The Politics of Fear and Resentment: From the Heart of Memory.

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My understanding is that Donald Trump will be in North Dakota today.  So will I, though our agendas are very different.  I am traveling to complete some legacy work at the North Dakota Historical Society in Bismarck, completing the task of adding old family farm photos to the North Dakota archives.  One of them is this one from a trip by a relative to our shared German homeland in 1954.  This farm had survived WWII, but the horse says a lot about conditions, nine years after the catastrophic WWII to make Germany great again.

An American visits relatives on a farm in Germany, 1954.  She, like I, 44 years later in 1998, was related to the family we visited.

For Germans, the promised 1,000 year Third Reich* had lasted a few, short, deadly years.  Our U.S. can well be on the same deadly course.  Hitler began his ascent when the Germans were in desperate poverty; Trump began when the U.S. was at its peak, ascendant in the world….

Recent events have upset our dear friend who has lived an hour from Trumps apparent destination for over 70 years.  She’s nearing 92.  Her first 20 years were in the initially hopeful, soon awful, years of Hitler and the Third Reich.  Her life began in 1926; the deadly years began in 1936….

She wrote what follows on June 23.  I’ll let her words speak for themselves.  I send this with her permission.

“Memories of Germany flow back into my brain every day.  Although I was barely 10 [1936],  I was bothered when I saw Mr. Klein sweeping the streets.  This was the first time I was aware that he was Jewish, different from us, the Aryans.
When I came to America in 1947, I truly believed I left Adolf Hitler and his dictatorship behind—- But now, decades later, it seems history is repeating itself again— this time in  America —in the land I love.
Our President, Donald Trump, apparently finds that Adolf Hitler’s ideas can be used and work to keep him in the White House.
Check this out — It did happen and continues to happen as long as we are silent bystanders. Adolf Hitler died, but his ideas are fed and kept alive.
HITLER used racism to rise to power
TRUMP uses racism to rise to power
HITLER promised to make Germany great again
TRUMP promises to make America great again
HITLER Fascist…anti Jew
TRUMP Fascist…anti Muslim
HITLER blamed Jews for Germany’s problems
TRUMP blames immigrants for America’s problems
HITLER thought Jews should wear special ID’s
TRUMP thinks Muslims should wear special ID’s
Donald Trump is trying his best to have people believe anything in news NOT said by him, is FAKE NEWS.  A great number of people believe that.  One of my people who loved my books is totally committed to Trump— I am wrong, wrong as far is she is concerned.
When I look at what is going on right now, we are very close to Konzentration Camps for defenseless kids.
If we need more groups to hate America and its people, the parents who lose their children, will be the first in line to go against us to get their children back.
The attention span of most voters seems to be zero.  All Trump needs to do to get another big tax cut through for the worker, and an hourly wage increase— all is forgotten and he is in again.
Germany 1936 was when Hitler overwhelmingly had the people convinced that he had made Germany great again.  He was in, and the people were in chains.
I am almost glad that I am going on 92— Think about our grandchildren and great-grandchildren when they are asked to pay back what we squandered.
Germany 1936 is here again— trying to get into America.
Oh, Trump is meeting with Putin— Well, Hitler met with Stalin.
I have been thinking— when Trump gives me sleepless nights:
People don’t  seem to have a long-time attention span anymore—- or worse they refuse to think past their kitchen table.
I want to say—“Will you help to get America Back???” or “America lost— Lets get it back—- your vote can decide.”
Our friend continues:
“Is it too late???  You see, if Trump does like Hitler, he will give another  tax break to the worker—this and a raise— that’s what Hitler did in 1933-1936.
Hitler  built the Autobahn and he was in for good. I have come to the conclusion, people are not that different from one country to the next.
I thought we were better, but we are worse— because as a Nation we should know better—now we have  technology which shows us how these innocent children are taken.
One woman said to me, “All they have to do is stay where they are, and we won’t bother them.  They will have their kids.”
I got so upset I TOLD HER THAT  I  RAN AWAY FROM WORK, ALONE, 18, [1945, near the end of the war] BECAUSE I THOUGHT WE COULD FALL TO THE RUSSIANS WHO RAPED EVERY WOMAN, CHILD  TO THEIR LIKING.
I WANTED TO BE WITH MY FAMILY  AND FEAR DROVE ME ON AS I WAS SHOT AT AND HUNGRY.
SHE REPLIED, “BUT THAT WAS WAR, NOW WE HAVE PEACE.”
I ASKED HER WHERE DOES YOUR FAITH AS A LUTHERAN COME INTO THAT?  SHE SAID THAT THESE MOTHERS WERE WARNED THAT THEIR CHILDREN WOULD BE TAKEN— AND THEY DIDN’T LISTEN.
HER FINAL WORDS—“I WOULDN’T GO ANYWHERE WHERE I AM NOT WANTED”.
Dick, I didn’t make that up, that really happened last night while I walked down to the Park.
I AM REALLY NOT MYSELF, I AM SO UPSET AND SAD— BECAUSE THAT IS NOT  THE AMERICA I CAME TO.  I LOVE AMERICA, GERMANY IS MY NATIVE LAND BUT AMERICA IS MY HOME.
WHAT HAPPENED, HOW CAN WE SINK SO LOW???”

1954, photo by the American visitor to the same farm

The same shrine, seen by Dick Bernard in 1998. The shrine was erected in thanks that four of the residents of the farm, draftees into the German Army, survived WWII.

Related previous post is here: “The Face of America”

This is a crucial time in our history.  This is not a time to be hopeless…paralyzed into inaction.

My friend, SAK, “across the pond” in Europe responded to “The Face of America” as follows:

Thanks for that! It is indeed surprising how immigrants, even recent ones, have turned against immigration. The situation in Europe is quite different in that the local population cannot be considered an “immigrant” one unless one goes back many many hundreds of years & in some cases thousands. It is therefore more “understandable” to find resistance to immigration although the wheel is still in spin. In the US where there is no king it is surprising to find so many who are “plus royaliste que le roi”.

Perhaps you have come across Mark Lilla (latest book: The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics).

The BBC interviewed him recently (here) (forward 25 minutes)

A bit from the programme blurb:

“The time for evangelism – of speaking truth to power is over, he says, now it’s all about seizing power to defend truth.”

He suggests working from the bottom up but the interviewer noted that it would take a long time to win the presidency & the president mainly determines foreign policy – I guess she was looking from a UK perspective & she is also worried about the havoc Trump is creating worldwide.

Your dad’s “a quitter never wins; a winner never quits” came to mind. The equivalent in chess is: “No game was ever won by resigning.” Still Lilla thinks it’s an uphill struggle to avoid resigning given that so many states are governed by republicans – state legislatures & governors.

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Prayers of the Faithful, Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis June 17, 2018:

“For those elected to public office, for an unwavering commitment to the promotion of justice, peace, and dignity for all…For all the people who have made this country their home, and for all those who continue to move here, for respect and radical hospitality for all.”

About Tuesday’s Supreme Court opinion on Presidential authority,  here.

  • – Generally, the First Reich is considered to be the time of the Holy Roman Empire; the Second Reich began in about 1870 with Prussia.

COMMENTS

from George, who grew up in Central Europe: Thank you, Dick  Fortunately, there are some deep differences:

Hitler was a consistent, persistent and well-organized bastard.  Mr. Trump not so much!

Our ‘deep state’ and free media are much more independent, stronger with deep foundations than they ever were during the Weimar Republic and our country has centuries of Democratic traditions unlike Germany  that was ruled by an emperor before WW1 and the creation of the pre-Hitler Weimar Republic;
Fortunately, also our military has centuries of Democratic traditions and our Generals already stated that they will not carry out an illegal order like a preemptive nuclear first strike!
from Greg: It was reported today that in a suit brought by the ACLU a federal judge in San Diego issued an injunction ordering reunification of immigrant children and parents.  Last week when I learned his name and wanted to know more about him I did a Google search.  The judge’s parents met while his dad was serving in the U. S. military in Asia.  His mother was Japanese.  The judge is a native son of California.  Reading that, I knew Trump had no chance of winning.  This judge well knows the Korematsu decision in which the U. S. Supreme Court upheld the use of Japanese exclusion camps used in California during World War II.  This case is generally viewed as the second worse decision by the Court ever.  Worst decision is the Dred Scott case by which the Court ruled a freed slave remained the property of his master and had to be returned to him.    The war continues but we are winning important battles!
from Carol: Wow, Dick, WHAT A POST!!  You probably won’t get this until you get back from ND.  But if you see your friend, please give her a big hug from me…  I am forwarding her message.
from Jerry: Thanks Dick.  I agree with the comments in your blog.  It is a scary time and the comparison to Nazi Germany is apt.
from Kathie:   I did read the comments of your friend who grew up in Nazi Germany and agreed with her comments.  I believe she is right, we have a very bad situation under the Trump Administration, Trump being a person who is totally unqualified by temperament and knowledge to be our president.  Thanks for sending the comments.
from Irvin:  I would appreciate your removing my name and e-mail address from your contacts. I am greatly offended by your poltical commentary, and your advocating any political positions.
from JoAnn:  Thanks for sharing. The parallels are frightening and should be heeded. But, too many people are blind to the reality.
from Victor:  Thanks for the memories of your friend. I grew up in North Dakota in a German Community. Oh yes it can happen here. I fear for American too as she  does. I agree with her, people are the same everywhere in the world. Emotions and propaganda “trump” decency and common sense every time. And unfortunately we are the genocidal animal. We have done it to Native Americans and black people, why not each other. Not a pleasant thought, but yes it can happen here. We shall see very soon in November.
from JoAnn:  Thanks Dick, a powerful piece. Thank you for sharing. Can’t believe what is happening in this country.

from the author of this post, translation of a letter from a relative in Germany, age 27, and is a professional person:

“I recently conversed with [your son], and we were on American politics and President Trump.
I said about Trump:  From early on, he proved that he is NOT a politician—he is a businessman, and leading a country and politics is not business— it doesn’t work that way.
The  ideas he expresses, the way he treats other countries and the heads of countries does not cement the friendships that up to now have crossed oceans and distance especially between Germany and America. That is NOT good.
But my sincere hope is that finally real, true heads of State, especially the Democrats, step up to their jobs, forget about Establishments, come forth and deal with the worries the forgotten, average citizens face.
Presently, your politicians fight with each other, and think only of themselves and how they can enrich themselves while they pass laws.
I hope that Trump’s actions will finally bring the changes that are desperately needed in your country and for the world. I hope that in [2020] you will get a different president, because I think that President Trump is detrimental  for America and he doesn’t help the future of America.
I hope that after him, you will have better politicians, politicians who learn to work for ALL the people not just for the selected few.
So far Trump’s actions and politics have  brought about loss of trust and friendship of the countries who look up to America and were your friends.
Many people here in Germany and other lands are angry with America because they can no longer give approval and understanding for the actions of America’s President, Congress and Senate. I feel there is much danger at the present that we lose our partnership with America..
Even with George Bush, many people showed dislike for his politics of war. However, since Trump, the dislike of American politics  has grown greatly.
I find the present situation very worrisome , and people fear for the future.
We must remember, as countries, we need each other. Only if we stay united can we work toward peace, freedom.
We must also  work to increase betterment of living conditions of other countries who lack the means and materials to do so on their own.
America again should want to be and exemplify good leadership  as the shining star and once again become the leader of the world.
I wish you and all a good week.
July 4, this comment was added from the same person: 

In 1933 Adolf  Hitler left the European Voelkerbund, (League of Nations).  He said that the membership in the Voelkerbund consists of oppression of  the German people.
President Trump ended the following existing international agreements for these given reasons:  these agreements are detrimental for America,  and they infringe the growth and security of America.
1.    The Paris Climate  Agreement
2.    the G7 State Agreement
3.    The Iran Agreement
I am Not sure if my spelling is correct for all the agreements, you are better informed than I am.
If I become aware of any other similarities— they are so scary, I will surely send them to you.
For now, my dearest, I say what you need:
GOD BLESS AMERICA.

from Carol:  Yesterday while shopping I ran into my lady friend from Iran and her daughter.  The conversation quickly turned to Trump – and the fact they don’t know if any of their relatives will now be able to visit again.  The daughter said that her husband’s nephew was about to get his green card, and was on his way here from Iran to attend graduate school.  When he went to the embassy (in another country, as there’s no U.S. embassy in Iran), he was sent back home because of Trump’s edit.  She was in shock.

This daughter, and the lady’s other daughter, were educated here at the U.  One recently obtained her Ph.D. here, is working for a top firm in San Francisco and awaiting some permanent work visa.  She’s terrified she will be sent back home before she gets that.
These people love their country, but hate their government.  My friend’s sister, an artist in New York, produces art mocking the Iranian regime.
What on earth do we gain from punishing them??  We are shooting ourselves in the foot so badly.

The Face of America

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COMMENTS at end of this post.  Also, reference is made to a recent  iconic photograph, which was adapted for the cover of the current Time magazine, here.

The Volleyball Court at Carver Lake, June 20, 2018

Tuesday I was doing my usual walk, whose midpoint is the beach area of Carver Lake in Woodbury, part of an often bustling city park, family reunions, playground for kids and the like.  My time of day, there, is usually earlier in the morning, and so it was, Tuesday.

We’ve had an abundance of rain, lately, and Tuesday the left side of the volleyball court looked like a small lake, with standing water.

I didn’t know this as I was coming down the hill.  An older man, approaching from the other direction gestured in the direction of the court.  I learned why when I neared the bottom of the hill.  At the new  impromptu “lake” of the volleyball court were four young deer.  Three of them were just hanging out, but the 4th one seemed to be having the time of its life, cavorting in the shallow water just like some little kid who has been magnetically attracted to a mud puddle.

That youthful deer was being like any little kid…having a lot of fun.

I thought of another photo from a couple of days earlier, one that most folks have now seen: that little person being separated from Mom in McAllen TX.   Quite possibly that photo is an upcoming Pulitzer Prize winner, but it is a photo of a family tragedy, all of us included in the tragedy.

“Tough love” inflicted on families with children.  Is this the new face of America?   Or are we comfortable with this attitude over our history as a country?

There is a great plenty of “news” out about the cruel issue of exclusion of people seeking refuge in our country.  I’ll let my word, “cruel”, suffice for my opinion on the matter.

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The rest of my words in this post will focus on two items, which possibly may assist in the converation.

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Excepting Native Americans, we are all children of recent immigrants to this piece of ground called the United States.  Someone preceded us, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.  It wasn’t a first class arrival for them, but they arrived on our shore,  after 1886, welcomed by the Statue of Liberty, itself a symbol of friendship from France to the Unites States.

June, 1972. Joni and Tom Bernard at the Statue of Liberty.

Since 1980 I’ve been family historian for my own families of origin, and in that time you learn a lot about ‘back stories’.  To begin, I’m virtually 100% “white man”, a DNA mix of French, German, English, Irish, Iberian peninsula, likely Portugese.  The French-Canadian side has been in N. America for 400 years now.  The German side came between the 1840s and early 1870s, long before Ellis Island.

I am in the privileged class.

In my family tree, the first German family I know migrated here in 1844, and included two children born in Germany, ages 5 and 2.  A later German family came right after the Civil War.  One daughter died at sea, so the stories go.

The French-Canadian side, Quebec from the early 1600s, first appeared in the U.S. sometime around 1850, arriving in Minnesota with 7 children ages 18 to 3.  My great-grandmother was 5.  It must have been a difficult journey.  They came years before there was railroad connection to this area, and their trip from eastern Canada to here must have been a real adventure.   No time for a diary, for certain.

All our ancestors arrived here, similarly.  I wonder what they would think of our brand of “welcoming” these days.  Yes, they endured discrimination – we have always been harsh to newcomers, it seems, unless they fit our preferences and needs.  But they came, to build this nation.  We didn’t build this nation, they did.

Now, to the new generation looking for a better life on our shores, we’re saying “stay home.  This is OUR country, not yours”.

We should be ashamed of ourselves.

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Some months ago I attended a most interesting lecture about phases of immigration to our America.  With apologies to the presentor that day, here is my very inadequate summary of what I heard; errors are inadvertent and mine.

1790-1880 the U.S. had open borders for free white persons who could naturalize after two years.  Of course, at the time person meant men.  This was the Naturalization Act of 1790.  Indians were the conquered; Africans, slaves.

1882-1952 came more harder edge times.  The Chinese Exclusion Act.  Exclusion of convicts, lunatics, idiots or public charges, anarchists, previously deported and illiterates….

1924 came the National Origin Quotas.  About this time a decision was made to make American Indians citizens of their own country.  Of course, by now, they were basically kept on “reservations”.

1965 there came legislation “to keep white dominance” (my note) in immigration policy.

1980, the Refugee Act created policies to help certain groups.  Best I can recall, these were not “goodness of our hearts” refugees; rather people who had been on “our” side in places like Laos and Vietnam.

From 1986 forward, according to the speaker, came the current attitude of “criminalizing of migration”.

Again, a caveat: these are rough notes which I decided to keep.  There are lots of blanks to be filled in.  My notes don’t touch the Japanese being interned, or German U.S. citizens being mistrusted at the time of WWI and II.  Or the Jews finding themselves less than welcome in this country during the time leading up to World War II.  And on it goes.

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The “Face of America” these days?

We are basically a land filled with very good, decent and hospitable people: I see this every day of every week, and I get around.  We are not the hard-edged Trump fringe, fearful and hateful, the ones who currently have an edge.

Changing course takes lots of individual actions, one person at a time, far beyond reading the words on this piece of paper, or any number of others.

Get on the court, in action for decency in this still great country of ours.

Give some thought to two of my favorite quotations: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world,
indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”  (Margaret Mead); “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” (Gandhi)

POSTNOTE: I noted with interest and concern the announcement yesterday that the United States is withdrawing from the United Nations Human Rights Council: “the latest withdrawal by the Trump administration from an international institution.” (Associated Press).  There are plenty of newspaper references about this today, here, from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

This withdrawal, and the others, as from the Climate Accords, Iran, etc., represent weakness not strength: a “my way or the highway” approach to “deals”.  My Dad was fond of saying, “a quitter never wins; a winner never quits”.  I think there’s a lot of truth there.

It is sadly ironic that this year, December 10, is the 70th anniversary of the International Declaration of Human Rights, passed unanimously (eight abstentions) by the UN with Eleanor Roosevelt and the United States in a leadership role.

I have always been proud of my country, the United States of America.  In our efforts to continue dominance of the world, we are defeating ourselves.

Rather than becoming stronger under the Trump and right wing ideological conservatives, the U.S. is becoming weaker and the results will show in the long term.

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A good summary of current events: “The Tough Guy Blinks Momentarily”

Another, here: “The Killer Elite“.

Most interesting article about immigrant genealogy here

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COMMENTS:

from Jeff:  I  think the solid right wing 25%  of the population could care less about these kids being separated, they are the other.

Then there is another 15-18% that support Trump and GOP policies … many of these were not happy with this policy as they have a moral empathy that can extend at least in the case of innocent children to the others sometimes.

I question if that 25% are good decent folk.   How can they be if they support racism, policies like this and get excited over a lying demagogue.   They might bring you a hot dish when your spouse is ill , they might show up at a family funeral and pay their respects… but I honestly believe they are devoid of extended moral values.

The real problem for the Trumpistas is that by and large they are older and white… a fading demographic.

So stopping immigration is almost required for their survival.  I know there are fringe elements that are younger.

But the true base is older .. .i.e. Fox News audience.

My wife’s uncle , a bond trader and financial advisor always seemed like a normal reasonable guy,  but he is an unrepentant Trump supporter.   I really wonder how to deal with him in 2 weeks when I visit Chicago for their family reunion.  Avoid the subject I guess… I just don’t understand how an intelligent rational person could fall for this nonsense.

[Paul] Krugman article today maybe answers it… the devils bargain for the conservative plutocratic class… kowtow to racism and lying and misogyny if it captures political power so you can pass tax cuts, deregulations, etc.

But toddlers in cages?

from Molly:  Thanks, Dick, for the comments and the link to Just Above Sunset… wow, quite the incisive article!

from Florence: German Americans were also interned in concentration camps during WW II, just because they were suspected of possibly being disloyal to the US. There was a “camp” in Cass Lake, MN. The internees were generally conscripted to work for farmers and other food producers. The Minnesota Historical Society has very good handle on this “consequence” of a WW.  Thanks for the insights!

from JP:   Well done!!!

From a long-time and valued friend:  Dick, How many of your ancestors came illegally?  I and most people support legal immigration I think.  At the college, I worked with student visas, etc. Laws were passed but not enforced.  When the by the book guy comes along and enforces the laws it is then his laws and policies. Bogus I would say. The Kennedy area [era?] passed the current laws including separation but have not been enforced [it would be helpful to see the evidence]. The reason is they should never have been pas[sed]. Trump should not have tried to enforce these laws but got them changed. Now by his executive order the separation will not take place any longer. It truly is crazy times we are living in.  The old saying “Dammed if you do, Dammed if you don’t” seems to prevail.

Response to my friend:  Below the Statue of Liberty photo I self-identify myself as a “virtually 100% “white man” ”  Thus, of course, my ancestors came legally, because they were “white men”.

As for the law, it has always been and still is primarily made by “white men”, but that trend is shifting too, though not quite enough, yet.  Here’s the demographics of the current Congress in Washington.

What I have noted over the past few years in particular (post 9-11-01 to be specific) is that the Congress, whose responsibility it is to pass and enforce legislation, has abrogated its authority as a way to avoid (pass on) its responsibility to someone else, the President, the “bureaucrats”, whomever…never themselves.  Such laws are difficult to negotiate, so to avoid this, there is simply a refusal to negotiate, and you see what is now close to happening again…the Republican “Conference” passes something without any involvement by the minority (Democrats), and then blames the Democrats.  It is dishonest, but for the partisan faithful, it works.  Of course, if it is “bad”, the Democrats get blamed whether or not they were even partially responsible.  There is no need to talk about “good” here – Trump is leveraging an anti-immigrant wave to which, thankfully, many citizens are now responding.

Re the Law, the greatest oxymoron I know is the declaration from any lawyer that a particular Law is “clear”.  If that was true, there wouldn’t be need for lawyers, who by and large are the ones who make and interpret the laws before other lawyers, called Judges.  “Legal” is always an “opinion”.  Having said that, I identify most closely with the mantra that the “force of law is preferable to the law of force”.  Having said that, I’m a reasonable person.  Every single one of my posts gives my philosophy.

Of course, the demographic, “white men” is not so clear, either.  If the election allowed only “old white men” to vote, my side would probably lose, though not my much.  There are millions upon millions of us who are in philosophic agreement with me.  Here’s some pertinent research from a long-time respected and credible source.  It’s 2014 data, but probably quite current.  I tried to make my point about the coming change in an earlier post, here.  Go to the link entitled “World Law Day 2018” and read pages 25 and 26 (I’m suggesting that this entire post is worth reading).

Bob Dylan’s timeless song lyric is worth noting, “the time’s they are a’changing”.

I will work hard to temper the authoritarian streak of our current political regime to build a better future for everyone.

Father’s Day 2018

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All best wishes to everyone this day, whatever your status as a “Dad”, past, present, future.

To me, for a long time now, the term “father”, as “mother”,  is far more than biological or legal.  We are all, at times, “Mom”, and “Dad”, and all the rest.

Today, of course, in my world Bennie remains front and center. Here’s the most recent update, posted June 15.  The past day (June 16) was significant, and the next week, or two, or three, or whatever will be very significant, whatever that word means.  No one knows for sure….

My own Dad had his own “mantra”, “take it as it comes”…he had his reasons to adopt this wise outlook.

It’s now three weeks for Bennie in intensive care.

When this began, I linked to an inspiring piece of video called Gratitude.  Here it is again.

Cherish each moment.

Have a great day.

Singapore

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POSTNOTE, overnight: As the World Turns Again

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The television drones on within earshot, and the analysts are talking endlessly about what Singapore means, if anything.  Of course, no one except a select few know what will happen when an old compulsive capitalist liar meets a young communist despot, eyeball to eyeball.

Much will be made of absolutely nothing.  Anyone who knows anything about negotiations on even the simplest level knows that striking a good faith bargain takes a huge amount of time and effort.

I spent a lot of years in the negotiations arena, dealing with issues simple and not so simple.

This particular evening I remember a particularly bitter negotiations about 20 years ago involving the teachers in the very school district in which I write these words.

We were at loggerheads on this particular stormy January night, and a mediator had called us in for a last ditch effort to avoid a strike set to begin in a few hours.

It was around midnight, and about our only company was stale coffee and some remnants of equally stale donuts.  Bargaining isn’t for the faint hearted over tea and crumpets.  You hate being there, but the alternative is worse.

We, that particular night, were teachers and staff from two competing organizations working towards a merger, but still in the distrustful stage.

We had decided to work together on bargaining this particular year, and it was mostly successful, but one “side” was dominant by virtue of its statutory standing.

And then there was the real “other” side: management.

The players all knew each other, in some cases very well, for many years.  We knew the issues and the rules of engagement.  We’d been at this negotiations for months – typical for bargaining.  And before that were years of other negotiated contracts, some more easily reached than others.

On this particular night, sometime after midnight, the mediator and the chief negotiator for the other side, asked me to confer privately with them, as staff for the other side.

My side was spoiling for a strike.  They had waited so long.  They had no particular reason to trust me – I was an agent of their state union.

But this was a deaths door matter, and I became one of the three in a private office down the hall.  What was obvious was conveyed to me: the parties had reached their respective bottom lines, and there was an untenable “no mans land” remaining.  Some suggestions were made; I provided the necessary cover for the other negotiator, and we went back to tell the bargaining team that we needed to reach an agreement.

There was some relief but much anger in the room.  Six hours from now teachers were ready to picket the schools in the district.

I remember the awful private drive home on a very snowy, stormy night.  The phone trees announced no strike in the morning; a faculty gathering in this then perhaps 800 teacher district was set for two days later to consider the package.  People who have been involved with such negotiations can identify with how lonely a position one is in.

The day of the meeting came, and we presented the elements of the agreement previously reached.  There was a large crowd in the then-ballroom just a few miles down the road from here.

A vote was taken: my recollection the ratification was by 75%.

The President of my side didn’t speak to me again for the rest of his career.  He had staked it all on a strike (some years later he called, and all was fine, but the bitterness was palpable then.)

So, now we have “The Art of the Deal” guy out to prove the power of one where the antagonists have been at odds since about 1950, and there are huge disequities of power, (unless one considers that China is a crucial player in all of this as well.)

No doubt, our guy will announce a great victory, and their guy will go home and similarly announce victory to his impoverished masses.

The odds of swords into ploughshares is so infinitesimal as to be laughable.

Do I want success?  For certain.  Do I want the “talks” however brief and surficial to help change the tone?  Of course, I do.

Will Singapore get it done?  Don’t count on it.  The meeting was private for a reason.  It is meaningless, except for PR value.

Where I write, it is 8:38 p.m. on Monday, June 11, 2018.

Father’s Day, a week early

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A week from today is Father’s Day.

Three days ago, a father died in a St. Paul hospital; Thursday of this week will be his funeral.  His grandson is Bennie, who is scheduled to

begin coming out of the induced fog he’s been in since  the car accident Memorial Day weekend.  His son, the Dad of Bennie, also my son-in-law, is doing better physically, but “home” for him now is at the hospital with his own Dad’s daughter-in-law and  grandson.

I could go on and on.

Family relationships and circumstances go on and on, far beyond the boundaries set by the first message received; the media coverage; the obituary….

They are often complicated.

This day I think back to the old newspaper column seen above.  The total column is here: My father died 1997001 .  

I was at the Chicago O’Hare Hilton, Nov. 16, 1997, there for a conference, leafing through the Chicago Tribune, and  saw the article.  It was a Sunday morning.

Nine days earlier, my own Dad had died down in Belleville IL, on the doorstep of 90 years old.  Susan Schmich’s column “spoke to me” that Sunday morning, and ever since, any time the father of someone I know dies, I send them a copy of this column.

Now, I will be sending it out again.

Bennie’s Grandpas death was not unexpected.  He was told a year ago he probably wouldn’t make it to his next birthday (later this summer).  It was no secret.  The family knew.

The intersection of multiple ailments which couldn’t be remedied for medical reasons was the ultimate cause.  But he had a reasonably normal life till a few days before his death.  We saw him not that long ago.

He wasn’t perfect, but who of us is “perfect”, by even the loosest definition of the word, especially reviewing many years of life?

He and his wife were the first at the hospital when Bennie arrived by helicopter from the accident scene about two weeks ago.

For years this Dad  witnessed the graveside rituals of many at the Ft. Snelling military cemetery, as a loyal member of those unsung teams who give the last salute to the departed veterans.

I understand that he had wanted to be buried at Ft. Snelling, but just days before his death learned he couldn’t be – his National Guard service wasn’t enough to qualify under long-time VA rules.

Maybe there will be more conversations about that.

For now, let it suffice, a Dad died.

And the impact is broader than one might think.

COMMENTS:

from Melvin: 

Thanks for your message. In synchronicity, I texted Father’s Day greetings to my uncle, 2-brothers, and a cousin this morning. My brothers lovingly informed me that I was a week early, however, they enjoyed the affirmation of celebrating every day.

My father passed in 1990, a few days after my birthday. Like with Bennie’s grandpa, my father’s death was not unexpected. I always felt grateful that my father seemed to wait until my birthday came and went before he went to his heavenly home.  He is buried at Ft. Snelling; I hope Divine Intervention will come through for Bennie’s grandpa to be buried there too.

Thanks again for your timely article and message. Have a relaxing Sunday. Peace

Bobby Kennedy

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PRENOTE:  You’re an occasional visitor to this space?  If you’re interested in what I’ve been musing about, click on any month on the calendar at right, and the posts for that month will come up.  June 5, I published a brief post on Iftar, for example.

*

Today, I went over to the excellent 1968 Exhibit at the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul.  The exhibit runs through mid-Jan. 2019 and is well worth a visit.  Today was my third visit to the exhibit, specifically to remember the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Bobby Kennedy in Los Angeles (he was shot on the evening of June 5, 1968, and died after midnight.).

The 1968 Exhibit is much more than just about Bobby Kennedy.  1968 was a tumultuous year, and the exhibit catches it in a manner that everyone can understand.  There were lots of school groups today.  It occurred to me that a student just completing kindergarten in 1968 would be 55 today.  Time (History) flies by and it takes work to preserve and make it relevant to future generations who should learn from its many lessons.

1968 Exhibit, Bobby Kennedy, Minnesota History Center.

A display entering the exhibit gives highlights of each month in 1968.  Here’s June:

I liked Bobby Kennedy.  I have no particular stories to share.  At the time of his death I was a junior high school geography teacher in suburban Minneapolis.  June 5 – a Sunday – was at the  very end of the school year.  We were, pardon the expression, still “shell shocked” from the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr on April 4.  Our country seemed to have gone crazy.  Every month (above) had its theme.

There are endless stories and interpretations of the meaning of Bobby Kennedy, then and now.  We were better for his having been with us; he didn’t live long enough for us to know if he’d be nominated for election for President.

The 1968 Exhibit gives numerous other cues to conversation about other significant events the same year.

If you’re around the Twin Cities, take the time to visit, sometime in the next months.

June 5, 1968, Los Angeles CA

COMMENTS:

from SAK:  

Thanks for the post, Robert Kennedy deserves to be remembered & yes admired. Many have mentioned that he was very influential while brother John was president – some even said he was the brainy one. While a student in the US I listened to JFK’s speeches at the university library. Impressive. How the standards have fallen . . . today we have tweeters. Perhaps Robert helped write these speeches but there is no doubt John knew a thing or two about oratory.

This book was published yesterday:

The Assassination Of Robert F. Kennedy by Tim Tate and Brad Johnson.

& here’s a British paper’s take.

This impromptu speech by Robert is very moving.

and here is something he said about consumerism & “economism”:

Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion dollars a year, but that Gross National Product – if we judge the United States of America by that – that Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwood and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and counts nuclear warheads and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our cities. It counts Whitman‘s rifle and Speck‘s knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.

Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country, it measures everything in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.

Thanks again for reminding us of a great man and, sadly, of a great tragedy!

 

Iftar

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Eastview graduation June 2, 2018

Today is the 12th day after the accident which changed an entire constellation of lives, most especially Ben, David and Robin, but including our own and many others.

The latest update on Bennie is here.  As I write, I note 11,912 visits to Caring Bridge.

It overwhelms, really  Thank you all.

There has been more, these 12 days.  Several high school graduations;  then graduation parties, and a wedding to attend this weekend.  I watched grandson Spencer get his 5 seconds in the spotlight, one of 500 (that’s not his picture above, but you get the idea.  We had the best seats in the house, the overflow room with closed circuit TV!)

Thursday, Grandson Ted turns 18, and graduates.

In a month Spencer heads for Marine basic training; a month later Ted is off to college.  Spencer notes there will be another graduation in October out in California.  Graduation is indeed a “commencement”, as we all know, who’ve walked a block or two in life.

But I think the highlight of the week for both of us was participating in Iftar at the new mosque in our community.

Woodbury area mosque May 31, 2018

I would guess that there were about 250 of us in attendance, as the Ramadan daylight waned – 8:43 p.m. at our site – the time to break fast.  Iftar.

We were introduced to the community, and at each table one member of the congregation sat with us to answer questions.  Our hostess grew up in Riyadh.  There were evening prayers by the Congregation, which we observed.  After sunset we had a delicious meal.

What is always striking to me, and it was this particular evening, was how similar practices in different religious denominations are.  I happen to be Catholic: it is very easy to find many similarities to Islam, especially going back in time a few years: head covering; Nuns dress, on and on and on.

Evening over, feeling refreshed, we went our separate ways.  But I had not yet learned the most important lesson of our evening.

Yesterday, the phone rang and the person at the other end was the young woman who had sat at the table with us last Thursday.  This is the last week of school in this school district, and her kids had come home and told about this schoolmate who had been in a very serious car accident, and could they do something.

We had not talked about our family crisis that evening, but in the way things work, somehow or other they connected the dots: our grandson was the person who had been hurt and was in the hospital.  They wanted to help in some way.

As I speak, the young persons are preparing some sort of care basket for Bennie, who they probably don’t know personally – it is a large school.

What a heart-warming way to end a day.

Blessed Ramadan.

The still under construction Woodbury mosque.