Halloween, Tuesday, October 31, 2000, we were in Washington D.C., and had hopes to visit the Capitol.  But it wasn’t prime time.  The 2000 Election was one week away, and the odds of seeing much was pretty low.  I called the office of our then-Congressman, Bill Luther, and discovered that there was a session of the House of Representatives that evening.  He would have tickets that we could pick up to visit the House and sit in the Gallery.

We picked up the tickets and at 7 p.m. joined a small group from some other places to see the goings on for perhaps an hour.  It was not impressive.  A Congressman was seemingly talking to a camera, C-Span,  about Ergonomics; two groups of legislators were in their separate corners, chatting about whatever.  Nobody seemed to be listening to the speaker.  A Congressman actually came up to the gallery and spoke briefly to us, basically apologizing for what we were witnessing below, which seemed dysfunctional.

On return home, I wrote Rep. Luther and asked him if we could get a copy of the Congressional Record for the day, and very soon it came in the mail.  The cover is above.  I have kept it for the last 24 years, and this week decided to take a closer look at it.  I’m glad I did.

I won’t bore you with the content of this single day report of the Congress (House and Senate) of the United States, but it was helpful to me to do a quick review of it.

The document is 165 pages, 58 for Senate and 92 for House.  (The other pages were Extensions added after the session adjourned, and a Daily Diary).

It didn’t take long, navigating this record of a single day in Congress, to understand that the effort to govern a nation of over 330,000,000 people (280 million in 2000) by an institution of 435 elected representatives is not an easy thing.

The OSHA/Ergonomics speech was found on maybe two pages beginning at H11670, starting at about 1900 hours (7 p.m.)  The evening session began at 6 p.m.  Assorted representatives went on the record about assorted things, witnessing to the assorted concerns of their constituents back home.

The Congressional Record is the official record.  Representatives have a month to correct or append to the record, before it becomes the official record of the day.

The session we observed included names of representatives, some of whom are still serving.  Every single one of them has to run for reelection every two years; their next stop would be back home to campaign.  District boundaries for the legislators we saw would change as a result of the 2000 census; they changed again after 2010 and 2020,

Back home the Sunday before the 2000 election, we voted.  For President, the candidates were George W. Bush and Al Gore.  This was the election not settled until Dec. 12 by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Key was approximately 500 vote win in Florida, among several million votes cast.  Al Gore conceded, though he would have had a substantial legal case to defend himself.  Life went on.

Next Tuesday, every Congressperson is again up for election.  Who we select to represent us in Congress and the Senate, and their equivalents at the state level, are as important as the President, and our state Governor.

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The few minutes with that old Congressional Record was an opportunity to reflect on how complicated a country we are, and how marvelous it is that we function pretty well in such a diverse community.    Governing is extremely difficult.

In the last 24 hours I have probably seen about 100 people, most who I do not know, who in my tiny share of the universe probably have hundreds of priorities, most different from my own.

We live in an immense community (our state, country and world), where our individual wants often compete with others, and we need to share space with everyone else.  “We” is much more than “Me”, and that rabble on the House of Representatives floor on October 31, 2000, was simply demonstrating that, live.

In those 20 years I have seen a deterioration in even that imperfection I witnessed that Halloween night – where we’ve divided into tribes, where the game is more and more win versus lose.  It is not healthy.

There is much more to be said.  Let this suffice for now.

Today is 7 days to the 2024 Election.

It is also the 95th anniversary of the generally accepted first day of the Great Depression, October 29, 1929.  Letters from an American does about as good a job as possible summarizing that dark time in American history here.  The Great Depression ground on till almost the advent of America’s entry into WWII.  World War II brought full employment and lots of death and destruction to the entire world.  (There are various other dates of significance in late 1929, but the 29th was a day which was a major alarm.)

Not everybody suffered, but most of the damage was to ordinary folks like ourselves – our ancestors.

I do family history, and over the last 40+ years I’ve come to an unusually direct contact with how the Great Depression really impacted on my own ancestral family from North Dakota.  I only offer a few snips from a much longer and enduring history.

Harbingers of bad times began in the 1920s. “The Roaring Twenties” was a time of false prosperity.

Case in point: my Dad graduated from high school in 1927, and was planning to go to university in the fall.  Earlier in the same month of his graduation his father’s employer went out of business with no safety net for employees – his dad was chief engineer; and at almost exactly the same time, the bank holding all their savings also closed.  (I don’t think the two events were related, but the results were very difficult for them.)

The situation for my Mom’s parents was similar.

Grandpa Busch was a farmer with aspirations.  In 1928, he was one of the first members of the North Dakota Farmers Union, and immediately became a local activist.

In the junk at the farm after Uncle Vince died I found an old bank statements for an account opened in January, 1929.  There were only 14 checks actually written.  Here is the final one in the account.  The check design was an expression of optimism for the future.

In the 1920s Grandma and Grandpa bought some more acreage to expand their farm.  By the 1930’s they couldn’t pay the mortgage, and things got so bad that the family story is that Lucina, the oldest, a young teacher, saved the rest of the farm by at least paying taxes in the worst years.

There was lots more evidence of the hardship of the end of prosperity.  Back in the early 2000s I was musing with my Uncle Vince about a magnificent Cottonwood Tree on the east edge of their property, and he recalled the events of 1934, the year the tree was planted; in his memory, the worst year of the 30s.  He was 9 years old….  The story remains on line, and is worth your time, here.

Both of my families survived the Great Depression, but both were badly damaged and never fully recovered.  Every family has their own story.

One of many farm sayings I heard growing up comes to mind: “don’t count your chickens before they hatch”.

“The Ground Game” is each one of us, person to person.   There is a huge amount at stake on November 5.  The Centennial of Black Tuesday is in 2029.  How will reality look then?

 ELECTION INFORMATION: Minnesota related; and National information.

Related Post: Fascism 1945, here.

This is my final paragraph, my final thought, before sending this post October 26, 2024.  Our nation, the United States, has survived 237 years of sometimes very messy democracy – a nation which has embraced diversity in all of its forms, and a rule of law, embracing the secret ballot.  We are on the precipice of throwing it all away to what amounts to a dictatorship which will force conformity and result ultimately in anarchy.   The solution – the future – lies with each one of us, now: the right to vote.  E Pluribus Unum.  Out of many, one.

There’s not much more to say:  where I stand.  I’m proud to be a Democrat and voted October 14.  My opinion: at this time in history, there is no “Republican Party” worthy of the name.  Anyone who is running for office who carried the myth of a stolen election in 2020 does not deserve a single vote in 2024.  MAGA has been and is a destructive force, anti-democracy and freedom.

Nov. 5 will be the “family photo” of the United States of America – all of us, especially who we choose as as leaders at all levels.  We all have a single vote.

Why should I care enough to bother to vote?  Personally, Nov. 5  I’ll be halfway through my 85th year.  Under the best of circumstances, my trip is near over.  But my vote won’t be about me.  My vote is for those who’ll be left behind.

It was a personal wake-up call to learn that Kamala Harris is younger than my first child; as is Tim Walz.  (The three are all 60, a normal age for political figures now and before.)

Five days after Nov. 5, my youngest grandkid turns 18 .   They, and everyone after them, also have to deal with the results of Nov. 5.  The youngest is not old enough to vote Nov. 5.

This year especially, kids of any age, whether they vote or not, informed or not, are voting about their future. (When I was 18, voting age was 21. Todays kids have a privilege I didn’t have at their age.)

My advice is simple: before you vote, know why you’re voting for the persons you choose for every office.  If you haven’t already voted, VOTE as if your future – and not only yours – depends on it.

There is a stark choice this November 5: a government for all the people; or a government for one person and the tiny sliver of the population who already have far too much, and want still more….

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Lately, the words Hitler and Fascism have officially entered the conversation.  I looked up the word Fascist in my blog word search, and I think this may be a post you may want to read, the one from July 19, 2016, (Republican National Convention) written eight years ago, before the 2016 election.  (Hitler died at his own hand shortly after his 56th birthday, and right before Germany surrendered, essentially destroyed by WWII.  His 1,000 year Reich dream lasted less than a dozen years.)

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There is much left to say.  Next posts will likely be posted about the time the first polls close on the evening of Nov. 5, and morning of Nov. 6.  Check back. Have a great day.

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Side topic: Brian sends along a fascinating four minute view over part of Manhattan and Brooklyn.  No politics, but just a fun piece of Drone view of the city.  Here it is.  Enjoy.  Thanks, Brian.

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PERSONAL POSTNOTE: After I had finished this post, I saw two troubling pieces of data.  This morning one correspondent sent a notice including a group photo of a bunch of international leaders which included, best I could count, 36 people.  I responded: “Unless I miss something, 34 are men, all but two are white, 1 seems to be Arab.  How many are autocrats?  How many truly respect democracy?”  The group, BRICS,  included people like Putin….

Later, came a piece of data on the upcoming election, which indicated that only 36% of white men would likely vote for Harris/Walz.  This was only data from somewhere.   But it seems consistent with other data.  Nothing was noted about the other 64%.

White men – my gender and color – are definitely an issue, most likely largely because they’ve always had the power, and think they are entitled to it, even if they aren’t.  Played out, their’s is a smug, stupid, mindset.

At the same time, what puzzles me is that the alternative to Kamala Harris et al is very likely the most flawed human being ever to be nominated for the office of President by either major party.  He has multiple indictments, convictions, could never be a reliable witness because he has no boundary between truth and lies, flourishes with cultivating fear and loathing and retribution, and has spent four years sowing chaos.  On and on and on.  He will be a disaster for all of us if elected, especially for his internal enemies which probably even include people like me.

The old saying applies: Caveat Emptor.  Let the buyer beware.

Vote now or Nov. 5.

POSTNOTE 2 5:20 A.M. Oct. 24:  Take the time to read this from Heather Cox Richardson, just received..

COMMENTS (more at end of post): 

from Molly:  Thanks, Dick, for another fine post.

January 18, 2025, is the 25th anniversary of my retirement from Education Minnesota.  61 years ago, I started teaching school.  Today I spent part of the morning at the annual “MEA” teacher’s conference at River Centre in St. Paul.  It is an event that attracts me each year, and each year the people around me look younger, and it demonstrates change in other ways.  On the other hand, there is a bit of nostalgia harkening back to my years on the job.

This morning, I arrived in time for the keynote talk by Dr. Micia Mosely (above).  Dr. Mosely, nursing a broken foot, talked to a ballroom packed with classroom teachers.  Her talk was stimulating.  Her organization is the black teachers project, part of the national equity project.

(There is a 12 minute video at the Black Teacher’s Project which gives a very worthwhile introduction, well worth your time.)

I had a particular flashback moment during her presentation when she talked a bit about her background, and as parr of that showed the 5th grade class of which she was a part at PS 205 in New York City, 1983-84, and how the teacher of that class made a small but very profound difference in her life in 5th grade.  The teacher, Ms Arden(?), is in the below picture with that class.  Were she still alive, I highly doubt Ms Arden would remember the incident that so positively impacted on young Micia.  That’s how it goes.  As the saying goes, “Little things mean a lot”.

The picture was striking to me because not too long ago a retired 5th grade teacher friend showed me an almost identical photo of another 5th grade class in the twin cities in 2002-03.

Every conference I go to I consider a success if there is a single insight I pick up.  Usually there are more,  This conference was no exception.

I probably went to my first MEA teacher’s convention in 1965, which is nearing 60 years ago, when I was 25.  Obviously, yesterday I was in a crowd of “youngsters”, probably not much different than we were, then.

Dr. Mosely had us pair up a couple of times to briefly discuss two questions.  My new friend was Michael, probably in his 30s.  The first question “what is the why for the work that you do?“.  In the back and forth he shared that he was born in El Salvador; I from North Dakota.  I asked when he came to the U.S.: “when I was 5”, he said.

The impression made on me by Michael, by Dr. Mosely, and the gathered educators, was pretty profound.

We all start out as kids, impacted in infinite sorts of ways in every year of our existence, growing through crises, and good times, and ordinary times, developing outlooks and skills in infinite ways.

The school community, regardless of where you are, is a place of infinite variety, populated by human beings – students, teachers, all manner of associates as lunchroom cooks, custodians, bus drivers, administrators, and of course, parents and families of all manner.

School is where kids learn to be parts of a community beyond their own homes.

And every class has a Micia Mosley, possibly many more than one, in all of the rich variations of humanity…and this may not manifest for many years.

Those school employees I saw today at MEA in St. Paul are heroes and I thank them.

Thursday, Oct 10, I watched President Barack Obama speak in Pittsburgh PA in Kamala Harris’ campaign for President.

The Presidents message was interesting.  But I found myself finding a different kind of context for the President, which I’d like to share at. this point in history.

Two days later, Saturday, I was in a Democrat conversation group, and two at the table were Freshman and Junior in High School.  In introducing myself, I commented that when I was a senior in high school (1957-58) Sputnik was launched (Oct. 4).  That was 67 years ago:  that’s ancient history, even for a number of adults at the table.  We have to place ourself in context with others…and it isn’t easy, or an option.  Those high school kids, neither old enough to vote in November, are the ones who will bear the long-term effects of this years election.  People like myself won’t be as affected….  But our choice is a very real part of the inheritance we leave behind.

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Nov. 5, 2024, if I’m still alive (I have no personal plans for departing) I will be almost exactly mid-way in my 85th year on the planet (my medical chart would say “84”, but when you’re born, you’re in your first year, etc). Whatever….

I got to thinking about Presidents and Vice-Presidents I have actually seen in person at some point in my life; how I saw them; where I was at in my own life at the time.  And out of that first impression, some thinking about what they accomplished, their dilemmas, etc.

The list turned out to be surprisingly long, and I won’t go into much detail.  But to the point of origin of this little essay:

I first saw Barack Obama in person a few days before the Minnesota precinct caucuses in February, 2008.  I was in a packed house at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis, and he was there to make his pitch (at caucus I marked my preference for Hillary Clinton).  Mr. Obama was very impressive.  I simply thought Hillary had more relevant experience at the time.

photos Dick Bernard Jan 19, 2008

You know the results. Later Hillary became Secretary of State in the Obama administration. They made an excellent team.

When I saw Barack in 2008, I was 67 years old; he was 47.  I saw him one more time during his presidency – at the University of Minnesota – but for this essay that’s irrelevant.

When I saw President Obama on television a couple of days ago, he was a youthful looking 63, veteran of eight years as President of the United States; whose Vice-President for those eight years was the current President, Joe Biden.  In those 16 years, President Obama has become an honored elder, with accompanying wisdom, and it showed in both his performance and in his reception.

He paid his dues.

His wife, Michelle, First Lady, I saw in person one time, at Macalester College in St. Paul in October, 2008, before the election.  She was 44 at the time.  She was introduced by the daughter of close friends of mine.  I can remember her request to the students in attendance: “cell phones up!”.  She was an immensely impressive woman, and it showed later.

The U.S. is a better place for their having served and continuing to serve.  The past impacts the present, and the future, for good or ill.

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Without going into much detail, here are a few other personal examples.  What are yours.

Dwight Eisenhower was 62 and new President of the United States in 1953 when I saw him in an open car in a motorcade in Minot ND.  I was 13.  I think he was assessing the new Air Force Base at Minot, and the coming missile silos in the Cold War.  But I was just witnessing the event as a kid.  He was famed as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe in WWII.  The war ended when he was 54.

Nelson Rockefeller was 52 when I saw him in Valley City ND in 1960.  He was vying for nomination for President that summer. Richard Nixon won the nomination, and John F. Kennedy won the election.  Rockefeller had several terms as Governor of New York, and later was Vice President(1975-77) in Gerald Ford’s presidency.

I first saw Jimmy Carter in October, 1978, in Minneapolis.  He was President, and 54 years of age.  (He recently turned 100.)  I recall that his visit was protested, I believe related to the then-proposed Boundary Waters Canoe Area, and an additional issue relating to Iranians protesting the Shah of Iran.

Gerald Ford was President when I saw him in Bloomington MN in 1976.  He was 63.

Al Gore, then vice-president, was running for President when I saw him in Eagan MN in 2000.  He was 52.

I first saw Kamala Harris in person as vice-president in 2022.  She was 57.

Tim Walz was running for his first term in office in 2006 when I saw him at a fundraiser.  He was 41.

There are others I could add, but let these suffice.  I had hoped to see George W Bush at least in motorcade, but he escaped us all, both supporters and opponents.  This was about 2006.

Granted, all of these are just sightings.  But such sightings do have an impact.

I particularly note at how young these government officials were.  I also note that they were all men, except for Kamala Harris.