Postnote Jan 21.  #DE#%&^&*E$$$!!!!  I am basically a mild-mannered guy.  Spent most of last week dealing with yet another e-mail issue, and just today e-address am again on-line.   My alternate is sykestonguy46ATgmailDOTcom.   Make note of it.  The problem seemed a bit more complex than just blaming someone.  Glad I’am back

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Jan. 16, 2024: I spent some time last evening listening in on the returns in Iowa.  There were about 115,000 votes cast.  This was out of 752,000 registered Republicans among 2,2 million registered voters in Iowa.  If you care you already know the split and the back story as reported.  The turnout was relatively light, but no rocket scientist needs to analyze that.  It was cold.  I had suggested page 5 of the Des Moines Register article for more data.  Link is early in Sunday’s post.

In the aforementioned post I recalled the 2008 Minnesota Democratic caucuses – the one where Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton began their active campaigns for the nomination for President.

The process was similar to Iowa – grassroots involvement at the community level.

Caucuses and later local, state and national conventions are important events for those who organize political campaigns.  There is a tendency to be critical of most everything related to the political process.  On the other hand, there is much to be learned  and applied by those who run for political office at all levels.

Such a process is crucial for the very survival of  large and complex society, as ours is.  An ideal of freedom from government would be a disaster for everyone, including for those who advocate for such.  Government is the glue which holds us together, imperfect as it might seem to be.  And it is always imperfect, because we are imperfect.

Take a bit of time some day to consciously observe what it is that you take for granted which would not exist were it not for government.  For most of us, safe streets and roads are a given, for instance.  Make a list.

If you can, get to know personally who is a government official, elected, a “bureaucrat”, a neighborhood association leader, on and on.  We may not know what they do; we may think their position is a waste of money…on the other hand, their position would not exist were there not some need for it.

The Iowa caucus is not history, and the political process in the U.S. will intensify in the coming months before Election Day in November.  You have plenty of time to become better informed, and to help make a positive difference.

Jesse Ventura

by happy coincidence, my day ended Jan. 16 watching a one-hour documentary on a legendary Minnesota Governor, Jesse Ventura, who unexpectedly (even to Jesse), and memorably, became Minnesota Governor 1999-2003.  The movie is “Jesse Ventura Shocks the World“.

Often such specials are repeated sometime within the next week, so if you happen to be in range of TPT, check in with them.  Next announced showing on local TPT is Monday night, Jan 22, at 8 p.m.  The program is an hour, and I think you’ll find it very interesting and enlightening.

Former Governors Jesse Vetnura (center) and colleague  Al Quie, dedicate a replica of the Liberty Bell at the Minnesota Veterans Services Building, St. Paul, on Armistice (Veterans) Day Nov. 11, 2019. Ventura had been a member of what later became the Navy Seals. photo: Dick Bernard

There is plenty of biography of Jesse Ventura on-line.  My comments below are strictly personal.

Ventura was an unlikely candidate for Governor of Minnesota, at least that is how he was perceived at the start.   He was independent, his given name was not Jesse Ventura (look it up).  His fame was as a ‘professional wrestler’, though being a local mayor and volunteer high school football coach didn’t hurt.  His two opponents for Governor were conventional and prominent Republican and Democrat.  In the end, he beat both of them, narrowly.

No one I knew – I was an active Democrat – could believe the results election night 1998.  Probably Jesse, himself, was among the surprised.  I was with a local Democrat group as election returns were announced, and when he was declared victorious over Skip Humphrey – Hubert’s son – and Norm Coleman.  Both were prominent and respected politicians.  The general reaction after the dust settled would probably best be characterized as stunned.

The day after a  Republican I knew said his vote for Jesse was strictly a whim – he hadn’t warmed to the Republican candidate.  His seemed  a “what the hell?” kind of vote (he won’t win anyway, so why not?).  A very active Democrat relative said about the same thing to me about the same time.  Skip Humphrey had been to his town and seemed to dismiss the local Democrat power structure, of which my relative was an important part.  They felt slighted.

I don’t think either man had ever had any contact with Jesse.  Neither thought Jesse would win, but he did.

“All politics is local” came to have meaning that election night.

We should have known better.  In March of 1998 I was at a state teacher’s union meeting where all of the then-potential candidates for Governor were invited to give their 5 minute elevator speech to several hundred teacher leaders from around the state.  I recall there were at least 8 in the field of prospects then, including Jesse Ventura, and the teacher union audience was an important one.  Jesse’s turn came up, and some teacher leader in the room yelled “Go, Jesse”, and other people were equally enthusiastic.  Nobody commanded the room like Jesse did.  We should have paid more attention.  I still have my tape recording of all the candidates talks that Saturday – it was March 7, 1998.  I have relistened to the tape.  Everyone regardless of party made good presentations.

Not all of the speakers that day ended up running in the Primary election later that summer:  here was the Primary results: MN Primary Election 1998

After the 1998 election, late November, I was at a national conference in Houston TX and offered to convene an evening  conversation about the election for anyone interested.  There was a room full of union staff from around the U.S.  The agenda was simply to talk.  Jesse overnight was a national celebrity.

Ventura turned out to be a consequential governor, in a very positive sense.  He had his own personal priorities, of course.   But he surrounded himself with good advisors for his departments, all who were well qualified, mostly Democrats and Republicans.  And he respected their advice.  Jesse being Jesse, there was seldom a dull moment in his four years (watch the movie).  In the end, he decided not to run for reelection, and the rest of the band of merry folk essentially disintegrated.

Minnesotans who might read this would doubtless have opinions about him and his time in office..

In the interim, if you happen to see this, check out the public television film mentioned above.  You won’t regret it.

PS: One of Jesse’s admirers (who makes a cameo appearance in the movie) was Donald J. Trump.  If one looks closely at the two men, their experience and world view seems to have been almost totally different, though their public persona was similar.  Jesse by and large seemed to take his public charge very seriously; Donald cared only about himself.  The only thing they had in common was celebrity.  There are lessons we can learn from the experience with both.  Will we?

After Jesse took office, one of our office secretaries and myself, started a poster wall of stuff that showed up in the paper about Jesse Ventura – things like cartoons and the like.  We were an office full of Democrats, I would guess.  I seem to recall Wanda telling me that Jesse was the first and only person she had ever voted  for…and, while young, she was no longer a youngster.  There were a lot of Wanda’s that year.

The Jesse Wall at Education Minnesota Summer 1999.

Our office manager put up with the nonsense of the Jesse Wall for awhile, but before too long the posters came down….

There are endless comparisons of Jesse to Donald.  Both were larger than life caricatures of humanity – “stars” shall I say. But if you look closely at the human beings underneath, they followed entirely different paths, which should have been easily discernible by the electorate.

I hope you take the time to watch the film: “Jesse Ventura Shocks the World”.  I think you’ll be glad you did, and that you’ll learn something, maybe even about yourself.

My personal bottom line: buy an actor’s line at your own risk.  It is a good idea to make a clear-eyed assessment of the person actually behind the mask…

Govs. Al Quie and Jesse Ventura at the bell-ringing Nov 11 2019.  Jesse was very respectful and kind at the bell-ringing.  His hand on Gov Quie’s arm said a lot to me that day…A very positive measure of the man.

“EXTRA CREDIT”:  In November I read a most interesting commentary about what it means when someone says they are a liberal.  You might find it interesting: Liberal by Sunstein  

COMMENTS (more below):

from Gail: When I awoke to the news that Jesse Ventura had been elected Governor, I was embarrassed for my state. A wrestler – not even a Real sport!  But I came to admire Jesse, because he was honest and truly independent.

from Steve:  I’ve seen the promotional pieces on TPT for their Jesse Ventura film, but haven’t tuned in to watch the program. Shortly after Ventura’s election, our daughter, then in her mid-20s, told us that the only people she knew who did not vote for Ventura were her parents. I don’t know if that was just a facetious comment, or had a foundation in truth. No matter, the returns showed that more people voted for Ventura than either of the alternatives.

Ten months from now – Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2024 – is Election Day in the United States.

Dec. 30, Chuck Woolery, long-time subscriber to this blog, sent a writing of his including over 100 “QUOTES against democracy”. Here’s the 21 page document: Democracy compiled Chuck W.  

I read the entire document, find it full of wisdom and particularly rich in food for thought and discussion, and asked Chuck if I could share it at this space.  Permission granted.

(The 21-page length is not daunting, consisting of over 100 quotations by people both famous and some I’ve never heard of.)

I’d appreciate it if you’d simply open the document and quickly scroll through.  At page 20-21 is Chuck’s self-description of himself.

Sharing of this post is encouraged.

I want this to be stand alone, so I’ll do a specific post including my own commentary. and hopefully some of yours as well.  COMMENTS WILL BE HELD UNTIL JANUARY 15.

Jan. 6 2021 mid-afternoon at our nation’s Capitol.

UPDATE  on Gaza Jan. 6, 2023:  David Cooley, a local member of Veterans for Peace in the Twin Cities wrote a commentary on Gaza on the Winter 2023 VFP Newsletter.  It speaks for itself: Vet for Peace comments on Gaza Winter 2023.

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All Blessings on this most most contradictory of days: Christmas.  Virtually everyone knows some version of the story of the birth of Jesus and for 1,700 years infinite observations, from sermons to commentaries have endeavored to bring meaning to the birth of the child in Bethlehem.

Apparently, the annual events in Bethlehem have been cancelled this Christmas.  This day we’ll participate by livestream at Basilica of St. Mary Minneapolis 9:30 a.m. CST.

This year, I’ve decided to share a few words about my singular visit to Bethlehem, Thursday Jan 12, 1996.  The photo below is from the nativity scene purchased at a Palestinian shop in Jerusalem on Jan. 14.  That story is in my post for December 10, 2023.  The second picture, at the Manger,  is from Grandma Bernard’s 1911 Bible.  I was there, in person in January, 1996 (more below). Here is a UNESCO article about the holy site.  This article includes much background information and 18 photographs.  The Bible text we read at the site when I was among the visitors was Luke 2:1-20.

Nativity 1996. Some of the 18 Olive Wood figurines, purchased in Jerusalem January, 1996.

Briefly, an afternoon in Bethlehem, Thursday Jan. 11, 1996:  Bethlehem is only six miles from Jerusalem.  I was there 6 years before construction of the Separation Barrier began in 2002.  The wiki article about Bethlehem is linked above.

Like so many other Biblical sites in the Holy Land, Church of the Nativity has a divided jurisdiction.  In its case, it is jointly administered by Greek Orthodox churches, the Custody of the Holy Land, and the Armenian church.

The Christian group I traveled with appeared to have a substantial number of  Orthodox from places like Pennsylvania.  As I witnessed personally, many of them were church choir members with wonderful singing voices.

We arrived at the Church of the Nativity coincident with an Orthodox funeral beginning in the upper church.  We watched from the side.  This was like a funeral you’d attend anywhere, with only the liturgical differences.  The deceased seemed to be an elder in a family.

The church itself is very ancient, and at the time of our visit there was some reconstruction/repair work in process.

The Manger site itself is below ground level, and we could approach the site.  (More on all of this can be seen in the UNESCO photos and text linked above).  This was a place of reverence, and closely supervised.  We were there only a short time.

In the town square, at the edge of which is the Church, was a very large banner supporting Yasser Arafat in an upcoming election.  It was the sole political indicator that I can recall seeing.

“The little town of Bethlehem” is larger than 2,000 years ago, but still a tiny place in comparison to nearby Jerusalem (perhaps 30,000 against about 900,000).

These days I wonder if there are many groups like the one I was part of who can come to Bethlehem.

There is more that I could offer, but leave this suffice for today.  All blessings.

POSTNOTE: In a couple of weeks, at this space, I’ll share some personal comments about how I see this time in history.  Check back.

COMMENTS:

from Brian: From a Colombian friend in Berlin–Merry Christmas!

from Michelle:

from Fred:  Thanks for this interesting memoir. We’ve made lots of journeys but never to Israel.

Closest we got was Constantinople another place, as you know, we a substantial place in both Christian and Moslem tradition.  Merry Christmas,

from Kathy:

from Carol:

Previous posts this month: 1st, 5th and 7th.

I have been thinking of how I can most constructively approach this distinctly unpeaceful season of peace.  What follows is a small attempt.  Sunday we were at a magnificent Christmas program at a large suburban church, St. Andrews Lutheran in Mahtomedi: “How Great Our Joy!”  There had to be at least 1,000 of us in attendance, for the first of two performances.  My mind wandered to a less pleasant scene in today’s Israel….

Earlier, Friday evening, daughter Lauri and two of the grandkids, Kelly and Lucy, came over to help decorate the Christmas tree – an annual tradition.  Saturday morning I noticed a bedraggled box by the television.

The box is very familiar to me.  It was delivered in early 1996 from Israel. It’s contents are 18 carved olive wood figures of a typical nativity scene.  I had purchased it in Jerusalem at a Palestinian shop which I think catered to Christian visitors to Israel.  A group of us had gone to the shop one evening.  The box, my purchase, was cleared for shipping by the Israel Postal Authority.

The set was expensive, and worth it.  Every year since,  the contents of the box are on display during the Christmas season.  Then it goes back into the same box till next year.

This year the box takes on particular significance to me: there is no peace in Israel; and no indication that sanity will return any time soon.  Hostilities are being ratcheted up, rather than tamped down.

Our trip to Israel in 1996 was about 11 days.  The January 11 itinerary included.Bethlehem, about 6 miles from Jerusalem. Among other visits was Yad Vashem. There was not yet a separation wall.  That was to come beginning in 2002.  The visit to the shop was after the visit to Bethlehem.

I have noted previously that 1996 was not a time of palpable tension in Israel, at least not felt by this visitor.  Yitzhak Rabin had been assassinated by a radical Jew in Jerusalem a couple of months before we arrived, but there seemed general calm.  We were allowed into the Golden Dome on Temple Mount.

Fast forward. I am very discouraged by the events of the past months.  Nonetheless, I hang onto the tenuous thread of hope, though punishing a group for the sins of a few, what seems to be the case now, is not and has never been constructive.  It does not work.

Which brings me back to the box….

The Nativity set, 1996.

I wish us all peace.  That 1996 Nativity set, photo above, in a sense melds Muslim, Christian and Jewish in Israel in a cooperative way.  I think it was Palestinians who carved the pieces, and sold me the product; Israel Postal Authority delivered the product to me, a Christian, in the U.S.

Maybe the box and its contents are something of a metaphor for the not always pretty reality of our own lives.  Maybe, the external box reflects how we feel about the tattered state of our country and world, but may not reflect the reality of who we really are – the people in that church sanctuary on Sunday.

More than ever, that set reminds me that we are all in this together.

Whatever your belief of tradition, don’t give up.  Work for Peace.

COMMENTS:

from Sharon: I especially liked the sentence of the Palestinians carving, sent from israel and arriving to a Minnesota christian. I, too, have an olive wood nativity set. My brother, Dallas, was a tour guide in Israel back in l962 and purchased it for my parents. Through the years, Mary got lost. I  have taken one of the shepherds and placed her behind Baby Jesus in the manger. Great article today. Merry Christmas. We must keep the faith.

from Florence: Thanks, Dick. Without a doubt we’re challenged these days to remember that “Christianity” is just a small part of the faithful in a world that too often overlooks others, including animals (land and water) that are much larger to much smaller than we are, but are equally a part of creation.

Liz Cheney’s book, “Oath and Honor“, is out today, and my wife wanted a copy so it’s in the house.  We watched the interview with Rachel Maddow last night.  Liz self-identifies as a “conservative”, Rachel as a “liberal”, both on the left and right flanks of the population, but neither at the ideological extremes.

Rather than review the book, or the positions, which by now are well known to anyone wishing to learn what the “sides” feel, I’d like to briefly comment on what I was seeing and feeling at the time of the interview last night.

I start from what I think is a generally acknowledged public perspective.  Both are women, well known and respected. and thus subject to public attention and also to attack from opponents who consider them to be powerful

Liz Cheney, born 1966, is a lawyer, was a three-term Republican Congresswoman in leadership in the House of Representative, daughter of Dick Cheney, former vice-president of the United States.

Rachel Maddow, born 1973, is a graduate of Stanford, and has a PhD from Oxford, and over 20 year career in broadcasting.

The wiki links give a good description of both accomplished women.  They would self-describe as ideological opponents, at the same time, last night, they met as equals, and I was impressed.

What also strikes me is that both are powerful women actors in what were, in the older days, places where men dominated, and in many ways still dominate, though considerably more nervously.

I have noted for years the steady rise in conventional power of women, persons of color, and more recently youth.

When I graduated from college in 1961, I had not long before turned 21, the then-legal age to vote.  So I could not vote.  Then, 18 was selective service “Draft” age; 16 was the age for getting a drivers license, and possibly other threshold ages for various things.

Race of course, has been at minimum a source of quiet tension.

In organizations where both men and women were engaged, men were the designated leaders – it was not fought about, it was understood – an assumption.  On a number of occasions, on a personal level, I’ve had occasion to make lists of leaders, and the farther back one goes, the less likely one finds women as, for example, Presidents of even small organizations.

It’s hardly a mystery why women’s suffrage didn’t happen until almost 60 years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

Today, the ceilings remain, and there is tension as youth, people of color and women push at the boundaries.  It is probably natural that people of my gender, race and age tend to push back.

But the change is happening and I for one am happy that it is.

POSTNOTE:  Thinking more about the above, we tend to be imprisoned by implanted attitudes that we learn as we grow up.  In the simplest view, there are the generalizations which cause us problems: women view the world differently than men and would do a better job of governing; young people don’t know as much as elders, and without supervision will screw things up; people of color, poor people, immigrants who look different, don’t speak our language, etc., are not as good as we are.   On and on.

In our culture, people who look like me are the ones who got their start “on third base”: being a white male has had its advantages.  As barriers continue to fall, restrictions of opportunities for others decrease, in all of the ways we notice.  That is very threatening to people who look like me.  In general, I think one the very long term, we will find that people are people regardless of all of the artificial barriers.

One of the insights from the Liz and Rachel conversation is a brilliant statement of the obvious.  Imprisoned within their bubbles, liberal and conservative, it was difficult, perhaps, to understand that they really are quite decent people, and maybe even can like each other as a person.  This is one thing we seem to have lost in our polarized political conversation.  Any cracks in the wall of division are welcome, in my opinion.