To the sowers of distrust, from an American

 

THE election is half a week away (we have to get through Hallowe’en first), and many Americans are doing the daily things that Americans are able to do because we trust our democracy and our election process.

In southern New York State, our older daughter has readied our granddaughters for Hallowe’en by fashioning marvelous Bellatrix Lestrange (from Harry Potter) and hedgehog costumes.

In Philadelphia, our younger daughter’s outstanding vocal sextet, Variant 6, is responding creatively to the pandemic’s demands by developing and offering exciting new ways to connect with audiences.

All across America, parents and artists and all other sorts of people in many conditions and communities are doing what we do in pursuit of our own and our nation’s wellbeing, and out of our desire to enhance our collective human experience. Despite the turmoil that fills the news and heightens our anxiety, I believe the vast majority of us still trusts the relative stability of our society, and our ability to react to new situations and challenges with steady, informed, and compassionate resolve.

But we are at the mercy of our elected and appointed leaders to make sure this election is conducted and counted in a way that is in fact fair and unbiased and is perceived as such. If we don’t have that, we will have lost one of the most important reasons we have thrived as a people.

If those responsible for conducting, observing, and reporting on this election fail us through partisan moves, unfounded law suits, subtle or blatant intimidation, misinformation, or violence, we are done.

The condemnation of history will ever be upon those who deliberately and carelessly destroy our trust in free and fair elections. You know who you are, and you will, sooner or later, be found out.

Do your best things today, and vote by Tuesday if you haven’t already. Let there be no mistake about who is in charge.

So much for "originalism"

This morning I am so distressed by the chaos of our current president's administration and the complicity of the Senate and their blatant politicalization of the Supreme Court that I do not know where to begin to clear my mind. So I will let someone else help me.

Heather Cox Richardson's post today offers this paragraph about the Supreme Court's decision blocking Wisconsin's "counting of votes postmarked before Election Day by received up to six days after it."

"In a footnote, Justice Kavanaugh went further to argue that states need to avoid 'the chaos and suspicions of impropriety that can ensue if thousands of absentee ballots flow in after election day and potentially flip the results of the election. And those States also want to be able to definitely announce the results of the election on election night, or as soon as possible thereafter.' This is the argument Trump has been making to delegitimize mail-in ballots, and it is political, not judicial. Absentee ballots do not “flip” an election; they are a legitimate part of an election that cannot be decided until they are counted. And the idea of calling an election on the night it is held is a tic of the media. In fact, no state certifies its election results the day of the election. Some take weeks."

Of course, Justice Kavanaugh: Because the original thirteen states wanted to "announce the results of the election on election night," right? Back in the old days, that's how it was done, right? All the results from all the precincts in all the towns and counties of each state were in the state capitals and tabulated in time to announce the results of the 11:00 news, right?

I love originalism, don't you? And now it will be visited upon us by a super-majority of our Supreme Court (except when it's not convenient for them to do so).

End this nonsense. Vote for Biden. I am clear about that.

What if...

What if

on this Sunday

our political leaders and candidates

had taken long walks

into the most beautiful and peaceful places they could get to,

there to pause and visualize and reflect

on what they are doing and for whose benefit?

Might they do things differently on Monday?

How will Senator Portman vote?

Supreme Court Justice Nominee Amy Coney Barrett served for nearly three years, beginning in 2015, on the Board of Trinity Schools, Inc, which was founded by People of Praise, a Christian religious group of which she has been a member. This is according to the Associated Press, which also reports that Trinity Schools explicitly discriminates against LGBTQ people in its admissions and hiring policies.

In her confirmation hearings, Ms. Barrett carefully avoided answering specific questions about almost every topic that was brought up. But it is clear from what we know about her that she is deeply committed to her religious convictions. And although she claims that in her service on the Court, she will only be guided by the Constitution, it is highly unlikely that she will leave her deeply-held religious convictions at the door when hearing and considering cases.

I am convinced that complete objectivity on matters that touch human lives and happiness is something few human beings can realistically claim. One cannot expect Justice Barrett to rule on matters regarding LGBTQ rights without being influenced by her conservative religious commitments.

In 2013, Ohio Republican Senator Robert Portman announced that he had undergone a change of heart regarding same-sex marriage. The change was brought about by the coming-out of his son, Will. Portman could no longer oppose same-sex marriage, given his family experience. Which is often how it goes when thoughtful and sensitive people (which I believe Sen. Portman to be) have to choose between human experience and legalism.

I cannot help but wonder whether Senator Portman is wrestling tonight with his vote next week on Ms. Barrett’s nomination. I wonder if he and Will are talking together about it. I wish I thought the Senator would listen to what I dare believe is in his heart, but I fear he will not.

Not your business

 Most of us have had our moments with “government bureaucrats”—indifferent government employees who annoy us just by doing their jobs. No doubt, there are flaws in the civil service system that sometimes allow unqualified and underperforming personnel to stay on the job.

On the other hand, there is something reassuring in knowing that no matter who heads the executive branch, or what party is in power, there is a continuity of knowledge and experience in the federal bureaucracy. These people work for the government--that is, for “we the people”--so their commitment is to us collectively (if not to me, individually). That commitment has generally proven to be a good thing for us all.

Which leads to this paragraph in today’s Letters from an American post by Heather Cox Richardson:

“In a move that threatens to destroy our nonpartisan civil service, Trump today signed an Executive Order creating a new category of public servant who is not covered by normal rules. These employees can be hired by agency heads without having to go through the merit-based system in place since 1883, and can be fired at will. This new “Schedule F” will once again allow presidents to appoint cronies to office, while firing those insufficiently loyal. It also appears to shield political appointees from an incoming administration by protecting them from firing because of political affiliation.”

Likely, this news will be buried by all the other, seemingly more pressing, news today, which is what the current administration is hoping. So, why is it important to me?

It is important to me because the United States of America is not a business owned and directed by those we’ve elected to serve us. The U.S.A. is a people--one people--who entrust leadership to those who further the public interest under the guidance of our Constitution and other laws. Elected office is a public trust, not a way of getting what you want for yourself or for your friends and supporters.

This move by the current administration feels like one more way it is guiding us toward some form of single party or authoritarian rule. It seems to me that it is enough that presidents get to appoint top leaders in their administrations, who are then often forced to come to terms with the continuity represented by the employees who work for them. In that tension is both stability and reassurance that the public will not be whiplashed by every change in administration, and that changes that are made receive informed review before and as they are implemented.

Our presidents are not the CEOs of an entity they own, or may treat as if they own. They may not run our government like they would run their own businesses…particularly like their badly-run businesses.

All the news that fits us

Several weeks ago I finally added the Fox News app to my phone, so now I check it along with CNN, BBC, USA Today, and NPR. Just scanning the headlines, and without pretending that my conclusion can be proven, I will say without a doubt in my mind that I know why so many of us are in personal news-bubbles. If all you watch is either Fox or CNN, you are not getting the whole picture. Fox seems to find a riot a day to report, each day CNN finds something newly awful to report about the current President’s behavior, and each pretty much ignores the other’s stories when they don’t fit its narrative. Both repeat their most partisan stories for days, assuring readers get so full of them they have no appetite for anything else.

(“A person hears what they want to hear, and disregards the rest.”)

Maybe that’s why I am not writing much on politics these days. I am confused by competing stories that I have neither the time nor the resources to sort out and check for myself. Whatever I write, someone can respond with, “Yes, but…” and cite a set of facts (more or less) to defend themselves.

These days, I feel strangely lacking in facts and yet somehow beyond them. I just know, in my heart, that we need a change at the top and all they way through the wretched, grossly-partisan party system that’s killing our own respect for our own democracy. I think we also need a change in us and in our information-absorbing habits, which may be the hardest change of all to make.

Our current president is right...

Our current president is right...people are tired of the COVID pandemic.

He is speaking for me: I am tired of the COVID pandemic.

I am also tired of my arthritic left knee.

But being tired of it doesn't mean it isn't real, nor will it make it stop hurting.

I am neither an idiot nor a disaster for knowing and accepting these realities.

Just one more reason why our White House needs a new occupant.

Love: the way forward

When I opened Facebook this morning, here are two of the first posts I came across.

This first one was shared by a high school friend, and is a quote from British philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

"The moral thing I should wish to say… is very simple. I should say: love is wise, hatred is foolish. In this world, which is getting more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other. We have to learn to put up with the fact that some people say things that we don’t like. We can only live together in that way and if we are to live together and not die together, we must learn the kind of charity and the kind of tolerance which is absolutely vital to the continuation of human life on this planet."

The second one was shared by the priest of the church we attend, and is from Jesus, as recorded in Luke 6:27-38:

"But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you. "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

Those statements are not exactly the same, of course. It’s been decades since I read any Russell, but as I recall Bertie Russell and Jesus Christ were at quite different places theologically. But in these statements they seem to share an understanding that loving those with whom we differ is necessary for our fulfillment and survival.

In an era when hatred is all too popular, especially hatred of one’s real or perceived “enemies,” these two posts provided a refreshing start to my day. Thanks, FB friends!