No Kings Protest

Today there will be another No Kings protest, marked by thousands of individual marches and demonstrations taking place in all 50 states, attended by what will certainly be millions of people, perhaps even tens of millions. 

Unfortunately, Nora has an all day activity that was planned months ago, and since she is driving there and we only have one car, neither of us will be attending, unlike the one that was held this past June. 

Here is a link to the post I did after that event. 

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2025/06/protests-and-civil-disobedience.html 

Since I won't be there, chanting and celebrating my First Amendment right to assemble, I thought I might delineate the many disagreements I have with the current administration, and some of the more egregious actions that have occurred, and are ongoing.

But first, a comment on Speaker of the House Mike Johnson's recent assertion that it is the GOP that is the party protecting our Constitutional freedoms.

Johnson uses as his comparison, the restrictions that occurred during the pandemic, presumably the suppression of various medical treatments that were awash on the internet, and, of course, the lock downs, the encouragement of social distancing, and the wearing of masks.

While, in retrospect, it is debatable that keeping kids out of school was a wise policy, in the long run, given the data that now shows that kids were not prone to COVID, and that perhaps emphasis on the reduction  of illness, hospitalizations, and death would have been a better message, as opposed to prevention, which seemed to suggest that a vaccine would prevent the illness, there is a point to be made that some mistakes were made by federal and state officials.

And, to be blunt, that telling Americans what they should do, in any sphere of life, rarely goes well. If nothing, we can be a rebellious population, even to the point of acting like two year olds who repeat the word often told to them as they begin to explore their world and become mobile - saying NO.

We love to say no, even when we are told something that is for our own good.

So, again, Johnson might have a point of two when saying that there were some restrictions placed upon Americans from 2020-2022. Of course, the fact that Trump was president in 2020 when the lock downs occurred, that his administration worked with the vaccine manufacturers on Project Warp Speed to develop the vaccines, and gave them immunity for side effects, by the way, seems to be facts that he forgets.

Also, the simple facts that over a million Americans died from COVID from 2020 to 2022, that during a few different stretches, 3 to 4,000 people were dying every day, just as many who were killed on 9/11, and that the scientific community was continually learning how to combat this unique virus, also seem to elude him.

Were mistakes made? Certainly, in the name of saving as many lives as possible, and in an abundance of caution, our national reaction may have been too aggressive. But that is hindsight. When bodies were piling up outside morgues and we really had no clue how to treat the people who were gasping for breath and dying in droves, the best advice was all we had.  

To me however, I believe that far more lives were saved because of the recommendations as to how to combat the spread of the disease. Hopefully, we will not have a similar pandemic in my lifetime in which no coordinated national actions are taken to reduce its spread, thereby having a comparison to know for sure, but I vehemently disagree with Johnson using those restrictions and recommendations as examples of a government suppressing free speech.

More importantly, after Johnson's impassioned statements that the No Kings rallies were a wonderful example of how American freedoms are being protected by this president, he went on to describe the protests as gatherings to express a Hate America agenda. Now, certainly, he has a right to his opinion, but when a government official, in fact, the man who is third in line to the presidency, states openly that people who disagree with his political viewpoint hate our country, that is not an example of defending our Constitutional rights. Worse, it gives tacit approval for those who agree with him to justify any type of violent counter protest or activity against those America Hating people. 

Even further, Johnson also likes to couch his rhetoric as a reflection of God's will, as if he has a direct line to the mind of the Almighty. The fact that, perhaps, some people believe that God is encouraging them to attend No Kings protests today, doesn't enter his mind. Or that their understanding of the founders very specific desires to cut ties with England and its King, may be driving them to the streets today.

Lastly, and most importantly, most of the people protesting today, not only don't hate America, they love America, or at least what their perceptions of what America was and could be again, without Donald J. Trump in the White House.

Johnson completely whiffs on his interpretation of these protests, as the reality is, Americans only engage in public displays of their opinions because they love America. Those that don't vote, or don't care, or think their actions won't matter, stay at home. 

Mr Johnson, we don't hate America but we do hate what America is becoming under the leadership of Trump. Perhaps someday you will be able to understand that attacks against Trump's cruel policies emanate from a love of America and what she can be, as the vast majority of people who will be chanting NO KINGS believe.

As promised then, and in response to an acquaintance who asked me why I don't like Trump, here is my list, in no particular order, as is my First Amendment right to express.

- Executive order declaring that trans people are not people which is resulting in them being kicked out of the military and being denied health care, among other things 

- Firing of DOJ lawyers who worked on cases with Jack Smith. This action, remaking the DOJ with people who will do his bidding reached a new low in the last few weeks when he replaced the US Attorney in eastern Virginia with one of his personal lawyers, an insurance lawyer, to boot, who promptly indicted James Comey and Tish James, after the previous DOJ attorney, a longtime Republican, failed to do so, citing a lack of credible evidence

- Targeting FBI agents who investigated and helped prosecute January 6th criminals. Also, those who were photographed kneeling during some of the George Floyd protests

- Pardoning the January 6th criminals, en masse, even those who admitted to beating up police officers, even those who were caught on tape battering those officers and vandalizing the Capitol building

- Threatening Canada, Greenland, Panama

- Selling out Ukraine, favoring Russia, although this assertion needs context. I think the real issue is Trump will never forgive Zelensky for not investigating Biden, and, of course, Trump has a serious bromance with Putin, so in some ways, this is more about supporting his buddy, and dissing an entire nation of people because he has a grudge against their leader

- Similar to above, attaching a huge tariff against Brazil because their legislative and judicial branches had more guts than ours, as they indicted and jailed their ex-president when he tried to remain in power illegally, a man who supported Trump

- Treating the two plus million Palestinians as so much garbage, due in part to his deep seated racism, but also due to his love affair with strongmen who have no qualms about killing large sums of people to remain in power

- Executive order altering birth right citizenship. Punishing children for the sins of their parents, as un-Christian an act as you will ever see a president enact, not to mention in violation of the Constitution.

- Freezing monies already approved by the previous Congress. Again, unconstitutional as Congress has the power of the purse, allegedly.

- Tariffs against virtually every country in the world, many for no reason other than a personal like or dislike of their leaders (see above for Brazil), some in direct violation of his own treaties (like for Canada and Mexico), some with vague references to trade imbalances that are justified with a calculation that is unrealistic at best, nonsensical at worse, but all, bordering on unconstitutional considering that they all represent a tax on American businesses and consumers, which, again is supposed to be within the purview of Congress

- Attacks on the federal work force. Although his attack dog, Elon Musk has retreated from Washington DC with his tail between his legs, OMB head Russel Vought has famously said that he wants all federal workers to be afraid of losing their jobs. As this attack of public service continues, it may very well take a generation before Americans regain the belief that serving their country is a noble cause, and worth the sacrifice in monetary compensation

- Deporting people without due process. Again, perhaps unconstitutional, but certainly not in keeping with America's lofty sense of justice and fairness

- Allowing DOGE to access sensitive data. We really don't know how this may transpire, but should there be a massive breach of taxpayer and citizen data, there should be no surprise if the source was allowing people loyal to Musk, not America, gain access to government data bases

- Ending USAID programs. Many Americans most likely don't care about this atrocity since so many have bought into the selfishness mantra of America First, but it will result in the death of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands or people across the globe, especially children. So much for a kinder, gentler hand

- Revoked legal status for migrants who used the CBP One App to apply for asylum. Again, probably flying under the radar, but this extremely mean policy basically said, too bad if you followed the law before, the law has changed. Talk about pulling the rug out from under someone. I would imagine no American would stand for being told they were being arrested for committing an act, in the past, that used to be legal, but isn't now, but when "those" people are described as invaders and criminals, we fail to be outraged

- Scrubbing federal data bases of references of "woke" subjects and references, such as war heroes that were black, or the name of the airplane that dropped the atomic bomb on Japan (Enola Gay), and, of course, any reference to climate change

- Revoking student visas, and rejecting apps for students applying to American colleges if they have expressed any opinions that the administration doesn't like. So much for freedom of expression

- Executive order boosting coal. So ridiculous, it's hard to fathom such a backwards action

- Extortion of law firms and universities. At first, this one was working. But now it seems that there is some unity, at least among the academic world, to resist trading federal dollars for how they develop their curriculum, who they hire, who the admit into their schools, etc, although the business community is still all in on capitulating to Trump's demands, this being most recently displayed at the White House when a bunch of rich corporate types wrote checks to Trump to pay for his ballroom.

- Firing and take over of the Kennedy center board as well as attacking the independence of the Smithsonian

- Firing of a slew of inspector generals whose very job is to find fraud, waste and abuse. This act in particular demonstrated how much of a fraud was that whole exercise played out by Musk and Trump. Musk wanted to neuter many of the federal departments that oversaw his business interests, and Trump just wanted to eliminate any oversight into his criminal activity

- Hiring of a bunch of Fox personalities. When asked by a Trump supporter why that bothered me, I asked them how they would feel if Biden had recruited from CNN and MSNBC to fill some important posts in his administration. It seemed like that individual hadn't considered that could happen, didn't seem to think about such a possibility when defending Trump's Fox obsession. Not to mention his naming people like Linda McMahon and Kristi Noem for important cabinet posts. Perhaps all those attacks on DEI are correct, there must have been a white male somewhere with more experience to run such important departments

- Blowing up boats and killing people in contradiction of international law, and providing no evidence or proof to support the action. The fact that the admiral in charge of that area recently resigned, may indicate that there is no real proof, just Trump and Hegseth flexing their manliness, while Congress completely abdicates their constitutional obligation of oversight, and consent

Amazingly, that is not even close to a full list of things that have made me conclude that America is in decline, as I have stated so many times, or that Americans have lost their way. 

Shock and Awe to such an extant that it is too hard, too sad, to keep track of all the horrendous actions being taken, becoming normal, due to the lack of any accountability for Trump.

As I said in the post referred to above, I don't know if protests, even massive ones, are enough. I still envision that some type of violence, real or provoked, will enable Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, or some other form of martial law and that an America citizen will be killed by a national guardsmen or soldier during one of Trump's deployments. The fact that it will almost certainly happen in a blue state, will be no surprise.

And, with all the active gerrymandering going on in red and blue state legislatures, even the 2026 and 2028 elections may not matter, may not reflect the will of the people, or the fact that at least 60, perhaps as much as 65% of Americans are not happy with this administration.

If it all results in some type of performative election, as they have in Hungary and Russia, places whose leaders Trump admires most, then maybe we will have the ultimate example of a breach from our Constitution, the election of someone who is not only not allowed to run, but is unqualified and unpopular, but who holds all the cards, as he likes to reference.

I guess time will tell, but in the meantime

The decline continues.   

 

 

Jane Goodall and the Warrior Ethos

After reading about the great military meeting that took place a few weeks ago, as ordered by Defense Secretary Hegseth, I planned to post some comments. 

But then the death of Jane Goodall was announced and an out of the box kind of thought seeped into my head about combining my thoughts about the two into one post.

Not sure if it will work, but here goes.

First, in order of importance, Jane Goodall.  

If you would like to read a really nice tribute, and summary, of Jane Goodall's life, paste and copy the link below. 

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/2025/10/jane-goodall-fame-research-conservation/684433/?utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20251002&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&lctg=67f130672e8e571a90087893&utm_term=The%20Atlantic%20Dail 

Jane Goodall was born the same year as my mother, 1934. I say this because I did not realize this until seeing it stated in the above article, and in the various obits that appeared after she died. 

Why does this matter to me? I guess because I am continually amazed at the accomplishments by women of this era, those born in the 1930's and early 1940's, who were attempting to continue the legacy of those brave and forward looking women who lobbied, and sacrificed, for the right to vote which was finally achieved just a few decades before.

An anecdote which is at the beginning of the article I mention above, relates the story of when Goodall was offered a job by the famed anthropologist, Louis Leakey, to study chimpanzees in Africa, British colonial authorities balked at the idea of a young women being alone in the forest, so her mother offered to go with her. That was in 1960!

Of course, I was only a child when Goodall began her amazing work in the jungles of Africa, but when I learned of her, as a young adult, I thought of her as a young women, not much older than I, even though the age difference was 24 years. I guess I always considered her more of a cohort, in age, than someone of my mom's generation, which makes her career and her influence over the years even more remarkable.

The article also mentions the disdain that many of Goodall's male colleagues had for her work. She treated her subjects with respect, even naming them. To me, that demonstrates the strength of her research, and the humanity as well. She didn't think less of the animals she was studying. 

When she was the first to prove that chimps used tools to retrieve food from tree stumps, and that they had reworked that stick into the tool to help the process, it was ground breaking. To me, that kind of discovery could only be obtained, be open to, by someone who looked at her subjects through the eyes of a humanist, not just a scientist. The very thing that some of her colleagues didn't like about her, groused about her, that lack of scientific training, is the very thing that allowed her to observe without preconceived notions of animal's inferiority to man.

Considering that Darwin's theory of evolution was a hundred years in the past, it's a wonder that so many of the (male) researchers of the day were not able to look at chimps with an eye to finding similarities to humans as opposed to how inferior they were to us.

So it should come as no surprise that Goodall became an advocate for saving the habitat of chimps, and all the animals with which we share this planet. 

Even more than that, Goodall became an advocate for making the world a better place for humans as well. Her organization Roots and Shoots focused on improving the living conditions for those who lived close to and among the animals most in need of protecting, which emanated from her belief that if the people had better sanitation, better living conditions, better ways to grow their own food, they wouldn't need to eat those animals, or clear the land where those animals lived.

Which brings us to Hegseth and his military meeting.

While there was some speculation that he might announce a bunch of firings, it turned out the purpose was to tell the leaders of the United States military, how to do their job. And specifically, how we need to get back to the macho version of the military that an insecure person like Hegseth, and his boss, Trump, deem necessary to demonstrate our collective manliness.

The phrase, "me thinks he doth protest too much" rings loud, considering the president served nary a day in the military due to a medical exception, while Hegseth, after serving, (and I give him credit for that), spent the last ten years railing about how soft the American military has become, by allowing women in combat, investigating sexual harassment claims by women in the military, and promoting women and people of color to positions of authority over any white male.

But even more importantly, so he says, the military has stopped creating and building the warrior ethos that needs to exist, both to scare our adversaries, and to vanquish them in battle.

Now, if I wanted to be sarcastic, I would say that Hegseth spent too much time reading the history of Sparta, or the conquests of the Roman Legionnaires.  Or that he must have really enjoyed those stories about throwing young boys into a pit to fight, as a way to separate the warriors from the weak.

Considering Trump's obsession with having his face on coins and mountains, perhaps they share that fixation on all that is Roman.

Also, if sarcasm was the goal, I might ask if Hegseth and Trump are planning a ground war anytime soon, as it seems that the nature of war, when both sides are adequately armed as is the case for Ukraine vs Russia, has turned to remote attacks via drones, long range missiles, targeted bombings. So, while it is quaint to think of our armed forces as the biggest, baddest men on the block, don't we also need really smart people, even nerds, if you like, to program the technology that is in use today. I certainly don't see a near future with battles featuring hand to hand combat with bayonets drawn, do you?

But let's get to the real danger of Hegseth's philosophy which, I believe, is bad for America, and especially bad for our armed forces.  

First, for the individual soldiers who are attracted to the idea that a warrior ethos makes them a better man, they might want to ask themselves if such an attitude will make them better fathers, husbands, citizens, when their military career ends. 

While a belief system that inspires our soldiers to think, act and lead like warfighters might lead to victory on the battlefield, it hinders the adjustment that veterans face when taking the next hill or killing one's enemy, is no longer a viable coping mechanism when dealing with the daily demands and tribulations of life.

Just ask any of the family members of the 17 veterans who kill themselves every day, a number that is staggeringly higher as a percentage than for non-military people of the same age. 

Or perhaps we should look to the number of veterans that are homeless in America, a number that has decreased in the last few years, thankfully, but is still indicative of a group of Americans that struggle to cope once outside the military.

Do we really think that making them emotionless warriors who are trained to kill without thinking, will provide them with a better mindset when dealing with noisy children, a daily routine that is less than exciting, various family members who may disagree with them, or any of the innumerable problems that face us everyday where violence is not the solution?

Hegseth wants a strong army, fine, but he seems to think that the soldiers who make up that army are plastic soldiers that can be replaced with a new batch when they become worn, or weak.

Of course, for a man who has a history of treating women like play toys, again, like his boss, perhaps that is consistent. 

Even worse, America is also a victim of such thinking, as this administration seems to think that being the bully of the globe will make everyone else respect us more, and do what we want. Like the tariff chaos that is ongoing, Trump has forgotten the kindergarten lesson that you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

Perhaps I am wrong, but the bullies I encountered in my life, whether as a child or an adult, did not earn my respect. Perhaps fear, but not respect. And certainly not a desire to see them succeed. So it should come as no surprise that this America first selfishness that goes hand in hand with "my way or the highway" is driving our traditional allies away. 

Or perhaps Hegseth and Trump think that "turn the other cheek" and "treat others as you would want to be treated" are too woke for their world view of warrior ethos.

I truly believe that most Americans would prefer that we treat our fellow Americans, as well as the other 8 billion people who share our planet, as Jane Goodall engaged with the primates she lived with and studied. That we should hold out an open hand to help rather than a closed fist to hurt.

Unfortunately, I also believe that many Americans, perhaps more than half, are on board with treating our enemies inhumanely. That all is fair in war, including killing civilians, bombing schools and hospitals, stealing children from their homes, because, well, I guess because that is what they would do to us. 

And, if there is one thing that Trump is superior at, it is telling us who we should hate, who we should consider less than human, who is out to get us. 

Whether it is the people in the boats that he is blowing up in defiance of international law, or the two million Palestinians that he thinks should be killed, or moved, or starved, or the immigrants who come here to seek a better life but are from a country that isn't white enough, or the federal workers who don't kiss his ring, whether they be in the DOJ or FBI, or any department that democrats like, or the countless number of Americans who love America but despise how Trump is remaking our country, Trump has an endless list of those we should hate, and consequently treat as if they were less than human.

So sad that people like Hegseth and Trump talk about America first yet enact policies that place Americans last. Even sadder that people who are on board with such cruelty, claim to be Christians as well.

And so the decline continues. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Blame Game, Two

In the past week, someone accessed a blog I wrote from 2010. As is my custom now, if it was written before 2020, I open it to verify that it has been updated to a larger font. This particular one needed that process.

While reviewing it, I was impressed with what I wrote, so much so that I decided to copy and paste it in its entirety, rather than provide a link. Here it is. Again, this post is from 2010, two years into Obama's first term.

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As I have said many times before, I read the Philadelphia Inquirer with special concentration on the commentary/opinion section. One opinion columnist that I respect and admire is Trudy Rubin. She demonstrates a strong understanding of our efforts and policies in the Middle East and, generally, maintains equanimity in her evaluation of the administration in charge, regardless of political party. The following is an email which I sent to her today.


Ms. Rubin,

While I agree with you that the anti-Muslim rhetoric is dangerous, I think we need to blame liberals as much as conservatives for the escalation, or more precisely, liberal politicians who are more concerned about winning an election than they are about stating the truth.

It is easy for you and I to write/blog that the current anti-Muslim trend runs contrary to our respect for individuals rights (freedom of religion) and the constitution (separation of church and state). But rather than taking a strong stand with facts and clear cut points of reason and fairness, many Democrats are straddling the line for fear of losing their seats in November. Even the President has waffled in his public statements on the issue.

The truly sad part is that this current blame-the-Muslims-for-everything is just another version of the blame-the-gays from the 80's which resulted in the anti-gay marriage movement or the blame-public-employees trend which pits everyday working Americans against their neighbors (who make about the same amount of money).

When an economy is struggling, it is easy to gain a following if you can find a scapegoat, so all of these dramas exist to distract Americans from the real source of our problems. The fact that our deficit is growing due to the Bush tax cuts that reduced our national income, the unfunded wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the shift of income from the middle class to the very rich and the aging of our nation is ignored because that would require us to face the hard truths about capitalism's problems, the militaristic streak of our politics and the notion that we have a divine right to an ever increasing standard of living.

You mentioned President Reagan in today's column. He is considered the saint of conservative politics yet everyone forgets that his approval ratings in his first term were even lower than President Obama's are now and that he doubled the national debt during his eight years in office. However, he slayed the communist dragon so today's conservatives/republicans have taken a page from his playbook, replacing the evil Soviet empire with today's bogeymen. It is clear that they will not only not work with President Obama but will do everything in their power to see him fail. And the Democrats, rather than standing up to them are caving because, unfortunately, they are really not that much better as they too are more concerned about staying in power than they are about governing.

Finally, the real fault lies with the American voter. And again, you won't hear many politicians or pundits blaming us. We cheer speeches that anoint us as the greatest nation in history then disprove that point by denying our fellow citizens the basic need for access to adequate health care and by encouraging legislation that defines marriage in a way that prevents some of our population from enjoying the emotional and economic fruits of this institution. We have such compelling issues to address and the best form of democracy in which to address them, yet we are lucky to see 30% turnout at primaries and get all excited if we reach 60% for November elections.

Anyway, this turned out to be longer than I expected. If you are interested, I have included a link to my blog of 9/12 and perhaps I will use this email to you for today's blog (I hope that is not a problem for you).

Thanks for whatever feedback you might provide,

http://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2010/09/testing-strength-of-our-freedom.html

Regards and respect,

Joe Pugnetti 

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A few points here.

First, as I have mentioned a few times, I not only don't see much progress since I penned that post, but regression.

Let's look at some specifics.

I mention that the blame-the-Muslims rhetoric of the time was just another version of blame-the-gays from the 80's; correspondingly we now have blame-the-illegals. No real basis in reality, just another boogeyman to hold in front of the cameras, or in the social media world of clickbait, both as red meat for a political base as well as an excuse not to look in the mirror for the real culprit behind America's present downward spiral; the electorate.

This is not to say that my favorite boogeyman, the ultra rich, whom I believe are most responsible for the decline of the standard of living, or more precisely stated, the purchasing power for the middle class, are off the hook. No, they are the ones controlling so much of the narrative via the ownership of all the large media companies, not to mention the favors they are granted due to their deep pockets during the election cycle. 

Still, I blame us, the voters, for falling for so much baloney. For believing that poor people are the problem, that environmental regulations aren't necessary and that climate change is not real, that livable wages are somehow bad for business, that CEO's must be paid hundreds, even thousands of times the salaries of those who work for them, just to name a few.

But mostly, for convincing ourselves that politicians are the problem, even though we elected them, then pretending that we want accountability from them even though we don't demand it from ourselves.

How else do you explain electing a convicted felon with a history of massive exaggerations, if not outright lies (they are eating the cats and dogs!), a man who spews gibberish and word salad statements, IN ALL CAPS, daily on his social media account, a man who was convicted of sexual assault, openly bragged about grabbing young women's genitalia, cheated on all three of his wives, yet is the darling of the religious right.

But it runs deeper than that.

Look at the current kerfuffle on display in Washington over the government shutdown. 

On one side is the Dems who have finally decided to draw a line in the sand, after being the all-talk but no action party since January.

Now, certainly I give them credit for trying to hold the line at what may very well be a 30, 40 50%, if not even higher, increase in medical premiums for those who purchase their health care insurance from the ACA. Sure, they caved back in the spring (thank you Chuck Shumer), but they are holding firm, so far. (I can't say that I don't expect some kind of capitulation in the next week or two, though.)

But perhaps had they had a spine when Israel began slaughtering Palestinians in the name of revenge, many of those one issue voters who were mad at their reluctance to say no to Netanyahu, wouldn't have stayed home in droves last November. 

Or even better, rather than admitting that some of the fault concerning inflation was due to the spending bills they passed, bills I agree with by the way, but which still caused some of the inflationary pressure on our economy, that rather than acknowledging some of the fault, then sympathizing with the plight of the American people, they chose to focus on issues, which again, I support, issues like trans rights and reproductive rights for women, while overemphasizing the fascist tendencies of Trump, a political strategy that does not resonate with an electorate that is struggling to pay the bills. Trump is certainly a wannabe dictator, has even bragged that some people like a dictator if prices ease, crime drops, etc, but that is the point. He knew that the economy was the battle, and the Dems message was too esoteric, certainly true, but harder to grasp.

What is so frustrating is that in the meantime, the GOP, to a person, keeps saying that the Dems are shutting down the government to give free health care to illegals.

Again, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to spend a few minutes researching the issue to understand that this assertion is far from true. I mentioned Reagan in that letter above. Well it was President Ronald Reagan who signed into law in 1986 the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) that mandates that everyone, regardless of ability to pay or lack of insurance coverage, must be treated at emergency rooms throughout our country. Yea, I know, pretty woke.

So, when you see a GOP representative or spokesperson claim that the Dems want undocumented people to get health care at emergency rooms, yes, we do, as that is the law.

In addition, there are some people in America that are "lawfully present". Here is a pretty encompassing definition.

The category of lawfully present individuals is extensive. It includes U.S. citizens and U.S. nationals, who are persons born in American Samoa or Swain’s Island. Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs), also known as Green Card holders, are considered lawfully present as they have permission to live and work in the U.S. on a permanent basis.

The definition also includes those with humanitarian protections. This group consists of individuals granted asylum, refugees admitted from abroad, and people granted parole into the United States for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. Recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are also included.

Many individuals with temporary, non-immigrant status also meet the definition of lawfully present. This includes people with valid non-immigrant visas, such as students on F-1 visas or workers on H-1B visas, who have not violated the terms of their admission. The definition also extends to individuals with pending applications for asylum or for adjustment of status to permanent residency while that application is being processed.

Now, we can certainly debate whether all those groups deserve the designation of lawfully present. Heck, Congress can pass a law changing it. But for now, that is the law, so those people are entitled to health care, and yes, even at the expense of the American taxpayer, although, to be frank, I would think that a Christian nation would approve of giving health care to all people, regardless of which boxes they check on any legal list of who should be treated humanely.  

Also, here is a definition of who is excluded from this designation.

The primary group not considered lawfully present consists of individuals who entered the United States without being inspected and admitted or paroled by immigration officials. Entering without authorization places them outside the bounds of any legal presence recognized by federal benefit laws.

Another group not considered lawfully present are individuals who entered with a valid visa but remained beyond their authorized period of stay, known as overstaying a visa. Once their period of admission expires, their presence is no longer authorized. An exception exists if the individual has a pending application for a change or extension of status that allows them to remain in the country while it is processed.

Notice that the first group mentioned emphasizes that those who enter the United States illegally are not entitled to federal benefit laws. Nor are those who enter with a valid visa but overstay the terms of that visa. Full stop. 

Although, again, even these people must be treated at an emergency room hospital if they show up hurt or dying or pregnant due to EMLATA.  

So while one can say that this issue is not as cut and dried as both sides say, as there are some illegal aliens permitted to receive health care, it is not because the Dems want to give it to them out of thin air, but because that is the LAW. 

What truly alarms, and sickens me, is when I see the Vice President of the United States say on TV that Americans don't want their tax dollars being used to give "free" health care to undocumented people. 

Speak for yourself, sir.

I prefer to be able to say on my Judgment Day that I was OK with paying the health care costs with my tax dollars of someone badly hurt, pregnant, or dying even if they were not born in America while I guess JD prefers to be like the innkeepers who shooed away Mary and Joseph because they didn't have any money, and were foreigners.

And, to circle back, it is all the more mind boggling that so many people believe that we don't have enough money in America, the greatest country in the history of the world, allegedly, to provide health care for all Americans at a reasonable cost, but are OK with the Big Beautiful Bill that made permanent all kinds of tax breaks for the super wealthy, as if they are struggling by on macaroni and cheese and hotdogs every night at dinner. Especially considering that they have all kinds of tricks to hide their income from taxes to begin with. 

But at least we will have a new ball room at the White House in the next few years. 

 

 

  

   

 

 

health care for the undocumented 

Crusing Pennsylvania, Part 2

If you didn't notice, or read, Part 1 of Cruising Pennsylvania, here is a link.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2025/09/cruising-pennsylvania-part-1.html 

When we left our intrepid travelers, we had purchased some really cheap gas in New York State, while just missing out on a free joint. We crossed into PA not long after the gas purchase, then arrived in Bradford, PA just as dusk was darkening to night. 

Another nice hotel.

In case you were wondering, I booked the trip myself, events and hotels. For those of you who are experienced travelers, that may not sound like a bid deal, but for me it was a first. As I built our itinerary, I attempted to balance which sites we determined were priorities, while keeping an eye towards travel times between sites. I knew we had one long travel day from Gettysburg to Aliquippa, and was fine with the ride home at the end of the vacation taking 3 plus hours, but wanted all the in between car routes to be in the 100 mile or 2 hours or less range.

To accomplish this, I first roughed out the places we wanted to definitely visit, then assigned days to each spot. 

Saturday in York for the rail trail bike ride

Sunday in Gettysburg for the museum and military park

Monday on the road to Aliquippa with a stop in Pittsburgh

Tuesday to Cleveland for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame

Wednesday in Erie, Pa to explore the Presque Isle State Park

Thursday at the Kinzua Bridge State Park

Friday for the covered wagon tour of the Grand Canyon of Pa.

At that point, I filled in the extras we might have time to see, for instance, the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, which, due to the turnpike tunnel fiasco detailed in Part 1, we had to cancel. We also had a stop at Rimrock Overlook as a possibility, as well as a half day at Ricketts Glen State Park, perhaps on the way home.

As it turned out, we were only able to do one of those three alternatives, as you will see in the paragraphs below.

Related to the length of drives, of course, was where to stay. Since we had accounts with two hotel chains, I went on their websites and began the search for hotels in the area of the destinations we had already determined to visit.

I know some of you probably use Vrbo and maybe like to use Airbnb. Not sure if we are just not comfortable with staying at someone's home, or if I am hesitant to stray from the traditional path of staying at hotels. Perhaps as we begin to travel more, I will expand our search parameters in terms of housing.

That being said, I did attempt to book hotels which advertised hot breakfasts included. Of course, the reality of what a hot breakfast means from one hotel to another, can vary, but all in all, I had a goal of attempting to book rooms in the $100 range if they included a hot breakfast, or $75 range if we would need to seek out a diner for our first meal of the day.

Having a real breakfast was important to us because we knew that our lunches might be light, and in deference to Nora's diabetes diagnosis, which, kudos to her, she has under admirable control, but which still effects when, what and how often she eats. We had a box of snacks with us for the trip, and I don't mean a single box of granola bars or Kind bars, but a box with multiple boxes of various snack bars. We made use of that stash multiple times a day, yet returned with enough to carry us into the next week. In fact, we still have a few, almost two weeks since our first day out.

I was successful in this goal, booking a rather cheap hotel in York for less than $150, total, for the first two nights, then, after a free overnight stay at JW's, three nights in the Choice Hotel family, which totaled right around $310, all of which included a version of hot breakfast.

Before returning to the actual events of the trip, at one of the morning meals, Fox and Friends was on the TV. I decided to pay loose attention, as I can't recall ever watching the show in the past, and felt it important to take the time to see how they presented the news.

As it turned out, Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, was on the show. To be fair, we were only in the breakfast area for 30-40 minutes, couldn't hear everything being said, and I didn't listen all that closely to boot. But what I did hear, and what I read of the words crawling at the bottom of the screen during Dolan's time on the couch, almost made me lose my lunch, or breakfast, in this case.

A few times my mother and I have discussed reasons why I am a lapsed Catholic. Should she ask again, I will ask her to watch the interview during which a Cardinal of the Catholic Church, during a discussion of the recently assassinated Charlie Kirk, called him a modern day Saint Paul, and spoke with reverence about Kirk's work with Turning Point.

Now, while I have come not to expect much from the Catholic Church and was disappointed, overall, with Pope Frances despite my admiration for his efforts, see a link a few paragraphs below, it truly boggles me how a fairly high ranking member of the Catholic Church could praise a man like Charlie Kirk considering all the divisive and outright hateful things he has said about the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the undocumented people in America today, not to mention his seemingly complete dismissal of the slaughter being perpetrated by the Israeli government against the women and children of Palestine.

This especially galls me considering both Pope Frances and the newly selected Pope Leo have been less than enthusiastic about the treatment of the undocumented in America and the Palestinians. Has neither Dolan or Kirk read any of either popes communications and opinions on those subjects?

Appalling! 

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2025/04/a-tribute-to-pope-francis.html  

To me, Kirk represented, in many of his opinions and dialogues and debates, the exact opposite of what I was taught during eight years of Parochial School. When I compare Kirk's most popular takes on society, I find a huge gap between his stance and that of Jesus as depicted in the Sermon on the Mount.

Perhaps Cardinal Dolan who will be replaced soon as he has reached the mandatory retirement age of 75, was angling for some kind of a future guest role on Fox as a "religious" expert. So sad.

Back to the trip.

On Thursday we drove from the hotel in Bradford to Kinzua Bridge State Park, with a stop at the Rimrock Overlook. While it was a slight backtrack, travel time wise, it was worth the time.

We were lucky enough to be the only people at the Overlook. It was gorgeous! We walked a bit around the rim, took a bunch of pictures, and even descended a story or two down a stairwell gouged into the rocks which led down through the woods below to a beach. We didn't venture that far down, knowing we didn't have time to get to the bottom, but it was a very peaceful and pleasant walk around the top.

The ride to Kinzua was only about 30 minutes. From the parking lot, you can glimpse the bridge which extends from the visitor center out over the gorge then stops. We walked through the displays and information areas of the building first, then walked out to the bridge, and out to its end.

Magnificent!

About 20 years ago, a tornado roared down the gorge and ripped away about half of the bridge. The twisted metal still lay on the ground, a few hundred feet below. After reinforcing what was left, it was decided to allow tourists to walk to the end, gaze out over the railings and down to the floor. Again, a bunch of pictures followed. 

Even better, there is a path that you can easily walk to the bottom. It was pretty cool to look back up at the people taking pictures over the rails, and the bridge which just hung there in space, as we traversed the trail. At the bottom, you can get up close and personal with the bridge supports that are cut off where the cement should meet the steel, and the pieces of steel and metal lounging about just as they landed on the fateful day a few decades ago.

I had read that the bridge was being reinforced and that it would be closed off and on beginning earlier this year, but fortunately they felt comfortable allowing it to be accessible during the late summer and early fall for a few months to take advantage of the foliage as it shed its summer colors for the season.

I say this to warn you to check the schedule if you would like to visit so you aren't disappointed.

After walking down to the bottom and up again, we made a purchase at the visitor center, then walked across the driveway to a food truck that seemed to be stationed there on a permanent basis. We had a nice lunch, well more like early supper, under a tree at a picnic table. This enabled us to drive to our next, and last destination without being hungry.

Once we arrived in Mansfield, we checked in to our room, dropped off our bags, then walked down to the desk and asked for a recommendation for dinner. The clerk gave us two options although she commented that there would be more choices if we drove to the next town, about ten miles away. We decided not to do anymore driving and opted for a local tavern, which caused us a bit of consternation when we walked in, there being no one to direct us to a table, or even to be bothered to greet us, or so it seemed, but then I realized that they had an outdoor eating area. 

We had eaten almost all our dinners outside, again, thanks to the wonderful weather we were fortunate to have, and once settled at a table, a waitress came right over and everything was fine. After dining, back to the hotel where we relaxed, placed the next day's clothes at the ready, and recounted some of the amazing things we had already seen, knowing the next day would be the last day of the trip.

Friday dawned cool, but still clear. Another perfect day seemed at hand. We drove to the covered wagon tour establishment, arriving a bit early. As it turned out, it was not a big tour, the wagon being only about half filled, which gave us lots of room to spread out and even move around as the tour guide pointed out various sites. It was a real horse drawn wagon pulled by two very large Belgian horses, brothers, Reuben and Jessie, as we were told by the guide.

We moved at a leisurely pace into the Grand Canyon of PA clip clopping along a well traveled path with walkers, bikers, e-bikers, joggers, beside the Pine Creek, which is pronounced crick, as per the tour guide who made a point that we were not to say creek in his presence. During the tour, we saw an osprey and a bald eagle, both cruising the above the crick in search of food.

After the tour, we drove to a point at the top of the canyon, a spot the guide had pointed out when we were directly below it. Again, incredible views from above. We hiked a few miles, occasionally stopping to take in the vistas, then returned to our car for the ride home. 

We considered a stop at Ricketts Glen State Park, but had been told that the summer's lack of rain made for less of an enjoyable walk around the park if seeing the waterfalls was desired. 

We decided to wait until the spring, and are planning an overnight trip.

Pennsylvania is an amazing state with a grand history related to the birth of our nation, as well as a myriad of adventures awaiting any traveler interested in outdoor activities or scenic overlooks, or a deep dive into history.

Yet, like so many people looking for fun and to explore, I hadn't visited any of the places we sojourned to during our trip, other than Gettysburg decades ago, despite having lived in the state my whole life. And there are still so many more to see!

I guess the lesson being, you never know when your next great adventure will be, perhaps even only a few miles away, if you don't look around and search. 

  

  

 

 

Cruising Pennsylvania, Part 1

Nora and I took a seven day trip around Pennsylvania (with a side jaunt to Cleveland) from September 13 to 19. All in all, we drove 1150 miles in that seven days. Remarkably, with our new Toyota Cross SUV Hybrid, we only used around 24.5 gallons of gas which equates to about 47 miles per gallon. Without getting too far away from my main topic, it just boggles my mind why America, let alone, the world, isn't encouraging consumers to purchase hybrid vehicles, either with monetary enticement in the form of rebates or tax incentives, or just merely talking them up, rather that the current administration's focus on policies which increase the demand for gas. 

Is he that obtuse that he would ignore the demand side of any consumer product when he focuses entirely on increasing the supply side, or is he just too old, too out of touch, too stuck in the past, that he doesn't realize that technologies that reduce the consumption of gas, reduce the need for fossil fuels, which might also reduce all the international drama (and outright war) that is associated with them. 

Oh well.

So, we left on Saturday for an afternoon bike rail adventure. If you haven't heard of these, it involves special bikes that are mounted to abandoned railroad tracks, of which there are hundreds, if not thousands of miles in Pennsylvania. In our case, we rented a four person bike for myself, wife, daughter and daughter-in-law. It was a beautiful day, in fact the weather for our entire trip was perfect. The ride was about 7 miles each way, through woods and past pastoral scenes, farms, meadows, open land. Just beautiful, and even relaxing despite the necessity of peddling. 

From there we had dinner with the girls, then they drove home to our house as they had offered to take care of our cats, water the plants, pick the produce, and, hopefully, enjoy time away from their normal routine.

On Sunday, Nora and I went to "Beyond the Battle", a museum on the edge of Gettysburg Military Park. Its focus was the land surrounding the battlegrounds, the history of who lived there, how it was "developed", and why that area was attractive in the first place for the advancement of soldiers and the movement of armies. It wasn't haphazard that Gettysburg became a such an important place for the battle that took place there. 

The highlight was a room outfitted to invoke a family who might have hidden in their basement as the battle took place around them. It was very realistic. You could feel in your chest the power of the cannons, could sense the panic of those who lived there, and the sheer chaos that such a horrific battle, and its devastation, created.

The end of the experience featured the voice of a rebel as he "discovered" the family, us, as we hid in the basement, a voice infused with less than friendly intent.

During this experience, I couldn't help but wonder about all the families in the world who are being subjected to similar onslaughts. although with far more destructive weapons. In Gaza and Ukraine, to name two, everyday families are experiencing the horror of war which we felt for just those few minutes in that room. It is sad that we spend so much time worrying about such trivial things, while people in those countries, women and children to boot, are under attack.  

From there we went to the military park. 

While I am sure I visited Gettysburg National Military Park as a child, I remember little about the visit, and haven't been there for at least 50 years, so I was surprised by its size. We downloaded a free app from the National Park Service that has a tour of Gettysburg, along with dozens of other national parks. At the visitor center we were given a map that detailed 16 stops along the auto tour that you could drive yourself. The NPS app was organized in the same way, so that at each stop you heard a description of what was going on at that place during the various battles that took place in Gettysburg in early July, 1863. We fell into the pattern of listening to the audio as we drove to the various sites, then got out to walk around. Often we listened again after returning to the car. In this way, we hit all 16 spots. All in all it took about four hours for us to make the circuit.

The park was bursting with monuments, small and large, to the various soldiers, regiments, battalions, etc that fought in the battles that took place. In addition, many mentioned battles at other locations that those same groups of soldiers engaged in, and died. There were a lot of statistics detailing deaths, wounded, captured, and missing.

The missing number was often as high as any of the other stats, indicating that, perhaps some of the young men thrown into such battles may have departed without permission, but most were delegated as missing because they were killed in such a way that their bodies could not be identified. Ah, the glories of war.

But the most surprising aspect of the military park was the large percentage of monuments to Confederate soldiers, more so than for their Union counterparts. Now, don't get me wrong, I have no problem with honoring those who gave their life for their beliefs, but it is still true that those who fought on the Confederate side were fighting against the United States Government. Perhaps traitors is too harsh, but they did engage in succession, did attempt to overthrow the ruling US Government. While Gettysburg is not that far north of the Mason-Dixon line, it still struck me that there seemed to be less reverence for those who fought, and died, for our country, less recognition of their sacrifice.

As a Pennsylvanian by birth, I was proud that the most spectacular monument was the one celebrating the brave young men who fought in the various regiments and battalions which were formed in my home state. It was one of the few that you could climb up to its top, to look out over the fields which were dotted with other shrines to the various generals and soldiers. 

One of the last stops on the tour was the graveyard which featured an abundance of markers with names only, or no name mentioned. Again, such a powerful indicator of the devastation that caused so many young men to be buried without recognition because they either weren't recognizable or because there was no available info to reveal their identity.

We returned to the same hotel we had stayed at after the rail trail bike adventure after finding a nice local restaurant for dinner. We also had breakfast at a local diner that morning before the ride to Gettysburg, and the next morning before we left for the Pittsburgh area.

Our plan was to stay at my son's house in Aliquippa, after visiting the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, but we encountered a two hour delay on the Pa turnpike when a truck was not able to negotiate the entrance to one of the tunnels and got jammed in the entrance. We commented more than once that we would have missed that delay had we not, fill in the blank, as we were within 200 yards of the accident. We didn't actually witness the incident, but I expect had we passed that spot a mere two or three minutes earlier, we would have been through the tunnel before the calamity.

If we hadn't finished the last drops of that coffee, or not glanced around the hotel room one last time for anything we forgot, or not chatted with the waitress at the diner before giving her our order, or any number of 2-5 minutes activities we engaged in that would have brought us to that tunnel entrance a bit sooner, we would have made our scheduled visit at the Aviary. 

Instead, we went right to JW's house, chatted a bit, then went out to dinner. We had a wonderful meal at an all you can eat Japanese restaurant. Sated, we returned to my son's house for some more conversation, a bit of TV, then sleep.

The next morning, Tuesday, we all went to breakfast at a local breakfast/lunch place, then Nora and I drove to Cleveland to visit the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. It was glorious. Constant music played as we walked through the museum's six levels. In addition to the stories and pictures on the walls of the early days of Rock, there was a slew of paraphernalia. Outfits, instruments, scribbled lines on paper and napkins of future number one hits, playbills, etc, just a cornucopia of everything related to rock n roll.

At one point there was a display featuring tapes of some Congressional hearings that occurred during the early days of rock music. Similar to what we see today when some self-righteous man or woman testifies about the evil of something, book, ideology, type of person, activity, etc, always declaring that this thing or action is ruining our culture, will bring the downfall of everything we treasure, and needs to be eradicated. 

Funny how the music of the time, so controversial, so sexual, so dangerous, is now used to sell cars and cruises and every other type of consumer product that one can imagine. And not only to us boomers who were condemned by those who perceived rock music as the devil's work, but even to our children.

Kind of makes you wonder how today's evil will be used to sell consumer products in 30 years, and what the children of those who condemn today's version of the things that will ruin our their minds and souls, will be targeting when it is their turn to "protect" the next generation from future cultural perversions.

Such an interesting circle, yet one for which we seem to eternally be ignorant of its lessons.  

After a few hours in the Hall, we drove to Presque Isle State Park near Erie, Pa where we had a take out Chinese food lunch at a picnic table, the sun heating the benches we relaxed upon, a cool breeze countering its warmth. After eating, we walked on a small trail for a bit, then went to the hotel to check in. 

As we had already done a few times, we asked the hotel clerk to suggest a local restaurant for us to try for dinner. It was so good that we ate there again the next night before driving to our next stop.

The next morning brought us another beautiful day. We drove back to the state park, stopping at one of the lighthouses on the island, and the Perry Monument which is located at its tip, on Lake Erie. Interesting story about Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry who defeated the British at the Battle of Lake Erie, a pivotal engagement during the war of 1812, a war not well known, but one which, had it gone the wrong way, would have changed America for decades.

Perry, after surviving a number of naval battles, died from yellow fever on a diplomatic mission to South America, on his 34th birthday. Funny, or is it ironic, how death can emanate from such everyday activities despite some people's history of dangerous events.

After the history lesson, we hiked a few of the trails, one properly called The Sidewalk Trail as it resembled an ordinary sidewalk which one might see on any city street. Not necessarily usable for bicycles, but a nice trail nonetheless.

As mentioned before, we returned to the restaurant we had tried the night before, had another nice meal, then departed.

As a side note, I mentioned that we only used about 24-25 gallons of gas during the trip. We left with a full tank, but after checking out gas prices online, I only purchased 4 gallons of gas when we left the Gettysburg area, knowing it would be enough to get me to Ohio on the way to Cleveland, the reason being that gas in Ohio is about 45 cents cheaper than Gettysburg and an even better bargain than in Aliquippa. We paid $2.86 a gallon there.

Also, as Erie, Pa is located on a sliver of land that would more practically be a part of New York State, I knew we would be traveling into New York for a spell, then head south into Pa towards our next destination. Again, a bit of research indicated that just before we headed south, gas would be even cheaper than in Ohio. We paid only $2.73 at a station that advertised a free pre-rolled joint with a $20 gas purchase. Sadly, we didn't qualify as the hybrid was only sipping gas as I detailed above, and we only needed 6 1/2 gallons to fill the tank.

 

 

 

 

 

Toni Morrison

I believe I mentioned in a previous post that I borrowed two books from the library written by Toni Morrison. In the last two weeks, I have read those books, The Bluest Eye and Sula. 

I enjoyed both, perhaps Sula a bit more. Both described, in raw detail the lives and experiences of Black people in the South in that hundred years after Emancipation but before the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In each, Morrison does not pull any punches as she relates in very graphic scenes the reality of being Black in America during that time. 

While I believe it would have been educational, certainly challenging, to have been required to read her novels in high school, I can understand why so many White Americans, Christians no less, push to have her books banned. Advocate that their sons and daughters not be exposed to the systemic racism that existed in the land of the free for so many generations.

That it is better to pretend that those times are gone, not withstanding the glorification we are experiencing concerning Charlie Kirk who often expressed opinions that dismissed the damage done by slavery, individually as well as communally, while claiming the existence of some kind of reverse discrimination that elevates undeserving people of color and women over the much superior white male.

No wonder people of his ilk prefer to erase the historic level of racism that existed in America. They need such erasures to enhance their support for continued prejudice against minorities and women but with a new twist, that white males are now the victims.

It would be comical if it wasn't so successful, and so insidious.

Morrison died in 2019, so she has missed the meteoric rise of MAGA, although I am sure she noticed the roots of it from the day of that famous ride down the escalator, and during those first few years of the first administration.

I haven't done any research into Morrison and her books. Whether some of her stories were partly autobiographical, or just what she observed, or what was passed down from her family or her neighbors. Having been born in 1931, I am sure she experienced some of the hopelessness that she imbues in some of her characters. And the resilience against the stacked odds against her race. And the resignation that nothing would change, as long as their skin color did not match those in charge.

Neither book is happy, neither has a happy ending, or a hero or heroine who succeeds despite the odds. Perhaps she has other novels that do supply more hope. When I googled that question, the description of her novel Paradise seemed to indicate one such book.

But both books delve into the topics of self identity, self worth, race, family, and friendship, all themes that resonate across race and gender, but are uniquely detailed through the lens of the accepted belief that being born Black makes one less equal, a belief that Morrison expresses as common for both sides of that color divide.

Again, it is only two books, but I was also struck by the lack of the angry black man, or woman, that is depicted in so many stories told for white readers, by those who wish to justify the need to keep "them" under control. This is not to say that there exists in any of her other books, or books by other famous Black writers, homage to those who were more aggressive in their fight for freedom and equality.

But that is the irony. When a mostly white mob attacks our nation's capitol at the behest of the outgoing president who is too weak or just too arrogant to accept his election loss, they are hailed as patriots, and eventually pardoned. Some are even serving in legislatures, state and federal, across our land.

But when a non-white person exhibits similar aggressive action, they are law breakers, pure and simple. They must be labelled terrorists, as the president has now done in reference to antifa, which actually stands for anti-fascism. Funny how a president who actively calls his enemies all the pejorative names, socialist, communist, fascist, as if he, and his cult, understand the meaning of any of them, would be so focused on a group that itself is against fascism.

I am old enough to remember when, on the podium as they received their gold medals at the 1968 Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised a black-gloved fist to express their dissatisfaction with the state of race relations in America. Of course, this "black power" salute as it was named by the white power brokers in our country was roundly condemned. Calls for them to have their medals revoked burst from the halls of Congress and the pundits of the day. 

Not to mention the kneeling during the national anthem that was a thing for a hot minute during the early part of Trump 1. 

In each case, just a gesture. No one was hurt, nothing was destroyed, yet because it was Black people leading the way, there was condemnation. Outrage. Ostracism.

To be fair, there was also outrage when 140 Capitol Police officers were attacked, when a couple million dollars of damage was done to the Capitol building, when a number of those same injured officers died in the days following the attack, some of their wounds, some by their own hand, traumatized as they were. 

But now, the whole incident is being rewritten as a day of Love and Peace. Nothing to see here. In fact, perhaps we should start investigating anyone who says it was a riot, anyone who investigated it and came to any conclusion other than it was an act of American patriotism.

Not sure why I decided to read Toni Morrison books so late in life, so long after their publication. I assume I encountered her name, or a reference to her works in a magazine, perhaps even The Atlantic. 

But I am glad that I read them, even if a little late. They help me feel more confident that I am on the right side of history in my condemnation of the policies of the Trump Administration, and the words of someone like Charlie Kirk, both who represent the worst of American behavior towards people not white. Whose words are the antithesis of the teachings of Jesus, the inspiration of the religion they claim to follow.

Finally, I recently asked a friend of mine how all this will end. What will it take for America to wake up to the fact that we have lost our way. His response, bloodshed, matched my prediction earlier this year that an American citizen, or citizens would be killed by an ICE or National Guardsmen, or military soldier sometime in the summer.

Fortunately, I was wrong, as summer ends has ended. But with the planned national day of celebration and remembrance for Charlie Kirk on October 14th, his birthday, which is also the birthday of George Floyd, I am hesitant to withdraw my prediction. I expect there to be all sorts of counter protests, and, if history is any lesson, those that celebrate the white racist will be called American patriots, while those that honor the murdered black man will be labelled anti-American terrorists.

And so the decline continues. 

    

Another 9/11 Anniversary

Today marks the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

24 years.

Most children born that year, and the four years following it, are in their early 20's. Perhaps on college campuses as we speak, or in the work force as they begin their adulthood adventures.

I am sure many have children, despite the declining birth rate. Experiencing the joys and anxieties associated with raising an infant. The struggle to balance work and home life, day care expenses, and the challenge of leaving their care free young adult lives behind in lieu of responsibilities, bills, and budgets.

The wars that were inspired by that horrific day are behind us, although the threat of war is still prevalent, the wrath of those who would destroy our "way of life" still widespread. 

I have posted a number of times under the label of Nine Eleven, twice in the first year, then for the first and second anniversary. But only a few times more since then, in 2016 and last year. Perhaps there are others that I haven't been able to identify, but I am less than happy that I have allowed this anniversary to be pushed out of view, at least my view, so often. 

Here are links to the five posts I refer to.   

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2016/09/another-911-anniversary.html

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2013/09/another-911-anniversary.html

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2012/09/another-911-anniversary.html

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2011/09/reflections-on-911.html

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2011/08/jumpstart-to-911-discussions.html

In reading them now, I am struck with the lack of progress we have made, as a country, in regards to our relationships with the rest of the world. In fact, disappointed would be a better word, especially considering the current administration's apparent desire to eliminate all the soft power programs that provided food, medicine and monies to assist those in the world with less. 

 

Those efforts, which helped cement the opinion that America was a great nation, willing to help the less fortunate, are being replaced with, at best, an isolationist attitude, at worst with the very clear message that we only care about ourselves. America first.

 

Certainly it is true that telling everyone what to do, how to run their country, who to elect, what their values should be, was a mistake, even if it was meant to help. 

 

But a 360 degree shift is not the answer either.

 

When we end programs that save children's lives, provide medicine and food to reduce poverty and disease, food, by the way, grown by American farmers who are also suffering with this change in philosophy, we diminish the connection we have developed with those whose only crime was to be born in a country not America. In essence we tell them, too bad, no longer interested in sharing our blessings.

 

And, we provide an opening for other countries, China in particular, to fill that void and establish their country, their belief system as one which aides those without resources. 

 

Even worse, along with two of the worst bullies on the planet at this time, Putin and Netanyahu, who are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of women and children, our president seems aligned, if not with all their actions, the actual methodology they represent; might makes right. 

 

Not that America hasn't endorsed this motto often, but now it has taken a whole new meaning with Trump's threats to Greenland and Canada, his obvious disdain for all leaders of our traditional allies/democratic nations, his love affairs with Putin, Orban, and Jung Un, each a dictator in his own right, and even the outright attack on a Venezuelan ship in international waters, judge, jury and executioner.

 

We seemed to have learned nothing. 

 

As is Israel with their attempts to eliminate every Hamas leader from the face of the planet, women and children as collateral damage be damned, America seems on a headlong path to eliminate friends who have stood by us, reduce the population of countries that historically depended on our largess, and create even more enemies in the world.

 

Or maybe the plan is to make new friends among our old enemies by moving away from democracy towards a version of performative democracy like in Russia and Hungary, or outright autocracy like in South Korea.

 

As I have said a number of times, the decline is real, it is only a matter of how far and to what degree. 

 

And how long, hopefully, it might take us to recover. 

Kurt Vonnegut

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been using the Chester County Library System a lot these last few months. Last week I withdrew three books, two by Toni Morrison, and Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five.

Not exactly sure why I decided to read Vonnegut's book, although I suspect his name may have appeared in one of the articles in the August Atlantic about nuclear weapons.

But first, interesting story. When I searched the adult fiction section for "Slaughterhouse...", I didn't find it even though I had checked before going and knew it was on the shelf. After easily locating the two Morrison books, I asked at the desk where I was told that "Slaughterhouse Five" was in the young adult section. I was intrigued. When I asked why, I was told that it was there because it was included on a the local high school reading list. In retrospect, I guess this shouldn't have surprised me as I am sure I was assigned to read it in high school.

While also at the checkout desk, I asked if they had a banned book section yet. Working on it, was the response When I commented that all three of the books I was checking out would most likely be included when they did establish such an area, the librarian agreed. I told her I would make sure to return them all soon.

Now, of course, as an adult, I would certainly be able to access any of those books, I assume, even in the most backward/aggressive of states which are actively banning books. What is sad however, is that they would not be available to young adults in those places.

Just another reason why it boggles my mind that so many Americans embrace the current surge of ideology that results in ideas being censored. And so the decline continues.

Anyway, as I read "Slaughterhouse...," I was taken back to Mr Topper's English class in high school. Or was it Mr McCabe? I guess it doesn't really matter who lead the discussions, just that it was discussed, although I can't recall any of those classes and analysis.

As I read the book this time, I must say that I was getting a bit tired of the phrase "And so it goes", which Vonnegut uses throughout the book. I actually googled the question, how many times...., and found one answer to be 106 times. Of course, who am I to critique Kurt Vonnegut, but I felt it started to lose its effectiveness after a while. Although, perhaps that was the point.

Anyway, I was most struck by the invention of the Tralfamadorians in the book, especially as it relates to their ability to see in 4D, where the 4th dimension is time, and their perception of death, which is that, for them, there is no death, only experiences, and in no definitive order.

The character Billy Pilgrim, who claims to have been abducted by the aliens, and to have traveled in time many, many times, illustrates the advantages of this concept. While many of us may be adverse to knowing when we are going to die, Billy knows precisely when, and in fact seems to have experienced it, but not as the finale of his life. He even predicts that he is going to die while giving a speech, which leads to him being offered police protection. He declines. And so it goes.

Of course, many people believe that death is not final, believe there is an afterlife. That our life force will go on without the body. Sometimes I wonder how many people actually believe that, despite the high percentage of people who say they do.

I say this because of the plethora of ways humans attempt to lengthen their lives, certainly their youth. I mean the search for the Fountain of Youth is as old a tale as tales themselves. Not to mention the obsession we seem to have for accumulating wealth. Do we forget that you can't take it with you, or do some people really believe that the afterlife has a yardstick for possessions, and that the more you die with, the better cloud you get assigned to?

Perhaps it is the fear of death that makes us scramble, lie, cheat, long for, even sacrifice our morals and principles to gather more and more money. 

I recently expressed my surprise at boomers whose goal is to spend every single dollar they have earned, to purposefully leave their children nothing. Seems a bit selfish, but then again, at least it reflects the understanding that money will not buy one's way into eternal bliss.

Throughout the book, the character Edgar Derby is mentioned. He is found guilty of stealing a teapot in the aftermath of the fire bombing of Dresden which killed more people than the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and is shot by a firing squad. 

I imagine the irony of such an act was discussed in those high school classes I attended, and perhaps in today's classes as well. Or is the correct word sarcasm?

The United States military recently blew up a boat traveling from Venezuela to our borders, allegedly carrying drugs. While there may be proof that there was a crime about to be committed, it seems that whomever was on that boat was guilty until proven innocent. Except there was no chance to prove that innocence. 

For a country that values freedom, and the rule of law, and our alleged superior system of justice, there was remarkably little coverage in the media, and very little outrage. A national shrug.

Yet today, a conservative firebrand, someone who has openly expressed anti-LGBTQ and transgender views, who has called for a reversal of gay marriage rights, who considers the passing of the Civil Rights Act to have been a travesty, who supported unproven claims about the 2020 election being stolen, etc, etc, was assassinated in Utah. Since then, he has been lauded by no less than the president as a fine person, loved by ALL (his caps). 

I would imagine that the majority of people he believes (his) God hates didn't love him. Nor should anyone who believes in the phrase "all men are created equal", or even the advice "love thy neighbor as yourself."

Yet, even on MSNBC there are laments that we must not allow political violence to take hold, that there is no place for it in a country such as ours, that all must condemn such barbaric actions.

Unless of course, it is directed at people like those in that boat that was blown away. 

Or against the Capitol police officers who were brutalized on January 6th.

Or against the tens of thousands of Palestinians that have been slaughtered, a large percentage by American bombs. 

Or against any of the "others" that are so easily identified by people like Charlie Kirk, or Donald Trump. People who are now denied medical care, are being kicked out of the military, and who are bullied to such a degree that upwards of 40 percent of them have tried to kill themselves. 

Oh, and by the way. Two students were shot at a school in Denver today. There have already been dozens of shootings in schools and it is only September, but again, a national shrug. 

I don't know if Charlie himself said this, or just agreed with the sentiment but more than once he chided those trying to restrict 2nd Amendment rights, stating that it was ludicrous to think that in a country with such rights there would be no children deaths, or deaths of any innocent person. And that it was worth those sad but inevitable deaths to guarantee those gun rights.

Perhaps we should chalk his death up to that very same belief. Or just shrug, as we do at so many other senseless deaths.

And so it goes. 

 

 

 

Klaatu

 A few days ago, I watched the original "The Day The Earth Stood Still" released in 1951. It was quite different from the more recent version starring Keanu Reeves.

In the original, Earth was visited by Klaatu and Gort to tell us that our foray into atomic weapons was dangerous, to us, but will not be tolerated by the other species of the universe who fear we will expand our use of such weapons beyond our own planet. 

In the remake, Klaatu fears that we are destroying our home planet, and that given Earth is relatively unique in the universe, it must be saved from us.

In both cases, humanity is threatened with destruction if we don't change our actions.

Interestingly, the original ends with Klaatu, having been killed by man yet revived by his robot, after issueing his warning that should we not change, we will be destroyed, flies off in his ship with that ominous warning ringing in the ears of all who were present. 

It is a far less hopeful ending compared to the remake where Klaatu sacrifices himself once he is convinced that humanity is worth saving, is worth being given a second chance.

The other glaring difference in the versions is that the Earth actually stands still in the original. Klaatu is asked to perform some kind of miracle that will demonstrate his power, and he literally stops the flow of energy for thirty minutes. All cars and trains are immobile. Phones don't work. There is a scene where a secretary tells her boss that the phone is out, and he tells her to call the phone company to get if fixed. Not sure if that levity is supposed to indicate the lack of reasoning that humanity has shown to Klaatu, or just the typical attitude of a male boss who expects his woman secretary to provide him with what he requires to conduct business, but regardless, it is a scene of levity that stood out to me, considering the gravity of destruction that Klaatu was trying to convey.

Interestingly, the point is made that energy still flowed in hospitals so that real people did not suffer. 

One similarity between the two versions is that in both, a woman is the first to understand the importance of Klaatu's message. I easily believe that this was purposeful in the remake, but have to wonder about the thinking behind those who made the 1951 version when women were not exactly valued for their logic and intelligence. Still, perhaps that was the point. That humanity needed a burst of understanding, perhaps empathy, to counter its headlong path down the sometimes sterile world of technology, and its advancements, for good and bad.

In some ways, I like the original better. We aren't left off the hook like in the remake. We are presented with the choice, and even though the choice is to change or die, it is our choice, and not the choice of Klaatu who stops the destruction of Earth.

Of course, were there any reality to the premise of the original, those who had sent Klaatu would have returned by now. Whether to reward us for not having sent any atomic weapons into space, or to punish us for continuing to build such destructive weapons, and for using the threat of their use against other citizens of our planet is certainly debatable.

I wrote my own version of this concept, a little over three years ago. Here is a link to that story. 

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2022/06/the-universal-guild.html 

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By the way, if you google Klaatu, you will find a reference to a Canadian band specifically named after the lead character in "The Day..." Apparently for a hot minute there was speculation that the albums they released were actually recorded by the Beatles as the style was similar, at least to some. Of course, there were many who wished the Beatles would reunite, especially in the 1970's, so it is no wonder that so many fans would respond to rumors and innuendo. In fact, the promoters of the band did not deny such speculation, at least until it was definitely proven otherwise.

 

Empathy Revisited

Someone told me recently that I was not as upset as she is about the attack on women's reproductive rights because I am a man.

Initially, I was very hurt by this statement. While I know that I can be condescending to people at times, and that I often use (or try to use) humor to offset difficult or stressful situations and experiences, I was of the opinion that I possessed a fairly advanced sense of empathy for others. That I recognized that "do unto others..." was not just a nice moral guideline, but a trait that advanced society as a whole, or at least did not allow us to easily descend into depths featuring such horrific events as the Holocaust.

However, the fact remains that I am a white male and that I have had the advantages of that simple description (other than the occasional prejudices in the labor market which I experienced when I had mid-back length hair) throughout my life. 

I have won the birth lottery by being born in a country with as much opportunity built into its systems as any other, and being born a white male to boot, a two word category that includes a virtual lock on the power and resources of this very fine country, especially during the first 150 years of its inception. 

Even today, the percentage of the rich and powerful white man, whether in politics or business, exceeds by many times the actual percentage within the entire population.

So, is she right? 

Before answering that question, I thought I would provide links to the other times when I posted about the Birth Lottery. The original, in spring 2010, the revisit in May 2013, and a commentary about indigenous children in June 2023.

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2010/04/birth-lottery.html

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-birth-lottery-revisited.html 

https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2023/06/the-birth-lottery-and-native-americans.html 

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So, I think the answer is that she is right, but also wrong. 

I think that in the aggregate, history shows that it is possible for white men to have empathy for other demographics. After all, the 19th Amendment, which recently celebrated its 125th anniversary since passage, was passed by white men in America's Congress. As was the Civil Rights Legislation, although there were some women and people of color representing the electorate in Congress by then.

Do those accomplishments erase the decades of suppression, the years of brutality? Certainly not. But perhaps those actions, while tacitly endorsed by the majority by the power of not seeing, were only perpetrated by a small percentage of individuals. That in general, white men were able to empathize, to improve life for people not like themselves, despite the actions of some very horrible individuals.

Sadly, that would have been my answer in the past. Perhaps even the recent past, but past nonetheless.

Now, however, I believe that the script has flipped. With the advent of Trump's white man victimization tour, it no longer feels that in general we are capable of putting ourselves into the shoes of our fellow Americans who are non-white and/or non-male, let alone the vast populations across the planet who are also deemed less than human. 

There are certainly specific white men, millions of them in fact, who have not lost touch with their ability to empathize. But whereas I believe it was a small set of men who were responsible for the rampant prejudice and withholding of opportunities for women and people of color, too many white men today accept that undocumented immigrants should be rounded up and incarcerated, and that women should not have the choice to carry to term or abort their pregnancy. 

We should know better, but have chosen to fail to recognize that what is going on is the exact opposite of what our alleged Judeo-Christian ethic teaches, what Christ's sermons instruct us as to how to behave towards one another.

Men who otherwise love their families, have worked hard all their life, pay their taxes, go to church, yet are seemingly incapable of accepting that part of the reason for their success is their race and gender, and the advantages that have come there way, through no effort on their part, but just simply because they won the birth lottery. 

And then discount that advantage when opining about those who didn't.

Now, of course, they don't look at it that way. They prefer to believe that all their accomplishments occurred due to their work ethic, or intelligence, both of which could also be included as traits we inherit, that we are provided by the randomness of the birth lottery. 

The funny thing is, they are right, to a degree, as not every white male achieves success or fame or wealth, so they do deserve credit for "making it". I don't begrudge them that, even congratulate them for their accomplishments.  

But that doesn't change the simple fact that for most of history, men have enjoyed greater benefits simply due to their gender, and that white men in particular, for all of America's existence.

And that the failure to recognize this edge equates to a severe shortage or empathy. 

So, where do we go from here?

Is this just a temporary swing of the pendulum away from the progress that has been made in the last 100 years? 

If we consider the whole of history, the ebbs and flows that have transpired during the course of humanity, then it seems obvious that this is just another blip. 

That, like the horrors of WW1 and WW2, when soldiers as well as civilians were just so many pawns in the struggle for power, and the goal of victory, no matter what the cost, we eventually ended those conflicts, and now countries that were once enemies, are now friends.

That, like the atrocities of the various genocides that have occurred throughout the globe, the killings ceased, just as we hope that they might end soon in Palestine and Ukraine.

That the slow progression of humanity's spiritual growth will somehow get us through these crises, so that one day we might look upon today's horrors with the same rational that allows us to consider past human against human violence as part of our communal growth.

Maybe.

The Atlantic devoted much of the August edition to the history of nuclear weapons. We recently celebrated (is that the right word) the detonation of two atomic bombs over cities in Japan. Since then eight other countries have developed and possess these weapons, and are far more powerful than the ones used in 1945. 

One of the articles discussed a sort of malaise that the writer believes has evolved about the possibility of an actual nuclear war taking place. That, since the days of practicing an attack by diving under our desks at school, and the proliferation of backyard bunkers, there seems to be a belief that since it has happened yet, it won't happen at all. 

Or perhaps it is because there are so many other doomsday scenarios in the public consciousness that seem so inevitable.

Regardless, the articles together remind us that our weapons of mass destruction are vastly more dangerous than in 1945, that the rhetoric of us vs them is no less vitriolic than 80 years ago, and that the time allotted for a president to decide to launch or not is minutes, which means that such a decision about whether a perceived attack is real or not requires an even stronger understanding of the specifics of the widespread destruction that will occur. 

It certainly needs more thought than how can I show how strong a man I am, as the current lodger in the White House seems obsessed with. 

When the leader of our country expresses very little of this trait, it can embolden those with none themselves to lash out at the "others", while tempering those who possess even a modicum of empathy to question whether such a trait is weak, or woke.

Empathy.

For the record then, it is certainly possible that the critique that I am not as upset about the attacks of women's reproductive rights as a woman might be is valid, not because I am not upset, after all, I have a daughter of reproductive age, but because I am not a woman. 

While I can still advocate for pro choice policies, I will never find myself in a position where I have to decide to carry a fetus to term, or abort it. 

Which means that all I have is my ability to empathize; and to assume that such a decision should be left to the person/people most involved.

Similarly, I have never left my home country, traveled hundreds if not thousand of miles to a new land with limited understanding of its language, customs, laws, but I can empathize for those who make such a choice, and give them the benefit of the doubt as to their motives.

In the end then, it is only empathy that allows us to accept someone's decision to do something that we might disagree with, or not understand, or never do ourselves, let alone when that person's religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, etc, differs from our own.

And is it empathy that I find lacking in the policies and actions of our country under the leadership of President Trump and his allies, a lack that makes me ashamed for America.