CAN WE AGREE ON SOMETHING?

My column for the Aitkin Independent Age speaks today July 13th about the turbulence of these times.  Killings, protests, massive demonstrations from East to West Coast.  The question has been asked for decades now, "Can we just get along?"

Well it's time again in 2016 to elect a national leader.  The method we use in the U.S. is far from satisfactory.  Our politics is strangely set up this summer to pit an experienced woman against a 70-year-old male celebrity with habits of delivering insults and provocations.  Plus absolutely no background of elective office or governmental anything.

With the recurring problems of violence, racism, sexism, and lack of economic opportunity in America, I conclude that no, we probably can't get along.  The only thing I found for a topic of general agreement in my column was abundant clean water.  Yes, I'll drink to that!

STOPPING OUR DECLINE

For some time I have believed that "Our best days" have passed, despite what political candidates say every four years.  The list of unsolved problems in our nation and in our world grows every year.  In previous postings on this blog I have taken a look at them: severe income inequality, unreformed immigration, the Middle East in combat from Turkey to Pakistan, nuclear Israel wanting Iran pacified.  And a globe that continues heating up from human indifference.

The Big Things that America has done include Ike's Interstate Highway System, JFK's exploration of the Moon, LBJ's Medicare and Medicaid and a Voting Rights Act.  With Nixon we got a Clean Water and Clean Air Act.

Obama has tried hard to reform Healthcare and defuse Iran's nuclear ambition with diplomacy.  But a Congress with conservatives hell-bent on defeating this Democrat at any cost, are showing the world that in this Century, despite our affluence and raw power, we are unable to function as a government of the people who reside here.

How to stop this decline?  Well, for starters we must acknowledge it.  Then hold those we elect accountable for their actions.  We can speak, blog, and broadcast.  Write, organize, and vote.  A wise person has said that the world is run by those who show up.  It's our  challenge for today.

VETERANS DAY

Veterans Day 2014: Looking Back

As a kid I kept a scrapbook of the war in Europe and the Pacific.
I pasted in maps with lines and arrows crossing France and Russia.
My brother and I collected airplane cards - fighters and bombers
with their top speeds - Bell Aircobra, Lockheed Lightning, Thunderbolt,
and Mustang. We built solid wood models and balsa wood airframes
and gliders and folded our swept-wing paper airplanes.

The next war came in Korea during high school. Gull-winged Corsairs,
and Banshees battled Soviet MIGs. The Navy put me through college
and offered flight school at graduation. By the time I had my wings
the world was caught up in a cold war. Flying from the deck of an
aircraft carrier in Grumman Trackers, we were submarine hunters in
Cuban waters and the mid-Atlantic. In Cuba the Soviets backed down,
brought their submarines to the surface after weeks of tracking, and
we took photos of their missiles being shipped back east.

With my obligation complete I left the Atlantic and settled down to earth
for a mining career and graduate study in Minneapolis. But back on
campus I couldn’t ignore the contrails in the sky as I walked between
classes. One morning I drove to the air station and asked for a reserve
squadron with something I could fly. That is how I joined a helicopter
squadron and returned to Pensacola to learn how to hover, then cruised
to Key West to search for submarines with dipping sonar.

By this time Southeast Asia was claiming a half million U.S. troops in a
war against North Viet Nam. Once a regular officer but now a reservist
I saw that no reserves were ever called up to fight this war - just
draftees and career military. I left the helicopter squadron and finished
out my federal service as an engineer in the naval research reserve -
taking active duty for training in ocean science projects.
It’s a dangerous world we live in today. If I were twenty one again
I would be back up in the sky.

BACK TOGETHER

Putting It Back Together: U S A

Most of what we lack today is hope and courage.
Today's news and commentary make dismal reading.

What has happened to America?  To US?
Are we in the Arena?  Let's make sure.  Let's take stock.
Let's remember what we've been given.

At home and in our neighborhood let's listen hard, do right.
And offer to help.

With what we have let's share.
And when we speak, think first: is it true? is it wise? is it helpful?

Greed and hate have no place.
Other ideas, other people deserve respect - until they trample on it.

Elections are coming - our chance to change leaders.
Look behind all the money; look for respect in the speeches.

Is war breaking out again?  Our warriors and police protect us,
but require close oversight.

Let's vow to hope and dare more - and believe that we can
overcome this time of disappointment.

A BETTER HOPE?

It has been exactly four months since I posted on this Blog. The Title was "DISCOURAGED , BUT HOPEFUL."  What does it take to hold onto hope in these times of gridlock, dysfunction, looming extinction, inequality, poverty, freshwater scarcity, pollution, Pakistani polio, to name a few problems here and abroad. 
I choose to call this posting today "A BETTER HOPE?"  America has been referred to as the "Last Best Hope on Earth."  "Best" is too strong a word for me today, but we are better for example, than Ukraine, at the moment.  And I guess, better than China, with its pollution and authoritarianism. 

Here in the U.S. we are seeing the rise of our own Oligarchs, and we have a failing underclass without much hope.  Four months ago I took inspiration from the life of Pete Seeger, and could sing along. 

Today I take my inspiration from my Great GrandUncle Isaac P. Prickett, who volunteered in September 1862 to fight in the Iowa 23rd Infantry, Company F, of the Union Army in the Civil War.  Private Prickett was wounded while fighting at Big Black River, Mississippi.  He was taken to St. Louis where he died in July 1863, and lies in the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.  He and his comrades saved the Union and ended slavery in our America.

One hundred fifty one years later it is up to us the living, and the remembering, to volunteer and tackle the problems weighing down our country.  We can still give hope to others, after all.

DISCOURAGED BUT HOPEFUL

Tonight the President speaks to the State of the Union. SOTU it's being called.  Next Tuesday the DFL Party caucuses all over Minnesota.  So it's time to take stock of where we are in this governing business. 

A pundit from the NY Times declares today that our policy has failed in Egypt.  A cartoonist in the local daily shows Uncle Sam hapless in the face of horrific suffering in Syria.  Economic inequality and a lack of upward mobility are dragging many of us backward in this young 21st century. 
A book on my shelf is titled "When Corporations Rule the World," and I tend to agree that much of the time this is true. Money, BIG money, not only talks, but shouts its demands of us. The causes of  "malaise" are many, and I am discouraged as I write this.

Today we mourn the death of folksinger Pete Seeger.  He was 94: sixteen years my senior.  He greatly inspired many of us with his passion, his melodies, and his words.  Freedom, justice, equality, and peace.  We know the tunes.  We know the message and the promise.  As was said to us at my Dad's funeral, "Now we must do the singing."  And the marching and the believing... again!

TITLE "BAD GOVERNMENT FOR ALL" Today is the "observed" National Holiday honoring Christopher Columbus. We learned as school kids that he "discovered America in 1492." Today is also Day Fourteen of the "Partial" Government Shutdown of 2013. Federal Offices are closed, and there is no mail delivery. But many Federal offices have been closed for two weeks, and the news media have been full of the consequences to many of us when the U.S. Government failed to function on October 1st. Reports from Washington now tell us that Republicans in Congress no longer insist that the Affordable Care Act be repealed or defunded as their cost of reopening the government. Now they have linked the Debt Ceiling to the Shutdown, so that they could cause a global economic collapse. It was Senator John McCain who called one of his party's freshman colleagues a "Wacko Bird" a few weeks ago. We hear that about forty hard-core members of the Tea Party Caucus now have effective control of Congressional Republicans. These radicals demand concessions in government spending beyond the extreme sequestering cutbacks - without any added revenues - before they will allow government to reopen or raise the debt ceiling so the Treasury can pay our obligations. Bond interest, social security payments, federal salaries, medicare payments, and on and on. For thirty years now the USA has drifted into a condition of severe income inequality. The wealthiest among us have captured most of the benefits of the recovery from the Great Recession. Much of the Middle Class is doing worse or no better that they did forty years ago. This Country is surely in decline. Today we have both Inequality and Bad Government for us all. With the messed-up districting across the United States, we cannot pull out of this nose dive with anything less that a political upheaval. The World is watching to see if our Democracy can function. One wants to hope, but it doesn't look good on this National Holiday.

TITLE: WAR CRIMES The Middle East has been the site of conflict since the end of World War II. As the British Empire was being dismantled, with France and Germany crippled from their defeats, the United States emerged as the guarantor of freedom for oppressed peoples in this region. President Truman with Congressional support acted in the creation of the State of Israel. But displaced Palestinian Arabs never were incorporated into an autonomous State of Palestine. The Great Powers in the League of Nations and in the United Nations had drawn borders across this region and enforced their mandates during most of the Twentieth Century. In 2013 we are living with the consequences of age-old hostilities where tribal religions have intersected and clashed - Muslims, Jews, and Christians. Contrary to the teachings of these three great religions, there has been unending and fierce hatred, fear, and brutal conflict during much of the last century. Today the United States government is debating its response to the use of sarin, a poisonous nerve gas, in the two-year civil war in Syria. The nuclear powers of Israel, Russia, and the USA are weighing in on this action. Neighboring countries of Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia are involved with refugees and spill-over consequences to their vital interests. Is death by poison gas the most heinous act possible in this conflict? What about the delivery of nuclear explosives and radiation? Civilian loss of life through the use of Predator Drones and the delivery of Tomahawk Missiles on any target in Syria is certain. Is America policeman to the world, or are we a member of a union of civilized nations? I oppose a military strike into Syria at this time, under the present circumstances.

TITLE - WHY VETS SAY LITTLE TO FAMILY I recently returned from a Squadron Reunion in Norfolk, Virginia. We used to be a Hunter-Killer Air Group on the Carrier Essex in the Atlantic Fleet, formed in May 1960. I'm a 20th Century guy, whose best days are back several decades. I can focus, hear and see pretty well, and remember the skills that served me and our family well. I answered the call to military service over 60 years ago, and still volunteer for causes that count. In the news and entertainment media I hear and see that "Veterans keep quiet" about their wartime episodes. Children and spouses, grandchildren, wish that Dad/Gramps had told them what he did when he served. I have been reluctant to continue telling my sea stories when listeners have tuned out and need to be about their urgent lives. It is when old shipmates find each other at reunions that we can speak freely - even about events that went unmentioned at the time, so long past. Accidents, mistakes, deaths, crash landings, awards. You want to know what Dad did, and what motivated him? Find the time together. Ask him now. It's that simple.

Title: BEST DAYS What about government today? It's at the Federal level where I declare my opinion of No Confidence. Last week five presidents met in Dallas to open the George W. Bush Library. In his remarks the last President Bush repeated his view that "America's best days lie ahead." I am not convinced. Maybe this week is better than last week because Congress just took another of its frequent recesses. The future is unknowable. So when will we see - or did we see - America's Best Days? The government in Washington is unusually inept right now. The current Congress cannot pass a budget, is unable to close a prison in Cuba, unable to address the firearms epidemic that threatens public safety. This Congress is a disgrace. The global climate is in peril, but ultra conservative radicals in the Republican Party deny scientific evidence and block any action to address the danger. With high permanent unemployment across the nation, Congress has sequestered federal spending which harms children, the elderly, and slows down our recovery from the Great Recession. All that the majority in the House of Representatives favors is cutting taxes and shrinking the size of government. This is not a path to "best days in America." Unless the many wackos and corporate lackeys are voted out of Congress and sensible replacements can be found, our Worst Days could be just ahead. This was first posted Thursday, May 2, 2013, on http://deregulate-gord.blogspot.com "A Navy Vet's Opinion of Government and Opportunity."

THE HAGEL NOMINATION

Senate Republicans are filibustering again. Senate leadership tried but only got three or four members to cross the aisle and failed to get 60 votes to bring the nominee for Defense Secretary to a vote on the floor. The Candidate Chuck Hagel was voted out of committee on a straight party-line vote. There's quite a bit to learn in this latest Beltway drama. There's a new Senator Cruz who is called "Nasty" on the Op-Ed page of the Times. GOP Senator John McCain, a critic of Hagel, chewed out this raw new kid from Harvard and Texas in the Armed Services Committee hearing on Hagel, for his lack of respect for the decorated Viet Nam veteran, Senator Hagel. The kid had some wild notions of financial corruption regarding Saudi Arabia that he was spewing. He's a Tea Party favorite who makes up stuff. But the story out of Washington is that GOP Senators just need a little more time to study the Hagel record - on Israel, Iraq, Iran, Palestine, and the Pentagon. They will do this in the next ten days of vacation. Or rather their staff will stay in town at their desks and pore over the files while the Senators leave town. Senator McCain assures us that he will vote to bring the nomination to the floor when the "recess" is over - in ten days. Chuck Hagel is widely expected to be confirmed then, "if there are no blockbusters discovered." Wait a minute. A ten-day recess? The Congress just started its new term in January. We had an inauguration, a State of the Union speech. A few committee hearings - Congress only convenes between Tuesday and Thursday. And on February 15 they have recessed until the 26th! Good luck, Mr. Hagel! This week our Representative Rick Nolan reported that Congress is scheduled to report to work only 32 out of the 52 weeks in 2013. Our hopes to get a budget, get action on firearms, immigration, global climate, unemployment, housing foreclosures, or the post office, seem awfully slim if just confirming the President's choice to run the Pentagon is so difficult. Why are these congress persons getting salaries and big pensions, anyway?

MY VIEW OF 2012

The news this year has not inspired confidence in America's governance or in the outlook for a troubled globe. I continue to frame my views of events as one who served his country while young. Now as an older guy, my experiences in industry and politics have helped to inform my viewpoint here in the North Country. These are some selected postings from "The Opinions of a Navy Vet." April 17 TAXES ARE PAID May 25 AMERICA'S BEST DAYS June 2 MERCHANTS OF DEATH June 10 POLITICAL MONEY June 27 THE SIZE OF GOVERNMENT July 4 THE JOB CREATION MYTH July 28 ELECTIONS - FIXING GOVERNMENT September 6 BROKEN POLITICS September 15 A DIPLOMAT HAS DIED September 22 THE 47 PER CENT November 3, 21 THE PEOPLE DECIDE, CONSEQUENCES December 8 FISCAL BUNK These commentaries are found on this blog, http://deregulate-gord.blogspot.com.

FIREARMS SAFETY

Firearms safety is on my mind December 15th. It is now a national issue beyond politics. Rapid-fire weapons and their large ammo clips must be banned and removed from commerce. Federal and State officials need to receive an avalanche of citizen outrage. The USA weaponizes the world.

FISCAL BUNK

The news media has a current story that dominates every channel and every newspaper. It's the "fiscal cliff" that the country will tumble over at the end of the year, unless... Unless there is "grand bargain" between the Republicans who tried to hold up the government over the debt limit and the Administration that is trying to put the economy on a recovery track. Watching this political theater, with a "super committee" of Congress that failed to make the grand bargain, and the looming disaster intended to force the bargain, would be hugely entertaining, if it wasn't proof that the present Congress is hopeless. Republicans believe that ending Bush's income tax cuts on millionaires (returning them to the tax rates from the Clinton years) is going to somehow keep these rich guys from hiring more workers. Bunk. Workers get jobs when there is more demand for products and services. We've got a Jobs Problem not a Debt Problem. And we've got a broken infrastructure problem. Trains derailing. Bridges collapsing. Pipelines leaking. A shortage of affordable housing. We can put people to work, not by giving rich guys tax breaks, but by giving governments the funds to rebuild roads, bridges, rail lines, and air traffic control. We can convert spending for unneeded weapons into rebuilding this nation's structures, school systems, and public services. We need to learn again how to talk about people in this economy. Folks are rich, and they are poor. Some are in the middle. We have the elite, and we have the down- trodden. Yes, in America. The 99 per cent are not "Middle Class." There is an upper-, upper-middle-, middle-, lower-middle-, and a lower class. Everybody except the upper-class has not been getting ahead for a long time. It's no secret. In the recession that began in 2007 millions have fallen down from their place on this scale. Some losing jobs, many losing their homes, and too many losing hope in a system that has failed them. Now we hear the absurd and cruel suggestion that taking away some of the earned social security payments and some of the Medicare benefits from the elderly is the best way to avoid that made-up fiscal tumble off a cliff. We voted down the presidential candidate with these ideas. Getting the country back to work and out of debt will take some sacrifices. "Shared sacrifice" - from corporate elites, from wealthy heirs, and from ordinary citizens. Let's get on with the job and cut out the silly theater from Congress.

CONSEQUENCES

Elections have consequences. Two weeks ago the President led a vigorous Democratic reelection/renewal campaign to victory. National attempts at voter suppression and gay marriage division by Republicans boomeranged. Minnesota voters defeated consitutional amendments requiring photo ID for voters and a same-sex marriage ban. Then they overturned GOP control of both state houses. The U.S. Senate Democratic majority increased by two senators, and the Republican majority in the House was dimished by eight representatives. It is time, as Senator Amy Klobuchar puts it, for grown-ups in our nation's capital to get back to work on the people's business.

THE PEOPLE DECIDE

Tens of millions of dollars of political TV advertising are assaulting us as we search for entertainment in these pre-election days. You don't need to be a "Fact Checker" to identify some downright scarey stuff on the tube - over and over again! For much of it we can thank a Supreme Court that invited unlimited and anonymous money into the election. (Note: the future President appoints any new justices.) Is the voting public able sort out what they need to know to cast an informed ballot? Or has this democracy morphed into a government of the money, by the money, and for the money? Shifting TV focus for now - to the terrible destruction seen on the Atlantic Coast, where surging waters and driving winds have punished millions, and shown a nation what the future could look like. This image could radically change a "Climate of Denial" in America. Denial of climate change by Washington politicians killed action in Congress on "Cap and Trade" legislation a few years ago. These deniers insist that overwhelming majorities of respected climate scientists are mistaken when they they conclude that the globe is warming, that polar ice caps are melting, and that coastal regions are in jeopardy from rising sea level. (Like New York City and Eastern New Jersey) Today's political candidates don't all "deny" climate change phenomena. But most of them from both major parties have ignored it! However, Governor Christie and Mayor Bloomberg cannot ignore or deny the extreme weather that scientists predicted would come our way. The issue that was absent all year is now cruelly in front of everyone. So in just two days the people will decide. Which President? Which Congress? Which Legislature? What kind of campaign do we want next time? If you can decide, go and vote.

The 47 Per Cent

With a little more than forty days left in this heated presidential election campaign I have started paying close attention. This week I learned that I was part of Mitt Romney's 47 per cent who paid zero Federal Income Tax in 2011. However, for 2010 I did pay some income tax. Since Governor Romney only considers these past two years important for tax records, I looked no further. This makes me something of a dependent guy - not taking much responsibility himself. Possibly so, when you ignore the sales taxes we pay, and the property taxes on real estate and farmland that I own. With only 17 years of federal service in the U.S. Navy I cannot claim a pension for my military career. As a college NROTC midshipman, my four years of Naval Science and Summer Active Duty Training didn't count as service time. My shipmates from the Naval Academy started their commissioned service with a full four years, even though we were commissioned regular officers on the same date. Since I paid no federal tax last year let's see how I have made out as a veteran and a retiree. My wife and I collected about $25,300 from Social Security, and it was not taxable income. We paid the government $2,316 for our Medicare cards. (We are over age 65 and "retired.") This brings us to Gov. Romney's age, 65 years. I guess his primary job in recent years has been "managing his personal investments." Apparently this has paid him pretty well. But it puts him in the lowest tax bracket with geezers like me who have plenty of deductions to keep our taxable income down. Maybe I have more in common with the GOP candidate than I thought.

A DIPLOMAT HAS DIED

This morning I listened to former Ambassador Ryan Crocker pay tribute to his friend Chris Stevens, new Ambassador to Libya who has just been killed in mob violence in Benghazi, Libya. Federal Service runs in my family - State Department, Defense, CIA, Management and Budget. In a movie that inspired me back in the 1950s, an Admiral asks aboard his aircraft carrier (it was the Essex) "Where do we get such men?" Chris Stevens was one of our very best; helping execute our foreign policy in Libya, a policy that is helping the Arab world reach for their freedom. Serving in this theater is full of risk. Even as four lives were just lost in the service of our country, U.S. political sharpshooters were on the scene looking for partisan advantage. It is hard not to be discouraged about trends in world events and in national governance. At times like this I think that maybe we have reached a "Tipping Point." Perhaps we have been on a downhill slide for a number of years, such that "The last best hope on earth" offers not much hope anymore. Let's look at some indicators: A Congress unable to pass a budget or agree on a jobs bill and a deficit reduction package. A Supreme Court that has overturned decades of campaign reform with a decision allowing corporate money to flood our elections. A housing collapse brought about by fraudulent lending - banks that hold up their customers! With a global population growing past seven billion inhabitants, we see enormous disparities world-wide in wealth and availability of resources. Shortages of fresh water and food coincide with dozens of conflicts between tribes and nations. And the USA profits from arming all sides in these wars. How will we know when we have fallen from our summit? How do you ask a warrior to be the last to die in an unjust war? There are no answers that are easy or simple. I grew up pledging to a nation with justice and liberty for all. One nation, not divided. I don't see that nation today. I am afraid that we have passed that tipping point already.

BROKEN POLITICS

Both political conventions are now over. Billions of dollars are flowing, and the fighting is fierce - on TV, billboards, radio, yard signs, and bumpers. The language is intemperate. Lies, fact-checkers disparaged, "socialists, radicals," on and on. Is the two-party system beyond repair? The other week a friend repeatedly referred to his opposition as the "enemy." I tried to protest, but he continued with more insults. Plainly, many partisans cannot talk to others with anything like civility. Every day I receive emails telling how much money is needed to counter the hundreds of millions that a few billionaires are pouring into the campaign against Democrats. When I watch the blizzard of negative TV ads I think of all the better uses for my money than to fuel this fire. When neither federal nor state legislators can agree on whether government is necessary, or how it might be funded, we have lost our way. The way that children in America are taught about how democracy and representative government are supposed to work. Compromise is weakness? My way or else? I think I have already made enough contributions to the candidates who have demonstrated some common sense. I cannot abide any more partisan food fights.

ELECTIONS - FIXING GOVERNMENT

When gridlock gets you down, in Washington and in St. Paul, go and find a candidate running for office in your community. Listen, and then tell him/her what's wrong with the way things are for you. Unemployment, recession, climate changes, banks that hold up customers, housing fraud, politicians serving themselves. I have found my candidate in Crosby, Minnesota. His name is Joe Radinovich, a fourth generation Ranger from the Cuyuna Range, where we used to mine manganiferous iron ore. Joe is running in the new House District 10B, which includes Eastern Crow Wing County and all of Aitkin County. There is no incumbent here. I was present at Joe's announcing speech at the west edge of Ironton on May 30th. Quoting from this speech, Joe advocates "Investing in the best possible education and job training for our people, rebuilding our roads, bridges and public works, and by allowing everyone the dignity of a fair wage for a fair day's work." His campaign theme is "Together. Rebuilding Our Future." We can fix our government. One legislator at a time. On August 14th in Minnesota we choose our political party nominees in the Primary Election. On November 6th in the General Election we choose a President, a U.S. Senator, a Member of Congress in the U.S. House, a State Senator, and a State Representative. When they take office in January perhaps the promise of American Democracy can be fulfilled again.