An Appeal for Sanity
November 13, 2024 (Vol. 18 No. 48) - In our nation's founding document, we asserted this country's most basic values: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness." Eleven years later, those same Founders created a governing architecture that more than 237 years later remains the nation's guiding principals. They wrote the Constitution of the United States, a remarkable document that national around the world emulate, "to form a more perfect union, establish justices, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and to ensure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity." From its very beginnings, the United States has been an aspirational nation, one always striving to improve itself morally and materially. From these founding documents, a number of core American cultural values have emerged, including individualism, equalitarianism, optimism, and a society that embraces free enterprise, directness/honesty an an orientation toward taking action an engaging in hard work. At least these are some of the values we profess when we speak of American Exceptionalism, that America is a unique, even morally superior country. But are we? Is today's American Mythology true to those same founding values upon which we stake our claim?
There is a gap between the American values we tell the world we embrace and those we actually practice. After all, even the Founders acknowledged this disparity in admitting that our union was not perfect. They spoke of what we, as Americans, should aspire to be. However, by the recent vote of the people, we now appear to be ready to steer a course that abandons the very constructs we claim as essential to our national identity. Is there truly equality in our tax laws, our criminal justice system, or the manner in which we govern women? How does our expressed belief in liberty square with the incoming administration's desire to detain and deport more than 10 million undocumented citizens? Does it make sense to appoint a man who has been under investigation of sex trafficking, illicit drug use and obstruction of justice as your new attorney general? Of course - the president-elect, himself, is a convicted felon. The incoming administration's cabinet picks clearly demonstrate that loyalty to the new president is more highly valued than competence. Have we become a nation that embraces a leadership that routinely lies to the people, demeans and dehumanizes those who oppose it, circumvents the very constitutional safeguards it has sworn to protect, and enriches itself at the expense of the very people who put it in power?
We are in need of a new American Revolution, not one born of violence but spiritual in nature. We need to acknowledge who we really are and work toward become the nation we say we want to be. Maybe aspiring to be Ronald Reagan's "Shinning City on the Hill" is unrealistic. After all, the very concept of American Exceptionalism is in conflict with our most basic founding principle that "all men are created equal." Who knows? Maybe we are special. But before we make that claim, we must act like it. We need to develop a tax code where everyone pays his or her fair share. We have to respect the rights of women to make their own financial and health care decisions. Rather than treat those who seek refuge on our shores as criminals, we should welcome them in helping us grow our economy and culture. And we need to lower the temperature in our political discourse. But that political and social sea change must come from those we choose to lead us. Simply put: Those who claim to lead the country need to do so in their deeds, not their words. If they are not willing to do so, we, the people, have the power. If this recent election has shown us anything, the American people have the power to effect change. Hopefully they do so wisely. Yes, I know my words will seem to some as being naive. Others, still pent up in partisan battle mode, will see these thoughts as dangerous. I see them as an appeal to sanity and as a challenge to become the people and nation we have always said we are.
Election Hangover
November 12, 2024 (Vol. 18 No. 47) - Election season is a lot like the Christmas season - after months of build-up and frenzied activity, it comes and it goes. And then it is over. The commercials (thank God) are gone. The intrusive emails (for the most part) are done. And, perhaps best of all, the uncertainty has disappeared. Just like knowing exactly what Santa left you under the tree, the voters know exactly what they got once the votes are counted. (Of course, one week out, there are some races where those votes are still being counted.) Whether your side won or lost, a certain sense of relief comes over us that allows us to take a deep breath. Of course, after the results of this particular election, some of us will be taking even deeper breaths. The newly elected or reelected officials will not take the oath of office until after the new year, which will give us six weeks of some small measure of relief. Once the new year arrives and the new crowd is handed the keys to the kingdom, the din of the political strife will rise once again. In the meantime, it is a time for planning for the winners and a time of introspection for the losers. And, assuming the Constitution is still in force after the next four years, politicians on both sides of the aisle will spend their time jockeying for position in the 2028 presidential sweepstakes. Yes, there is a period of post-election hangover. But the truth is that in 21st century America, election season never ends. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.American Carnage - Part II
November 6, 2024 (Vol. 18 No. 46) - After Donald Trump completed his inaugural address on January 20, 2017, Former President George W. Bush turned to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and said "That was some weird shit." That was Trump's infamous "American Carnage" speech, a dark vision of an America being driven to destruction by self-serving political elites. Well, you ain't seen nothing yet. With his election to another term as president, we can expect nothing less than American Carnage II - The Retribution. During his vile, disoriented, off-the-rails run to reclaim the White House, Failure 45 made it perfectly clear what his number one agenda item will be in his second term - getting even. After Trump takes control of the Justice Department, he plans to weaponize it to "hold accountable" those who dared to try and hold him accountable for the January 6, 2021, Capitol Insurrection. Those are his words, not mine. Are you ready for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. directing this nation's health care policies? Looking forward to the return of Steve Bannon as a White House advisor? How about fascist and convicted felon Michael Flynn as National Security Adviser? And speaking of convicted felons (and convicted sexual offender), I can't wait to see the once and future president's unique vision of moral authority as he once again infests the Oval Office. On the morning after the January 6 Capitol Insurrection, I quoted Abraham Lincoln from his 1838 Lyceum Address: "If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time or die by suicide." Only time will tell whether the reelection of a doddering and mentally unstable oligarch will mark the end of the nearly 250-year American experiment in democracy. But to quote the 43rd President of the United States, we are in for some weird shit. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.The Glory of Scrapple
October 29, 2024 (Vol. 18 No. 45) - If you are from the Mid-Atlantic states, you either love it of loathe it. If you grew up elsewhere, you probably haven't even heard of it. It is Scrapple, manna from heaven. It is exactly what it sounds like, pork scraps mixed with cornmeal to produce a sausage-like meat. Just like sausage, it is probably best to not know its precise ingredients. (I have the same attitude toward a lot of Japanese food - I really like it but really don't want to know what's in it.) The subject of Scrapple came up recently in my household because it was my turn to host an annual reunion of my surviving siblings. We were all raised on Maryland's Eastern Shore and Scrapple frequented our family meals. I remember liking it, especially with ketchup. But I hadn't had it in the 50 years since I left college and moved away from the Delmarva Peninsula. I thought, "Gee, wouldn't it be a treat to surprise my sibs with a culinary blast from the past?" I went on Amazon, typed in "Scrapple," and there it was! I ordered it in mid-September, thinking it would arrive in a few days and that I would have some time to practice cooking it. Unfortunately, it took nearly a month for this Pennsylvania Dutch treat to arrive. That gave me only two practice runs at cooking it. The first time has mixed results - some undercooked and others overcooked. The second time was more successful - except that the pork patties put off so much smoke that they set off my home fire alarms. (Note to self: Cook Scrapple outdoors.) When my siblings and their spouses arrived, I decided to solicit the help of my younger brother Howard to cook the Scrapple (outdoors) while I tended to the rest of the meal. He, in turn, sought cooking advice from his son Ryan, who still lives on the Eastern Shore and regularly consumes the stuff. The Bottom Line: It came off well. Everyone tried it. No one said they hated it. Nor were there any last-minute trips to the emergency room. I like it - even though its flavor is a bit stronger than you'd find in your run-of-the-mill sausage patty. My advice: Give it try. Oh, and cook it outside. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.Two Weeks To Go
October 22, 2024 (Vol. 18 No. 44) - Down the stretch they come!!! The quadrennial horse race we call the presidential election is reaching its final stages. However, the horse racing metaphor doesn't really work here. This year's race for the White House has been more like a blood feud. And, as it has been since the turn of the century, the outcome is going to depend on GOTV - Get Out The Vote. Based on reports across the country, advance voting suggests that this year's turnout will exceed 2020's record turnout of 158 million. However, we have to remember that 2020 was a COVID year with a different dynamic, altogether. Who will a higher early turnout favor? In 2020, it clearly favored the Democrats. But this year, who knows? The Republican nominee, who saw advanced voting as fraudulent, this year has been sending his supporters mixed messages. (I wonder if he really thinks whoever is leading the vote count at midnight Election Night would be declared the winner?) All indications are that the margin of victory this year is going to be razor thin. And there is still plenty of time for an "October surprise," such as an escalation of the war in the Middle East or (God forbid) a terrorist attack someplace. In the meantime, Failure 45 appears to have run off the rails, using profanity this past weekend to describe Vice President Harris and engaging in a vulgar description of golfing great Arnold Palmer's manhood. Even more disgusting is the continuing deliberate misinformation about FEMA's hurricane disaster relief efforts in western North Carolina. (No one, including Republican office holders in the affected states, support the Defeated Former President's characterizations.) There has been an ongoing chorus of psychatric professionals who question the aging candidate's sanity. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris has told her voters to cast their ballots on November 5. The Count of Mar-a-Lardo told his to vote on January 5. I'm fine with that. That's it for now. Fear the Turtle.