Forward

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As of Jan. 2025, here is the final vote for President.  I highlight the Kamala Harris vote as Harris and Walz were my preference.   I am only a single voter, but over 75,000,000 others voted as I did.  Individually we lack strength; working together in various ways we are strong.

January 20 is inauguration day.  I am not sure of my writing schedule, but at this moment, I want to offer access to a review of the recent past, and some simple suggestions for the future.  Most likely my inauguration post will be January 18.  It will be a recollection about trading conflict for cooperation.

In the days remaining in January I hope to offer some brief data points which may be useful to you as a citizen.  Just check in once in awhile to see if there is something new.  There is a “weather forecast” of how the incoming administration will act, but until it actually hits we won’t know what the “weather” will actually be.

In the interim, know, especially, who your local Congressperson is and his or her contact information.  Ditto for your U.S. Senators, state Senator and  Governor.

Get to know those who represent you, and communicate respectfully – as you would like to be treated.  Remember, you are not their only constituent.  For example, your congressperson represents about 700,000 citizens including you.  For good or ill, the U.S. Congress is, and state legislatures are, “we, the people”. They are “us”, not “them”.

Know who all of the other elected representatives represent you and their contact information.  Voters are the boss, and also ultimately accountable for their choice.

Attend at least one local meeting, such as City Council, of school board, if for no other reason to see who your representatives are, and how government works.

Be extremely vigilant about mis- and dis-information and be very cautious about what information you pass along to others.  Disinformation is a major crisis in our country, and we have good reason to  expect it will get worse.  If something is too good (or bad) to be true, it probably isn’t true.  If the reporter is known to be dishonest, the safest course is to believe nothing at face value.  This is a matter of common sense.  [The January 13, 2024, Weekly Sift is well worth your time.  I recommend subscribing to this.]

So long as I am able, I plan to continue these blogs, which are frequent and on assorted topics.  Regular visitors know me, some from long experience.  If you’re new, check me out.  I’ll add you to a subscriber list if you request.

Here are links to my last two months posts, most recent first, including if applicable the number of comments (in parens).  I find the comments very interesting and informative and look forward to them:  Jan. 11, The Felon; Jan. 9, Farewell, Jimmy Carter (8); Jan. 8, Pacific Palisades (9); Jan. 6 Politics (8); Jan 4 Larry Long; Jan. 3 Politics (3); Dec. 29 Jimmy Carter (7); Dec. 30 Bob Dylan “A Complete Unknown” (15); Dec 25 “Away in the Manger” (9); Dec 12, A House Divided (7); Dec. 9 Syria and the rest (5)

Next planned post: January 18, 2025.

COMMENTS (more at end of post):

The Felon

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Yesterday, a man with residences in New York, Florida and other places, was convicted of 34 felonies in New York State, subject to appeal later.  He apparently will be the first President inaugurated in this country as a convicted felon.

I’ll leave to Joyce Vance and the man’s niece to comment.  Joyce’s commentary is here; Mary’s here.

Personally, I feel Judge Merchan dealt with an impossible situation in the most appropriate way possible.  The debate will be incessant.  The convictions, of course, are only the tiny tip of the iceberg of the legal residue of his time.  There will be plenty of time to remember those.  The fog will lift….

I am a fan of the Rule of Law.  I’m not a lawyer, but much of my work was, as I often describe, “with, around and against lawyers”.  Without differences of opinion about what laws mean, there would be no need for lawyers.  Without lawyers, arguably, there would be no laws.  The matter of living in community is difficult even in the smallest context – the family.  The larger the circle, the greater the potential for problems relating to justice.

The man convicted yesterday was not a victim; rather he was a recipient of the consequences of his own deeds.  No question, he has some unlikely magnetic pull: 77 million of our fellow citizens voted for him and his pick for vice-president; only 75 million for my preferred candidates, Harris/Walz.  Don’t forget that four years earlier, 81 million had voted for Biden/Harris, to 74 million for him/Pence.  Don’t ever forget the very real and very positive legacy Biden/Harris leave behind as accomplishments the last four years.

Remember as we go forward, there are 1.3 million practicing lawyers in the United States; and over 30,000 Federal and state judges.  Judge Merchan, yesterday, said that during the trial there were 33 other trials in various stages in the same courts building.  Behind the spotlight are infinite numbers of very good  lawyers and judges (one of who is Merchan).  You probably know some lawyer, or maybe even some judge, in person.  They are people too.

In a nation of nearing 340,000,000 people with a near 240 year history, the potential for differences of opinion are infinite.

I have frequently made reference to a booklet published in 1959 by the American Bar Association for Law Day.  I offer it again, here, for your education.  It is in four parts only because my scanner was not behaving itself at the time.  It totals 50 pages.

(1) Law Day Am Bar Assoc 1959 (cover to 17); (2) Law Day (2) Am Bar Assoc 1959(18-24); (3) Law Day (3) Am Bar Assoc 1959 (25-43); (4) Law Day (4) Am Bar Assoc 1959 (44-52).  My favorite is “Law in a Treehouse World” found on page 49.

POSTNOTE:

As noted above, my career was “with, around and against lawyers”, dealing with issues related to employee relations and negotiated contracts.  What I learned, I largely learned on the job.  One of the abiding insights was an awareness that the only criteria about the ruling of a judge or an arbitrator or similar was “does the ruling make sense?”  Anytime I heard a lawyer utter the word “clearly”, I was pretty sure things were not all that “clear”.  On and on.  The word “evidence” early on came to have meaning; it was much more than a complaint.  It is easy to get irritated with rulings and procedures and appeals, but all of these are well grounded in Law and legal tradition.  And there are mistakes made.  The members of the fraternity of the law are the ones who have the interesting conversations, I’m certain.

In my memory, my most coveted award was something the Oppenheimer law firm legal eagles called the “Greek Grappler Award”, which they granted for a few years to a most deserving (said with tongue firmly in cheek) recipient.

One year it was me, and it was a few pages of a legal transcript from a hearing in Federal Court in St. Paul that earned the “accolades”.  I don’t recall the exact year, but probably somewhere around 1980.  The right-to-work people were attempting to skewer part of Minnesota’s bargaining statute, and I was one of those subpoenaed to produce every piece of paper and other record in my possession for examination in Federal Court.

I was not practiced at archiving memos, etc., but in the end I had a pretty good collection, I think, thanks to a couple of great secretaries.

That was the easy part.

My qualification for the “Greek Grappler” was the time of my testimony, in which I was doing my best to be truthful, but apparently flummoxed the Big City Lawyer attempting to skewer me.  His mistake was thinking that I actually knew something that I really didn’t.  I was working day to day, doing the best I could.

In the end, the case ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court and the Union prevailed and the ruling stayed basically intact for about 40 years.  I’d like to think it was me who made the difference, but the Greek Grappler award brings me down to human level….

The Law is a search for truth, and even those who thing they’ve got a winning strategy to escape and evade it are not always correct.

 

Farewell, Jimmy

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Today is the celebration of Jimmy Carter’s life at the National Cathedral in Washington DC.

December 30, 2024, I did a post about President Carter, and this week, Chuck Woolery sent me his comments. which appear in the comments section of the December 30 post, and which I recommend to you on this date, as both a tribute to Jimmy Carter, and an invitation to action as a citizen.  Scroll down to the long comment “from Chuck”.

Farewell, Jimmy.  You showed up.

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The funeral service is over.

Here is a photo from the second time I saw Jimmy Carter in person, at the Augsburg University Nobel Peace Prize Forum, Minneapolis, March 6, 2015.  He was 90, and he gave a great talk, focused on Human Rights, as I recall.

Jimmy Carter, Minneapolis, March 6, 2015

COMMENTS:

from Dick: a question came up from someone about Jimmy Carter’s religion (Baptist) and where the funeral was held (the National Cathedral in Washington).  Over recent history, so far as I know, state funerals for Catholic President (Kennedy) was St. Matthew’s Cathedral in D.C., and for others – apparently all Christians to date – at National Cathedral (Episcopal).  To my knowledge there is no rule, nor even necessarily a tradition about this practice.

from Norm:  Just a beautiful service and memorial to President Carter and to all of the values that he and America stand for!

I do wonder, however, what President Obama and President elect, Trump, talked about when sitting side by side for two plus hours other than where is the bathroom! 😬😂
Carter was everything that Trump is not, nor ever will be nor ever plans or wants to be!

response from Dick:  It was a powerful tribute to a great President.  About the past-presidents, understood.  What I think we fail to realize these days is that power folks at every level, every working day, have to deal with people they don’t agree with about impossible issues that they can’t avoid (I’m being kind).  Remember Truman’s “The buck stops here”?  It’s part of the job of President in a pluralistic society; or Governor, or Senator, or House member….

We lose perspective these days because we don’t have to sit next to somebody we disagree with.  We can curse at each other screen to screen, and not face a punch in the face!  In an hour, at this same screen, I’ll be joining a zoom call during which I’ll probably be asked to say a few words.  It’s just a book club my cousin asked me to participate in.  I’ll see some of the people.  Except for her, I’ll know no one.  Not everybody will be seen, you know the drill.  Compare it with what you describe, two of the most powerful people in the world sitting next to each other at a funeral knowing that they’re on national television before probably millions of people!  All they know for sure is that they might be on television.

What we have to recover is the ability to be civil with people with whom we disagree.  This isn’t easy.  Both sides have to be willing.

 I do wonder what the incoming President was and is thinking.  He’s not known for the kinds of behaviors President Carter was being eulogized for, or how Jerry Ford, Andrew Young, Walter Mondale and others are remembered as being.  Not only that, he has the additional self-imposed burden of coming into office under a pretty dark cloud.  No need for details.  You know.

There are interesting days ahead, to say the very least.


from Molly:

I listened to part of President Carter’s memorial service today.
It reminded me of the following brief poem by e.e. cummings.
Blessings,
Molly
——————————————-

a great 
man 
is 
gone. Tall as the truth was who; and 
wore his 
… life 
like a … 
sky.

           e.e. cummings

from Cindy: I view Jimmy Carter’s passing and funeral as the last great act of service and patriotism that he could provide to our country. Besides taking the spotlight off the orange man for a couple of weeks, his legacy stood before us in stark contrast to what we are about to face in the While House. I dare say that everyone there, save the Trumps, was in total agreement with what all the speakers had to say and the beautiful music shared with us. DJT was there so he could finally be on TV again, and miss-nose-in-the-air looked as though she’d rather be anywhere else. The memorial service was a beautiful event, filled with memories and humor, history and personal stories. I was reminded of much of his legislation that I’d forgotten or was barely aware of at the time. Rest in Peace, you Gen Z-er!

from Flo: We’ve often missed everything on our TV and radio, but service was so poor this afternoon that we couldn’t even get on the TV or our computers – System Wide Failure. All’s well now. Such is life in the fast lane. Just wish the news could be better all around the world!

from Dick, January 10, 5 a.m.: I watched the service at the National Cathedral yesterday morning.  Heather Cox Richardson does an outstanding writeup of what we all witnessed, here.  Late in the day came the Supreme Court decision that another ex-president can be sentenced today in New York: the first president convicted of a felony ever, I gather.

I looked through my photo file from the second, and only,  time I saw and listened to Jimmy Carter up close and in person, March 6, 2015.  (The first time was truly memorable, at the. old Minneapolis Auditorium, in 1978, when Carter came to defend the decision to create the Boundary Waters Conservation Area, and support a local candidate for Congress.  I recall a packed house with lots of people carrying “STOP” signs, and enroute into the hall having to walk through a phalanx of chanting people in grocery bag masks protesting the Shah of Iran.  Some memories stick….  Jimmy is at peace; to us that wish as well….

from Fred:  I am a longtime reader and supporter of American Heritage magazine, home to the best journal on American history since its inception. Perhaps I have forwarded a copy before but thought you would like this tribute, in the form of past articles about Jimmy Carter. Upon learning of Carter’s death, I thought of you and folks like you, Carter included, who untiringly expend great energy in advancing peace in the world.

The magazine is free, donations accepted, and has a searchable library of past articles. It is a great resource for almost any topic.
Jimmy Carter was truly a great American. I saw him but did not meet him when he was in St. Paul working on a three-house Habitat for Humanity on the lower east side where Dave and I taught.

Pacific Palisades

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Last night, we learned of the Pacific Palisades fire not long after the residents of Pacific Palisades itself.  That is the nature of today’s instant communication. world wide.  As I write, the city sounds as if it has essentially been destroyed.  At moments like this, one feels helpless, whether on the scene or far away.

Yes, fires are common, and floods, and on and on.  We tend to treat them as routine.  They are not.

The first thing I did last night was to fix, for myself, where Pacific Palisades was.  I knew it was part of Los Angeles metro, which is immense. Here is the Los Angeles Times reports which I presume will be updated often.  Thanks to on-line maps, here is the city and environs.

I actually know very few people in California, our nations most populous state with near 40 million people.  It is easy to say, “not my problem”.

We are all part of a greater community which is the entire planet.  Not only are we part, but we are all interconnected to an extent one could have not imagined even 50 years ago.

Today, it is a massive fire in Pacific Palisades, California.  A short while ago it was another massive fire in Lahaina, Hawaii; catastrophic hurricane damage in the east, especially North Carolina; last year Canada, on and on and on, everywhere.  We are not alone.  We are among 340,000,000 Americans and 8.2 billion on planet earth.  This is where community expands from individual, to town, to state, to nation, to world.  We’re all in this together wherever we live and we need the infrastructure locally available to help our neighbors in need, wherever they happen to be.  After all, we could be next.

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Important note:

Beginning tomorrow morning, and especially for the rest of the month of January, I will have frequent and generally brief posts relating to current events.  First will be on the occasion of President Carter’s service Thursday morning.  I will not be doing the usual notification to the mailing list.  The daily posts for each month are accessible here.  For posts by month go to the archive space at the right on this page.  Jan 3 & 6 are previous posts in January, 2025.

COMMENTS (more at end)

from Ed:  The Eaton Canyon fire in Altadena CA is burning out of control in our old neighborhood. We lived in Altadena from 1972 to 2002 until we moved to MN when I was hired as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Metro State. All our old CA neighbors have been evacuated and one of the schools has burnt to the ground. This is an unusual time for the fire season, which usually occurs in October and November.

We are lucky in MN, just cold weather and some snow.

from Brian:  Good points!  I grew up in the Houston/Galveston area, and we had our hurricanes!   I’d watch trees blow over.


from Michael: Yes just unbelievable and surreal. All The local TV stations, all Last night of them, have coverage of what’s happening as of course I see on Fox News. They cover it quite a bit, so I’m sure some readers are seeing some of the craziness on TV nationally.

For perspective to anyone who might read this, I live in Redlands California, which is I imagine about 35 miles from downtown LA on the 10 freeway. I do have a daughter who lives in Los Angeles off of Sunset Boulevard. I was speaking to her last night and they were packing things to evacuate, but felt That it probably wouldn’t happen. We both were wondering how much the winds were going to kick up as they were predicting last night, they were supposed to get stronger at 10 o’clock at night and of course they did so we knew it would get worse but I felt and still do kind of feel that they’re going to be OK as they are just a little bit away from Pacific Palisades.
Anyways, I am certainly safe and OK as I am 30 miles from all that but the winds here in Redlands are pretty strong. They were 60 miles an hour just west of us last night and today I have a few trees that were in barrels if you can imagine that actually blew over so I could very well understand if a fire started anywhere, how dangrrous these winds really can be that they could spread a fire in an instant
I haven’t heard from my daughter this morning, but I am assuming that she is OK.
Whole neighborhoods burning to the ground certainly hard to watch. My goodness!! So very sad.
And you are going to hear about the lack of homeowners insurance here as it has gotten so expensive and many companies wouldn’t even give you a policy—much like auto here—-so people forced to get some kind of state insurance which is very limited in coverage. I keep thinking now about after the fires are out. This is just going to be a devastating cost, and because of those insurance concerns some of these people are not going to be able to rebuild.
Anyway, will hope for the best, thank you for your concern. Hello to the group

from Dick, Friday morning Jan. 10:  Today at my usual coffee, the ‘church guys’ were conversing at the next table.  I wasn’t eaves-dropping, but the course of conversation in general terms seemed to be talking about dilemmas of things like insurance coverage, a perfectly reasonable item of conversation.

As usual, I left early for my daily walk around the indoor soccer field.  A are-haired lady came in about the same time as I did, and we shared the usual good-morning.  We don’t know each other.

Very briefly, as she began to walk, she said “I just moved here from LA, and I have friends who lost everything”.  It was totally unexpected, and impossible to address as she was walking away at a faster pace than I.  I could identify her by her coat collar – it was chilly inside as usual – so I thought I’d see her a round or two later.  I stopped and fished out a piece of scrap paper and wrote a note to give her when she passed me by.  Here it is:
I never did see her. which only means she may have been there for only a single round or two.  And of course, I don’t know her.  Such is how life is.  We all make assumptions about our unknown neighbor.  The chance encounter was a learning opportunity.  The note goes into my wallet in the off-chance that I’ll see her again, and sort of recognize her….

 

January 6, 2021

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Today is the 1st anniversary of Jan. 6, 2021.  I won’t let it go unremembered.  It is a day I hope will never be repeated.  Today is 4 years since the unprecedented unforgettable event.  It is part of American history.

Joyce Vance gave her opinion in her January 5th Civil Discourse, here.  Her informed commentary is always worth your time.  This morning she published a supplementary post on the same topic, here.

Here’s my blog from four years ago,  January 6, 2021.  (Prior and after, I blogged on Jan. 5 and next on Jan. 12, 2021.  Neither related directly to Jan. 6.)

I printed and pdf’ed the “screen shots” taken by myself of about an  hour of the riot at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2021. Jan 6 2021; Jan 6 2021 (2). (There are two sets of photos, in sequential order.)  These are unedited and are just what was on the screen when I took the photo.  There are 32 in all, you can scroll through quickly.  None are Pulitzer quality, I can assure you.  I watched the chaos most of the afternoon that awful day.  At the beginning, I didn’t have the camera at hand; I stopped taking pictures after about an hour.  Never, did I anticipate what I witnessed live on TV that afternoon.

I follow politics – anyone who knows me knows this.  On the other hand, I don’t spend an afternoon watching political paint dry.

January 6, 2021 – it was a Wednesday – would not normally occupy my time any year.  The formalization of the vote is usually a routine event in the national political calendar.  Not so in 2021.

2025 continues to happen today.  “Politics” is every single citizen; it is all of us, not “them”.  We are all part of the problem…or solution.

As I will continue to say, I am one of the 75 million who voted Democrat on Nov. 5, and I’m proud to be so.

I have no idea how all will be today and this year.  We will soon see.  Odds are today will be more like the good old days, than that first Wednesday in January was in 2021.  About the only controversial thing at the moment is that the nations flags are flying at half-staff, recognizing the death of President Carter a week or so ago.  Odds are that the inauguration on January 20 will be relatively normal.

We’ll see how/if the new President follows through on his promise to be a dictator only on day one, which I presume is sometime shortly after January 20.

We are all well advised to stay aware, active and very attentive to actions in coming days, months, and years to follow.  Our democracy, as we have come to know it over our entire history, is in trouble.  And we’ll pay the price if we lose it.

Take the time to read the latest commentary by Heather Cox Richardson, which was in my inbox overnight.  How do you fit in to the picture.

Stay on the court, peacefully.

It is 5:10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 6, 2025.

POSTSCRIPT: It’s irrelevant, I suppose, but the incident with the Tesla – the perpetrator – did not pass unnoticed by me, nor the tragedy in New Orleans, since the perpetrators were or had been soldiers, at least one recently on leave from Ft. Carson, Colorado.  Ft. Carson is where I did my two years of service in 1962-63, and I know it well, as I know GIs, as I know Colorado.  Very b:riefly: I volunteered for the Draft immediately after graduating from college.  I had zero interest in becoming an officer.  So I spent my ‘career’ as a Company Clerk in an Infantry Company – probably similar to the New Orleans murderer.  In short, I lived in and was very aware of the community that is military (and it is a community).  I’m proud to have been in the service; and I respect those who have and are serving, and understand that their society is imperfect, as is our own.

POSTNOTE: I watched the totality of the formal recording of the electoral votes at a joint session of House and Senate.  In all, about 35 minutes.  Kamala Harris presided as President of the Senate.

Jan. 6, 2025

COMMENTS (more at end)

from Sandy: Excellent points once again Dick! This is certainly a scary time with Trump being re-elected. It is unbelievable. Let’s hope he cannot destroy our fragile democracy

“Last Night….”

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Last night was a breezy and very chilly one in downtown Minneapolis, but we were at the Dakota Jazz Emporium for a truly wonderful American Roots Review, Larry Long and group celebrating songs of “freedom, freight trains and hope”.  We saw the first of two sets in this standalone program.  Anyone who follows Larry Long’s work would likely agree that that last night was a very special evening.

Larry Long and Roots Review at Dakota Jazz Club Minneapolis, January 3, 2025

Larry Long has a long and noteworthy history, summarized here.  I first met him in 2007.  My photo files suggest (photos of him which I took) that I’ve heard him sing at least nine times, which certainly doesn’t make me a groupie, but certainly I’ve experienced his music.

My most moving encounter was when he, I and our friend Ruhel Islam (GandhiMahal) visited Lynn Elling on his deathbed nine years ago in early February.  Lynn’s passion, the song “Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream”, performed most memorably by John Denver. Larry Long himself gave Lynn an in-person rendition with Lynn’s daughters in attendance.  Lynn passed on less than two weeks later, and I’m sure Larry’s singing was a special memory for his final days.

Larry Long with Lynn Elling Feb 3 2016

The local community knows Larry well for nearly 50 years.  If you’re not familiar with him, do check his website.

To check out John Denver and “Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream” go to AMillionCopies.info and watch the first few minutes of the film ‘Man’s Next Great Giant Leap”, starting at about the 3 minute mark.  The film was made in 1971 specifically for Minnesota Peacemaking initiative championed by Lynn Elling and others.

Larry performing at an anti-Iraq war rally in late August 2007.

 

 

Jan. 3, 2025

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Suggestion: Print the photo (note pdf link) and keep as a ready reference.  Add contact information for all your elected representatives, local, state, national.  Use it often.

This post has been long planned, but is being written in the shadow of the terror in New Orleans at the beginning of New Years Day, 2025.  This, and the sad but expected death of a personal hero of mine, President Jimmy Carter death on December 29, are much in my thoughts now.  But life goes on, and we have much to learn from past, and much to prepare for in the future.

The U.S. Presidential Election Results are as of December 11, 2024,  the day of required reporting of the election results to the United States  (Certificates of Ascertainment).   January 3, the new Congress will be sworn in must elect a speaker and very shortly thereafter begins the formal process leading to inauguration on January 20, 2025.  (Other 2024 Election Key Dates are  here.)  The remainder of this month is immensely consequential.  Make a point of following the news.

Pdf of the above: Nov. 5 2024 Presidential Election Results.

*

My comments on this are very brief: Every one of the approximately 240,000,000 who could vote on November 5, 2024, including those who did not vote at all, had a role in the results of the election.  There is no do over for four years, and no modification for two.

I was one of the voters.  So were you, regardless of for whom or even if you voted.

Not represented are over 70,000,000 American citizens who were not old enough to vote on Nov. 5 – not yet 18.  They are the ones who will be most affected by our decision on who voters selected as leaders at all levels in all places.

I was one of the 75 million who voted for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz (that’s why I list them first).  I am aware that my cohort of 75 million has great diversity and immense potential power, but only if we individually acknowledge our own responsibility to work where we live, and to work together.  Living together in any community is never easy – even people of seemingly like minds disagree.  But the alternative to constructive work together is disaster.

I have and will continue to follow politics carefully.  I urge you to do the same, and to act wherever you are every day.

There are a great number of issues in this complicated society, and there are hundreds of legislators all over the country, some of whom representyhou.  You and I and all of us are the ones who ultimately make the difference.   Think of the difference each one of us could make if each of us reached one other person.  Do something constructive, every day, where you live.

*

President Jimmy Carter and Rosalyn.

Events following President Carter’s death will be announced at the Carter Center website, here.

Here’s a recent post (October 1) I wrote which included a personal section on Jimmy Carter.  You’ll find it near the end of the post.  Scroll down.

Within that post is a link to Jimmy Carterr’s autobiography which he published at age 90, “A Full Life”.  I read the book this past summer.  It is well worth your time.  I have huge respect for President Carter and his lifetime work in multiple arenas, including President of the United States.

UPCOMING:  My next scheduled post is January 5, focus: January 6, 2021.  CHECK BACK.  

POSTNOTE: I learned of the Las Vegas incident after beginning this post and am following it closely, but have no comments to add to the conversation.

COMMENTS (more at the end)

Jimmy Carter, 1924-2024.

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I always have resonated with the Carters, and a search of the words “Jimmy Carter” at this site will find  many posts.  The most recent is October 1, 2024 (the section about Carter is near the end of the post).  Enter the words “Jimmy Carter” in the search, and it says the words occur in 40 of my posts going back to 2012.  I’m not about to review all of them, except say that if his name was mentioned, I know it was positive.  He lived and he died a “class act”.  We are all for the better because of his life’s work in many arenas.

Today’s Minnesota Star Tribune devoted seven pages to President Carter.  It helps, I’m sure, that Minnesotan Walter Mondale was his vice-president, but President Carter’s record speaks for itself.

I’ll not belabor you with many words.  I’ll link you with two morning posts who comment on Jimmy and Rosalynn’s positive legacy.

*

For the first time, this morning, it occurred to me that I have much more in common with Jimmy Carter than I thought.

Jimmy Carter was born October 1, 1924.  He was a farm kid from tiny Archery, Georgia.  What hadn’t occurred to me was that my Uncle Vincent, Mom’s brother, who I knew very well, and was the last of his family to die, was also a farm kid, born just three months after Jimmy Carter.  In a sense they were ‘kin-kids’.

Both Vincent and Jimmy were kids of the Great Depression.  They were from very different parts of the U.S., but there was a community of experience about the Depression, and community, generally, which I vicariously learned through Uncle Vince (who died at 90, ten years ago), and through all of my mentors in life from “the greatest generation”.

Vince would recall 1934 as the worst year of the Depression.  He (and Jimmy) were 9 years old, and old enough to know.  The experience of the difficult decade of the 1930s, and WWII which followed, stuck with Vince, and I think with Jimmy as well,

One time I asked Vincent about a large Cottonwood tree on the home farm, I reduced his recollections to writing, and this seems an appropriate occasion to share again.  You can read it here.

Vincent never went to college, but he had a great abundance of country wisdom.

Following are two of today’s commentaries about President Carter which I resonate with: here and here.

Jimmy Carter was an inspiration.

POSTNOTE: There have been a number of comments to yesterdays Bob Dylan post.  Take a look here.

Have a good New Years eve, with hope for a Happy New Year.

COMMENTS (more at end of post)

from Michael: RIP Jimmy Carter. The US Peace Memorial will feature antiwar statements made by Americans who are easily recognized by virtue of their prominent leadership roles, cultural contributions, and historical importance. This is one quote under consideration at www.USPeaceMemorial.org/Quotes.htm. When we realize that leaders from a variety of backgrounds have articulated strong antiwar statements, our culture can change. More people will feel comfortable speaking out, and the government will be challenged more frequently when it threatens, invades, or occupies other countries.

from Dick: Do visit the US Peace Memorial website.  I have been a founding member for many years.  It is a very worthwhile project.

from Nicole: President Carter was my father’s absolute favorite President.  I lived in Atlanta for a few years, and his positive legacy was everywhere!

from Chuck:  Carter is right behind Lincoln and then Washington regarding doing what is right.  Not always what the people want…

In the 10s of thousands of words I’ve read so far in the media honoring (or criticizing) this late great man and our nation’s most principled US President, there was never a mentioned this profound commission that requisite to the office of President of the United States.

In 1980 Jimmy Carter’s bipartisan Presidential Commission on World Hunger concluded with a specific warning if humanity failed to end the worst aspects of widespread hunger and poverty by the year 2000.  The commission concluded that “The most potentially explosive force in the world today is the frustrated desire of poor people to attain a decent standard of living. The anger, despair, and often hatred that result represent real and persistent threats to international order… Neither the cost to national security of allowing malnutrition to spread nor the gain to be derived by a genuine effort to resolve the problem can be predicted or measured in any precise, mathematical way. Nor can monetary value be placed on avoiding the chaos that will ensue unless the United States and the rest of the world begin to develop a common institutional framework for meeting such other critical global threats  Calculable or not, however, this combination of problems now threatens the national security of all countries just as surely as advancing armies or nuclear arsenals.”

They also stated “that promoting economic development in general, and overcoming hunger in particular, are tasks far more critical to the U.S. national security than most policymakers acknowledge or even believe. Since the advent of nuclear weapons, most Americans have been conditioned to equate national security with the strength of strategic military forces. The Commission considers this prevailing belief to be a simplistic illusion. Armed might represents merely the physical aspect of national security. Military force is ultimately useless in the absence of the global security that only coordinated international progress toward social justice can bring.”

In the last two decades humanity has been experiencing the consequences of ignoring this warning with increases in “diseases”, “international terrorism”, “war”, “environmental problems” and “other human rights problems” (refugees, genocide, human trafficking…).  Combined, these global pressures have fueled the anti-democratic populist movements that continue to thrive in our increasingly political polarized populations, religions, nations, and East vs West strategic blocks.  In the first days of 2025 nine more nations joined the BRICS axis which President-elect Trump is threatening with even more sanctions.

Over the past 40 years dozens of other prestigious, bipartisan studies and academic reports have followed Carter’s 1980 commission report. Each clearly documents the direct and indirect links between world hunger, human rights violations, global instability, violent extremism, displaced refugees, and the growing array of other threats to our freedoms, health, economy, national security, and global political and environmental stability.  The costly consequences of failed states cannot be stopped with walls, sanctions, or more military power.

Fortunately, an affordable and achievable plan exists. Globally approved in 2015, the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are a comprehensive approach essential to addressing the root causes of most of the preventable tragic and bankrupting problems governments are dealing with now.   Yet no organization or institution has yet taken a leadership role in building the ‘Movement of Movements’ needed to bring the tens of thousands of human rights, peace and environmental organizations together into a single global movement.   Time is not on our side. The evolution of pathogens, weapons, war, corruption, environmental distresses, political polarization, government debt, and growing economic disparities are outpacing humanities will to voluntarily change our governing systems. This is literally and globally unsustainable.  Leadership is urgently needed for some organization to take the lead.

On July 4th, 2026 the Declaration of Independence that President Carter said created the idea of America, will celebrate its 250th anniversary of “Truths to be Self-evident” that Abraham Lincoln said was ‘for all people, everywhere, for all time”.  This coming 4th of July many US based organizations have already started organizing for the 250 anniversary with 250 And Beyond: AARP Foundation, American Association for State and Local History, American Institute of Graphic Arts, America’s Service Commissions, California Volunteers, Campus Compact, Interfaith America, Karsh Institute of Democracy, Made By Us, National Council for Social Studies, National Youth Leadership Council, Partnership for Public Service, PBS Books, Peace Corps Foundation, Serve Colorado, The Volcker Alliance, Urban Libraries Council, Washington State Historical Society, WETA.

This unique anniversary needs to be celebrated by local communities globally to bring community members together with the paid staff organizations working in their local community to learn the priorities of that community, and then work together in a comprehensive approach to make measurable progress on each of the 168 specific measurable and achievable goals within the 17 SDGs.  Progress on these goals have been insufficient to meet the 2030 deadline.  Every minute, hour and day between now and July 4th 2026 is an opportunity to inspire a global movement to bring sanity to humanity.

Chuck Woolery, Former Chair
United Nations Association, Council of Organizations
315 Dean Dr., Rockville, MD 20851
Cell:240-997-2209   chuck@igc.org

Blogs:  435 Campaign:  www.435globaljustice.blogspot.com  (May 2017  through today)

Dothefreakinmath http://dothefreakinmath.blogspot.com  (June 2006 to Nov 2016)

The Trilemma  http://trilemma.blogspot.com/  (Oct 2011 to Nov 2013)

“Today the most important thing, in my view, is to study the reasons why humankind does nothing to avert the threats about which it knows so much, and why it allows itself to be carried onward by some kind of perpetual motion.  It cannot suffice to invent new machines, new regulations, new institutions.  It is necessary to change and improve our understanding of the true purpose of what we are and what we do in the world.  Only such an understanding will allow us to develop new models of behavior, new scales of values and goals, and thereby invest the global regulations, treaties, and institutions with a new spirit and meaning.”  President Vaclav Havel, Czech Republic.

Bob Dylan

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For Christmas this year I had only a single ask: I wanted to see the just released film on Bob Dylan’s first years in New York, A Complete Unknown.  Didn’t see it Christmas Day or the day after, but Friday we took it in at the local Woodbury Theatre, with a healthy size audience.  I’d give it a very high rating, and surely recommend it.  I’m no reviewer: you can find hundreds on line already.  At least check it out.

As it happened, Christmas eve I checked in and the Dylan documentary, No Direction Home was on the tube.  It’s readily available online and an excellent ‘primer’ before watching Unknown.

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Personal Comments: I’ve wandered around this planet of ours for a lot of years – Bob Dylan is younger than I – and plenty of people know me from the 1960s, some of whom, will see this post.  So, when I say “the sixties passed me by”, any number of people can challenge my veracity.

When I talk about “the sixties” I’m talking about ‘Nam, Civil Rights and all of that sort of thing.  “The sixties”, for me, was much more about basic survival, with none of the ordinary luxuries of being in my 20s.  The Unknown film essentially begins with the Cuban Missile Crisis.  While Dylan was not long in New York, in October, 1962, I watched President Kennedy speak to the nation on television in an Army barracks in Colorado.  In the summer of 1965, Bob Dylan stirred up the purists at the Newport Folk Festival; back home in the Midwest I was burying my wife of two years, and trying to figure out how to take care of a one year old, and teach and work a second job to survive.

What I know about the 60s, I largely learned after the fact.  As the saying goes, Life had other priorities for me.

I did actually live in Hibbing Minnesota from 1983-91, about five blocks west of the house where Bobby Zimmerman grew up, only two blocks from the Hibbing High School.  You can see both his home and high school here.

Dylan was long gone by 1983, and my recollection is that he was not much revered in his home town.  I recall often walking to the Hull-Rust mine view less than a mile north, and the visitor facility showed no evidence of Bob Dylan as a local boy made good.  The display Board emphasized Jeno Paulucci, who made his mint selling canned food products.  I represented Iron Range teachers including Hibbing, and I cannot recall anything negative about Dylan as a student.  Anyone can read the biographies.

I saw Bob Dylan perform in person only one time, and that was in August, 1997, at Midway Stadium in St. Paul.  Opening that show was Ani DiFranco. Miracle of the Internet, I found two sites with information about that particular concert, here and here.  The bandstand that night was in deep center field, and most of us stood on the baseball diamond.  It was a memorable evening; I recall it starting late, which would surprise nobody.

Other than wandering on the same general turf as Bob Dylan, and being about the same age, there were no points where we ever actually met.  But I’ve always liked his music, and there is a certain pride in proximity to greatness.

(At the end of A Complete Unknown, a statement flashed on the screen that Dylan was the first and only musician to win a Nobel Prize in literature (2016).  He declined to appear in person to accept the award.  Here’s an interesting article at the time of his award.)

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POSTNOTE:  As we know, history always has threads to the past, and lessons for the future…but we have to pay attention.

Early in the film Pete Seeger takes Bob Dylan to meet Woody Guthrie in a New Jersey Hospital.  Woody suffered for years from the debilitating Huntington’s Disease, dying in 1967.  At bedside, Bob Dylan played for Woody.  The scene reminded me of a similar scene in Minneapolis 9 years ago, where Larry Long came to play and sing for lion-for-peace Lynn Elling.  Most certainly, Larry that day played Lynn’s favorite peace anthem: “Last Night I Had the Strangest Dream”.  A tribute to Lynn and Dr. Joe Schwartzberg can be viewed here.  The movie at the site incudes John Denver singing the song live.   We all have heroes.  Lynn is one of mine; the day I met him he was 85, giving his best rendition of the song….  He never lost his passion for peace.  He’ll be in my mind constantly as 2025 begins and history continues.

 

With Lynn Elling two weeks before his death February 2016, a few days before his 95th birthday. Ruhel Islam, Larry Long, and Lynn’s daughters Cindy Sheffield and Sandy Curry.  Photo Dick Bernard

COMMENTS (see more at end);

Dick: After publishing this post, I looked to see if I had a home file on Bob Dylan.  Yes, I did, and I’m including here pdf’s of some of the earliest articles about his work. Bob Dylan Seventeen Mag Sep 1962 p 117; Bob Dylan Time May 31 1963; Bob Dylan Newsweek Nov 4 1963.  Not included is a very long profile about him in the Oct 24, 1964 New Yorker: “The crackin’, shakin’, breakin’ sounds”

from Carole: If I have an interest! ! !   Dylan emerged during  my college years. I remember trying to explain the poetic magic to my father (born in 1890!).  It is definitely on my to-watch list.  Thank you,, and very best wishes for 2025.

from Larry: Dick…will read your complete post and comment on Dylan. In this morning’s [Fargo ND] Forum, there was a repeat of an article published a long time ago abou Dylan’s 1959 year in Fargo. I’ll attach a two-page pdf of the piece…interesting life that, fortunately, isn’t over yet…LG. Bob Dylan Forum_12_29_2024

from Larry Long (photo above): Dick I was just thinking of Lynn and you.  So moved by the image of us at his bedside and your reflections. I, too, saw the movie A Complete Unknown.  Equally struck by those moments at Woody’s bedside with our dear friend Pete Seeger.  Sure hope you can come to our American Roots Revue Dakota concert on January 3rd.  We’ll be doing a Woody & Dylan song along with Lift Every Voice & Sing, A Change is Gonna Come and others.  Would love to see you.   Two concerts – 6:30 & 8:30.   Love you my friend.

from SAK:  Dear Mr Bernard, thanks!

I shall try & watch the film. Your article & Dylan brought back lots of memories.

The very first I believe was when our then English teacher brought a couple of Dylan songs for us to read & discuss. I still remember that 2 of them were Blowin’ in the Wind & The Times They Are A’Changin’. Interestingly a student complained to his parents about the songs – their being of a revolutionary nature – & the parents took the matter further & the teacher was asked to stop the “enlightenment”. That student is now a Republican Trump fan.

I still don’t think Dylan was very explicit in his songs, not advocating explicit political opinions that is. Of course he wrote & sang many protest songs – e.g. Talkin’ John Birch Society Blues, Death of Emmett Till, Masters of War, With God on our Side, Señor (Tales of Yankee Power & others). I take it that was because he is primarily a poet & not a totally engaged rebel or politician. His poetic talent was confirmed by the Nobel prize for literature as you mention. Joan Baez was more of a life-long activist & it’s sad how Dylan broke up with her but c’est la vie I suppose & it gave us a song of hers I really enjoy: Diamonds & Rust (mentions the Midwest!).

Great that you lived a few blocks from Dylan & who knows your paths might have crossed! I liked your: “As the saying goes, Life had other priorities for me.” John Lennon similarly sang: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” I have to admit we were closer to The Beatles for obvious reasons! “Beatles ‘64” a film about The Beatles’ tour of the US just came out & suppose it did some good to a country still recuperating from president Kennedy’s assassination although the relationship with parts of the US audience soured later – trailer etc available online.

Well thanks again & all the best for 2025, let’s see what life brings!

from Norm:  I have never been a fan of the songs by the kid from Hibbing except for one or two of them.   I did not care for the sound of his voice, and I wasn’t really into the protest side of his music.

On the other hand, I have heard that it is a good movie about Dylan.

from Dick, responding to Norm: As we know, “to each his or her own”.  People see the same thing (and people) in different ways.  You hail from the same general area as Dylan (Zimmerman), and as I note in the blog, in my years in Hibbing it didn’t seem even the home town held him in high regard for assorted reasons, doubtless.  I notice I have a file on Dylan which includes some articles going back as far as 1963.  I’ll likely pdf one or two or three and add them here, later.  Thanks for comment.

from Michelle: And a very Happy New Year to you too Dick. Thank you for all that you do to keep us informed and motivated.

from Judy: We saw it last night! Fabulous!

from Jane: Back at ya.  My son is off watching that movie right now.  I even met Dylan once, back in 1965 in Greenwich Village.

from Jeff: We enjoyed the movie, I guess I am a Dylan fan.  I wasn’t overwhelmed by the movie, but found the performances really really good, and also the sets and locations and costuming were great….. I know you lived thru the Cuban Missile crisis, I was just 8 years old but I remember it…but the scenes and mainly sounds in NYC evoked as experienced by Dylan in one scene of the movie were a revelation to me. I don’t remember that feeling of panic growing up in the Upper Peninsula, but I was a kid in lower elementary then…   I admit to being a fan of 60s and 70s Dylan with perhaps his Blood on the Tracks album being my favorite…, particularly the song Tangled up in Blue.    The portrayal in the movie is very interesting…a man consumed by creating music and creating himself….an interesting character,

from Valerie: My friends and I just saw A Complete Unknown. Excellent movie!


from Jane: Thanks Dick.  This column  [by Garrison Keillor] is hysterical and also spot on. Leave to Garrison!

I have a memory of a guitar -strumming guy friend who was a Dylan fan when we were in high school in Albert Lea in the early 1960s.  We both worked on a summer day camp for mentally disabled.  He was absolutely sure that Bob (or Zimmerman, as he called him)  would walk down the streets of Albert Lea at any moment!  It made Dylan feel very real to me!!

 

“Away in a Manger”

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POSTNOTE, Jan. 11, 2025: Following Christmas came Epiphany on January 5.  Johan van Parys, Directory of Liturgy and Sacred Arts at Basilica; of Fr. Joe Gillespie, of St. Albert the Great, wrote more about the story of Christs birth and what it means.  Both are accessible here: Epiphany Joe Gillespie Johan van Parys.  I looked for words that seem pertinent to discuss in much greater depth.  In no particular order “mystery”, “revelation”. “manifestation”, “Epiphany”, “miracle”, “experience”, “presence”, “belief”, “Story”, “truth”…and likely other words both written in the comments and others.  There is ‘truth’, and there is ‘belief’ and all variations in between.

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My Christmas message includes a few separate items received recently from several friends.  They make a good Christmas message by themselves.   If you read no further, do check out these commentaries on the season: The December 21-22 Minnesota Star Tribune carried this column by Retired Judge Bruce Peterson Dec. 2024.  Separately, Jeff sent me the St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church message: St. Joan of Arc Minneapolis Dec. 2024.

In addition, two book recommendations from friends: Kathy recommended Crisis Contemplation Healing the Wounded Village by Barbara A. Holmes (I have it.  Very worthwhile); Fr. Joe recommended Hope, the Autobiography by Pope Francis (newly published).  And, thanks to Molly, this music by Allison Krause and YoYo Ma.  And a second Kathy sent the quotation by Episcopal Bishop John Selby Spong (below).  These are six Christmas gifts to be shared.

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Personal Thoughts at Christmas 2024.  Personally, we’ll be at 9:30 Mass at Basilica of St. Mary this morning.

I was thinking about doing a Christmas post about the birth of Jesus and the application to today, specifically to migrants.  I found an early-1900s postcard from the Busch farm collection, and a 2023 Christmas card I’d kept, and looked up the Bible reading in Grandma Bernard’s 1911 Bible: Luke Chapter 2 Nativity  I also found a wonderful rendition of Away in a Manger by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

What was notable in both cards – both at the “manger” – was the whiteness of everyone, including the angels. [see postnote]

I looked up the route from Nazareth to Bethlehem (I visited both in person in 1996).  It is a hard to imagine the trip Mary and Joseph would have taken, even boom there, viewing the land from a bus, even in peacetime in Israel in January 1996.  And it is hard to imagine a late-in-pregnancy woman making what amounted to a 90 mile trip, even under ideal circumstances.  But that’s what the Bible has always said about the birth of Jesus, and who am I to challenge?

(Luke’s Gospel, the one noted here, was probably written 80 years or more after the actual event, probably based on oral memories, not even first person. Even today no one can say with certainty who “Luke” was, or where the author lived.)

Some 250 years after Luke was written, Helena, the mother of Roman Emperor Constantine, visited the Holy Land, and she is apparently the one who decreed the official site of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem.

Imagine doing such a story today, about something which happened 80 years ago (1944), with no first person information or source documents as we have via internet, etc.

When I looked up the route from Nazareth to Bethlehem, my map feature had to be coaxed to the route I had experienced 29 years ago. It initially diverted me from Nazareth to another nearby Bethlehem in Galilee, much closer than the traditional Bethlehem near Jerusalem.  (The longer trip was about 90 miles, Bethlehem about six miles from Jerusalem; the closer Bethlehem about 6 miles from Nazareth.  Neither is labelled Bethlehem on the map, but they do exist.

Parts of Luke’s story were the Gospel on Sunday, and will again be part of one of the Masses on Christmas Day.  Do I dismiss the relevance of the story?  No.  Do I take the story literally?  No, as well.  Even this small research was another learning opportunity about a writing I’d never taken a lot of time to think about.  Maybe that’s the benefit of the story for people like myself: an opportunity to reflect

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A few evenings ago, I happened to be watching the Discovery Channel, and there happened to be a program on where Jesus was born.  It was a fascinating program, from several years ago, and I think you’d find it interesting.

Of course, when it comes to religion, nothing is simple.  There are tens of  thousands of “Christian denominations”, hundreds of them in the United States, with varying interpretations of even common articles of faith, and of course power blocs not unlike political parties.

Blessings at Christmas 2024.

 

POSTNOTE:  Those who know me well know who I am in terms of faith.  I personally like the traditional mantra at my own parish, where everyone is welcomed wherever they are on their faith journey.  A friend sent me a forward from a mutual friend, yesterday, which says it better than I can.  Shelby Spong is a deceased Episcopal Bishop.

POSTNOTE: After publishing we went to Christmas Mass.  Positively impressed.  The booklet we all received had the below cover, which seemed to have a Hispanic theme, and brown faces.  I felt it a very positive touch.

COMMENTS (more at end):

from Fred:  I enjoyed your history-oriented Christmas greetings. This morning a NPR reporter stationed herself in Bethlehem and discovered it was pretty-much deserted. Hotel occupancy under 5%. Almost no one walking around. Gotta say 2024 has not been a good year in the Holy Land and all sorts of other places around the world.   Here’s hoping for a happier New Year.

from Patricia: May you feel the peace, quiet pleasure and hopefulness of this season of Christmas and Hanukah.

from SAK:  Thanks Mr Bernard for the Christmas message & for keeping us informed throughout the year. I agree & accept the religious message without believing literally. I cannot understand those who reject history, physics etc & hold on to “fundamentalist” theories. They bring to mind Voltaire’s “Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”

Pope’s astronomer, brother Guy Consolmagno (M.I.T. educated) gave a lecture at Cambridge, UK, recently reassuring the audience that there is no conflict between science & faith.

He was also a humourist saying at one stage – alert! Physics joke:

“[Stephen] Hawking said gravity started the big bang & therefore you don’t need God.  If you think God is gravity then maybe that’s why Catholics celebrate Mass.”

Mass by the way is the ‘m’ in E = mc².  Merry Christmas & a glorious 2025

from Kathy: The announcer on MPR [public radio] said ” With all the political and religious things this year please remember the Beatles song:”Come  Together”

from Arthur: Thank you! Merry Christmas and joy to the world!

from Donna Jan. 1 2025: This was the front of the mass leaflet this morning and I thought of you taking pictures at the Basilica on Christmas Day.  I think it is such a beautiful picture.  I wish for you and Kathy good health and peace in 2025.