Keeping America Great

It seems that the “Millennials” will be the demographic group upon which this election will hinge.  Can you predict whether Millennials will get out and vote for Hillary or will they not vote at all, or God forbid, vote for the Don because “What have they got to lose?” Here’s my lecture to the Millennials:

I guess if I really try I can understand how Trump might appeal to a certain constituency who want to “Make America Great Again.” I’ll use that phrase, but I believe America was, is and will remain great. I’m not sure but I believe this slogan means a return to the late 1940’s, 1950’s or early 1960’s.  These were the formative years of the baby boomers and those somewhat older, like Donald. Let’s recall that in that era America was a racially segregated country.  De facto in the north, and for sure in the south, and the south wasn’t all that far south - the Mason Dixon Line is the southern border of Pennsylvania, or maybe an apartment development in Brooklyn or Queens.  It’s not a time period that I believe was even covered in much depth in most schools attended by Millennials; certainly not in the south, and not much in the north since it was such recent history and very controversial.  So here’s the truth about when “America was Great:”

Back “When America was Great” China was a third world nation.  90%+ of that country was living in abject poverty in a rural, agrarian economy living on the edge of starvation.  The Soviet Union was threatening to “bury” the US, and was the slave master of Eastern Europe.  It was imperialistic, looking to expand its influence in places like Cuba, South America and Africa.  All of Europe was still digging out from under the rubble of WW2. The State of Israel was just established and fighting for its existence in a hostile Arab neighborhood. And who even thought about Africa?  The countries that exist today were colonies of Western European Nations (try to find the Belgian Congo or Rhodesia on today’s maps). But the US was flourishing.  Unlike almost every other combatant nation our homeland was untouched by WW2.  Our industries were the leading producers of everything that the rest of the world wanted or needed, and we had plenty of food while a good part of the rest of the world was starving.  Remember that factories and cities in Europe and Japan made great targets and in the ‘40’s and most of the ‘50’s they were still rubble.

Our TV shows at that time reflected a happy, prosperous, peaceful culture.  They were filled with shows like “I Love Lucy,” “the Honeymooners,” Dick Van Dyke, “Leave it to Beaver” and “The Andy Griffith Show,” “Dragnet,” “Superman” and the “Lone Ranger.”  Black people lived elsewhere (and were rarely, if ever, seen on TV until the late 60’s), “Puerto Ricans” were the Hispanics. They are US citizens, but who knew? Moms stayed at home and tended to the kids and the households.  Life was simpler.  In the westerns the good guys always wore the white hats.  The “baby boomers” are the children of the greatest generation who fought to save the world from fascism in Europe and communist aggression in Korea (they are either gone or really old).  Some of the “baby boomers” served in Vietnam.  Some stayed home and did their best to stay out of it (me, Donald and millions more). Those who did serve and were fortunate enough to come home were not recognized as heroes or even patriots because the majority of Americans came to despise the war.  And it was easy (but not correct) to ignore these warriors and to not to give them the respect that American heroes deserve.  They were our military.  They did as ordered, believed that they were protecting our country, and they deserved much better.  There was no acknowledgement of PTSD, it was easy to ignore the many homeless, drug addicted, alcoholic and disturbed vets. We still ignore these people to some degree.

Most Americans worked and raised families and lived a law abiding and generally peaceful life.  While busy being great America has seen plenty of racial discord and violence perpetrated by Americans upon other Americans. We’ve lived through economic upheaval and some Americans are still struggling paycheck to paycheck to hang on. But for the most part things are better for all and there has been great social and economic progress, which can’t be denied.  And that makes “America Great.” It also cannot be denied that this progress came as the result of the work of people like Hillary Clinton who brought actions in legislatures and in the courts, people who initiated legislation or lawsuits to ensure voting rights, to combat racism, sexism and every other “ism” that discriminated against people or unfairly barred their full participation in American society. America is more or less integrated. Racial segregation is at least against the law.  We can all eat at the same restaurants and work for the same employers (not so prior to the 1960’s).  Economic segregation through economic disparity will always be with us, we are, after all, a capitalist society.  But hopefully we have a social safety net which needs to remain in place. And that safety net should do better for those who are not making it on their own, or who can’t get, or afford, health care, or for those who are unable to provide adequate food for their children.  And it is important to note that the Supreme Court played a pivotal role in allowing all of these things to become part of the American social system.  And remember, Supreme Court decisions are often close, so the liberal or conservative composition the Supreme Court will direct the implementation of laws and regulations affecting the next generation (i.e. millennials) as well as their children and the rest of the people of the US. A Supreme Court Seat is now up for grabs, and there are some really old judges just hanging on.

Many who embraced, or at the very least tolerated these changes in the American social fabric for the greater good, are looking to the Millennials to vote in a meaningful way and keep America great by keeping it moving forward and by not trying to retreat to some fabricated past greatness.  I hope Millennials and other voters won’t waste their votes on write-in’s or marginal candidates who have not put forth a meaningful platform or agenda.  And of course not voting is an unacceptable cop-out.  Most people don’t do anything for the country except pay their taxes (only because they can’t avoid that like some do), so at least they can get off their asses and vote. You want to Keep America Great? Vote for Hillary.

HOW DID WE COME TO THIS?

All this was inspired by the principle—which is quite true within itself—that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.

— Adolf Hitler, Mein Kamp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I384VUadI1g

Why do you build me up. . .

Everybody does their job. Very professional.
Fill out the computerized forms, look up the records, tag the wrist, interview by admitting nurse, wife helps me with the answers.
“Take of your clothes, put these on.”
Take some blood and some biological measurements. Graphs go by on the screen. They have peaks as they move across the screen, good sign. Low heart rate, normal blood pressure, also good, I guess.
It’s the middle of the night, no windows and fluorescent lights. It’s the same twenty four hours a day.
Homeless or junkie or just poor and disheveled?
Midwestern accent, firm, gentle, businesslike, professional. “You will have to leave.”
Inaudible response
“You will have to move into the reception area then, you can stay there, but you can’t sleep here, you’ve been treated and discharged, sorry, the pain medicine will help soon, but you can’t sleep here. . . “
Names and initials attach to my name on the flat screen hanging on the wall across the room.
Wheeled into a darker room,
“Please stand against the machine and don’t move”
Back to the curtained cube.
“No heart attack, but there’s a blocked artery that will have to be opened…”
“Time for me to leave, see you in the morning, I love you.”
“I love you, too.”

More sad than scared.
More scared of pain than dying.
Doctor is confident, it’s routine.
I can deal with it.
I’ve been through it once, it hurt plenty, but I’m still here, but it hurt, but you can handle it. Bullshit, it hurt like hell. You’ve been through it once, it’s a half an hour deal, you can put up with it for half an hour. Forty-five minutes, tops.
Ride the gurney through the maze. A basement is still a basement. Stuff lined up against the walls looks like old clothes and junk., guard nodding off in chair, wakes up to chat with tired lady who pushes the gurney, another tired lady operates the elevator.
Freezing cold operating room keeps these guys awake.
“Take off your underwear.”
“Those are the words I’ve been longing to hear you say.”
Almost a smile.
“We’ll be inserting a catheter ….”
“Doc, do you know the name of that song”
“Build Me Up Buttercup.”
“Very good, do you know who sings it?”
He’s too young to remember.
“It’s from ‘Something About Mary’…uh, no.”
“The Foundations. Doc, don’t let this storehouse of useless information die.”
Masked, no smile.
Pressure on my thigh.
“Do you want pain killers?”
“As much as you can give me!”
It’ll be over soon.

IF WE COULD SEE OURSEVES AS OTHERS SEE US…

I once told my “blogging” daughter (hereinafter referred to as “BD” to preserve her anonymity) that I don’t post comments her blog because I’m like that outgoing, talkative kid that is given a telephone or microphone and then can’t utter a syllable. Many of her posts make me want to comment, but I’ll just blog instead, and because she’s the only reader of my blog, it’ll be like writing a real long comment.

Her last few posts made me think about how she perceives herself and then how we all perceive ourselves. As I thought about this and decided to write a piece on my blog, I went to my research assistant, GOOGLE, to see who had written the original thought and typed in, see ourselves as others see us…. Results 1 - 10 of about 66,200,000 ….

After reading the first 14,325,278, I realized that I might want to do a more defined search, I put it in quotes “see ourselves as others see us”... Results 1 - 10 of about 43,200 … after reading all of these and taking out the repeats, I still wasn’t sure about the original quote. I do remember that I was nodding off in high school English as a poem was being read. As my eyes rolled back in my head, and the drool ran out of my mouth, and just before narcolepsy took over and my head cracked against the desk, I heard these words. But who said them? Lord Byron, Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Who names a boy Percy Bysshe and expects him to grow up heterosexual? I believe he was (heterosexual that is) his wife was the author, Mary W. Shelley, author of “Frankenstein,” but I digress….).

So what was that going to tell me anyway? I wanted to know the exact quote and the context, but whoever said it could be interpreted on several levels; if “they” think we’re ugly, are we? If “they” think we’re cool, are we? If “they’re” cool (in our opinion) and we’re not cool, in their opinion, are we therefore not cool by extension? On, and on and on. Again, so what? What would it mean to her if I said, “You’re beautiful,” which several of her readers did say, and I now realize I never said it enough, and she is.

The posts on “BD’s” blog were about how she sees herself, not how others see her. I think she’s beautiful, and I know others do too. Can she accept imperfection in others, but is it that she can’t accept a few extra pounds on herself? Would she say to me “change your physical appearance (or anything else) so my love could be given”? We have to accept what we are and do the best with what we have. Not to say, don’t try to better yourself, but if you can accept imperfection in others and grant them love, is it important to be perfect in your own eyes to love yourself, or at least not hate yourself? I’m more than happy that her posts indicate she has turned a corner. I hope that she continues to be happy with herself; but who knows what’s in the cards, it’s all good, we hope, but fate or God or some random microbes may take a hand. We are what we are …until we’re not.

So hang in “BD.” BE HAPPY, and I hope you’re through agonizing about your physique, and as Percy Bysshe would say:

"The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind, If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"

PS -- By the way, it was Robert Burns who almost said “if we could see ourselves”…he wrote in Scottish, and I guess the line has been used so much, it’s English now. It’s in the last stanza of his poem, “To a Louse.” That’s the one about a flea that was crawling on a beautiful woman, in church, while Burn’s watched (no doubt bored by the Preacher, his eyes rolled back, droll came out of the corner of his mouth, just before his head cracked down on the wooden pew) he wrote:

O wad some Power the giftie gie us

To see oursels as ithers see us!

It wad frae monie a blunder free us

An foolish notion:

What airs in dress an gait wad lea'es us,

An ev'n devotion!

I remember the point now, as beautiful and well dressed as this woman was, to the flea she was just dinner and a home. Makes me want a glass of Scotch!

So L’chaim, Bobby Burns, and may we all BE HAPPY, especially BD, LF, MELBERITO, and DOOBIE.

DE-HYPENATE AMERICA – PART 2

Back to the other post. So what is the issue with immigration?

I am not an immigration expert, but here are my assumptions:
We regularly allow people into the country legally, so there must be some legal procedure for entry
After that there must be some application for citizenship or at least the right to continue to live and work in the USA.
It must be pretty complicated or onerous, because so many people can’t follow the procedure

Is that what immigration reform about? Making it less complicated? Or there some National Board of Immigration Review whose job it is to let in some and keep out the “riff-raff?” And who decides who’s “riff-raff” anyway?

Here’s my plan. Immigration reform made easy:
Everybody is welcome to the party. It’s a bring your own. You have to contribute or leave. Do what you do, cut hair, hammer nails, file nails, be a doctor, a lawyer, an accountant or computer programmer if you want; hey, it’s America. You could even be in the mortgage business, if you can’t find anything better (or legitimate).

No unreasonable waiting periods. A background check and proof of a means to support yourself such as a job or a responsible legal US dweller or company to agree to sponsor you. If you have a substantial net worth, don’t even bother with the job, just bring the money and invest it here in legitimate endeavors.

A national registry and ID card. If you have one, you stay, if we catch you without one, we throw you out. Repeated offenders who keep sneaking back in should be thrown in jail. Or in the alternative, they could earn their legal entry by serving in the military or working on some other national priority that we can’t seem to find the labor to do. National priority does not include cutting somebody’s lawn.

You can get your registration if:
You have not broken any laws that would be enforced in the USA.
For example, if you were arrested in an Islamic Theocracy for being Christian, it wouldn’t count. Other things like being arrested for “economic” crimes such as profiteering in a communist country would probably be OK, too. I would recommend that we even tolerate arrests for not paying parking tickets or other “minor” offences. But no felons allowed. Arrests for assault, rape, theft, murder, and other generally violent or antisocial behavior would keep you out.

You agree to become a contributing member of American society within some reasonable period of time.

You lose your registration and right to become a citizen if:

You are convicted of a felony
You cease to be a contributing member of society or fail to pay taxes (i.e. no more working off the books)

Now that unreasonable barriers to entry are eliminated, and “American” is your new nationality, remember that you or your parents left some shit-hole country because it sucked, and DE-HYPHENATE.

YOU CAN’T MAKE THIS STUFF UP

Did you ever notice that there is Braille on the key pad at the drive up ATM?

Add this to the mindlessness:

I’m driving in to work today and I hear a news article. Some of the details escaped me since I was typing an e-mail on my Blackberry while driving with my knees (also pretty mindless), but my ears perked up as the story unfolded:

Somewhere, LI -- Police answer a call about a wild pit bull dog. They’re familiar with this dog as there have been several complaints. The dog attacks one of the several responding officers. He shoots it with his 9MM automatic. The enraged dog continues the attack as the bullet entered his (the dog's) abdomen. Other responding officers shot the dog 3 more times. Dog and attacked officer are currently recovering from their wounds.

I can understand why they would treat the dog-bit cop, but why did they spend time patching up a lunatic pit-bull (shot four times at close range with police pistols). Surely they will euthanize this mutt, won’t they? Did they operate on it for the practice?? And another thing -- can’t they get these cops more effective weapons. Four shots hit the dog and it’s still alive. I’m not going to comment on marksmanship (or for the more PC, markspersonship), because its probably dangerous and hard to hit the attacker without hitting the attackee, but come on, if this were a lunatic person with a weapon, how about something with a little more stopping power?

And one last thing, what is it with pit bulls and their owners. These dogs are nuts! How about a nice cocker spaniel or or better yet, get your kid a gerbil.

De-Hyphenate America

“What are you?”

“Italian-American”
“Irish-American”
“Mexican-American”
“German-American”
“Polish-American”
”Indian-American”
“Swiss, Scottish, Welsh, Franco-American”
"Member of the Former Soviet Union-American"
“What are you?”

My grandparents came to this country in the 1880’s. They left a place where they were unwanted. Most probably they were terrorized by pogroms. They were second class citizens (if they were even considered citizens), economically downtrodden, socially ostracized, or all of the above.

I don’t know their exact motivation (the only grandparent I knew died 40 years ago. It was believed she was in her 80's when she passed on, but she was a young girl when she came to this country). I’m of the opinion that her parents didn’t pack up their family and sell or abandon all of the belongings they couldn't carry to walk away from a comfortable existence to go 5 or 6 thousand miles to a country they never saw because things were going well for them. This must have been especially true when you didn’t just get on a plane and cruise that distance in 8 to 10 hours. Also they didn’t take the Berlitz “Learn Conversational English in Five Easy Lessons" course. And when they got here, I'm fairly confident that most Americans living here at the time didn't want to see some poor, Jewish family move in next door to them and compete for whatever jobs were available at that time.

I believe most immigrants come to America come for similar reasons. A sort of desperate run to the promise of a better life. No guarantees, just a fair shot at a better life. We are a country populated almost exclusively by immigrants and descendants of immigrants, most likely brave and motivated people, tired of being poor, or of being abused, no longer tolerating their existence in intolerable conditions. They decided to take matters into their own hands and change their condition.

Inspirational!

America, a nation populated by people that I characterize as “intrepid dreamers” driven to these shores seeking freedom and opportunity.

Except for the slaves.
What are you?
“African-American”
In the most horrendous way, which I can’t even begin to imagine, much less describe, these people were dragged from their homes and families to be brought to America as property. With no regard for their humanity, or any family ties that may have survived or developed during the “relocation,” they are brought to do the “heavy lifting.” Bought, sold and treated as “beasts of burden”. And today many of their descendants suffer from the bigotry and inequality of opportunity that is similar to the conditions that likely caused the “intrepid dreamers” to pack up and emigrate to America.

All that being said, whatever brought our fore-bearers here, we are now all in the same boat, and the boat is being swamped with new “intrepid dreamers” that want in.

What are you?

“American Indian”

The indigenous people have no hyphen.

More to follow….