Spine? Do Any of Them Have One?

 Yesterday was another in a series of failures by Congressional Republicans to show some spine. They just can’t. The only thing they care about is being re-elected. If they cross the current occupant of the White House his billionaire buddy will spend money to run someone more loyal in the primary. This is where gerrymandering has brought us. A House of Representatives full of people who cannot lose their seats as long as they stay in line. So before yesterday’s meeting they were all in favor of what was happening. When the President of Ukraine was ambushed by the President and Vice President with Russian talking points the Congressional representatives quickly deleted their statements of support for Ukrainian sovereignty. It is spineless and disgusting. 

 

Maybe It’s Time

 I haven’t blogged in a while. It isn’t that I haven’t had anything to say. I just didn’t want to sound like that old guy standing on his porch screaming at the neighborhood kids. “Get the fuck off my lawn!”  I do want to make one thing clear here. This is my blog. I get to say what I want. If you get offended or don’t like what I have to say. Well don’t come back. Write a comment. Whatever.

I am frustrated with the current state of affairs. Aren’t we better than this? I think some of the nonsense is just to distract us from what is really important. Today it’s about tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China. Tariffs that are essentially a tax on American consumers. If you think corporations are going to absorb the cost rather than pass it on you are delusional. Go to the grocery store and look closely at some of the packaging. The price didn’t change but the contents of the package got smaller. Those three countries are our biggest trading partners. Inflation will increase and the federal reserve will respond with higher interest rates. Recession in our future? Maybe if we are lucky. Depression is a real threat. In order to increase our distraction there is also talk of changing our border with Canada. Why the distractions? 

First, Congress is working on tax cuts for billionaires and large corporations. Let’s find the folks with the most money and make sure they get more. We are running deficits in the trillions of dollars. What is the Congressional response? How about we reduce our income. Trickle down economics hasn’t worked. Okay, you don’t like paying taxes. While you complain about that you also want police and fire services, good roads to drive on, clean water, sewer service, strong military and good schools. I think everyone should have adequate healthcare. Those things cost money. Everyone should pay their fair share. If I pay 15% of my income in taxes, for example, shouldn’t a millionaire or billionaire be expecting to pay the same percentage? 

Second, this whole DOGE bullshit. I mean really! Some unelected, unaccountable, and in my opinion corrupt billionaire and his unsupervised minions are accessing our most private information and government payment systems. Firing people when they don’t even understand what those people do. Fire the folks dealing with bird flu. Trying to hire them back. Firing the folks who maintain our nuclear weapons. Trying to hire them back. Cut off funding to control the spread of Ebola. Trying to get that restored. Can the government be better and more efficient? Sure. What’s wrong with taking the time to evaluate and do it right. Oversight belongs to Congress not some billionaire asshole. 

Keep your eye on the ball here. They want your money and the way to pay for their tax cuts is to cut your Medicare, Medicaid, veteran benefits, education benefits, and social security. They want to raise a generation who aren’t educated enough to realize how much the rich and powerful are fucking them over. 

So, you have two choices. One is get involved. The power belongs to the people. Make your voice heard. Option two is bending over and grabbing your ankles. Brace yourself because there won’t be any lube. 

Read, Think, Question

 I read every day. Books, magazine articles, newspapers are all part of every day life for me. I try to read things that challenge my beliefs. Books that make me take a different look at our shared American history. If you are looking for a book to read here are some of the ones I read last year. 

The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor by Eddie Jaku 

Poverty by America by Matthew Demond

The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens by Richard Haass

The Bodies Keep Coming: Dispatches From a Black Trauma Surgeon on Racism, Violence, and How We Heal by Brian H. Williams

Enough by Cassidy Hutchinson

The Book of Charlie by David Von Dreble

Things Our Fathers Saw by Matthew A. Rozell. This is a series of books. They are first person stories of World War 2 veterans. 

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab

Systemic Racism 101: A Visual History of the Impact of Racism in America by Aminah Pilgrim

Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth by Elizabeth Williamson

Children Under Fire: An American Crisis by John Woodrow Cox

American Psychosis: A Historical Investigation of How the Republican Party Went Crazy by David Corn

And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle by John Meacham. 

I’ll admit this is not an easy reading list. The effects of poverty, gun violence, racism and politics are pervasive in America. It is vital we see where we came from to understand how we arrived at this point. We require that information to plan a future. 

There is currently a serious discussion about the first amendment and our freedom of speech. I think too few Americans understand the history of free speech in America. The best book I have found on that subject is this one. Much of the speech we enjoy today would have landed us in legal trouble in America not all that long ago. If you wonder about the importance of dissenting opinions by Supreme Court justices this book reveals their potential impact. 

The Great Dissent: How Oliver Wendell Holmes Changed His Mind- and Changed the History of Free Speech in America by Thomas Healy

So I encourage you to take some time this year to read. 

Not Where You Want Hair

 Can’t grow hair on top of my head. 

Not me but you get the idea. 

So this morning I’m in the bathroom getting ready for my shower. I take a quick look in the mirror and it’s time for a trim. Nose hair. Why does it seem to grow faster than any other hair on my body? I think if I didn’t do weekly maintenance my future could look like this. 

Maybe nose hair doesn’t grow any faster than ear hair. I mean really? What the actual fuck is the deal here? Is this my future too? 

The older I get the more I realize the “golden years” must refer to how Mother Nature and Father Time have decided to get together and piss on your old age dreams. We spend our youth wanting to be an adult. We spend our senior years remembering how good we had it as a kid. 

Every Day

 It started January 10, 2021. Today makes 2 years. What have I done every day for 2 years? Read. Not newspapers or magazines although I do read them. Books. I read in books every day. No particular subject matter. It has ranged from science fiction, to science, to horror, to politics, biography, history, political science, novels, just a bit of anything and everything. Some books have been a pleasure to read. Some have been work. Some I have struggled to finish. Some I wished the story hadn’t ended. Some have frustrated me. The more I read about Abraham Lincoln the more I want to know. The more impressed I am with President Lincoln. When I listen to politicians today I often think about two of Lincoln’s speeches. The first Gettysburg and the second his second inaugural address. How Lincoln could say so much with so few words. How current politicians can say so little with such long speeches. The more I read about former President Trump the more appalled I am about how he could have been elected and allowed to remain in office. I think we still don’t fully grasp the damage he has done to the country. 

So what am I reading now? The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V. E. Schwab. I’m a bit over halfway through this book and I am impressed. What would life be like if no one could remember you? Addie cannot write or draw anything. She cannot say her name. When someone meets her they can sit and talk for hours. If they get up and walk to the restroom when they return they won’t know who she is. They won’t remember talking to her. She can have no long term friendships. She cannot have a job. She made a deal with the devil. She wanted to be free. He can have her soul when she is done with it. She was born in France in the 1690’s and the story flashes back and forth between then and the 2010’s. So think about your life. How important your relationships are. Imagine your life with none of those relationships and no possibility of any relationship. Until Addie hears the words she has longed to hear for 300 years- “I remember you.” 

So, close this blog post and grab a book. Take a trip into history or into a possible future. Read about current events or politics or love or romance. A book can take you anywhere in any time period. It can warm your heart or make your blood run cold. Read!!!! 

She’s a Worker

 Carol and I got up this morning and had a couple of cups of coffee at home. We decided it was a good day to make the 18 mile drive to Rushville for a quick trip to the grocery store. As long as we were going why not stop at Roger’s Bakery and have a doughnut. We knew our granddaughter Audrey was working and it would be an opportunity to visit her for a little while. It was early and pretty quiet in the dining room. A few folks stopped in to get orders but no one else was sitting at the tables. 

You never know what you children or grandchildren are going to be like when they grow up. There have been bumps in the road of life. I think every family has them. Things you would go back and change if you could. Choices you made or they made at a fork in the road that could have resulted in different outcomes. The truth is that all those choices have put us where we are now. The options we didn’t choose. The choices we avoided may not have put us in a better place. Learn from the past but always look forward to the future. Watching Audrey today deal with customers and coworkers gave me a moment to pause and think. She is a kind, thoughtful, polite, intelligent young lady. So are her sisters Johnnie and Vannessa. Somehow with all the mistakes we made as parents and grandparents we managed to have children and granddaughters who make us proud of who they are every day. It is reassuring to see them as confident, self assured and morally grounded adults. If I have any advice for them it would be this. 

Mabel

 Mabel is our great granddaughter. The daughter of our granddaughter Shekinah. She will turn 3 next month. 

2023

2022

2021

She is a happy and healthy young lady. She has a wonderful loving mother. What more could you want?