Statecraft Informer

Turns out yesterday’s power/utility outage wasn’t caused by high winds and rain, per se´ (always makes me think of Per-cy Faith), but instead by one particularly vulnerable tree.

Our house is situated in the middle of a steep hill, which dead ends at the base of a bigger hill beyond. When you reach our house, and the rest on our side of the street, a beautifully undeveloped, well-treed hillside rises up and over to join other natural slopes.

Ours is the last yard to enjoy both level and sloping ground. It is great for three dogs who revel in a regular game of “mountain” ball.

The backyard is dotted with about two dozen large pines, and a scattering of deciduous species as well.

Our closest green neighbors, a Ponderosa and a Red Pine, grow together about 15 feet from the house, rising to near full height, and provide a canopy over the rear deck and lower patio.

Up until about 3:30 AM yesterday, ours was one of only two properties on this side of the street with old growth pines living so close to the house, the rest having cleared the nearest 30 to 50 feet of their rear yards years ago.

We are now alone.

The 70 foot Ponderosa Pine which once stood about 10 feet from the rear corner of the last house on our side of the block, now rests inside the rear corner, and front corner for that matter, of that unfortunate house.

When it fell, it also brought a number of utility lines down with it, hence the technical difficulties.

As luck would have it, the residents of said house were all away on vacation, and no one was injured. The word vacation has taken on a whole new meaning for them, however, and repairing that squeaky patio door is now a non-issue.

Although my neighbors were away, this is by no means a forest, so there were plenty of people around to hear when the tree fell. Even at 3:30 in the morning.

Some folks farther from the doomed tree than I claimed to have been awakened by the “boom,” or in one case, “crash-bang-boom.” I continued to check the inside of my eyelids for cracks in blissful silence.

As far as I know, if roused, no one on the block called anyone, or went to check on the home’s occupants. Perhaps nearer neighbors new of their absence. Perhaps others slept deeply as I had.

Turns out it was PG&E (the Pacific Gas & Electric Company, also known to some callous reprobates as PiGgiE) which raced to the scene, due to their own inner alarm systems, and lit up the street from top to bottom, in order to find out why all the lights on the street had gone out, top to bottom.

It was also they who notified the reveling, absent homeowners of their good/bad luck.

Upon hearing the news, I was immediately grateful it had not happened to me.

Oh, I did “feel” for the neighbors I don’t really know, and was happy no one was hurt, but I continued to think, “Glad it wasn’t my house.”

Aside from Philosophy 101, and cocktail parties in wee hours, I suppose trees falling in lonely forests are of little interest.

But what of trees in yards down my own thoroughly inhabited street?

Unless their rebuilding designs are a break from the traditional California boxes around here, there is nothing abstract about a massive tree in your living room. My neighbors, whose names I cannot recall, will be living with the consequences for a while.

Perhaps some of their more immediate neighbors will lend assistance of some kind. Perhaps not. The whole thing got me wondering.

Thirty years ago, with the wind at my back, I could probably hit their house with a rock. Yet, today, I don’t know the names of the folks who live there or anything about them.

I don’t think it’s because I don’t care, or that my neighbor’s plight is an abstraction to me. I’m not a “bad person.”

Maybe it’s that I just don’t care enough.

Growing up I knew nearly every single person on my street by name, and even a whole bunch of folks around the corner and down the block, too.

At one time or another (I was a young entrepreneur, after all), I believe I spoke to them all. Even Mr. Kaplan, who was not at all well-liked. They each had a story to tell, and to some degree, we all felt a part of each other’s stories.

I’ve lived a lot of places in a bunch of states since then, and I swear the further away I move from that place in time, the further apart I have moved from my neighbors, whoever they’ve been.

The world is getting smaller, and so it seems, is the world around me.

Or is it within me?

When did the abstract world become a reality and the real world an abstraction?

I’m sure if I take the time I can find the answers hiding somewhere here inside of me. I mean, what good is history if you can’t learn from it, right?

In the meantime, maybe I’ll walk up the hill tomorrow and see if there’s anything I can do to help.

Owing to some extremely high, persistent winds, and occasional torrential rainfall the last two days, my ability to get online has been compromised.

Hamstrung by technical difficulties!

Once upon a time, I received nearly all of my information about the outside world from newspapers, and to a lesser degree, television and radio.

I still subscribe to one or two papers, and continue to watch TV, although I don’t “watch” the radio nearly as much as when I was a kid. There isn’t even a good oldies station in the Bay Area anymore.

Mostly, though, I find myself relying on the internet and this computer for the lion’s share of my daily enlightenment. I’ve got more bookmarks and links and other favorites, folders, etc., than Carter has pills.

As the input has changed, so has the outgo.

I started writing, like many people, using those huge red pencils and rough, wide-lined paper, before upgrading to ball point pens, composition and spiral notebooks.

Finally, I graduated to a typewriter, a black, portable Remington in a box, which served me quite well for years.

My writing career was launched, and progressed with that old Remington, the U.S. Mail, and involved an inordinate amount of rejection slips.

Cartooning was also quite simple, requiring pencil, pen, watercolors and paper.

My advertising and graphic work was largely hand drawn, typed, cut and pasted, using genuine scissors and actual paste.

I eventually gave in and purchased an automatic Brother “word processor,” but just as I was becoming addicted to it, Apple hit the streets.

There I was, waiting on the curb, trying to act nonchalant until the doors to opened. Even way over there in New York, I believe the gang from Cupertino could see me coming. I bought one that day, and I’ve been buying them ever since.

Pretty soon, I had become a “desktop publisher.”

Imagine. Me, a publisher!

I still have scissors, paste, registration graph paper, and such. My youngest accidentally broke my drafting table, tough, and since I never replaced it, the old supplies are no longer in plain sight, and you know what that means.

The Remington is long gone. I believe we became separated about four moves ago. I still see the old machines at garage sales and in “antique” stores, but the temptation to acquire another old friend only reminds me about all the unused layout supplies languishing back home somewhere.

I’m pretty sure I gave the Brother to Goodwill about twenty years ago.

As it turns out, somewhere between then and now, I became less and less publisher, and more and more writer.

QuarkXPress®, and the rest, are no longer even installed on this Mac, nor were they on the last two.

If you’ve been paying attention, or just looking, you’ve noticed this space is nothing but words. Just plain writing. Okay… there is an occasional flourish :-), but nearly everything I’ve done over the last ten years has taken the form of words, phrases, sentences, etc.

Technically, all I’ve really needed is what I had at the start: a pencil and paper, and perhaps a typewriter for copy ready product.

Alas, I no longer write for newspapers or magazines.

Even the stodgier markets are beginning to eschew the simple typewritten format.

So here I am.

Using the latest technology, but temporarily out of touch with my main sources of information. Typing words, phrases and sentences, which I may or may not be able to transmit to my 451Press publishers in deadline time, and in the usual fashion.

Not a lick has involved “statecraft” or “informing,” although I hope I have stated them in a crafty and informing manner.

Another thing I’ve noticed in retrospect. I used to engage in many, many more actual conversations years ago. I mean, every day, I’d be talking and listening, listening and talking, face to face and eye to eye. Always places to go and people to see.

I guess I just don’t get out near as much as I used to.

And so I find myself wondering about the nature and efficacy of the technological evolution we all share. I seem to be devolving a bit lately.

Just for a moment, it occurs to me the time has come to retreat to that cabin in the woods, with paper and pen, nature and my thoughts…

But then as if in reply, I remember an Email I got from the management at 451Press before the power and phone lines went out. Seems the new year will require me to start adding some graphics to this here blog.

What’s next, live face to face interviews?

Maybe. Why not, right?

I have other work to do, of course. Though it is mostly comprised of plain old writing, more and more, employers want graphics, links, video, maps, etc., giving impetus and purpose to my continuing evolution.

Maybe that cabin will have to wait a few more years… at least until the girls finish growing up and move out and on with their completely techno lives.

Right now I’ve got to figure out how to add some pictures to this old-fashioned space.

Jerald terHorst, the newspaperman who became his first presidential press secretary, has written that if Ford “saw a school kid in front of the White House who needed clothing, he’d give him the shirt off of his back, literally. Then he’d go right in the White House and veto a school-lunch bill.”

• His given name was Leslie Lynch King, Jr.

• He proposed to his wife while wearing one brown and one black shoe.

• He is the only Eagle Scout to become president.

• He could have been a Green Bay Packer or Detroit Lion.

• He, a girlfriend, and his wife, all worked as models.

• He was the first president to visit Japan.

• He “left home” when he was two weeks old.

• He was an active “American Firster” prior to WWII.

• He was a high school and college “football hero.”

• He interned as a Forest Ranger in Yellowstone Park.

• He received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan.

• He was an assistant football and boxing coach at Yale University.

• He bears the name of his adoptive stepfather, Gerald R. Ford, Sr.

• He was an active political reformer in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

• He graduated in the top third of his law school class at Yale.

• He campaigned for Wendell Willkie in 1940.

• He volunteered for the U.S. Navy following Pearl Harbor.

• He is the only president never elected president or vice-president.

• While running for congress (successfully) in 1948, he campaigned on his wedding day.

• He was awarded numerous medals for his WWII service, and was honorably discharged as a Lieutenant Commander.

• He served as a Republican Congressman from 1949-1974.

• He was the only president whose two assassinations attempts against him were made by women.

• As president, the Secret Service once had to let him back into the White House after he had been locked out while walking his dog.

• He was one of seven appointed to the Warren Commission by President Johnson, which investigated the assassination of JFK and found no evidence of conspiracy.

• He and his wife, Betty, had three sons and a daughter.

• His daughter, Susan, held her senior prom at the White House.

• He repeatedly declined to run for the senate or state governor, hoping instead to be Speaker of the House one day.

• He became early and fast friends with Richard Nixon after entering congress.

• He served as house minority leader for eight years.

• During his congressional career, he held leadership roles in many powerful committees.

• He was the first president to release a full report of his medical condition to the public.

• Don Rumsfeld served as his Chief of Staff, only to be replaced by Dick Cheney, so that Rumsfeld could become the youngest Secretary of Defense in U.S. history.

• He urged Americans to “Whip Inflation Now,” and wear “WIN” buttons to show their support.

• He is the only president whose library and museum are in two different cities.

• He was the oldest-living former president in U.S. history.

• During his abbreviated term as president, he used his veto pen 64 times.

• He oversaw the U.S. withdrawal from, and abandonment of South Vietnam.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• He was the only president ever to have pardoned a former president.

That last fact is most likely the only reason Gerald R. Ford did not win a full, elected term as President of the United States.

Even so, he barely lost to Democratic dark horse, Jimmy Carter, in 1976.

Well-liked by many of varying political persuasions during his career, it was with the help of his old friend, Richard Nixon, that Gerry Ford rose up through the Republican ranks, eventually becoming his appointed Vice-President.

It can be argued Mr. Nixon was also instrumental in his retirement from politics, as well.

Following Nixon’s resignation, and his swearing in as president, Gerald Ford announced that “Our long national nightmare is over.”

In some respects, it seems to me the nightmare was really just beginning back on that August day in 1974, and although we have awakened briefly once or twice since then, we continue to be haunted by political malfeasance, social discord and hidden agendas.

Gerald Ford was a great athlete. He was a dedicated naval officer. He was a successful congressman and party leader. He was a calming, “normal,” influence as America’s 38th President. He was a solid, midwestern, family man.

He was never particularly humorous, and certainly no Chevy Chase, but Gerald Ford did help launch the then-unknown’s career, back when Saturday Night Live actually had something funny to say.

Gerald R. Ford joined the Eternal All-Star Collegiate Football Team yesterday evening. He was 93 years old.

It is December 26, and I’m on the road from here to there, in and out of my small Pacific coast city.

With me are Sam, Rusty and the Buster, quality dogs and boon companions.

There is work to do, errands to run, and rain is on the way.

Yesterday marked the finale´of the seemingly endless pre-Christmas shopping season, followed immediately by the post-Christmas, year-end, buying extravaganza.

I am surrounded by folks scurrying for sales, hung over from excess holiday spirit(s), begrudgingly (<—- isn’t that a funny looking word?) creeping back to whatever gainfully employs them (non-retailers will try and act busy through the rest of the week), and every once in a while, I see the face of someone who seems to have maintained a certain “wonderful time of the year” glow.

These are truly few and far between.

Whatever good will — toward men or women — the non-New Year holidays have wrought, appears to have peaked sometime late last night or early this morning.

Of course I can’t speak for all those with time off work or school, unless they’re out shopping. I will assume a goodly number of them continue to exhibit good “cheer,” or the good sense to stay in bed a little longer.

The newspapers and other media are rolling out “best and worst” and “top ten” lists.

I, too, may succumb to the urge and add my own tally in this space before 2006 fades away.

Time Magazine’s Person of the Year turned out to be you and me, or rather, YouTube, which may do to blogs like this one, what blogs like this one are doing to entity’s like Time Magazine.

It seems to me sweeping changes have become almost commonplace, and I find myself wondering if people have often thought the same thing about the times in which they lived.

The U.S. is going to stay the course, reverse course, or add another course to the sad, ill-prepared banquet which is Iraq.

Regardless, the future would appear as perilous as the past.

And if revenge truly is “a dish best served cold,” we best be considering where, when, and how the new anti-U.S. hatred will be made manifest in the years to come.

Better still, we might want to consider whether a different, more humane, honest and transparent policy approach would prove more successful at opening doors to freedom, than have our recent strategies.

It’s too bad the easier smiles, more ready displays of concern and congeniality have once again evaporated like so much mulled cider.

It’s too bad Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and every celebration of light, brotherhood and peace around the world are not observed every day.

It’s too bad the essence of light, brotherhood and peace at the core of every world religion, is not really incorporated into the daily living of their adherents.

It is December 26, and I’m reminded, as I often am, of words of wisdom from other turbulent times. These from a remarkable, though not particularly Christian, Benjamin Franklin:

“He who shall introduce into public affairs the principles of Christianity will change the face of the world.”

It is December 26. Tomorrow is December 27.

Until we actually decide to put our principles into practice, and to practice principled public affairs on a regular basis, the calendar will merely reflect the most recent aprehension of astronomical reckoning.

Just another day.

You’re reading this.

That’s good news.

Okay, maybe not as good for you as it is for me, but at least you’re conscious, breathing and interested in the world around and/or within you.

That’s a very good thing.

And just consider the odds. How many blogs are there in cyberspace? A million? A billion? A lot, anyway.

How many people in the world? About six and one half billion!

And out of all those blogs and all those people, you have found your way here. This good thing is very rare, indeed.

Being alive — and as an occasionally suicidal, manic-depressive lunatic, I can say this with conviction — is a very good thing.

The deathly alternative may or may not be a better thing or place, but until I find out for sure, I am willing to postpone the experience for a while longer.

I know I bitch and moan a lot about politics; politicians; integrity, or the lack thereof; ditto honesty, decency, morality and common sense; but having the ability to bitch and moan, to apprehend any of those things, and to have the opportunity to share it all with others is a very good thing.

For all the utterly heinous things people are doing to themselves or others right now, there are at least as many gloriously fine ones taking place, too, and it seems to me, the good somehow manages to outweigh the bad in the final analysis.

And as long as there’s time, you and I have another chance to be a little bit better than we are.

In the process, maybe we can be a part of making our own little world a bit better, and who knows, perhaps if we don’t give up, the whole shebang may wind up just a tiny bit better, because we still had the time. And that is really good news.

And speaking of time, I’ve almost always had animals in my life, and one of the characteristics they share which I envy most, is the understanding that this moment — right here and now — is all there is.

They have no hourglass, no atomic clock. Time is an vague, uncertain thing at best, ruled mostly by bodily functions and orbital rotations. They live in the moment because now is all they have.

This is also quite true for us, but for most human beings, living in the moment requires a great deal of concentration and practice, and most cannot maintain that focus for long.

In the meantime :-p, however, we can choose to be honest with ourselves about time and how we use it.

You’ve no doubt heard about Americans spending two weeks of our lives brushing their teeth, four days waiting for the light to change, etc. Well, when you subtract all of the activities typical human beings perform by rote and/or necessity, you are still left with a great big block of “unused” time.

And, on the plus side here, you are not a dog, cat, horse, pig or other animal. You are a human being. You know what time is, and what time it is now.

You can choose to use all the time you have any way you can, even if it means “doing nothing.” In the world of time, even nothing is something, so don’t ever feel like you’ve wasted it.

The important thing is not to forget that your time is very much your own. No one owns your time but you. Even if you’re “doing time” right now, it still belongs to you. It’s only the options for using it which have been “taken” from you. It’s still your time.

I don’t claim to know the nature of time itself, but I believe within it, we are all bound together. Since it began, everyone and everything has lived in time. We are connected to our grandparents and our grandchildren, but also to every generation past and yet to come.

We are a part of every family that’s ever been or will ever be.

Regardless of where you are in the world today, what you believe, or what your circumstance, I encourage you to stop and think, if only for a while.

Think of these moments, and consider well how you’ll use them.

Try and feel the remarkable connection you have, even with those you call your enemies today.

Once upon a time, they were your brothers and sisters. I believe one day, perhaps a long time from now, they will yet be again.

Imagine for just a moment that you have the choice within whatever time you have left, to help hasten that day’s arrival, or postpone it indefinitely. The choice is always yours.

Right now, Sam, Rusty and the Buster have decided it’s time to play ball.

Later on I’ll try to make someone smile.

The good news is, there’s still time.

Often it seems the world is going to hell in a hand-basket.

That’s an early twentieth century expression Americans made popular, like so many aspects of the preceding 100 years.

During the nineteen hundreds, the U.S.A. emerged as a genuine global power, and the strongest economic engine in the history of the world.

As the old century slipped into the new, the U.S., as had storied civilizations of old, stood astride the globe like a colossus.

Envied, feared and loved, the U.S.A. entered the new age, the post-American century, without a plan—some say without a clue—for translating historical success into future development and global cooperation.

One pretty morning, a handful of foreign radicals made good on their personal decisions to trade their lives on earth for the title “hometown hero.” More successful than any could have imagined, including their “radical-in-chief,” the elusive bin Laden, iconic American buildings, and about three thousand citizens and foreign workers were sacrificed that day.

With lightning speed, overwhelming force, and ostensibly the support of the entire world , the U.S. and allies, quickly brought “justice” to the forces behind the attacks, and the nation of radicals in which they lived.

Early in 2002, the United States of America had perhaps achieved its greatest success as a post WWII power, and enjoyed a period of global unity unprecedented in recent history.

Of course the world was, and is, troubled by the atrocities and brutality inherent in human beings with undernourished egos, fear of the future, and hate in their hearts. Recorded history supports the idea that it may always be so, on an earth populated by human beings.

What appears to have slipped through our fingers is a golden opportunity to build something new for the world; create a new paradigm; establish a new, more productive, open and honest role for the U.S. and its tremendous power.

It may, in fact, be too late now to “start over” along those lines.

Certainly, we cannot take advantage of a window of opportunity we have slammed shut upon ourselves.

However, there is always another window. Always another door upon which opportunity will knock.

As the current year draws to a close, I continue to believe we will find a better path. Personally, I will persevere in my commitment to “the middle.”

As a manic-depressive, I know all about the extremes. As a human being and student of history, I know there’s no difference between bi-polar people, or bi-polar nations.

Extremes are ignorant.

Extremes reflect the baser natures of people.

Extremes are essentially unstable.

Extremes are lost and want you to join them.

Extremes are intolerant of peace.

In worse-case scenarios, Extremes kill.

People and nations can, and should, follow a balanced course which allows for and includes the occasional mood swing. What both should refrain from doing as often as possible is making any “big decisions” while riding the highest highs or the lowest lows.

Doing so often leads to disaster of one kind or another.

When it seems the world is going to hell in a hand-basket, the urge to do nothing, or something stupid, is great.

But this is the time, and perhaps the right time of year, to remember people and nations cannot really stop the world from going to hell in a hand-basket… at least not alone. Not without the cooperation and support of other people or other nations.

The only ones who have to go it alone in this world are the ones that choose to do so.

History has shown that those who make that choice face two likely ends. They pursue a path of dominance and force, only to be vanquished by another more dominant force; or they follow a road of isolation, become marginalized, paranoid, and vulnerable to aggressive incursions.

I am a lucky man.

Born and raised in a country which has always provided my potential free reign, notwithstanding the societal inequities with which everyone, everywhere, must contend.

When I was spinning wildly along a manic-depressive roller-coaster ride, I had trouble understanding my good fortune.

I railed against the forces preventing me from flying all the way to the sun if I wanted to!

I moaned about the forces boxing me inside a room with no doors or windows or air to breath.

I was unable to appreciate the remarkable set of circumstances which enabled my very existence in this time and in this place.

Underneath the “happy” highs” and the “sad” lows, was a persistent wave of anger. Anger that neither extreme ever lasted long enough or mattered enough or accomplished enough; and the middle was just a confusing jumble of boring, inconsequential frustration.

But like I said, I am a lucky man.

After a lifetime of “riding the waves,” I have found a variety of techniques able to “keep me centered.” I can still tap into the extreme hearts of my highs and lows, but without becoming consumed by them.

My extremes help me now.

I get more done, without feeling like I have to do everything. I get to rest, without having to crash and burn.

This nation I love so much can do the same.

The U.S. can make the most of all its extremes by accepting and understanding them, and by insuring that neither is ever allowed to rule the day.

If America can find its center and stick to it, I believe it will never have to go it alone.

Then as to the world going to hell in a hand-basket, the journey will gradually become more and more free, and with luck, the world will never get there.

I know this is the time the majority of Americans often spend roasting chestnuts, drinking egg nog, and singing along with traditional Christmas carols.

I also realize much has changed since the good old bad old days of the sixties in the U.S.A.

Not the least of such changes are those which allow me to post my thoughts in this here blog, for any and all to see.

I am older, less hairy (except where I don’t want it :-p), more wrinkled and considerably softer around the edges.

There are some things that don’t ever seem to change very much, though. They mutate and evolve, but like the latest TV show, are only retreads of other stories twice-told.

In light of such things, like booming wartime economies, misguided politicians, anxious citizens and a troubled world, and especially to honor the thousands in uniform who serve their nation through it all, I offer a classic sixties carol (with minor modifiations) for Christmas 2006.

“I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die”

by Country Joe McDonald

Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He’s got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam (Saving us from our friend, Saddam)
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We’re gonna have a whole lotta fun.

And it’s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn, (Don’t ask me, but I’m going back,)
Next stop is Vietnam; (Next stop is in Iraq;)
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.

Well, come on generals, let’s move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Gotta go out and get those reds — (There’s no time now to make amends—)
The only good commie is the one who’s dead (For this is the war that will never end)
And you know that peace can only be won (We’re gonna bring freedom to everyone)
When we’ve blown ‘em all to kingdom come. (Even if we gotta use a gun.)

And it’s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn, (Don’t ask me, but I’m going back,)
Next stop is Vietnam; (Next stop is in Iraq;)
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.

Huh!

Well, come on Wall Street, don’t move slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go.
There’s plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong. (They drop it over in Iran.)
And it’s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn, (Don’t ask me, but I’m going back,)
Next stop is Vietnam. (Next stop is in Iraq;)
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.

Well, come on mothers throughout the land, (Well, come on mothers pick up the slack,)
Pack your boys off to Vietnam. (Pack your kids off to free Iraq.)
Come on fathers, don’t hesitate,
Send ‘em off before it’s too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box. (To have your kid come home in a box.)

And it’s one, two, three
What are we fighting for ?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn, (Don’t ask me, but I’m going back,)
Next stop is Vietnam. (Next stop is in Iraq;)
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.

“I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag” copyright © Tradition Music, BMI, 1965 renewed 1993 by Alkatraz Corner Music, BMI

Anyone wishing to add the traditonal “Fish” cheer can be my guest.

I’m pretty sure it’s still a free country.

For the past six years the U.S. was all about shrinking the size of the military.

Small, well-equipped, highly-trained, units, capable of rapid deployment and short-term operation were the future of this man and woman’s army, navy, air force and marines.

The attacks of September 11, 2001, and the ensuing “war on terror,” should have at least temporarily put those plans on hold, but they didn’t.

The ongoing occupation of Afghanistan should have been cause for a pause, but it wasn’t.

The invasion and long-term occupation of Iraq should have repeatedly brought new perspective to the entire “modernization” concept, but it hasn’t.

Until now.

Now that Rumsfeld has been fired (c’mon, everyone knows he didn’t “retire”), and received the first of what will no doubt be many a medal, award and honor, for his vital service to this country, it appears the time is here at last.

It’s only fair.

I mean, many of the too-few, poorly-equipped, though well-trained, men and women currently serving this country, have already received their medals and such… right?

Anyway, before he had a chance to pack up his office, the Rumsfeld “smaller is better” policy isn’t just on hold; it’s been jettisoned.

No more shrinkage. It’s a wrap. They’ll be no party.

Instead, we are about to see the beginning of a new growth in American military forces.

There will, of course, be no draft. People are already upset enough. The boat’s rocking, and the rudder’s busted. Best ease into it.

Look for “signing bonuses,” increased aid, spiffier uniforms and better latrines.

As Americans, we’re all responsible for what our country does in our name. One day, maybe, the people in office actually calling the shots will accept some responsibility, too.

Or maybe every American can get a medal, award and honor for our vital service to this country.

It’s only fair.

I mean, Rumsfeld’s getting them… right?

“If you reject his gift of salvation, then you know where you belong.�

“(Jesus) did everything in his power to make sure that you could go to heaven, so much so that he took your sins on his own body, suffered your pains for you, and he’s saying, ‘Please, accept me, believe.’ If you reject that, you belong in hell.”

So said David Paszkiewicz, to his accelerated 11th-grade history class about the United States Constitution this fall.

Speaking to his sixth-period students at Kearny High School in New Jersey, he also claimed that evolution and the Big Bang were not scientific, dinosaurs were aboard Noah’s ark, and only Christians had a place in heaven.

Just in time for Christmas, peace on earth, and joy to the world, comes a pretty hairy situation from a northeast U.S. high school. You know, Jersey, that hotbed of religious fundamentalism and piety.

The reason we know all about this admittedly self-righteous teacher, and Baptist youth pastor, is a sixteen year-old student of his, Matthew LaClair, said he felt uncomfortable with Mr. Paszkiewicz’s statements in the first week of school.

Afraid school officials wouldn’t believe his claims about the 38 year-old teacher with 14 years experience, and as the son of a lawyer, young Mr. LaClair began taping his history classes.

Believing either the teacher was preaching, or the preacher was teaching, the LaClair’s filed a complaint against the him with his superiors at the high school of 1,750 students.

While everyone prepares for the inevitable lawsuits, it seems Mr. Paszkiewicz (pronounced pass-KEV-ich) has already received some undisclosed “corrective action” from the administration.

Many in Kearney have expressed their outrage over the situation.

Perhaps because Mr. Paszkiewicz mentioned in class how a specific Muslim girl would go to hell, much of the community at large – including most of the Kearney High School student body – have lined up in solid support of their proselytizing teacher.

Those Muslims; if they’re not with us, they’re against us, right?

On the other hand, Matthew (pronounced HU-man-ist pa-RI-ah), has received death threats, hate mail, and the vitriolic vilification usually reserved for pedophiles, politicians and occasionally, priests.

Anyone interested in finding out more about this fun-loving, Christian, New Jersey enclave can check out the town’s electronic bulletin board: Kearnyontheweb.com.

Just goes to show you, no matter how reprehensible pedophiles, politicians or some priests may be, lawyers and their sons – especially those separation-of-church-and-state types – are the very epitome of serpents in our garden of Eden.

Let’s face it, although Christ may have died for our sins, and maybe even those of a tax collector or two, he certainly shed no blood for attorneys or their trouble-making sons.

Setting aside the question of blood, sweat and tears, how many hundreds of billions of dollars has the Iraq occupation cost so far?

Do you know?

Does anyone?

The U.S. military estimates it’s been spending about $1 billion dollars a week in Iraq (it’s more like $1 billion a month in Afghanistan). We’re going on 200 weeks, so there’s an approximate number.

Neither figure includes the costs of reconstruction or reparation, which naturally involves no-bid contracts and other sweetheart deals for the well-connected. The estimates for that work range all the way to $300 billion.

That’s a lot of money. But it’s worth it, right, so we “fight ‘em over there, instead of over here?”

Well, I’m afraid we’d damned well better keep “‘em” over there as long as we can, because there isn’t enough money left these days to prevent “‘em” from coming over here, or going back home once their visits are over.

Domestic security officials have for now given up on plans to develop a facial or fingerprint recognition system to determine whether a vast majority of foreign visitors leave the country.

Known as U.S. Visit, it has been called critical to security and important in efforts to curb illegal immigration.

Most foreign visitors enter and exit by land from Mexico and Canada, and the policy shift means that officials will remain unable to track the departures. Some of the Sept. 11 terrorists remained in the country after their visas had expired, and if U.S. Visit had been in place in 2001, the attacks might never have taken place.

The Homeland Security Department has conceded that they lack the financing and technology to have exit-monitoring systems at the 50 busiest land border crossings by next December, as originally planned.

Congress ordered the creation of such a system in 1996.

Stewart A. Baker, the assistant secretary for homeland security policy, estimated that an exit system at the land borders would cost “tens of billions of dollars� and said the department had concluded that such a program was not feasible, at least for the time being.

“Congress has said, ‘We want you to do it.’ We are not going to ignore what Congress has said. But the costs here are daunting.” said Mr. Stewart.

There are many plans for making America citizens safer here at home, like U.S. Visit, which have been mothballed, scrapped, or scaled way back, due to insufficient funds.

Our ports and borders remain about as secure as #10 cheesecloth.

But at least we did get all those weapons of mass destruction…

It never ends.

Democrat or Republican, it doesn’t matter.

By all means – PLEASE – check out the following story about the latest last-minute, back room, under the table, below the radar, beyond contempt, special interest double-dealing perpetrated by shameless politicians on every American citizen:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/15/washington/15medicare.html?th&emc=th

I mean, c’mon, what is it with these guys?

After serving loyally as guerillas in the CIA’s “Secret War” in Laos during the Vietnam era, hundreds of thousands of Hmong hill people were abandoned in 1975, when the U.S. finally packed up and left southeast Asia.

A large number of Hmong refugees managed to flee to the United States, after the American-backed government in Laos was overthrown by the North Vietnamese-supported Pathet Lao.

However, many thousands were left behind, and sought refuge from the Pathet Lao “death squads” in the dense Laotian jungles. Some slipped into neighboring Thailand.

More than thirty years later, starving, ill-dressed bands of Hmong are running out of jungle in which to hide, thanks largely to regular raids by the Lao army, and encroaching development. Recently, several hundred one-time guerillas, now mostly women and children, chose to surrender to the Lao government.

The Pathet Lao still considers these people “enemy combatants,” and treat them quite cruelly whenever any turn themselves in.

The Thai government refers to the Hmong as “illegal aliens,” and seek to deport them back to Laos, regardless of their impending fate, whenever possible.

Odd to encounter such now-familiar terms applied to these erstwhile, valued U.S. allies during the ongoing “domino” wars of past generations.

Thus has often been, and continues to be, the fate of many former and current U.S. allies, whether borne of Democrat or Republican-controlled agendas.

With the laudable goal of maintaining the “balance of power” in the world, the U.S. has regularly pursued cynically pragmatic policies, usually leading to the decimation of the people and/or cultures we “came to help.”

When we eliminate, or marginalize, honesty, integrity and decency from U.S. policy – foreign or domestic – destruction seems to be the natural result of our original good intentions.

Pure pragmatism, without a heaping helping of humane idealism, is what makes the enemy of our enemy our friend, irrespective of their own behavior. In time, this practice only tends to confirm suspicions about the “real” America.

Many people around the world shrugged off decades of suspicion after the attacks of 2001, and readily began aligning themselves shoulder to shoulder with the U.S. once again.

Only a few years later, as the ongoing incursion in Iraq continues to spin out of control, little of that regard remains intact.

U.S. motives are called into question once again; not by our enemies – and we do have them – or friends alone, but even by our own people.

There has been a growing sense that our ends always justify the means we use, no matter how ignoble, or downright incompetent those means may be.

But the power of capitalism and free markets alone will not continue to propel U.S. interests forward around the world or here at home, unless solidly supported by the essential, reasoned compassion at the heart of this nation.

If might alone made right, bullies would always rule the world.

Underneath the bluster and force, bullies are no more than frightened, ignorant and twisted children.

Their characters have not been tempered by empathy, strengthened through perseverance, molded by decency and cultivated through understanding.

They are often strong and powerful, but hollow at the core.

History shows bullies can reign for a time through the imposition of power, but always, the courage and spirit of human beings yearning to live freely ultimately prevail.

People are perpetually complicated, and the world is full of people.

So far, no bully has ever successfully “simplified” this complicated world. No nation – even possessing the best of intentions – acting like a bully, has likewise ever achieved that end.

Historically, a few people have attempted to simplify this world, with varying degrees of success. They used reason, compassion, moderation, forgiveness, and peaceful means. Many were martyrs. Some are worshipped or idolized to this day.

No nation in recorded history, including the United States, has ever remained committed to applying only those and other corollary means, to achieve its ends.

The United States need not become a martyr to help simplify things on earth, but we cannot succeed by becoming a bully, either, or even “the world’s policeman.”

Effective, pro-active, self-defense should always be among our top priorities. We must not, however, become hollow, sacrificing our core values on the altar of “national security.”

It is those very core values for which we have become, and will remain, these United States of America.

“…America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world. Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America’s leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.”

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So said President Dwight Eisenhower some 45 years ago.

Anyone seeking the complete text of Ike’s farewell address from 45 years ago can drop by http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html., or any number of other such sites.

I won’t make a case for President Eisenhower’s proper place in the pantheon of U.S. presidents or generals, except to say he was neither entirely preeminent nor essentially commonplace.

I credit him with a particular wisdom and tolerant depth of spirit, which seems lacking in most public figures these days. Perhaps he is a reflection of a different era, but the times through which he lived were certainly as complex, dangerous and confusing, as are those we share today.

In the context of that tumultuous past, and these paroxysmal days, I am drawn to his words, which would do well to echo now through the halls of power and politics in this country.

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“Throughout America’s adventure in free government, our basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among people and among nations. To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people. Any failure traceable to arrogance, or our lack of comprehension or readiness to sacrifice would inflict upon us grievous hurt both at home and abroad.

Progress toward these noble goals is persistently threatened by the conflict now engulfing the world. It commands our whole attention, absorbs our very beings. We face a hostile ideology — global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily the danger is poses promises to be of indefinite duration.

To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle — with liberty the stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment.

Crises there will continue to be. In meeting them, whether foreign or domestic, great or small, there is a recurring temptation to feel that some spectacular and costly action could become the miraculous solution to all current difficulties. A huge increase in newer elements of our defense; development of unrealistic programs to cure every ill in agriculture; a dramatic expansion in basic and applied research — these and many other possibilities, each possibly promising in itself, may be suggested as the only way to the road we wish to travel.

But each proposal must be weighed in the light of a broader consideration: the need to maintain balance in and among national programs — balance between the private and the public economy, balance between cost and hoped for advantage — balance between the clearly necessary and the comfortably desirable; balance between our essential requirements as a nation and the duties imposed by the nation upon the individual; balance between actions of the moment and the national welfare of the future.

Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration.

The record of many decades stands as proof that our people and their government have, in the main, understood these truths and have responded to them well, in the face of stress and threat. But threats, new in kind or degree, constantly arise. I mention two only.”

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Lately I have been amazed by the tremendous lack of balance, moderation and tolerance of my fellow citizens and of those who would lead us.

I have been ridiculed by those of this new era’s partisan establishments as impotent or truculent, ignorant or intellectually obtuse, and worse, all because I believe irrevocably in the power of reason, and the righteousness of the middle ground.

Some folks say the center is for cowards and being pragmatic means “do it my way.”

I beg to differ.

When the world is caught up in an endless array of wildly swinging pendulums, and extremists of every stripe are holding sway, the most dangerous place to stand is on the middle ground.

Being in the center requires an active consideration, and practiced appreciation for every point of view, including the extremes.

Being in the center calls for intellectual curiosity, applied selflessness, reasoned discourse and honesty.

Being in the center is a lot of work.

The military-industrial complex Ike spoke of is more than fifty years in the making now, and more powerful and pervasive than ever. Hundreds of billions of tax dollars are devoted to, and left largely unaccountable by, the U.S. Defense Department each year.

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“This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development.

Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes.

We should take nothing for granted.

Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”

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As we near Christmas and other traditional year-end celebrations in America, often flavored profusely by nostalgia, consider why your reminiscences are so comforting.

Could it be, perhaps, that once upon a time you were more interested in sharing with and caring for “you and yours?” Could it be that finding peace on earth was more important then, than getting the biggest piece of pie today?

Is it possible a lot of folks simply figure heaven can wait, life sucks, so why not take what you want when you can get it, and if it means screwing someone else in the process, who cares?

If any of that is true, then I ask you, what is the point of being a human being in America in 2006?

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“Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society’s future, we — you and I, and our government — must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.

Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.

Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.”

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“The certain agony of the battlefield.”

Ike surely knew about that subject. He witnessed, experienced, and was responsible for, a great deal of agony. But like most people having lived through the fire of battle, came to understand the importance of reason, and the value of perseverance in the pursuit of peaceful goals.

I’m sure there are those today who might consider President Eisenhower a weak man, or naive, perhaps, for espousing these ideals.

What I guess I’ll never understand is exactly when did reason, common sense, and looking out for the other guy, become sure signs of a faint and feeble mind?

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“You and I — my fellow citizens — need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nation’s great goals.

To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America’s prayerful and continuing aspiration:

We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.”

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And for what it’s worth, I hope someone, somewhere, having read these words, realizes a new understanding of humanity’s potential within themselves, and decides to tough it out in the middle.

Voters in Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District have officially declared permanent Mardi Gras!

Yes, on Saturday they re-elected Congressman William Jefferson (D) by an unexpectedly lopsided 57%-43% margin in the run-off over State Representative Karen Carter (D).

Jefferson — the target of an ongoing FBI corruption probe — was not backed by either the DCCC or the Louisiana Democratic Party. With this win, Jefferson moved to the front of the line of Members of Congress likely to be indicted in the coming months.

In August of last year, FBI agents found $90,000 in marked, bribe money stashed in Jefferson’s freezer like t-bone steaks.

Ms. Carter, hoping to become the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress from Louisiana, lost badly, and some say it was due to her refusal to pull up her blouse during Mardi Gras. Apparently, Ms. Carter assumed they were all fake pearls.

Let’s face it, folks. It ain’t just the politicians who are responsible for much what passes for governance in the U.S.

We elect these people!

President Bush has decided to have himself a merry little Christmas, after all, and encourages people everywhere, regardless of their personal belief systems, to do the same.

Originally intending to make an important Iraq policy speech to the American people before Christmas, the president decided not to spoil the annual event with “war talk.”

A White House spokesperson rejected suggestions the president’s postponement was an effort to boost lagging Wal-Mart sales in the final, critical days before December 25th.

“President Bush rejects any notion of linkage between his recent lunch with Walton family members and his decision to put off discussing the Iraq situation until after the new year.” the spokesperson said.

Another source quoted the President as saying, “I am a decider, not a divider. I’ve decided not deciding right now will help prevent more dividing during these traditional shopping days. Christmas should be a time for people of all faiths to come together in celebration of the savior’s birth, not to mention those “after” sales events.”

During his luncheon with the Waltons and military Joint Chiefs, the president said, “The U.S. economy, and the world’s stability, depends on vigorous year-end American retailing. Everyone can strike a blow against terrorism right now by shopping early and often.”

Between courses, Mr. Bush was overheard saying, “Being a decider is hard. The American people have to understand that. I mean, what’s the point in screwing up the holidays? We cannot afford to cut and run from Christmas.”

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice told reporters, “The president should take whatever time necessary to decide his next steps. He has many more holiday meals, and confusing Iraq information, yet to digest. Besides, I think he’s my secret Santa, and we’ve both got more shopping to do for each other, and for the American people.”