Report on the Rally in Bethlehem

There were between 300 and 400 people at the rally in downtown Bethlehem.  We heard from various speakers, including a few candidates, a representative from ACLU, a clergywoman, and activists in the immigration reform movement.  

It was incredibly hot, and I took refuge in some shade.  Most of the people stood in the sun.  The rally organizers provided bottled water.

I took my poster that said “Have we learned nothing from the Carlisle Indian School?” and I displayed it for about five minutes, but I I had made another poster that said “ICE belongs in lemonade” and just below that in smaller letters “and margaritas.”  That one got lots of comments and photos.  A woman had a similar sign that said “ICE is for gin and tonics,” and we exchanged thumbs up.

I only saw two people from Carbon County, friends John and Sandy.  We probably should have done something up here, but we didn’t get our act together in time.  Our best organizer is in California and won’t be back until Tuesday night.

On the way out I spoke to a woman about my age who said she was heartened by all the young people in attendance.  Most of these rallies are mainly old people.  (It also occurred to me that rallies might be a good place for old people to hook up.)

I liked that the organizers had a table to register voters, although I have a feeling that most people there were already registered. 

Rally in Bethlehem

According to my friend Sarina, who is a social media maven, the nearest rally tomorrow is in Bethlehem, so that is where I'll be.

My poster says "Have we learned nothing from the Carlisle Indian School?"

Do you think that's too obscure?  I still have time to make a new one.  The rally is near City Hall on Church Street at 11.

Goodbye Justice Kennedy, and good riddance

Ok, he wasn’t a complete jerk.  He supported gay marriage.  He gave prisoners at Guantanamo the right of habeas corpus.  He saved Roe v. Wade.  

But...

He supported Citizens United.  He helped to gut the Voting Rights Act in 2013.  He voted to uphold the “Christian” baker’s right to discriminate.  He supported the travel ban.  He declined to stop gerrymandering.  His vote on union fees this week will drive the final nail in the crucifixion of labor unions.

I will not be sad to see this weak reed leave the bench.  I know his replacement will be worse, but only by a matter of degrees.  

On the other hand, pray for the good health of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, even if you are an atheist.

The Travel Ban

Seven countries are included in the ban:  Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Venezuela, and North Korea.  How many terrorist attacks in the U.S. have been carried out by a person from one of those seven countries?  Zero.  Nada.  Zilch.  Bupkes.

Trump has been making anti-Muslim statements for years.  If you point out that Venezuela and North Korea are not Muslim countries, those were thrown in to deflect criticism.  This is an anti-Muslim ban.  No question.

George Will points out that Madison’s system of checks and balances no longer works.  Will says it is not because Madison had a bad idea.  It is because people like the Supreme Court justices or the Republicans in Congress do not live up to Madison’s expectations.  Madison could not have anticipated Supreme Court Justice Gorsuch or a President like Trump or Republican leaders like McConnell and Ryan.

The Supreme Court recently upheld the right of a storekeeper to refuse to serve a gay couple because of “animus” against religion by state officials.  Evidently the Supreme Court is very worried about the rights of evangelical Christians.  Muslims?  Not so much.

In her dissent Justice Sonia Sotomayor said, “Our Constitution demands, and our country deserves, a Judiciary willing to hold the coordinate branches to account when they defy our most sacred legal commitments.”  It may deserve that, but it is not getting it.

In its decision the Supreme Court overturned the Korematsu decision.  Well, that was nice.  Overturning a decision of 74 years ago.  I wonder how many of The Five would have sided with Korematsu at the time.  I think we know the answer to that.

Never depend on the Supreme Court.  That was the branch that gave us Dred Scott, Plessey v. Ferguson, Korematsu, Citizens United, and now, the travel ban.  

Let them eat cake

There’s a big controversy about Sarah Huckabee Sanders getting kicked out of a restaurant because of her work for the Trump administration.

I’m not sure what the fuss is about.  Didn’t the Supreme Court just rule that a baker could refuse to sell a cake to a gay couple?  

Doesn’t one of the Ten Commandments prohibit lying, something Sanders does every time she steps up to the podium?  If it is legal to refuse to serve a gay couple, I think it would be legal to refuse to serve a liar.

I know that Michelle Obama said, “When they go low, we go high.”  We aren’t supposed to sink to the level of people who scream “Lock her up” and defend neo-Nazis and talk about immigrants as an “infestation.”  Liberals turn the other cheek, behave, act nice.  Had I been the restaurant owner, I would have served Sanders.  

I have to tell you though, I’d have been very tempted to spit in her soup.

Donald Hall, 1928-2018

Poet Donald Hall died on Saturday at his home in New Hampshire.  He was 89.  The obit in the New York Times has a photo of him receiving the National Medal of Arts from President Obama in 2011.

Hall was prolific, writing children’s books, memoirs, and quite a number of books of poetry.  His memoir “String too short to be saved” is about farm life in New Hampshire with his grandparents.  The title comes from an old story about a very frugal grandmother.  After she died they found box with small pieces of string and the label “string too short to be saved.”

Many of his poems were about farming or nature; probably the reason I like them so much.  I also was an admirer of his wife Jane Kenyon, who died of leukemia in 1995.  I have left instructions for one of her poems, “Let Evening Come,” to be read at my funeral, and Linda has ordered a quote from that poem engraved on her tombstone.

Hall and Kenyon chose the poems for her collection “Otherwise” just before she died.  Here is a portion of a poem entitled “Last Days.”  It is lovely and one of the saddest poems I have ever read.

...he saw how weak she felt, 

and said maybe not now; maybe 

later.  Jane shook her head:  “Now,” she said.

“We have to finish it now.”

Later, as she slid exhausted into sleep,

she said, “Wasn’t that fun?  

To work together?  Wasn’t that fun?”

Go Figure

Trump’s approval rating is at an all-time high among Republicans.  Approximately 90% think he is doing a good job.  This is the highest rating for a president by members of his own party since the post 9-11 period when George W. Bush was in office.

Supporters cite the booming economy, the deal with North Korea, the robust exercise of American power against other countries, the increased border security, and the unfairness of the press toward a man doing his best.

They do not cite environmental issues, the increase in racial tensions, the rejection of science, the constant lying, the decline of American values, the alienation of our allies, the demonization of people who receive public assistance, the lack of health care, the support for dictators, the tax cut that benefits the wealthy, the scandals in at least three cabinet departments, the treatment of Native Americans, or the politicalization of the federal courts. 

Republicans who get it

Steve Schmitt, MaCain’s campaign manager, announced a few days ago that he was changing his registration to Democrat.  David Brooks has written thoughtful columns warning how Trump is changing America in terrible ways and why he needs to be reined in.  George Will is urging people to vote Democratic this November.

I understand that there are many people out there who will support Trump no matter what.  They are invested in him, and will back him no matter how outrageous or evil his policies are.  I also know there are thoughtful conservative Republicans who are appalled at this administration and what it is doing.  I urge those Republicans to change their registration, to speak out, and to save our country. 

I know from personal experience how difficult it is to turn one’s back on his or her political party.  I also know that sometimes it is the right thing to do.  Remember that once Trump is rejected, you can always change back to the party with which you feel comfortable.

Valley Forge

Linda, our grandson Gavin, and I visited Valley Forge today.  It was good to be reminded that at one time in our country we were led by people like Washington and Lafayette, brave men who fought for freedom from a government they regarded as tyrannical.  

American exceptionalism

The history of America can seem rather bleak.  Indian removal and slaughter, slavery, immigrant bashing, prejudice against various religious groups, racial segregation, anti-union violence, wars against Mexicans, Filipinos, and Vietnamese, Japanese internment camps, Red Scares–you can extend the list.

We taught all of this in American studies.  We also taught that for every evil committed by our country, voices always spoke out in protest.  While the Puritans fought Indians, Roger Williams negotiated agreements and wrote a dictionary of the local Indian language.  When a Boston mob demanded blood from British troops after the Boston Massacre, John Adams was the defense attorney for those troops.  John Wollman and Ben Franklin spoke out against slavery even before it was outlawed in Britain.  The Underground Railroad helped slaves reach freedom.  The Wobblies and the Knights of Labor pushed for workers’ rights.  The Suffragettes marched and fought for the right of women to vote.  The NAACP fought segregation.  The ACLU defined victims of the Red Scare.

If you look you can always find brave men and women who spoke out against bigotry, violence, and hate.  They didn’t always win, but they made a mark.  We can look back on their efforts with pride.  

America is an exceptional nation not because we are strong, not because of our military, not because of our wealth, and certainly not because of our political leadership.  We are an exceptional nation because our our ideals;  ideals that the rest of the world looked up to and in many cases tried to emulate.  It was not our successes that were important, it was our goals and aspirations.

The irony of “Make America Great Again” as a slogan for this administration is almost too much to bear.  We are no longer the model for idealistic people.  We are becoming the nation that decent and caring people turn away from, while so-called “strongmen” and neo-fascists now see us as a model.  

Large crowds cheer hateful rhetoric.  White House staffers and cable network pundits make fun of crying children.  Our president whips up bigotry and calls desperate immigrants an “infestation.”  How did this happen to us?

So Many Refugees

The United Nations reported this week that 68.5 million people were forcibly displaced because of conflict or persecution in 2017, the highest number since the end of World War II. 

We picture refugees coming across the border into Texas or fleeing from Africa to Italy in boats.  Many of the refugees, however, escape to countries as poor as the places from which they fled.  For example, 5.6 million people have fled from Syria, but most ended up in Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon.  

Afghanistan is full of people fleeing violence from military conflict or Taliban brutality.  It has the largest refugee population in Asia.  Incidentally, Pakistan has started returning Afghanis seeking asylum there.

South Sudan refugees are fleeing, mostly to Uganda, which hosts over a million.  Uganda, as you may guess, is not a rich country. 

Myanmar is driving out its Rohingya population, and the refugees are ending up in Bangladesh.

Somalia, a “failed state,” is the fifth largest refugee producer.  Those refugees mostly go to Kenya, Yemen, and Ethiopia.  Can you imagine how desperate you must be to seek refuge in Yemen?

We have been warned about the carrying capacity of the globe for years.  Malthus, it now seems, had a point.  We have too many people and too little food.  

The burdens borne by the industrialized countries are slight compared to countries like Kenya, Bangladesh, or Uganda.  The world is asking some of the poorest people on the globe to host millions of desperate people.  

Statistics for this post are from Megan Sepcia, “Humanity of the Move:  5 Conflicts That Drive the Global Refugee Crisis, New York Times, (June 20, 2018), p. A19.

Trump on European migrants

European countries, unlike the U.S., have accepted thousands of refugees from places like Syria and Libya.  A backlash has developed in Hungary, Poland, Austria, and other countries.  So-called “populist movements” and neo-fascists are doing their best to undermine the democratic consensus.

So what does Trump do?  He praises the neo-fascists.  “The people of Germany are turning against their leadership as migration is rocking the already tenuous Berlin coalition,” he tweeted, and claimed, falsely, that crime had risen in Germany as a result of immigrants.  

In the past I’ve had little patience for people who drag Hitler into a political discussion, but in this case it fits.  Try to imagine President Franklin Roosevelt praising the Nazi Party in Germany in the early Thirties before it came to power.  What Trump is doing is the equivalent of that.

See Patrick Kingsley, “Europe Allies, Grip Slipping, Get U.S. Shove, New York Times (June 19, 2018), pp. A-1, A-8.

Quoting Scripture

I’m probably not the best person to criticize Attorney General Jeff Sessions for quoting scripture, but my Mother was a Sunday School teacher, and I do know a few things about the Bible.  I am always amazed what people can get out of that book.  

Here is Sessions defending ripping apart families of asylum seekers, using as his rationale a verse from the book of Romans about the need to obey the laws of government to maintain order.

Ordnung muss sein.  Nicht wahr?

Back in Penna.

After a 650-mile sprint from Knoxville, we are back home in Carbon County.  I'll get political tomorrow.  Right now I'm going to bed.

Has Trump been impeached yet?

Music highway

The route signs on I-40 in Tennessee are in the shape of a guitar pick.  This, of course, is quite suitable for a road called "The Music Highway" that runs between Memphis, home of the blues, to Nashville, home of the noise that is defined as "country music."  Now we are in Knoxville, which has a very good art museum.

We did not go into Little Rock or Memphis.  Mostly we drive.

People down here sure talk funny.  I have heard that when you hear a British accent, you automatically add ten points to that person's IQ, and when you hear a Tennessee accent, you automatically subtract ten.  That's kind of mean, but I have a feeling people probably do that.

Tomorrow we make a final run home.  Once again I'll be reading the news about Trump,  the Pennsylvania legislature, Washington scandals, and all the other depressing material in the New York Times.  I sometimes wish we could just stay on the road and drive and drive and drive.

Fox News

Sorry I couldn't post last night.  We were in Amarillo in a cheapo motel, and the WiFi didn't work.  There was a big stain on the rug which Linda said we should walk around because it might be forensic evidence.

Yesterday we were in Santa Fe, and there is an oil pump in front of the government land office to celebrate New Mexico's discovery of oil.  The pump does not actually pump oil, but it does go up and down, powered by a solar panel.  I liked that.

I also liked that east of Amarillo we passed mile after mile of huge windmills.  Texas is one of those states that gets a good portion of its energy from renewable sources. That's right, Texas.

Tonight we are in Conway, Arkansas, about 40 miles from Little Rock.  We took a walk around Toad Suck Square in the downtown, evidently named during the 60s when hippies thought you could get high licking a toad's stomach.  At least that is what one of the locals told me.

Tomorrow, if we can find it, we will drive past the school where Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard to protect the kids integrating Central High.

One thing I have noticed is that many motels that serve breakfast also have Fox News on the TV.  I generally don't complain (I've seen "Easy Rider"), but I usually ask if the set could be switched over to the Weather Channel, and they almost always oblige.

Heffley and "banking stuff"

According to an on-line article (see <www.cityandstatepa.com>, Representative Heffley is pushing HB2429, a bill to benefit payday lenders.  When asked about the ramifications of the bill, Heffley is quoted as saying, "Anytime you get into this type of banking stuff, it does get complicated."

P.S.:  We are in Gallup, New Mexico, home to the largest annual Indian gathering in the United States.

Ohio voter decision

Don't you think it is strange that the U.S. Supreme Court is so nakedly partisan?  You can almost predict every vote.  5-4, Republican judges vs. Democratic judges.  The decision to allow Ohio to scrub voters will, of course, help elect Republicans.  The five know that and put party first.

I should also note that Democratic party voters make me tired.  Voters were purged who hadn't voted for six years and who did not answer a mailed request to confirm their residency.  How hard is that?  Why didn't they vote for six years?  Wasn't there at least one school board election, a governor's race, and two House races in that time?  Is it so difficult to reply to a mailed request to verify residency?  No wonder we lose elections.

P.S.:  We are in Barstow headed east.  104 degrees.  Hot wind.  Not a pretty city, though the people seem nice.

Skipping politics on Father's Day

Margaret Renkl wrote a column in today's Times about her Trump-supporting father-in-law.  She quoted Sister Helen Prejean, the nun who worked with death-row inmates, who said that people are more than the worst thing they've ever done.

I can understand why people may have voted for Trump.  They may have felt he would grow into the job, like Truman did.  They may have thought he was saying all those nasty things in the campaign, but he couldn't really be that bad.  They may have thought he would really change the Washington culture. They may have concluded that Hillary Clinton was a bridge too far.

What I can't understand is why those Trump voters would continue to support him in light of the corruption in his cabinet, the environmental protection rollbacks, the separation of kids from their parents by ICE, the tariffs, the tax cut for the rich, the continuing attempts to undermine our judiciary and our free press, and on, and on.

I can still be civil to people who voted for Trump.  I can still talk to them.  I think I could even sit at the same table with them.  I do think they have some explaining to do.

Filipino restaurant

We arrived in Chico this morning.  Daughter Rachael and her husband Mark took us to a Filipino restaurant for lunch.  I don't think there is a Filipino restaurant in Carbon, Monroe, Schuylkill, or Lehigh counties.  If there is, would somebody please tell me where.

Today I just caught a headline about Trump tweeting nasty things about Canada's prime minister.  Really?   He did that?  Isn't Canada our best ally and closest friend?  Home of the Mounties?  I hope I read that wrong.

Now I will save you some money.  Do NOT see the movie "Overboard."  Although we still have half a year to go, I have no doubt that this will be the worst movie of 2018.

Voter's Choice

Five counties in California–Sacramento, Napa, Madera, Nevada, and San Mateo–were involved in a pilot program to increase turnout in the recent primary election.  The program, called Voter's Choice, mailed ballots to every registered voter.  Voters then had a choice.  They could mail the ballots back, they could drop them off at designated locations, or they could vote in person at an actual polling place.   These voting centers were open 11 days before the election day.

If you mailed in your ballot, you could check a website to see if the ballot had been had been accepted. You, of course, had to be registered, and your signature on your ballot was checked against the signature on your registration to prevent cheating.

Turnout increased dramatically.  Sacramento, Napa, and Nevada counties all had turnouts of over 46%.  Nevada County, where my brother-in-law Tom and sister-in-law Kayla live, almost doubled its turnout.

A possible drawback is the time it takes to count the ballots, partly because of the large number turned in on election day.  In Nevada County the ballots are still not completely tallied from the election on Tuesday.

Agent of China

If I praise China for its efforts to reduce pollution by investing in solar power while I criticize the U.S. government for subsidizing coal, am I acting as an agent for China?  Two Republicans on the House Committee on Natural Resources have sent a letter to the National Resource Defense Council, an environmental group, demanding the group register as a foreign agent because it praised China and criticized the U.S. on energy issues.                    

For four days I didn't read the New York Times.  Tonight I'm at my brother-in-law Tom's house, and he gets the New York Times.  This article about the NRDC was on page 8.  A front page article explained how the E.P.A. was easing the rules on chemical pollution.  Another front page article discussed how one couple was contributing $26 million to hard right candidates.

I'm beginning to understand why people don't read the paper.

Local politics

In the May issue of the Atlantic, James Fallows has an article about how, while national politics is toxic, local jurisdictions are solving problems, behaving in a civil manner, and generally acting like governments are supposed to act in a democracy.

Using my own unrepresentative sample, I think he may be right.  We have been through some small towns that are well-kept and, on the surface at least, look like their citizens care about their surroundings and one another.  Waseon, Ohio; Walnut, Iowa; Laramie, Wyoming; Lymon, Wyoming–all look like places I where I could live in peace.

Drivers are polite, clerks are helpful, residents give directions.  In spite of the mean-spirited MAGA people you always see at Trump rallies, most people that I've seen on this country trip are just nice.

Tornado in Laramie

We pulled into the Motel 6 parking lot to register, and there, across I-80, was a perfect funnel cloud heading for us.  We took some pictures, then jumped in the car and went east for about 15 miles into the  mountains.  After reports that the tornado had dissipated, we went back.  We learned later that the tornado was nine miles away from downtown Laramie.  I would have guessed about two miles.

Laramie, by the way, is one of the more liberal areas of Wyoming.  The University of Wyoming is located there, which explains it.

If you are in Kearny, Nebraska, be sure to visit the MONA.  That's the Museum of
Nebraska Art, and it is a very good one.

Mexican restaurant in Adair, Iowa

Last year we stopped in Adair, Iowa, a tiny town in the middle of windmill country just off I-80.  We ate at a fantastic Mexican restaurant; I think I even posted a glowing review.

This year the building was empty.  Since the restaurant was jam packed last year, filled with locals, why would it have closed down?  I suspect the owners were deported.  I don't know who to ask, but that is the kind of country we live in now.

Dead deer

Dateline: Waseon, Ohio

The town is about 35 miles from the Indiana border.  It is one of those lovely All-American midwest towns with wide streets, big houses, American flags, and a downtown full of vacant storefronts.  The courthouse, as usual, was impressive, and the post office has a nice WPA mural.

Nobody commented on my T-shirt, which has pictures of Obama, the Dali Lama, and Trump, and says underneath them "Obama, Lama, Ding Dong."  I was disappointed.

To make the trip go faster I counted dead deer along I-80 in Pennsylvania.  I got 19.

Road Trip

We leave tomorrow, bright and early, (probably around 9:30) for our annual drive to California.  It’s I-80 all the way out, returning by way of Arizona, New Mexico, the Panhandle, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.  Those red states kind of run together.  

I will take my Airbook along and try to post, but don’t be terribly upset if I go dark for about 18 days.  Some of the cheap motels won’t have WiFi, or they will have it and I won’t be able to connect, or I’ll be able to connect but can’t figure out how to post, or we will have driven all day, and I’ll just want to sleep.  

Our goal tomorrow:  Waseon, Ohio.

Standing with the Koch Brothers

There's a title you won't see on many of my posts.

I read that the Koch Brothers are planning to run ads against Lou Barletta, the racist former mayor of Hazleton who is running for the U.S. Senate against Bob Casey.  Evidently they are angry because Barletta voted for the tax cut, which the Koch Brothers think will bust the federal budget and create long-term deficits.

I really don't care what their reasons are for opposing Barletta.  That man is a canker sore on the body politic, and I would like to see him lose big and slither off into obscurity.

Gun exports

In mid-May the Trump administration proposed a new rule for the export of firearms.  It would transfer the jurisdiction of consumer gun exports from the State Department to the Commerce Department, where the application process for gun exports is simpler.

The American firearms industry is delighted.  It will also be easier for foreign criminals and terrorists to buy AR-15s, but the Trump administration is, of course, doesn't care about those details.

The information from this post is from an article by Tiffany Hsu and John Ismay, "Gun Exports Could Rise If New Rule Is Approved, " New York Times, (24 May 2018), p. B-4.  I doubt if it was covered on MSNBC or CNN, where the news seems to be "All Mueller, All the Time."