Tired and Disgusted

Lies. Storytelling. Fabrication. Corruption. Power brokering. Money grubbing. National and regional sordid deals. International dirty deeds.


Is there no depth of dishonesty this president and his team won’t stoop to? Republican allies – senators, congressmen, Republican National Committee, donors and elder statesmen in the GOP – go along with this? No one’s feet are held to the fire. No responsibility or accountability is exercised.


Yes, I am disgusted. Yes, I am profoundly disappointed and embarrassed in our reputation as a nation. This simply is not what defines us. I know that. Most of you know that as well. Yet anytime someone stands to raise an objection they are shouted down. Political cat calls are tossed back and forth. Party labels and politics seem to hold sway. And always the disguised threat of violence. Fear.


But, this is America. This is your country and mine. I speak in defense of American ethics and honesty. Our basic values are solid and good. Of course mistakes have been made. Some people are too weak to do the right thing when called upon to do so. Others take advantage of situations to gain more power or wealth or fame for themselves. Like Mitch McConnell. He used to be honest and trustworthy. No more. He does nothing but buttress the defenses of the GOP. And his own bank account. He is a very wealthy man these days. So is his wife. Very wealthy.


Same for most senators, democrats, too. What is it that builds their wealth? Their salaries are not that high. Their benefits hold them mostly harmless to rising costs, in medical care, in vacations, in sick time, in travel, in gifts and emoluments that go uncounted. They have expense accounts and free offices. They have budgets paid for by taxpayers to hire their staff to do the work of the nation, only much of that work ends up padding their own resumes and investments.


I’m tired of politics. I’m tired of labels. I’m tired of little getting accomplished while huge problems roar off the tracks. Who is in charge of this mess?  Certainly not the White House. Not the Congress either. Nor the Supreme Court. I’d say pretty much the government of the USA is not working for the people. Yet it is we the people who own this nation lock stock and barrel. It is we who have the say in all things. all power and wealth come from us.


Don’t forget that.


This is in our states too. Illinois just came out of a dark and dirty era where nothing much got done. Voters finally tossed most of the bums out and new work is being done. It will take years to repair the damage. Years. Costly and slow progress to emerge from the depths of political despair. And foolish waste of our birthrights. All for what? For the power and wealth of politicians with little morals.


With gridlock in state houses and in Congress, it’s time to discuss whether our system needs renewal. Current political organizations are not working. My personal belief is the republicans and the conservatives are mostly to blame for what ails us. But liberals and democrats are not blameless. It takes a lot of people to get this much dark work accomplished. Dirty, selfish and demoralizing.


What will it take to undo this? What tools do we the people have to take back our country and live up to its dreams and vision? Surely there are enough of us willing to do the heavy lifting to accomplish a great turnaround. Surely?


Please tell me this is possible.


September 30, 2019

Outcomes Desired

I’ve said this before, in this space, probably several times.  Basically, this is the message:


Dream the outcome you hope for. Define it well. Then figure out how to make it come about.


That statement is the core of all successful strategic planning. It is difficult – if not impossible – to figure out what needs to be fixed and then do it if you don’t know where your going in the first place. The destination – the outcome – is the target, the goal. What do you want to be when you grow up? What do you want your organization – church, company, school, nonprofit, government, society – to be like 10 or 15 years from now?  What is your/our dream of the future with regard to something specific?


I often use the example of the challenge proffered by John F Kennedy: “Let us place a man on the moon by the end of this decade (1969).” And we did just that.


We didn’t know how to do that, not then. We knew where Earth was, and the moon, and we had experimented with high apogee rocket shots into space, but we hadn’t sent a man into space at the time. We knew our target was the moon, but we still had to invent our way there. And back, keeping the crew alive and well in both directions of the journey. And then be able to do it again and again.


We were inventing the future then. We are still doing that today, discovering new facts, processes, materials and science. We are making things happen.


What we are not doing very well is identifying goals that are challenging and worthwhile for mankind. Oh, some of that is going on, but a lot is not. It would be great if we truly defined one goal to be peace on Earth, goodwill toward all mankind. We have played around with that one for a very long time; made some progress, but we always seem to lose our way and slip back to ground zero.

If we don’t define what we want, it is a certainty we won’t obtain it.


It should go without saying that what we want needs to be a positive thing for the benefit of a whole lot of people. This should not be a selfish goal. Greatness comes from unselfish visions. Tyranny results from selfish visions writ large.


It will pay us well to consider visionary goals. They will contain the most value. Here are a few that come to my mind:

·        Healthcare for all regardless of ability to pay

·        Education for all dependent only on ability and desire

·        Eco-friendly environment healthy for all

·        Goodwill toward all mankind

There are others bouncing around in my head, but these will do for starters. Good ones, too, I think. These will affect a quality of life for all that makes so much more possible. Imagine the exciting new careers and industries invented by the above? Think of the possibilities. Know that money saved in negative endeavors will be used in positive ones.


Knowing what we are aiming to accomplish enables us to invent a way forward. We will build new platforms from which to launch fresh futures. We will unlock the unknown to a world of fresh possibility.


All we have to do is envision, define, and try.


I’m ready. Are you?


September 27, 2019

Push and Pull of Policy

As a mom or dad, the kids ask you for something you are not sure of. They want an allowance let’s say, and you wonder how this should be done. On one hand the kids need to learn about money and how to handle it, what gives it value, and so forth. On the other hand, what do they do to earn the allowance?  Is this a weekly stipend for inhabiting the planet? Or is it a recognition of routine chores done daily?  Are those chores happenstance or assigned? Is there a formal ‘agreement’ on who does what when and under what circumstances?


In short what is the purpose of the allowance?  All the above, and then, maybe we are making too much of it?


In my mind this is the stuff policy is made of. What is the positive outcome that drives the need for the decision, the agreement? What are the pros and cons of the issue? What unintended consequences might arise from our actions? Are we creating a solution or a future problem?


The push and pull of policy formation is hard work. Essentially, it is the tug between you and us, me and them, the singular benefit of a person versus the fairness and utility to the community of ‘we.’


A policy is an attempt to solve a known problem.  Sounds easy; it isn’t.


Like the allowance matter, one child deserves the money purely from his cooperation and readiness to help with the chores. His sister doesn’t pitch in often and handles every task as a matter of homestead slavery. We know the type! One allowance is a reward while the other is ransom. How then is the matter settled for the now and going forward? How can it be instructive AND rewarding?


Ah, the art of policy making resides in humble places; and very high ones like the White House and Congress. And everywhere in between. Effort is required and must be done if the jobs entrusted to the primary players is to be done.


Protecting the rights of an individual is tantamount to protecting the rights of all. When the rights clash with the good of the public, however, order and health of the community is at stake. How do we handle that balance?


Take immigration; it is a mess precisely because decision makers refuse to manage the policy issues early enough when they are simple to understand. Mounting complexity bars progress until we have the Orwellian mess we confront today. This is not a blame game (although the seeds are there!), it is rather a plea to take responsibility for the tasks necessary to manage the complex realities.


America was founded on being a place of personal freedom, religious freedom for sure, but a whole lot of other freedoms as well. Freedom of assembly, speech, bear arms, and more. These were attendant to the ‘free pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.’ Freedom begins with the person, each of us. But for what good? I suggest it is for the good of the community, the assembled individuals who comprise the community. Extend the community to town, city, county and state; then to the nation; and then to all nations. From one to all. From you to the global village.


We cannot ignore policy formation. None is more important to Americans than immigration policy. Immigrants define us. How we treat them defines us as well. I suggest the two are worlds apart presently.


The president ought not solve this. Congress should. It is their job. Time to do it is long past. How about now?


September 26, 2019

Virtue and Virtuous?

A reader commented on how did I become so virtuous?  I don’t know how to answer him. I don’t see myself as virtuous, whatever that means. I see myself as an honest questioner of life and its happenings and delve into all of that to discern meaning. Meaning of a lot of things. An open questioner of reality, I guess. If that makes me virtuous, then I plead guilty. Only, I don’t really think that is the definition of the term.


Take yesterday’s post, I came out in favor of a Democrat Presidential ticket of Buttigieg and Warren, with Warren as VP. I explained my thinking. I offered the thought that age does and should have a lot to do with voter decision making. Biden is too old for the job. But his experience and temperament make him an excellent statesman to guide and mentor younger pols who are able and willing to lead the nation. Same for Bernie Sanders. He is a gifted thought provoker and agenda builder. I truly respect him, but still think he is too old to be President.


Does this make me an ageist? Probably, yes. I don’t mean to be discriminatory over age, but I do fear both Biden and Sanders might not live out a full term, let alone two. The chaos of a president dying in office is real. Timing is everything in the White House and a lot depends on that timing. I don’t want death to be a part of that scene if it is avoidable. And it is, at the ballot box.


OK, so Warren is 70 and at the cusp of what I consider too old to serve in the President’s chair. The next best thing is VP where the role is more modest and controlled. She is a thinker and doer in so many ways, and filled with energy. Focus that and watch what happens!  I don’t want her sidelined.


I don’t think any of the above is virtuous. It does choose a path to write about. If readers don’t agree, that’s OK with me. I’m not writing to change minds, just expand them with whatever musings I have that may be of value. That’s all.


Rather than labeling me, I would prefer the reader to share his logic and choices to date. They do change, and I reserve the right to change mine by election day. Meanwhile, don’t we all just struggle to define and understand all the facts available to us?


That’s an open society. I treasure that.


September 25, 2019

Another Trip to Chicago

A speech therapy appointment at Northwestern Memorial Hospital was the focus of this day. Son John drove us into the city for an 11:30 appointment. Traffic was lighter at that time of day, but still, construction reigns all over the region, especially on the doorstep of the city itself.


After days of heavy rain, the sun dawned bright on a chilly morning - 58 degrees, light breeze and a diminutive cloud or two. Clear blue skies with amazing hues. A lovely day to venture out.


Speech comes slowly with Rocky. The Electrolarynx (buzzer thingy) needs to be placed just so under the mouth in the crook of the next. Then mouthing words with great exaggeration and lip movement helps form the block of air in the mouth cavity. The buzzing does the rest and lo and behold, words are audible.


Sometimes, that is. It helps if you are facing him and reading his lips for verification. Otherwise heads turn to me to help them understand! I’m as much in the dark as they.


So, we advance day by day, week by week. Rocky’s medical condition is very good. He has healed from surgery. In a couple of weeks we will visit the surgeon again and he will maybe tell us if radiation therapy is needed just to be sure the cancer is gone, gone, gone. We think it is vanquished and hope radiation won’t be necessary.


Meanwhile, 32 pounds were lost and maybe 8 regained. Color is back, activity simmers within. Rocky appears to be the Rocky of yesteryear. That’s the good news. The bad – or maybe negative – is Parkinson’s is more vigorous and hampers walking, stride and exercise. The physical therapy sessions ended last week but Rocky is still prone to freezing up in mid step and then falling.


He has returned a bit to cooking. Much appreciated. We still go out for cheap fast meals. And we nosh on snacks to push meal times farther down the clock. Saturday, we feasted on roasted chicken from the supermarket; it was super good. We had missed that menu for many months. Stuffing and Brussels sprouts accompanied the bird and were delicious. We dined that evening!


I have yet to return to the stove as I had many years ago in early divorce era. I still think of those menus and how good they were. Rocky, however, needs softer foods to chew. A pork chop might take too long to be of any value! But the rice and sauce would be great, but then he doesn’t care for mushroom soup sauce!  Maybe that supper menu should remain in hiding.


Meanwhile we do enjoy a good hamburger from whatever joint is handy. Not good for the physique (!), but lovely for the tongue.


Ah!


September 24, 2019

Political Exhaustion

Saw poll results that concluded Americans are exhausted with the current political climate. As a result, they want Trump gone and a fresh start. This news resonated with me. Readers of this blog know I am no fan of tRump, never have been. There are so many reasons why it is difficult to choose where to start.


I write this blog daily and have always had something to write about. Lately I have tried to be removed from the political circus. It is tiring and inconsequential. All the circus accomplishes is upset and questions. Routines vanish and unknowns posited. Tension grows in place. Answers don’t come. The upset continues and expands.


This is the source of my exhaustion.


But it goes on to other dimensions of the same thing. If trouble is present, what are the solutions? Who will step up to lead us after sorting through the jumbled mess that defines America today?


Well, that’s another problem. We have a chorus of screeching voices saying ‘Vote for me.’ So many voices it is hard to distinguish them one from another. When we finally catch up to the current list of candidates, there are reasons to avoid many. Some are inexperienced. Some are single issue candidates. Many are too old to take on this task. That leaves a few to consider seriously, and I do. Meanwhile the weaker candidates in the polls withdraw from the race. The field of candidates is sizing down to a manageable number.


So, left in my view are: Warren and Buttigieg.  The elders are Biden, Sanders, and well, Warren.  I have had other favorites: Booker, but I hear he is considering withdrawal; Beto O’Rourke, but his traction is slipping; Kamala Harris, but her numbers are falling fast; Andrew Yang, his numbers never took hold. So that leaves Warren and Buttigieg.


Warren’s problem in my view is two-fold: too strident; and too old, although that is marginal. I think she has the right issues in view and holds workable positions on those issues. Her stridency, however, wears me out. I prefer a reasoned approach without the shouting and the urging. I want to consider the issues broadly, research them, come up with options to follow, decide and go after the solution. She frenzies me. Maybe that’s an age thing, maybe not.


Buttigieg is calm, issue oriented, and unruffled in thinking through the logic of our problems as a nation. He is not in a rush to fix everything, and I feel I can trust him in carefully weighing which issues need work first, and which will come later when we have more time and infrastructure to handle them. We need not be in a rush to fix everything. Let’s take our time and do it right.


And for certain, let’s include voices and viewpoints that have been unserved of late.


Yes, Buttigieg is gay. But then, so am I and it doesn’t bother me one bit. Nor should it bother anyone else. His agenda is not gay, but American. He is not running as a gay man, but as an American who has served his country in the military, fought a messy war in an ungovernable place, governed in local grass roots arenas, and struggled with municipal problems which get personal in a hurry.


Hmm. Sounds like I’m supporting Buttigieg for President. Didn’t expect that. Maybe Elizabeth Warren and he can be a winning team in November 2020? And then lead our nation out of its current mess?


Yes, I’ll ponder that match-up and see where it leads. Not ready to be all in yet, but think I’m leaning this way.


September 23, 2019

Reactions

None, really. Yesterday’s post was the ‘World’s Shortest Play.’ It was four lines. I’m don’t know how many people saw it or read it. Or even if they wondered what was meant by it.


The genesis of the ‘play’ were thoughts running through my head in the wee hours of that morning. Random thoughts pricking my consciousness. One series of ideas played with the concept of past – present – future. Consciously thinking of the past is what we mainly do, attending to the present is always a struggle of focus; but the future? Now that is always a looming in our lives.


Remembering the Future


We don’t remember the future. We imagine it. We hope for it. We wonder what it will bring. We help it become whatever we want it to be. We want to be part of it, yearn for it. What it will be, however, is the product of forces unseen and uncontrolled by me, you, we. It is a force unto itself; what we do with it – the future – is an open question. It is not remembered. It is embraced, prepared for, worked for.


The Power of Why


Understanding anything is an exercise in logic and intellect. Putting bits and pieces together informs us. Realizing the enormity of time, space and life informs us of possibility, potential. We can experience what surrounds us while not understanding it. Like the Grand Canyon, or the Grant Tetons, or the Pacific Ocean. It is present. It stares back at our stares. But why it is, what it is, how it came to be, and why it is important, is for us to figure out.


The struggle to understand anything is the act of living life. Understanding and not understanding all at the same time pretty much explains our existence. What we do with it is the result of our power to ask questions and to wonder the purpose, the origin and the all-inclusive Why.


Fulfilling possibility comes from the empowering Why.


Because


My dad mainly answered by questions with ‘because.’ At every age the answer was universally ‘because.’ Time unfolded and I understood why he answered that way; I did the same with my kids. You, too?


‘Because’ is the root of begging why, the ‘why’ you take on to discover. It is a motivator to stretch into the unknown. It pulls us into the more of life. Bit by bit we learn more about ourselves and the world around us. It comes from ‘why’ and ‘because.’ Think about it.


Discuss


All the above is the meat of our daily lives. It is the sinew of our being and the stuff we can think about, work with, and produce with. It comes from interacting not only with ‘it,’ but also with other people. Social interaction. Loving. Knowing. Appreciating each other, friendship and relationships of all sorts. Our explorations are not done solo but in context with others doing the same as we.

Discussing our experiences alone and with others produce the lessons we learn. Exponential learning.

This morning I awoke thinking of this ‘shortest play.’ I wondered how to stage it. What would it look like. And then I realized it didn’t need to be staged. Let it be. Get out of bed and write about it. So here I am, still early of morn writing elemental thoughts of the universe.


May this always be our fresh start of the future.


September 20, 2019