Before Ferguson

Like many Americans, I have been watching the events in Ferguson unfold with a heavy heart. But in view of the numerous instances of police killing black men, no surprise.

I kept thinking of the biblical verse about the sins of the fathers being visited on their children and grandchildren for generations. So sad that it takes generations to change a culture and a way of thinking.

When I was little, growing up in a racist world, I had plenty of opportunity to see first hand what happened when the sin of racism was enacted into laws. And whose job was it to enforce those laws? The police.

The Jim Crow laws said that blacks were inferior and had to be kept as far away from the white citizens as possible. They were pretty successful at that desired total segregation. Though there were a lot of black people in the area where I lived, I could go for days without seeing a single one of them. There were no black children in my school. There were no black members of my Presbyterian Church. And no blacks wout dare walk about in my neighborhood without a very good reason.

The black population and the police, all of whom were white in those days, could never be seen as equals. To the police, the black population were lesser beings even animals. And to the black population, any interaction with the police could be dangerous or deadly.

Parents of black children had to instruct their children on how to act if stopped by a policeman for any reason. Immediate and total submission was the key to survival. In the wake of Ferguson, I was shocked to hear from many prominent Black leaders that they still instructed their children on how to act when stopped by a policeman. That is a good measure of how little has changed since Jim Crow was ended in the 1960s when Blacks first got a semblance of equal rights and police could no longer legally treat Blacks with scorn,
disrespect, and brutality.

Ferguson has taught us how far we still have to go to undo the sins of our fathers. The people who wrote Jim Crow laws are still among us, older now to be sure, but sending forth their old racism to a new generation. Too many policemen operate on the JIm Crow theory that Blacks are dangerous and unworthy of respect.

Let now be the time that all Americans decide to end this sinful heritage. We don't need laws or political movements to decide that we will, from this time on, approach everyone with respect, no matter the age, or race or religion. Let us be the Americans who break the chain of racism inflicted upon us by remnants of slavery.

Hail, King Obama

The Radical Right is now accusing President of acting like a "king". Last time I looked, kings were strong willed people whose slightest whim became law.  How then can the same people accuse the President/King of being weak, indecisive and lazy? The answer is simple. They offer up whatever attack seems to fit the situation best. Their only consistent principle is to always attack the President.

So let's take a look at the "King" charge. Congress has the job of passing laws. The Radical Right doesn't believe in laws, or regulations for that matter. According to their core belief, laws strangle freedom. Speaker Boehner made this position very clear when he said that everyone should judge the success of the House by how many laws they repealed. I'm not sure they were very successful with revoking laws, but they were very good at preventing Congress from doing practically anything else.

So who is there left to carry on the country's essential functions? President Obama in no way acts like a "King." He uses the powers that Congress has given him to administer the laws Congress already passed. Most people want a functioning government, so he is doing whatever he can to keep our country moving forward.

What would happen if President Obama were really acting like a "king?" He would be able to write whatever laws he wanted, and send them off to Congress with orders like, "I want this bill on my desk by Friday." Congress would have to comply.

So what would "King" Obama require Congress to do?  He would direct them to pass immigration reform, to reform tax law, to control emissions, to rebuild our infrastructure, to create research centers around the country to promote innovation, to pass gun safety legislation, and to raise the minimum wage for all workers. These are all items on the President's agenda, which Congress has blocked, despite their popularity with the majority of the American people. Like most Americans, I would love to see them become laws.

But I'm just engaging in wishful thinking. Even the limited actions President Obama can take are too much for the Radical Right. Now, they plan to sue the President to prevent him from doing his job without specific clearance from Congress. This certainly wasn't what the creators of our Constitution had in mind. If the Radical Right gets its way, the Presidency will cease to be a part of the federal power base.

We are all supposed to be happy that the House isn't planning to impeach the President, only reduce his powers. That act of generosity will exist only until they recapture the Senate, which they expect to do in the November election. If that happens, The House will have the Bill of Impeachment ready for action on the first day of the new session.

I think I am making a strong case that November 4th is the most critical election day for generations. The Radical Right will be in power, though they don't believe in Democracy, and they don't believe that laws make us free. And they will impeach the President. So voters, if you sit home this election day, as you did in 2010, you will be condemning America to a very dangerous future. And you will have even more to be ashamed of than the Radical Right.

Nov. 4, 2014: Our Day To Shine

Nov. 4, 2014: Our Day To Shine

Welcome followers of my blog to a new political campaign. When I signed off, as the election of 2012 approached, I really didn't expect to be alive for the next election. I rather thought that would be my last one as I was so far beyond my life expectancy. But if my luck holds, I should be still here to vote one more time. This will be my 32nd national election. So voting is quite a habit for me. It is critical for our country that voting becomes a habit for all Americans. 

Let me explain. In the last few decades, many of us have come to believe that we don't matter much to anyone of importance or power. Most of us can spin great yarns that justify this point of view. Besides, most of us have overwhelming responsibilities to fill the hours of every day, hours we cannot expand. It is very hard to find a time when we have a spare hour during which the polls are actually open to actually vote So the number of voters who used to participate in any level of government has dwindled. Life got in the way. 

Unfortunately, our democratic form of government can only thrive if a large majority of us do make do make our voices heard on that special day when every citizen is equal. Sadly, we seem to be moving in the wrong direction. In 1962, when I voted in my 3rd off-year election, so did 47.3% of my fellow citizens.  In the last off-year election, the number of people voting had fallen by almost 10 percentage points to 37.8%. Those of you who couldn't or didn't find the time to vote have had plenty of time to see that your indifference has helped move us to a place that no one seems to like.

Though we are months away from this election, pundits are already predicting that many Americans will sit this election out as well. They expect that the Radical Right will again turn out in force, so the transfer of the Senate to Republican hands is all but certain. For those who support this radical anti-government, anti-democracy point of view, your inaction is a bonus, effectively doubling the effect of their individual votes.  But for those who have other beliefs, for those who want a functioning government, failing to vote leaves themselves and those of us who do care for our Democracy and our government as the mercy of radical officials who disrespect both. 

During most of my life, we have had two political parties that supported Democracy and that government which puts Democratic theory into practice. Both parties accepted that they weren't free to undermine the basic principles of Democracy. This core belief began to erode in the 1960s. My Republican party begin a turn hard to the right. The conservative edge of the party welcomed the racist  parts of the Democratic Party to form the current Radical Party. Those of us who were proud members of the party of Lincoln were branded RINOs and banished.

Now we have two very different parties, one that still believes in Democracy and government, and one that doesn't.. This conflict will play the most important part in this election. Voters must consider a simple question.  Do we believe in Democracy and good government? If you answer "yes," you must register and must vote. You may be sure that the "no" voters will be out in great numbers. Stay home and the anti-Democracy crowd will control our government.

Some of you will doubtless argue that the Radical Right is no danger to our Democracy or government. But there is ample evidence that it really is. As soon as the Radical Right gained power in 2010, they began to pass laws making voting more difficult, if not impossible. They redefined voting a privilege not a right.

They made up a cover story to account for all their efforts. Election cheating had become a major problem that must be addressed vigorously. First, they decided that voters would have to show a photo ID to vote, and only certain IDs would be acceptable. We know that this excuse isn't true at all. If a voter ID were truly essential, there are easy ways to accomplish that. Put an inexpensive camera at each location where registration or voting takes place  Photo IDs would be available within seconds. Problem solved.

This wasn't the only assault on our right to vote. IDs were followed by laws reducing voting hours, days and places and reducing the number of voting machines in busy polling places. These restrictions have only one purpose, to make voting more difficult for all of us, to ensure that many of us lose our voting rights.

Less you think the laws in place are the end of their plans to limit our right to vote, you haven't been paying attention. The next approach to voter suppression has already begun. Kansas is working on legislation that would require voters to prove their citizenship before registering or voting. Gone are the days when all I had to show to register was a bill with my address on it.  Bills with an address are no longer good enough. The Radical Right wants all voters to produce paper work, a birth certificate, naturalization papers or a valid passport. All the these items cost a fair amount of money. In my state, it would cost over $70, because married women would have to produce both their birth and marriage certificates  Lots of citizens entitled to vote, don't have that amount of money lying about.

If the Radical Right remains in power, I'm sure they will continue to find new ways to ensure that voting is a privilege not a right.

They have been digging away at the foundations of our Democracy in another major way. The Radical Right doesn't want our Democratic government to function in the way the men who wrote our Constitution intended. Our founding fathers expected that people would come together, discuss ideas, compromise and vote for laws to put the Constitution into practice. Over the 200 plus years of our existence, this was how our national legislature operated.

But the Radical Right doesn't believe in compromise. They believe that compromising their political beliefs is equivalent to heresy. In their new ideology, no action is better than actions they don't like.

Our Democracy has suffered serious damage in the last few years.We used to be the shining example of what a Democracy should be. Now we are a good example of what damage can be done when too many of our citizens fail to even vote.

There are other examples of the danger of Radical Right ideas to our Democracy. I'll get to them as the election gets nearer. Reducing our right to vote and refusal to compromise to pass laws are enough evidence of the anti-Democracy actions of the Radical Right.

I find the GOP attack on Democracy appalling and dangerous. The fact that these people claim to be members of the Republican Party is particularly painful for me, since I've been a supporter and activist in the party for the majority of my life. But even more appalling and dangerous is the reality that many potential voters, who aren't supporters of the Radical Right, won't register and won't vote. Democracy is on the line in this election, people. To sit this election out is to continue to damage our Democratic institutions and our Democratic values. Citizens who don't vote will have to live with the knowledge that they inflicted the results of a Congress in the hands of the Radical Right upon themselves and and those of us who did care enough to vote.  

Our Democracy depends on you. Let us flood to the polls in such numbers as to astound the pundits. Let standing in long lines for hours be a badge of honor. In the election of 1960, between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, 63.1% of voters actually voted. Let us equal that turnout this year. 

I leave you with an appropriate quote. "Democracy is worth dying for, because it is the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man." No dying needed this year, only voting.

Repeal the Republicans

Repeal the Republicans

Yesterday, the country got good news. The job report offered proof that what economists and businessmen had been indicating for some time was actually true. Our economy is healing, not quickly, as it was very damaged when the financial system of the world collapsed. But healing steadily.

I found the Republican response to the news most informative. There were two different approaches. Gov. Romney claimed that good news wasn’t actually good. Most of his party claimed, without evidence, that the President had manipulated the figures.  As a lifelong Republican, I found this reaction too infuriating to endure.

A quick reminder of what faced the Democrats when the majority of American voters chose them to lead us out of the terrible crisis that the Republican leadership had created for us all. In a few short weeks, we all lost 40% of what we had worked a lifetime for. The value of our houses had dropped like a rock. The value of mutual funds we saved for our retirement plummeted.  Three quarters of a million of us were losing jobs every month. Middle class Americans were suddenly learning how to live poor.

So what did my party do? Pitch in to help repair the damage they had caused? Put suffering Americans ahead of their political ambitions? No. Time and again over the last 4 years, they have thrown us under the bus. They have looked on our misery as their political opportunity. Republican leaders decided that they could prevent economic improvement, and in our despair we would turn to them for help.

This is the most cynical, callous, anti-American plot I have seen during my long life. I am deeply ashamed that the party that Lincoln founded, and that I supported for a lifetime,  has sunk so low.  The current version of the Republican party gambled with our lives for personal power. And now, there is good evidence, incontrovertible evidence that this gamble has failed. Now we have the power to make them pay for the extra suffering they have caused to so many of us.

This election is our opportunity. We have the power to send these right wing outliers to the trash-heap of history where they belong. We can punish them for their actions and at the same time allow the party of Lincoln to rebuild.

There is a month before the election. In that time, Americans need to pledge themselves to do three things.  One, register to vote if you still can. Two, vote. Three, chose every Democrat on the ballot. A total purge of the Republicans in Congress is the only way to tell them that it isn’t only Governor Romney that we don’t like, it is their party, their policies, their scorn for our suffering that we will no longer accept. It is time we make them pay for their choices.

The Other Side of the Wall

I wasn’t aware that there was a wall that divided a few Americans from the rest of us until I went to college. For the first time, I met up with people who had already passed to the dark side of this unseen wall. They had already developed a hunger for money and power. The first step was to go to the proper school where they could make a suitable marriage.  It was quite amusing to watch good looking girls pursuing sometimes very unappealing, but rich students. And the reverse was true as well.  These goings on were sources of amusement for those of us who weren’t part of the game.

This experience got me to thinking about what this kind of life would be like for those who chose to pursue wealth and power. Success in this highly competitive life choice demanded constant planning, calculation, and wariness. After all, each of them would always be surrounded by rivals. Anything that promoted their upward climb was good, any restraints on conduct were bad. 

In the upward struggle, it was difficult to have close friendships. Everyone understood that they were tools in some rival’s upward climb. To win each skirmish, truth, personal honor, trust, honesty were useless baggage.

This is the world that Mitt Romney comes from. He made his fortune by being more ruthless than his competitors. There are some really good articles on his business practices should you want to read up on the subject.  He was blessed with the good looks and slick charm that lulled victims into a false sense of security and promoted his rise to riches.  With each conquest came the thrill of victory that muted any guilt over unethical practices.

Most American voters should find these alternate rules for life, and those who practice them offensive. There are many people who have become very rich and powerful without leaving the world of ethical standards, concern for others, honesty. They would not resort to the behind-the-wall standard, “Cheat to win.” Most of us are happy with the life choices we have made. We may not be rich or powerful, but we have lived by the moral and ethical standards our religions have taught us. That is something to be proud of.

Now that Gov. Romney has too much money to spend, he has set his sights on power. Being governor wasn’t sufficient. There was a higher prize to reach for. So now he would be president.

There is one obstacle to overcome. Mitt’s experience is very foreign to the vast majority of Americans.  He has to employ all the tools of his trade to con us out of the only thing he needs us for, our votes. He strongly believes that he will succeed as he has so many times before.

If we pay attention, we can see past practices trotted out for the campaign. On the other side of the wall, information is as carefully guarded as a state secret. And he is still keeping much important information from voters. Have we seen sufficient tax return to understand what he does with his money? Has he told us clearly and in detail how he would govern?

Even more worrisome, the moral and ethical constraints most of us live by, as we have been taught by our religions, don’t exist for the folks on the other side of the wall. And they don’t exist for Gov. Romney either.  Take truth for example. We have all noticed that lies fall easily from his tongue. His smooth and confident appearance makes it hard for us to detect his lies from his truths.

Thankfully, we got to take a look at the other side of the wall in the video from his fundraiser with his friends. His contempt for those who live on this side was clearly exposed. He has no respect for those who haven’t played his game, for people hampered by ideas of honor and virtue and service. And he believes that he is so smart and so skillful that he can convince us that he is just like us. We can safely vote for him.

Last night in the debate, we saw the smooth liar in action. Little of what he had to say was true, but he believes that we will buy the lies he delivered so convincingly. He believes that he can lie and pay no price.

I don’t know about you, but when someone lies to me, I cease to believe anything he says. We all know the old saying, “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”

We must use our ultimate power as  voters to soundly reject this man from the other side of the wall. We must teach Gov. Romney that truth and honesty do matter very much to us.

From One Pocket to Another - Redistributing Wealth

From One Pocket to Another - Redistributing Wealth

Wealth, the lack of it, and the shifting of it from one pocket to another seems to be quite the topic of conversation today.  It is also a subject I have thought about many times for many years.

There is one basic thing about income redistribution that everyone should understand. EVERY action of government shifts money from one pocket to another. We tend to think of taxes as the way money moves around, but it isn’t the only way government actions affect our individual assets. Every law moves money about.

Let me give you a personal example. My husband owned a small business supplying products for the American shoe industry.  We were able to live a comfortable middle class existence for many years.  In the early years of the Reagan administration, Congress passed and President Reagan signed a small bit of legislation that removed a tariff on shoes manufactured in China. With that act of government, our income disappeared as surely as it would have had a thief put his hand into our pockets.

My husband and I had worked hard, raised 6 wonderful children, given back to our church and our community. Yet, by no fault of our own, but by act of Congress, we would face the last of decade of our working lives suddenly terribly poor. Sadly, we weren’t alone. Most of the American shoe industry faded away at the same time.

Our money disappeared, but I recognized right away that it hadn’t disappeared totally, merely shifted to other pockets. The poor people in China suddenly had jobs. American importers saw their business options and their profits soar.  All Americans now had access to a wide variety of cheaper shoes. They could spend the money they saved on products of other companies.

While I was shivering in my cold house, I had to face the fact that the government action that was so devastating to us might actually have produced more benefit than loss. I was willing to accept that. But I also thought that the government had an obligation to notice that what they had done was very painful for us and many other long term workers in the American shoe industry. Fortunately for many workers there was unemployment to help ease a transition to other work, a government helping hand. Since my husband owned his own small business which had failed, he wasn’t entitled to such assistance. We were almost entirely on our own.

Still, the government funded other small projects, one of which actually did help us. It subsidized a program that gave money to small private companies to provide services to homebound senior citizens. So I was able to get a job cleaning homes and apartments for the needy elderly in my area. It was the only job I could get quickly, a government supported job, and I was grateful to have it.  But I didn’t make enough to restore us to the middle class.

So what did I learn from this painful experience? Government actions always transfer money from one pocket to another, they always have, and they always will. This principle applies as well to general legislation as it does to tax laws.

The key issue isn’t that government does this. Nothing we do can affect this reality. The key issue is who or what any law benefits and whether or not government actions help more citizens than they harm.  Surely, as a country, we should have some sympathy, and perhaps a helping hand for those the government decided to damage. 

For decades, government has been ignoring this vital principle in most of their actions. Leaders have listened to the interests of the few who are rich and powerful and ignored their obligations to the majority of Americans who are neither rich nor powerful.

This November, we can actually make  government listen to us. We must vote in overwhelming numbers, and we must vote only for candidates who understand their obligations to those without wealth or power. We must ensure that when government reaches into our pockets, they act only for the greater good.

The Horrid Burden of Hate

The Horrid Burden of Hate

This week we have all witnessed hate exploding into violent action.  We have seen clenched fists, twisted faces, and rioting mobs. We have mourned its victims.

I learned about hate many years ago. As a child, I lived in a place where racial hate was sanctioned by government actions and by the silence of religious people who hated while they taught that hate was a sin. People could be hated, not because of their anger or their cruelty but because the essence of their beings came wrapped in a dark package.

During these early years, I only encountered black people on sidewalks and in busses, brief encounters that didn’t give time for hate to fester.  Besides, I knew that hate was a sin. But I was very much afraid of them, at least until I actually came to know one of them. One morning, I was shocked to find a young black woman in my house. Mary had come to clean, and would return every week from then on. Once I got over my fear, I found that Mary was kind, and patient with me. She smiled a lot as she worked away during our hot Maryland summers. No matter how hard she was working, she always had time to answer questions from this pesky child. She banished my fears, and I came to love her. As I could never hate Mary, I could never hate her sisters and brothers because they too were black.

But when I was starting seventh grade in the University Park School, I did learn to hate. For the first time in my life, I learned what a powerful feeling hate provoked in me.  That year a new student named Herbert arrived in my school, a tall dark haired boy, a smart student, but there was something odd about his manner. He smiled a lot, but there was no humor in him. He preferred to annoy the girls at recess than to play baseball with the boys. He projected a sense of superiority and entitlement.

All of this was annoying, but no more. Irritation began to grow into a much more intense and dangerous feeling the minute Miss Burdett moved Herbert to the seat behind me. Immediately, the harassment began. First it was nasty and scornful comments whispered in my ear. Then the attacks became physical. Herbert delighted in pulling my braids so hard that my head would be yanked violently in an unexpected direction and my scalp would hurt. I didn’t dare report this to Miss Burdett as it was clear to all of us that she didn’t want to hear anything bad about Herbert.

I hated Herbert. I recognized this new feeling for what it was, but I didn’t know how to deal with this overwhelming new emotion. It was as strong in me as love. It came with me wherever I went. It even brought me pleasure. I enjoyed thinking of all the bad things I would do to Herbert or accidents that would make him suffer.

For a while, hate seemed like fun, a way to exact revenge. But slowly I realized that the other pleasures of my life, my puzzles, my books, my piano, could be ruined by a passing thought of Herbert or something that reminded me of the sound of his voice, or a word he frequently used. Finally, I realized that my hate for Herbert had given him control over my life, my joys. Hate was becoming a horrid burden. The only way I could get my life back was to give up my hate. I knew that banishing hate would take hard work, that it would require me to use my brain to subdue this emotion. But if I succeeded I would be free of Herbert’s power. This would be my ultimate victory.

This experience took place may autumns ago. But, as you can see, I have never forgotten Herbert.  How could I forget the critical lesson that I learned from the time we spent together. I hated Herbert for his cruelty and meanness. Others in our class hated Herbert not for his skin color but for his religion, the same sort of hatred that has been on display this week. 

But hatred for skin color is still on display as well. We have but to look at the hatred directed toward our black president. Haters now are more subtle than they were during my childhood. Now they excuse their hatred on the grounds that it isn’t based on his race, but on what is inside him, on what is the character of his heart. He is a cheater who lied his way to power; he is a traitor who loves and supports our enemies; he is a weak and stupid leader for these hard times.

Most Americans know that this portrait of President Obama is a fictitious invention, designed to give the gullible permission to hate him. But lying about President Obama is a useful tactic. By rousing such an intense emotion, people can to motivated to act from passion rather than careful thought. The people of our country can be divided into hostile groups. Then, leaders lacking an ethical or moral core can rise to positions of power.

Now is the time for all of us to cast aside the horrid hate, be it religious or racial, that is flowing across our country. I know it is possible to push hate away. I learned that in elementary school when I met Herbert. I know all of you who carry the burden of hate can do so as well. We can do nothing else that will be more personally liberating or beneficial for our country.