Nancy Pelosi, may 24, 2019, Minneapolis MN. Photo Dick Bernard

A month or two ago Cathy said she’d like to hear Nancy Pelosi, slated to be guest speaker at the Minnesota DFL’s 75th anniversary dinner May 24.  I wanted to see her as well – my opinion: she was an outstanding choice for Speaker – so last night, along with over 2000 others, we were at the Minneapolis Convention Center to hear Speaker Pelosi and many others (details: DFL 75th anniv 5-24-2019001).

The event, while long, far exceeded both of our expectations.  By my count, there were five male, ten female speakers in the approximate three hours.

Increasingly our DFL party represents the diversity of the people at large.  This complicates most everything, since differences of opinion are to be expected and need to be dealt with.  Will Rogers famously said, long ago, “I am not a member of any organized political party.  I am a Democrat“.   One speaker last night said: “diversity is strength, unity is power“.  Those six words requires lots of hard work.

It wasn’t part of the plan, of course, to have the theatrics at the White House a couple of days earlier.  Rep. Pelosi didn’t take the bait Friday: her talk was about the substance of what U.S. Government should be about.  She and Sen. Schumer had come to the White House to talk about the increasingly desperate need to deal with the national infrastructure – things like roads and bridges – which are aging and the cost increases every year to repair them, as do the risks.

Before the meal was served, I asked one of the wait staff how many they had prepared for.  His list showed a guarantee of 2045 meals at 210 tables of 10 each.  Six people among the attendees were people I knew.  I mention these facts simply to illustrate the business of the importance of networks.  We were among the fortunate who could actually attend the gathering and comment on the proceedings.  Several million were vote in the next election in Minnesota in 2020.  Network, network, network.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, one of the many candidates for the 2020 Presidential nomination, gave the concluding speech – a gifted presentation of her story.  She has always been impressive since she first came out politically in 2005.  She’s in a tough competitive field, and there’s a long slog to the finish line next year, but don’t count her out.

Don’t forget, in the end, it is the individual – each of us – who make the difference.

Amy Klobuchar May 24, 2019 photo by Dick Bernard

COMMENTS solicited especially from those in attendance at the dinner.

from Kathy McKay: I thought it was an impressive evening as well.  The issue of women in leadership In MN politics no longer feels like a reluctant politically correct gesture. Nancy Pelosi, Amy and Tina all were inspiring…focused on their work, the work of the people- making lives better for all.  Several of the awards went to women within the DFL.
One obvious exception was Patricia Torres Ray plaintive statement “I am lonely” being one of only two women of color FOR 30 YEARS in the MN state legislature.  She pleaded for party members to nurture and mentor young women of color to run for office.

Another disturbing reality was the very limited visibility of my representative Ilhan Omar. She was shown in early video of all reps in MN. Near end of event when party chair took the microphone to rally support for all upcoming elections he called out for support for Amy, Tina, and all MN Democratic MC’s except Rep. Omar. Intentional? Oversight?  Whatever the reason it was not corrected and I, as a CD5 member, am offended. She needs and deserves the support of the MN DFL machine.

Overall a very upbeat night.  Feel free to use my name, Dick.

from Dick, in response: I didn’t note any slight of Rep. Omar, and specifically I noted affirmation of Keith Ellison.

I have noted over the years that politicians including those who speak for the party are extremely careful about what they say because, as we know, words and distorted inflections by selective snips of photographs can easily be manipulated, and are.  Note the recent sickening distortion video of Nancy Pelosi’s speech in the last couple of days.  This is just one example.

from Jim:  I attended as did Jules , Georgiana , and Mel. Because of the security checks, we were more of less forced to get to our respective tables early. So time to mix was a bit short.

This is the 1,453rd post since I initiated this blog in March, 2009.  It is also the first time where I’ve used a previously used title for a blog.  The first use of the word ‘abortion’ as a blog title was here, October 12, 2009, where I told my personal story.  I invite you to take a look at that post, which was written in the first year of the Obama presidency, and about the debate about abortion funding in the not yet enacted Affordable Care Act.

A few months earlier, May 17, 2009, almost exactly ten years ago, President Obama spoke at Notre Dame University.  The concern was he’d touch the topic of abortion.  I wrote about that here.  (NOTE:  links included in both posts are no longer current or accessible).

(Word search indicates that I have used the word “abortion” in 23 posts over the years, should anyone be interested.  Personal opinion: this issue has never been about “life”.  It is totally about power and control.)

*

Now, ten years later, May, 2019, the alarm bells have sounded, and these alarm bells are a call to action – particularly for those of us who have concern about the rights of women.

Within the last two weeks, ten states have passed obviously coordinated laws to challenge Roe v Wade, hoping that the new configuration of the Trump Supreme Court will reverse a Supreme Court interpretation which has stood since 1973.   A Move-on alert  May 20 said “abortion bans have been introduced in at least 28 states , and the Senate is holding hearings on a nationwide, 20-week ban.”  Groups like Planned Parenthood and ACLU will be crucial sources of support and action and information.

While the specific laws have differences in language, there is absolutely no question that their introduction and enactment were orchestrated and very intentional.  The thought is that this new Supreme Court will, after 46 years, get rid of Roe v Wade.  No one can predict this for certain; on the other hand, the odds are much more in favor of success than they were before.

The so-called “pro-life” constituency is energized.  The evil “baby-killers” (people like myself who believe in the woman’s rights over her own body) will now be powerless, legally.  The current president is forgiven for all his “exaggerations” (lies, as described by a Trump supporter) as he promotes “sanctity of life”, as defined by the most conservative moralists.  There is no lack of outrageous hypocrisy.  Trumps foot-soldiers are the evangelical Christians, marching to war.  The old phrase, “the ends justify the means” seems to fit, perfectly.

There is a word of caution here to the moralists, one of many messages: this won’t work, even if it appears to be succeeding.

Ours is, of course, a bitterly (and deliberately) divided country at this point in our history.   Nonetheless when embarking on a ‘civil war’, as this (and other) issues certainly have become over the last quarter century), zealots best exercise considerable caution.  The deadliest war in American history was the Civil War, which in effect was the war to save slavery.  We all know the results of that war.  The cost of division was enormous.  Those who think they can now control the minority by controlling the law-making and ultimately the judicial decision making, will ultimately find themselves on the losing side.  And everyone will lose.

*   

I have followed this “life” situation very carefully for many years, starting with the 1976 political convention I attended in Anoka County Minnesota.  It was the DFL Convention, typical to a usual convention except for one particular conflict I remember.  Resolutions were proposed, as usual.  They required, as I recall, 60% to pass the convention.  A resolution was proposed to oppose Roe versus Wade; it failed.  A contravening motion also failed to meet the 60% threshold.  After the Convention, the supposed “pro-life” bunch deserted the DFL, and the past is history.

When I wrote those blogs ten years ago, we were in relatively benign times.  The choice now is ours: to be engaged actively, or to be defeated, albeit temporarily.

I choose to be engaged.

COMMENTS:

from Bob: The best line I have heard about the abortion issue was this bit of advice to each of us – and particularly to politicians: “Mind your own business!”

from Eileen: Agree. It’s about power and control.

from Greg: How can the catholic church call itself pro life when it really is pro birth?  It is free to march in protest to planned parenthood. But, to really be pro life requires effort and spending time and money. This holds true for parents and grandparents alike. Not all are able to provide for their children so that is where and when society must step up to help parents.   But isn’t interesting that abortion opponents invariably support politicians who oppose funding social programs that would benefit many young lives? So, who said they have to be consistent? Keep up the fight.  I agree with your characterization of what is behind the church opposition to abortion (note comment in below section of on-line comments].

from Jermitt: Thanks for your posting, Dick.  It is a powerful warning.  Everyone should take action to avoid what seems to be evitable.

At the time of my heart surgery last December, a gift came my way in the form of a 16-month Wall Calendar for 2019, titled simply “brave at heart”.   Here are the monthly illustrations, which speak for themselves:

Here is the link to the publisher of the calendar.  Calendars come and go.  This one is a keeper for me.

Of course, Happy Mother’s Day!  This year, my thoughts diverge.

Every single one of us has a Mother…and a Dad…and bound up in the two of them, regardless of their personal characteristics, we connect back thousands of generations.  Families abound, beyond the human species, which is only one of millions.  We are born, live, die, our time here temporary.

Beyond the single commonality of becoming a being, everyone’s individual circumstances differ, from childhood forward.  We each have our story.  My “favorite” for some odd reason is the song about an angry kid and his far less than perfect Dad.  It’s the tune Johnny Cash made famous, “A Boy Named Sue”….  Johnny’s boy carried his baggage along…well, I just listened again to the song by Johnny on YouTube.  Go for it.  Best I recall, the first rendition I found on YouTube – the most famous – was performed by Cash at Folsom Prison, in front of an appreciative audience of inmates.  What “boy named Sue” stories they could tell….

Friday, we went over to get the now-traditional flower gifts for Mother’s Day at the local lock-up a few miles from here.  A program there is growing things, and from this flows the annual flower sale.  The folks assisting are all inmates, and the program is run by a group called VIC (Volunteers in Corrections).  It is a given that the folks assisting us in picking and moving the plants, and the ones who nurtured those plants in the first place, are there for a good reason.   They are inmates.

Likely the volunteers and the customers  as well, have their own stories from their own history, or from their own family, however large or small.  Life happens and can be very messy sometimes – bumps in life’s road – and the best one can hope for is that one’s misdeeds or misfortunes can lead towards a better future.  There is no assurance of ‘happily ever after’.

At the workhouse, the many stories quietly intersect among the pretty flowers.

We could go the traditional route with store-bought flowers, perhaps for a similar, perhaps even at a lower cost, but there is something that brings us back each year to this place once called the “workhouse”.

Which leads me back to this business called “family”.

Families are far more than just the most basic unit.  We all know that.

Families are cousins, they are neighborhoods, towns, counties, states, nations…we are all part of many families, various communities.  Most work reasonably well; some don’t….

Right now, we’re in a very dysfunctional country at the top. Too many trying to pretend that one tribe is better than another, and doesn’t deserve equal consideration: a few win, most lose.

Combat of any kind doesn’t work in the most ordinary of two person families.  It certainly won’t work long term if our country is to have any chance of remaining a home to be proud of.

Happy Mother’s Day.

From Ramsey Co Correctional Facility Maplewood MN May 10, 2019.  This one was particularly attractive, but needed a bath before delivery.

The Jim Nelson program described below was video-taped and at some early point will be available here.

Jim Nelson speaks on the history of the Minnesota United Nations Movement on World Law Day, May 1, 2019. (see additional photos at end of this post)

*

May 1  is Law Day in the United States.  Most likely you’ve never heard of it, but it’s officially been around since 1958 when it was proclaimed by President Eisenhower.  It was an idea of folks in the American Bar Association.  Like most ideas, it was probably hatched out of an earnest conversation, maybe over lunch, and a few people took the idea and ran with it.  And here it is, 61 years later.

If you’re interested, here’s two bits of history about Law Day, from Wikipedia, and  from the American Bar Association , about the 2019 observance.

I really didn’t know there was such a thing as Law Day till I crossed paths with Lynn Elling back in 2007.  Lynn died on the doorstep of 95 in 2016, and left a passionate legacy of advocacy for a World  which operated under the rule of Law, as opposed to the law of Force.  He was a businessman, a Naval officer in WWII, and he’d been to Hiroshima a couple of times, the first in 1954.  He knew more than a little bit about the downside of war.

In 1964, he and a few colleagues established something they called a World Law Day dinner, always on May 1.  It attached to the idea of Law Day, and it went on for 25 years until, as often happens in life, it went into hibernation.  25 years later, in 2013, nearing the end of his life, Lynn asked that the dinner be resurrected, and the task fell to me.

Later this afternoon at Gandhi Mahal restaurant in Minneapolis about 25 of us will gather to have a meal and hear speaker Jim Nelson reconstruct a history of over 70 years in the Twin Cities on the topic: “The Future of the Past”, a look back at the United Nations Movement in Minnesota – a very rich history of citizen involvement towards a better world.  Here is today’s program, beginning with dinner at 5:30: World Law Day 2019003 and a World Law 2019 Dick006

This is the 7th year in the second round of World Law Day dinners.  It promises to be a rich evening.  If you want more information, just let me know: dick_bernardATmsnDOTcom.  If plans work out, the event will be video-taped and later shown on the website of Citizens for Global Solutions Minnesota.

*

In the process of preparing for this evening, I had occasion to review the voluminous file I’ve kept for years of another departed friend, Gov. Elmer L. Andersen.  Elmer was outstanding citizen of the world – a wealthy businessman, yes, and a prominent Republican politician for many years.  In his later life he published  suburban and rural newspapers, and in the file I found many of his publishers notes – his column – published in his newspapers.  They were always thought provoking.

One column which seems especially pertinent to today is this one, from 1993: World Law 2019 007 (enlargeable pdf).   Here is a photo of the same:

This column represented the tenor of all of the many I saved.  His instincts were progressive.

How, I wonder, would Mr. Andersen, a lifelong Republican, view the political scene in which I write 26 years later….

Have a great World Law Day.

COMMENT from a great friend in Europe:

Thanks for that Mr Bernard!

I like St Paul’s “The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” & by letter it is generally agreed he meant the law.

Metropolitan Anthony used to say if you have the choice between breaking the law & breaking a person, break the law.

“There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice” Montesquieu.

Of course all this is not to say there is no place for laws but just to put things in perspective & establish some sort of priorities. It is also a warning against carrying the law too far into the land of legalism (& the million lawyers). In the field of foreign affairs & relations, applying the laws & treaties is important & reassuring especially to the weaker states. President Trump obviously has no time for such niceties & he is busily tearing up trade deals, negotiated treaties, climate protocols etc etc

When the president of the dominant super power decides that such behavior is not only acceptable but desirable, then respect for laws in general weakens & the only law that remains is the law of the jungle – sometimes referred to as lawlessness. There is little new under the sun & the ancient Greek historian Thucydides said it well about 2500 years ago: “since you know as well as we do that right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”. Sadly expenditure on arms indicates that this view is increasingly prevalent. I like John Gray’s assertions that continuous progress is a bit of a myth & that humans are not that special – they might not destroy the earth but they are capable of destroying the environment that sustains them etc. Pessimism? Witnessing current developments it feels more like realism.

Have a wonderful day,

POSTNOTE:  Today’s banner headline in the Minneapolis paper said “Guilty of Murder” – the conclusion of the trial of policeman Mohamed Noor in the shooting death of Justine Rusczyk Damond in a south Minneapolis alley.  The newspaper coverage (online) is here.  (The actual newpaper headline is “Guilty of Murder” with subheads “Jury also convicts Noor of Manslaughter, “Victim’s family follows verdict with blistering assessment of police, BCA”)

I just sent the following letter to the editor of the paper: “It is ironic that today’s banner headline, “Guilty of Murder” appears on Law Day, first proclaimed by President Eisenhower in 1958, and codified by Congress in 1961, always noted on May 1.

Once again, some celebrate a winner, and revile a loser, but in reality, we all lose.  And the adversary system, which is the Law, is put in the spotlight, and not only in Minnesota.

What happened two years ago in a quiet neighborhood is a tragedy for everyone involved, and best that the ‘victory lap’ be short and very muted.  There is hopefully an opportunity to learn, by all of us.
Dick Bernard ”

What I wrote to family and friends, along with the text of the above letter, was this: “What I have watched the past two years was the aftermath of a tragic incident, which did not merit a death for one person, or prison for the other.  There were, in my view, two victims that tragic night in a dark alley in Minneapolis.  But that is how ‘law’ too often works….”

Additional Photos from World Law Day May 1, 2019:

Thursday evening we came home from a visit with our friend, Catherine.  It was still daylight, and the outlines of a full moon rising was on the eastern horizon.

Happy Easter.

Easter is one of those many holidays which is a blend of nature, custom and religious tradition: the Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox – in other words, the beginning of Spring time.  Depending on your tradition, the rest of the abundant blanks are filled in assorted ways.  We went to Good Friday at Basilica of St. Mary on Friday night; and Easter Sunday will be with two our families.  The grandkids in the area are enriched with $10 bills.  And so it goes….

My thoughts go in a couple of directions this year:

Butcher Paper Art at Ronalli’s Pizza March 2019

Death and Resurrection: Easter is a primary symbolic time in my own faith: a new beginning, as it were.

Those who know me, know that this has not been a usual year.  Grandson Ben, now 13, who very nearly lost his life May 25 last year, remains on the road to recovery, and doing very well.  Me, Grandpa, was diagnosed on the very same afternoon as Ben’s accident, as needing major repair work on my aortic valve.  A heart operation on Dec. 4, 2018, started my own journey to recovery.

A few weeks ago, Bennie, still recovering also, Grandma and Grandpa, met for pizza at a local pizza restaurant, and the combination of magic markers and butcher paper, led to the above work of art, to which we all contributed; probably half is Bennie’s work.  I saved this piece of paper from the trash.  To me, this is a symbol of re-birth, in a pretty profound sense, for Bennie.  That day at Ronalli’s was a memorable day.

Bennie’s parents and surrounding support system, including Grandma especially, are doing a great job.  And so is Bennie, though progress in some areas remains slow and the final picture unclear.  But everyone is working hard, together.

Rebirth and Renewal of the natural world: I think back to 1905 when my Mom’s parents, Ferd and Rosa (Berning) Busch married in Wisconsin (Feb. 28) and moved to the ND prairie to begin their long lives on the family farm.*

It is not certain exactly when Grandma arrived at the farm in 1905, but judging by family letters which were saved, it appears to have been about April 1, with her sister, Helena.  They would have come by train.  Grandpa had come west right after the wedding with a cousin, John Terfuchte, who was a carpenter.   Quite likely Grandpa’s brother, Leonard, came about the same time. It was hardly spring-like yet.  In 1905, Easter came on April 23, the full moon on April 19, 1905, the same day as the full moon for 2019!

Back in those days, postcards often substituted for photographs in family letters, and lucky for everyone, the Busch’s (probably Grandma) kept them all.  Some years back I borrowed the box from my Uncle Vince, and scanned about 150 of them, of which about 13 related to Easter time from about 1905-13 or so.  You can view them here: Easter Cards early 1900s003.  

Later, I wrote about them, and the article remains on the net, here.  Most of these postcards are in the permanent collection of the North Dakota Historical Society in Bismarck.  Most of these included a brief letter from one person to another.

And that’s my Easter story for 2019.   Have a great Easter.

*POSTNOTE: it is easy to overlook context with things like the old postcards.  Grandpa was 86 and Grandma 88 when they died in 1967 and 1972 respectively.  I was lucky to know both of them as an adult.  On the other hand, when they moved to the ND prairie in early 1905, they were young newlywed, 24 and 21.  For all of us, time passes quickly by.  Best to do the best we can with the time we have.