Category: Uncategorized

Deal with a Gangster

Fifty-Cent Word

There is a fancy “fifty-cent” word:  kleptocracy.  Most of us know what a kleptomaniac is – someone who can’t stop stealing.  A “kleptocracy” is a government made up of thieves.  This is beyond what happens here in the United States, the “garden variety” kind of corruption.   Just recently in Ohio, the former Speaker of the State House of Representatives, Larry Householder, was expelled from his elected seat.  A Federal Grand Jury indicted him for accepting a $61 million bribe from the First Energy Corporation, in order to get them financing to maintain their nuclear reactors in Ohio.  Three others involved in the conspiracy have pled guilty – Householder still maintains his innocence.  The majority of his own political party in the House, Republicans, disagree with him and voter for his removal.

While there were (are?) people at the top of the political food-chain that are corrupt, that doesn’t make Ohio a kleptocracy.  In a kleptocracy the thievery uses the government to further the leadership’s own private financial interest.  It is an accepted goal of the government.  In the US, we don’t find that goal acceptable (though it certainly happens from time to time).  But in Russia – that’s the way it is.

Godfather

The head of the Russia Federation is Vladimir Putin.  He is the ultimate “gangster”, one who has effectively used his Soviet KGB (secret police) training to reach the top of the Russian government.  The richest Russians are rich by virtue of Putin’s permission.  Those that tried to gain their fortune without his say-so ended up in exile, or prison, or taking that long step out of a fifteenth floor window.  The old neighborhood “protection” racket – pay me so that I don’t burn your business, is writ large in Russia.  Pay the kleptocrats their “cut”, and you get to have your business.

Corruption is nothing new in Russia either.  The Soviet government was rife with corruption, and so was the Czarist monarchy before.  But Putin has created a Russian “cash-cow” for himself and the top echelons of his government.  According to Fox Business Putin personally is worth at least $40 billion.  Others like Bill Browder, an American businessman under indictment in Russia, and Gary Kasparov,  world chess master and Russian dissident, claim Putin has trillions of dollars and may be the richest man in the world.

A meeting then between President Biden and Putin is more like a President meeting the Godfather than a foreign leader.  Former National Security Advisor John Bolton and Kasparov argue that Biden shouldn’t have met with Putin.  They believe that the meeting, “raises” Putin to a legitimacy he doesn’t deserve, and treats Russia, the eleventh largest economy in the world behind South Korea and Canada, like a major world power.

Leftovers

But Putin does have two things that require the United States to deal with him.  First are the leftover nuclear weapons from the end of the Soviet regime.  US President Reagan “won” the Cold War by forcing the Soviet Union to spend itself into destruction to keep pace with American strategic weapons development.  The US economy could afford the expense, the Soviet economy could not.  The Soviet government finally collapsed, but they left behind all of the weapons they developed to keep up with the US.  And those weapons are still active today.

The Cold War between the US and allies and the Soviet Union is long over, but the weapons from that war are still housed in silos and submarines and armories.  And Vladimir Putin now control those weapons, an estimated 4500 nuclear warheads (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).  The United States has 5500 (Center for Arms Control).  Whether Putin is a gangster or not, it is vital that the US and Russia have an understanding of how to control those weapons, and what the “rules” for their use are. 

 While we are not on the precarious edge of nuclear holocaust of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, the weapons that could create that disaster still exist, and are still targeted.  

President Biden made it clear that nuclear weapons “stabilization” was a main goal of his meeting with Putin. 

Cyber-War

And Russia is waging a second “cold war”, this one with a new weapon – cyber-hacking.  The United States has been the frequent target of cyber-attacks from Russia, both from the Russian intelligence services and “independent” cyber-criminals in Russia.  Biden discussed these attacks with Putin and made it clear that cyber-attacks from Russia will result in retaliation from the United States – regardless of whether it was made by the government or “just” criminals.  In a kleptocracy like Russia, there is little difference between the two.

Another “fifty-cent” word used to describe the US-Russia relationship is “asymmetric”.  The Russian annual Gross Domestic Product is $1.7 trillion, the United States $22 trillion.  While economically the US and Russia are nowhere near equal, it is about nuclear weapons and cyber-warfare that the two nations need to find “stabilization”.  And for those reasons, it was important for Joe Biden to remind Vladimir Putin that the United States “is back”.

Trailer Park Kids

Kettering

I wasn’t much aware of discrimination until I was in elementary school in Kettering, Ohio in the 1960’s. Kettering was a suburb of a booming Dayton.  Back then, Dayton was a “heavy” industry town with Frigidaire, Delco, and National Cash Register all having big assembly plants.  And of course, there was Wright Patterson Air Force Base north of town, the biggest employer.  It was, and still is, a major Base, but back then it was a Strategic Air Command base as well (SAC).  Huge B-52 bombers with nuclear bomb payloads flew low over our house on course to land at Wright-Pat.  The garage door would go up and down by itself as they came in a few hundred feet above the roof, receiving some “top secret” transmission I thought.

 But Frigidaire, Delco and NCR were all in the south part of town.  You could have a good paying union job on the assembly line, and live in Kettering.  Racial discrimination wasn’t so much a thing in Kettering – or maybe it was everything; it was a single race town.  There were only three black kids in my school, and two were in my Scout Troop as well.  I don’t know how much discrimination they faced, though I expect there was a lot.  We didn’t talk much about race.  We just were friends, and it wasn’t an issue we discussed.

On the Hill

But I did understand living “on the Hill” or in the “Plat”.  Dad was the General Manager of one to the two television stations in town, WLW-D.  We lived “up on the hill”, on a street named for a Kentucky bourbon, Echo Springs.  I had a 1950’s childhood in the sixties:  we played in the woods and on the streets, out from after breakfast to home for dinner.  Our gang of kids all lived nearby and  road our bikes all over lower Kettering.  We could walk to school at Southdale Elementary, and, then, when we moved onto Van Buren Junior High School, raise a lot of “hell” in the neighborhood and on the school buses.

In the Plat

The “plat” was the Huber Homes built on land to the southwest of “Big Hill”.  They were sandwiched in all the way up to South Dixie Highway, with the Delco and Frigidaire plants just across the street.  Dad’s TV station was down that way as well, making it an easy commute for him.  But even though my “gang” got in trouble from time to time, at school you always heard people blame any mishap on the kids “from the Plat”.  

I don’t think they ever got in trouble for what we did, but they seemed to get blamed for about everything else.  “Plat” kids were “trouble” we were told, though some of them became my friends at Van Buren.  I don’t think that I realized the economic or regional discrimination back then.  Lots of the kids who lived in the Plat had parents who came North from Appalachia to work in the factories.  Looking back – I understand now that accent and income pegged those kids as “trouble” more than their actions.

Wyoming, Wyoming

After ninth grade, Dad got a promotion, and we moved back to Cincinnati.  It was the only move that I remember complaining about –I was just about to go to Fairmont West High School, and I was going to lose my friends.  But that was the “family business”, we moved when Dad needed us to move – four times while I was in school.  So it was high school at Wyoming in Cincinnati, an up-scale suburb was a racially diverse population.  

But being racially diverse didn’t mean that the students were all that integrated.  We all  were in class and played sports together.  Bob and I were the only white sprinters on the track team, but there wasn’t much socializing after.  It was the early 70’s, and there were still unwritten lines that didn’t seem to get crossed.

Town Gossip

All that memory came flooding back last week when I read the local posts on Facebook.  What used to be the gossip at the Nutcracker Restaurant or an article in the Pataskala Standard now is the fodder for chatter in the “Pataskala Group”.   School’s out, and there are kids out on the street.  It’s reminiscent of my Kettering days:  kids riding in packs on bikes – the “Huffy Gang”, and middle schoolers and high school freshmen walking in groups down the roads.  There are few sidewalks in Pataskala.  

Some of them are harmless – headed to the Dairy Hut for the soft-serve cone, or up to Taco Bell.  But, as in every small town, there are kids out looking for trouble.  Petty vandalism, snagging unattended bicycles from front yards, and harassing adult motorists by refusing to leave the middle of the road is a their version of fun.

Skaters

But in the Pataskala Facebook forum they are summarized as one of three kinds of kids. The first “bad kids” are “skaters”:  kids with a skateboard attached at all times. There are lots of good kids that skateboard:  it requires a high degree of physical skill, technique, and “practice man, practice”.  But to the unknowing adult it’s the “skater look” that condemns them.  Oh, and the fact that they ride down the streets, and perform tricks off of whatever curb or rail they can find.  Those kids could use a skatepark rather than condemnation, but with funds always short for the Parks and Recreation Department, and soccer the “king of the fields”, a skatepark isn’t coming soon to Pataskala.

Trailer Park Kids

And the other groups that gets blamed for being “rotten” in the summer time, are defined by their residence, and thus their income.  There are the “Kids in the Greens”, the local government subsidized housing, and the “Trailer Park Kids”.  They catch the blame for most of the “kid trouble” in this small town, unfair to all of the “good” kids who live in the same locations.  It’s short hand for low income kids, and that’s just as wrong now as it was when the kids “from the Plat” got harassed back in good old Kettering.

I spent eight years as the Dean of Students, the discipline guy, at the local high school.  I knew the “rough” kids that lived in the Greens or the Trailer Park.  But I also knew the “good” kids, trying to do the right thing, who lived in those areas. And there were kids who lived in the affluent areas, Beachwood Trails or the Oaks, who were plenty as “rough” as those kids living in apartments or double-wide’s.  It’s was always about the kid, not the location or the money. 

Folks in Pataskala need to get that right. 

Outside My Window – Part 16

This is the next in the “Outside My Window” series about daily life during the pandemic.

It’s Over

It took less than a month.  In the first week of May, I officiated a track meet in Columbus.  Everyone, kids, coaches, parents, wore masks.  “Social Distancing” was still a “thing”, and we all took pains to avoid crowds.  We were still a world restricted by the pandemic.  I officiated my last meet in Chillicothe three weeks later.  Masks were few to be seen – none of the officials wore one.  A few kids, a few elderly spectators, but other than those it was a “mask free” environment.  There were crowds in the stands, a record showing for Southeastern High School.

The world turned quickly.  The death and infection rates here in Ohio plummeted.  Over 50% of adults are vaccinated, with a part of the rest already infected and over the disease.  So the spread slowed.  It doesn’t really mean “it’s over”.  Over 250 died from COVID in Ohio in May.  The  Butcher’s Bill from the pandemic stands at 20,000 deaths in Ohio.  But only 503 are being treated in  hospitals now, down from the many thousands that nearly overwhelmed some facilities. 

COVID statistics are reported in the weekend newspapers, alongside the baseball scores and the horse racing results.  But they’ve lost their impact:  to folks here in Ohio, it’s over.

Normal Life

My family went to a “fancy” restaurant last week to celebrate a birthday.  It was the first time since – I’m not sure, maybe Christmas of 2019 – that we went to an “upscale” place.  Life was normal:  crowds at the bar, no Friday reservations available until after 8, the servers excited to be busy.  It was as if COVID hadn’t even happened.  We had a great time, with seafood and steaks and wine.  

I wrote my first essay on the pandemic on March 16, 2020 (Crisis in a Small Town).  It was about how our small town of Pataskala was reacting to the pandemic, even though the actual disease hadn’t touched us yet.  Sure there were fights over toilet paper at the local grocery, but there were also lots of stories about a town pulling together in crisis.  The local restaurants quickly switched to full carry-out modes, and one of the bars (Ziggy’s) even found a way to carry-out their mixed drinks.  

Variants

So here we are, more than a year later.  And for the moment, our crisis is over.  We still hear of the dreaded “variants” that somehow might escape all of the defenses.  And we are still reading about the tragedy of COVID – now ravaging India and other parts of the world.  Ohio has almost half-a-million COVID vaccinations ready to expire.  We can’t send them to India, but we could put them in Ohioans arms to protect them and keep the rest of us safe.  But those vaccines will likely go to waste.  Even a million-dollar lottery isn’t enough to get some to roll up their sleeves.

So the next step in COVID is to be charitable.  All of the billions of dollars spent to develop and produce enough vaccines for the United States, need to be re-directed to saving the rest of the world.  And it’s not just charity, it’s self-interest.  The fewer people with COVID, the less chance of a mutation in the virus that would circumvent the vaccinations.  Stop the spread, stop the variants:  protect us all.

I keep thinking  back to the flu epidemic of 1918, the “Spanish Flu” (it just as likely originated in Kansas).  They thought it was over after the first wave, but the second mutated strain that came back with the Armies from World War I was even more deadly.  We know a whole lot more about viruses today.  The solutions are really common sense.  But common sense doesn’t seem to be much of a driving force in today’s world.  We’ll see if there’s another essay in 2022 about life and COVID. 

Ohio

Meanwhile it’s back to normal here in Ohio.  We are going to a long awaited family reunion next weekend in Cleveland.   There’s another Pole Vault Camp (yes, there is such a thing) to coach this week, and maybe Jenn and I will take in a ballgame soon.  There’s nothing like a minor league game on “dime a dog night”, sitting in the bleacher seats in the hot sun, beer and dog in hand, rooting for the Clippers.  I hear they play the Toledo Mud Hens this week.  That’s about as normal as life can get.

The Outside My Window Series

Absolute Corruption

Beginnings

I was introduced to politics at a “tender” age.  One of Mom’s roommates in boarding school in England was Kathleen Kennedy, daughter of US Ambassador Joseph Kennedy.  Kathleen, like many of her siblings, met an untimely death in 1948, but Mom’s relationship with her before World War II led to a lifelong dedication to the Kennedy family.  So it shouldn’t be a surprise that when Kathleen’s older brother, Jack, ran for President of the United States in 1960, Mom was a big fan.

My Mom was a British citizen, so she couldn’t vote in American elections.  But she could support candidates in other ways, and she made sure her four year old son (me) was wearing a “Kennedy for President” button.  At that age I didn’t quite understand why our very good friends, Howard and Leah Shriver, didn’t want to let me in their Cincinnati apartment in the Vernon Manor with a Kennedy button on.  Howard was one of the doctors who founded Blue Cross insurance, and they were stalwart Republicans.  

So I sat in the hall outside the apartment for a while, wondering why that Nixon guy was so important.  “Aunt” Leah finally came out and bribed me with a toy – an iron elephant.  I didn’t get the significance at the time, but that toy gave me admittance to their residence, in spite of my Kennedy apparel.

Three years later President Kennedy was assassinated.  I recorded the funeral on reel-to-reel tapes, watching the speeches and the processions.  There was the plain caisson carrying the casket, followed by the horse with the empty saddle and reversed riding boots.  The eternal flame burned by the grave site, the hats of the various military divisions placed around the cross. 

Real Politics

But my real insights into politics began in the summer of 1968.  Dad repaired a flat tire on my bicycle, and one of us failed to tighten the front tire nuts.  I hit a bump, the wheel came loose, and the bike flipped over.  When I looked at my right wrist bent at an odd angle, I knew there was a problem.

I was disappointed.  It was the week of the swim championships, and at the top of my age group I looked forward to several “big wins”.  Instead, I was told to stay on the couch, my casted arm elevated on a green painted “beer box”.  So it was a week of “staying quiet”:  all I could do was watch TV.  

It was the week of the Democratic Convention in Chicago, the party torn apart by President Lyndon Johnson’s commitment to the Vietnam War and the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, the President’s younger brother and an anti-war candidate.  There were riots in the streets, speeches in the convention hall, and the brutal control of Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daley over the entire scene.  The police beat the demonstrators and the media, chasing them into the hotels and up into their rooms.  It was a disaster for the Democratic Party, and Republican Richard Nixon, now eight years later, finally became the President.  I learned a lot.

Watergate

I turned sixteen, Nixon was re-elected again, and a new word entered the American political vocabulary:  Watergate.

The next two years were consumed with the intersection of political power, money and corruption.  We learned that Nixon used the power of the Presidency to attack his opponents.  There were campaign operatives installing wiretaps on opposition communications, and break-ins to gain access to information.  The White House “Plumbers” unit moved far beyond the limits of the law to get Nixon’s enemies.  Nixon used the CIA to cover their efforts.

Nixon’s Administration was plagued with “leaks”:  information they wanted to hold secret that slipped out to the public.  In fact, Nixon’s illegal investigation group was called the “Plumbers” because they were supposed to “stop the leaks”.

It was a classic case of near-absolute power corrupting near-absolutely.  Watergate brought Nixon’s Presidency down, but it took decades to find how deep the corruption ran.  It was even greater than we knew at the time, when Nixon waved goodbye and went into exile in California.

Barrier to Corruption

Nixon used the intelligence agencies and the Treasury Department to attack his opponents.  He even used the Justice Department, and his first Attorney General, John Mitchell, actually served jail time for his actions.  After Nixon’s resignation, the Federal Government went to great lengths to “fence-off” law enforcement activities from politics.  It’s not so easy:  the Justice Department is a part of the Executive Branch, ultimately commanded by the President.  If he can command them, he can control them.  So for forty years there was a tension between the White House and Department of Justice headquarters in the Robert F. Kennedy building. 

It is up to the Attorney General to “hold the wall” against political interventions.  One of Nixon’s Attorneys General, Elliot Richardson, resigned rather than breach that barrier.  But the men who led Donald Trump’s Justice Department seemed to hardly put up a fight.  In fact, we are now learning that they were aiding and abetting the politicization of Justice.

No Administration in history was a “leaky” as the Trump Administration.  It seemed that whatever was told in confidence in the White House became public, with the leakers often the most senior advisors using the media to pursue their own influence over the President.  And when the 45th President came under investigation for Russia’s involvement in his 2016 campaign, leaks constantly disrupted White House plans.  The standing joke of the Trump years was “infra-structure week”:  time after time they tried to pivot to infra-structure only to have another Russia scandal take over the news cycle.

Legal Corruption

Donald Trump didn’t have to create a secret “Plumbers Unit” to investigate his leaks.  He had the full assistance of the Justice Department.  They went so far as to subpoena the communications of reporters who received the “leaks”.  They got the list of their phone calls, texts and emails.  And while they didn’t get the content (that we know of), they did get lists of who they contacted.

But what we discovered yesterday was that reporters weren’t the only ones that Justice was investigating.  We know now that the Justice Department was also investigating the Congressmen on the House Intelligence Committee who were investigating the President himself.  At least two of the Democrats leading the Committee, Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, as well as several committee aides and their families, had their records secretly seized.

Both of Trump’s confirmed Attorneys General, Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr, encouraged this investigation.  Barr, in fact, revived the data collection after nothing was found in the first years and the Justice Department stopped.  They used the full power of Justice to spy on members of Congress as well as the media.  What did they want?

They wanted the investigations to stop.  They wanted the leaks to stop, and if they couldn’t find the leakers, they could attack the recipients of the leaks.  The full power of American Law Enforcement was being used to try to protect the “political life” of the President.

That’s farther than even Nixon went.  And like Nixon, it may take years to know what else happened in the Trump Administration.

No wonder Trump wants to run again.  He’s got a lot of covering up to do.

The Day Bipartisanship Died

Senate Report

Yesterday, a combined committee of the United States Senate issued a report on the Insurrection.  They outlined the failures in security that allowed a mob to breech the Capitol Building, vandalizing and searching for leaders.  The report shows critical failures in the leadership of the Capitol Police and other law enforcement agencies.  Those failures were so egregious, ignoring clear warnings for months about the upcoming “wild time”, that it’s hard to imagine them to be unintentional.  

But the Senate committees intentionally did not examine the cause of the crisis in the first place.  

Bipartisanship

We hear a lot about “bipartisan cooperation” these days.  There is a group in the Senate, Democrats and Republicans, who are trying to find “common ground’ where they can work together.  Senator Joe Manchin is willingly the “poster boy” for this bipartisanship, but he’s not the only one, and not even the only Democrat who longs for the time when the Senate worked “across the aisle” for the good of the nation.

And this committee report is an example of where bipartisanship stands today.  They can blame the Capitol Police.  They can blame the FBI, and Homeland Security, and the other intelligence gathering agencies that failed to prepare for January 6th.  But blaming all of those folks for what are clear mistakes, fails to reach the most important conclusions:  who caused those events.

Bomb Maker

When a bomb goes off in a downtown building, we can discuss failures in the metal detectors.  We can blame the folks who examine the internet for hints and clues and bombings.  But in the end, there’s the person who built the bomb, the person who planted the bomb, and the person who triggered the bomb.  They are ultimately to blame.

Who built the Insurrection?  Clearly it was the 45th President of the United States.  He convinced his supporters that the election was stolen, a theme he repeated since before the 2016 election, and heightened after his failure in 2020.  He invited those supporters to Washington on the day of the Electoral Vote certification.  And he did it for the exact purpose of disrupting that certification process.  The 45th President was the bomb maker.

He and his minions gathered those supporters on the Mall, and harangued them about the unfairness of the electoral process.  He tried to convince them that they were acting as patriots, saving “their America” from “those others” who were “stealing the election”.  It was the 45th President who planted to bomb.

And he literally sent them to the Capitol, promising to join them (of course, he didn’t show up).  He told them to “convince” Vice President Mike Pence to disregard the Constitution and try to overthrow the election results, he sent them WITH PURPOSE to stop the United States Congress.  And they did exactly that.  The President triggered the bomb, he lit the fuse.  

And while “the bomb” was going off, he refused to do anything to stop the struggle.  Even when he finally sent a message telling the Insurrectionists to go home, he continued to express his “love” for them.  He loved the bomb he created, he loved the disruption it caused.  Like every crazed bomber, he didn’t mind that there were casualties along the way – they were “sacrifices” for his cause.

Infected

The United States, even the leaders of my own Party, have hoped that somehow, we would “get over” the Insurrection and Trumpism, and “go back” to the bygone days of bipartisan cooperation.  But the Insurrectionists haven’t gone away.  We all thought that those “Stop the Steal” supporters would dwindle, become a marginal fifteen percent that could be ignored and would ultimately disappear.

But like any infection, putting a Band-aid over it doesn’t solve the problem.  The infection is festering and spreading, and we may be sure that it will poison our body politic for years to come.  Infection requires clear acknowledgement of the disease, treatment, medication, and even surgery to cure.  

And until we excise the infection, it will continue to poison every other aspect of our political discourse.  President Biden’s and Senator Manchin’s longing for the “good old days” of collegiality can’t happen as long as our Democracy remains contaminated.  It’s not their fault for wanting things to be better.  But it’s their duty to recognize the symptoms, diagnose the problem, and cure the disease.

And it’s their duty to give up their dream of bipartisanship, and deal with our reality.  It’s the only way to save the nation.

Echoes of Cannon

Gettysburg

It was the Fourth of July in 1938.  The United States was still suffering the effects of the Great Depression.  Things were improving – unemployment was down from the desperate days of 1933 when a full one-fourth of Americans were out of work.  But the number was creeping back up from the peak of the “New Deal” just the year before – with 19% still searching for a job.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt went to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to speak to the last veteran survivors of the Civil War battle.  Seventy-five years before, the greatest cannonade in history was so loud, it shook church bells in Philadelphia 120 miles away.  As Roosevelt spoke,  it was seventy-five years since Robert E. Lee took his invading force away from the low ridges south of town and the bugles went silent.  Roosevelt was speaking to the last of those warriors.  Twenty-five Gettysburg battle veterans were in attendance, along with about two thousand others who served on both sides of the Civil War.  

Those seventy-five years represented an incredible speeding up of history.  Roosevelt’s speech was broadcast to the nation on radio.  Airplanes flew over the gathering, and the bloodshed of Gettysburg (still the bloodiest battle on US soil) was dwarfed by the death and destruction of the First World War.  The nation was only vaguely aware of the precipice it faced.  While some warned of the coming conflagration, World War II was not seen as inevitable.

Normandy

Yesterday was the seventy-seventh anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of France to defeat Nazism.  Seventy-seven years since nearly 7000 ships appeared off the coast of Normandy and let loose an artillery barrage that shook their world.  D-Day was a pivotal part of my parents’ life.  On that day in June of 1944, Mom was already in France, helping prepare the French Resistance in sabotaging the Nazis.  Dad was still in England, waiting to join US forces in supporting the struggle.  They both survived the War, and came to the United States to have a family and live an extraordinary life.

I was born twelve years and a couple months after D-Day.  In just that brief time the United States fought a war in Korea, and was in an ongoing Cold War with the Soviet Union.  The leader of the invading force on D-Day, General Dwight Eisenhower, was then the President of the United States.  The nation was in the shadow of potential nuclear holocaust, but  a post-war economic boom seemed non-stop, and my parents were on the “ground floor” of a budding new industry – television.

Historic Distance

That distance from the Civil War in 1863 to Roosevelt’s New Deal seems enormous. And yet, the distance from June 6, 1944 to today is even greater, seventy-seven years and lifetimes ago. What in my upbringing was a recent memory, one my parents re-lived often, is now faded black and white pictures in history books, ranked with the Norman Invasion in 1066 and the Battle of Waterloo in 1814 as one of the great turning points in history. So few survivors are left, we can no longer directly feel the sand or the hear the cannon, the concussions or the blood.

If history flew from Gettysburg to the Great Depression, it has literally broken the sound barrier from D-Day to the Insurrection. We live in an era ultimately connected. We literally wear our “Dick Tracy Wrist Radios”. The entire wealth of human knowledge is within reach in our pockets. And yet that network of communication also serves to isolate us from each other. We can hide behind the keyboard and screen and avoid direct human interaction.

Righteous Might

Three years after Roosevelt spoke at Gettysburg, the United States rose in its “righteous might” to literally save the world from tyranny.  Now we can’t even unite to face a world pandemic.  Our divisions are so great, we cannot even agree on what a “fact” is.

It’s been seventy-seven years since D-Day.  I can still reach out in memory and hear the stories, feel the emotions, recognize the pride my parents took in what their generation accomplished.  So much has changed, but as with all progress, something is lost as well as gained in the changing.   

My parents, part of the Greatest Generation, faced seemingly insurmountable problems.  The Great Depression, joblessness, climate disasters, Fascism and tyranny.  In their “righteous might” they united to overcome all of those obstacles.  While with the clear vision of history, their success looked inevitable, it certainly didn’t seem that way while they lived it.  Now seventy-seven years later we too face existential threats:  to our climate, our world and to our Democracy.   

What will our grandchildren say  about us in their speeches on June 6th of 2098?  

The Gift

This is another in the “Sunday Story” series – no politics – just a story, this one about an idol, a dream, and a bunch of dedicated kids.

An Oregon Runner

Steve Prefontaine was the premier American distance runner in the 1970’s.  He, along with runners Bill Rogers, Frank Shorter; and Oregon Coach Bill Bowerman and his former athlete, Phil Knight, the creators of Nike running shoes, changed American running forever.  

Prefontaine was an Oregon high schooler, a dominant state champion, who went onto one of the premier distance running colleges in the United States, Bowerman’s Oregon “Ducks”.  At Oregon – “Pre” became a three time NCAA Division I Champion in Cross Country, and four time 5000 meter track champion.   Pre was known for his front running style – taking the lead early in races to run his opponents into the ground.  

Munich

His junior year in college was the 1972 Olympic year.  Prefontaine set the American record in the 5000 meter Olympic Trials to lead the US team to Munich.  The Munich Games were tragically interrupted by the terrorist attack on the Israeli Olympic team. Eleven of the Israelis were killed, along with the eight terrorists and one German policeman.  The world mourned, but after a two day pause – the games continued.  

For the athletes it was nearly impossible to remain focused. Pre competed in the 5000, but changed his normal strategy to run an unusually conservative race from the back of the field.  It was only at the beginning of the third mile (the 5000 is 3.1 miles long) that Pre raced to the front.  He led into the last lap, when he was passed by two on the back stretch.  A third runner passed him with ten meters to go – leaving him off of the podium in fourth place.

The AAU

Prefontaine returned to his senior year at Oregon, and remained undefeated on the collegiate track.  After his graduation, he struggled to support himself as an athlete.  He tangled with the American leaders of “Amateur” track and field, demanding that athletes gain the opportunity to profit from their performances.  Over the next two years, Pre led the fight for a living-wage for athletes in track and field, a struggle that ultimately broke the bureaucratic control of the AAU over the sport in the United States and developed a new organizing body, USA-Track and Field.

Meanwhile he continued to train for the 1976 Olympic games.  In 1975, after a successful track meet, and a post meet party – Steve Prefontaine was killed when his car, a gold MG-B, wrecked on the way back to his home in the hills above the city of Eugene, looking down on the University of Oregon.

Pre’s Legacy

Pre’s tragic death at twenty-four passed him into running legend.  In the 1990’s two films were made about his life and competition.  The first was a made for TV movie – Prefontaine.  It came out in 1997, a year when I had a young impressionable group of hard working (and playing) cross country runners.  They found a hero in Prefontaine, and his phrases became a staple in encouraging our athletes. “To give anything but your best is to sacrifice the gift” and “somebody may beat me, but they’ll have to bleed to do it” were common sayings in our team gatherings.  

Pre’s work ethic became our work ethic.  Morning runs started at 5:30 am at my house.  Sometimes we were out running as school was cancelled for snow.  Those runs were the best – ending up with a soak in the hot tub and breakfast before the kids carefully drove home on the covered roads.   And some of those “days off” ended up in another “quest”:   to find “the perfect” sledding hill.  

Without Limits

It was during that winter that the second Prefontaine movie – a made for theatre film – came out.  “Without Limits” was in the “art houses” – not in the “main theatres”.  So we loaded up my 15 passenger van and headed to Grandview (near downtown Columbus).  I watched their faces as the movie unreeled.  The film was as much about them – their thoughts, their doubts, their determination.  It was a quiet ride home – each of my runners absorbing the lessons of Steve Prefontaine, the bad (and there was bad) and the good.  But most importantly, they began reaching for their “gift”.  

That summer the National Track and Field Junior Olympics were held in Seattle, Washington.  Four of my runners qualified, and we decided to make a Western trip of it – flying out to Seattle early, then driving down to Oregon.  We competed in a small meet at fabled Hayward Field, the home track of the University of Oregon.  As the guys ran their warmup, they passed a gold MG-B, parked right outside the stadium.  The message to my athletes was received.  After the races, medals in hand, the quest for Steve Prefontaine was on.

The Quest

We drove up into the hills above Eugene, and passed the marker where Prefontaine died. On it, engraved into the stone, are these words:

 “PRE”

For your dedication and loyalty
To your principles and beliefs…
For your love, warmth, and friendship
For your family and friends…
You are missed by so many
And you will never be forgotten…

The kids stopped, stared at the marker, and laid their hard won medals on the stone.  Theirs weren’t the only ones.

The next day we drove over the low mountain range to the coast.  We arrived in the fishing town of Coos Bay, where Prefontaine went to Marshfield High School.  We ran on “his” track, and through the streets of his town.  It was only when one athlete looked up Pre’s parents in the phone book that I finally put a limit on the “quest”.  We weren’t bothering them.

The next morning we headed up the coast, stopping at a small coastal village to run our last track workout of the summer.  It was early, and the fog hadn’t lifted when we prepared for our speed session.   The cloud was so thick, that I couldn’t see the back side of the under-distanced track.  The runners disappeared around the turn, then came back into view just as they approached the finish line.  It was a transforming experience – running in a cloud, only the immediate track in view, only the sounds of teammates’ efforts and the coach’s disembodied chanting of seconds from the finish line.  

Running Down a Dream

It wasn’t all running.  We drove dune buggies on the Oregon dunes (I flipped mine, and was given a “dune fine”).  I made sure we ate salmon fresh from the river (at least some did, I finished all the salmon they chose not to eat).  We visited volcanic mountains, and wandered through Portland.  And we sang along the way, Tom Petty’s “Running Down a Dream” and The Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes” at full throated volume, making our way along the coastline. Finally we headed back north to Seattle to prepare for the National Meet.

One of my runners earned All-American status, finishing in eighth in the steeplechase.  The others had good performances as well.  After the meet we still had a few more days in Seattle, hanging out with my sister, checking out the fish market, downtown and the Space Needle, and going to the longest Seattle Mariners game ever held in Kings County Stadium.  Around the seventeenth inning (about midnight) I said it was time to go.  We argued – we could be part of a “record” – (I’m just saying) how can we leave?  It went twenty-two innings – we heard the final run on the radio on the way back to our hotel.  

The Gift

The next day we went partway up Mt. Rainer, high enough to get above the August snow line.  Then it was back down to reality, to catch the plane home and get ready for our fall cross country season.  Our own dreams were waiting to be fulfilled.

We had our share of victories that year, and an ultimate disappointment.  We finished fifth in the state, not where we hoped.  But like most endeavors where you dedicate yourself, the journey was as important as the outcome.  It was a year of working for a dream, and of making sure we gave nothing less than the best.  The journey, not the outcome of any single competition, was the ultimate gift.

The Sunday Story Series

Cyber-Marines

From the Halls of Montezuma, to the Shores of Tripoli. We will fight our nation’s battles, in the air, on land and sea. – Marine Corp Hymn

Avoid Foreign Entanglements

In the beginning of our Constitutional nation, we faced “known” foreign policy threats.  It was only twenty years after the Revolution, and we were still economically entangled with the British Empire.  Our ally of the Revolution, France, was continually at war with Britain.  In spite of George Washington’s final words to “avoid foreign entanglements,” it wasn’t easy.  France had their own Revolution, and much of its ideology came directly from America’s founding documents.

Both France and Britain directly contacted American borders – Britain owned Canada and still had great interest in the American West (then the land between the Appalachians and the Mississippi).  France owned much of the land west of the Mississippi – the Louisiana Territory.  And both had interactions with the Native American tribes whose land the American settlers were claiming.

For the first three decades of the United States, interactions with Britain and France dominated foreign policy.  But it was in a different geographical area that our first international military actions took place.  It was on the “Barbary Coast”.

Barbary Pirates

The Southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea was ostensibly controlled by the Ottoman Empire of Turkey.  But the land was sub-divided into military “republics” whose main source of income was piracy from European shipping and slave-trading along the Africa coast.  Even though the Ottoman Sultan diplomatically recognized the United States and encouraged American trade, he was unable to protect American flagged ships from piracy.

American diplomats arranged “payment” for protection from the pirates.  The John Adam’s Administration paid “tribute” to the Barbary states, protection money to keep the pirates at bay. It took an exorbitant $642,000 from the US Treasury to gain the release of captured sailors and protection from further attack.  But when Jefferson won the election of 1800, he refused to continue the tributes, instead depending on the new American Navy and Marines to protect American shipping.

One of the first foreign military actions of the new United States armed forces was attacking the Barbary Pirates, including a land invasion of one Barbary territory, Tripoli (“…to the shores of Tripoli”).  The attacks temporarily achieved the goal of stopping the piracy, though it took further action a few years later to completely protect American shipping.  

Paying Tribute

The United States has a long tradition of protecting industry from evil foreign actors.  It was the Marines that ultimately freed the sailors in Tripoli, and the US government that solved the piracy problem.  Today there is a whole different form of piracy going on.  A few weeks ago, Russian hackers (the new word for pirates) brought the US gas supply on the East coast to a halt.  They “only” asked for “tribute”; $5 million to release the computers and restore gas supply.    This week they “pirated” a major meat supplier in the US, resulting in spiking prices and meat shortages.  

And we also know that those same hackers infiltrated dozens of US government agencies.  What they did (or plan or doing) with the information they gained, we don’t know.  But what we have found, just like those early American leaders, is that paying “tribute” doesn’t seem to solve the problem.

It’s not as simple as sending a couple of cruisers and the Marines.  The “hacker/pirates” operate from the protection of Russia, as the Barbary pirates operated from the protection of the Barbary Republics.  And like those pirates, the hackers of today are probably paying “protection” as well, with the leaders of the Russian government getting their “cut” of the profits.

Cyber-Marines

The United States has the capacity of tracing the sources of internet piracy, and creating electronic havoc on their processes.  We also have the capability of doing much more, if needed, to stop these attacks on our private infrastructure.  We can bring pressure on the Putin’s Russian Government to take control, and if they don’t, we can give them a taste of their own piracy.  

It’s not just a matter of paying “tribute”.  American life is completely enmeshed in networks, from electric grids to mobile communications.  Our hospitals, schools, hydro-electric dams, public transportation, gas stations and grocery stores are all “tied” together electronically, and vulnerable to the modern day “Barbary Pirates”.  Our Founding Fathers faced the same situation, and used the then small force of American might to resolve the issue.

They showed us the way.  We need the “cyber-Marines” to go to the halls of St. Petersburg.  I’m sure they already know the address.

An Apology

Preparation

I need to apologize – to twenty-eight years of students.  I taught you:  government and economics,  sociology and current affairs, world and American history.  And I used all of the knowledge I gained through my own education – twelve years of some of the best public schools in Ohio, four years at Denison University, a Masters Degree in Education from Ashland College, and lots of independent learning and study.  I had confidence that my body of knowledge prepared me to teach you.  But I was wrong.

I knew that there were biases in textbooks.  Our eighth grade history book had more pages on the Texas War of Independence than it did World War I.  It took a while to find out that Texas bought their textbooks state-wide, so publishers wanting to sell thousands of books in Texas made a much bigger deal about the Alamo than the Second Battle of the Marne.  It was about money, not about historic impact.

Coverup

I did “fight” my own battles against historic “coverups”.  When I was teaching history in the 1980’s, there was a movement to deny the Holocaust.  I sought out even more information about the what happened, determined to make sure MY STUDENTS knew the truth, and not the revisionist ignorance.  And I made the choice to deal with the causes of the Civil War with truth.  It was about slavery.  That’s a reality that still creates controversy in public education today.  Here’s how the Ohio Curriculum for Eighth Grade American History defines the causes of the Civil War:

“Disputes over the nature of federalism, complicated by economic developments in the United States, resulted in sectional issues, including slavery, which led to the American Civil War.”

In the media business – that’s called burying the lead.

The Prism

I did try to research the history of Black people in America.  But I did it through the prism of American individualism. I looked to individuals:  Benjamin Banneker, a Black intellect and contemporary of Benjamin Franklin; Charles Richard Drew the inventor of blood transfusions; Frederick Douglass and the other pioneering civil rights leaders, and of course, Martin Luther King Jr.  I saw history as the “story” of individuals and how they impacted on the nation around them for folks of all races – from Washington and Jefferson to John Lewis and Malcolm X. 

And I did teach about actions against Black Americans.  I taught about the end of Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow and the Ku Klux Klan, putting the Freedmen “back in their place”.   I used my personal experience with Jesse Owens to contrast Nazi racism to American segregation – but only as a difference in quality instead of just quantity.  My historical bias towards individualism missed a whole section of the American story – and not a pleasant one.

Critical Race Theory

It is somehow considered “Un-American” to teach “race”.  For my generation, we grew up on the “Schoolhouse Rock” concept of the “Melting Pot”, where we all blend into “American”. But folks of color weren’t allowed to “melt”, and that kept them from sharing in the American Dream.

There is a new movement in education; to teach how race has been institutionalized into our society, laws and government.  That isn’t really new, and it isn’t particularly surprising.  But the reaction of many white Americans to teaching “race” is extreme.

It’s called Critical Race Theory – defined by Education Week as:

“Critical race theory is an academic concept that is more than 40 years old. The core idea is that racism is a social construct, and that it is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies.”

Instinctively I think most Americans recognize that the core concept of Critical Race Theory is true.  We know all about economic “red lining”, when banks and even government agencies refuse to give home loans for folks of color to live in “white” communities.  We know that legal segregation separated our schools, and now “de-facto” segregation keeps races apart.  The “dirty little secret” of the suburbs around Columbus is that much of their original growth is as a result of Columbus Schools’ busing for desegregation. 

All of that was supposed to be “overcome” by American Individualism.  But it’s not.

The Gap

So we don’t talk about the ongoing racism in our lives – from employment to education, law enforcement to healthcare.  And by not teaching that – by sticking to the “truth” we learned fifty years ago – we perpetuate racism in our society.

And I participated in that.  I left generations of students with a gap in their knowledge.  And worse,  I left them with the “feeling” that they had “all the answers”.  That gives them “the out” of denying our societal reality, allowing some to claim that reality is “just politics”.  

And for that – to all my students, some now in their sixties – I apologize.

Work

Sherrod

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown is the “Senator for the working person” (no longer the outdated term “working man”).  He built his entire career on the concept of the “dignity of work”.  He believes that Americans want to work, and that having a job that provides for their lives and their families is, beyond the money alone, an essential part of the American Ethos.  

It doesn’t matter whether, as the Senator says, “…you shower before work or after”. It’s not about the type of work, it’s the respect that “working” and “providing” creates.  That’s part of the American being, more so than in other nations.  Right or wrong, Americans often “become” our work.  

We can argue whether being a teacher, a salesman, a plumber, or a sanitation worker should become an identity, rather than “just” a job – but here in America, it is fact.  We are what we do.  And if we don’t have a job, short of retirement or disability, our culture sees us as somehow falling far short of “expectations”.  

Myths and Promises

Americans want to work.  There is the right-wing “myth” of the freeloaders, looking for a government handout.  They have to be coerced to work, forced to do their part in the “great American pageant”.  Of course everyone has a story of that “freeloader”.  But when you call the story-teller out, and demand actual names and situations – the tales tend to vaporize. 

Much of the “living on handouts” myth goes back to America’s ugly history of slavery.  Not surprisingly, humans owned by other humans didn’t want to work particularly hard.  They did only what they had to do to get by, the sole incentive being to avoid punishment.  So the “lazy Black man” is a relic, a racial memory that still rings through American thought – even though it’s based in our ugly original national sin.

But the promise of “work” in America has to be a “quid pro quo”.  Sure Americans are willing to work, even far beyond the forty hours a week that should be a healthy norm.  That’s the “quid”, the something given.  But there has to be a “quo”, the something “gotten” for the given.  And that needs to be a living wage, a wage that can “provide” for the worker and her/his family.

Living Wage 

Americans shouldn’t have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet.  That was the promise of the labor reformers of the 1930’s, that if we work 25% of our weekly lives, we could support our families.  If we wanted to work more, we could, to get the extras.  But that 25% was supposed to cover the basics:  rent and food, transportation, children and health care.

And that is the next “promise”:  a living wage.  Americans working fulltime, 2000 hours a year (two weeks’ vacation) should make a minimum of $40,000.  That’s simple math – $20/hour.   We can argue whether “it can happen tomorrow”, but that should be the goal.  The proposed Federal minimum of $15/hour, $30,000/year, leaves the fulltime worker still at the edge of poverty.   A reasonable apartment is $9,000 a year.  Food for a year is minimally $6000.  Clothes, transportation, childcare, healthcare all could quickly eat the rest of the budget, leaving workers where they are now: one missed check short of financial catastrophe.

And many workers aren’t even making $15/hour. Right now, many are working more than 40 hours a week, more than one job, and still can’t make ends meet. They seek the American dream, but find only a financial nightmare.

Shortage

As we come out of the “pandemic world” some industries are experiencing worker shortages.  Restaurants and fast food places are finding it hard to re-staff after the COVID pause.  They have been under incredible financial strain:  it’s hard to find fault that owners don’t want to pay “big bucks” to their workers.  But it’s also hard to find fault with former restaurant workers who have found more lucrative employment – working at Amazon instead of behind the lunch counter, or working online from home instead of paying for hugely expensive child care.

In an era when the rich are richer and the gap between the wealthy and the poor is greater than ever before, we need to examine America’s priorities.  Americans want to work, and they want to advance.  It is the “American Way”.  And Americans are willing to pay for service as well.  So it’s up to us to set our priorities.  And paying a living wage to take care of all our workers needs to be on top.  That way there is dignity in work.

Memorial Day 2021

This essay was first written for Memorial Day 2019.  I’ve edited and expanded it this year.

Defined by War

Memorial Day: the day to remember those who have died in the service of our nation.  As Lincoln said at Gettysburg:  “It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.” 

Generations are defined by war.  The beginnings of Memorial Day were in “Decoration Days” started even before the guns of the Civil War went silent.  Both Northerners and Southerners placed flags and wreaths upon the graves of those lost.  After the War, that became a tradition for both sides at the beginning of the summer season, decorating graves.  In 1860 the population of the United States was just over thirty million; 600,000 died in the war, two percent.   (Two percent of today’s population would be almost eight million.)  There were plenty of graves to decorate; plenty of veterans to honor.  The ceremonies grew into the Memorial Day of today, along with the picnics and the politics that went along, both then and now.

Those We Knew

I think of Memorial Day as a day to remember those who I personally knew sacrificed to earn the honor.  I think of my parents, part of the Greatest Generation, who lived amazing lives after their War. But with all of their life of “adventure”, World War II was still the crucible.  It was the seminal event that shaped their lives.

I think of my contemporaries, guys I coached with like Chuck Eastham. Chuck went to the war in Vietnam at 17, and forever remained a proud Marine.  But he  suffered from the effects of his war for the rest of his life. The memories of what he was required to do to survive in that war, haunted him throughout his life. And his exposure to the chemical weapon used in Vietnam, Agent Orange, finally took his life just a couple years ago.  

 And I think of my “kids,” those who I taught and coached in school, who came back from their wars in Lebanon and Serbia, Iraq and Afghanistan.  Many of them suffer from the physical and mental effects of America’s long involvement in world conflicts.  They all offered their lives up for their country, willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.

At What Cost?

When I was a young teacher here in Pataskala, Ohio, there was an older man who wandered around town.  He wasn’t homeless, but he was of “lost mind.”  He walked the streets talking to himself, unintentionally  scaring the younger kids.  Older kids made fun, but the local merchants took care of him.  There was always a cup of coffee, or a hamburger available as he wandered from place to place.

I found out his story, eventually.  He also was only seventeen when he volunteered to serve in the World War II Navy.  His ship went to the Pacific, and in the midst of battle, was torpedoed and sunk.  He made it off the doomed vessel.  But sometime between when the torpedo hit and when he was dragged from the ocean waters several hours later, he lost his mind.

Young people go to war willing to sacrifice for their nation.  They think of death, they think of physical wounds, of amputations and burns.  But they don’t ever think that they could lose what they value most, themselves, and survive.  But that young man did.

He lived with his family here in town.  The kids learned his story, and most appreciated the ultimate sacrifice he made, and more importantly respected his right to be left alone.  He was our little town’s Memorial Day, every day.

On the Streets

There are many veterans like him on the streets today. According to Government figures, there are over 40,000 homeless veterans, nine percent of the homeless population.  For some homelessness is a choice made as a result of effects from their service.  But for most it is a combination of circumstance, disability, and substance abuse.  For all it is a lousy repayment for their record of service.  For some “normal folks”, it may be too much or too scary to directly interact with the homeless. But as we walk quickly past with eyes averted, keep in mind:  one in ten fought for us.

It’s Memorial Day.  The sun is out, the burgers are hot on the grill, the beer is cold in the cooler.  As we celebrate the beginning of summer, the end of school and with this particular year, the reopening of our lives:  remember those we have asked for sacrifice.  To quote Hamilton (once again) – 

            Raise a Glass to Freedom – Something they can never take away.

Raise a glass to those who have sacrificed for our freedom.  Their honor is something that “…can never be taken away.”  Then remember them as the friends they were – and drink up.  It’s what Mom and Dad and Chuck would want us to do.  

A Job for the House of Representatives

West Wing

It’s been a long time since I’ve quoted The West Wing, a television series now more than twenty years old.  That show got a lot of us through the grimy end of the Clinton administration and on into the Bush years.  It was about the Administration of Democratic President Josiah Bartlet, and gave America a lot of insights into how the White House works.  Veterans of both Democratic and Republican Administrations added their expertise to the plots, and Aaron Sorkin (and later Lawrence O’Donnell) wrote fast paced and interesting scripts.

In one episode (Season 3, Episode 3) the White House is faced with a scandal.  The White House counsel advises that a special prosecutor be appointed to do a long and unbiased investigation, one that would tie the Administration up for months or even years.  CJ Craig, the Press Secretary, proposes an alternative plan to Chief of Staff Leo McGarry – one that would give the White House something to fight against.

“Leo, we need to be investigated by someone who wants to kill us just to watch us die.  We need someone perceived by the American people to be irresponsible, untrustworthy, partisan, ambitious and thirsty for the limelight.  Am I crazy, or is this not a job for the U.S. House of Representatives?” (YouTube).

The words echo through the years – and are still relevant today.

Insurrection Commission

Up front I need to be clear about this.  I think the “right” thing to do, is for the Congress of the United States to establish a bipartisan commission that can investigate the Insurrection of January 6th and the events that led to it.  It is important for us to know what and why this happened, not just for historic purposes, but because the threat is still here.  But it has become clear that the current Republican Party is unwilling to do anything that would bring the actions of the 45th President into question.  They are too afraid, of him, and of the large faction of their Party that continues to support him.

From Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s standpoint, the last thing he wants is a non-partisan investigation of what happened on January 6th.  He doesn’t want the focus of the nation on the lies of the 2020 campaign.  He wants to “move on” to focus on the failures he perceives in the Biden Administration – trying to tie Biden to the “far left – Communists” of the Democratic Party. (By the way, there are no Communists among us Democrats, though we do have some socialists.  But they are a very, very long way from Communists).

Win-Win

Being against the Commission is a “win-win” solution for McConnell.  By preventing the Senate passage through the filibuster, he shows the Republican base that he is protecting the former President.  If, by some radical change of heart in West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, Democrats actually force the Commission through by breaking the filibuster – then McConnell can claim that they “broke the rules” to get what they wanted.  He can then claim the Commission is illegitimate, and downplay their conclusions.

But Joe Manchin is unlikely to vote to override a filibuster on this issue, and  the Senate will likely fail to agree to the Commission. That good idea will die.  That doesn’t mean there won’t be investigations of the Insurrection.  But, as CJ Craig said to Leo McGarry, it will be the job of the Democratic controlled House of Representatives.  

2022

And that’s exactly what McConnell hopes.  He wants the same body that impeached the former President twice, and that led the Russia investigation as well, to handle the job.  In his dreams, he hopes that Adam Schiff would be the committee chairman.   While Schiff would be the most competent member of the House to lead that investigation, he won’t be the one.  Schiff lead the Russia investigation and was the House Manager for impeachment. He is too “hot” to use.  

But that really doesn’t matter to McConnell.  He will demonize whoever leads the investigation in the House, claiming she or he is completely biased.  And, of course, there will be the stalwart supporters of the former President as the Republican members of the Committee, probably led by Ohio’s Jim Jordan. They will disrupt every hearing, and leak targeted information to bring the investigation to a standstill.

The Republicans have a problem in 2022.  Donald Trump is not on the ticket.  Joe Biden’s Administration is competent, and will proclaim their success with the COVID vaccine and recovery.  And, one way or another, there will be an infrastructure bill, and there might well by voter protections.  McConnell needs a “foil” to change the subject.

That’s not all bad for Democrats either.  The House can investigate the Insurrection and display for all to see any involvement of both former and current Republican leaders.  It can be a legitimate version of the Benghazi Investigation(s) that was used to demonize Hillary Clinton. And it can go right through the 2022 campaign.  

Am I crazy, or is that a job for the U.S. House of Representatives?

Slicing the Pie

The Polls

A plurality of Americans, 44%, do not “identify” with a political party.  They see themselves as independent.  Of the rest, 30% see themselves as Democrats, and 25% Republican.

But when asked which party they “lean” towards, 49% of Americans over 18 identify as “Democrat or Democratic leaning”.  40% identify as Republican or Republican leaning, and 11% see themselves as completely independent.  That 9% Democratic lead in “leaners” is above the “norm”.  Democrats typically have a 4 to 6% lead.

So when you slice the pie almost half is “independent”.  The other half is unevenly divided between Blue and Red.   But the candidates for major political office in America are determined by the two political parties, now representing just barely more than half of voters.  The 30% of identified Democrats and 25% of identified Republicans will determine who gets to run for office.

It’s a major dilemma for any American candidate.  To get to run you have to win a primary, and that election is among only the most committed partisans.  But to win the general election, where everyone can vote, somehow that candidate must gain “the leaners”, less partisan and likely more moderate, as well.

Slicing the Slices

So to win a Republican Party primary, a candidate must win 12.5% of the overall vote.  And Republican candidates have clearly made the decision that at least 12.5% still support the 45th President of the United States.

That’s a “no-risk” position for them.  The “slice of the slice” who are “45’ers” have made it very clear where they stand.  There is no doubt:  ask Liz Cheney, Mitt Romney, or a host of local Republican office holders who know that the 2020 election wasn’t “fixed”.  

And the Republican caucus of the House of Representatives is a simple reflection of their primary electorate.  So when House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy seems to uncomfortably straddle the political fence, he’s trying to appeal to his caucus members.  His hope:  that the 2022 election will follow historic precedent, and that he will be elected to become Speaker of the House.  

McCarthy’s “fence sitting” was most apparent on the issue of the January 6th Commission.  His chosen negotiator, Congressman John Katko of New York, worked out an agreement with Democrats.  This was with the McCarthy’s knowledge and blessing.  But when the former President sent word that the caucus “must” oppose the Commission, McCarthy, without apparent regret, threw Katko “under the bus” and came out against it.

Doubling Down

From a longer view, the Republican Party seems committed to being a minority party.  They are allowing the “45-ers”,   around 12.5% of the total electorate, to determine their candidates and positions.  They are committed to a nationwide policy of voter restriction, and actual interference in free and fair Elections.  If their actions were occurring in another nation, we would be talking about sending in monitors to make sure the voting processes were fair.  

And the Republican Party is in the process of “purging” any member who does not agree with the “45-ers”.  It’s not just denying Liz Cheney a leadership position in the House of Representatives.  They are organizing primary challenges to many “moderate” Republican candidates, challenges that are likely to be successful.

Look at who’s running for the Republican nomination for Senator in Missouri.  The two leading candidates:  former Governor Eric Greitens, who resigned from office after accusations of sexual assault and blackmail. And attorney Mark McCloskey, best known for brandishing an AR style rifle at Black Lives Matter protestors passing in front of his home. What they both have in common:  oaths of fealty to the former President.

Pygmy Elephants

It’s all about the 12.5%, and perhaps some of the rest of those that identify Republican.  But it clearly ignores the real “elephant” in the Republican room.  What about the vast majority of the American electorate – some Democrat but the rest “independent”?  The Republican strategy is to keep them from voting, win their small slice of the pie, and declare victory.

And that’s the American dilemma right now.  The gerrymandering of political districts have created state legislatures that are dominated by extremist “45-ers” in many states, including here in Ohio.  Those legislatures are “codifying” an exclusive voting system, and in some states, taking legislative power over the election results. 

Instead of trying to win a majority, they are shaping elections where the minority can claim victory.  If that sounds like Trump 2020, it should.  It’s the next step in the “Stop the Steal” campaign that led to the Insurrection, a “legal” way of gaining control without a majority of the votes.  It didn’t end at the Capitol steps on January 6th.  It just moved to the hallways of capitol buildings in Phoenix, Madison, Atlanta, and yes, here in Columbus as well.

The shirtless idiot wearing horns became the “poster boy” for the January 6th Insurrection.  But the real leaders of the “rebellion”  now are the shirt and tied legislators in state capitols around the country.  The insurrection continues. 

 We have been warned.

Outside My Window – Part 15

This is another in the series about life in Pataskala, and because it’s us – dogs.

High Summer

It’s only May, but it feels like “high summer” here in Pataskala.  The thermometer topped ninety degrees yesterday.  I could hear my air conditioner groaning – we keep the house at a constant sixty-five degrees all four seasons.  It’s great for Jenn and I sleeping – but that’s not the main reason.   Sixty-five degrees keeps the four dogs in our house happy, especially the senior citizen, Buddy.  And what keeps Buddy happy, keeps us ALL happy – at least that’s the operating system here.

We’ve lost three of our big trees in the past few years, and what used to be a shaded home now gets full sun.  The morning is no longer blocked by the old oak in the east, and the noon sun is hardly touched by our new young maple out front, replacing the original.  But it’s in the afternoon that the west side of the house cooks, the stump of the other old maple now covered by our “sun deck”.  Right now you could fry eggs on it.

So the indoor temperature creeps up into the low seventies by late afternoon, and Buddy climbs into the bathtub, trying to find the cool.  It’s always good for a “surprise” for visitors using our facilities:  they hear a groan from behind the shower curtain just as they get seated!! 

Use the Force

The mosquitoes must think it’s “high summer” as well.  Right now, the three in the morning walk (one dog on steroids – he has to go!!) feels like that old commercial – the Raid “Yard Guard” test.  That was the one where the man put his arm in a tank of mosquitoes, and they completely covered his skin.  Then – with the “Raid” on his arm – they left it alone.  

So if you see a hooded figure looking like a Jedi Knight wandering our backyard in the middle of the night, now you know.  That isn’t a light saber for protection, it’s a flashlight carefully guiding the path around the “landmines” of four dogs.  And it’s not a robe, it’s a full jacket with hood, zipped up in the middle of the night heat, the sole protection from blood loss due to mosquito penetration.

Foster Pup

Did I say four dogs?  Right now, it’s actually five.  Our organization, Lost Pet Recovery, rescued this incredibly cute Pit-mix puppy from a drainage pipe near Dayton.  There was a foster placement all set up for the girl, named CeCe (pronounced CEE CEE), a home with young kids to fit right in with the young puppy.  But she proved to be too much:  four kids under nine and a puppy was overwhelming, and we had to do an “emergency” pickup.

So Cece is now here, learning how to deal with four other dogs, and Jenn and I of course.  She had a bit of a scare early this morning, when she decided her food bowl wasn’t near as interesting as that of our Lab, Atticus.  Atticus is a wonderful guy, but he doesn’t do “food sharing” very well.  He didn’t hurt CeCe, just reminded her that it was HIS bowl and HIS food and SHE was not welcome to share.  CeCe escaped unscathed, but definitely got the message.

This is the “backdoor” way to becoming a “Dahlman Dog” – foster “failure” leading to adoption.  We have two other dogs who came in under the guise of fostering, and now they have a permanent place.  But five dogs, and one a puppy at that – CeCe will get a great (and hopefully short) education here, then find a final home somewhere else – I hope.  If you’re interested in the cutest puppy ever – let us know!!

Spring Growth

Besides mosquitoes, early “high summer” in Ohio also means outbreaks of dandelions, seventeen-year cicadas, and orange barrels.  Right now, the main north/south highway out of Pataskala is closed.  One of the main east/west highways has gone from four lane to two, full of semi-trucks trying to reach Amazon and the other “distribution centers” in nearby Etna.  Today I’m starting a four-day track meet in Chillicothe, seventy miles south of here.  I don’t have to be there until two or so, but I’m already plotting how I can get out of Pataskala, without getting stuck in a local traffic jam.

It feels like high summer in Ohio today – but it’s still early.  High in the eighties today – but by day three of the Chillicothe track meet, the low will be in the forties.  The meet bag is stuffed with every type of clothes imaginable.  One day this week might be a “roof-down” Jeep day – but another will require the heat on the way home.  

Orange barrels, thunderstorms, heat stroke and shivering cold:  outside my window it’s May in Ohio.

Freedom to Post

Hate Speech

We’ve heard the cry for years.  “How can Facebook delete MY comments.  That’s a violation of my FREEDOM OF SPEECH”.  It has been a complaint of the far right, the far left and a myriad of other folks who use social media as their main form of expression. 

They claim it’s “UNAMERICAN” to censor speech, any kind of speech, even the kind that invokes hate.  There’s even controversy about the short term for explaining that kind of speech, “hate-speech”.  The term itself sounds like something out of Orwell’s 1984, like the Ministry of Peace that waged war, or the Ministry of Truth that pushed propaganda.

Now the great state of Florida has waded “alligator deep” into the fray.  This week Governor DeSantis signed into law regulations restricting social media platforms from banning a political candidate for more than fourteen days at a time.  It also makes it easier for private citizens to sue those platforms for “inconsistent” regulation of what they put on social media.

Who Is Regulated

On the face of it, telling Facebook and the rest what to do sounds almost “normal”.  We are used to hearing these kinds of regulations.  Schools must allow freedom of expression and so do our communities.  You might not like the “F—K Biden” sign hanging on your neighbor’s porch, you might think it’s inappropriate for one to be across the street from an elementary school, but it’s the classic definition of “freedom of speech”.  We don’t want the government telling us what we can say.

And that fits right into the actual wording of the Constitution that provides “freedom of speech”.  The First Amendment states:  “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech or of the press”.  And there it is – Congress, and by the extension of the 14th Amendment, the state governments as well, cannot regulate most speech.  So if the government can’t regulate it, why should Facebook and Twitter and all the rest be allowed to?

There’s a simple answer to that:  social media platforms are not the government.  They are companies, massive in scope and interaction, international in reach, but individual companies none-the-less.  They are not “government”.  When you sign onto Facebook or the rest, you are actually creating a contract with those companies.  And in the great tradition of contract law, you are establishing a “quid pro quo” relationship.  You get to use Facebook without paying a fee.  But Facebook gets to use your information, selling it to advertisers and others.  And they also get to follow your usage, saving “where you go”, so they can more specifically direct those who do pay – to you.

Mom and Pop

So social media isn’t restricted by the First Amendment.  They are more like that restaurant down the street, the one with the “no shoes, no shirt, (no mask), no service” sign in the window.  If you go into that restaurant and throw your food at others, you might get thrown out.  If you make a big scene over how your eggs were done, you might be banned from coming back.  We don’t restrict privately owned restaurants from those actions, with certain very narrow exceptions.  If it can be shown that the restaurant is discriminating based on race, religion, sexual identification, or ethnic origin, then there are legal restrictions.  Other than that, they can control who they serve, and what they serve.

Those discriminatory regulations are based on the “interstate commerce clause” in Article I of the Constitution.  Since those businesses are involved in interstate commerce, even the “Mom and Pop” café down the street, certain areas of their operation can be regulated by the Federal government.  There’s interstate commerce on the corner in Pataskala?  Sure – the potatoes come from Idaho, the orange juice from Florida, and the apple sauce from Michigan.  

Interstate Commerce

So now that we are buried in Constitutional Law, here’s the dilemma.  The Federal government can regulate some private business discriminatory behavior under the “commerce clause”.   But guaranteeing “freedom of speech” under the First Amendment is not a requirement of those companies, only of the government itself.  The “law” regards those corporations as “entities” with their own “right” to determine what happens in their places of business.  That’s even if the place of business is right here, on the computer screen, all over the world.

But, as any astute law student would now suggest, why can’t the government regulate those businesses under the laws against discrimination, just like they do the Mom and Pop Café.  Then the government would “just” have to show that Facebook was discriminating against a protected class of people – and regulation could be applied.

Congressional Power

Well, Congress could.  That’s the main purpose of the millions of dollars spent by the social media giants in lobbying the Federal government; preventing Federal regulation.   And, so far, that lobbying effort has been very successful.  Social media companies have managed to portray Congress as “unfit” to regulate their highly technical industry, and prevented all attempts to control what goes on their platform.  “We can regulate ourselves,” they say – “we already do with graphic violence and pornography”.  

There’s a lot to be said for regulating social media.  It’s profound impact on our political life means that private individuals like Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey are making decisions that impact our collective future.  We can trust that they will do what’s profitable for their business.  But can we trust and that it will be in the best interest of the nation?

One thing we can be sure of.  No single state, like Florida, will be able to enforce regulations on a company that is by definition “interstate”, and in fact, international.  That would be the job of Congress. 

If they’re up to it.   

Old Friends

220 Man

If you’ve read many of the essays in “Our America”, you already know that I was a high school track and field coach.  I started when I was twenty-one, just a couple of years older than my seniors, as the sprint and hurdle coach at Watkins Memorial High School in Pataskala, Ohio.  I loved track – it had been my “main” sport since I read my first book about Jesse Owens at ten years old.  It didn’t hurt that I was the “playground” fifty yard dash champion at Southdale Elementary School, either. 

And when I had the opportunity to actually meet and spend a few minutes with Mr. Owens, that cemented my sports focus.  Sure I played Little League baseball until I was twelve.  And I swam on a club swim team, and later in high school.  And I wrestled too, in middle school and in high school.  But in the end, it was all about track and field.  I was a “220” man, and like most sprinters I ran “my race” and the sprint relays, and under duress, the 4×440 relay as well.  (Modern track folks will need translation – “220” is now “200” and 4×440 is now the 4×400 – metrics prevailed).

Beauty Behind the School

So it was natural that when I was student teaching and they suggested I help with an extra-curricular activity, I gravitated towards the track.  I remember that early March day in 1978, when I first “checked out” the track at Watkins.  The snow had just melted, and I went out back of the old high school (now old middle school) to see.  The gates were all locked, I had to climb the fences to get in.  

It was brand new – put in the previous summer.  And it was an “all weather” track, made of rubberized asphalt and latex binding.  That was something – both my high school and college tracks had been cinders – compressed coal ash.  You wore ½ inch spikes in your shoes to get traction in the cinders, and tried not to fall.  But this was a track-man’s definition of beauty:  the bright white lines circling the deep black surface, the multiple colored starting and exchange zones scattered along the way, the “tic” marks for hurdle settings – all permanent.  

They threw away the “four-lane” white lime lane machine used on the old 300 yard cinder track around the practice field.  Watkins now had “the best” track in the County.  I climbed back over the fences, ready to coach kids in Black and Gold. 

That started a forty year journey.

Old Coaches Never Die

I’ve told a lot of stories about kids and track and coaching.  But today’s story is a little different.  It’s about the camaraderie of the folks I met along the way.

I retired from coaching after the 2017 season (check it out, it really is forty years), and pretty much stepped away from the track.  The next year I helped out at some meets, but it wasn’t until 2019 that I decided to go back on the track in a different role, this time as an official.  I had a license for most of my coaching career, but I didn’t actually officiate much.  It was always good to have though.  I was “up” on all of the rules, and in the pre-season discussions when officials were deciding how to “make the calls”.  

But two years ago I decided to get serious about officiating.  Like most other forms of self-employment, getting officiating jobs is often about who you know.  And I was lucky to have some official and coaching friends willing to suggest me for assignments.  

So in 2019 I got a few jobs, a total of ten track meets for the spring.  That was a little frustrating, but even though I was an “old hand”, for many, I was a “new” official.  Sure I’d officiated the Big Ten Collegiate Pole Vault – but it was in the 1980’s .  And I’d done dozens of Junior Olympic long jumps, triple jumps, and pole vaults, but that was in the 1990’s .  So I was patient, I knew 2020 would be better.

But there wasn’t a track season in 2020 – COVID shut us down.

Wearing Black and White

So this year I had big expectations.  And I’ve had a lot of work. I’ve officiated at twenty-one meets so far this year – with four more to go this Regional week, my last of the season.  While my “speciality” is officiating pole vault (no surprise), I’ve done almost every field event, and started and clerked as well. There’s been middle school and high school meets, and a couple of schools have had me back several times (thanks Licking Heights and Hilliard).  

What about Watkins – well they already have excellent officials on tap:  I made sure of that when I was coaching.  I’ve done a couple meets with them, but they’ve got the literal “big guns” working their meets – and those officials have earned the right to stay there.  I don’t want to mess that up.

Officiating is different than coaching.  The job is to be fair, efficient, and set the stage so the kids can have their best opportunity to succeed.  Running “a good” event, means keeping it organized, moving, and “by the book”.   Wearing the black and white officiating uniform, instead of the black and gold of coaching, keeps me a lot quieter.  Instead of focusing on the “technique” of the athlete, I focus on the rules of the event.

Catching Up

And it is fun.  Fun to see the kids succeed, and fun to see the old friends I made over forty years on the track.  Yesterday I officiated for the first time in Eastern Ohio, running the girls long jump at Meadowbrook High School’s District just south of Cambridge.  As a coach, for many years my teams ran at least one meet in Eastern Ohio during the season, at Cambridge or over on the river at Bellaire and Wheeling.  So I got to know many of the “veteran” (read old) hands of track and field in Eastern Ohio. 

I showed up in Byesville early yesterday morning.  Anyone who ran or coached with me won’t be surprised:  I was one of the first to arrive.  I wanted to be all set up before kids got on the runway.  So I was over at the long jump when I heard the first – “what are you doing in an official’s shirt – isn’t your team running today?”.  It was good to catch up with the Eastern coaches, to hear them talk about their teams and successes, and to chime in on stories from the “old days”.

One former rival from the County was there – the coach of Licking Heights in the 1970’s and 80’s.  His son is now the longtime coach at Meadowbrook, and at ninety years old he comes out to help out at the meets.  We had our challenges “in the day”.  He was an older hand, I was the “new guy” building a program at Watkins.  But it was great to see him now – talking workouts and memories of great performances.  And he’s still setting goals – now the goal is 100 years old.  I’d bet on him making it.

Cruisin’

And it was fun meeting new younger coaches as well.  I still have a “hand” in pole vault education, and even though I was at the long jump, a couple young coaches and I had some discussion about making pole vaulting safer and better in their area.  They don’t know me as a coach.  I’m just an “old guy”, one of those gray haired track figures like those that intimidated me when I was a young coach back in the 1980’s .  I hope I don’t intimidate them that way – it’s exciting to hear their plans and goals.  If I can encourage that – then maybe I’m still contributing a little bit, beyond just calling “fair and foul”.

So it was a fun day in the sun at Meadowbrook yesterday.  And a great day for a Jeep ride back home, the top down, music at turned all the way up, cruising west on I-70.  

It’s always good to be back on track.

False Equivalence

January 6 Commission

It’s hard to see how the proposed January 6th Commission could be more fair.  There would be ten members; five Democrats, five Republicans.  Both Democrats and Republicans would have subpoena power.  The Commission report would be issued by the end of this calendar year, 2021.  That’s important – whatever the report might say, it wouldn’t come out in the 2022 election season.  In our current “warp speed” news cycle, its impact would be over well before the battle for the Congress is truly joined.

And it’s hard to see how the proposed January 6th Commission could be more relevant.  The National law enforcement and security agencies all agree:  the biggest terror threat to our nation isn’t Hamas, or Al Qaeda, or even Isis.  It’s White Supremacy and hyper-nationalism, the leaders of the January 6th Insurrection.  It’s the only time our National Capitol has been taken by storm since the War of 1812.  It was an attempt to stop the fundamental Constitutional duty to choose the leader of the executive branch; an attempt that came perilously close to succeeding.  How can we not examine the causes, the failures, and the successes that led up to that day?

Black Lives Matter

To try to equate the Black Lives Matter protests of the summer of 2020 with the Insurrection of January 6th isn’t even comparing “apples and oranges”.  It’s comparing apples and bowling balls.  Yes, there were original protests involved.  And yes, most of those protestors were there to “be heard”, not to commit violence. And there were portions of each of the protestors who were determined to commit violence.  But that’s where the “equivalencies” end.

The Black Lives Matters protests were essentially nothing new.  They were very much the same as the Civil Rights protests in the 1960’s, protests demanding that the Constitutional Right of “equal protection under the law” be enforced for all Americans.  In the 1960’s they were all about segregation, Jim Crow laws, and voting in the 1960’s.  This year they were about something even more fundamental:  “the law” is literally taking the lives of Black men.  

Like the protests of 1960’s, sometimes those protests got out of control and turned into riots.  Sometimes that was because there were folks in the protests who were more interested in violence and looting than “the cause”.  Sometimes it was because the authorities mishandled the protests, serving to instigate the protestors to violence (including here in Columbus).

But there is no question that Black Lives Matter protests were based in the facts of the George Floyd murder and others.  We all saw it with our own eyes, and a jury in Minneapolis has made it clear with their verdict.  And Black Lives Matter protests were overwhelmingly peaceful.   Over ninety-six percent of those protests had no property damage, and an even larger percentage were without injury (Harvard).

So that’s the apple.  Let’s compare it to the bowling ball.

Bowling Balls

The entire premise of the January 6th Insurrection was false.  Every legitimate examination of the 2020 Presidential election showed that there was no “steal” to stop.  The Republican Attorney General agreed, as did the agencies responsible for overseeing the computer security of the voting process.  The “Big Lie” had its roots in the 2016 election, when the Republican candidate was “softening the ground” for his loss, by stating that the election “was rigged”.  He was as surprised by his win as the rest of us.  And we all watched with our own eyes the basic “lie” established, when Fox News’s Chris Wallace asked if he would accept the outcome of the election if he didn’t win – and he refused to say yes.

The entire 2020 Republican campaign for President was premised on the “fact” (lie) that they would win “on election day”, then have the “win” ripped away from them in the days to follow.  The reality that in a pandemic it would take several days to complete the vote count fit perfectly with their false narrative.  

Questions Need Answers

So we have one of the two national political parties, led by the (now former) President of the United States, establishing a lie about the fundamental process of elections.  Then that lie was used to incite Americans to come to the Capitol to interrupt the Constitutional process of confirming the election.  It is clear now that there was pre-planning involved for a violent attack in the building, and the Congress assembled within.  Who was involved in the planning, and the attack, and whether there was collusion between political and Government authorities and the planners are questions that the January 6thCommission could answer. 

Instead we have one political party by and large still committed to the “big lie”.  That commitment has led their leaders to renege on the statements they made in the “heat” of the insurrection, when they bravely returned to the Capitol to fulfill their Constitutional obligations.  For most Republicans Members of Congress, and particularly those leaders, that courage has disappeared. They don’t want to know what happened on January 6th.

Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan had it right yesterday when he said:

“…We need two political parties in this country living in reality – and you ain’t one of them”. 

Foreseeable Consequences

“When you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose”  – Bob Dylan, (Like a Rolling Stone)

Live Today

NBC’s Richard Engle reports from the middle of a Palestinian demonstration on the West Bank.  A Hama’s missile, fired from Gaza, strikes and kills Israeli civilians.  The current death toll in Palestinian Gaza, the most tightly packed population center in the world, is almost 200.  And the United States and the world seems helpless to stop it.

Divisions

We are.  The situation in the Middle East is incredibly complex.  The Palestinians themselves are divided, with the West Bank controlled by the Palestinian Authority, the technical “government” of Palestine, and Gaza run by Hamas, an acknowledged terrorist organization, funded by the Iranians.  And while the Palestinian Authority and Hamas are bitter rivals for power, their differences pale beside their grievances with the Israeli government.

And the Israeli government is itself in “flux”.  After four national elections in two years the situation has not changed.  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains barely in control, more because his opposition cannot coalesce around a single rival than support for his own Likud Party.  But Netanyahu is also under criminal indictment, and remains Prime Minister only as a caretaker until – well – something changes.  After vote after vote, it hasn’t. 

US Ignorance

And the prime “peace-maker” in the Middle East, the United States, has pursued a four year policy of ignoring and even antagonizing the Palestinians.  The Trump Administration moved the symbolic United States embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move designed to improve Trump’s domestic political situation, but guaranteed to produce Palestinian outrage.  As the ceremonies for the “new” embassy were being held, Palestinians were being shot and killed across the Gaza border.  The Palestinians were in Gaza and the Israelis were in Israel, shooting.  And the United States said nothing.

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner negotiated the “Abrahamic Accords”, normalizing relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.  It was heralded as a “great step forward in Middle East peace”, and placed some financial supporters of the Palestinian Authority in a “peaceful” position with Israel.   But those negotiations served to further isolate the Palestinians, and empowered Hamas, who continued to get support from Iran.

Expansion

And the Israelis continue to expand settlement in the occupied territories, East Jerusalem and the West Bank.  Part of that is about the traditional historic/religious position of Israel.  Part is practical:  if the population of the occupied territories is increasingly Israeli, then any future “popular sovereignty” peace solution will be in their favor.  And part of the expansion is for Israeli domestic political consumption.  The hard religious and “right wing” Israeli political parties see East Jerusalem and the West Bank as part of “Greater Israel”.  To gain their political support in the parliament, Netanyahu has to support expansion.

It also helps with the all-important Evangelical Christian support in the United States.  They see Israel as fulfilling Biblical prophecy, and many vote accordingly in US elections.  Meanwhile the US Democratic Party is faced with increased divisions, with the “left wing” of the Party concerned more about Palestinian rights than Israeli protection.  It didn’t help that Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu allied themselves personally as well as politically.

Nothing to Lose

It’s hard to see what Hamas has to lose by firing missiles into Israel.  Ninety percent of them are blocked by the US supplied “Iron Dome” defense system.  But if hundreds are fired, then tens will get  through, do damage and kill civilians.  Israel will respond with overwhelming force.  And when they do, they will kill hundreds more Palestinians than Israelis killed, more martyrs for the cause. 

And for Hamas, that’s a win.  In the eyes of the world, Israel becomes the bully, the murderer of children.  The world heard the words of the ten year old Palestinian child, fluent in English (learned from YouTube).  She eloquently demanded that the Israelis explain why they are killing civilians, children, the elderly.  It’s powerful stuff (Video), so moving that it makes you wonder.   Real or not, it echoes the movie “Wag the Dog”.

Hamas is a terrorist organization.  But there is no room in Gaza for “military” installations placed carefully apart from civilians.  Gaza has over two million people packed into 147 square miles (the city of Columbus, Ohio has 225 square miles with only 800,000).  So the underground fortifications, the tunnels, are dug underneath civilian housing.  To hit military targets, Israel has little choice but to target civilians – they’re in the same place.  

Hamas may lose civilians and infrastructure, but they and their Iranian backers are the real winners of this conflict.  The Israelis look terrible to the world, and the United States looks helpless.  That all plays into the Iranian hands.

If, after all of that, you think I have a solution to the Middle East crisis – well I wish I did.  What I do know is that there will never be peace in the Middle East unless the issue of the Palestinians is resolved.  Four years of US neglect did nothing but make that issue worse, and we are reaping the whirlwind now.

Unmasked

Hope

The CDC announced last week that those who are fully vaccinated can stop wearing masks outside, and in many cases, inside as well.  After over a year of struggling to get the American people to accept mask wearing as a “normal” part of pandemic life, the CDC began the process of returning to “real” normal life. 

Masks became the symbol of all the politics that surrounded COVID.  It was one of the sure signs of political affiliation:  voters for Biden wore masks, many voters for “the other guy” did not.  Masks became a sign of “political speech”.  What should have been a reasonable public health action, became an exercise in the First Amendment:  “If I can wear a shirt with a political slogan, I can choose not to wear a mask”.  

Confusion

The pandemic began with mask confusion.  The reality was – there weren’t enough masks for hospitals and other medical settings.  So the CDC, and the guru of America’s pandemic response, Dr. Fauci, didn’t mandate mask wearing for the general public.  They were afraid that the populace would snatch up all of the available supply, and leave hospital workers even more vulnerable than they already were.

Once the mask supply was stabilized, then the CDC advised everyone to wear masks.  But the damage was already done.  Videos of Dr. Fauci saying “masks aren’t necessary” were played over and over.  Meanwhile, the President was in the process of promising the pandemic would be over by Easter, then Memorial Day, then the Fourth of July.  So the political fight was on.

Masks, by the way, work.  Mask wearing allowed many schools to open, and clearly prevented disease.  If you still question that – look at the flu epidemic of 2020.  There wasn’t one, in fact, numbers for the flu were almost non-existent.  Masks stopped the flu, and it reduced the much more infectious COVID 19 as well.  

Herd Immunity

We were told by those medical professionals on the “mask” side, and even those who seemed to be in favor of just letting it go, that the goal was “herd immunity”.  The idea, that we would reach a percentage of folks who either already had COVID, or later, were vaccinated, that the virus would stop spreading.  More importantly, “herd immunity” would reduce the risk of viral mutations that could thwart vaccines and treatments.

The number varied, but it was generally accepted that 80% of the population would need to be “immune” before herd immunity would kick in.  And once “Operation Warp Speed” succeeded in helping produce multiple vaccines – we thought that “herd immunity” was in sight.

But vaccines got mired in politics as well.  Folks from “the right” said the vaccine was another infringement on their “rights”.  Folks from the anti-vaxxer world (many on “the left”) warned that the vaccines were rushed and untested.  By the way, those arguments might have had more strength, if we didn’t already know that the anti-vaxxers would be against the vaccines regardless – they would find any reason for opposition.  (It is with sadness that one of the leading anti-vaxxers is the son of one of my great political heroes – Robert Kennedy).

The politics create enough friction that it’s unlikely that the United States will ever reach a “herd immunity” status.  Instead, pandemic experts now say we will have to continue to modify vaccines to meet the changing mutations, and develop more effective treatment for those who become infected.  We won’t end the pandemic – we’ll learn to live with it.

Masks Off

But vaccination is still important.  And the CDC recognizes that there needs to be some “reward” for being vaccinated.  The numbers (“the science”) seem pretty clear.  Vaccinations have a 90% or better rate of preventing infection, and an almost 100% rate of preventing hospitalization or death.  So get vaccinated – and the CDC has provided the reward.  Take off your mask!!

What about those not vaccinated?  Their choice – now – and their risk.  Vaccines are so available that they are giving rewards for getting them.  Ohio pays one vaccinated person a million dollars – every week.  In New York, you can get “a shot and a shot” at your local bar.  So if someone chooses not to get vaccinated then they risk infection.  COVID, like polio and the measles, has not “gone away”.  It’s simply been “tamped down” by the masks, and now by vaccinations.  

So not wearing masks will definitely increase the incidence of COVID infection – but not likely among the vaccinated (and those with immunity from having had the disease).  But the argument goes – if you won’t get vaccinated, you probably weren’t wearing a mask anyway.  So why “punish” those who are following public health recommendations?

Me

I am a track and field official these days – spending many evenings and Saturdays outside on the track.  Even before the “science” caught up, we knew that being outside made COVID infection less likely.  Look at the Black Lives Matter protests last June, that we thought would create “super-spreader” events.  They didn’t.  

I’ve been wearing a mask at every meet.  There’s lots of kids (not vaccinated) and lots of “heavy breathing” going on.  In the next few weeks I’ll be on the track a lot more as the high school season finishes up.  I’ll be standing beside a runway, unintentionally “socially distanced” from athletes, coaches and spectators, officiating pole vault and long jump.  

If the Ohio High School Athletic Association tells me I have to keep my mask on – I’ll do it.  But I’m fully vaccinated (Pfizer), and if they give me the go ahead – it’s masks off for me too.  I’ll be happy to put my sunglasses back on – no masks means no fogging up!!!!

Lou’s Saga

Rescue

In several posts over the past nine months, I’ve talked about our rescue dog “Louisiana”.  Lou, was rescued by the good folks at Lost Pet Recovery, including my wife Jenn, from Baton Rouge, Louisiana (hence the name).  He was left broken in a parking lot at LSU, two legs and a hip – probably hit by a car.  He’s a long legged pup, a year or so old. And he’s a regular Heinz 57 of breeds with Boxer’s paws, a Greyhound’s legs, and a Pit-like face.

The LPR team brought Lou home to Columbus, and paid the expenses as he had plates put in one leg, the hip relocated, and the other leg allowed to heal.  For the first few weeks after he was kept by a great Vet-Tech from OSU in her apartment. But Lou had an amazingly loud “Pterodactyl cry”, and while he didn’t use it often, it was “inappropriate” for an apartment setting.  So Jenn and I took him in to complete his long rehab, from October until February.

Lou got better, and became fast friends with another of our dogs, Keelie.  There were a set, so much so that we couldn’t face breaking them up.  Like Keelie herself, Lou became a “foster fail” – we adopted him.  By February he was in a routine, hanging with the other three dogs, and had his place in bed with the rest of us  (a King bed isn’t quite big enough anymore).  

He even gets along with Buddy, our oldest.

The Last Hurdle

But Lou had one more hurdle to clear – and it’s a high one.  In Lou’s wanderings before he ended up in the LSU parking lot, he contracted heart worms.  Fair warning – the next paragraph explains heart worms – and isn’t for the squeamish. But there is a point to all of this beyond the physiology of dogs – so hang in.

Heart worms are literally what they sound like.  They are parasitic worms that are transmitted to dogs through bites by infected mosquitos.  The larvae migrate through the blood to the heart vessels – the aorta and other major arteries. They then attach inside of them and feed on bacteria in the blood.  They propagate, with their “babies” circulating through the system (where more mosquitos can get them) and then find a place of their own in the dog’s arteries.  Eventually, they clog off enough space.  Circulation is restricted, and the dog dies.

Getting rid of heart worms is a two phase process.  The first isn’t so bad – a month long course of medication that kills the bacteria that the “babies” eat in the blood.  So they die.  And if you leave the dog on that treatment for as long as a couple of years – then the adult worms may die too.  But to really “cure” the dog, it requires a second step.  And it’s phase two – killing the mature worms – that’s the roughest part.   

The treatment consists of three injections of a drug called “Immiticide”.  It kills the adult worms in the blood vessels.  The painful injections are given over thirty days – the first at the beginning, and the second and third on the last two days.  They literally “break up” the adult worms – causing worm material to circulate through the body.  That means that the dog has to be kept calm.  Increase in circulation risks lung damage, strokes and blockages as worm materials work out of the circulatory system.  From the first shot to the “end of restrictions” is at least three months.

Getting Better

Lou’s a gamer.  He got his third injection yesterday.  It will be another two months before he can run in the back yard and tackle Keelie again.  But he’s able to play a little in the house, and he does get to walk on leash when the others dogs are out. He doesn’t seem to mind too much that he gets all the personal attention from Jenn and I.  The only remaining problem: part of the treatment is that Lou is on steroids, and that means he’s incredibly thirsty, hungry, and in need a lot of walks.  Our new normal is a three in the morning stroll around the backyard.  I hope Lou remembers where to go:  my eyes are barely open.

And all of our other dogs?  They are on heart worm prevention medication – the same medication that Lou will be taking once all the treatments are over.  Yep, it’s a little pricey, especially for four dogs, but it’s a whole lot better than getting the worms and having to deal with them.

Our America

So why am I writing about dogs and heart worms?  Well, first that’s become a major topic in our life, and will be for a while longer.  But second, while this may be a bit of a reach – isn’t Our America a little like a dog with heart worms?

Right now, we are moving around OK, not really noticing too much that our national “blood flow” is gradually getting restricted.  But the parasite is present.  America has had a slow developing malfunction in our political circulation for years, well before the election of 2016.  What used to be a more open “discussion” of issues and options, now isn’t allowed.  We are polarized, trapped on our sides, and the room for negotiation and compromise is narrowed.

Our nation had the opportunity to take the “Immiticide” and resolve the issue.  It could have happened after the January 6th Insurrection.  But that moment seems to have passed, and while we might be “taking the antibiotic” to slowly get rid of the larvae, we really aren’t dealing with the problem.  Need an example:  look at the United States House of Representatives.  This week the leader of the Republican Party led a purge of Party leadership because one was a “non-believer” in the “Big Lie”.  Then he went to the White House and stated the truth –  that Joe Biden was the legitimate President.  Then he tweeted that Biden was “corrupt” and “socialist”.  

We the People

I’ve been driving a lot lately, traveling to officiate track meets.  I’m listening along the way to lectures on the definitive writings on the US Constitution, The Federalist Papers (it really doesn’t get any geekier than that).  One of the critical points the lecturer makes, is that the Founders believed in an “ultimate fix” for failures in their governing structure.  Ultimately, “We the People”, the citizens of the United States, could determine when our government isn’t doing what it should be. 

They built in political revolution – right there in the Constitution.  It’s called elections, and over four years the “righteous might” of the American people can alter the path of our political life.  The Founders depended on that as the ultimate “check and balance” in the American government.  

So if 2020 was the start of our “treatment”, the antibiotic to starve off the larvae, then we have put off the “Immiticide” until 2022.  But sooner or later We (the people) will need to make the change, and purge our politics of the forces  that drive us a part.  

If not, then our government will be like the untreated heart worm dog – slowing down from lack of circulation, until – it stops.