Insanity

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Sometime today the Former Occupant is supposed to make an appearance at a conservatives conference in Orlando.  I’m writing and publishing this before the appearance, and while I’ll probably watch whatever pieces are accessible, I won’t have any comments.  We all know what is ahead, there.

A worthwhile read came overnight via Just Above Sunset.  I think you will find it interesting.  “That Odd Golden Statue”.

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Meanwhile, we remain in the aftermath of January 6, and the 77 or so days between the 2020 election and inauguration.

The March, 2021 Smithsonian Magazine arrived this week, and there was an interesting short article: DC Peace Monument Smithsonian Mag (click to enlarge).  It tied the previous attack in 1812, and the Civil War, as analogs to our very recent past.

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Earlier this week, I was watching the Senate hearing about the infamous January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

The estimable Sen. Ron Johnson (WI), entered into the record some blog entry from someone like me.  Johnson suggested that the real problem on Jan. 6 was Agents Provocateurs, people like me, “antifa’s” who came in to stir things up, while the real patriots came in to support the real President whose election had been stolen.  A news report is here.  A visit to Johnson’s website didn’t find the report.

He gave his testimony with a straight face…later were similar declarations in other hearings from other members of Congress on the same topic, all in sound bite length for their favorite news media.  Only losers, not winners like his side, could do such dastardly things.  I suppose the courts will decide in coming months.

Yesterday a friend sent one of those ‘forwards’ we’ve all seen.  This one recycled some very old news in a newly edited way.  It featured a single sentence of a column written by a columnist in 1995, who died in 2013, and rambled on forever.  I’ll leave it at that.

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Insanity.

“Disrupt and confuse” are words that come to mind.  They’re in quotes, because they were in the strategy game plan of a group trying to defeat my group in a representation election 47 years ago.  If we wish to be governed by lies and deception, it is our very unfortunate choice.

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The recent events cause me to think back to the days when I became an activist, which began with a national event whose 20th anniversary is this year:

September 12, 2001

This is in the memory of anyone who happens to read this post.  My feelings are an open book about 9-11.  Occasionally I still share my written opinions from then: Post 9-11-01001; also, 9-11-01 Aftermath001.

There were lots of demonstrations in the days that followed, all peaceful.  I was in many of them.  Most related to the opportunistic wars that followed 9-11.  I could see nothing good coming out of our reaction – bombing somebody else to avenge terrorism didn’t calculate out to ultimate success.

Thence comes Jan. 6, 2020, where home-grown terrorists work their evil on the U.S. seat of government, terrorizing friend and foe alike…and then come forward people like Sen. Johnson, casting blame on people like myself.  He wouldn’t do that if it didn’t work to further incite his fellow partisans.

And the threat continues to be real.  The real President returns on March 4?  Insurgents plan to blow up the Capitol when President Biden next speaks there?   Is this what we have become?

It all seems so insane.  As a society, we’re stuck with this, until enough of us decide to say enough…and mean it.

Terrorism, Jan. 6, 2020.

 

$15 Minimum Wage

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As I write, the Senate Parliamentarian has not yet issued her ruling on the $15 minimum wage provision proposal to be voted on this week.

If you’re reading this, you know the rest of the public details from your source of news.  I simply want to add a personal opinion about this long-standing issue.  I have a perspective that I rarely hear from any other source.  You be the judge.

The objection/rationale for low wage earners being against the the minimum wage seems very simple:  “you have a choice: low wage, or no wage”.  In other words, if the minimum wage goes up, we’ll have to lay you off, and you, worker, won’t have any income.  There won’t be business to hire you.  Too bad, so sad.

It is an attractive anti-argument: scare off the potential recipients of the benefit.

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There is another point of view that I never hear, which I offer for your consideration.

First, here’s a little background:  I posed this three years ago to a friend, a retired very high level vice-president in a major international corporation.

My friend had been gently jabbing me, a retired Union representative, about a new Supreme Court opinion, outlawing mandatory payment of union dues by non-members.  In my sector, this was called “Fair Share”.  You didn’t have to belong to the union representing the workers, but if you received union negotiated benefits (which all employees receive) the union should be able to charge non-members a fee.  I’ve been retired a long time, my recollection was that this amount was typically about 85%.  Off limits for the fee would be things like political action fees and the like.  Fair enough.

Many managements chafed at the very mention of “Union”.  It meant trouble, a certain sharing of power.

An allied victim of fair share, and thus Unions, was found to centerpiece a lawsuit which wended its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.  The suit was entitled Janus v AFSCME.  There are numerous references, including the actual U.S. Supreme Court Ruling of June 27, 2018, which you can reference by simple internet search.

The anti-union position prevailed.  Down with Unions!  Good riddance.

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Bill (not his name) and I are friends, and occasional ‘parries and thrusts’ between us, representing corporate management and union thug,  were never hostile.  My friend brought the Janus decision into our conversation – doing something of a victory lap.  He knew my career was as a union representative.  I knew his career ended near the pinnacle of one of the worlds largest corporations.  He was a very good guy.

In my turn in the conversation I laid out a simple argument:  the purpose of a union – in this case workers – is to represent the interests of the members.  In the case of a labor union, as AFSCME, and my own, was negotiating things like wages, hours and working conditions.  Other provisions, such as crew size, are management rights by universal definition.

How, I asked my friend, can a corporation be against increasing wages and benefits to workers of all kinds?  After all, isn’t the corporations objective to make money, and isn’t it necessary for the corporation to have consumers with enough money to buy its products, and thus help the bottom line of the corporation?

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My friend said, and I think he meant it as I heard and saw his reaction, that I’d given him something to think about.

It’s might seem irrelevant – he is, after all, retired and even if he bought my argument he was only one cog in the machinery of this major corporation.

But it is worthy to think about.  A living wage for all helps everyone.  Paul Wellstone said it best, years ago: “we all do better when we all do better”.

In the next day or two we’ll see how the sausage mill that is the Congress deals with this most important issue.

POSTNOTE Feb. 27:  In re-reading what I wrote, above, there is one critical point to be added.  My friend was with no question a person with far more than usual power within his sector.

Power People, like all of us, can have serious blind spots causing them to lose perspective.  They can’t imagine another comparable point of view, and any move to diminish their power is consciously or unconsciously resisted.

In an earlier blog at this space, I discussed this matter.  You can read it here, from Nov. 17, 2011: The Occupy Movement.

 

500,071

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This afternoon was a time of remembrance in memory of the over 500,000 deaths from Covid-19 since the pandemic began last year.

The bells at the National Cathedral rang 500 times; there were 500 candles at the White House.

Other reports were that the first official death from the pandemic in the U.S. was last Feb. 29, on this day last year there were 35 cases.  500,000 is more than the total number of U.S. war deaths in WWI, WWII and Vietnam – combined.

However one dissects the data, or challenges this fine point or that, the U.S. is world champion for deaths from Covid-19, and not champion in a good way.

Yesterday I was remembering last year in an e-mail to one of the staff at Basilica of St. Mary.  I, and about 50 others, had been attending an excellent series called “Becoming Human” – three of the six lectures had been completed at Basilica, and Janice and the Basilica had a decision to make about the rest.

I still had her e-mail to our group, dated March 16, 2020, and re-sent it to her, yesterday.

“As we continue to learn how to live with COVID-19, and with a deep desire to make decisions for the common good, we have canceled the rest of the series of Becoming Human. We will not hold our sessions on March 17, 24 or 31.
We are in the process of finalizing the videos for first three sessions. In addition, the professors are creating videos, with no audience, for the last three sessions.

We will provide these to you as soon as they are available.  At some time in the future, we will bring people together to watch the videos and have discussions about this important issue.
Thank you for your support of this crucial work.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Peace, Janice”
Her first e-mail to us had been dated March 13, noting State concerns for groups over 250.  I had ushered at Mass on March 15.  Attendance was much lower than usual.  It was the last time I’ve been in the church.
In my county, at this point in time, I think there were 2 reported cases.  Today, the same county in total: 21, 171 cases, 253 deaths.
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We’ve had a year to learn.  I wonder what we’ve learned, individually and collectively.
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PS: The Becoming Human Series continued on video and was excellent.  It is still on-line, and all details can be accessed here (scroll down).  Use the discount code to watch the series free.

 

Heroes

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A couple of unrelated happenings this week lead to this column.

This week, a relative, Donna, sent an old photograph with an inquiry: did I know one of the people in the photo?

north of Valley City ND circa 1940, a group from the St. Mary’s community. Note the two on horseback.

As is quite typical with old photos, this one didn’t have a date or names written on the back.  I could help: I identified my Aunt Mary, and Uncle Bernard, and Mary’s sister, my Aunt Florence.  I suspected the photo was probably about 1940, the year I was born.  My cousin, Mary, from the larger family, added a little bit to the conversation the same day.  “Yes that is my mom [and dad, Florence and Bernard].  That picture was taken down by the creek that was below Uncle Hugo’s farm. Now that creek is Lake Ashtabula.  Mom said they had so much fun down there.  My Dad sure had a head of hair.  Mom and Dad were married in [19]43. So you’re pretty accurate.”

(For non-family, the popular Lake Ashtabula, a part of the Sheyenne River dammed in about 1950, is perhaps a dozen miles north of Valley City ND, and the persons pictured probably mostly lived in the area around the nearby St. Mary’s Church in rural Dazey.)

There are lots of family stories and transferrable memories in that picture from 80 years or so ago.  Few if any of those in the picture likely are still alive, but have left behind parts of themselves in their descendants and in other ways.  All of them were survivors of the Great Depression, just ending; and if I’m right, this picture was taken right before WWII, which also impacted on all of them.

In sundry ways, folks like them were my generations teachers in life…we watched….  Because of them, we became what we are.

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At the time the photo  crossed my screen, I was in the process of updating my address list, which I still keep in paper form, and which I last updated six years ago.  As you might imagine, there were lots of scratch outs and additions – changes of all sorts.

In this particular revision I made special note of a cadre of people I met after retirement – people who had influenced me in my chosen post-retirement avocation, peace and justice work.  Many of these were part of the Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers; all of them phenomenal role models.

Here are some of those heroes of the past 20 years, non-family people who were my mentors, who have passed on between 2015 and today. There have been others, not listed here, because they died before this list was generated, but the point is that these were people who influenced me, whether or not they knew it,  at the time.  Heroes.  Thanks to all of them.  Probably, they are not known to you, as are the people in the photo, but certainly they are known to me. These were only a portion of those from a single segment of my life; all in the time period after I retired in 2000.  Amazing people, all of them.  Just a sample, crossed off of my address list, but not my memory.

Burt Berlowe

Rosa Bogar

Freda Ellis

Lynn Elling

Hank Garwick

Mary Rose Goetz

Bob Heberle

Don Irish

Mary Lou Nelson

Joseph Schwartzberg

Mary White

Wayne Wittman

Who are your heroes, the men and women who shaped who you are?

“Sunny Days, oh yeah…”

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POSTNOTE Feb. 21: A Texan talks about Texas exceptionalism, here.  PDF of article: Texas Exceptionalism WaPo Feb 21

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Feb. 18:  Stopped in at the gas station this morning to get a cup of coffee, and the clerk and I chatted a bit about Texas and the weather.

It’s 10 above zero here in Woodbury, this morning, a nice day in recent terms.  Not so nice down south.  For us, 10 is fairly normal weather this time of year; for them, not so.

We have a nephew and family who lives in Houston, so we get updates: power outage, worry about pipes freezing, etc.  Not too many years ago it was the floods – they lost their home in that one.  I remember being at a conference in suburban Houston in a memorable heavy rain in November, 1998.  The rain never seemed to stop; they trucked us out when we about to become an island in the lake.

“Here comes the climate change lecture” I can hear someone saying.

Well, no.

But a reminder is appropriate, not that we should need it.  Every year one incident after another; one place or another.  Change is happening, at an increasing rate.  Most everywhere.

We like to pretend that these are just normal; well, I guess they are…a “new normal”.  We ignore them at our peril.

We city slickers, in a northern interior state, can be a little smug today.  We’re built for cold weather – the infrastructure and the services are designed for what Texas is going through – our normal..

I remember a mid-winter visits to my parents, who lived year around in the Rio Grande Valley near Brownsville TX for about 10 years in the 1970s and 80s.

Back then, on occasion a norther came through, temps low enough to threaten the oranges or such.  Houses were not built for cold weather, which lasted a couple of days.  One visit, even for we visitors from the frigid north, San Benito was COLD.  It got to freezing level.

Lots has happened globally in the last 40-45 years; and its not that we haven’t been warned.

Planning for infrastructure of all kinds needs to factor in the new normal in all areas including our own.  And new behaviors as well.  It is not too late to learn, now, and stop pretending this will pass.

I wish the folks well in the affected area.  We’ll still get a blizzard or two between now and spring, which Garrison Keillor memorably said, might not come til June, but usually is peeking in on Minnesota by the time April arrives.

And then there will be “sunny days” as I remember from the Paul Simon, 1973 tune.  We’re an integral part of this environment, and we’re not in control.  Let’s use this as a learning opportunity…and don’t set it aside.

Carver Park walking path, 9 a.m. March 23, 2020. About the first outdoor walk during the pandemic.

POSTNOTE FEB. 19: Commentary about the outage.

Abe

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Feb. 21: Program Info here.

Today is Presidents’ Day, honoring George Washington(born Feb 22) and Abraham Lincoln (Feb 12).

Last night we watched the first of a six-part series on Lincoln on CNN.  It was excellent.  It will likely be reprised this week, note CNN for the schedule, which I believe is the next six Sunday nights, one-hour each.  Judging by the first segment, this will be well worth your time.

The One In The Glass

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On Valentine’s Day, 2021….

An unused card found in my cache of stuff yesterday.

Friday’s e-mail brought this from our friend, Annelee Woodstrom, retired high school teacher, Teacher of the Year finalist in Minnesota in 1980, 94 years young, whose first 21 years of life were spent in Germany, including the entirety of the Third Reich, and who came to rural Minnesota as an immigrant, in 1947, the state which became and remains her home and native land.

Annelee:  I gave this poem to my students before they left my classes.

THE MAN IN THE GLASS

When you get what you want in your struggle for self,

And the world makes you king for a day,

Just go to the mirror and look at yourself,

And see what the man has to say.

 

For it isn’t a man’s mother or father or wife,

Whose judgment you have to pass;

The fellow whose verdict counts most in this life

       Is the man staring back from the glass.

 

Some people may think you’re a straight-shooting chum

       And call you a wonderful guy,

But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum

If you can’t look him straight in the eye.

 

He is the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,

       For he is with you, clear up to the end,

And you have passed your most dangerous, difficult test

When the man in glass is your friend.

 

You can fool the whole world, down the pathway of years,

       And get pats on your back as you pass,

But your final reward will be heartache and tears

       If you have cheated the man in the glass.

 

I looked up the above poem, here it is.  It reminds me of Michael Jacksons, “The Man In The Mirror“, as performed by Michael in 1987 (who may, himself, have read the poem in his own school days).

Here is the rest of Annelee’s note:

I wish I could hand this poem to every Republican Representative and Senator who plans to vote against the impeachment of Trump. Surely, they must shudder at the image  that stares back at them from their mirror. The coward that they have become — must shake their soul.

Because — in the end it doesn’t count where we came from — we will be responsible and we will be judged by the decisions we made.

Annelee

POSTNOTE at the end of the week: How was this week just passed for you – this week that began with the Super Bowl, ends with Valentine’s Day, today, was surrounded by the Covid-19 pandemic and general uncertainty about many things, and in between was what may well be one of the most important weeks in our personal and national history?

This past week, as I saw it can be read at this space at Feb 6, 7, 9 and 12, 2021.  Let’s build from here….  Have a good day.

What remains of the ruins of Gandhi Mahal at 27th and Lake Minneapolis, as they appeared on Feb. 13, 2021.  In the background the Lutheran Church and the library which survived Memorial Day week 2020.  Gone: the postoffice and all of the businesses that stood on the east side of the street.

COMMENTS (more at end of post):

from Christina: I just forwarded your email to my kids and my sister. I thought the message from that school teacher, the man in the glass, was so important and appropriate. I too wish that everyone of those senators and representatives had read that before they voted.  Thanks for sending it to me.

from Anna: Happy Valentines  Day to you and all your followers in your writings.  They have been insightful and helping some people in making their decisions about our political process going on in our world of today.  This is a difficult time for some. Hopefully we will come out stronger at the end of our times of stress.  No opinions from me just compassion for the ones going through unreal times.

from Flo: I can only say I’m sad. From the time T….. appeared on the political scene as wanting to run for President, I was appalled that anyone could support his very public sleazy lifestyle and mostly juvenile talk. Then he became President, seemingly defying all odds. We’re a dangerously divided country, politically.

from Jeff: from NYTimes “Can Biden Save Americans Like My Old Pal Mike?”  [Here’s the link; also in pdf form: NYTimes Kristoff Feb 14 2021  This may be expanded into a separate blog in the near future.].

From Annelee (who sent the poem printed above):

thanks for putting that poem in your blog.  I truly feel to this day that most of the Republican Representatives and Senators would look in the Mirror and be honest with whom the have to face. After they have somehow become millionaires,  it seems they just want more, the laws they pass must first help them, never mind the voters who believed their promises and voted them in.
Look at Cruz, he tells the people “to stay home” but that rule doesn’t apply for him?  One of the Trump supporters said to me, “Annelee If I would be in Texas and had the money to get my  family to a place where they are warm and could be safe, I fly out too.  I am sorry [?] will do for us.”
I can’t go along with with the Congress voting for  getting $15 hr through for taking 4 years? Is that really what President Biden had in mind?  Are the workers who voted him in forgotten already?
In my book, he doesn’t really need the Congress or Senators, if he goes to the people, and tells them,
“I promised you $15 an hr. but i need your help to get it through.  call you representatives and tell them  if they want your support, they need to vote for that bill.”
Even the workers in the Red States are for the increase. wait four years?
Dick, on Facebook, in response to the poem my former students wrote wonderful comments, but one of my most intelligent students, his mother president of the school board at the time wrote,   Think, it was the Democrats who planned the riots for Jan. 6, …. and on. I thought I taught  critical thinking”  I guess somewhere I missed!
Dick, I am sorry to rattle on like this, but I am really concerned at where we are going as a nation.  Trump speaking next week his party will listen.

Team Colors

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RELATED, IF YOU WISH:  I strongly recommend this GoFundMe project.

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My preoccupation for this week was to watch almost all of the impeachment proceedings in the U.S. Senate.  It was a long slog.

I write this between the end of Friday and Saturday, which may wrap up the proceedings.  I don’t pretend to know the final decision.  Posts about the previous days are here and here.  I simply share impressions and personal opinions, as I will, at this space.

I have more than a casual knowledge of law, lawyers, and how the legal and personal dynamics processes work, a benefit of my professional career working representing people.

I know how Law and Politics work.  All that differs from one situation to another are the specifics of the rules and the people involved.

Impeachment is more a political process than legal, created and largely administered by lawyers,  It is not a “Perry Mason” kind of legal drama.  Someone described this hearing as Judge Judy on steroids.

Trump, #45, is only the third president to ever be impeached in our 234 years as a country; and he’s the only one to be impeached twice.  Thus, we don’t have much practice with this.  The last president to be impeached was impeached for lying about sex, much more a political than legal issue.  It took more than a year for this political theatre to play out in 1998-99.  Long before the drama ended, the country was sick of it.

The Senate makes the rules for Impeachment hearings, which may or may not be consistent with related laws.  In this case, the law becomes a family matter: all of the actors know each other and the rules and are in relationship with each other.  We are the spectators, largely ignorant, but we’ll own the results.

Here is the operative language found in Article 2 & 3 of the U.S. Constitution:

Article 2: “The House of Representatives shall chuse [sic] their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.”

Article 3: “The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.”

There are other impeachments than of the President, but we rarely hear of them.  They involve such offices as Judges who have in one way or another violated public trust.  Even these are very infrequent.  Here’s a source that seems complete.  It appears that the only “boiler-plate” language that exists is what has been printed above.

I tend to be very slow on casting judgment on cases like this.

This impeachment is in a sense a family matter in far more than a casual sense.  The actors, President, House and Senate, are in co-equal branches with their own rights and responsibilities.  The founders did this on purpose.

Add the fact that these actors are partisan, virtually 100% Republican and Democrat, actively involved in who is elected to office, especially President, and there are certain problems, especially in a large and complex society as ours is.

What we are witnessing is very much a dispute between “families” played out by a total of 537 powerful people, every one of whom were democratically elected by ourselves.  Our current President, Joe Biden, is not involved.

We, “the American People”, ultimately own the results of this mess – there is no passing the buck.  Much is said about “the base”, and “primaries” and the like.  That’s us.  Like it or not, we are destroying ourselves.

I was musing about this, recently.  With apologies to the Hatfields and McCoys and their famous feud, this case reminds me of their dynamics, where one family member killed the others family member and it became a blood feud that lasted for years.  If a Hatfield killed a McCoy, one side said the other family deserved to die; and the other family sought revenge.  “Can’t we just get along” didn’t work.  And this wasn’t because they might have been “hillbillies”.  They were no better or worse than all of us.

Think about “street gangs” as well – not that different.  In politics, character assassination is a preferred weapon, over deadly weapons, though deadly weapons have now been added to the political arsenal.

Trumps Army, deadly as it was on Jan. 6, is a tiny bunch, even more tiny if you spread it out over the entirety of our country.  Who do YOU know, or guess, is active in some militia somewhere?  This doesn’t mean these criminals can’t do serious damage – they do, and will – but they are nothing more than a bunch of ignorant know-nothings.

There will be a vote, perhaps as early as tomorrow (Feb 13), on whether to impeach, and no one realistically knows the outcome till the votes are counted (though everyone seems to think they do know).

My own personal opinion: we have never had a worse President of the United States than #45.   We are two “countries” now, the laughing-stock of the world.  Two halves make far less than a whole….  We do have a very strong personal infrastructure – look at your own neighborhood – but we are a very sick society.

Life has taught me that problems are inevitable between humans, and we’re well advised to figure out how to figure things out.  We can’t survive divided.  There are no winners.

This is a public matter, not somebody else’s problem.  Each of us can help in very small ways at home and in our neighborhood and community.  Little changes will make a big difference.

POSTNOTE:  “Team Colors”?

Last Sunday we watched part of the Super Bowl.  I’m not a big fan of football, but on Super Bowl Sunday, even in Pandemic, other life comes to a screeching halt.

Our society seems to model itself on pro-football, especially today.  We are competing teams; seeking the title, which is only for the single year…and next year there’s another battle for supremacy, and so on.

Pro Football, love it or hate it, has figured out the rules for its road.  Participants know the rules of the road and largely follow them.  They have the same playing field, 100 yards long, and they play between the end zones, in-bounds.  There are penalties for infractions of the rules, etc., etc., etc.

Theoretically, our society seems to have largely become analogous to pro football: teams (tribes), winners/losers.  However, in sundry ways one team seems to have been obsessed with tinkering with the rules to give itself a permanent advantage: appointing the judges most likely to be favorable; tinkering with the rules for voting, analogous to making its teams zone 45 yards, rather than 50, making the other teams field 55 yards.  In other words, making it more difficult for one team to prevail than the other.

There has to be a better way.

POSTNOTE Sat. Feb 13 11 a.m.:  I started to watch the morning proceedings, but it rapidly descended into procedural wrangling about witnesses, so I checked out, and went for my usual Covid drive.  As noon-time approaches, the early morning status continues, with intense private negotiations taking place.

On the drive, I was thinking back to a rather intense exchange within this blog back on July 24, 2019 (it is easily accessible in the archive).  This was one of the few times I expressed anger at Trump; it was at the time of issuance of the Mueller Report.  I said this: “My opinion: The current President is as close to a common criminal as we have ever had in the highest office in the land….”  Hank, someone I’ve never met, a Californian, replied: “Common criminal he may be [emphasis added], but he is the best thing the country has seen since Reagan…” continuing with the usual litany of socialism, etc., etc., etc. from the right-wing echo chamber.   It was an interesting acknowledgment.

I thought of an analogy from ordinary life.  Let’s say someone’s Dad kills a neighbor in an argument over something domestic.  The Dads defense is “he deserved it”, even though it is murder, and everyone knows that.  The probable quandary of conscience of the family is to defend the Dad for all of the reasons each of us can understand.

I know a fairly large number of people who support Trump, whose public persona is opposite to that displayed daily by Trump.  Still, they defend the indefensible.  So it is.

11:30 a.m.  Chatter on the TV is about negotiations about reaching some settlement of the issues raised earlier this morning.  Of course, none of us other than the persons supposedly talking, have no idea who is discussing what…but it’s all we have to watch, and the TV analysts have to discuss.  Having. been in such ‘deaths door’ negotiations in the past, I sort of know what’s happening behind closed doors.  We just need to wait.  Speculate all one wants to speculate, but the truth will out about what happened, when it actually happens.

Then there’s the drama that can be generated by someone like the “Philadelphia lawyer” representing Trump.  We’ve probably all heard the term; I just looked it up for the first time, which is the link provided.

The Law is an adversary process: lawyers are hired to take opposing sides…and honorable thing to do.  It is frustrating, if one things their lawyers opinion is dispositive, but rarely if ever is something “clear” in the law.

I first witnessed this in action early in my career in representing teachers.  I think it was in the winter of 1976, and a teacher, in the bargaining unit I represented, had been fired for cause, and had requested a public hearing as provided by law.  The infraction was excessive discipline of some fourth graders in a particularly rambunctious class.

The evidence and testimony were lengthy, and at the end the prosecuting attorney, representing the school district, rose to summarize the case.  He was a pretty gifted orator, the first I’d personally experienced.  I vividly remember one short part of his closing, that the errant teacher had “thrown” a student “three feet” across the room.  Of course, he made it sound like the student had been launched into orbit – and he had been honest, about the three feet.

I recall the ruling:  The School Board voted unanimously to reinstate the teacher, who was on paid leave.  The teacher ultimately resigned and never returned to teaching, to my knowledge.

11:52 a.m. – an agreement was announced and agreed to relating to the evidence question referred to above.

5:50 p.m. – I watched the vote, and listened to portions of the analysis, including the speeches of Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell.  I think the House Managers did an outstanding job in presenting their case.  I hope this is not forgotten by anyone.

Mid afternoon I took a trip over to the Gandhi Mahal site at 27th and Lake.  The site is now completely cleared and the depression of the restaurant basement filled in.  Here are two photos from today of the site.  This will always be my tangible reminder of the tragedy of 2020.

Two views along 27th Ave S at Lake Street, Minneapolis, Feb 13, 2021

POSTNOTE Feb. 20, 2021:  The impeachment vote was a week ago.

“The former guy” is not yet in the rear view mirror.  It remains to be seen what the long term impact will be from deprivation of the oxygen of daily publicity.

One of his mentors, Rush Limbaugh, died a couple of days ago.    Alan at Just Above Sunset did an excellent commentary about his legacy here.

That’s all I have to say about this.  It is time for our country to move on past the nasty negativism so exemplified by Limbaugh and his ilk.

“Off to see the Wizard….”

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Shortly, the made-for-tv crime show, “The Impeachment of the President of the United States”.

It is a deadly serious event, with consequences for the remainder of American history.  At the same time I’m sort of preparing for a spectacle like “The Apprentice” or, more likely, “The Wizard of Oz”, featuring among others, Dorothy, the Wicked Witches, the Tin Man, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion and, yes, the Wizard himself in the grand finale.

We’ve all seen “The Wizard of Oz”.  Nowadays I’m sure there are some great analyses on-line about the author and his intent about his story, the little girl, the actors and actresses who played them in the movie, and the tornado in Kansas.

I’m writing these few lines before the big show begins.  Here is the ‘file” from the last few days.  The evidence has been developing over a period of more than four years.  This trial is deadly serious, with implications far belong its short term.

All comments, and I encourage them, will be added here.

Mementoes of my single visit to the U.S. Senate in about 1985 as a guest of a Senate staff member.

The Senate Impeachment trial opens Feb. 9, 2021.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, presiding at the Trial in the Senate, first day.

9 p.m. Feb. 9: First day related specifically to the Constitutionality issue of impeachment hearing for Trump after he left office.  Vote was 56-44 that issue was appropriate.

The proceedings seem quite similar to legal, but are really political, under Senate rules, and procedures under the U.S. Constitution.  I am quite familiar with how Law and its interpretation works, from direct experience.  Most persons have little direct experience above routine things, like traffic tickets, or Wills or such.

Before today, I telegraphed my opinion of the matter at issue in brief pieces of writing to persons close to me:

  1. I wrote a letter to my children, who range in age from 45-56.  My brief letter, dated February 6, probably arrived at their homes today, and has this relevant content:   “I think these past 2 ½ months are a wake-up call time for everyone.  We are in a lose-lose cycle where there will be no winners – a country divided against itself cannot stand, to paraphrase Abraham Lincoln. You all and your kids will reap the benefits or pay the price of bad decisions now. It’s too easy to get isolated and think that one point of view can prevail.  It is not true.“
  2. Replying to a comment by my sister at my blog for Feb. 6, I said this: “My contention is that the purpose of the trial is the need to establish a record for the history of our country, however much time we have left for this experiment in democracy. “The character” [Trump] has indeed been impeached twice. In the legal system that would be an indictment, and indictments are much more than mere accusations. Of course the judge and jury [U.S. Senators] are likely to not rule based on the evidence, but based on other things. We shall see.  “The character” and his followers will make history, and not in a way that they likely would prefer.”
  3. To a friend of many years on Jan. 30, a person who is high on Trump: “Trump will easily win the prize for the worst president in U.S. history – to that extent he will be a ‘winner’, which is all that matters to him.”  And on Feb.1:
    “Re the supposed lies, I can’t respond to non-information.
    Anyone who’s ever negotiated for most anything, such as buying a car, knows that the “bottom line” is not what the “bottom line” is said to be, on either side. Everybody “lies” to some extent.  But there are limits, and the parties know what they are, for instance with peace treaties, and on and on.
    Trump took this to an entirely new depth.  He lied about everything, all the time.  That will be the entry in the history books about him.  He was in a league of his own.”  It took me a long time to get to being this direct about what is probably the most critical issue of all.  There is nothing that Trump said that could be believed…even if he sounded believable.  He was a true pathological liar.  The truth, to him, was whatever he said it was.  We didn’t need a role model like him.  Finally, months ago, to the same friend, I pointed out that Trump had set up the opposing half of America up as enemies, dividing our country as certainly as it was divided in the Civil War.  It will be most difficult to recover from that.  I will find the exact quote as I wrote it then, and will add it here when I find it.

I plan to watch as much of the proceedings as possible.  Everyone in the country will have exactly the same opportunities as I.

Other posts will follow in coming days.  Check back, and comment if you wish.

POSTNOTE, Feb. 10: overnight, from Just Above Sunset, “Day One Won”.

Feb. 11: Just Above Sunset, “The New Specifics”.

Briefly, re the Feb. 10 trial, which I watched almost in its entirety in the afternoon.  On display was demonstration of an essential difference between the Republican and Democrat parties at this time in history.  Recently, I had written another friend who had asked to be taken off this blog list.  Certainly I have no problem doing that, for anyone at any time.  I did write him, a personal letter, friend to friend (I’ve known him for many years).  The essential difference between the two parties, I said, is that the Democrats generally are inclusive; the Republicans exclusive.   This was on display yesterday in the House Managers on the Senate floor, who fully reflected the diversity of America.  While the mob attacking the Capitol was by and large outraged white men and women.  We have a great deal to learn.  That series of racism I’ve touted here on several occasions over the months, which I first saw in person a year ago this month, is still available, free, on-line here.  Scroll down to “Becoming Human” for details.  There are six one hour talks.

Feb. 12: Just Above Sunset, “Useless Clear Evidence”

Feb. 13: Heather Cox Richardson, “Letters from an American”

The School World During the Covid-19 Pandemic

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My daughter, Joni, is principal of a large suburban middle school.  Here is her Feb 6 note about how it is a her school during this year of Covid-19.  Her sister, my daughter, 45, has recently been diagnosed as positive for Covid-19.

“[Our sister/daughter] continues to only have mild symptoms, but my personal school experiences with this virus keeps me cautiously optimistic. I’m the one that has to send out “the letter” to and follow up with families and staff when there’s been an exposure, so I know there is no “normal” in who will be just fine , who develops symptoms or their severity, who will be hospitalized, and who will live. I’ve had no reported student or staff deaths at my school of just about 1100, but there have been many grandparents and extended family members and a few parents and siblings who have passed. I manage those communications as well, as no one need to get an attendance call or “Joey hasn’t been doing his work” call when they’re dealing a health crisis or planning a funeral.

From the school perspective, there are so many changes. Classroom and bus seating charts and tracking attendance has become a non-negotiable as we have to know who gets a high-risk exposure (= quarantine and get a test) letter vs. low-risk exposure (= monitor for symptoms but can still attend work/school) letter and don’t miss someone.  We seem to have the system down now which is helpful as we plan to reopen with a hybrid model on 2/16. Basically we’ll be at 50% capacity with teachers supporting students in person and from home.

The stress is palpable among my staff, and I am doing my best to shield them from the “not good enough” message that plays in the background all the time.  My focus has definitely shifted from providing instructional leadership to anticipating and managing the day to day. Everyone is tired of “this”, and “this” is different for everyone. I’m reminded of that  daily.

If you stuck all the way to the end of my reply, I’m sorry for the unrequested verbal vomit and thank you for listening. I promise future replies will focus on Heather’s Heath (or at least stick to the point!) My best to you all!”

My response (Dad): For sure, try not to consider your thoughts/feelings to be “verbal vomit”!

It is actually very important for us, and for you, to know your facts/feelings “from the trenches”.  I think of the war analogy quite often, and your profession, like medical, like the people in grocery stores, etc., are very much like front-line combat troops in this war, who don’t know when/where/how the ‘bullet’ [may] come to kill them.

America’s deadliest war by far was the America’s Civil War.

In real general terms, just a very fast fact check on the internet, here’s some very rough data which I think is pretty close to accurate…as I say a “very fast” fact check.
Civil War deaths 620,000.  U.S. population then was about 30 million (four years data)
World War II deaths  407,000. U.S. population was about 130-140 million, about 40% of present population (Deaths occurred over four years of war).
Covid-19 U.S. deaths to date about 460,000.  U.S. population 330,000,000 (and this is only one year data)
Deaths in war traditionally have been the young men – kids in their teens and 20s.  Defining exact cause of death in war is not always easy.   For instance, a good share of the Civil War deaths were civilian and from things like untreatable infections and diseases attributable to the war.  Others can argue this.
The Covid-19 demographic  of death data is different as we all know.  We know who has died, and how, and from what.
It’s no fun to be a “combat death” in the days of Covid-19.  The death to population ratio from Covid is fast approaching WWII levels.  This is no small time deal.  And this in just a single year, while WWII was four years, 1942-45; the Civil War 1861-65.
So, try to keep it in perspective.  Hopefully, the vaccinations will begin to slow the rate of dying – we don’t know that yet.  But what I just wrote I think about every time I go in the post office, a grocery store, the drug store, my coffee shop…and think of the people at the cash register, etc.  My encounter with them is a matter of seconds; they have hundreds of these encounters every day.
If you have an interest, a few years ago [grandson] Spencer developed an interest in history, and as part of some assignment he asked me something about war.  I put together a single sheet for him, which is here: War Deaths U.S.002.  He and his teacher found it interesting.
Have a good day, and days.  We love you all.  Dad.
Final word: I noted to a friend Sunday that the need to communicate about Covid-19 reminds me of the need to communicate after 9-11-01.  We were all confused, angry and needed to talk.  In my garage box of old newspapers I took the below one out this morning, just to remind everyone, we were there, and we are again.  The death toll for 9-11-01: 2996, 372 who were not U.S. citizens.