardless of the consequences; the hubris of power.

The Script

In a larger sense, the Tennessee super-majority is simply following the “script” of the National Republican Party.  Their national answer is to “double-down” on power, and on the small base of Republicans who believe that somehow protests, by minorities and more particularly by Black people; are un-American.  Catering to the White, soon-to-be minority base, is the essence of the MAGA philosophy that dominates Republican politics today.  It abandons any pretense at a “middle ground” political view. Just demonstrate ruthless power and control, and satisfy those voters who are terrified of changing demographics.  

It is not just “Trump” politics, it is the governing strategy of DeSantis and Florida and Abbot in Texas.  The ruthlessness isn’t just seen in heavy-handed legislative action and gerrymandering to protect Republican seats.  Abbot is begging for the opportunity to pardon a White man who was convicted of murder for shooting a Black man with a gun in a protest.  DeSantis is scrubbing the Florida public school curriculum for references to race.  Like the House leaders in Tennessee, it just seems extreme to crazy.

The danger is, that, at least for the short-term, it works.  And, of course, that’s the point.