Class of '73 and the Great Political Divide

I don't remember much at the time.  I've been a highly political person, pretty much since birth, but I don't have a whole lot of political memories of my classmates, except for the student council and class president campaigns I was involved in.

There was a student poll done when I was just in fourth grade, for the 1964 election.  Lyndon Johnson won in a landslide.

There was some talk about the Vietnam War, but it was mostly about whether or not there'd still be a draft when we came of age (there was, but they weren't really drafting anybody).

If my school peers  expressed an opinion on the '68 election, I missed it.  My own loyalties shifted around, from Eugene McCarthy to Bobby Kennedy to Richard Nixon (for one or two weeks, when I was still angry about the Democratic Convention) to finally Hubert Humphrey (it took me that long to figure out Humphrey's civil rights record and support of liberal causes).

I joined a group in high school that was opposed to Richard Nixon, led by the Eckes brothers, George and Mike.  There were others in the group, but I have forgotten who they were.

The biggest hint of our divide may have come with the riots centered around Detroit in 1968.  The fear was palpable, all around us, as we many were terrified of rumors that they were coming to get us!  Rumors were everywhere.  I had no idea the attitudes were so intense.  I remember a discussion in a classroom where some very logically (at least logically to them) tried to explain why racial prejudice was justified.  I knew the situation was more complicated then they projected (police and authority good, blacks bad), but it was hard to articulate.  Reading the book Nixonland by Rick Perelstein (published in 2008) helped confirm my feelings that much of what happened was caused by over-reaction (on all sides).  It makes me fear for what may soon happen in Ferguson.

It is also important to note than we lived in an area that had one of the healthiest per capita incomes in the United States.  Income equality was about as good as it gets in a capitalist society.  This was due in large part to unions and a healthy auto industry.  Of course, all that changed in subsequent years.

My class went away (from my sight) for a very long time.  Then, thanks to Facebook and the efforts of Benita Vierke Collins, they have come back in recent years.  Many of them are people I really weren't close to, but I befriend them anyways.  Sometimes it's just nice to have people want to be your friends.

Fascinatingly, they have divided behind political lines.  Some are relatively middle of the road, but most are strong advocates for the left or the right.  I'm surprised at the group who agrees with my positions, or posts liberal stuff of their own.  I'm just as surprised at the large group that is very conservative, tinged with Tea Party madness.

It has gotten to the point with my political posts, whether stuff from The Strait Line, comments, or re-postings of different memes, that the only conservative commentary I get are from those right wingers in my class.  My local friends, of which there are many more that are conservative than liberal, have fallen virtually completely silent.  I don't know why.  I don;t know if they just got tired of arguing with me, or since they have real-life interactions with me, they see me as more than a political advocate and just choose to ignore that side of me, or if they just view that stuff like you would a toddler playing with his vegetables - you just smile and try to ignore it, hoping the child grows out of it. I do get likes and some commentary from local liberal friends (yes, we are scattered but we do exist!), but nothing much from local conservatives.  They are such a large group down here (Pierce County voted 85% for Republicans in the last election here), that they may feel like I'm just an aberration and have closed their eyes to the political side of me.

Some of the commentary I get from my school peers is quite intense and nasty.  I have been called a liberal (yes, for some it is a curse word), communist, socialist, naive, stupid, foolish, not in the 'real' world, and the worst thing - a bigot.  Some of the commentary shows libertarian influences, but most is from the authoritarian, Conservative Christian right.  Some of it is borderline racist, particularly when talking about the President they so irrationally hate.  Some of it is actually insightful, and helps me see the other side and their point of view better.

And I do think that is one of the things that is missing for me locally.  They are so sure in their opinions, so rarely challenged, that they don't even want to talk about politics.

So are my Michigan classmates messy and challenging sometimes?  Yes.  Do I want to 'unfriend' or 'block' them sometimes?  Oh, yes.  But the give and take?  The discussion from all sides?  Oh, I do appreciate that.  I really do.

Last election, despite the talk that Georgia was slowly becoming a purple state, the Republicans won everything.  And I do mean EVERYTHING.  Everything except those districts that had been gerrymandered for minorities, or to concentrate the few liberal enclaves in the state.  Michigan has been tilting more Republican statewide, but there is still diversity in the state.  The Democratic Senate candidate, Gary Peters, won election to the Senate, while astonishingly, Republican Governor Rick Snyder won re-election.  The Democratic candidate almost always wins the Presidential race.  I miss that sense of diversity.  I really do.

I do miss hearing from some of my old friends.  Evans Bentley, my best friend from high school.  Cindy Nestell, whom we very close to each other for awhile.  Randy and Barb Bloomfield, the kids next door. I suppose if I were more aggressive, I could track them down, but that is not in my nature.  Heck, I may finally get in contact with them, and find out they LOVE Rushy Limbaugh!  But I think I could handle it.

So, O class of '73 and all your noisy political discussion?  I only have two things to say to you - thank you, and keep it up!

Chilly Wednesday Wanderings

It's cold this morning.  Even for this quasi-Yankee. Time for the usual snide comments about how this refutes Global Warming.

I had somebody bring this up yesterday.  I calmly explained how this actually was a sign of Global Warming, how the jet-streams and ocean currents were changing weather patterns.  She looked at me as if I was somebody dangerous, somebody you just needed to quietly back away from.


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I have so many themes bouncing around inside my head, it is very hard to narrow it down, and have sufficient time to write this morning,.  And my time today is partly cut in taking care of the dogs.  They could not stay out long due to the extreme cold.  And for my Michigan friends, that means about 27.  You know, what you would call a warm winter morning.

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Well, the feedback part of Facebook continues to get worse.  I have had a lot of trouble getting nominations this year for Ripping Good Yarn's Movie Hall of Fame.  The stories get page views, they just don't get many nominations.  If I change profile pictures, I get a huge number of likes.  If I ask something silly, like pancakes or waffles, I will get a good number of responses.  But no longer for most everything else.  My political stuff gets likes and a few rare comments form some of my liberal friends, but the only conservatives that comment anymore are classmates I had from Bridgeport, Michigan.  Which is another story I still have to write.

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I still have three winning entries to go for the Okefenokee Writer's Contest.  They are the adult stories and they take too long to write up in the morning in the time that I have, so I will have to catch them when I can.

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The play that Benjamin and I are participating in, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, is going very well.  I have a bit part with just five lines, but Benjamin has a bigger part and he is knocking it out of the park.  I hope all of you in the area can come see it the first two weeks in December.

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Christianity has helped inspire my belief that love will triumph over hate.  I am a short term pessimist and a long term optimist.  Things will get better, we will bring the Kingdom of Heaven closer to Earth.  But it may not be a smooth course.  There may be setbacks.  There will be times when you think things are moving forward, but then there will be things that make you wonder if that is true, and the dark Dickensian Era is actually coming back.  But even through the fear and worry, the terrible shifts away from progress, I will not lose heart.  Christ has shown us the way.  If we do not take ourselves on that journey, it is our fault - not his.

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I could wander all day, but I still have work responsibilities.  I am only 10% retired, and in a few weeks, my work schedule goes from 90% to 125%.  But never fear, Strait Line followers.  I will do my best to keep up this blog.  And I will do my best, in some small way, to keep the light of hope on,


T. M .Strait

A Non-Distant Journey and Other Monday Musings

There was apparently a big county fair going on in Waycross.  I did not go.  I don't think we've been in about a decade.

They had some kind of bazaar thing at the Church on Saturday.  It helped raise a lot of money for the church, and was a very positive outreach for us.  I did not go to that either.

There was a Farmer's Market.  I did not go to that.

I did not see a movie at the theatre.  They started nothing new that I wanted to see.  Kirk Cameron"s Saving Christmas started there, and it will probably run there through epiphany, even if it is a box office disaster everywhere else.

Alison and her mother went to an antique show in Florida, and were gone Friday through late Saturday night.  Then she was called up to work Sunday to help decorate the office for Christmas (yes, I am aware that is still ten days away from Thanksgiving).  So there was a lot of time apart this weekend.

So even though Benjamin and I did not get out to the movie theater, we did see the movie Journey to the West at home, streamed off Netflix.  It was a delightful gem of a movie.  As Benjamin would say, "It had comedy AND action!  What more could you want?"  Well, he didn't actually use those words, but close enough.  The movie was subtitled, but even those were fun, using words like frigging and scumbag.  The story was strange, something about demon hunters and the power of love and Buddha  and the Monkey King - it was a whirl of color and fun.

I did get a bit more writing done.  It was not as much as I wanted, but it never is.  I am closing in on the finish line on the first book of History of the Trap.  It would be fantastic to hole up for a week and just knock it out.  Then even if it never makes me a dime, I can at least say I finished it.

I will expand on this in subsequent posts, but the trolling on my liberal postings is both interesting and tiring.  It is interesting in that most of the conservative vitriol I get on Facebook comes not from from my minions of conservative neighbors around where I live, but from people from high school whom I don't really know all that well.  It is fascinating to see how my class has divided out along political lines.  People who went through similar experiences growing up have sharply different political views.  We all grew up in a community near where Michael Moore grew up, and around the same time.  The per capita income was one of the best in the country, and it was highly balanced, with limited extremes of rich and poor.  Much of the solid middle class lifestyle of those around me could be attributed to unions.  Anyways, more on that in another post.

O clock!  You smack me back to the reality of what I must do for a living!

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life 2014 Mis-Election: Saturday Political Soap Box 98

As promised, last week, my bright side look at the disastrous 2014 elections.

What could possibly come out of it that's good?

The first mis-analysis from last week is that Republicans would stop focusing on President Obama and start destroying Hilary Clinton.  I appear to be wrong.  At least for right now.

I now believe that before moving on, they will attempt to mute Presidential power as much as possible.  They want to render the President completely ineffective.  They want the President to roll over when they want him to.  They want him not to take any actions to improve the problems in this country, and for Republicans to say - "You see, he's not doing ANYTHING to help!"  It's a Catch-22, where any choice (or non-choice) the President makes will be savaged.

Once the President is rolled, then they will move on to Hilary Clinton.

Only....the President is not being rolled.  He is not playing their game.  He is moving on all fronts to improve things in this country.  He signed a major treaty with China that will allow us to move forward on reduction of carbon emissions.  He has endorsed net neutrality.  He is speaking out on the all risk/no reward Keystone Pipeline.  He will move ahead on immigration next week.

Everything he is doing is well within his powers as President.  But that will not stop the Republicans from apocalyptic reactions, particularly TeaPartyAmerika.  They will mostly be threats and bluffs, in their game to eliminate the Presidency as a power center.  But it's hard to say where TeaPartyAmerika will stop.  They could shut down the government.  They could up the ante on their frivolous lawsuits.  They might even go completely mad and impeach.  Most of this should backfire horribly, but not with their rabid base.

It's hard to predict exactly where the American people  will come down on this conflict, but for purposes of this post, let's say they side enough with the President that the Republicans have to back down with some Presidential authority still intact.  Maybe after the hissy-fit they will calm down enough that a few things can get passed in a true bipartisan fashion.  I know.  It's not likely, but this is the optimistic post, remember?

Regardless of this post's optimistic nature, I have to admit the reality that once the Presidential conflict is settled, they will move on to Hilary Clinton, and by the time they are finished, many of you will believe she is Satan incarnate.

Hilary will not roll to the nomination as easily as she thinks,  There will be a large progressive voice opposing her, but ultimately have to concede to her stronger political juggernaut.  Hilary will try to strike a more populist tone, particularly in the primaries, but shift back right in the general.  This will be a horrible mistake, and unless the Republicans nominate someone too extreme (I mean batcrap crazy extreme - a Ted Cruz or Dr. Ben Carson), the Republicans will retake the Presidency.  Rand Paul is the only extremist who has the capability of wresting control from the Corporate Republicans, but it hardly matters as TeaPartyAmeika drives the agenda.

But wait, my Democratic/progressive friends say.  This is the optimistic scenario?  Yes, it is.

The 2016 Republican election is enough to break the Republican party permanently  People finally get fed up with wars, attacks on Social Security, lowering wages, tax burdens increased on the working poor and middle class but sharply reduced for the wealthy and the corporations.  They see a crumbling infrastructure start to threaten their safety, deficits are again ballooning, healthcare becomes so rotten that people become nostalgic for Obamacare, and college costs and high interest rates are eating away their very souls.

In 2018 the Congress shifts slowly back to the Democrats.  The Senate is retaken and the Democrats gain in the House but still fall short.  The worst parts of the TeaPartyAmerika agenda are finally slowed.

In 2020 a truly progressive Democrat finally has the strength to take the nomination.  They in the Presidency and progressive majorities control the Congress.  Because they were so effective throughout the country, including many states, they are in control of the congressional districts redistricting for the next ten years.

The budget is balanced within four years (don't believe me? check out any of the budget proposals that have come form the Progressive Caucus in the last ten years...they all bring the budget into balance more quickly than anything that Paul Ryan ever conceived of).  Thanks to President Obama, some executive action checked some of the extremes of climate change, but now the USA can move full throttle into the 21st century.  Medicaid For All replaces the destroyed remnants of Obamacare.  College becomes virtually free to those whose grades are good. Equal pay becomes a reality.  Minimum wages move towards being living wages.  Service sector work become jobs that help support families, just like industrial jobs did two generations ago. Military spending is refocused on things that actually protect the United States instead of things that enrich the military-industrial complex. Voting rights are restored.  Over a few years, the Supreme Court regains a progressive majority.

Movements by individual states lead to more competitive elections, including improving the viability of third parties and independent candidates.  This is followed by constitutional action  that leads to a more mulit-party system in the country as a whole.  This leads to a more vibrant democracy, with issues being decided by shifting coalitions of legislators, with no one party controlling all the levers.

Unicorns run around the country farting rainbows.

Okay, maybe this is a little too bright, just as last weeks was a little too dark.

The truth lies somewhere in between.

But I can dare to hope, can't I?

History of the Trap: January Campaigns Part 2

2

It might be foolish to call them political parties.  But there were definite coalitions forming.  I was slow to recognize them.  There was only one day left to put your name in to run, I had not done so, and I had no plans to do so.

I went to the typing room that afternoon.  I was still not a great typist, but I learned to cope as so much of what I did revolve around writing.  Even writing a soap that only ran for ten minutes twice a week was quite a typing burden.  No one was measuring my speed anymore, but I certainly hoped I was clocking in at more than the 12 word per minute speed I had in Freshman Typing.  I tried to use the limited supply of paper cautiously.  It seemed rather silly that a soap opera would be a priority use of paper, but there you go.

Detective Haskins had gone off the radar again, this time investigating murder leads in Detroit.  Yes, no one yet knew who had killed Judge MacKenzie.  I had introduced a character, Sammy Sellyman, a tall janitor with a nasty temper.  The idea would be that he would turn out to be the murderer, but he is able to beat the charges because his cousin is Dr. Scott. Yes, it was dangerously close to Robert Pelley and his escaping conviction, so I had not pulled the trigger on it yet.  But it was there, in my mind.  Oh, yes, it was.

I was by myself, typing away, moving ever closer to revealing the janitor as the murderer, when Artie and my sister, Diane, came in.  I wasn't to seeing those two together.  Artie had briefly dated my sister before her current boyfriend, Mike, and it did not end well.  She seemed very aggravated with him, but I chose not to take sides or look at it closely.  I was relieved when it was over, as I wasn't thrilled with my best friend being involved with my sister.

They sat down near me.  "Lance, we have to talk."

This was certainly disquieting.  "Are you too getting involved again?" I asked, only half serious.

Diane gave a scoffing laugh.  "No.  Not even if he were the last guy left in the Trap!"

That was a little harsh.  There must have been more bitterness there than I suspected.  So that just made more curious as to what would drive them together.

"Things are serious, Lance.  I'm coming here as your best friend, and Diane is coming as your sister, to plead with you to do what is in the best interest of the school," said Artie, talking as serious to me as I had  ever seen him.

"And our Dad, too, Lance," added Diane.

"My Dad is on his own," I said, turning away from both of them to resume typing, trying to write down words that were no longer coming to me.

"Look, I know you're upset, and I don't blame you," said my sister.  "I wanted to see Robert Pelley convicted and strung up.  But you know Dad.  He had to be fair with what was set before him.  Maybe if somebody works at the evidence again, it can be reopened."

"Oh, really?" I derisively replied.  "Have you ever heard of a little thing called Double Jeopardy?  You can't try someone twice for the same crime!"

"Hey, Lance," chimed in Artie.  "Have you realized yet we're not really in America anymore?"

"Hey, Artie," I continued.  "Haven't you heard what a stick up his butt my Dad has for protocol and following rules?"

My sister popped up in anger, and slapped me on the face. It wasn't very hard, but it did startle me.  I had not expected that from her.  She turned to leave but Artie grabbed her hand.  "No! You can't leave!  This is too important and we have to get through to him!"

"What do you two want?" I asked.  "What is so urgent you have to interrupt me writing this stupid soap that seems to be more important to people than incarcerating Lisa's killer?"

Diane sat back down, her face flush with anger.  Artie began their talk. 

"You do realize they're organizing against us, right.  There's a group centered on Mark Granite that is determined to take over the student council.  He has his lackeys and halfwits running in all the classes, including the new Graduate group.  There are enough of them to take over all twenty-one seats, including Mark Granite running for Student Council President."

"Student Council President?  Since when is that elected by popular vote?" I asked.

Boy, you are out of it!" replied Artie.  "Were you not listening at the last council meeting you attended?  Did you not remember the resolution that passed for this? "

"No, I guess I don't remember."  I didn't really focus on anything they talked about.  I was filled with too much anger. "Is Robert Pelley running?"

"No," answered Artie.  "He hasn't put in his name, and I don't think he will.  I don't think Granite is that stupid, but that doesn't mean Pelley won't be involved."

That was relief.  "Who is opposing Mark Granite for Student Council President?"

"Jan Houser," said Artie.

I grimaced.  "She's going to get her ass handed to her.  I guess I should feel bad, but what the heck?  She's part of the judge trifecta that freed his buddy Pelley.  Maybe she though that would earn her some credit with the Granite Crew.  Boy, I bet she's surprised."

Artie nodded.  "I think stopping Mark Granite from winning the Presidency is a lost cause. We need to concentrate on preventing his subordinates from taking control of the council as well."

"Great," I shrugged.  "So he takes over?  Why do I care?  I mean, he already has enough pull to help get a murderer off.  So his power is officially recognized?  If that's what people want, who am I to say otherwise?"

My sister finally broke in. "Because they're going to go after Dad next!"

That startled me.  "What are you talking about?  Why would they go after him?"

"Do you know they have a name?  Like a political party would?  They call themselves the Grani-knights."  She showed me a small poster she had got from the hallway.

"Huh.  Looks like it could be Granny Knights."

"It's not.  It's uh.  Like Gran-uh-knights.  And they have an administrative sponsor assisting their organization.  Do you know who it is?"

I thought I had already demonstrated that I was pretty far out of the loop.  "No, I don't have a clue."

"It's Tate," my sister solemnly stated.

"That's impossible.  Why would he do that?  He led the prosecution, for god's sake!"

Diane closed her eyes a second and then began again.  "We can't say for sure, but you know Tate has always been jealous of our Dad.  We think he made a deal with them.  We think that once Granite's side takes control, they are going to help him facilitate an administrative coup."

I thought about that for a minute.  I hesitated, but I was still angry.  "Well, good.  Maybe Dad shouldn't be in charge.  Maybe someone like Tate would be better."

"Really?" skeptically replied my sister.  "I give Dad a lot more credit than you do.  This place hasn't descended into The Lord of the Flies, has it?  We've kept it together under some very tough conditions.  So how do you think it's going to be better if we let the bullies in charge?"

Artie chimed in with something unexpected.  "We've recruited a number of people to act as opposition.  Some of them are current members like Lindsay Starn.  Others are new to running, like me."

"You're running?  You hate politics?" 

"It's time to stand up and be counted.  I can't sit on the sidelines and let these people take over.  I can't even begin to think what it might be like when someone like Robert Pelley gets to do whatever he wants."

I remained stubborn in my resolve.  "I can't.  I just can't.  I just can't do this anymore."

"We have a number of people waiting in the wings ready to move on your decision.  Many who respect your ability to write and speak.  Many people who respect your father.  Many who fear what things will be like with the bullies in charge."

"My father could have stopped that trial!  He could have seen through the charade that Mark Granite put it through.  Yet he just acquiesced.  Do you think I want to help him do anything?"

"You fool!" Diane screamed.  "He loves you so damn much!  And you know that!  But he is the leader of all of us!  And sometimes doing the fair thing hurts!"

Artie was colder about it.  "Forget your Dad then.  Be one of the only kids with a parent here and act like a spoiled brat, I don't care.  You know what I wouldn't give to have my Dad here?  But just forget that for a moment.  They are going to take control if we let them.  And if they do, do you think Lisa will be the only one who suffers by their hands?  It'll just by the tip of a very wicked iceberg.  Or maybe Lisa is the only one of us you care about?"

That hurt worse than Diane's slap.  But he was right.  This was bigger than my Dad.  I couldn't let these monsters have free reign.  I couldn't let them hurt any more people.  "You better be right about this, Artie.  It better make a difference for me to run."

Both Artie and Diane looked relieved.  "It will, Lance.  It will.  You can count on it."

Ah, yes.  If only I was the one who did the counting.

Dream Vacations

Dream Vacations!  Gotta love 'em.  My sister and brother-in-law have been on theirs, to the wonderful islands of Hawaii.  My parents went twice to this tropical paradise and now they are getting to follow in their footsteps!

Ah, Hawaii!  A beautiful place, made even more beautiful by the TV show Hawaii Five-O (helped along in part by the colorization efforts of my film editor son, Greg).

Dream vacations are a major delight.  They give one a focus and a hope to see someplace they've always wanted to, and to step out of their normal routine and lives.

We recently had a dream vacation, visiting California, including San Francisco, traveling the Coastal Highway, Los Angeles and Pasadena.  It was an incredible experience!

But new dreams arise!  Vacations to me are always like, "Thank you!  May I please have another?"  So where else do we dream of going?

Faith and begorrah!  Stars and garters?  Tis' Ireland be calling me and me lassie!  We would love to spend a week in Ireland, centered in the countryside, at some cozy cottage, and just drive around and see what we can see.  Like coastlines and castles, leprechauns and lighthouses.

I daresay, London's calling!  It would be a lot of hustle and bustle, but I do believe that we could "bear" it!

O Canada!  Yes, I still have as my ultimate dream trip to take several weeks and start at one end of Canada (Nova Scotia, Prince Edwards Island) and to leisurely travel our way across the country, ending in Vancouver.

Think I should have a more exotic locale in mind?  How about Patagonia, the southern region of Argentina and Chile.  Beautiful landscapes AND weather that runs counter to here in the Southern United States.  A perfect place to get away from Georgia's unrelenting heat.

I had one of my best vacations ever recently.  It was a mini-Staycation, where I just enjoyed being home, including a lot of writing.  I love to have a couple travel vacations a year, but often, there's nothing quite like being at home!  As my career slowly downshifts, I look forward to more and more time at this most lovely vacation spot!

Ripping Good Yarns: Nominations Open for 2014 Hall of Fame Movie

Hail to the mighty cinema!

There's nothing like going to the movie show!  The old drive-ins we went to with my parents, the large downtown movie theaters that even had balconies. the old Court Theater in Saginaw that on Saturday afternoons would show a double feature, cartoons, a serial chapter and more for no more than a quarter or two.  Even the suburban megaplexes with their cushier chairs, stadium seating, deluxe sound systems and 3D.  Of course, now, admission may take a trip to the small loan department!

So I could wax all day about my love affair with going to the movies.  And that's just one of many ways people see great movies now.  They might download them, watch them on TV, rent a DVD, or even see them on their phone.

Two years ago I started Ripping Good Yarns Hall of Fames to honor the best of the best, in TV, movies, and books.  The past movie winners are as follows:

2012 Winner Star Wars

2013 Winner The Wizard of Oz

So are we ready for our 2014 entry?  This is a general category, for  movies of  all types.  The only rule?  The movie has to be at least ten years old.  That would mean the newest movies considered would be from 2004.  But when you nominate movies you don't need to worry about that.  I will filter those movies out that are too recent to be considered.



Please note that movies will be picked as finalists based not just on being nominated but by how many people nominate the same movie.  So if you see a favorite, say Blazing Saddles, already nominated by someone, than you should definitely second that nomination!  Or second, third, fourth, on into infinity!






I will throw into contention five movies that did very well in our Facebook Faceoff from awhile back.  Feel free to comment on these and to nominate many more! 

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Gone with the Wind

It's A Wonderful Life

Casablanca

Schindler's List

I await your input, Rippers!  The nominations are afoot!