Archive for December, 2016

Carolina cancer

Author: admin

Before we get to the subject at hand, let’s deal with several matters.

First, a confession. Though an Independent, I really now lean to the left a bit. But, compared to how far in the briar patch the national Republican Party is currently, I’m still a bit right of center. I started out as a Republican. So I know the spoor. They moved. I didn’t.

Second issue: for the purposes of this opining piece, I want us all to move to the middle. Shed your political leanings. Forget your party registration. Swallow hard and step out here in the barren middle with the rest of us – completely unclothed, politically speaking.

Now, focus on one of the four tenets of Rotary International: “Is It Fair?” Or, if you prefer, biblically speaking, think along the lines of “Do Unto Others.” Alrighty, now. Let’s get to work.

The subject at hand is either Cuba – or North Carolina. Unless you look really close these days, it’s awfully hard to tell them apart. Keep in mind, a Democrat won the governorship. Voters turned the GOP lifetime Dow Chemical employee out. Not decisively. But out. The GOP kept the legislature. Decisively. But not the governorship.

What that headed-out-the-door governor and the lame duck legislature have been doing in the last eight weeks passes neither the Rotary example nor the biblical admonition. Not by a long shot.

The Electoral Integrity Project (EIP) is a non-partisan outfit that grades democracies worldwide on a 100 point scale. That scale is based on many factors but, among them, are voter access to polling places, influence of state-controlled media and the potential that an election was rigged. EIP rates all kinds of places and elections.

For 2016, North Carolina received a score of 58/100. So did Cuba, Sierra Leone and Indonesia. Got that picture in mind? And that was just the election – not these last eight weeks.

UNC-Chapel Hill political scientist Dr. Andrew Reynolds wrote an op-ed for the Raleigh News & Observer in which he said “If it were a nation state, North Carolina would rank right in the middle of the global league table – a deeply flawed, partly free democracy only slightly ahead of the failed democracies that constitute much of the developing world.” Wow! In America? Yes, Virginia, in America.

Gov. McRory and those legislative sore winners have about gutted the duties of the incoming governor. Oh, he still gets a staff car, a new credit card and keys to the executive bathroom. But that’s about it. He won’t be able to appoint his own state cabinet officials without approval of that Republican-dominated Senate – which ain’t likely to occur. The number of state appointive positions to be filled by the governor has been cut by about 80%. So the holdovers he’s forced to accept will be what? Republican appointees, that’s what.

The number of members of the State Board of Elections has been increased from five to eight. But – the GOP legislature gets to appoint four so that’ll assure a tie vote and effectively deadlock things. There are some other new “handcuff” laws but you get the idea.

One other note. The NC Legislature had rigged voting districts so badly – to shut out Democrats – that a federal court struck down the map as “unconstitutional” as of Nov. 9th and ordered new lines and a special 2017 election. EIP found North Carolina has the “least democratic redistricting in the world.” Yes, the world!

EIP also noted the USofA is the only nation that allows politicians who run by district to design the districts they run in. Only one!

I’d guess, about this point, all who were able to shed your partisan feelings to stand out here politically naked with the rest of us can see why you were asked to do that. Whatever your leanings – whatever your political sensibilities – what’s happened in North Carolina is just plain wrong. And totally unfair. Winning is one thing. Breaking the rules – and the law – is a whole new ball game.

The issue of political redistricting has been considered an “inside-the-park” issue for too many years. It’s often done only by political insiders who, too often, set lines to assure their own or their party’s survival. Very little public input is allowed and most of the public hasn’t cared. But, if war is too important to be left to the generals, creating political districts is too important to be left to the politicians.

The only way out of this morally reprehensible practice is to allow the courts to create independent redistricting panels. Take the crayons out of the hands of self-serving partisans and put them in the hands of “civilians” so to speak. North Carolina has gotten so far in the swamp a federal judge has trashed all state redistricting and not only ordered a new plan but also a whole new state election.

I remember a longtime Idaho pol once telling me “When we’re out, they do it to us and, when we’re in, we do it to them.” That really does happen everywhere to some extent. But North Carolina – and a couple of its neighbors – have gone far beyond just “tit-for-tat.” Voters are being rejected, disqualified and ignored. Voting district gaming has broken federal and state laws. The voter’s choice for governor has been handcuffed so he can’t deliver what the voters said they were buying.

Anyone who thinks Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee and a few others aren’t standing in that North Carolina shadow haven’t been paying attention.

The issue of fair and proper redistricting is more important now than ever. With a dead-in-the-water Congress, the Koch boys and other zillionaires are going directly to the states for the political candy they want. They’re changing our laws, endangering our welfare and trying to design the kind of nation they want one state at a time.

North Carolina has become a political cancer. It’s time for some major surgery.

Life’s losses

Author: admin

I’ve lost some longtime friends recently. One of them I’ve known and cared about for more 40 years. It hurt. That’s their choice. To my mind, we’re each poorer for loss of future contact. But it is what it is.

A recent column dealing primarily with my belief the Electoral College has outlived its usefulness and should be abolished in favor of a direct vote system apparently set several off. Seemed fairly straightforward journalism – here’s a problem and a suggested solution. Don’t agree? Come up with your own.

But in several emails, I’ve been accused of being a “divider.” The word “crap” was used a lot of times. Two I’ve lost told me they ignored previous columns (“crap”) and they wanted no more “crap.” There were other cutting accusations about liberals and such.

Their epistles arrived a day after Barb and I had been to church. The pastor’s sermon included remarks about inclusiveness, patience and trying to work together. Healing, as it were.

I’ve heard and read a lot about those words in the days following our recent national election. They’ve come from good, well-meaning, intelligent people and competent scribes. All good advice. If ever our nation needed to live by those admonitions, it’s certainly now.

Problem is, those words are being used primarily by people who voted against the winner. Liberals and moderates, mostly. Democrats and Republicans. But read Twitter or Facebook or other “social” media. You’ll discover kind words – the gentle words – the inclusive words – are coming mostly from folks who lost. It’s the ones who backed the winner more often using racial epithets, telling people to “go back where you came from,” “get the Hell out of ‘our’ country,” badgering/maligning blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Muslims and other “non-white” folks. Loudly and repeatedly using the “N” word.

Reports of racial threats and physical attacks are coming from kindergartens to grad schools. And in the streets. Confederate flags are all over the I-net, on vehicles and on “social” media. Hate radio is spewing more than just the usual lies and verbal venom. The President-elect himself has already threatened the national media, promised to arrest or deport more than 3-million immigrants, talking of forcing Muslims to register, to stack the Supreme Court, overturn various laws he doesn’t like and abridge or unilaterally end compacts and international agreements. And that’s all in less than a month.

He’s made appointments to his incoming administration that include acknowledged racists, anti-Semites, lobbyists he promised supporters he’d “run out of Washington” and the just plain ignorant and unqualified. He’s pledged to “put Planned Parenthood out of business” and made threats against many individuals. His representatives have warned members of Congress they may face legal action for critical public statements and hinted broadly at reprisals against anyone opposing actions of the new administration.

Now, I’m a peaceful fella. I’d like nothing better than to “live in harmony” with everyone. I mean EVERYONE! As Professor Higgins said, “I’ve the milk of human kindness by the quart in every vein.”

BUT – you can’t make peace or “live in harmony” when folks who disagree with your political likes and dislikes make open, nasty threats from the top down! It won’t work.

Wounds in this nation are deep. Divisions are the size of large canyons. Acrimony and hate flow steadily from right wing nut groups. Limbaugh and his fellow travelers think they’ve been granted a new, special license to turn up the volume and take their belligerence and lies to a new level. Statistics show marriages and even business partnerships ending because of national divisiveness.

Millions of Hispanics, Muslims and Asians are living in fear. They’re facing increased daily harassment, their mosques and other religious buildings are being defaced or burned. They’re shunned or threatened just for being in a store or on a public street.

There’s a hard fact to face here. And it’s this. National civility, national harmony, national acceptance of those different from ourselves will not come from talk of “niceness,” “love,” “peace,” religion or protests in the streets. We passed those points long ago. We’re way, way beyond that.

What more likely will turn this “ship-of-state” around is for good people, smart people, committed people to step up, put themselves on the line and be elected to public office – top to bottom. It’ll likely take a generation or two. After all, “ships-of-state” are very large and cumbersome and take a long time to change direction.

Many members of Congress have wandered far from their elected responsibilities. Too many see their elected roles as maintaining full time employment. Too many have no idea what their duties are or how to conduct themselves as servants of the people. Too many have welcomed moneychangers into the temple, selling their votes to the highest bidders.

The housecleaning must include city halls and county courthouses as well. They’re often training grounds for those who run for higher office. We must have the best people possible on these “farm teams.”

There’s really no other way. This is one of those cases where leadership must start at both the top and bottom. A new tone must be determined, set, explained, leaders must lead and workers must work. There are millions of us out here who’ll acknowledge effective leadership when we see it and follow it when we trust it.

I’m going to miss some people in my life. Their choice. But I’m going to keep believing the rest of us must get out here, on common ground, deal with the realities we face and work for more effective and responsible government. That’s my choice.

Living with death

Author: admin

On Pacific Standard Time in December, it gets dark in our little seaside communities about 5:30. In off-season months, sidewalks are usually rolled up shortly after that. Outside of the bars, our “downtowns” are usually quiet till morning.

That’s how it was a few nights ago when a middle-aged transient, walking in our little business district, laid down in the middle of the southbound lane of Highway #101 – the main drag. He was wearing dark clothes. Street lighting at that location was not good. It was about 40 degrees at 9 o’clock. Rain and wind were the weather conditions.

It didn’t take long for the first car to come along. It hit the prone figure and rolled over him. Both wheels. The driver, who later said didn’t see anything given the conditions, pulled to the curb and stopped. He quickly got out of his car. But, within seconds, another vehicle came by, hitting the man again. Both wheels. He, too, stopped. He, too, hadn’t seen anything.

A cop got there within a couple of minutes. EMT’s as well. Nothing anyone could do.

The ensuing investigation found no fault in either driver. Both stopped immediately. Both remained at the scene to give what help they could. Cooperated in every way though obviously shaken. The body was removed. Onlookers eventually dispersed.

“O.K., folks. Move along. Move along. Nothing to see here.”

The deceased had no relatives. Anywhere. Local homeless folks interviewed provided the identity and said the dead man had been drinking but none saw him run over. Twice. The case remains open. For awhile. But not much more is expected to be added.

While there’s deserved sadness for the dead, my thoughts – and more than a few prayers – are with those two drivers whose lives will never be the same. I’m certain of that. I know because I watched my own father for many years.

During the depression, he drove professionally for a California commercial bus line. One dark, windy, rain-swept night, he was headed for Los Angeles with a full load of passengers. Driving on an unlit rural road.

Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw an image. Nothing identifiable. Quickly, he slammed on the brakes. The big bus slid forward as he fought to stay on the wet road. But, behind him, an 11-year-old boy lay on the highway along with his mangled bike. Died on the spot trying to get to a rural mailbox.

The ensuing investigation cleared my father. Passengers told authorities there was nothing he could have done. Conditions were bad. The child was in the wrong place. Dad reacted properly. It was “just an accident.” Just.

That was 1931. Dad passed away in 1990. He’d been a driving professional. But, in all those years, he never drove in the rain again. Not once. Mom, who was also an excellent driver, always took the wheel if it rained. Never another accident in the family.

But my father was psychologically scarred for life. An otherwise intelligent, strong, bright, hell-of-a-man could not find forgiveness, even with his deep and sturdy Presbyterian faith.

Now, in the aftermath of a local transient’s death – a death evidence shows couldn’t have been avoided given where he was and the conditions – my prayers are for the survivors.

The dead man’s gone. His worldly troubles are over. But the drivers. The two who “survived” the night. However long they live, neither will forget those terrible seconds. Those seconds when one – or both – killed another human being.

I don’t know if either – like Dad – will never drive in the rain again. I don’t know if they’ll be able to accept or rid themselves of the deep feelings of guilt and anger – even if it was determined the taking of another human’s life was purely an accident in which they had no “blame.” But, being told you’re “innocent” in such a deadly experience doesn’t automatically wipe clean the minds of those involved. The survivors. Yeah. The “survivors.”

Our lives often are changed in a flash. A second or two. We’re jerked from our “realities” by a more urgent reality, forever altering everything that comes after.

So often, we concern ourselves with the dead. But, once in awhile, it’s the living for whom we should pray.

The lying “news”

Author: admin

Here we are. About four weeks after our national election. In that time, I’ve not written about the “winner” nor the tragic outcome. I won’t start now.

But, there’s an important issue related to the event that does need to be widely talked about, thoroughly examined and brought to the attention of every American: fake “news.”

The immense danger of phony news has been building in this country for a long, long time. It’s not really new. Much of hate radio is filled with it daily. Absolutely baseless, absurd, totally fabricated “stories” and commentaries meant to defame, humiliate and destroy public figures – sometimes of both political parties – or institutions like Planned Parenthood, the ACLU or the PTA.

One of the best warnings of just how ingrained this destructive B.S. has become, and how dangerous it is, comes from – of all people – Glenn Beck. Beck – one of the chief purveyors of false “facts.” A guy who’s become immensely rich from a broadcast and publishing empire built on his often lunatic participation in media lying. Now, he’s apologizing.

His point? For more than 30 years, the right wing has bashed all forms of news media coverage. Over and over and over and over. Limbaugh, Coulter, Ingraham, Jones, Medved and hundreds of local “wannabees” have excoriated legitimate media of all types. They’ve sown distrust, hate and fear for any media not favorable to their questionable – or outright fact-less – pronouncements.

Faced, as we are, with a real political threat to our national survival, Beck asks, “Is it any wonder millions of Americans don’t believe the facts of the dangerous conditions we’re experiencing?” Admitting his own guilt as a longtime participant in falsifying information and condemning legitimate national media, Beck expresses doubt millions of us will ever again really trust “The Fourth Estate.” He’s right, of course, though awfully late coming to the table.

Now, another of our technological marvels is adding endlessly to the problem. Daily. Hourly. The Internet. Specifically, “social” media. I hate that term because often its anything but “social.” Pages I scan too often contain lies each day. Call it “false information,” if you insist. But lies are lies no matter the verbiage.

Some nutcase, living in a garage in Cleveland, can pass himself and his demented thinking off on “social” media looking like The New York Times, Washington Post, Time or Newsweek. With no editor – no fact checker – no filter to catch and destroy his lies – his trash flows right into the “information river” and to our computer screens. It’s been proven repeatedly too many Americans have little to no understanding of how our system of government works and have little interest in learning. They read, watch and, too often, believe.

The spread of fake “news” is worse since the presidential election. Much worse. Coming even from the apparent winner. Outright lying tweets about “three million voting fraud cases,” or “illegal immigrants voting” and other complete B.S. without fact. No elections official has confirmed any major wrongdoing. Just more lies. But some major media pick it up and repeat it.

To anyone who doesn’t know how elections are run, what safeguards there are, how the ballots are screened or voters qualified, those lies are “truth.” And that’s just one instance.

Sometimes, it’s subtle. Here’s a headline. “Trump charges three million illegal immigrants voted.” Wrong! Here’s how it should read. “Trump falsely charges…..” See the difference? Or, “Breitbart Reports Massive voter fraud.” No. The correct headline would be “Breitbart makes unsubstantiated charge of voter fraud.”

We’ve become a divided nation largely because many, many people believe “facts” supporting previously held beliefs rather than searching for truth. If truth differs, it’s rejected. Unfortunately, the Internet has become a two-edged sword. Its ability to inform is as great as the ability to misinform. Without fact checking, confirming sources, finding and weeding out the junk, lies can look very real.

There doesn’t seem to be any solid solution to this media cancer to change the pattern. But, if you want to deal in reality, there are some Internet sites that can be trusted. “Snopes.com,” of course. But also “TruthorFiction.com,” “FactCheck.org” or “WhoWhatWhen.com.” And there are others you’ll find to cross-check articles or postings just to be safe.

The unchecked, unedited Internet too often makes us victims of our own technology. National media fall prey to the lies at times. So do the locals. Me, too. Facebook and Twitter are full of baseless charges and fact-less “stories.”

Fake “news” is likely with us to stay. It’s up to each of us to “check it out” before passing it on. Or, simply believing something that just doesn’t add up. It’s crazy out there. It’s only going to get worse.