Consider The Source.....

Driving home from my acupuncture appointment through Wisconsin's beautiful autumn countryside, listening to NPR "All Things Considered",  I heard an interview with Professor Deborah Lipstadt about the rise of anti-semitism....not only in America, but around the world.

Obviously the interview was in response to the recent slaughter at the synagogue in Pittsburgh. The news filled with another list of innocents murdered and injured. The perpetrator now in custody. This man walked into the synagogue with one purpose - to kill Jews. Kill them with his automatic weapons.

The professor's thoughtful comments were measured and one or two sentences still stick in my mind. I may not have her quote exactly correct....but she said "Silence in the face of bigotry is acquiescence.....there is no neutrality....we cannot let it pass."

She also went on to say that this recent rise in anti-semitism did not start during 45's adminstration, but rather during President Obama's terms....perhaps because he was our first black President. But she did say that 45 and his adminstration have "lit a fire under it".

So her words of caution were that good people need to stand up and say..."No...that comment/joke/action is not acceptable to me."

Be brave....even if it's beloved Uncle Edgar who is known for his "outrageous" remarks....this year say no. I hope it doesn't ruin your Thanksgiving gathering....but say no.....

A Cancer.....

Saturday morning was a very busy and good time - I was at helping write postcards to encourage District 60 voters to consider Democratic candidates running for office. Others were assembling informational packages, some were calling homeowners to encourage them to vote on November 6th. Still more volunteers were headed out the door....boots to the ground....to canvas neighborhoods. The place was buzzing with activity.

I left at noon.....and the first headline that scrolled across my phone as I waited in line for coffee was about the murders at the Pittsburgh synagogue. And the behind-the-eyes-tears that were haunting me several days ago were right back at the front again. Really? Again?

And then, much later that night was this information on the Chris Rahlf for State Assembly's (my candidate) Facebook page. She posted:

"Today someone called one of our phonebankers back, said he was a Republican and proud gun owner and fired his gun so she could hear. I'm not sure what he was trying to prove but this type of animosity and anger is not productive, especially today. My volunteer is an amazing lady, she is kind to everyone. Her husband is a Vietnam veteran. I wonder if her harasser knows that? I wonder if he would thank him for his service if he met him insteaad of firing a gun in his wife's ear? We are Americans, we are all humans - let's treat each other accordingly."

Chris is an excellent candidate, she is a Navy veteran, a business woman with years or organizational experience around the Country, she is a wife and mother. She has good, solid ideas to improve our roads, our schools, healthcare coverage.....she works with  people to find solutions.

And here is a "proud Republican" calling back to shoot his gun close to a telephone.....in Ozaukee County Wisconsin.

There is a cancer growing in the United States.......I just hope it's not terminal......

Happier Notes......

October is birthday month in our family - Dave first and then grandsons Evan and Alex. We see Evan frequently because he lives in West Bend and will be able to help him blow out the candles on his cake again this year. We send birthday gifts to college grandson Alex because he is across country at Whitman College in Washington State.

And then we add Halloween to the mix and the fun continues.

So we celebrate.....with cake and candles, with gifts and cards.....smiles and hugs (close by and long distance). October reminds me that Dave and I are very fortunate and happy to celebrate our little far-flung family.

Happy Birthday to some of "my" boys.......!

A Flip of the Switch.....

I woke at 4:00 this morning and made the mistake of checking my phone just to see what time it was. I was greeted by a headline scrolling across the screen: More pipe bombs delivered today - to several well known democrats and to news outlets. And 45 reacted quickly (through a variety of sources, radio, television and internet):

President Trump on Wednesday afternoon addressed the suspicious packages sent to former government officials and CNN’s New York offices, calling them “abhorrent to everything we hold dear.” The president said that he was briefed on the packages and confirmed that a “major federal investigation is now under way.” “We will spare no resources or expense in this effort, and I just want to tell you that in these times we have to unify,” he said. “We have to come together and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America.” He added that his administration was “angry, upset, unhappy about what witnessed this morning.” The president failed to mention by name the people and institutions targeted, including former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and CNN. Those targeted have often been subject to verbal attacks by Trump.

A good and measured and Presidential response. A flip of the switch to a totally different measured comment (not off the cuff....he had to read it.)

Sadly I was unable to fall back to sleep and the next hours were spent with thoughts whirling through my head....trying to balance the above statement with what I've witnessed with my own eyes and ears since the campaign that resulted in his election in 2016. I got up and did a quick google search just to find a few example of past Trumpisms.....

"Even in elementary school, I was a very assertive, aggressive kid," Trump wrote in his ghost written bestseller. "In the second grade I actually gave a teacher a black eye — I punched my music teacher because I didn't think he knew anything about music and I almost got expelled. I'm not proud of that but it's clear evidence that even early on I had a tendency to stand up and make my opinions known in a very forceful way. The difference now is that I like to use my brain instead of my fists."

"If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously, OK? Just knock the hell ... I promise you I will pay for the legal fees. I promise, I promise," he said on Feb. 1, 2016.

At a Las Vegas rally later that month, he said security guards were too gentle with a protester. "He's walking out with big high-fives, smiling, laughing," Trump said. "I'd like to punch him in the face, I'll tell you."

On March 9, 2016, as a protester was being escorted out of a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina,  he was sucker-punched by another attendee.

Three protesters who claim they were roughed up by Trump supporters at a March 1, 2016, rally in Louisville, Kentucky, have filed a federal suit against Trump, accusing him of inciting violence. (Suit was dismissed.)

"Please don't be too nice" to suspects, Trump tells police. Trump seemed to encourage police to be more violent in handling potential offenders during a speech to law enforcement officers in July 2017.

After a rally in Montana: "That was a tremendous success last night in Montana and Greg is a great person, he’s a tough cookie, and I’ll stay with that," Trump said, again offering praise for the congressman who body-slammed a reporter last year as he campaigned during a special election for Montana's at-large congressional seat. The incident was caught on audiotape. Gianforte went on to win the election and is now up for reelection. "Any guy that can do a body slam, he is my type!" Trump said to cheers Thursday night.

Racial slurs, nasty rhetoric and violence at Trump rallies have become commonplace against protesters, bystanders, and reporters. Assaults are committed not only by rowdy Trump fans, but by the staff he employs to keep the events safe. But rather than denounce these incidents, Trump is making them part of his brand, and uses them to rev up crowds.

“There may be somebody with tomatoes in the audience,” Trump warned people at a rally in Iowa last month. “If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. Okay? Just knock the hell — I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees.” 

In December, multiple incidents of violence were reported at a Trump rally in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

The next month, a Sikh protester was physically pushed out of a Trump rally in Iowa, while fans yelled, “Trump! Trump! Trump!” The protester described it later as “a fascist rally in a school gym.” Last week, yet another video emerged of grown men at an event in Kentucky forcibly shoving a young black woman. As long as Trump continues to encourage this violence, it’s not going to stop. The fan charged with assault for sucker-punching a black protester on Wednesday has reportedly expressed no regrets. “The next time we see him, we might have to kill him,” he said.

.............

I'm sorry.....I must have missed something. Suddenly violence is "abhorrent" versus "....next time we might have to kill him.".....I know I am not the only one who senses a complete disconnect, once again, between the leadership that should be emanating from the Oval Office and the actual speech and behavior of the man who now leads our Nation.

By the end of the day he was blaming the crooked media, the Democrats....anyone but himself and his own challenging/insiteful language and behavior. His spokespeople say his is not "responsible" for the pipebombs and the violence.....but I've always heard the phrase "The buck stops here," when it comes to the President. The good things that he can boast about and difficult things he must also see as part of the whole. This big buck stops and at his desk......as he incites his followers to greater and greater expressions of anger and mistrust and fear. 

I'm not a media talking head....I'm not a political analyist....I'm just a retiree living in Wisconsin with two adult heads-of-household "children" and four grandsons. I'm just one voter who will make an infinitesible click in the mid-term elections. But I'm a frightened voter. I've never seen anything like this.....and I know that voters were tired of the "swamp" and the "inside the Beltway life-time politicians".....but this is better? This is what you got in  by voting as you did in 2016? (You say you didn't vote for Trump but couldn't vote for Hillary becaue you hated her.....well, you voted for Trump.)

Pipe bombs? The kind of violence we see during elections in third world countries? Ugly rallies? A President who whips up the crowd to scream inane slogans like "Lock her up!" TWO YEARS AFTER THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION??? 

My friends say to turn off the news, stop listening, try not to let it get to me....but it's almost impossible. We really do rely on the remote button as fiver or six negative ads for local candidates follow each other during our evening TV shows. But part of me also thinks if good, thoughtful people don't SAY something about this then it will continue to grow. We have to say this is not and should not be our America.

Believe what you want, you have the power to vote for your candidate, you have the right to carry or post a sign, to gather with like minded people.....but do you have to hate the "other"? Do you have to believe statements that are simply and completely false and unsupportable?

I have a sign in my car supporting a local candidate for Wisconsin Assembly. Dave is concerned that someone may break our car window. Really? In Ozaukee County, Wisconsin? Really? I know it's "red" but isn't it filled with people who respect one another?

Really......OMG I can't even begin to anticipate 2020.

I will have to double up on the sleeping pill tonight because I am just exhausted.....and yet once again, tears are very close to the surface.....

US.....this is Us?

It was a very busy morning....I was moving through my to-do list at a good pace. I found time to walk Fenway on a beautiful day and Dave and I went out again to stop at the post office and cast our votes in the mid-term election. Back at home I finished up a few more to-do's and headed off to my book club discussion. It was an absolutely beautiful Wisconsin day....the sky and clouds were gorgeous and temperature just perfect!

I was really soothed by the beauty around me as I drove to Cedarburg. Our book club discussion was interesting and lively....I will now finish the book! Leaving the group I headed into town for a quick visit with our daughter working at a gallery down the street. I shared a cup of coffee and some conversation with her and headed home about 4:00. What a nice retirement day!

I took time to walk Fenway before dinner to spend a little more time outside.....and then, while fixing our soup supper, I made the mistake of turning on the national news.

• Hand delivered pipe bomb left outside George Soros' home - I didn't even know who he was, but apparently he is a billionaire who contributes money to liberal causes.
• Nancy Pelosi cornered by a Florida mob yelling "Get the fuck out of here...you and your fucking Democrats!"
• Mitch McConnell and his wife at a restaurant in Louisville, KY for dinner when they are accosted...."Why don't you get out of here! Why don't you leave this entire country!"

I finished stirring the soup in tears....and Dave walked into the room. I tried to explain that this was all just so disturbing and so unlike any America I ever knew as "mine". What the hell is going on here....what happened to our ability to have a reasonable and civil disagreement? Who are all these people and where have they been hiding all this hate for all these years? 

How has this kind of behavior been "whipped" into a frenzy until individuals feel it's OK to just use their free speech to rant and rave at the opposition.....no matter where they are....doing their job, or during their personal down time. Ahhhhh....I assume it's follow the leader.

America.......this is US?????

Bicycles.....

Our recent exploration of the Rhine River from Basle, Switzerland north to Amsterdam was a real adventure. New territory for us, a beautiful river cruise ship, too much good food and wonderful excursions. A great time with Maryland friends we don't see often enough!

We really enjoyed exploring Amsterdam and Dave and I stayed an additional two days after the cruise ended. We visited the Van Gogh Museum, the Resistance Museum, The Canal Museum. We ate good food at outside sidewalk tables - beautiful weather! We went in and out of a few shops, walked along the canals and just throughly enjoyed this beautiful and historic city.

But the bicycles! Everyone uses this preferred method of transporation. There are about twice as many bicycles as residents because most people have more than one. And they are not the super fancy, super expensive American models....they are older and a bit warn and often bought resale. Why? Because people sometimes forget where they parked their bike, or sometimes a bike is stolen and shows up again at a resale shop. It's just part of the process and as our tour guide explained during our walking tour, it doesn't seem to bother anyone that much.

We saw lots of bicyclists with dogs riding in their baskets (little dogs and big dogs). We saw special front seats with windscreens for toddlers to ride in front of their parents. We saw wooden delivery carts attached to the back of some bikes. We saw one boy (about 11 years or so) with his younger brother (about 6) standing behind him....holding his shoulders with feet planted on some kind of short stand behind the pedals. A ride to school I guess.  And we never saw a bike helmet.

Our tour guide explained that in Amsterdam bicycles have the right-of-way.....not the pedestrians. So she suggested we be very careful and look both ways before crossing any of the narrow streets. The bikes have their own lane and step off the sidewalk and cross that one first before worrying about any cars. And believe me....you do have to look more than once! We had some very narrow misses as a bike suddenly rounded the corner.

Before we arrived in Amsterdam our cruise social director told us that the Dutch were some of the tallest and slimmest people in the world. Apparently there have been scientific studies trying to determine why. He was right....it seemed everyone had skinny jeans on skinny legs.

I think it was all that pedaling........

A First at 71......

At our age “firsts” are hard to come by......but fun when they do.

This is the first election season that Dave and I have ever done anything other than discuss issues together, watch commercials and televised debates, listen to talking heads and walk into the voting booth to cast our ballots. Some years we’ve even cancelled each other out.

Not this year...we are pretty much on the same page. This year I walked in my first parade holding a sign and chanting along with 100 other progressives hoping for a blue wave in a red sea. We have some excellent candidates running against some questionable (or worse) incumbents.

Tonight we joined a sold out fund raising dinner for the Ozaukee Democratic Party held in Cedarburg....the room was filled with enthusiasm, hope and commitment. This event, held a few years ago might have attracted a few dozen people at a local pub. This year there were 100+ filling the Cedarburg Cultural Center. Again....we have some excellent candidates with impressive resumes and excellent and thoughtful goals for Wisconsin’s future.

These candidates may not all win their races this time....but they have already made a huge difference....lighting a blue flame in an area where progressives felt pretty lonely.

So it’s another first for us.....we are not knocking on doors as so many others are, but we are writing postcards, offering to drive people to the polls......trying to guarantee a better future for our grandshildren. After being so disgusted by the nasty rhetoric, divisiveness and policies of the present leaders we really hope to wake to a blue sky morning on November 7th.....or at least one filled with more hope......and probably Dave and I won’t cancel each other’s vote.

Tribute to Much Better Writers....

I woke up early this morning with some wierd rhymes and phrases going through my head.....they reminded me of reading Dr. Suess, Shel Silverstein and other authors to our kids when they were growing up. A litany of phrases tripped, one after another, through my mind as I opened my eyes to start the day. It became obvious to me that the tensions in our today Country invade my subconscious when I sleep.....and they create their own kind of poetry.

It was almost like a song.......

What happened to the us, child.....what happened to the we?
When did the them take over.....and hide the best of me?

What happened to the leaders, child, who show us how to shine?
When did their examples turn to hate and anger all the time?

Who decided the other was bad and when?
Will our melting pot pride ever show up again?

What happened to the us, child.....what happened to the we?

Should the me stay silent and say nothing more?
Or should the me step out and try to even the score?

When did real become fake, child, when did this all start?
Who is at fault, child, and what’s in their heart?

What happened to the us, child, the we, the all?

This is often the way one of my little blogs start....a thought that rattles around in my brain until I decide to just put it down on paper. I have a small "following" and that's OK. I really do this because I've always loved to write.....and sometimes it starts with a dream....

Burning Eyeballs.....

What do you do when you're "trapped" in a small space for about nine hours. A small, narrow spot where it's hard to move around, stretch your legs or sleep. You disturb your fellow traveler every time you need to get up to walk the aisles. What do you do in coach on an airplane moving from the USA to Europe. Well one thing I don't do is complain....after all I'm fortunate enough to be heading off for another travel adventure.

And KLM feeds you well and gives you a wide variety of TV and movie selections to watch on your own private screen. That's how I found a movie I somehow missed when it was in theaters...."Shock And Awe". The movie covers two reporters for the Knight Ridder News Agency as the Bush administration led the Nation to the war in Iraq. While other newspapers were pushing the administration's line that Sadam had weapons of mass destruction,  two young reporters were uncovering alternate facts.

The movie is fascinating....beginning with a young soldier at a hearing in Washington DC. He rolls to the front of the room using his wheelchair. When asked to stand to be sworn in he just looks at the panel....and the chairman apologizes. He can be sworn in while seated. Then he begins to share his thoughts. He says he's always been fascinated by numbers.....that's the way he looks at the world. And he begins to list a few numbers. The number 19...the age at which he enlisted in the army. The number three....the number of hours he was on the ground in Iraq before his vehicle hit an IED. The number six....the six inch piece of shrapnel that sliced through his spine. And then he says "I'd like to ask one question. How the hell did this happen?"

And the movie flashes back to September 11th... airplanes flying into the twin towers and the Pentagon. It moves forward as the Bush administration begins to find "facts" that Sadam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and is preparing to use them. And the US can't allow that and has to keep the world safe. The drum beat continues for over a year as the President, his cabinet members and our congress move closer and closer to war. And our troops invade in 2003.

The few reporters at the Knight Ridder Agency who refused to give up, who didn't believe the research and the officially sanctioned government "facts" presented, were the only ones that got it right. But no one was listening. It was years later that Colin Powell admitted that his speech to the United Nations prior to the invasion was based on flawed intelligence. It was years later that the New York Times apologized to it's readers for presenting the wrong information.

The movie was fascinating.... I was never aware of this back story until watching "Shock And Awe". It reminded me of "All the Presidents Men" and also reminded me of the importance of a free press. The movie ended with a list of additional numbers:

• we've been on the ground in Iraq for 17 years
• the war has cost more than two trillion dollars
• 36 thousand American troops were killed
• one million Iraquis were killed or injured
• zero WMD were ever discovered

I watched two other movies on my trip across the pond until my eyeballs were burning. Two other movies......but "Shock And Awe" is the one that still rattles around in my brain. The numbers.....

Plarn.......

And just what do you do with all those plastic bags from the grocery store? Replace with re-usable tote bags (the ones I always forget in the car when I go into the store). Recycle as many as you can. Use them for cleaning up after you walk the dog. Or........ create sleeping mats for the homeless.

A friend told me about this effort, an easy crochet project turning plastic bags into nice, colorful, soft pads for the homeless to use to cushion their sleeping bags. So I cut my bags into strips and she creates the mats!

Step one....keep your bags.  

Step two....flatten the bags and cut crosswise to make loops.

Step three.....add one loop to the next to make a long, long "string". Roll them into a big ball.

Step four....give to my friend.

Step five....see the results and feel good about helping just a little bit.

So save those bags....pass them on to someone who knows how to crochet and help the homeless.....with a colorful ball of "plarn" not yarn!

Elon Musk Where Are You.......

We had a wonderful trip to Europe....a Viking Cruise from Basel, Switzerland to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Everything about it was just about perfect....weather, food, activities and the friends who shared the adventure with us.

But oh how I wish there was some kind of time capsule that could take us from Milwaukee to cross the pond....without the time zones in between.

Today will be a long day coping with jet lag......

But as our daughter once reminded me...."Mother, this is a first world problem.....you are getting off a plane in Europe!" She's right of course....but I think I'll text Elon to see if he can invent something that would speed up the travel process.

History Repeats....

We had a little down time yesterday afternoon......so we watched a movie. Yes....we are cruising the Rhine River and have enjoyed one experience after another.....but a little down time on day five was welcome.

Scrolling through the listings on our state room TV we found “Mark Felt” starring Liam Neeson. Frankly I will watch anything with Liam Neeson so it was an easy choice. This movie could have been a companion piece to “All The President’s Men”.......and it was fascinating. The Watergate scandal from another perspective....that of Mark Felt, the number two man at the FBI when the break-in took place. J. Edgar Hoover had just died at the beginning of the film, Mark Felt expected to move into his position....but Nixon appointed one of his men instead. Someone with no law enforcement experience. As Felt greets the new head of the FBI he says “Mr. Gray, the FBI is the most respected institution in the world. It is one of the two cockpits that fly America and it is what it is because no one from the outside ever got inside. What goes on in here and what it means to the Country...that’s all that I care about.”

And as leads began to develop Nixon tried to stop the investigation in its tracks. He tried to limit the FBI’s efforts and stop their investigation. At which point Mark Felt, with the FBI for 30 years and a consummate professional, responded strongly and in no uncertain terms.

The scene is a telephone call from John Dean to Mark Felt. In response to John Dean’s order/request that they shut down the investigations and stop the leaks Felt responds: “The White House has no authority over the FBI....at all. I’m afraid the White House has nothing to suggest to the FBI.”
And the conversation is over......

Sound familiar? Where is Deep Throat when we need him......