For the last several weeks, we’d wonder, would we see Clarence at 9:30 Mass for his usual  duty as usher.  He died Oct. 14.  Monday, several hundred of us bade farewell to our friend at Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis.

Two or three months ago, some time after Clarence had told a number of us that a cancer diagnosis was terminal, cards had been distributed to those who wished to congratulate our Pastor, John Bauer, on a significant anniversary.  A portion of the photo on the card is below.  I looked at the card showing the entire congregation posing, with the altar in the background, and there was our Clarence Birk.  (He’s the guy in the blue shirt.  The photo is undated, I do remember being at the Church that day).

Monday, Father Bauer wore a blue cassock, rather than the more traditional black – ” blue was Clarence’s favorite color”, he said.  He also said that, with Clarence’s death, an era had ended.  Clarence spent almost all of his 88 years as part of Basilica of St. Mary; 65 of those years he’d been an usher.

Basilica of St. Mary, exact date unknown, Clarence (per above photo) is at lower right.

So it went, as we said goodbye to a good friend.  Visitation on Monday was at what I call the ‘back’ of the church.  I’m sure there is a fancier name.   But it was not lost on me that we were gathering to celebrate Clarence’s life at the place where he ushered, it was said, for 65 of his 88 years.  There was only one Clarence!

Clarence’s ashes were displayed at the Mary chapel at that same  “back of the Church”.  In a sense, Clarence was right at home for our farewell:

Everyone who knew Clarence will have their own special memories.  He was a common man – but who of us isn’t a common person?  But in assorted quiet ways Clarence made a difference in people’s lives.  He is at peace.  We’re better for having known him.  Farewell.

*

In an earlier post, I talked about Clarence and my affection for him.  Here’s what I offered:

“…One especially, though, is my friend Clarence, who was one of the first other than family visitors when I was in intensive care last December.  Some months later Clarence, now 88, was diagnosed with advanced cancer – pancreatic, and is certainly close to the end of his time as a friend to so many of us.  It won’t be long for him.  We haven’t seen him at church for some weeks now.  Great, great guy.  As I heard a minister eulogize a younger man years ago who’d died in a car accident, Clarence definitely ‘lived before he died’.  At 88, he won’t need the rest of that long ago eulogy “died before he was finished”.  Clarence has run the race with grace.

[Phone message overnite Oct 14: Clarence Birk has died.  Funeral at Basilica of St. Mary on Monday Oct 21 11 a.m. visitation followed by funeral at noon.  RIP]

I’ve become fond of saying that “the main cause of death is life“.  None of us are “forever young”, whatever the age.  Best to live as best we can, one day at a time, giving back in the sundry ways available to us, such as the young lady taking my ‘pitcher’ this morning!  Work for a better world.”

My last photo of Clarence Birk, August 14, 2019, at Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis. We’d just spent two or three hours ‘touring’ his old haunts, one of the main ones being Basilica of St. Mary which was his lifelong parish.

Hands of Basilica of St. Mary parishioners. September 28, 2019. The parish is celebrating 150 years this year.

Clarence Birk (back row center) Feb 8, 2001, Habitat for Humanity group from Basilica of St. Mary. Clarence was very active in Habitat projects, and otherwise ‘handy’ in the manual arts!  This would have been about the time I got to know him.  One doesn’t keep tabs on such events – possibly I had just started working as an usher at the church, where Clarence was already involved.  I just don’t know for sure.

Downtown Minneapolis (zoom lens)as seen from Clarence Birk’s boyhood backyard in north Minneapolis August 14, 2019. Clarence and others walked to Basilica School.

Habitat for Humanity Construction Crew September 11, 2001, lunch break on the porch.  This photo probably was taken during the day, before any of us knew that the Towers were going to collapse.   There was a radio at the site, but that was the only outside communication.

Basilica of St. Mary Oct 27, 2019

COMMENTS:

from Mary: Thank you for sharing this Mr. Bernard – so thoughtful and touching.  He was indeed a good man.
It was nice to talk with you and your wife yesterday.

NOTE:  After the Wednesday debates, Don Singley sent a personal commentary which he headed “Kudos”.  I asked permission to share it as a blog post, which he granted, and I published under “Don Singley: Kudos” on October 16.  All was well, except the copy would not double space, as on the original.  So, the original of this piece remains at October 16, and this time I’ll type in the copy and see if that works!  Computers are still imperfect.

A strong recommendation  Yesterday, I went to the film “Where’s my Roy Cohn“, the story of the notorious, infamous and famous lawyer, Roy Cohn.  My opinion, it is an outstanding movie, held over for another week at the Edina Landmark theater in my area, likely soon to be on netflix and other similar outlets.  I highly recommend it.  Similarities between Cohn and the person who made the quote that is the movie title are not coincidental….   the film is a good use of your time – a civics lesson.

Now, Don Singley: Kudos.  Oct 15, 2019

I didn’t watch the first two debates, and I wasn’t planning to watch this one.  But as the hour grew late, I decided to turn it on for  few minutes.  I happened to tune in just as the last question was asked, which I gather was something like, “How has resilience been important in your life?”  I tuned in just as Joe Biden gave his answer – starting with his father walking the stairs to their second-floor apartment and having to tell his family that he had lost his job, so they had to move out, and continuing through Joe’s many tragedies, all of which he rose above. Then Elizabeth Warren told her story of fighting her way to the right path, then Bernie, and so on. When the replies reached Beto O’Rourke, who told the story of the city he had grown up in, El Paso, and its resilience in the wake of the tragic mass shooting there, I was weeping.  On to Pete Buttigieg, who decided to come out in the middle of a re-election campaign in socially conservative Indiana.  Then to Amy [Klobuchar], who said that it was grace that led her father and her to the truth.  Even the ones who hadn’t had personal tragedies affect them – Kamala Harris, Corey Booker, Yang, and Julian Castro – showed admirable moral fiber and fortitude.

Those qualities are in stark contrast with our current president, who has not the smallest bit of either moral fiber or fortitude.  But, as several of the candidates said, this campaign – and this government – are not about people like Donald Trump.  There have been corrupt politicians, and horrible policies, in many areas, and Democrats and Republicans alike have sometimes been to blame.  The way forward is to get to a reasonable approximation to the truth, then refine this approximation in the crucible of reality and the possible, which – even in the best of times – is a struggle.

The point of this e-mail is to commend the two addressees, Dick Bernard and JoAnn Ward, both of whom I have known personally and have worked with politically.  You are both true American heroes.  You have worked tirelessly to improve our communities, our state of Minnesota, and our lives.  Count yourselves among those honored tonight.  And your spouses share in your honor.

The night before Mr. Trump’s rally, last Wednesday, my friend Kaia and I were both “in the dumps” and needed an uplifting evening.  Usually the Cedar Cultural Center has programs only on weekends, but they are running a World Cultural Festival, so they had an additional show that night – a musician named Samite (“Sam-i-te”), who played the flute and was from Africa.  So we went.  It was not only uplifting, it was inspiring.  He was from Uganda, and his entire family had been destroyed by Idi Amin.  He himself spent ten years in a refugee camp in Kenya, and finally managed to reach the United States.  After achieving a successful career in just three years (he is a superb musician), a friend approached him and asked him to help by flying back to Africa and working in the refugee camps in Rwanda and Burundi (just after the genocide) and Liberia.  He agreed, and he told many stories about bringing people who were basically in catatonic shock back to reality through music.  He shared several other tragedies in his life since his return; his response can be summarized by the name of his latest album, “Resilience”.  The struggles in America are only part of a world struggle and the qualities exemplified by all of those people will be essential in achieving , to use Amy’s words, grace.

Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost, but now am found

T’was blind but now I see

Through many dangers, toils and snares

We have already come

T’was grace that brought is safe this far

And grace will lead us home.

COMMENTS: 

from Jeff: I don’t read every one of your missives, but I read Don’s comment.  Well done.

from Jerry: Thanks for this article, Dick.  I agree that you deserve credit for your social justice work through the years.

from Christina: I have been so depressed with the weather,not getting into the wet fields ,crops not getting enough sun to mature,no prices, and politics. I watched the debates and heard what Don Singley heard, O, how I needed Don Singley’s Thoughts Toward a Better World . Thank you Don Singley and Thank you Dick for passing it on.

from Fred, in turn from his friend, Bill:

Thanks for your reply. In general I’ve usually felt that memorials of the past—buildings and monuments—houldn’t be subjected to editorial interference in order to make our predecessors conform to current tastes.  If a different message is wanted, at least create a new monument or a new building as its vehicle.  I read Orwell too early:

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered.  And the process is continuing every day and minute but minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.”

The supersession of the physically printed word by digital technology makes that prophecy all too credible for the not-very-distant future.  I follow Chesterton:

“Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about. All democrats object to men being disqualified by the accident of birth; tradition objects to their being disqualified by the accident of death.”

POSTNOTE Oct 12: A surprise comment from Carole, writing from Amman Jordan.   “I might have even flown out to protest — had I been home. But, a do a lot of that in [Washington] DC!  [Here], for fun, is a shot of the hunter moon rising tonight in Wadi Rum.

POSTNOTE Oct 10:  Here is a history of the composition of the U.S. Congress and Presidency since 1940: U.S. Government001.  The source of the basic information is here.

*

Tomorrow #45 comes to Minneapolis.

It makes sense to provide a few facts before the plane takes off tomorrow:  Target Center (the venue for #45) has a seating capacity of about 20,000; the Twin Cities population is about 3,600,000; Minnesota population is about 5,500,000; most recent estimate that there are about 200,000 Muslims in Minnesota; Mall of America estimates 40 million visitors a year, and every day over 100,000 people are on site at the Mall of America – people who work there, walk there, are tourists, etc.  It will be easy to fill Target Center, by no means will it be the biggest crowd in history.

I’ve seen two Presidents at Target Center.  In 1996, President Clinton came in October.  In January, 2008, then-candidate Obama stopped by in the days before the precinct caucuses.   I was at both events, enthusiastic and very orderly.

Target Center January, 2008

photos Dick Bernard

Target Center Oct, 1996

#45 will come and he will leave.  I took a time-out just to revisit my own “history” with Presidents of the U.S., including candidates for the office.  It’s not illustrious, but interesting to revisit.

One time I actually was in a meeting in the Cabinet room just off the Oval Office in D.C.   It was in January, 1980, and we were briefed on then-issues.  President Carter was not in town.  It was still a momentous event in my own life.

At White House Jan 16, 1980

The First time I actually saw a U.S. President in person I was about 13.  We lived in tiny Karlsruhe ND, and President Eisenhower apparently was scheduled to be in Minot, maybe 50 miles away.  We were there, along a street where the President drove by in an open car.  Before that, we saw the then-Air Force One fly in.  Off and on, I’ve tried to fix the exact date.  I’m almost 100% certain that the Presidents visit related to the new Minot and Grand Forks Air Force Bases, both creatures of the Cold War.

Years later, I think August of 1975, I took my son and a couple of neighbor boys, to see then-President Gerald Ford at the Marriott in Bloomington. We were on the other side of a rope line.   This was ‘up close and personal and quick’.   President Nixon had resigned the previous year, and Gerald Ford had moved from Speaker of the House of Representatives to Vice-President after Spiro Agnew had resigned as Vice-President.

Gerald Ford Aug. 19, 1975, photo Dick Bernard

Back in 1960, I was at a park in Valley City ND when Gov. Nelson Rockefeller ‘whistle-stopped’.  At the time, he was competing for Republican nomination for President.  Richard Nixon ultimately won, then lost in the general to John F. Kennedy.  21 was voting age then, and I was only 20.  But it was very interesting.  Years later, a direct lie from Newt Gingrich before the 1996 election caused me to write an opinion piece about my experience that earlier day in 1960.  You can read it here: Times Record 12-3-96001

Why “Star Wars”?

Sunday we saw “The Empire Strikes Back”, episode five of the Star Wars series.  It was at Orchestra Hall, with music by the live Orchestra.  It was the 5th performance, and another packed house.  Star Wars still lives!  (I’ve only seen a couple of the episodes, but for some unremembered reason took my son to the original in the early summer of 1977, and he was hooked.

I’ll leave the moralizing to the professionals and the addicts of Star Wars.  But it seems to me that Star Wars always had a moral kind of subtext, and this was pretty clear in The Empire Strikes Back.  (This is the episode where Darth Vader reveals to Luke Skywalker the he’s Luke’s Dad.  Sort of like a futuristic “Boy Named Sue” (Johnny Cash) – his Dad names him Sue, cause he’s been a rotten Dad and he knows his kid will have to know how to defend himself.)

During the film, I think it is the Wise Man – Obe-Wan Kenobi? – is trying to teach Luke Skywalker wisdom, and Luke mostly gets it.  There is talk about the “dark side” (which I think we all possess): (Conover Company) “Fear is the path to the Dark Side.” – Yoda (from the movie, Star Wars) “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate.”   I wrote a note to myself during the performance, that the third word was Aggression.

Of course, any analysis can be challenged.  Personally I think the above makes a lot of sense, and we’re a schizophrenic society, at war within and among ourselves.  This isn’t healthy.  We all lose.

We see a great plenty of the dark side these days, and my guess we’ll hear more about it from the experts tomorrow when #45 touches is in our town…

COMMENTS:  (see also end of post comments)  Information about protest of the event can be seen here

from Norm:  Robin Hood or even as a rock star!  Watch the faces of those attending the overflowing rally on Thursday and note the expressions on their faces.  They will look like they are in awe of and almost in a state of worship of a rock star!  I doubt that we will be able to reach very many of those folks with our usual facts and figures.

response from Jim:  Yes, but remember some cried when Stalin died and some still practice Nazism.  Many of those now enthralled by Trumpism are probably lost, but maybe maybe a few will recover.

from Norm:   Yes, and there were lots of Torries still loyal to the kingster during the Revolutionary War.

from Carol: Dick, this is not the day for low key

from Judy:  AS USUAL DICK, YOUR THOUGHTS ARE APPRECIATED.  THANK YOU, YOU HAVE HELPED ME LOOK AT TOMORROW.  AND SAY SO BE IT…..TRUMP TIME WILL COME TO AN END SOON.

Just Above Sunset, overnight: This Absurd King

from Jean in Canada:  Very interesting.  FYI: We are having our own Federal election on Monday Oct.21st.   People are so fed up of the mudslinging and the promises that the parties are doing, it is depressing.

from Fred, in 35 point type: Welcome to Minneapolis Mr. President.

Two opinion pieces in the Minneapolis paper on the day of the event: Rally Opinions Oct 10 19002

from Carol:  I was sickened by Trump’s display of hatred and vulgarity at the rally.  But that is what happens when someone has nothing of substance to say (they claimed he was going to talk about healthcare – fat chance…) and so they have to keep upping the ante with shocking language, etc. – otherwise, their “groupies” will get bored.

Downtown Minneapolis about 6:15 p.m. October 10, 2019.  Target Center is about four blocks ahead, just to the left.

5:45 a.m. Friday, October 11.  I had a half hour to ‘kill’ before an evening meeting in suburban Roseville, yesterday, so I decided to drive to downtown Minneapolis to see what might be going on right before the campaign rally at the Target Center.  Succinctly, the weather was miserable and getting worse, and there was really not much of anything going on.  At the corner of, I think, 2nd Avenue and 7th Street, the sign said the street was closed at Hennepin Avenue.  At First, about three blocks from Target Center, I diverted, heading back towards my meeting.  I saw a few people walking in the general direction of the event venue.

Later, driving home from the meeting about 9:30, the rain had increased and it was not a pleasant drive; I saw what appeared to be a bad accident in the northbound lane on I-694 – certainly weather related.  Plenty of flashing lights and emergency vehicles.  Back home, I stayed up for a few minutes and there was little of anything about the event on the tube.  I’ll see what is mentioned in the morning paper – about both event and accident.  So it was, in real time, October 10, 2019.

3 a.m. Saturday, October 12.  Alan Pavlik, who writes Just Above Sunset out in Los Angeles, is to the best of my knowledge from several years of reading his posts, just a citizen like myself – a guy with a keyboard who cares about this country.  His overnight post today, An Alternative Ending, is worth the time to read in its entirety (as are all of his posts).  At the very least, read the last paragraph, especially the last sentence…“We have work to do”.

A few hours earlier came an e-mail from our friend, who is in Germany, introducing her book, newly translated into German, about growing up in Nazi Germany.  I choose not to quote any part of her quite long e-mail, except to requote Alan, above, “We have work to do”, which reflects two sentences of her e-mail..  “Ending” the Syrian war on ISIS and green lighting Erdogan in Turkey to go after Kurdish territory is simple, and complex and dangerous and all sorts of other words, including popular in some elements, regardless of right, left or otherwise.  It is not so simple.

Saturday will soon dawn.  Out in my home state of North Dakota they have apparently endured a severe early blizzard.  Here it is set to be a bit chilly weekend.  And we can pretend, if we wish, that all of the national and international crises swirling around are not our problem, and they will just go away.  The leaves are getting nice this time of year.  This is no time to pretend that all is well.

9 a.m. Saturday, October 12.  I was about to leave my usual coffee place about 8:15.  The Saturday regulars at the large table next to mine – several guys who do their weekly Bible Study there – had just left, and one remained. He’s the ultra-Christian among them, he proudly brought his bright red “MAGA” hat in for all to see ‘back in the day’ when #45 was still future tense.

Today, he’d apparently overheard the two guys at a nearby table talking about going to the rally.  They are also frequent visitors and their conversations suggest they are both ministers.  MAGA-man said he and his wife had a home party to view the speech on Thursday.  He said he didn’t agree with everything the President did but….  Then he started to leave, then turned and came back to the coffee shop blackboard and very carefully printed the words N – A – N – C – Y – P – E – L – O – S – I and left.  I took the picture within five minutes of his writing.  I’ll report on any developments at this space.

The light obscured the sentence above the words, so changed my vantage point to see it clearly (photo below).  I wasn’t especially surprised.  I’d just hand-written a polite response to one person on my e-list who’s sent a brief e-mail “please delete my address” stating “Pelosi can’t name one law he has broken that comes close to High Crimes.”  (I do have people who tell me to not send them any more posts, but they really are quite rare.   Apparently they simply don’t want to hear another version of their truth.)

Nancy Pelosi on the blackboard October 12, 2019, 8:15 a.m.

UPDATE, Sunday morning Oct 13 8 a.m. – I looked at the Board this morning and to the left of the question, someone had written “Donald Trump”.  I have no idea who….

Back home, I did a quick scan of today’s columns in one of my favorite ‘fake news’ outlets, the Washington Post.  One headline attracted attention: “Populists are popular because they give easy answers to problems that don’t have them“.  In the column, David Von Drehle’s analysis in conclusion: Regardless of where populism rises on the political spectrum, it is inevitably fated to fail.

“Nancy Pelosi” is one the favorite hate phrases I hear.  Somewhere, once, I read that among her other attributes, Nancy Pelosi is an active Catholic, and almost exactly my age (a month and a half older).  She and I have age and religion and other things in common.  Of course, some estimable authoritative bunch called the Catholic League has commandeered the internet to declare that she (which probably means me, too) is a ‘heretic’.

Nancy Pelosi is doubly-terrifying because she’s in the same political position as President Gerald Ford was when an earlier vice-president and president got on the wrong side of the law.  As the saying goes OMG.  Oh well.

Have a great day.

Front page Minneapolis Star Tribune Oct 11, 2019

One or two readers might be interested in my position on the current matter in Washington.

Here is the relevant part of a single page letter I hand-delivered to the office of my Congressperson on September 2, 2019:

“IMPEACHMENT: (SUPPORT) I strongly believe that the House of Representatives needs to deal aggressively with the impeachment… issue.  It is an extraordinarily difficult political situation, I know.  On the other hand, it is probably the most important single issue that this country has ever had to confront concerning the rule of law.  What makes this even more difficult is that the radical right has become expert in the business of assessing guilt by accusation: to be accused is to be guilty, it seems.  Our legal system, while more cumbersome (things like rules of evidence, etc.) can be unwieldy, but it sure beats dictatorship.  I subscribe to the philosophy that the Force of Law is far better than the authoritarian preferred Law of Force [see POSTNOTE]. 

I strongly supported Robert Muellers approach to the complexities of the issues, and Speaker Pelosi’s approach as well.  The Mueller Report lays out the evidence, which I think has to be pursued, regardless of the risks.” 

(At the time I wrote the letter, I had no idea about the much more recent Ukraine issue.)

In 1998, I expressed concern in impeachment of another president.  I sent a copy of this letter to this list in a prior post, sharing my feelings about Bill Clinton in 1998: Clinton Impeachment001.  (I was and remain a strong supporter of Bill Clinton, as I was and am a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton.)

The U.S. does not have clean hands in the matter of interfering in the politics of other nations.  There have been endless examples, here’s an informal and short list: Iran, Haiti, Middle East, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Philippines, Central America….  Some of these I have closer interest and a bit more knowledge.  Here’s something I wrote about Haiti back in 2006, for instance.  Of course, it is customary to blame the President – if of the other party – but it is never that simple.  President Theodore Roosevelt (Republican) is revered as a Progressive (national parks and the like), was also an expansionist.  President are often shaped by events over which they have little control or sometimes even pre-knowledge – they take someone’s advice.  On the other hand, we, the people, have the ultimate responsibility.  Ours is, after all, a democracy….

But, in the current American situation, as a noted Presidential historian stated on live TV this morning, #45 makes his predecessor Presidents “look like Boy Scouts”.

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I’m (depending on one’s word of choice) a “globalist”, an “internationalist”, a supporter of the United Nations…and a “patriot” who loves my country, and deeply respects the rights of the citizens of other countries as well.

In this country, at this moment in time, I feel the obvious intention of the current Republican regime is to make people like myself permanently irrelevant in public policy.  We are not the enemy.  In fact, without us, this democracy is in peril.

Yesterday we met with our friend who is now 93, and today flies to her native Germany.  She grew up in Hitler’s Germany, and wrote a very well-read book about her experience from 1926-47.  Her trip to Germany is occasioned by the translation of her book into her native German, and its introduction comes next week at the famed Frankfurt Book Fair.  A week from now she’ll speak to book sellers and film makers who might have a special interest in her book.

I asked our friend how she would deal with questions about U.S. politics (she’s lived in Minnesota since 1947).  She’s certainly been thinking about it.  Her opinion is her own to be shared in some way by herself next week.  The one fact she mentioned is that 1936 was probably the single good year for Germans in the time of her years in Nazi Germany.

My only advice to everyone: pay very close attention.  Our country is at stake….

POSTNOTE: I think I first saw the use of the words “Force of Law, or Law of Force” in a poster made by my friend, Dr. Joe Schwartzberg in 2008.  Here is that photo, one of 30 in his series.

Joe Schwartzberg died a year ago, but his work continues.  Here is his website.

The “Force of Law” vs “Law of Force” is, in a way, presuming a world that works rationally,  presumption of shared power.  What happens when one side intentionally works to pass laws which disempower the other “side”, and in addition, attempts to control the composition of courts which interpret those laws?  Over the arc of history, there have been many schemes to empower one side, and disempower the other.  In the longer term, they never prevail, regardless of the weapon.  Still, lessons seem never to be learned.

One of the organizations in which I am most active is Citizens for Global Solutions (CGS) (formerly called World Federalists), whose members advocate for a community of nations which are subject to rules and merit respect.   There are about 193 of these nations, ranging from the very tiny to the immense.  The United States has always been the big dog in the arena, by virtue of being on the winning side in WWII, and having economic dominance (we have about one-fourth of the global wealth with less than 5% of the population).

On October 23, I will have all of Joe’s posters on display at an important gathering at the James J. Hill House in St. Paul.  Consider attending.  Here are the details: Flier Oct 23rd event JJ Hill House-v4.  This is a reservation required event.

COMMENTS (more at the end)

Pre-note:  I post all comments, without editing, not violating requested privacy.  Occasionally someone will ask that their name not be used.  In most cases, I only use first names, or the first letter of a name, or rarely “anonymous”.  Every comment is monitored by myself.  I don’t mind differences of opinion.

Yesterday (Sep 30) one of the first comments came as one of those lovely “forwards” that cast aspersions on Muslims in the Twin Cities – the topic was a YouTube video that implied that the Mall of America was overrun by violent Somali Muslims, and went on from there.  I’m not sure why the sender – who I know well – even sent it on, though there were a series of question marks preceding it (???????????)  It even had a video for proof.   The sender of the forward lives hundreds of miles from the Mall; I live 15 miles or so from the Mall, and on rare occasions go there (I’m no shopper.)

The smear of Muslims was, of course, false in its implications.  There had been a violent incident at the Mall, and the perpetrator was apparently Muslim, so that part was most likely true.  On the other hand, Mall of America remains immensely popular.  Its website (as of yesterday) claims 40,000,000 visitors a year; I once heard that every day it has over 100,000 people on premises, making it one of Minnesota’s largest cities.  It is very rarely in the news, and on those rare occasions the problems are dealt with.  There is no oppressive presence of police, though it doubtless has security befitting the large number of visitors every day, most of whom are not regulars, people like myself.  But in the world of truly fake news, bits and pieces of propaganda whir around on this and many other topics.  So, on we go.

I won’t give the video additional publicity by passing it on.  The person who passed it on, passed it on without additional comment (unless the ?????? was a comment).  Doubtless, it can be found on the internet.  But it doesn’t represent any semblance of the truth.  I solicit more comments.

from Brian: Dick, thanks for sharing.  In my youth I had to deal with the perfidious lying mass killer LBJ.  Trump’s not nearly as [b]ad, trust me.

from Dick, to Brian: “Good to hear from you.  I really do want to hear more specifics about your two sentences.”  When Brian gives specifics, I’ll post along with a specific response.  I specifically referenced today’s Just Above Sunset.  I also recommend  the City Pages article mentioned in my response to David, below.  I gave Brian my personal experience during the LBJ times, as follows:

Brian in response, Oct 1:  Now my response to you,Dick.  So…okay.    First of all, thank for the update on Peg [mutual friend]…she’s such a great people photographer.  And also wow! You do have a history with Vietnam and LBJ, too!

from Joyce:  “This is excellent”.Answers to Impeachment Objections from The Weekly Sift

from Judy:  As usual, Dick, your insights, and comments lift up truth and justice.  Thank you for taking the time to address such urgent issue.  Impeachment, a necessity!!!

from R or M (both have same e-address, conveyed as received): DICK—HOW IN THE HELL CAN YOU BE A HILLARY FAN???????AND A DEMOCRATE IN THIS DAY AND AGE???????? NANCY P. ???JOE BIDON????AND IF YOU CAN NOT SEE ALL THAT TRUMP HAS DONE IN HIS SHORT TIME —-YOU HAVE TO BE??????? HE SAID HE WAS GOING TO CLEAN THE SWAMP —NANCY AND ALL
THOSE [???????] I HOPE THEY KEEP RUNNING AT THE MOUTH—–TRUNP WELL WIN IN A LAND SLID——I CAN NOT BELIEVE YOU ARE FOR –EMPEACHMENT———JOE AND HIS SON HAVE RIPPED OFF BILLIONS —-I COULD GO ON —BUT HEAR IS WHAT YOU DEMOCRATS NEED TO REMEMBER [ IF WE EVERFORGET THAT WE ARE ONE NATION UNDER GOD —THEN WE WILL BE A NATION GONE UNDER–RONALD REAGAN—–]DO NOT SEND ME ANYMORE OF YOUR SHIT —-GOD AHILLARY LOVER —-I CAN NOT BELIEVE YOU???????????

from Dick:  It’s more or less a free country, yet.

from Carol, Oct 1: It never ceases to amaze me how many of those hate-filled anti-Democrat/anti-Hillary/anti-Obama, etc. ranters can’t spell their way out of a paper bag – including the names of past (or future) presidents.

A suggestion: If you want to be taken seriously, ditch the caps key and all the !!!!!!!!!!!!! and learn some spelling.

from a true believer in belief:  I believe that the accusations against Trump are the very things that the Democrats have done or are doing.  It’s been confirmed by the UK leader that Hillary rigged the 2016 election & /or solicited support from them and the Russians.   I am against Impeachment of Trump;  Obama  Brennan, & Hillary committed serious impeachable offenses and they were given a pass.   Darleen

The 75th year of the UN is 2019-2020.

On October 23, at the James J. Hill House on Summit Avenue, is a very special event.  Details here: The Future We Want001.  Make it a point to attend.  Reservations needed.  Best advice: reserve soon.  Space is limited.  https://www.globalminnesota.org/event/the-future-we-want-the-un-we-need/.

RELATED NOTE: You may have already seen a clip of the powerful address by a young student at the UN today.  Here is more from Dennis Dillon:

If you haven’t already heard Greta Thunberg’s entire address to the General Assembly today, here’s the link to it on the UN website: https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/09/1047052

I’m sure you will very much appreciate listening to her every word (it’s under 5 minutes), and hearing that she pulls absolutely no punches.  Her essential point is ‘shame on you all for taking advantage of the youngest generations and relying on them to have to try to spur us adults into action.’  I’m sure you will be moved by what she has to say.

Taking to heart what she has to say is a first step for us all in trying to practice nonviolence against the violence we are waging on our own planet.