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Lessons Learned

This is another in the Sunday story series. No “current” politics today.

Young Athlete

I’ve been involved with athletics for almost all of my life. I was a five-year old Little Leaguer in Cincinnati, (the University of Cincinnati basketball coach, Tay Baker, was our Coach). I competed as a swimmer when we lived in Dayton and then in high school. And I always knew I was fast, the fastest kid in Southdale Elementary School. I loved 50 yard dash day.

Then I read the Jesse Owens story, and I was hooked on track and field, even more than being the first baseman on the baseball team. Through Scouting I actually got fifteen minutes to talk to Mr. Owens. That cemented my track decision. And finally, in Junior High, I started wrestling. There was even a point when I was swimming, wrestling, and getting ready for track all at the same time.

Wrestling

As a high school wrestler, I experienced a “questionable coach”. He taught us a lot about wrestling. But he also made sure we knew how to cheat the weigh-in scales. You could casually lean back on a convenient teammate’s thumb directly behind you. Or you could crunch up paper to put under the foot plate of the scale (all balance scales back then). And there were a variety of other ways to “rig” the system.

It was about that time that I also learned that you could “stand on your head” for a couple of minutes, then jump upright and onto the scale. This wasn’t cheating, it just defied the laws of physics. But it worked: usually saving the few ounces needed to make weight. A common sight at weigh-ins back then, was for several wrestlers to be upside down against the wall, waiting to get a final shot at the scale. (In more modern times, wrestlers weigh-in with a singlet on, and only get one try).

But that same Coach demonstrated the dedication that wrestling requires, especially when it came to controlling weight. He was a “hands on” coach, and if he really wanted to teach a lesson, you’d wrestle with him all practice. After all, we were adolescent boys, wrestling in weight classes fifteen to twenty pounds below or normal weights. Boys not eating for days at a time – that’s dedication.

Looking back on all that, my wrestling coach was young, fresh out of University of Cincinnati. The cheating was a “reverse” lesson for me, showing the kind of example I didn’t want to be. But there was an even more important point from that Coach. You can be the person that kids will “run through a wall” for. It’s up to you to pick the right wall.

Track

And speaking of high school coaches, my track coach for two years was Gary Jump. Coach Jump was really a football coach, and he ran the track team like it was football conditioning. But, he was a good guy and one lesson he taught me hit home. We were on a bus trip to an away track meet. But it also was the day before “senior skip day”. The senior athletes discussed how to “get away” with it on the bus. Being the budding lawyer that I was back then, I suggested that they claim they were sick, all at once, at the Winton Woods picnic area.

Then Coach Jump, sitting in the front (that’s where the coaches go – right?), growled at me. It was a simple phrase, but it stuck with me for now fifty-two years. He answered, with what we would now call “mike drop” simplicity. “Dahlman, they aren’t LIARS”. And that struck home. I did skip school senior skip day, but I did it in the middle. I showed up in the morning, then skipped out for lunch. Then I came back afterwards, with lunch for my favorite teacher, Eve Bolton, the major reason I ended up a teacher myself. I was ready to “face the consequences. I wasn’t a LIAR.

No one got punished. As I now know, the school Administration was just as interested in getting rid of the inattentive seniors in May, as those Seniors were to go.

Coach

My first and most important early coaching mentor was John McGowan, my first head coach. John was competitive, and coached most of the team by himself in the early days. But John was also compassionate to our athletes, and made sure they knew that he (then we) cared about them more as people, than times and distances. For me, he became the ultimate “measuring stick” on how to coach. I wasn’t always successful, but we (my staff) tried to put the kids first. Then the effort, the dedication, and the success comes. Our Track team was a family, and my assistants and I worked to make that possible.

I was twenty-five when I became the Head Boys Track Coach at Watkins. Today, I would call me a “Kid Coach”, just like my old wrestling coach. “Kid Coaches” are the ones who look like they could put on a jersey and run a relay leg in a high school meet. When I see them now, it’s hard to be sure who they are: athlete, spectator or coach. Twenty-five was young, just a few years older than the sixty or more boys on the team. But I was confident, I mean, really confident, that we could be a great team, year in and year out.

I definitely stepped on some toes in those early days. I knew things were bad, when the High School Principal Bill McKinley told me, in the middle of a lecture on a different subject: “I see runners on the road, then I think about you, and I get nervous”. By the way, Bill and I didn’t get along when it came to track or cross country until the mid-1990’s. Then he gave me a sage piece of advice: “I respect staff who stand for what they believe in, even if it means you’re yelling at me!!” I did that once – stood up and yelled back. And our relationship became much better. Job saved – Lesson learned.

Official

I’ve been a track official since 1979 (with a pause in the early 2000’s). And most of those years, I also coached high school track and field at Watkins Memorial High School. I coached every event in track and field, from sprints relays and hurdles to shot and discus, high jump, long jump and, of course, pole vault. And, I even had national qualifying athletes in those events and more: Triple Jump, javelin and the steeplechase and the hammer throw .

I know my way “around” the track, and the field. So when I went to this “dark side”, officiating full -time, it was natural for me to start at pole vault. I still run the pole vault safety program for the Ohio Track Coaches, now for thirty-six years. I looked for officials to model, the best pole vault officials I worked with as a coach. That’s the kind of official I wanted to be (Tom, Roger, Brian, Patty, Bill; if you know, you know).

I’ve Officiated Districts, Regionals and the State meet for the past four years. The “book” on me, is that I’m a “pole vault guy”, who can still communicate with the “pole vault guy” coaches, as well as the “kid coaches” who come out with intensity and demands. They’re a younger me in from the 1980’s!!. As I tell them, I’ve been on their side of the “coaching box” (where coaches can watch their vaulters), a lot longer than I’ve been on this side (the “Dark Side”). I’ll be back at the District, Regional and State pole vault pits in May and June.

Future

Now, I’ve decided to diversify my officiating. So this year I applied for pole vault, District, Regional and State. But I also applied for the Head Field Judge, the official administrative position. That official is responsible for all of the Field events. Last week, I was hired as a Regional Pole Vault official for the Division IV competition in Chillicothe, and the Head Field Judge for the Division V competition at the same place (different days).

I’m not worried about knowing the “ins and outs” of field event rules. After all, I’ve got the vertical jumps down. I’ve done a lot of long jumps over the years, even at Districts meets. And I coached throws. But, there is a process for making sure that the implements, the shots and discs, are legal. They need to be weighed and measured with special templates. And then the “good ones” need to be marked to withstand impact, and so the event official knows that no one is sneaking in a “ringer” implement.

I called my “favorite” Head Field Judge, Mark Moore. Mark mentored me as I started this second career in 2019, making sure that I had the support and backup I needed to do my pole vault assignments. And Mark is directly responsible for me knowing my “official number”, signed on each score sheet. He had mine memorized even before I did, then he made sure I knew it. His quiet expertise is exactly the kind of Head Field Judge I want to be.

One More Story

At sixty-nine, I’ve had great mentors in all of my endeavors: teaching, coaching, administering, and now, officiating. But, there’s always “one more story”. This lesson I learned as a “hot shot” political operative working for the Carter/Mondale Presidential campaign in 1976. I was twenty-years old (still extremely confident), and owned a 1967 Volkswagen Squareback (station wagon).

Part of my job was to drive all of Southwestern Ohio, coordinating the different groups who were helping Carter win Ohio. I had fun with college groups and high school volunteers. Then I was assigned to work with the United Auto Workers labor union in Hamilton, Ohio. So I pulled up in my VW, wearing my personal“uniform”: blue sports coat with a Bicentennial American Flag tie. I went into the Hall, and had a good talk with the leadership about what they could do for Jimmy.

We completed our meeting, and I started to leave, when the Local President came up and put an arm across my shoulders. His grip was more than friendly, perhaps even a little menacing. He walked me to the Union Hall door, and quietly said: “You’re a rookie and we like you. But if you ever drive that Volkswagen up to this Hall again, we’re done with you”.

Good thing Dad had a second car, a bright red 1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass. It had the big engine, and I was tempted to see how fast it could go. But the suspension wasn’t as solid, and going much over eighty was an adventure that might have a bad ending. So, Dad saved the job for me. The UAW guys were a lot happier the next time I parked that Cutlass in front of their Hall. It was another lesson learned.

The Sunday Story Series

2025

Lost and Found – 2/22/25
Catching Cars – 3/2/25
PV Mentor – 3/31/25
Dogs, Jeeps, Fireworks and Beer Coolers 7/6/25
It’s About Time – 7/27-25
Gas War – 11/30/25

2026

The End of My Nose – 1/18/26
The End of the Jeep – 1/25/26
Fat Chipmunk – 2/15/26
A Flash of Unity – 2/23/26
Lessons Learned – 4/12/26

Protest Too Much

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks” – Hamlet (Act 3, Scene 2)

FLOTUS

Yesterday, the First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) Melania Trump, delivered a “stern” message to America. She firmly denied that she was in any way involved with Jeffrey Epstein. She claimed that she was aware of him and they spent a lot of time in the same social circles in both New York City and in Palm Beach. But that was it, just over-lapping social circles.

Yesterday, the President of the United States (POTUS) Donald Trump, said he didn’t know his wife was planning on speaking publicly. There was no statement from POTUS, supporting FLOTUS. Instead of “standing” by his wife, Trump used his universal excuse to the world: “I didn’t know”.

So why did Melania feel the need to address the Nation? It’s all about longtime Trump nemesis, author Michael Wolff. He’s the guy who wrote the “tell-all” near the beginning of Trump’s first term, Fire and Fury. I remember reading it in 2018, lounging on the beach in Florida when Jenn and I were doing our “snowbird” thing.

Getting Ahead

Wolff is a compelling author, but isn’t particularly wedded to the facts. The story comes first. And the story he’s working on right now, is about Jeffrey Epstein. It’s rumored that Wolff will claim Epstein “had” (in the Biblical sense) Melania first, then introduced her to Donald. Melania threatened to sue Wolff for a billion dollars. Wolff counter-sued. He claimed that she was denying his First Amendment rights, using the courts and huge numbers to suppress publication.

Melania is trying to “get ahead” of the story, before Wolff publishes. Of course what she really did is guarantee Wolff’s book pre-publication sales will put him on the New York Times bestseller list. Still, it’s an astute political move, claiming the high ground before Wolff gets the lower fields plowed. At least that’s good for her.

But it’s really NOT good for Donald Trump, who has, amazingly, managed to temporarily dampen the EPSTEIN FILES furor. It took a war, thousands of civilians dead, Billions of dollars spent, and shutting down 20% of the world’s oil supply to change the subject. Oh and that whole thing about wiping the Persian civilization out, “Sending them back to the Stone Age”.

EXTRA-EXTRA

Melania brought it all back, right to the front of the line (and the lead in the newscasts). That can’t be what her “Donald” wanted. And on top of that; Melania called on Congress to take the victims, place them under oath, and make them testify to the world. In other words, force the victims to be re-victimized. She said nothing about the perpetrators of the Epstein bacchanals, the now older white men who used their wealth and influence to get what they wanted from Epstein: sexual pleasure with under-aged girls (and even under-aged boys).

Here comes another round of victim statements, more calls from House Democrats for investigation and depositions, and probably longer Congressional recesses so that Republicans can “keep a lid on it”. Sure, bombs and death deflected from the EPSTEIN FILES for a while. But over two million documents are still hidden from public view.

FILES

Todd Blanche is the Trump attorney who interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell. She told him that the Trump’s weren’t involved. Blanche is now the Acting Attorney General of the United States. Maxwell is now housed in a minimum security prison, violating Bureau of Prisons policy for someone sentenced with her crimes. Any testimony by her is “tainted” by what looks from the outside like a corrupt bargain. She got her “quid pro quo”. Maybe a full pardon is next.

In the end, the EPSTEIN FILES won’t go away. Four dollar a gallon gas, Americans fighting abroad, the old Attorney General fired (and told not to testify to the House Committee): the appetite of the American people for Epstein information and justice does not stop. Melania might try to cover, and Michael Wolff try to profit; but in the end, America will know what happened. Justice will be done for the victims of Epstein, and to those who “benefitted” from his actions (that includes you Mr. Wexner!!).

So Dumb

I remember a Mel Brooks movie of my youth, Blazing Saddles. It was an irreverent parody of the cowboy movies (think John Wayne) that filled the screen in those days, and it was funny as Hell. (The movie is completely/totally/absolutely, politically incorrect for the 21^st Century. It was pretty incorrect back in the 1970’s too. To watch it, turn off your “Woke Meter”, and accept it as the period piece it is).

Badges

The lead actor was Cleavon Little. He played “Bart”, a black man, chosen by the Governor (Mel Brooks) to save the little prairie town of Rock Ridge. The town was under siege by the criminal forces of a rich railroad executive Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman). The corrupt Governor counts on the racist town people, unwilling to accept a black sheriff, to create the chaos necessary for Lamarr to overrun the place. What he didn’t expect was the new sheriff’s friendship with “Jim”, played by Gene Wilder, an alcoholic ex-gunslinger who is unable to hold his gun hand steady enough to shoot.

Go watch the movie if you want to know what happens, or how NFL Hall of Famer Alex Karras knocks a horse out with one punch. Or to hear the tagline that outlives the plot of the movie itself: “Badges? We don’t need no stinkin’ badges!!”

But one scene reminds me of our current political world. Bart faces a mob of the folk of Rock Ridge, ready to lynch him rather than have a black sheriff. In an instant, Bart takes himself hostage, pointing a gun at his own neck and saying, I’ll shoot the – black sheriff – he uses a term than I will not in 2026. Bart them reverses his voice, and pleads with the crowd to not make “him” shoot “me”. He carries this charade on long enough to get into the sheriff’s office door. Bart then says: “Oh baby, you are so talented”. He then looks directly into the camera and adds: “And they are so dumb!!”

In the Times

All of this because of the world brinksmanship that we lived through the past few days. Donald Trump threatened the very existence of the Iranian/Persian culture. He made it clear it was his plan blow up their entire civil infra-structure in a massive four-hour bombing raid. Trump, operating without support of Congress, or NATO, or the American people, determined to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age” (his words). And it would all start at 8:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, March 7^th.

It was all a matter of degree. Trump already took America to war against Iran, launching a devastating bombing campaign along with the Israeli government. The first episode took place last June, when B-2 Bombers were sent with enormous multi-million dollar bombs to destroy Iran’s buried nuclear research facilities. According to Trump, their nuclear development program was obliterated.

And, if the New York Times is accurate, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu convinced Trump to join him in an all-out assault on the Iranian leadership, a “decapitation strike” that began our current conflict on February 28^th of this year. The reasons: the nuclear program might not be as “obliterated” as Trump thought. And, in concert with civil unrest within Iran, perhaps a new government might gain power.

As the American Secretary of Defense crowed daily about the successes of US arms against Iran, somehow the new theocratic leadership managed to launch successful missile and drone strikes against American bases and our other allies in the Middle East. “The Iranian Air Force was destroyed, their Navy on the bottom of the Persian Gulf”. But still Iranian missiles and drones continued to find targets.

By the Barrels

And Iran played its ultimate “ trump card”. They choked off the Strait of Hormuz, denying the rest of the world 20% of oil production. Costs for petroleum products worldwide sky-rocketed as the price per barrel went from $72 to $115. America’s gas prices topped $4.00 a gallon. The US might be able to destroy targets at will, but Iran had the world by the “barrels”, and there was little the vast armed might of the United States could do about it.

American allies, from Western Europe to the Pacific rim, demanded that the Straits be reopened. They weren’t interested in participating in the United States’ “war of choice”. But they did not want the world thrown into economic chaos due to the lack of oil. Trump also faced internal political opposition, with dwindling support for his”excursion”. Recent polling showed 57% of Americans opposed to the war, with only 34% strongly or somewhat for it (YouGov).

Then came Trump’s ultimatum, the threat of massive destruction against a nation of 90 million people. The Iranian government at the last moment issued a potential peace deal, and asked for a two week ceasefire. Trump accepted, and negotiations are ongoing in Pakistan. Trump supporters would have us think that he was holding the gun on his hostage Iran, who capitulated to his dire threats. And maybe that’s true: maybe Iran realized that the President was willing to commit whatever war crimes were required to loosen Iran’s grip on the world’s barrels. The first rule of dealing with a crazy man – realize that he’s crazy. To be clear, I mean the President, not the Ayatollah.

North Korean Tactics

Or maybe Donald Trump took the American people and our European allies, and pointed the gun at our own collective neck. Trump would send our kids to war. (By the way, why did the question of 18 year olds registering for the draft come up this week?) He’ll risk World War III (something Trump himself accused Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy of doing). The United States will bomb and destroy, untethered by the Geneva Conventions or the “rules of engagement”. Trump would even risk the Straits of Hormuz remaining closed, and world economic collapse, all to get a deal.

Was he crazy? Was he really willing to risk all to get what he wanted? Did Trump do this as a strategy, the Kim Jong Un method of political brinksmanship? Or, was Trump actually planning to throw the whole world into chaos, in order to gain a “victory” from the Iranians? “I’ll shoot the Western world, I’ll do it!!” “Please, please don’t make him shoot me!!”

Now there’s a two-week ceasefire. There’s possible language for re-opening the Straits. Currently, Iran is making money, charging a dollar a barrel toll for tankers (with millions of barrels) to go through. And, maybe, there’s a deal to be made. Or, two or three weeks from now, we’ll be back in main street of Rock Ridge, waiting for the sheriff to shoot himself.

Then we’ll be saying: we are so dumb!!!

Knife’s Edge

On the Clock

Today, we are on a “knife’s edge” of time. The President of the United States has the entire world holding its collective breath. Yesterday he threatened to destroy Iran; bombing their power plants and highways, sending bombers and missiles to, as he said it; “Send them back to the Stone Age”. His “deadline”: 8:00pm tonight, 3:30am Tehran time. We already have assassinated their leadership, destroyed their navy and air force, and decimated their communications. This next step is “total warfare”, when we stop attacking military targets, and begin to wage war against their populace.

Today, the Vice President of the United States is in Hungary, campaigning for the authoritarian Presidential candidate there, Viktor Orban. The opposition to Orban, Peter Maygar, is in favor of restoring democratic institutions, against Orban’s crony-corruption, and for improving relationships with the European Union. Orban is a “knife’s edge” away from being a Fascist, Magyar is a “center-right” candidate. But the man a heartbeat away from the most powerful position in the world, Vice President J.D. Vance, is campaigning for Orban.

1968

Yesterday a wonderful thing happened. For the first time in over half-a-century, human beings were once again circling the moon. I was thrown back to the first time that occurred, in 1968.

I was twelve years old, living in Kettering, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. 1968 was a very difficult year for America. The country was torn apart by the Vietnam War. Two important national leaders, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, were assassinated in the prime of their lives. President Johnson chose not to run for re-election. His Vice President, Hubert Humphrey, was caught between supporting Johnson’s Vietnam policy, or gaining the anti-war support. That division led to riots at the Democratic Convention, and the eventual election of a pro-war President, Republican Richard Nixon.

Riots, war, political turmoil: 1968 was a year on a “knife’s edge”. Cities burned. University campuses were closed. Protestors faced off against National Guardsmen, putting flowers in the barrels of their guns.

Americans as One

But on Christmas Eve of 1968, Americans were, for a moment, united as one. There was Christmas dinners, presents around the tree, but more importantly we huddled around the television that evening. Three Americans were doing the impossible: they were orbiting the moon. And we were all there, watching, as Apollo 8 came out of the communications blackout around the far-side of the Moon, and, for the first time, saw earthrise over the lunar surface.

Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders read to the world the first words in the Bible, the book of Genesis. As the on-board camera panned the moon, Borman intoned, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”. Then, as the camera tilted to see the earth, the “big blue marble” rising, they continued “And God said, let there be light, and he separated the light from the darkness”.

I was a kid, sitting on the living room floor at one of Mom and Dad’s friend’s house. We were there for dinner, but stayed to share in the moment, with the rest of the country. As divided and angry and riven as Americans were; for that moment, we were one. It didn’t “fix” our world, but it made us realize that the seemingly infinite problems really were finite to a small “blue marble” that we all shared.

The Dark Side

Yesterday we (humans, Americans and a Canadian) were back. I sat in my own family room, now sixty-nine years old, and marveled as the Artemis crew came out from the dark-side of the moon. I don’t think the whole world was watching. We are again torn, again facing war, again agonizing over political choices. And today, with viewing so personalized (not the three channels of the 1960’s) most probably missed it. Jenn and I had to download the “NASA app” to see it in real time.

And even though we again saw how finite our earth is, like 1968, it was just a moment, in our knife’s edge world. Most of the world takes going to the moon again for granted – I guess they’re waiting for 2028, when Artemis IV will actually land on the moon. Just like we took it for granted in the 1960’s that humans were on the moon to stay, after we landed in the summer of 1969.

There’s nothing pre-ordained here. We went to the moon in 1960’s and 70’s, then abandoned the effort. And we spent another six years in Vietnam, another 20,000 Americans were killed.

We are on the knife’s edge today. Our world changed for the “good” yesterday, but by tomorrow, we may be in a full-scale war. Today we take a deep breath – then hold it to see where our world will go. Is it a future in space?

Or another war in a far-off place?

They Is Not Us

Misunderstood

Trump’s “team” is suffering from a simple misunderstanding. They think in global, strategic terms: number of weapons, power of bombs, percentage of destruction. In their mind, any “rational” Nation would cower when faced with the ultimate might of the United States, three Carrier Groups, thousands of aircraft, tens of thousands of troops ready to put “boots on the ground”. And, frankly, to most Americans that makes sense too. Don’t mess with the USA!!!

After all, we grew up in a society that prizes money and power. We did learn from a young age to admire those who, as the saying goes, “speaks truth to power”. But we also were very aware of the consequences of such actions. Those courageous folks were often cut off from economic and social support, and seen as “odd” or even “crazy”. Americans understand power, and most of us, really all of us, pick our battles. We go along with a lot, and only fight when there is no other choice, morally or physically. (Need an example: look at the Ohio State Legislature, which regularly ignores the voted “will” of the people. Sure it’s annoying, but the reality of Ohio is that few stand up against this blatant abuse of power).

That’s America’s way of thinking about power. But just because “we” think that way, it doesn’t mean the rest of the world does. And that’s the fatal flaw in the Trump plan in Iran.

Vietnam

Back in the 1960’s, America was fighting a war in Vietnam. The power “balance” was incredibly lopsided. The American military in its full might, versus the Viet Cong. US soldiers, trained and equipped with the best armaments, versus men in black pajamas and sandals. But, year after year, the US was unable to claim “victory”. Instead, we kept track of the “body count”; how many Viet Cong were killed. By the late 1960’s, it became clear. Either the Viet Cong were completed decimated, and someone else was fighting in their place; or the “body count” was a lie.

John F Kennedy in his first inaugural speech, promised to “…(P)ay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship…to assure the survival and success of liberty.” But Vietnam taught us a different lesson. THEY were willing to bear any burden, not us. THEY were willing to pay any price, not us. In Vietnam, THEY would accept any sacrifice to sustain their fight. It was the United States that wasn’t. It took us fifteen years to figure it out.

In Afghanistan we had to learn that lesson all over again. The power was so unbalanced, the most modern military in history versus Mujahedeen with rifles and improvised explosive devices. But we still failed in the end. It “just” took twenty years to learn that time.

Stone Age

So here we are, preparing to “bomb Iran back into the Stone Age”. America just spent nearly half a Billion dollars to rescue the two-man crew of a F-15 fighter from capture. And that’s exactly what Americans want our military to do: “No one left behind”. They are our sons, daughters, and friends: we will pay any price to get them safe.

But the leaders of Iran are not us. They, clearly, are willing to accept any sacrifice. The US and Israel takes great pride in destroying the leadership of Iran, but, to steal a phrase from the Ohio State Football team, for Iran it’s just “the next man up”. The Iranian Intelligence Chief was killed yesterday, there’s a new man in his place today, carrying on with the work. The Ayatollah was killed in the first wave of bombings, his son is now in charge, and even more intransigent than his father.

By the way, the “bomb them back to the Stone Age” phrase came from Air Force General Curtis LeMay, the “father” of America’s strategic bombing forces. It was LeMay who led the massive bombing effort on Japan in World War II, attacks that burned Tokyo, and culminated in the only time in history atomic weapons were used. LeMay thought that’s what we should do to Vietnam. In fact, more bombs were dropped by the US in Vietnam than were dropped by both sides in World War II. But, in the end, Americans left, and the Vietnamese Communists won.

World Poker

We are on the cusp of another war defined by asymmetry. The United States has all the “cards” and all the “chips”. Yet somehow, Iran plays on. We can take the next step; Trump can order our forces to go “all in” against Iranian infrastructure. And clearly we will be successful, destroying their power plants, bridges, hospitals and schools. But all of that will not force Iran to sue for peace. It will cause them to double-down on their willingness to sacrifice, and unify their people behind their theocratic leadership.

We will win the war of “body-count”. But we, in the end, will not “pay any price” for Iran. They know it. The American people know it. The question is: does Donald Trump know it?

An Easter Day Rant

Happy

Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy beginning of Spring, happy, happy, happy. Find something to be happy about today, this Easter Sunday of the year 2026 in the Christian Era. My first plan would be: don’t turn on the news. Get on with whatever holiday preparations you need to do.

There is definitely one reason to be happy today. The “WIZZO”, the back seat weapons specialist officer in the US F-15 shot down over Iran, has been rescued. After a couple of days of escape and evasion, and a massive effort that included the loss of three other aircraft (an A-10, and two HC-130’s) but no other casualties; the officer is back in US hands. Glad the “Wizzo”, and everyone else involved is safe. Total cost for the four lost planes, almost a quarter Billion dollars. That, by the way, is in addition to the Billion dollars a day Trump’s “excursion” to Iran is costing us.

And while we’re on this subject, what are Americans thinking? There was a “betting line” on the prediction market on how long it would take for the rescue? People were betting on this officer’s life!! And then there was the “private rescue” guy on streaming news from “Grey Bull” (the company that got Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado out). He wanted to go into the graphic details of what happens to Americans turned hostages. We all know; and somewhere out there in America, there’s a father and a mother and a family who didn’t need a vision to be reminded about the risks their child was facing. It felt like the “Grey Bull” guy was being “honest”; mostly to drum up future business.

Dollars to Debt

President Trump is feeling the financial pressure. Last week he questioned how the Federal government could pay for things like daycare and Medicaid, when he has a war to fight. The United States now has a total debt of $39 Trillion, up $3 Trillion from the day Trump took office. What’s the point? Twenty percent of the Federal budget is now going to pay interest on the debt. It’s like the first few years of a thirty-year mortgage: it seems all you do is pay interest and the principal remains the same. For the US, it’s a Trillion dollars a year, just to stay even.

Whoops: Happy is the order of the day. I was happy Friday, I managed to get gas at $3.67 a gallon. Remember the “Thank You Joe Biden” campaign, with stickers on the gas pumps about the high gas prices. Now it’s “Thank you Donald Trump (may I have another?)”. It’s not just the President and Congress paying the price of the Iran War. Americans are “sharing sacrifice”, with higher gas prices, and rising prices for everything that comes from oil. That includes fertilizer for crops and transportation for food.

Unlike other Presidents, I don’t remember Donald Trump asking us to “join in” for the “greater good”. In fact, it feels like he just assumed America would go along with his expensive “excursion”. Even his prime time speech last week wasn’t a “Win one for the Gipper” address. It was just a rambling mash of Trump’s Truth Social tweets from the past month.

Take Some Advice

My advice to the President: You’re supposed the “Art of the Deal” guy. So, make a deal with Iran. It could be: they won’t build a nuclear bomb (the deal Obama made a decade ago), and leave the Strait of Hormuz alone; and we’ll stop bombing and call off our Israeli attack dog. Declare victory, Mr. President. Then have a big parade down Pennsylvania Avenue for our victorious forces. It’s another thing you’re supposed to enjoy.

Meanwhile, have a Happy holiday Sunday. I’m excited: there’s a ham to be smoked. I’m a sucker for smoked spiral sliced ham with all of the trimmings. So I’ll stop my rant here, and start “smokin’”!!!!!

“Feel Good” Taxation

Ban Property Taxes

Here in Ohio there’s a “new” movement to ban property taxes. That’s right, folks are out there campaigning to pass an Ohio Constitutional amendment that would, after a year, drop all property taxes.

What’s driving this movement? Well, first of all, no one likes taxes. So it makes citizens “feel good” to actually talk about wiping some out. That’s particularly true in most of Ohio, where property values have gone up astronomically in the past few years. My example: in 2015 our house here in Pataskala had a market value about $180,000. We paid around $2300 a year in property tax. That’s 1.3% of the value a year. Ten years later, the same house now has a market value over $300,000. We pay $4030 in taxes. That’s still 1.4% of the value a year – but it’s a whole lot more money.

That compares to income taxes. We’re both retired, so our incomes are pretty stable. We don’t make a whole lot more money now than we did in 2016, and we pay about the same amount of income tax, federal, state and local, every year. It fluctuates a little bit, often depending on the “politics” of the moment. But, year in, year out, we pay somewhere around 12% of our gross income in taxes.

Income Tax

Income taxes are flexible. If you make more money you pay more taxes. But property taxes don’t work that way. Sure, you house may increase in value, but you don’t benefit from that increase unless you sell. Meanwhile, the taxes continue to go up on that “anticipated” value. But that anticipation doesn’t put a dime in your pocket when it comes time to pay the tax bill.

Most would agree that income taxes are “fairer”. But, here in Ohio, the State Legislature is working hard to reduce income taxes. Maybe that sounds good to some. But income taxes are based on earnings, so that those that earn more, pay more. If you’re Vivek Ramaswamy (Republican candidate for Governor), making millions of dollars a year, income taxes are a bigger burden than on this retired teacher in Pataskala.

The State Legislature is dependent on the wealth of Ramaswamy and others for campaign (and other) money. Those politicians want to keep the wealthy happy, so the legislature keeps income tax low.

What We Pay For

Meanwhile, most of the local services folks get are paid by property taxes, not income or sales taxes. And in recent years, the Legislature has put more and more of the burden on the local governments, and picked up less and less of the tab from income tax. Here’s the list of local entities that get a “piece” of my property taxes:

Local Schools
Fire Department
City of Pataskala (Police, Snow Removal, Roads)
County (Sheriff, Snow Removal, Roads)
Vocational School
County Parks
the local Library
County Services for Developmentally Disabled
County Services for Children
County Services for Senior Citizens
County Services for Mental Health.

So while it may “feel good” to talk about cutting property tax, there is the other side of the equation. If you zero out property tax, then who pays for all of those services? The Legislature isn’t likely to raise income taxes, even though that would be the fairest way to do it. So, which of those services should we just “give up”: fire, schools, police, the library?

Pending Disaster

The anti-property tax folks don’t really say much about that. They, rightfully, just feel that property taxes place an unfair burden on many. It’s increased taxes without an increased ability to pay those taxes. That’s unfair, there’s no question about it.

Every state in the Union has a property tax. Even the states with biggest income tax rates, like California, still have local services supported by property tax (about 1.5%, just like Ohio). So a property tax “ban” would be a radical change, both for Ohio, and in the Nation. (Just an aside, Ohio has never been the home of “radical” government anything).

Tax reform sounds great to me. I think that ALL of our taxes, should be collected by the state in income tax, then distributed back for all government services. That way everyone pays their fair share, from Vivek all the way down to Marty. But that radical reform isn’t likely to happen anytime soon. And meanwhile, the government services we need and use the most, schools, police, fire, snow removal; all depend on the property taxes it would “feel” so good to dump.

There are two sides to the equation. The draconian “dump property tax” crew are happy to cancel out one side, but have nothing in mind to balance the other. They’ll let the Legislature deal with that. If they get their Amendment on the ballot, the people of Ohio will be asked to make a radical leap of faith in the Legislature to do the “right thing”. And there’s no empirical evidence to show they could, or would, do so.

Dumping property taxes might feel good, but it just might be a disaster.

Pottery Barn Rules

Pax Americana

At the end of World War II, American leaders realized several things. First, the nature of warfare was unalterably changed by the creation of nuclear weapons. In the future, no “World War” in the nature of the First or Second, could be fought. At the end of such a war, no country would accept ultimate defeat without using their nuclear weapons. And as nuclear weapons developed even far beyond the “Manhattan Project” model, it became clear that another World War would destroy the world as we know it.

Second, American leaders recognized that big wars come from little wars. World War I began with a crisis between Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. World War II could have been prevented with an enforcement of the Treaty of Versailles in the early 1930’s or at the Munich Pact. None of the World War I “winning” countries including the United States, were willing to make that commitment. When it became clear that Nazism was the world threat, it was also too late to easily defeat it.

So America reversed course from its post-World War I isolationism, when the US refused to enter the League of Nations. Instead, the US proposed the United Nations, headquartered in New York City. The ultimate goal of the UN was to contain the small conflicts that could develop into worldwide issues in a nuclear world.

Balanced Alliances

And third, the United States recognized that the post-World War II rival was the Soviet Union. We fought together with them against Fascism in the war, with American and Soviet troops locking arms at the Elbe River. What they didn’t realize at the time was that river would become the dividing point between Allied backed West Germany, and Soviet backed East Germany.

So the United States organized a military treaty alliance to offset the Soviet bloc of countries. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) surrounded the Soviet borders from the Arctic all the way to its Southern Border with Turkey. The Soviets responded with the Warsaw Bloc, the countries they occupied and controlled after the war.

Those institutions, the United Nations and NATO, outlasted the Soviet Union. The Cold War era ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union on Christmas of 1991. Some of the analysts of the 1990’s saw an opportunity to tap into the vast wealth of Russia (the successor state to the USSR), especially with the literal “fire sale” of the former Communist industrial assets. What they didn’t plan on, is that Russia would “come back”; no longer Communist, but with a more “traditional” authoritarian regime under Vladimir Putin.

In the final analysis, the Cold War enemies, Soviets and Communist China, remain the biggest threat to a stable world (stable = without war). And the institutions set up to contend with them in the 1940’s still have relevance today. And that’s why the American military “adventure” in Iran is so troubling.

Empires

The world today is facing a Russia bent on re-establishing empire. The war in Ukraine continues to drag on, and, in Cold War tradition, NATO and the US are providing the weapons and other materials to wage war against Russia. It’s fought with Western materials, and Ukrainian blood.

And China made it clear that their goal is the “reintegrate” (read conquer) Taiwan. Not only should the US see the obvious moral imperative: Taiwan has a Constitutional Democracy, China is a Communist dictatorship. But there are huge economic consequences. Taiwan is the global center (90%) for the manufacture of computer chips. So in a “short-term” world, China gaining control of the world supply of computer chips puts them in charge.

But the United States has made a huge military commitment to the Middle East. Here’s some simple “military math”. The US has eleven aircraft carrier groups, the key method used to project US power across the world. Four of those groups are in a maintenance cycle right now, and unavailable for use. Three are now stationed (or moving to) the seas around Iran. That leaves only four groups left to “patrol” the world, including the areas between China and Taiwan.

On Excursion

And the United States depleted its stores of weapons in Iran. The Defense Department is facing shortages of “high-end” missiles, like the ACACMS and THADD interceptors and Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles. The US is even threatening to “strip” current NATO allies of weapons supplies. Some of those were already committed to Ukraine, others are in reserve should Russia decides to expand their war.

In short, the American “excursion” to Iran bares other areas to possible attack. Russia, until now bogged down in Ukraine in World War I type trench warfare dominated by drone attacks, now sees openings not only there, but in Eastern Europe. And China can hear the “sucking sound” of American military might being pulled to the Arabian Sea. Now what prevents them from making a military move on Taiwan?

Meanwhile, the President of the United States threaten to withdraw from NATO, because the alliance isn’t following the US in this Middle Eastern “excursion”. No one asked the other NATO nations for support before the bombs were dropped. The NATO alliance Article Five (an attack on one NATO nation is considered an attack on all NATO nations) does not apply to wars of singular aggression. But last night, Trump intimated that the US might soon “declare victory” and leave, without opening the Straits of Hormuz to world old production. As Trump said, the US has plenty of oil. (Now even more as the price of gas edges over four dollars a gallon). We don’t need the 20% of world supply coming through the Straits, so, “It’s not our problem”.

The Price

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Secretary of State Colin Powell used to say that the world works with the “Pottery Barn” rule: “You break it, you own it”. Donald Trump has taken America to war in Iran. The damage to the world economy is becoming more apparent, not just to Nations, but to everyday folks stopping at the BP station to fill up their tank. Trump “broke it”, when it comes to Iran, and the Straits of Hormuz, and NATO. His speech last night gave no clue about whether he’ll “own it”. Actually, he suggested that he might do what he did throughout his career as a businessman: make a deal, get the service, then not pay the bill.

The real price of US actions may be a change in the world’s power structure, a change that doesn’t favor democracy, or the United States of America. Like it or not, Trump owns that.

Make Your Own Rules

“If you want to win, make your own rules” (an old football coach)

Inflection Point

November, 2026 may well be what history calls an “inflection point”. What direction will the United States take? Will Americans endorse more authoritarian rule by the Trump Administration, more Federal intrusion into private lives, more wealth moving from the masses to the few at the top? Or will a Congress get elected that’s willing to stand up for Article I of the Constitution, redeem the power to declare war, stand in front of the Supreme Court and the President as the lawmaking power? It’s not just that the November elections are important. The 2026 choice may be the last, best chance that Americans have for a free and fair election.

Ohio

I live in Ohio. The “Safe Act” now in Congress, is politically designed to reduce the voting population by making it more difficult for millions to vote. Much of that Act is already the law here in the Buckeye State. Our gerrymandered state legislature knows no boundaries when it comes to pursuing the MAGA agenda. Even the Republican Governor, Mike DeWine, is unable to curb their enthusiasm for legislating elections, bringing religiosity to school curriculum, interfering in personal rights, and transferring wealth to the already wealthy, as quickly as possible.

Democrats in Ohio have strong candidates for some offices. Sherrod Brown is running for the US Senate again, this time facing the appointed Senator John Husted. Amy Acton, the former state health director, has a well-financed campaign to counter Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s personal wealth of billions. But I’m not holding my breath. The “game” of politics ain’t “ tidily winks” here in Ohio; and Republicans here, like those in Texas, will do whatever it takes to remain in power. But “us Democrats” will fight the good fight. I hope that a national “Blue Tide” will rise high enough to float even our boat.

Rigged Elections

But what about the rest of the nation?

Let’s dispense with the ridiculousness. There are virtually no “undocumented” voters in the United States. Even the Republican “think tank”, the authors of “Project 2025″, the Heritage Foundation, agrees. But, the Republican Party, all the way to the Speaker of the House , the Vice President and Trump himself, claims that the only way Democrats can win is through “criminal, illegal voters”.

That works two ways. First, if they can use that line of “bull” to pass the Safe Act through Congress, they can keep millions of legal US citizens, particularly those of color or women, (and more particularly women of color), from voting. Women of color are a huge, largely Democratic voting block (see Georgia). Reducing their influence would be a huge win for Republicans.

Never Lose

But even if they can’t get the votes to pass the Act in Congress, they are setting up their post-election strategy. If Republicans win, that’s only because the “overcame the cheating”. And if they lose, they can say “we told you so”, and try to block the legitimate electoral outcomes. Already, Federal Courts have accepted purely falsified conjectures about the 2020 election to issue subpoenas for ballots (Atlanta). Once the Trump Department of Justice gets hold of the election results, who knows what might happen.

It’s been the Republican talking point since 2016. And it’s achieved one goal: millions of Americans are convinced that elections in “other states” (blue states) are rigged. What was an American norm, beginning with John Adams leaving Washington DC to his opponent Thomas Jefferson, is now altered. Nixon didn’t contest his 1960 loss to Jack Kennedy. Gore went to the Nation to tell us to accept the Supreme Court decision giving Bush the Presidency in 2000. John McCain and Hillary Clinton both conceded their losses and wished their opponents well. But now, Republicans don’t ever “lose”, they simply claim the election was stolen.

Stop the Steal

Trump tried to “stop the steal” in 2020. He’s still whining about that election. He was ready to contest a Biden win in 2024. And now, he’s trying to gain the power to actually steal an election himself. That is, if he can find a way to Federalize the voting process. The “Safe Act” is just one step.

The Department of Justice is already trying to collect detailed voter information from the states. Many states, including here in Ohio, just gave it to them. Other states are fighting to keep Justice from getting the information. What would the Federal government do with all of this? Here’s the first example announced by the White House yesterday. The President, by executive order, directed the US Postal Service to refuse to deliver mail-in ballots to voters that are not “verified” by the Federal Government.

That’s a huge deal, particularly in those states that primarily use mail-in ballots to conduct elections: California, Colorado, Washington DC, Hawaii, Nevada and Oregon. And it flies in the face of the US Constitution, which states:

“The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations…”(US Constitution, Art 1, Sec 4, underlining added).

The theft of the 2026 election is already underway. Like many of the transgressions of the Trump Administration, they aren’t stealing under cover of darkness, but brazenly in the light of day, as if it wasn’t illegal at all.

Americans need to choose whether we allow it or not.

Our Birthright

I’ve been writing “political” essays for over nine years. And, as a former government and history teacher, I’ve done a lot of thinking about the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. In fact, I’ve written four essays directly on the point of who is an American citizen. So what else is there to say about the matter? Here’s my thoughts.

Born in the USA

Tomorrow, the United States Supreme Court will hear the case about Donald Trump’s executive order banning “birthright citizenship” (Constitution Center). The question is simple: should everyone born in the United States (or under the “flag” of the United States) be a “born” US citizen? The answer to that is in the “black letter” wording of the Fourteenth Amendment.

14^th Amendment, Article 1, Section 1:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.

That seems straight forward. But the Trump Administration argues that this section isn’t “clear” at all. In fact, they will try to convince the Court that, persons who are undocumented (the folks Trump loves to call “criminal-illegal” kind of like being “addled- demented”) and have a child born in the United States, are, NOT subject “to the jurisdiction thereof”. So their child, “Born in the USA” is not a citizen.

There’s a clear, common sense argument about that. While they may be undocumented, those folks are definitely “under the jurisdiction”. If they commit a crime, they are dragged into US Courts, punished under US law, and imprisoned in US jails. The MAGA folks know that’s true; they use it in their political ads all the time. Part of their “scare campaign” about the undocumented is the litany of rapes and murders committed by undocumented people. (Statistics show that violent crimes by the undocumented are far less per capita than by “regular” citizens” – House.gov).

John Elk

Another Trump argument hangs on a slim thread of documentation. They make reference to the 1884 Supreme Court decision, Elk v Wilkins ( 112 U.S. 94). Elk was a Native American, originally a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. He “disassociated” himself from the tribe, and claimed that, since he was born in territory now owned by the United States, he had birthright citizenship. The Court ruled that since he was born a Winnebago, at the time recognized as a “foreign” nation, he did not have a birth right to US citizenship.

We could go into the horrible history of the United States government dealing with Native Americans. The US Government treated Native Tribes as foreign nations. They made treaties with them (almost all subsequently broken) and then waged war against them.

That includes in the 1880’s. The United States at the time was in open warfare in the Apache Wars, the California Indian War, and the Great Sioux War that then lead to the Ghost Dance Movement. In fact, the massacre of the Lakota tribe members at Wounded Knee didn’t occur until December of 1890, six years after the Elk decision.

So when John Elk appealed to the US Supreme Court, the government of the United States was at war with native tribes all over the West. Part of the legal “structure” that justified those wars of conquest was to view the tribes as “foreigners” in their own land. (That land was soon to be US Government land and sold to the highest bidder). In fact, it took until 1924 and the Snyder Act for all Native Americans to be considered citizens (NARF).

Waging War

The Trump Administration is appealing to this sordid history. They claim that if John Elk wasn’t considered a citizen, then a child born of undocumented migrants should not considered a citizen as well. And, the Supreme Court has made poor citizenship decisions in the past. The most obvious example is the Dred Scott Decision of 1857, when they ruled that black men, even if they were freed, were not eligible for citizenship. The first section of the Fourteenth Amendment was written to directly overrule that decision.

Undocumented migrants are not “waging war” against the United States. And they do not have “territory” within the boundaries of the US, or areas not “subject to the jurisdiction”. And for those just waiting to yell “Sanctuary Cities”; the cities that choose not to enforce immigration policies with their own police, remain under Federal jurisdiction. Sanctuary cities simply determine that immigration enforcement isn’t their responsibility. That’s just like the Secret Service enforcing laws against counterfeiting, not the local police.

Gilded Age

For the Court to accept the Trump Administration arguments and remove “birthright citizenship”, would require a vast legislative-like overreach. That’s especially true for a Court majority that prides itself on following the “original intent” of the authors of the Constitution, on in this case, of the 14^th Amendment. The authors were men of their time. They included who they wanted, migrants among them, and they excluded who they didn’t want, including many Native Americans. The Supreme Court itself said so in a later case, United States v Wong Kim Ark, in 1898. In that case – on point – a person born in the United States of non-citizen Chinese parents, was held to be a citizen of the United States.

There’s no reason for the Court to compound the racism of the 1880’s. And while the Trump Administration might find common cause with the policies of the Gilded Age, let’s hope the Courts, and our Nation, moves beyond that. But, in this “Age of Trump”, anything is possible. You can’t even depend on the Supreme Court to follow their own precedents. Several of them are “men of their time” – the Gilded Age.

Other Essays on the Fourteenth

Why March?

No Kings

Yesterday was the latest in the “No Kings” rallies. If the gauge is the “body count”, the number of people who participate nationwide, then it was an unmitigated success. Over eight million people came out to protest in over 3000 separate events throughout the United States, and even internationally (CBS). That’s the second largest mass protest in American history. (The first was the very first Earth Day, where an estimated 20 million stood up for the environment).

What does “No Kings” want? First of all “No Kings” is only one part of the vast agglomeration of organizations that helped organize yesterday. Some are issues oriented: Indivisible, Alt National Park, 50501, the ACLU, Move On, Planned Parenthood, and the Human Rights Campaign. Others are more familiar to the political world: labor unions like the AFL-CIO, the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the Service Employees International Union, and various parts of the Democratic Party.

Peaceably Assemble

Essentially, “No Kings” is against the Trump Administration on almost every level. The protests are a clear exercise of First Amendment rights: the right to gather together to criticize our own government, publicly and loudly. “No Kings” isn’t calling for a revolution, it’s calling for an end to the most heinous of the Trump policies on immigration, waging foreign wars, and the fraud and corruption so apparent in his Presidency. Oh, and then there’s the whole Epstein thing.

If there’s not a revolution, an immediate physical overturn of the government, than what’s the point? I’d call it “fair warning”. If millions go to the streets to protest, then how many more millions will go to the polls in November? The first move to defend the rights of Americans is to “show up”. The “No Kings” marches are telling Americans to do just that. Millions are showed up yesterday; many, many more millions will show up to vote in November and change America’s government.

Heart of it All

As I noted in an earlier essay, I had surgery (nothing life threatening) a few weeks ago. I’m getting near the end of my “recovery” period (about another week or so to go, I hope). I’m sure marching around the Court House square in Newark, Ohio isn’t supposed to be my fifteen minutes of walking, three times a day, and I’m really not ready for duty at a track meet, yet. But we (Jenn and I) want to be a part of the “body count”, two of the millions who voiced their concern. So we went.

We chose the city of Newark, in the “Heart of it All” here in Ohio. It’s the seat of Licking County. Donald Trump won our county by over 64% in 2024. But there might still be some hope for Licking: in 2023 when the right of women to choose abortion was on the ballot, the county narrowly voted in favor of the amendment (now law in the State Constitution) protecting choice.

And practically, Newark is an “easy” rally, just in case my “recovery” isn’t as complete as I think it is. Worse comes to worse, Jenn and I could drive around the Square, honking and giving the “thumbs’ up” sign to the protestors gathered there.

Court House Square

When we arrived, the crowd of several hundred were already at the Court House steps. It was a jovial affair. Participants were as interested in the signs handmade by others, as they were in the speakers. Various leaders gave speeches, but we all already knew what the message was. Trump is a threat to our Constitutional Republic, our democratic form of government. His actions, from ICE to the Justice Department’s “retributions” to unilaterally going to war against Iran, all are the acts of a “sovereign” dictator. The United States is founded on a series of principles, and one of the foremost of those is simple: No Kings.

There were few hecklers: a couple of guys stereotyping themselves in the American flag baseball hats, Carhartt- tan coats and “Trump 2024” flags. (Full disclosure, I use a Carhartt rain suit for track meets). They tried to disrupt the speakers with a bullhorn, and marched side-by-side around the edge of the crowd. But when they tried to “start something” by yelling, the crowd shouted them down. Really, it’s Newark, Ohio. It’s kind of surprising there weren’t more “counter-protests”. The rally participants took their actions in stride.

The Solution

The single-most important rule of the No Kings marches and rallies: don’t “give cause” for reaction. The headline must be “peaceful protest”, not “riot in the streets”. And while there were a few incidents nationwide (not in Newark), the absolute peacefully, and even joy in unity, of the “No Kings” events is extraordinary.

I’ve had a lot of (positive) involvement with Licking County law enforcement over the years, and they didn’t disappoint at the rally. There were a couple of sheriffs cruisers around, but in general, the police were low key. I’m sure they were there: after all, the rally was at the County Court House. But they stayed out of sight, out of “target” access to protestors and hecklers alike. They let the First Amendment right to free speech, petition for redress of grievances and assembly play out, peacefully, on the Court House square.

Who was there? Lots of folks my age, the retirement-set anxious to bring our country back from the brink of authoritarianism. Young people, some wearing tie-dye in homage to the 1960’s. Veterans, wearing their baseball hats with ships and regions of service. And couples with children, teaching a lesson in involvement.

We rallied on the Court House steps. We marched around the Court House square. And we voiced our concerns, in signs, in songs, in speeches and in chants. But most of all we showed that we were the solution, ready to work for the America we love.

We showed up.

Busy Day

Yesterday was a busy day in Washington, DC. The President let us know that Americans don’t have to worry about oil – we have more than enough. And the Speaker of the House said in clear English said that Democrats can’t win without “criminal, illegal immigrants” voting.

Who Pays?

As I write this essay, the price of oil is $110 per barrel. That’s up 50% from before the US/Israeli attacks on Iran. Americans are well aware of the cost of this military “excursion” in the Middle East. In January, the “before time”, regular gas at the pump average $2.67 here in Ohio (EIA). Today here in beautiful Pataskala”, gas is $3.97, mirroring the 50% increase in oil (GasBuddy).

So when we talk about who pays the cost of Trump’s adventurism, the answer isn’t just you and me in tax money (this war is costing about $1 Billion a day – USA Today). It’s also the increase in daily costs in our lives. And that’s not just in gas costs. Ultimately, it will cost more to do about anything: buy food, shop at Amazon, or any product that depends on transport.

Americans usually “pitch in” for shared sacrifice. That’s what our parents/grandparent did during World War II, and what we did after 9-11. We even started to do that during Covid, until politics overcame science, and wearing a mask became a symbol of ideology rather than health. But since the current Administration did little (nothing?) to prepare us for the current conflict, it’s a lot harder to get behind it.

Drill Baby, Drill

But there is a question. America is the largest oil producer in the world (quoting Trump at Cabinet meeting on April 26^th), and there’s so much oil here that we don’t need what’s coming through the Strait of Hormuz. Then, why are our prices going up? The simple answer is that there is not an American oil market, there’s only a world oil market. Some American oil is exported; some oil used in the US is imported. We are all tied to world supply and availability.

Here’s what some would call an “unintended” consequence of the swelling price of oil. Trump ran for office using a simple phrase to explain his oil strategies: “Drill Baby, Drill”. And there are untapped resources in the America. But, American oil producers won’t drill in most of those places (like ANWAR – the wilderness area above the Arctic Circle in Alaska, or off-shore of California). It’s far too expensive, at least it was, in the “before” times.

US oil producers need gas near five dollars a gallon nationally, to make this kind of extreme drilling worthwhile. It was foreseeable that the United States would stop world oil transport in the Middle East. Surprise, that gets prices where the oil producers need it. Of course, those prices have to stay up to maintain the base. But, with the undetermined US strategy in Iran, that might be possible.

Who pays the cost for Iran? We, the People of the United States does. Who pays the cost to keep gas prices high enough and encourage the “oil guys” to “Drill Baby, Drill”? We cover that too. And finally, who promised to help the oil industry in exchange $1 Billion in campaign finances? That would be Donald Trump (Politico).

Fox News

It’s not often that I actually listen to Fox News. I do read their “news” app on my phone from time to time, but I think the last time I heard Fox anchor Brett Baier was when he interviewed then-Vice President Harris during the campaign. But I was driving, and tired of MSNOW, so I flipped over to see what’s up on Fox. Baier was doing his show from the Speaker’s balcony in the Capitol. And, of course, his lead interview was with the Speaker himself, Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

Sometimes it’s good the hear the other side. Johnson claimed that Democrats caused the TSA shutdowns and emergencies in US travel. He proudly boasted that the House voted several times to re-open TSA, and ignored Democratic Senators attempts to do the same. Even I agree: that’s just politics. Most Americans know what the TSA controversy is all about, and what the “deal” will be to end it. It’s all about ICE and the illegal actions they’ve been taking across the country. That will have to end: it’s not a matter of outcome, it’s a matter of how much time and suffering it will take to get there.

Criminal and Illegal

Then Mike Johnson moved to the “Safe America Act”, and made an outlandish claim as a statement of “fact”. Johnson said this: “Democrats can’t win elections without the help of “criminal, illegal immigrants”. I know that’s the Republican talking point around the “Safe Act”. But I didn’t think the Speaker, second in line for the Presidency, would out-right and knowingly lie to America. (That makes me sound terribly naïve).

Johnson doesn’t have to look far to get the “real” story. In fact, it’s all on the website of the Heritage Foundation, a central “think-tank” of the MAGA and Republican world, the authors of “Project 2025”. The Heritage website on election fraud is considered a solid source, unusual for Heritage. And here’s what they say: since 1982, there have been 1620 cases of voter fraud. Over forty-four years, eleven Presidential elections, literally more than a billion votes cast, only 1620 cases, an average nationwide of 36 per year (Heritage).

Cheaters

No candidate or political party is “cheating” in elections to get elected. There are multiple levels of law enforcement to stop that. And, as Heritage points out, what cheating there is extremely limited. But Johnson knowingly follows propaganda rather than the facts. Of course, there’s the other possibility. One mark of the Trump Administration is to attack an action which is really something they’ve already done. Johnson may simply be playing his “role”.

We need leaders in Washington, not role players. That won’t change until the next election. Then, as long as it’s a fair election, we can expect that the Speaker won’t be Mike Johnson, and maybe even the Leader of the Senate won’t be Republican John Thune.

That would be a start.

Disrespect

Where We Stand

There are many people making a fortune in the Trump Administration, not the least being the Trump family itself. It was always my expectation that they would. In the end, the Trump Brand has always been about one thing – profits. Frankly, I had hoped that just accruing ill-gotten wealth would be enough for them.

But there’s so much more. We see what our Government is doing to both our fellow Americans and those who followed Emma Lazarus’s promise: “…Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the Golden Door”. They are treated without rights. They are arrested without warrant, held without bail, removed without hearings. Some have been killed, shot down by fearful bullies hiding behind masks and a badge. And we, the United States, are continuing to jail children.

We are watching our Nation, the country Reagan called “The Shining City on a Hill”, become lawless marauders. The United States blows up ships at sea, kidnaps or murders foreign leaders “we” don’t like, and wages war for profit and treasure. There is a whole lot wrong with our country right now.

Speak Out

Many of us found ways to voice our disapproval. Some demonstrate; in fact, many will march this Saturday in the No Kings demonstrations. Others turn to local politics, trying to change the country literally from the bottom up. Some find support groups, to help them grieve, process, and discover ways to make a difference. And some speak out, publicly.

Though I’ve done “all of the above”, my main way of contributing towards change is to write. I take my thoughts, and I put them “out here” on social media. I hit a lot of platforms: Facebook, BlueSky, X, Substack. And I’ve gathered a following, several thousand, who can chose to read what I write directly.

My Reasons

I write for three reasons. First, I am an old teacher, and I want to continue to educate. Those who don’t agree with my positions are welcome to debate, but the mere fact they are reading what I write, even in opposition, gives me hope.

Second, I want folks who are afraid to speak out, to know they are not alone. I live in a “red bubble” of America, but I’m not the only “blue speck” here. I know how isolating that “speck-hood” can be. Fellow specks, you are not alone! And for my friends in the “blue bubbles”, who paint us all solid red: we are not.

And third, it forces me to sort out the conflagration of disastrous news coming at us all. Iran, Epstein, ICE, TSA, National Debt, Graft and Corruption, Fair Elections, private schools, re-whitening history: only Billy Joel could sort out this fire. It’s easy to be consumed by the issues. Putting it to “paper” (or on this computer screen) gives me an opportunity to organize my thoughts. That’s both for myself, and for “the world” that might read about it.

Debate

I don’t mind opposition. In fact, I’ve had some great “online discussions”. We may not agree in the end, but, with most, we maintained respect. There’s nothing wrong with disagreeing, and there’s nothing inappropriate about dissent. It’s as “American” as, well; apple pie or the US flag shirt I’m wearing today, or neighbors helping neighbors in a crisis, or Thomas Paine. The only thing I ask is that you don’t question my right to dissent. I’ve been called a traitor, an “indoctrinator”, a bed-wetter and a pearl clutch-er (though I don’t wear pearls, or wet the bed). I was even called a “liberal” once. That’s a badge I still wear proudly. I’ve had folks so angry that I worried that their vitriol might become more than just strokes on a keyboard.

But I will not tolerate those who deny the right to speak.

In the past few months, some opposed to our “alternative message” have tried to shut us down. Part of it is by screaming, or in social media terms, overwhelming numbers of memes and “fake news”. They use insults about age, employment, and the MAGA attack phrase: “Trump Derangement Syndrome” questioning mental fitness. And, of course, the ultimate avoidance, “what-about” (Biden, Obama, Pelosi). It’s all about discounting arguments they cannot win.

One individual on “our side” in this Red Bubble is waging a “war” by going into Facebook “MAGA Safe” zones and speaking truth. If I remember my Bible studies, he is Daniel in the lions’ den. It’s not my area, but, like Daniel, he’s on the side of the angels.

Friends

And another individual is pointing out how the actions of the Trump Presidency are so far out of the “norms”, so criminal, that everyone should be on notice. Some of that author’s so-called friends aren’t arguing the point. Instead, they are attacking using social “threats”. “You have a great family and life, concentrate on them,” one said. “You are going to lose close friends if you keep this up. We don’t want to hear what you’re saying”.

This is all in social media. There is an ultimate answer for those folks who are disinterested: scroll by. Don’t read my stuff, “Daniel’s stuff”, the “family man’s” stuff. That’s fine, an obvious answer rooted in the First Amendment freedom of speech. But don’t disrespect us by saying we “have no right”, or “we don’t want to hear you”, or, essentially, “…get a life and get in line, or lose your social standing”.

Friends can argue across political lines. But real friends understand: if it’s important enough for “us” to express our facts and feelings, it’s important enough for you to respect our right to do so. Agree or argue or scroll by if you must. But don’t dare try to shut us down, denying our right to say what we think, and feel. That’s Unamerican from any side.

And, among friends, it’s the ultimate sign of disrespect.

Bet on It

Keeping Up

I’m sixty-nine years old . But I’m doing my best to keep up with our “modern world”. I’m pretty fluent on my computer, and even on the IPhone. I can set up secure linked networks in our home, and even find programs on the streaming channels. And, while texting isn’t my favorite form of communication (I’m still a one-fingered typer), I can handle it for short conversations.

But I don’t like to FaceTime on a regular basis. Part of that is I don’t won’t to worry how I look for a phone call. But, “to get real”, when I’m talking on the phone I’m often doing something else as well. I want to be hands-free, to do housework, or drive, or pick up dog poop in the backyard.

And I don’t have a “smart watch”. I wore a regular watch for my entire professional life, but one of the “deals” I made myself on retirement was that I didn’t need one anymore. I find smart watches intrusive, at dinner and during conversation. It feels like whatever is happening on your wrist is absolutely more important than the face-to-face conversation with me. Besides, even with large font type, I need my reading glasses to read texts. Messages on a watch would doom me to permanent visual assistance.

Casino in Your Pocket

And there are a couple of areas of the 21^st Century that I have intentionally avoided. I’m not a video gamer. Pong, the first video game, came out when I was eighteen years old. I never got hooked on Mario or Halo, or Grand Theft Auto. First, I never developed the thumb muscle memory of controller to screen. But second, I saw those games as great “time suckers”. I had (still often have) a busy life. A couple of hours of video games daily would crimp my schedule.

And another area of “modern life” that I’ve avoided is on-line gambling. I’m a man who grew up in the era of private poker games and “bookies” on the phone. The openness and availability of gambling today is intense (to say the least). I enjoy going to the Casino (a slots guy) and I’ve bet on the “ponies” and even the “dogs” (don’t tell my Rescue friends). But the fact that the poker game, the Casino, the ponies or the dogs, and any sports bets; in fact, all the betting you can stand is right there, in your pocket, is concerning.

Proposition Betting

You don’t just bet the game, winner or loser. You bet whether Joe Burrow will throw more touchdowns than interceptions. Money’s down on Chase gaining more than 100 yards on receptions, or whether the Bengals defense actually get a sack in the game. Every aspect of athletic performance is subject to a wager. It’s called a “player prop bet”. Of course that’s a lot of temptation, sitting in the recliner, watching the game. Online gambling, the “sports betting” establishment in your pocket, should be a big concern. After all, it’s not just old men, it’s teenagers and even pre-teens. They all have access to this designer addiction behavior.

One concern is that so much money can ride on a single action. Burrow throws a touchdown pass, millions win. Burrow get sacked, millions more win. Even though professional football, basketball, and baseball athletes make a lot of money, there still must be the temptation to bet on a “sure thing”, your own performance. It used to be a “team event” to alter a game for gambling purposes (see the Chicago Black Sox of 1919). Now, one player can gamble on his or her individual performance. That’s something they have personal control over.

Prediction Gambling

There also was a line between betting “the ponies” or betting on life. But that line is now, to use a recent popular term, “obliterated”. There’s a newer form of gambling, just now catching on. It’s called “prediction gambling”. Now, I can pick up my phone (not to talk, to type), and place a bet on whether the US will bomb energy infrastructure in Iran, or not; or whether the Marine Expeditionary Force from Okinawa will end up controlling Kharg Island.

So here’s the politics. President Trump is notorious for trying to influence the Stock Market. He didn’t like the closing numbers last week, so he announced over the weekend that there were negotiations open with the Iranians. True, False, we don’t know. What we do know is that the Stock Market went up because of Trump’s announcement come Monday. (Dow Jones closed at 45,500 on Friday, opened a thousand points higher on Monday – CNBC).

IYKYK (if you know, you know)

And you can bet on it. Or any other actions of the government. Did Trump throw a touchdown, or Hakeem Jeffries get a sack? It’s all on your phone. The biggest “player” in the Prediction Betting field is a company called Kalshi. Here’s what on the menu today:

– US- Iran nuclear deal
– How long will the government be shutdown
– Who will leave Trump’s cabinet next
– Will proof of citizenship be required for federal voter registration
– Will the US take control of any part of Greenland
– When will traffic in the Strait of Hormuz return to normal.

Are there some smart Millennials and Gen Z’ers , working in DC, betting the odds on their own work? Isn’t that a lot like Pete Rose betting on baseball, or the Chicago Black Sox? And with so much money on the line, will that likely influence decision makers? You bet your life it does.

Congress is looking into “banning” prediction gambling. That’s something, I hope, that could be a bipartisan win. But there’s an awful lot of money involved in the industry, and money equals influence and power in the US Congress. So don’t place any wagers against Prediction Gambling. The odds aren’t in your favor.

American Generations

Greatest Generation – born 1901-1927
Silent Generation – born 1928-1945
Baby Boomers – born 1946 – 1964
Gen X – born 1965-1980
Millennials – born 1981-1996
Gen Z – born 1997-2010
Gen Alpha – born 2010-2024
Gen Beta – born 2025- 2039

Eyes on Us

Let’s see: standard references for essays on “Our America”. There’s the US Constitution (the Cornell Law School site). And there’s the Declaration of Independence (the Yale Law School site). But probably the next reference most used is the musical “Hamilton”, that has placed it’s imprimatur on every phase and side of American politics in the 21^st century. Who has “eyes on us” – well, as Washington sang in the production: “History has its eyes on you”.

What is History

I was a public school teacher for twenty-eight years (high school Dean of Students for eight more after that). I taught history and government, middle school and high school, with a smattering of other social studies topics. So when I hear Chris Jackson sing “History has its eyes on you”, I know what that looks like.

When I was in elementary school, my older teachers (in their forties) were World War II veteran aged. To them, that global conflagration didn’t seem like history, it felt more like current events (my parents as well). I think every Junior High and High School had a “Sergeant Miller”. We had one in Kettering’s Van Buren Jr. High, though I didn’t have class with him. He taught World War II from his perspective, a soldier on the ground. His classes were ready to “dive for cover” in many lessons.

In high school, I watched as my sister’s friends agonized over the Vietnam War. Some were drafted, some volunteered, and some disappeared (headed for Canada). Vietnam was a war “in living color” in our living room. We were “live” every night, as NBC’s Huntley-Brinkley Report, shared a firsthand view of the struggle (NBC – even then – loyalty and habits die hard).

Vietnam

But what hit me hardest about Vietnam, was seeing one of our music teachers have an emotional breakdown when she got the news that her brother wasn’t coming back from the battle. She finally left the school for the year, overcome with grief. Vietnam was current events for us.

In my generation, lots of things were defined by what you did during Vietnam. Bob Mueller passed away last week. He was the former FBI Director and Special Counsel investigating the 2016 election. But during Vietnam, he left his cushy Princeton education and went to war as a Marine Lieutenant. On the other hand, Donald Trump, the current President of the United States, did what many others of means did. He found a way out of the draft.

When I started teaching, there was a whole cohort of teachers just a few years older, who got deferred by going into the classroom. They found their way out of “service” in the war. Vietnam wasn’t quite history in 1978, it was, what we would say in modern parlance, “too soon”.

Your Grandparent’s War

By the time I left the classroom in 2006, Vietnam was definitely history. It was the kids’ grandparents’ war. Those kids had a whole litany of wars to think about before they got back to Vietnam: The Cold War, Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, the First Iraq War, 9-11, the War in Afghanistan, Iraq War II. Each time the question left over from Vietnam had to be answered. Does the United States belong in this war? Where do you stand?

One of the lessons we learned from Vietnam was this. No matter how opposed to a war you might be, don’t take your opposition out on the soldiers fighting the battle. Save it for the policy makers who put our troops in harm’s way.

What’s going on in classrooms today? America is in a “war” in Iran. The word “war” is quoted, because US actions have been called an “intervention”, an “excursion”, a “war of choice” and a “response to imminent threat”. It would be more than scary (another Hamilton reference) to be the teacher in that room. Politics are the “third rail” of American education. For a teacher to lead a discussion about the terms above, puts them dangerously close to being “zapped”. They might be rode out of town on a rail for “INDOCTRINATION”.

I need to point out, that if “indoctrination” actually worked, kids would turn in their homework and not stick used gum under the desks. But it’s always a “threat” to hold over the teacher’s head.

Your Stand

So how will all this be “interpreted” in the class room of 2040? We are at war, with Iran in the Middle East. We are at war, politically with each other here at home. And we will soon have to choose the path for the United States in the 21^stCentury. The alternatives are on the table now. This is a special moment in America’s story. “History” does have its eyes on us. What we decide to do about our wars and conflicts, international and domestic, will impact our “story”, perhaps even more than Vietnam, or even World War II.

Our grandchildren will ask, what did you do? What was your stand? How did you protect (or fail to protect) the Nation?

And for those who wish to voice their opposition to our current path – this Saturday, March 28^th 2026 is the next NO KINGS march day. There are over 3000 demonstrations available to join. Here’s the link: No Kings.

Robert Mueller Died

Robert Mueller just died, Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!” – Donald Trump, March 21, 2026

Our Times

I’ve had the conversation literally hundreds of times. What’s happened to America? Why are we so different, so divided, so much more damaged then we ever felt before? How will we survive today’s government, or, will we survive it at all?

In the first Trump Administration, many Americans were aware that the President (and those advising him) took great pride in breaking “norms”. Those are the unwritten rules that the United States has accepted for almost 250 years. For example, George Washington left office after two terms as President. Every other President, until Franklin Roosevelt, honored that “norm”. And after Roosevelt was elected to four terms, dying in office; Americans put that “norm” into “black letter law”, the 22^nd Amendment to the Constitution. It was two terms only.

Another sign of our times: as you read that last paragraph, maybe you had these answers in your head. “Trump was elected to break norms, that was the whole point. Roosevelt, just another Democrat, what-about that? And finally, will the ‘Black letter law’ of the 22^nd really hold up in a super-majority Supreme Court?”

Unfettered

The Second Trump Administration is unfettered by norms. From day one, they slashed foreign aid, sent in the “DOGE” boys, literally knocked down part of the White House, and used the most powerful office to enrich the President (and family). (Knock, knock; who is there? Jared. Jared Who? The Jared who wants five billion dollars to play with, to settle the war, and to build a resort in Gaza and Dubai). And then there’s ICE, the reprisals on FBI agents involved in investigations against Trump, and our “little excursion” in Iran that’s costing American lives today.

There really is no limit to Trump’s power grab. It goes from the ridiculous to the outrageous. Ridiculous: he just wrote an Executive Order demanding that college football “clear” the hours when the Army-Navy game is played. He seems to be willing to use the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to try to force over-the-air TV networks to clear the air for the game. There’s no precedent, no law which allows that power. But he signed it anyway.

Outrageous: Trump’s still “floating” the idea of sending ICE to the polls in November to “protect” the election. I’m sure there’s a target list the includes Atlanta, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Detroit, Milwaukee, and of course, Minneapolis. They won’t be there to “catch undocumented migrants”. A polling place is the last place those folks would be. But they will serve to intimidate real voters.

Mueller

Robert Mueller died yesterday. He was an American hero: a decorated combat Marine officer in Vietnam, a prosecutor, a United States Attorney under both Clinton and Bush’s Presidencies, and a Deputy Attorney General of the United States. He became Director of the FBI seven days before the 9-11 attacks. His greatest service was turning the FBI from an organization designed to solve past crimes, to a modern counter-intelligence agency that could stop a future 9-11. The proof of his success is obvious: while there have been “minor” terrorist acts in the US, the scale of the attacks of 9-11 was never repeated in the twenty-five years since.

Mueller came back to serve in the Trump Administration. The Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein brought Mueller in to investigate Trump’s campaign actions in the 2016 election. And Mueller, hamstrung as he was by later Attorney General Bill Barr, put out a clear report, outlining exactly how the Trump campaign was linked in multiple ways to Russian intelligence, as well as the ongoing campaign by Russia to influence the American election.

Mueller did not just do his duty. He led a team that told America what happened in 2016, and what continues to happen even today. And he did that as his health started failing. Soon after the Trump investigation ended, Mueller was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, the illness that ultimately took his life.

Decency

There’s an old expression from the McCarthy Era (a “forgotten time” when America turned on itself, much as we are doing today). In a Senate hearing on “Communists in the Government”, Senator Joseph McCarthy turned on the attorney for the accused, calling him a Communist. That attorney’s lawyer, Joseph Welch, responded with this:

“Until this moment, senator, I think I never gauged your cruelty or recklessness . . . . Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”

It’s not “new news” that Donald Trump has “…no sense of decency”. So it isn’t a surprise that he would post such a coarse, inhumane statement as “…I’m glad he’s dead”. There certainly is some irony. This from the man who gladly used inappropriate positive reaction to Conservative/Christian influencer Charlie Kirk’s death as a cudgel, demanding those who made such comments be censured, fired, and silence.

Here’s my “cudgel”. The President of the United States should resign. He has stationed standing armies in our cities (ICE). He entered us into a war without preparation, discussion, or Congressional action. Our dead servicemen are returning in flag draped coffins. He is wrecking our economy, and pretending it’s all for the good. He is threatening our free and fair elections.

And as the “moral leader” of the United States, his own personal vindictiveness, “I’m glad he’s dead”, is transforming us. America is turning into a place where no one would want to live.

Slippery Slope of Oil

We’re Winning

Pete Hegseth says “We’re winning, every day”. He also says things like “It takes money to kill bad guys”, as his Defense Department asks Congress for $200 Billion more to continue the War in Iran. $200 Billion: two years’ worth of Medicaid cuts reinstated; or building nine Ford Class Aircraft carriers. $200 Billion, the cost for six of the twenty years of the War in Afghanistan.

So the United States, led by “the man”, Pete Hegseth, and the “old man”, Donald Trump, is slipping into a regional war with no clear end in sight. He’s not wrong, we are killing “bad guys”. But we also proved what the Nuclear War theorists of the 1950’s and 60’s worried about. If you kill off the leaders of a government, who’s left to surrender?

Decapitation

We think of the Pentagon as a “military place”, building bombs, ordering troops around and such. But in reality, it has a lot in common with a college campus. They study, they collect data, and then they think about future actions. The most important things that the planners in the Pentagon do is to play out every possible scenario. If the United States bombed Iran, what would the military response be? If the United States dropped paratroopers into Greenland, what resistance should they expect, and what would the worldwide response be?

No one in the Pentagon, probably not even Pete Hegseth, should have thought that their quick “decapitation” strike on Venezuela was the model for an attack on Iran. In Venezuela, we kidnapped the leader of a criminal enterprise. Like any good “mob” organization, once the “Godfather” was gone, another took his place, and the criminality continues.

But it definitely “feels” like Hegseth and the White House thought exactly that. When faced with the overwhelmingly powerful United States and the planned destruction of Iranian political, social, and religious leadership: they thought Iran would fight for “a minute”, then sue for peace. The “minute” was up a long time ago.

Whose War?

In fact, the United States seems to be the “big dumb sidekick” of Israel in the War with Iran. Just last night, Israel launched a bombing mission against the Iranian natural gas fields in South Pars. It’s another escalation: up until then both the US and Israel were “hands off” Iranian oil and gas production. After all, when it’s over, oil is the “one thing” in Iran that has value to the United States. Now Israel is blowing it up.

Israeli goals in Iran are not exactly the same as the United States. It seems that Netanyahu is forcing Trump to further commit. Like the fictional Godfather, Michael Corleone, said: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in”. Israel crossed a line the US thought was inviolable.

Iran naturally attacked in kind. (Didn’t Pete give us the impression that Iran didn’t have the munitions available anymore?). Now oil production and distribution facilities on both sides of the Persian Gulf are under threat. Trump said he “didn’t know” that Israel was going to launch their mission, but promises to “…massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas field,” if the Iranians continue their attacks.

Choking Out

What’s at stake? Already the twenty-four mile wide Strait of Hormuz, where twenty percent of the world’s oil passes, is closed. No oil company, and no country, is willing to risk a $100 million ship, with two million barrels of oil, in the firing zone. Why should they? There already are burned out skeletons of tankers littering the Strait.

What Iran can do with one anti-ship missile, or a few “suicide drones”, or even a couple of suicide soldiers in a high-speed rubber dinghy, is virtually indefensible. Even using US Naval vessels as escorts doesn’t “fix” the problem. But it does put American ships and sailors directly in the line of fire.

Meanwhile, the whole world waits, as Iran (not the United States) put’s it hand’s around the twenty-four mile “neck” of oil production, and starts to squeeze. Surely this scenario has been played out in the bowels of the Pentagon thousands of times. And, clearly, the US military doesn’t have an answer. Meanwhile Americans face a twenty percent rise in gas prices. That will spread out into not just travel cost, but all the costs of goods getting to stores. In other words, it not just the Billions spent by Hegseth’s Department that’s costing us. It’s means higher prices for the necessities.

Boots On, Feet Dry

Of course, the US is now sending in an “MEU”, a Marine Expeditionary Unit, consisting of 2500 Marines, and the USS Tripoli amphibious assault ship. She’s a cross between an aircraft carrier and a helicopter carrier. What is the mission for those Marines, when they finally arrive from Okinawa? Are they going to physically control the Iranian coast along the Strait, to keep drone and personnel launched attacks from the oil tankers? Isn’t that what we (and Israel, for sure) are waiting for: US boots on the ground in Iran?

And once the Marines go “feet dry”, what commitment do we make then?

There’s a legal concept called a “slippery slope”. It means that once you make a single, pivotal decision, you have stepped onto an “icy hill”. Decisions after that slides you farther down the slope into the abyss. It’s the old (bad) joke about the Korean War. It was a “police action”, but we ran out of police and had to send in the whole US Army.

This slippery slope isn’t covered in ice. It’s covered in crude oil, oil that literally runs the world. How important is that? The US lifted the sanctions on Russian oil, allowing it to be sold worldwide, with the profits going to prosecute Russia’s war against Ukraine. And now, Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, is suggesting we take the sanctions off of IRANIAN oil. That would increase the world oil supply, slightly loosening the Iranian grip. But the money from those oil sales would go back to finance the Iranian war effort.

Isn’t that “giving aid and comfort” to an enemy, the Constitutional definition of treason?

Crisis in a Small Town

This is an essay I wrote in the days that the reality of the Covid crisis was taking hold. It seems we’ve (and I include myself) made a hole for our memories about that time. Just thought it’s a good day for a reminder. Here’s “Crisis in a Small Town” on its sixth anniversary.

Bad News at the Door Step

If you listen to the news, this week it seems all depressingly the same. Social distancing, washing hands, flattening curves, an exponential crisis: everywhere you turn you’re being warned. Here in Ohio the schools, restaurants, bars, casinos, racinos (yep, there’s a difference) fitness clubs, and even my dentist’s office are all closed. When you run into people, out on the street or at the grocery store, they look a little guilty: I’m not in my house; is my excuse to be out “good” enough?

Pataskala, Ohio is dealing with the corona-virus crisis just like everyone else. We’ve had our bad moments. There supposedly was a fight in the local grocery store: one man took three packages of toilet paper when he was only allowed to have two, another took the last package left, and wanted the extra. There were words, and a shoving match, and someone else had to intervene to stop something worse.

It’s odd: why toilet paper? How did that become the symbolic product shortage of the corona-virus, a disease of the lungs? Sure, they’ve run out of bacterial wipes, and paper towels, but toilet paper? And why is everyone convinced that there will be shortages, that somehow they will be ordered into their homes with no way out? But that’s where Pataskala’s residents are. If you want white bread, you’re probably out of luck. Good thing I like rye!

Back to School

I picked a great time to get back into education. As the “long-term sub” for a middle school social studies teacher, I was just getting my legs (and voice) back when schools were closed. Now, this “old dog” is going to have to learn a lot of new tricks. Education isn’t going to stop: there’s a whole new world in “Google Classroom” where students and teachers can interact and learn. Good thing we were supposed to have spring break next week, I can buy some time to figure out how to make all this happen.

Republican Governor Mike DeWine will probably never get my vote, but he absolutely has earned my respect. His handling of the crisis has been forthright and honest, and he is willing to make the tough decisions that might save lives here in Ohio. He rolled out his “plan” over several days, not wanting to “nail” Ohioans with too much at one time. Sure schools are closed until after April 3^rd, but I would bet as we get closer, schools will remain shuttered much longer. He’s just in no hurry to deliver one more piece of bad news.

So the staff at the school will learn how to educate from a “social” distance, via computer. They’ve already picked up the challenge, and many have offered to help an old “chalk” teacher with the new technology. I’ll get it, and if needs be, we can teach for the rest of the year. I’ll miss the contact, and the discussions, but that’s the one thing we can’t have for a while.

Good Cops

By the way, since all the kids are at home, some parents are frantic. They have to work, and the school and the YMCA and the library are all closed. There’s nowhere for their kids to go. The Pataskala Police Department has offered to stop by and check on them; just give them the address and your phone number. “Wellness checks” are something they’re happy to do: making sure that young teens are OK at home is a great service to our community.

Good Friends

As I’ve noted before, Pataskala is the home to more pizza shops than almost anything else (well, there’s a lot of car parts places too). There are also several restaurants of one kind or another, a Chinese carryout, two Mexican places, and a number of bars that serve food. But the governor has ordered all restaurants closed, carryout or delivery only.

Members of the community are putting the local menus online, and encouraging folks to buy some local carryout food at least once a week. The big businesses, the chain restaurants will probably be all right, but places like the Nutcracker and Ziggys and the “hallowed” local pizza place, Capuanos, will need community support to survive the crisis. I believe that they’ll get all the help they need – it’s just too bad Ziggys can’t carryout beer.

Speaking of beer, even the local brewery, the Granville Brewery, is closed. But I heard they’ll fill your growlers for you if you need it, you just can’t sit at the bar!!

There’s lots of grousing and grumbling: no one around here is sick – yet. But there’s also an underlying fear, of what might happen, if not to you, then to someone you love. It seems that things will get much worse before they begin to get better. But Pataskala, with all its flaws, will stand together to help each other. Neighbors will check on neighbors, and friends with friends.

They might even loan you a roll of toilet paper.

Empowering the Billionaire Class

First of a quick apology. I had surgery last week (nothing critical, just old-man stuff) and it has slowed down my “essaying”. I’m recovering (hopefully ready for a track meet by mid-April). And today, I’m sitting at the kitchen table, with a blank “sheet” and a flashing cursor. So with all of that, let’s talk about power.

Lost Ideals

One of the saddest parts of our “new era” of MAGA politics has been watching the veteran politicians, the women and men approaching my age. I stood at the proverbial crossroads with them in the early 1980’s: go into politics and elective office, or not. We were young operatives on both sides of the aisle. Some made the choice to enter the “fray”. For all of the years since, while I might completely disagree with some of their ideologies, I’ve respected that decision.

Here’s a bad joke: “How can you tell a Republican legislator? What they say to their friends is the opposite to what they say in public, or how they vote on the floor.” Very few have stood up to the excesses of Trumpism, and fewer still remain in office after doing so. At that crossroads back in the 80’s, I know they had dreams of really making America better. Now their silence risks the loss of our Democratic Republic. That tells what’s in their heart. They want employment, electoral victories, the power and prestige that office brings. They are creatures of the material now, not the past we all dreamed of in political science classes of the 1970’s.

Profiles in Courage

There are few “profiles in courage” left on the Republican side of the United States Congress. And many of those nearing my age are getting out, fully retiring from public life. Sure, I don’t blame anyone for retiring when they can. But I bet if they felt that they could make a difference, many would stay. Ten Senators (five from each party), and fifty-six Congressmen (twenty-one Democrats, thirty-five Republicans) are leaving their seats.

As former Republican Congressman Adam Kinsinger pointed out in an essay, don’t expect any of the Republicans to become “lame duck – profiles in courage”. They will silently continue to support the MAGA movement, to protect their future retirement plans. As retired Republican Senator Lamar Alexander responded when asked why he didn’t vote to impeach Trump after the insurrection; “Who would I eat lunch with?”

I know a lot about real politics. I hoped that the idealism that took my peers into politics (and myself into the classroom) could survive the Trump MAGA political base. It didn’t for many of them (Adam Kinsinger, Liz Cheney, and even Tom Massie are the exceptions, and are decades younger than me).

It’s About Money

If money is power, then the billionaire class in American society ought to be pretty strong. There are almost one thousand billionaires in the US. And many of them have aligned themselves with Donald Trump, himself now (thanks to feeding at the US trough) a member of the club (201^st wealthiest man in America – Forbes).

But I think there’s a slim ideological difference between Trump, the eternal “grifter” as President, and the rest of the billionaire class, represented by Vice President, JD Vance. Trump is trying to stay rich, and make sure his family stays rich as well. Jared Kushner just this week is polling our allies in the Middle East, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia. He’s trying to raise another five billion dollars for his own personal investment business (NYT). Hard to say no to the US negotiator, when as the old saying goes: “Teheran in flames, bombs on the way, film at eleven!!”.

Trump really doesn’t seem to care about democracy, or the US Constitution, or his responsibility to the nation. All of those seem to be a “means to an end” for him. That “means” serves both his purpose of gathering more funds, and his ultimate goal (and the real reason he ran for President in 2024). He wants a “get out of jail, free” card for life, and the Presidency is the only way to get one. I guess you could say this is all Jack Smith’s fault (not really).

Vice President from Ohio

While Trump’s motivations seem pretty clear, the question to ask is what’s the long term goal for the billionaire class that surrounds him. Surely they want to protect their fortunes from any government actions (see Senator Elizabeth Warren’s plan the Ultra-Millionaire Tax).

But JD Vance represents a different attitude toward our American Democracy. Vance is well known for the origin story he authored, Hillbilly Elegy. He is a “hillbilly” (from Middletown, Ohio) who made good. He made his millions (estimated worth – twelve million) in part from book sales and movie rights, and in part, by his service to billionaire Peter Thiel (Number 40 wealthiest American – Forbes). Thiel made his fortune at PayPal. And is now leading Palantir, a company that develops data “integration” processes and whose main client is the US Government.

In fact they also want the government to “serve” their needs. Their wealth buys them a louder voice than others. And they are using that voice (protected by the Supreme Court ruling in the Citizen’s United case, 2010) to alter American government. Republican politicians of the past at least paid lip-service to the commitment of the American government to the “common man”. Even Herbert Hoover campaigned on “A chicken in every pot, a car in every garage”. These billionaire Republicans are making sure that America is a “safe place” for their own wealth.

Hillbillies

Vance represents a change in America. He went from “hillbilly” to millionaire, telling his story. But his concern isn’t really about the “hillbillies” he left behind in Middletown. He wants to make sure that that his new billionaire friends gain and maintain their fortunes. Here’s two quick examples. First, the Big, Beautiful Bill’s primary impact was to cut taxes on the rich, and to cut benefits to the poor (American Center for Progress). It’s the only major legislative accomplishment of this Republican controlled Congress.

Second, the “Safe Act” now in Congress has the net effect of suppressing the vote. Without a doubt, fewer legal voters will be able to vote if this law manages to get through Congress. Those fewer voters inevitably will be poorer, and more likely to vote Democratic. And that gives the billionaire class even more power. Not only can they use their money to try to “buy elections”, but they could then chose the electorate who are allowed to vote.

JD may not be all-in on the war in Iran, but he definitely is all-in on fewer people voting. That’s particularly if they are poor, minority, or people of color. Trump’s a thief, but his thieving will be done in three years. But the billionaire class is here to stay. And that’s the real long-term threat to American Democracy.

Unsafe for Democracy

Not a Real Problem

Let’s be real about the “Safe Act” that President Trump is trying to force through the US Senate. The premise of the “Act” is that the American voting system is “unsafe”. The prime example Trump uses is his “loss” to Joe Biden in 2020. Of course, over sixty court cases, recounts and investigations in Georgia and Arizona, all show that Biden actually won. But Trump can’t stomach that possibility, so somehow the 2020 election must be rigged.

To set the record straight: the main evidence of voter frauds (duplicate voting and or ineligible voters) is kept by the Heritage Foundation. That’s the same group that wrote “Project 2025” for Trump. The bias there has always been in Trump’s favor. But the Heritage data shows the following: since 1982 they document 1,620 cases of voter fraud. That’s an average of 37 cases a year, out of hundreds of millions of votes cast. To simplify: voter fraud is so rare that it doesn’t impact the outcome of elections. It’s not a problem.

Great Replacement

Of course, that doesn’t fit with the “Great Replacement” theory of far-right America. They posit the following view: Democrats want “open borders” so more people of color will come into the United States. Those folks, they think, will more likely vote for Democratic candidates. The theorists fear that will give Democrats unassailable majorities to control the government.

Now the disconnect is that even if undocumented migrants are in the United States, they can’t vote. And the last thing they are going to try to do is vote, as that exposes them as undocumented and puts them in jeopardy of removal. So that part of the “Great Replacement” theory falls apart. But there is a more insidious underpinning to their idea. Many of the immigrants that come to the United States, legally or illegally, might want to become citizens. And, if they gain US citizenship, then they would be able to vote, just as waves of migrants have earned that right in the past.

But the “Great Replacement” folks don’t want them to become citizens either. That’s because many of them are advocates of a “White America”. And they are up against a demographic reality. Within the next two decades, whites in America will become the largest “minority”, but not the majority anymore. So keeping people of color from gaining citizenship is a ploy to keep the white people that the Great Replacement folks claim to represent in power.

Jim Crow

At the end of the 19^th and beginning of the 20^th century, white people in America tried to maintain power through the “Jim Crow” laws. Many of those were aimed at keeping black people, US citizens, from voting. The idea was that as long as the “vote” remained among the “chosen” white people, then the existing power structure could continue. The people of color were denied the vote by law. They used “grandfather clauses” (if your grandfather couldn’t vote, you can’t vote) or literacy tests (not required of white voters) or a fee to vote (a poll tax).

And, of course, those people who tried to enforce voting rights were threatened, attacked, and killed. In many places, law enforcement was on the side of the racists.

It’s simple: if you can’t win a free election with all eligible voters participating, then reduce those that can participate. And that’s what the “Safe Act” would do. It would take perfectly legal voters, and deny them the right to vote.

Safe Act

The Safe Act isn’t just a photo-ID law, requiring voters to present state ID at the polls. (Though even that law, a regulation here in Ohio with the strictest voter laws in the country, does deny the vote to otherwise eligible voters). In many states, the “Safe Act” paperwork would require that voters get a “national ID”, like a passport. Currently, 50% of Americans do not have that document (USA Today) which costs $165. If that is required, it creates a “cost to vote”, otherwise known as a poll tax, which is banned by the 24^th Amendment to the US Constitution.

In addition, for a large number of legal American citizens, a tremendous amount of documentation would be required. The basic legal document for citizenship is a birth certificate. But 21.3 million Americans don’t have access to their birth certificates (NPR). Those citizens have used other forms to prove citizenship for voting registration. Under the “Safe Act” they would have to locate original documents. In addition, if their name has changed since birth (adoption, marriage, legal change) they would have to have certified copies of those documents as well.

Authoritarian Rule

It’s not about making voting safe, it’s about reducing the number of voters. In the Jim Crow days, there were poor white folks who were also unable to vote. But the powers were fine with that, as long as the vast number of people of color were denied too. Now, a large number of Trump supporters might not be able to vote. But Safe Act folks today are fine with that as well.

The “Safe Act” isn’t making elections safer. That’s not a real problem. It is a scheme to keep opponents of the current administration from winning electoral majorities. Just like the Jim Crow Era, it’s a way of cheating Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence thesis: “That…governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

The Safe Act makes sure those just powers will be chosen by those governing, not the governed. That’s not a democracy (or even a Republic – for those still hanging on the difference).

It’s a government of the few: authoritarian rule.

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