Fetterman

Never really trusted him.  That whole thing about tattooing the dates of people killed in Braddock while he was mayor struck me as some kind of public performance.  He garnered publicity trying to revive his town of Braddock, but that wasn’t so impressive.  Braddock is tiny.  Weissport has more people than Braddock.

You can tell a great deal about a politician by the way he treats his staff, and from the earliest days of his Senate career, word was that he treated his staff like crap, and he evidently hasn’t improved.  I never could abide “pro-labor” types who acted like overseers to their own employees.

The whole hoodie business annoyed me from day one.  I have never been known for my clothing style, but if I were in the U.S. Senate, I would dress the part.  The hoodie thing was simply a way to draw attention, just like the tattoos.

I hate the way he treats his wife, an immigrant.  He should be a champion for immigrants.  He is not.  She ought to divorce his ass.

Finally, he is not very bright.  It is obvious from many of his comments, from his failure to do what his doctors advised, and his statements on current issues, including his stand on Israel and his sucking up to the worst President in U.S. history.

For thirty-two years I lived in a state that had adopted three Progressive reforms–the initiative, the referendum, and the recall.  I know there were some problems with the initiative, and I don’t remember the referendum being used, but I really miss that recall.  Pennsylvania doesn’t have the recall.  We are stuck with this clown for over two more years.

Old people and technology

As many readers know, I don’t own a cell phone.  I like the freedom that brings.  I suppose at some point I’ll get a flip phone, especially if I drive across the country again, but right now I’m happy without it.  I also don’t carry a credit card, although I do have one in case I ever need to fly somewhere.  

Today I read a message from my friend Bill.  I want to share it; it sums up how I and some of my friends feel in today’s world:

A society that forces a ninety-year-old to use a smartphone in order to access basic rights is not a modern society; it is a society that has decided to cast aside its own elders.

By 2026 everything has become an app, a code, a portal.  Yet the very people who built this country with their own hands now find themselves illiterate in their own homes.  If booking a medical appointment or paying a bill requires the help of a son or granddaughter–assuming there is one–then the system has failed.

This is not innovation.  It is exclusion.

Technology should serve people, not determine who is still entitled to dignity.

When we leave behind those who came before us, we are not evolving.  We are merely becoming more comfortable–and more selfish.

The world is going to hell in a bushel basket

A far-right political party won the most votes in the former East German state of Saxony-Anhalt.  Why beat around the bush–a neo-Nazi party won the state election.

In Britain the racist party Reform UK is polling very well.  In Spain the far right Vox Party is doing well.  In France Marine LePen is riding high.  And in Serbia thousands of Serbs gathered to mourn the death of the war criminal and Bosnian Serb general known as the Butcher of Bosnia, responsible for thousands of deaths and convicted of genocide.

The American President is reinstalling racist statues that glorify the Confederacy and doing his best to rig the upcoming election.

Where do you even flee to in these times?

Rachel Cusk's new novel

Rachael Cusk has a new book out.  It’s entitled Life of M.  I will now give you advice.  Don’t buy it.  Don’t read it.  If you find a copy, burn it.  

I tried to read one of her books entitled The Outline.  Notice the word “tried.”  It was beyond boring.  The correct word is enervating.  Remember old telephone directories.  They had a better plot.  Did you ever try to read one of those “terms and conditions.”  Way more interesting.

Charlie Kirk and Dolly Parton

Do you want to know how far we have declined as a country?  The flag was  flown at half-mast for Charlie Kirk but not for Dolly Parton.  That tells you all you need to know.

We Try Harder

Avis was the second largest car rental agency in the 1960s; Hertz was first.  Avis came up with a a campaign that stressed its second place with the tag line that said, “We’re number 2, but we try harder.”  

In Carbon County, PA, the Democrats are definitely number 2.  There are literally thousands more registered Republicans, but for how long?  Two weeks ago the Democrats sponsored a booth at the Ukrainian Festival; the Republicans did not.  This week the Dems had a booth at the festival in Weissport; the Republicans did not.  At both of these festivals people came up and ordered signs, said how glad they were to see us, and expressed irritation with Republican policies.

We know we are number 2.  We are clawing our way back.  Look for us at future events.  Don’t be surprised if we are present for your wedding party or your bar mitzvah or your Quinceañera.  We really are trying harder.

Teaching Civics

The first time I heard that many schools were no longer teaching Civics, I was amazed.  I can’t remember detailed facts from my high school civics class, but I remember Mr. Gordos telling us how lucky we were to live in a town with a variety of ethnic groups and religions living in harmony.  

In college I was showing another student my high school yearbook.  My classmates included Carazo, Merluzzi, Nogueira, Sarik, Krawchuk, Bobita, Kinek, Constenbader, and Muniz.  He said, “Didn’t you have any Americans in your class?”  I just stared at him.

The Times today had a conversation between Frank Bruni and Bret Stephens.  Stephens said that while the world would obviously be a better place when Trump was no longer president, he thought our problems are so much deeper than that one man and his administration.

He added, “My view is that everything started going wrong when we abandoned the cause of teaching civics.”

Do schools even discuss personal responsibility, caring about the community, service, self-reliance, participation in self-government?  I am not talking about mumbling the Pledge of Allegiance before meetings or standing for the National Anthem.  I’m talking about citizenship, about the kind of patriotism that we saw in Minneapolis during the ICE raids.  Perhaps they are still learning that kind of citizenship in Minnesota.  I’m not so sure about the rest of the country.