I love going on vacation. I woke up early this morning and slipped out onto the balcony of our hotel. The Gulf of Mexico waves are crashing on the shore as the sun tries works it way up through the clouds. Thunder rumbles far off in the distance. We are in Gulf Shores, Alabama, just west of Pensacola, Florida. It\u2019s been a good three-day getaway. Today we will head back home to the snows of Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ve spent some time before in this region around Pensacola. This time, we made it to our favorite Irish restaurant, McGuire\u2019s, and to other beach bars and eateries. Last time we stayed over the state line in Florida, but now we are at the Gulf State Park Lodge, run by Hilton. It stands on a stretch of beach, with a mile between it and the next buildings. Even though it\u2019s a \u201cfancy\u201d hotel, you still have a little feeling of isolation out on the beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One warning though: when the restaurant here serves \u201cflash fried red snapper\u201d, don\u2019t do it. They take a whole fish, gut it, bread it, and put it on the plate. That must be a delicacy \u201chere in Alabama\u201d but sixteen inches of fins, scales, and eyes is a little too much for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even out here on the beach, we are completely connected. We watched the results of the New Hampshire Primary, and heard all the trepidation about Sanders being the Democratic nominee, Biden failing in his campaign, and \u201cYang Gangers\u201d angry at Buttigieg for, well, liking and using some of Yang\u2019s ideas. New Hampshire did little but to tell us Pete\u2019s for real, Amy is too, and we have a long way to go before we reach a final nominee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And we got every bit of the President subverting the Justice Department for his buddy, Roger Stone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I will confess a Northern bias about Alabama. This is the home state of Judge Roy Moore, and Jeff Sessions, and Montgomery, the birthplace of the Confederacy.\u00a0\u00a0But it is also the home to the civil rights movement, courage on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and current Senator Doug Jones.\u00a0\u00a0And, this was the home to my first Principal, Pete Nix.\u00a0\u00a0I love and admired him, and learned a lot about how to be a teacher, coach, and administrator.\u00a0\u00a0I also learned about Alabama loyalty.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pete would often lead our staff to a nearby bar, \u201cOlde Summit Towne,\u201d on Thursday nights.\u00a0\u00a0Back then there was an Elvis impersonator who did a two hour show.\u00a0\u00a0It would be late, maybe one in the morning, when \u201cElvis\u201d would end by singing the Confederate anthem \u201cDixie\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Pete would stand, and make it clear that to stay in good graces on staff, you\u2019d better too.\u00a0As a twenty-two year old staffer, I jumped up and raised my beer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tuesday we made our way over to Mobile, and toured the World War II Battleship Alabama.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve been on Battleships before, but the Alabama more than most is bristling with weapons; guns in every conceivable direction and size.\u00a0\u00a0And though it\u2019s a huge ship, maybe sixteen stories from keel to top, it must have been crowded.\u00a0\u00a02500 sailors packed in, serving every possible capacity from barber to gunner to nurse.\u00a0\u00a0They fought through the Pacific campaigns, and, as one of the sailors said, they weren\u2019t just lucky to finish undamaged, they were good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They were dedicated to a cause, and willing to sacrifice themselves for it. Listening to all the divisions today, it makes you wonder if that still exists here in Alabama, or the rest of the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So here I am in Alabama, a state of contradictions. The Confederacy and Civil Rights, the heart of Trump Country that elected a Democratic Senator, cotton still growing in the fields, and luxury condos on the beach. To quote John Mellencamp, \u201cAin\u2019t that America\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s 2020, the year of crisis and change. Nine months from now America will decide what kind of country we\u2019re going to be. Are we moving towards an inclusive future, \u201cdedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,\u201d or a future of internalization and polarization? Or are we headed towards both. We are a nation divided, not just about what we support, but also about what we want America to be. This is one of those critical points in time, like 1786, or 1860, or 1932. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was supposed to be a break, and it was from the snow and the cold. Today we go north; almost 900 miles back to Ohio, a whole lot colder, but just as politically divided as Alabama. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the realities of today\u2019s America will follow. We can\u2019t \u201cturn that off\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"