John Fetterman, major disappointment

At one time I liked John Fetterman, but I always thought he was a bit of a phony.  He visited Carbon County twice to speak to the Carbon County Dems for Progress and sounded good, but his actual accomplishments were rather meager.  

He was mayor of Braddock, PA, but that was not a big deal.  Braddock has fewer residents than either Nesquehoning or Lansford.  I thought the tattoos of the homicide victims in Braddock were a bit much, and his handling of his health problems was immature at best.  Then there was the whole hoodie/shorts silliness.  

The person I really liked was his wife.  She was smart and gave a much better stump speech than her husband.  

I don’t know what to make of his current attitude.  I can understand the need to reach out to Trump supporters, but to make the pilgrimage to Trump’s lair in Florida did not sit well with me.  The statements defending ICE are reprehensible.  His behavior toward his staff is reprehensible.  His driving puts people at risk and is reprehensible.   If he is unable to carry out his duties, he needs to resign.  

The whole thing makes me very sad.

Trump praises the President of Liberia for his "good English"

One of the issues early abolitionists argued about was what to do with the slaves provided they ever received their freedom.  One proposed solution was to transport them back to Africa, and a colony was set up on the African west coast for that purpose.  The colony was called “Liberia,” and its capitol was Monrovia, named for the President of the United States James Monroe.  Thousands of freed slaves and freemen eventually repatriated to Liberia.

This idea persisted into the 20th century.  The best known advocate for African-Americans repatriating to Africa was Marcus Garvey and his Universal Negro Improvement Association in the 1920s.  Garvey also believed that African nations (then mostly colonies) should unite, and this doctrine is known as “Pan-Africanism.  I wrote my college honors paper on that topic in 1964.

Trump, of course, knows no African history.  He does not know the official language of Liberia is English.  I’m sure he thinks of Liberia as just another “shithole” country, as he has referred to countries like Liberia in the past.  Our president is basically an idiot.

Living in an authoritarian state

If we have to live in an authoritarian state where political enemies are punished, the rule of law is set aside, the courts are complicit with illegalities, and the legislature is a rubber stamp, could we at least live in an authoritarian state where the trains run on time.

China is phasing out fossil fuels, is building cheap electric cars, has banned crypto-currency, and does not have a homeless problem.  It is giving aid to third world countries, has a strong military, a government-run space program, and a health system that does not mistrust vaccines. 

I know that people are jailed there without legal safeguards, but that is true here also.  At least in China things seem to work.

Sen. Charles Sumner on three things to look for in a politician

Sen. Charles Sumner, one of the most prominent abolitionists in the U.S., annoyed South Carolina congressman Preston Brooks in an anti-slavery speech.  1856 Brooks attacked Sumner on the Senate floor, beating him with a metal-tipped cane.  Blood was everywhere, and Sumner barely survived.  The response of the South was to send Brooks more canes.

Sumner recovered and, as a U.S. Senator during the Civil War, pushed Lincoln to make emancipation the goal of the war.

Early in his political career he told an audience there were three things to look for in a politician.  “The first is backbone, the second is backbone and the third is backbone.”

Given the current state of Congress, those are words to remember.

Did the cuts made in NOAA increase the deaths in Kerrville?

I really don’t know.  I’ve read claims that say that, but I have no proof.  I don’t know exactly where the cuts were made, what experts were cut, how the Weather Service was affected.

And I will tell you three other people who don’t know the answer to that question:  Elon Musk, Kristi Noem, and Donald Trump.  The cuts were made with no rationale, no careful analysis, no studies.  It was all a P.R. stunt with potentially dangerous consequences.  

Trump, of course, thinks NOAA is the guy who built the ark.  Musk will say those cuts didn’t have anything to do with the death toll to cover his ass for what his teenage minions did.  And Kristi Noem is too busy pretending to care and no doubt offering prayers while pushing ICE to separate more families.  Noem is also the one who bragged about taking funds from NOAA to help construct Alligator Auschwitz.  In the meantime, the death toll in Texas approaches 100.

Men no longer read novels

Do you belong to a book club?  If you do, chances are excellent that you are a woman.  Chances are good that all your book club members are also women.  My friend Marian said that was true of both book clubs to which she belonged.  According to a full page article in the Times last week, men commonly read novels in the past, but their habit of reading has died out.

Male authors also appealed to men.  Cormac McCarthy, John Updike, Philip Roth, John Cheever, to name a few, wrote novels featuring male characters.  Check out the new books section of the Palmerton Library, and you will find mostly women authors.  The male authors are there, but they are of the Clive Cussler/James Patterson/David Baldacci ilk, hardly serious or worth reading in any case.

I’m not sure if the lack of novel reading among men is even a problem.  They are probably reading their text messages.  Maybe that’s enough for most men.  They won’t even know what they are missing.

Becoming a gentleman

The term “gentleman” is not used much anymore.  When is the last time you heard someone say about a guy, “He’s a real gentleman”?

Richard Reeves in the June 2025 issue of The Sun writes about Wabash College, a private liberal arts college in Crawfordsville, Indiana.  The college has an honor code that includes what is called “the gentleman’s rule.”  Every year the incoming freshmen males attend a a meeting with the seniors where the seniors discuss what it means to be a gentleman in modern society.  Reeves said it does help to produces thoughtful “gentlemen.”

According to J.F. Roxburgh, the headmaster of the Stowe School, a private English boarding school, we need men who are “acceptable at a dance and invaluable in a shipwreck.”  I don’t do well with that definition–I never learned to dance and I am not a very good swimmer.  I do, however, understand what he means.

Too many men don’t know how to act civilly .  They are “bros,” acting like tough guys, unable to carry on a civil conversation.  

The best example I can give you is to contrast Barack Obama with Donald Trump.  Obama is a complete gentleman, able to score on the basketball court and able to address and relate to a group of parishioners whose place of worship was attacked.  

Men need to aspire to be like Obama and turn away from Trump.  If you are using Trump as your role model, you, sir, are no gentleman.