About my personal detour lately

Suddenly it's four weeks since my last blog entry... as if nothing is happening either near me or on larger stages. Perhaps that's a good reminder about how easy it is to let the mind (and body) drift, to spend evenings criticizing WNBA officiating, or whatever else is easier than sitting down to write some random thoughts.

Or maybe it's a combination of a trip to Keokuk for a family wedding the first weekend of the month, and our two grandsons flying to spend three days plus with us (unaccompanied!), and four nights of the Democratic National Convention, and quite a few hours editing and adjusting two online college writing courses.

Or maybe it's just the lazy days of late summer.

Or... say, here's something: I am making progress on interviewing for my history of St. Luke's UMC project, which no one asked for and which has no clear end point or product. Yet, for something so vague, it certainly has been entertaining for me.

Yesterday I spent an hour on the phone with a guy who was an intern pastor for less than a year back in 1986-87, spanning the last few weeks of the tenure of the church's founding minister who was losing it to alcoholism plus the arrival of an inspiring young minister who basically restarted the church. Jay Rundell is now nearly 40 years on and works at a seminary in Ohio... but still remembers those days -- a combination of difficult times and nostalgic memories. 

That then-young minister is Bill Selby, now 81, and still living right across the street from St. Luke's. He has studied church systems for many years and heads a center that spreads the word about church philosophies and systems across at least seven states. I have enjoyed sitting in a local Starbucks talking with him, and even remembering to take some notes. Sitting down for an extended interview is a good reminder of how challenging the process can be... and the only thing that has saved me is going back to my computer and trying to reconstruct as much of the conversation as I can without delay. 

Bill's successor, Dick Evans, still lives in Littleton, and we have struck up a friendship that didn't have any time to build back in 2002, when Dick was the lead pastor as Kathleen and I joined the church that fall. He left the post in June of 2003. We have had extended conversations twice this summer, covering everything from how to write and deliver a great sermon to anecdotes about how a church exploded in membership in just a few years. 

After Dick, came Janet Forbes, who led the church for 12 years. She was brought in to provide stable leadership, to get finances in order. and to overcome the latest rumors and feelings of abandonment and more. She was nice enough to invest some time writing down her random memories, plus her strategies and tactics in leading a church. She and her husband were off camping much of the summer, but I plan to sit down with her soon for some follow up questions.

The little history project began with wanting to add some stories and "color" to the 40th anniversary of a church that did not have a building until 1986 and that parallels the community of Highlands Ranch in many ways (the place was a working ranch 45 years ago... there were 87 occupied homes here in 1981). It grew from nothing and there were lots of ups and downs along the way. Like my research?

Back to my lame excuses for neglecting this blog: stuff happened. 

So, along with other responsibilities (so much journalism judging), it's been interesting to have this church history side project. Right now, I am thinking I may need to produce two different versions of whatever  I come up with... perhaps one as an interactive ebook and the other as a printed book. 

But I still have at least a dozen more people to interview to flesh out what I have learned and I still need to gather visuals of all sorts, particularly from before the year 2000, which is the period when there was the most tumult (and the most riveting history, to be honest).

But today my task is to browse PDFs of 71 student newsmagazines entered in the NSPA Pacemaker competition and start separating them into "not winners" and "possible winners." I am leading a team of three who will name finalists and national winners, though we live in three time zones and two of us are active advisers. 

Well, enough with the excuses, which are weak since I spent plenty of time in the past month watching old "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episodes, and the Olympics, and Fever games.

But we are already into Week 2 of the university classes and the unofficial end of summer is here, and I just reactivated by sports package with Infinity so I can get the Big 10 Network... go Hawks!

Time to refocus.

Ad hominem attacks are logical fallacies... except in politics

My last post was a bit over the top, I suppose, but "over the top" appears to be the new American norm. I would hate to be out of step with the zeitgeist. Someone might start calling me names.

And that is my clunky segue to the very recent trend of Democrats and their social media supporters calling Trump and Vance names. Weird. Odd. Strange. They are, of course, outraged.

Trump is allowed to say whatever he wants by his dazed and confused cult members and he has been a consistent playground bully for, well, his entire life. No need to tinker with success. Vance is newer to name-calling but he's doing his best to antagonize pretty much anyone not already firmly in the cult's embrace. 

Yesterday's National Association of Black Journalists panel at the group's national conference has caused angst among many journalists. Should a respectable group invite someone as antagonist and dishonest as Trump to be part of a conference panel at all? Or should journalists go over and above in their duty to present all "sides," even the side of a convicted felon? These difficult questions cause people to resign leadership positions in protest and cause others to leap to the defense of free expression, with dozens of positions in between.

I honestly don't have an answer but I certainly am delighted by the spectacle of an old white man questioning the racial identification of a Black woman in a room overwhelmingly filled with Black journalists. I assume Trump had his more racist cult members in mind as his true audience yesterday and I also assume that radical social media (including FOX News) will spin his performance as brave. 

For Black voters considering supporting Trump this fall... well, that consideration should be quickly discarded.

I suspect that most Republicans who have even heard of this event experienced the slightest dread... in fact, they might have thought, "How odd. Our candidate didn't even try to answer questions with any policies or facts and seemed intent on taking on anyone not white." Republican politicians, of course, raced to explain away Trump's remarks, many pretending that they would prefer to discuss issues and the history of Kamala Harris's policies. 

The dirty truth is that the Republican Party is no more. It is now the Trump Party or MAGA Party, and we have a major political party that represents explicitly racist views. 

My hope is that the percentage of American racists is not all that large and that reason and hope will prevail in the election, now 98 days away (though voting must start at least a month earlier than that). 

In the meantime, creating silly internet memes that label Trump and Vance as weird and odd seems like a good way to make fun of the bullies. Legions of elementary teachers would object. "Turn the other cheek" is a laudable message, and Michelle Obama famously declared that "when they go low, we go high." The playground must be free of bullying.

Jesus and Michelle are right in the long run, but in the real world there is a need to win elections. Bullies hate to be ridiculed. That's what THEY depend upon in attacking others. 

Trump and Vance and the cult are certainly threats to democracy and American ideals. They could do a lot damage, at least in the near term, if they were to be elected.

But they are also fundamentally silly and weird. They are laughable.

And once people start laughing at you, it's tough to fight back. It would take demonstrating a seriousness of purpose and some actions that SHOW Trump acting for the good of the nation and the world.

Ha! See how easy it is to enjoy a good laugh about Trump and Vance? Mocking terms like "odd" and "weird" are not acceptable in logical arguments. But we are not engaged in creating rhetorically sound arguments. 

I would like to laugh all the way through the election results... and then continue laughing as the Trump cult noisily implodes.

I'm vaguely optimistic suddenly, and yet there's an ancient nutcase making speeches

The latest outrageous and (maybe?) demented contention from Trump, from the New York Times: 

In the closing minutes of his speech to a gathering of religious conservatives on Friday night, former President Donald J. Trump told Christians that if they voted him into office in November, they would never need to vote again.

“Christians, get out and vote. Just this time,” he said at The Believers’ Summit, an event hosted by the conservative advocacy group Turning Point Action, in West Palm Beach, Fla. “You won’t have to do it anymore, you know what? Four more years, it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.”

Mr. Trump, who never made a particular display of religious observance before entering politics, continued: “I love you, Christians. I’m a Christian. I love you, you got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not going to have to vote.”

First, what!!??? So, the goal for a true Christian is to never vote again? So, the convicted felon who is nearing 80 just needs to use a few million people to vote to keep him out of jail? Then they can return to irrelevance?

Second, can you imagine if ANY remotely normal politician would say such a thing in public? It would lead every news report, scream from front page headlines, and dominate social media chatter. For Trump, there are reports, certainly (see above), but our media seems unable to identify the clear nut case who is leading one of our two national political parties into the fall election. 

The tone and rhetorical strategies here are identical to the Vice President making a policy speech calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. BTW: Trump called Kamala Harris an anti-semite in that same speech. And she's married to a Jew! 

It's hard to accept the fact that the Republican Party has no clear platform beyond the appalling Project 2025 drivel that they went ahead and put in writing so it can be analyzed and argued with. It's demoralizing to realize that one political party has chosen to manufacture fear for their benighted followers to fetishize. It's appalling that people who claim to be moral and good are just fine with political leaders who name call in ways that would have them removed from an elementary school playground. 

Anyone in public life had some skeletons, some "I wish I hadn't said that" moments, and some beliefs that have "evolved." None of us should be judged by our very worst moments, and it is reasonable to assume that thoughtful people can change their opinions over time. 

Shouldn't someone be asking what Trump means by "it'll be fixed"? It's both ominous and meaningless... perhaps an accurate representation of Trump himself. 

I have given up on any hope of the die hard cult members who will find any excuse for their Beloved Leader and his minions. I mean, come on. Over 25 percent of Americans are certain the sun revolves around the earth. Just being in public reminds us that many of the people around us are morons (not all, but enough to remark upon).

But must the news media default to "we try to balance our reporting to show both/all sides"? Must we continue to pretend that "everyone does it"? Must we sort of laugh off an outrageous TV host who you never invite to sit down for dinner when he produces his latest drivel? Must we treat the obvious sycophants looking to make some money or gain attention by consorting with a man without principles and without shame as politicians to pay attention to?

There are heroes in America. Few can be found among the owners and publishers of our media. They did manage to bring down Joe Biden, a man who actually supports the free press and who actually pays attention to what the media says. 

And Trump continues to tease, offend, bully, and amuse those same media leaders. And many citizens of America seem content with that. Appalling.

Joe, you've got to go... and assorted thoughts on aging

Age is the hot topic across the country... at least for the remarkably few people who are paying attention to politics and the inexorable decline of our two major party candidates for the presidency. And since I turned 74 just yesterday (I am a day late with this post), I suppose I have spent more time than I should on the topic of aging.

In July of 1950, Harry Truman was president and also busy being born on July 12 was Eric Carr, who become the drummer for KISS. He died in 1991. So it goes. Just a week prior to my entrance, Private Kenneth Shadrick was the first American soldier killed in the Korean War. Also on July 5, the "Law Return" passed, which guaranteed the right of all Jews to live in Israel. That was the end of any controversies in Palestine, thank goodness.

On July 19, the New York Yankees signed their first two Black baseball players: Elston Howard and Frank Baines. I would later have both their Topps baseball cards and would never give a single thought to their race (or what they must have endured). At some point while I was in England in the Air Force, my mom cleared out the shelf in an upstairs bedroom where a large box of baseball cards were stashed. Old news. 

On July 27, 1950, President Truman promised aid to Taiwan. And that was the end of any controversy about that island.

Being born in 1950 helped out my parents, I would guess, as my dad would not be drafted during the Korean War due to having a family. They doubled down on this protection by adding brother Mike less than two years later, though my mother always said she wanted "Irish twins" and the fun of having two young children to dress alike, etc. I am quite certain that the idea ended up being more fun than the reality.

I was born in Mercy Hospital, which still exists but has now been taken over by University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. My mom claimed that I was the first baby delivered by our long-time family physician Dr. Charles "Chuck" Eicher. He delivered 2,682 after me. He was just 26 in 1950, and got married that year, which is irrelevant but a reminder of how young he was. I continued getting occasional physicals and assorted medical care (minor bone breaks, illnesses, etc.) until his retirement in 1991. He passed in 2009, age 85.

Kathleen and I still have a bowl he gave my parents as a wedding present. I guess Barb and Jack were friends... or maybe Dr. Eicher was just making an investment to insure that all eight Kennedy kids would be born under his watch. As Kathleen points out, the bowl must have been stylish then, but it didn't stand the test of time. It is some weird shade of green with scalloped edges and we retain it because... we don't really have a good reason.

Similarly, there is no good reason to search through history for significant events from 74 years ago, though it is good to be reminded that "stuff happens," whether we are actively participating or not. It's also bracing to realize that a lot of things haven't changed all that much in nearly 3/4 of a century or that "ancient history" really is within my lifetime. 

We haven't quite "solved" racism in America. Israel and the simple fact of a person being Jewish can still be a life or death situation. Taiwan continues to be in the middle of Great Powers pulling and pushing. The world will never rid itself of men who long for authoritarian power (and 1950 came just five years after the free world defeated Hitler). 

And on we go.

I just can't let this go...

In a logical, sane world, we would all be clamoring for BOTH Biden and Trump to withdraw as candidates for the presidency. Biden's aging is accelerating and we are learning more and more about observations by politicians and friends about his decline (not into dementia or anything... just a decline in focus and energy) over the past couple years. Trump is a convicted felon and exhibits an assortment of deranged declarations that we just can't accept as "normal." And he is 78.

Both parties have many potential candidates for the job, but none of them are willing to be open about the clear fact that we have two poor choices for the most important position in the world. 

My guess is that non-politicians (the vast majority of the country) would be fine with both of them shaking hands, dropping out, and freeing their delegates to vote as they wish at their respective nomination conventions. I honestly don't know who would be the preferred candidate for either group, though you can be sure that the Republicans would choose someone we might term Trump Lite, while Dems would pick someone with few quarrels with Biden. 

The culture war issues would remain and the media would go nuts and the nation might continue slowly (so slowly!) working toward a more perfect union. The Supreme Court would continue to dig itself into a deep hole of irrelevance to go with the general lack of trust they now enjoy. Our gerrymandered Congress would continue to be split, with neither party having much of an advantage.

So, two new candidates would hardly "fix" our fractured country.

But we could move past what is now a battle between two old, tired men, with almost no discussion about what their administrations might do to advance any agendas, improve the social fabric, make practical decisions that most Americans could support... How can we have those discussions when it's just about two cults of personality? 

Don't get me wrong. They are not equal. The Republicans have surrendered all moral or ethical authority to lead the nation, but Democrats are in danger of doing the same on some level if they refuse to see reality and make a change.

Yes, the national media must step up and call the Liar a liar. They must point out that he is deranged. The media is fine pointing out every flubbed line or weak moment of one candidate but seem to calmly accept Trump calling for military tribunals and locking up political rivals.

If it ends up being Biden vs. Trump, I am quite willing to go down with the ship, so to speak. There is no real choice for me based on that contest. 

But is there anyone who seriously will argue that Mr. Biden will still be capable of leading a complex and divided nation in two years (and forget about four!). 

I have gone back and forth on this for over a week, though I should have been at this point long ago. I have eyes and ears and a somewhat diminished brain (heck, I will be 74 in one week). It's been clear for some time that we need two new candidates.

I am not naive. The odds that Trump would drop out are prohibitively against. And it is possible that the Republicans have now devolved completely, to the point where it's just Trump.

But that is not a valid reason for the Democrats to follow the same course. Bowing to reality is not surrendering. It's common sense.

Trump may win (shame on America!) but my plea is for the Democrats to fight with a candidate we can all agree will be able to stay up past 8 p.m. 

Let's face it: Dems need a new leader... and right now.

Last night was the moment Joe Biden lost the presidential election, mostly because he committed the cardinal sin of American politics: he simply came across as very old and tired and confused. 

Not that he often spoke gibberish. That appears to have little to do with what people want in a president (people may have somewhat highers standards for public servants in their own communities... though that might also be debated). 

Not that he couldn't instantly refute every outrageous lie that Trump uttered... and there were so many, delivered with not a shred of shame or self-reflection. No one really expects someone to have so many counterarguments ready to roll out at a moment's notice.

Not that he appeared to lack awareness that he was on TV, mouth agape and glassy eyed, often in a split-screen beside a fat old man who appeared to be enjoying the moment (particularly once he realized that the debate moderators really were not going to challenge him on basic facts).

In a nation that values style over substance and pictures/video over logic and facts, the CNN spectacle was devastating. 

My rational self says, "The man is effectively leading the nation right now in an increasingly chaotic world. He doesn't really need to prove that he can do the job. It is right there in front of us all."

But is that enough to get a majority of votes in the eight states that matter this November? 

To do the job you have to win the job.

I have read and heard some analogies like, "Time to take the keys from grandpa," and that seems apt. I remember my own grandfather refusing to stop driving his giant boat of a Plymouth all over Iowa City. He carried wads of cash with him to pay off anyone -- on the spot -- who he sideswiped or bumped. Outside mirrors were particularly vulnerable. 

What I don't remember was when, or even if, the keys were confiscated by my dad. Perhaps only the final stroke did the job.

Another analogy is that Democrats just need to "stay the course" and count on the innate wisdom of the American people to bring the election home. "Fight through the pain" might be the bumper sticker. 

But sometimes we need to listen to the pain, so to speak, and avoid injuring ourselves further. And is anyone really confident in the "innate wisdom of the American people" at this point in history? 

Next week we will celebrate Independence Day, and that would be the perfect occasion for Mr. Biden to stand at a press conference and announce that he is withdrawing from the race and releasing his delegates so the August DNC can choose a candidate to take on Trump and his shameless lies and bigotry. 

There would be confusion and shouting, but there would also be energy and focus... and the Democrats could immediately seize the narrative, contrasting a younger and smarter and more charismatic candidate (and that would be almost anyone on the current "farm team") with the old news of Trump and his cult of grievance. 

Yes, Trump might still win in the end, even with a different candidate, but it's a sucker's bet to continue with Joe Biden as his punching bag. 

It's time for action. Time to shake things up. Time to forcefully shed the weight of the past.

It felt like dawn broke a minute later than yesterday...

Yesterday was the Summer Solstice, the longest stretch of daylight of the year (in the northern hemisphere) and a day that both signifies the start of summer but also traditionally is a time to celebrate the life-giving nature of the sun.

The sun, of course, could not care less.

The hottest days of the year are still to come, ironically, despite the fact that daylight now diminishes just a bit each day until December. I only mention this because much of the United States is sweltering in record heat for this early in late spring/summer.

The science says that the heat grows due to the continued accumulation of the Sun's energy. It's a big planet and it takes some time to get all those molecules speeding up.

The day after the Summer Solstice has another symbol, at least for me. I am reminded that we are all on an inexorable path toward the cold and dark of winter. Around here we likely will still enjoy hot to mild conditions for another four months, but the "end" of summer looms.

You might wonder if I simply enjoy melancholy or am feeling depressed. Why not enjoy the warmth and the sun and the extended daylight? Can't we all just be happy?

You would be right to prefer focusing on "now" versus a somewhat vague (if inevitable) "then." But the Solstice comes fairly close to my July 12 birthday, when I will be turning 74. 

Today, that got me wondering about when my personal Solstice might have been. Life expectancy for a college-educated American white male is about 83 years, which puts me startlingly close to that looming number. Plenty of people live longer, of course, and I plan to be one of them.

I guess my personal Solstice would have been about age 42 or thereabouts (though if I live to 100, it would be 50). That was 1992 for me, and my less-than-reliable memory is that those "golden" years were quite good. I could spend some time reminiscing about them but "Glory days, they'll pass you by..." echoes in my head. And our time on earth can't be scientifically determined like a seasonal calendar.

Raw numbers have little relationship with happiness or satisfaction, of course. 

For instance, yesterday Kathleen and I were talking about how weird it is that we were able to buy a $25,000 CD without much discussion this week. For much of our younger married life, we didn't have that much money in the bank... of even close to that. Now we have enough to consider doing what REALLY rich people do: make money without doing, well, anything. 

That money is locked up for seven months (without penalties for early withdrawal). The only risk we have is that something unforeseen might arise that would demand the use of that money. That risk is quite small, even for a couple who are past their Summer Solstice. 

The Summer Solstice has a very different meaning for our grandsons in Seattle, who today are celebrating the last day of school (I know, going this late seems unspeakably cruel). 

For them, summer beckons and may never end.