That clear, bright September Morning

(The following is an updated repost  of an entry from Sept. 11th, 2011)

Today the media, and the blogosphere will undoubtedly be full of all sorts of remembrances and commentary around what is the 18th  anniversary of the terrorist attack on the United States on September 11, 2001.

To be honest I really don't like to dwell on the topic. Not out of any sense of personal pain, but more out of respect, for those people I know who were far closer to the events of that day than I was. My experience that day was a somewhat surreal one.

I had gotten up very early and caught a flight from Chicago Midway to Houston. I was heading there for work. It was about 20 minutes into the flight, the seat belt sign had just turned off, and people where shifting about, getting comfortable. I had just pulled out my laptop to work on the presentation I was going to be giving later that day. Suddenly the seat belt sign came back on, and the crew announced that everyone was to return to their seats and prepare for landing, the flight would be returning to Chicago.

The Pilot then came on the speaker system to say that there was nothing wrong with the plane, and we were returning to Chicago because the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) had ordered the flight to return to "clear air traffic". He said that was all the information they had, and he apologized for the inconvenience.

Everyone on the plane thought the same thing. (Not terrorism.) Chicago Midway had upgraded to a new Air Traffic Control System earlier in the Summer and a few weeks prior, there had been a series of glitches that had delayed several flights.  Everyone groaned, made comments about "Government Efficiency" assuming it was yet another problem with Midway's system that was going to mess up  our day.

This  assumption that was bolstered when the captain came back on the loudspeaker  and announced  that we were not returning to Midway but rather we were diverted to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

The woman sitting next to me was happy about this thinking at least it might be easier to get on the next flight out to Houston. I nodded, and said "I hope so", thinking of how I might salvage the rest of my schedule that day and make my afternoon meetings on time.

It took us about 30 minutes of circling over O'Hare before we could land. Sitting in a window seat I watched as the line of planes waiting to land stretched to the far horizon and oddly enough, no planes were taking off. I commented on this to the woman next to me, and she said "wow Midway's systems must be really screwed up!" I laughed and said that what we get for Ronald Reagan having fired all the good Air Traffic Controllers. She laughed and said she had forgotten about that.

We landed and had to wait an additional 20 minutes to get a gate. but finally pulled up to a jetway , and we all lumbered off the plane into the gate area I was getting annoyed because people were not clearing the area in front of the door but were all standing around the televisions that were tuned to the CNN Airport Network. I was about to say a loud "excuse me!" when I happened to look up at the TV and saw CNN  replay footage from ABC of the second plane hitting the World Trade Center.

CNN then cut to live shot of a column of smoke and ash where the World Trade Center Towers were supposed to be, but weren't. I called my office and my boss told me not to come in, The area in downtown Chicago around the Sears Tower was being evacuated. I called my parents and let them know I was not in Houston, got on the CTA Blue Line and went home.   The rest of that day I did what most Americans did, watched the news, and when the images became overwhelming, I put on my roller blades and went blading along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

It was brilliant sunny day. One of those late Summer, early Fall days that you get in Chicago that make you appreciate what a beautiful city it is. As I stopped at Oak Street Beach and admired the downtown Chicago skyline, I didn't think that somehow the "world had changed". But rather I found myself thinking how the United States had  sadly, finally  joined the rest of the world.

Before that that morning, Terrorism was something that happened in other places, Israel, Lebanon London, Belfast , places far away. Even the first World Trade Center bombing for many people, didn't seem like international terrorism. After all, the people responsible were caught when they tried to get the deposit back on the rental van they had used. (How sinister could people that dumb be?)    That is what changed I think, it was the moment America lost the illusion that somehow our two oceans would keep us safe from global terrorism.

For friends of mine who lived in New York on that day,  I understand  that  today  is a much different  experience for them.   A  friend of mine is  a New York City Police Officer  who  lost an arm in the attack that day.   Another friend of mine worked  for an investment bank housed in the  North Tower,  she had a doctors appointment so she didn't go into work  that morning.   For her, today  is a reminder of  the  friends and co-workers  she lost  that day.

For the numerous friends of mine who have served, and currently serve in the Middle East  with the American and British Armed Forces, they deal with the effects September 11, 2001 on a far different level than most people ever will.

So as people all over the world will remember the events of that day, pray for those who were lost, and show solidarity and support for friends and family for whom this anniversary is far more personal than political.

God Bless America, God bless us all.

My Friend Khris...

It was 21 years ago I walked into Gentry.   A small dingy little piano bar in Chicago, on Halsted Street.   I hadn't planned on going in.  But as I walked by I heard this amazing voice singing "How Lucky can you get?" from the musical Funny Lady., 

As I stepped inside,  the singer at the piano looked up,  saw me, and suddenly stopped playing.  For a moment I thought I had inadvertently crashed some sort of private party or event.   The guy at the piano looked me up and down  said " You! Sit down here!!" and pointed to a seat at the piano.

It would be the first of many many nights,  I would sit at that piano  while Kris Francis played, sang, and cracked jokes.    It was the start of a friendship that would forever change my life.    Khris became a dear friend, and more than that a very real and powerful LGBT role model for a young man in his 20's who was terrified of coming out.  

Over the weeks, and months that followed  that first night sitting at the piano, Kris would make me laugh, always make me sing, and more than anything else, he made me brave.    When I finally did come out to my family the first person I told afterwards was Khris. His reaction was true to form;  "About f*ckin time kid...".  Then he gave me one of his enormous hugs.

People often refer to Khris's act as "tease comedy".  I always felt that was a misnomer.  As a member of the audience at one of his shows,  you were part of the show.    People who knew him soon realised to be singled out and "teased" by Khris was in fact,  a tremendous compliment.   You were not so much the butt of the joke as you were IN on the joke.   His barbs and zingers always came with a wink and smile.     His musical repertoire was pretty standard.  He'd start in the 50's move through the 60's and 70's then touch briefly on the 80's.  His progression would stop there because has he so aptly put it; "I have taste."

We would keep in touch after I moved away from Chicago,  When I first lived in  San Francisco,  we would make time to see each other whenever he was back home in Hollister.   When I moved to London, I tried in vain many times to get him to come visit. But his work schedule in Maine and on Cape Cod along with caring for his Dad back in CA made it impossible to find the time,

He always make it a point to reach out and check in  and ask  how I was doing, and always to  swap gossip about our mutual friends and share his latest jokes.    But more than anything,   he was always there for me as a friend and a sounding board.    A few weeks ago he suffered a bad fall and injured his spine. leaving him half -paralyzed, developing  sepsis and pneumonia. Yet even then,  he still wanted to make us all  laugh, and remind us to look after each other.

His condition sadly got worse,  When I visited him in the hospital last Saturday he seemed like he was trying to say goodbye,  and I wouldn't hear of it... I still don't want to believe it.   Yet the truth is my friend Khris is gone.   Passing away yesterday morning..

I will miss  him  every day. The world is a darker, sadder place without him.

Measuring Donald Trump Against the Scout Law...

Recently I found myself in a back and forth on Facebook with a dear friend and Scouting colleague who expressed dismay at my criticisms of President Trump accusing  me of  hating  the President, and cited the Scout Oath and Law as partial reasons for his support of Donald Trump.

He went on to say that  President Trump has given most of his  salary as President to charity, and  insisted that that Trump  just wants to protect our freedom, jobs, safety and borders  ,My friend closed his comment with the assertion that he was an "independent" politically,   and while he didn't like everything about Trump,  he was mostly tired of what he saw as the moral failings of the Democrats.

Recently I made a visit back the  BSA Summer Camp I attended when I was a boy.  Lining the road into camp were 12 carved wooden signs. Each with a point of the Scout Law on them.   Years later I staffed a summer camp in Western Massachusetts  where the steps leading up  to the camp's dining hall each had one of the points of the Scout Law engraved on them.

The use of the Scout Oath and Law as a political metric  or compass  is something that deeply resonates with many of us for whom Scouting has been an integral and formantive part of our lives.   I certainly have gone back to those twelve points many times in my life, for guidance. And always when I step into the Voting booth. So, in response to my friend I decided to assess the 45th President of the United States against  those familiar twelve points.

• TRUSTWORTHY. - Donald Trump is a pathological liar. He has no concept of the truth. He will say ANY thing if it supports his position or will make him look/ feel good.

• LOYAL– Donald Trump is loyal only to himself, certainly not to any of his 3 wives, not to his employees and not to the United States. Ask Jeff Sessions, or even better, ask Rex Tillerson how loyal Trump is.

• HELPFUL - Trump has gutted education programs like head start, Pre-k , Pell Grants all designed to help Americans learn , grow and achieve. He has made the LEGAL immigration process as difficult as possible as a political tool to stoke a racist voter base. Creating obstacles to both Americans and would-be Americans for no other reason than it plays well with less than 30% of the electorate.

• FRIENDLY- Trump is a vulgar clown who trades in obscenities and insults. Juvenile nicknames, crude and even bigoted insults that would get most any Scout kicked out of camp is daily fare on the Presidential Twitter feed.

• COURTEOUS - Trump literally shoved other world leaders out of the way so he could be in front at a photo call.

• KIND – Trump has ripped children from their families (Lied about it being an Obama policy) then housed them in cages and sought to deliberately punish asylum seekers. He has made cruelty official US Government policy

• OBEDIENT – The Hatch Act, the US Government records Act, Federal Election campaign finance laws, The Freedom of Information Act all routinely violated. In addition to multiple cases of alleged obstruction of justice.

• CHEERFUL - Cheer is something Trump engages in at the expense of others, be it a disabled reporter, or women of color serving in congress or disaster victims in Puerto Rico. For Trump ridicule of others is a staple.

• THRIFTY - He has exploded the national debt and the US budget deficit. With unpaid for tax cuts, and reckless spending on his own vanity. (The 4th of july "event" and his "Wall" to name just two.) He has spent more taxpayer money on GOLF trips in 2 years than the Obama Administration spent on ALL Presidential travel in 8 years.

• BRAVE – Cadet Bone Spurs lied to avoid service in Vietnam then mocked men who did serve. He is a coward.

• CLEAN – Trump may be a germaphobe but apparently that is not a deterrent against grabbing women by the pussy. He has been credibly accused by 19 women of sexual assault.

• REVERENT - Trump’s God is himself, He is a serial adulterer, who has multiple credible accusations of having paid for women to get abortions. He has stolen, he covets, he lies, so if the ten commandments are one of your political metrics? Then supporting Trump suggests either hypocrisy on a biblical scale, or total ignorance of what the scriptures actually say. 

It is not hatred of Donald Trump, Rather, it is horror at what he is doing and how he is doing it. You cannot still support Trump and use “I am an independent and I hate both parties” as an excuse. It’s like people in Kentucky who cheer the gutting of environmental laws because they have bought into the idea that letting an Aluminum factory ( a Russian financed Aluminum factory , but that is a whole other issue…) dump lead into their drinking water, is somehow “owning the Libs” When in reality it is just poisoning their kids     

If we use the Scout Law as our metric, the case is only too clear.    To support this President,is to be a willing participant in enabling  the worst in all of us,  The ungodly, the treasonous and the horrific, all because the imperfect annoys you. 

That isn't being an independent, It is being an enabler of all that stands in direct conflict with the values Scouting represents.

Wisconsin's Republican Rainbow Riot.

Meanwhile back in Wisconsin... (From the Associated Press) -

MADISON, Wis. — Flying a gay pride rainbow flag over the Wisconsin state Capitol for the first time Friday drew backlash from conservatives, including a pair of state lawmakers, who said it was divisive, while Democrats hailed it as a sign of inclusivity.

The flag flap erupted after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers ordered the raising of the flag to recognize June as “Pride Month.” The move drew a fast rebuke from state Rep. Scott Allen, who tweeted, “Is this any more appropriate than erecting the Christian flag over the Capitol?”

Allen, who describes himself on Twitter as “Child of God/Family Man,” said in a follow-up message to the Associated Press that the rainbow flag “advocates a behavior or lifestyle that some Wisconsin residents may not condone. Therefore, it is divisive.”

Really?   So the Nativity Scene in the WI Capitol Rotunda EVERY year , next to the massive Christmas Tree covered with CROSS shaped ornaments is what....? Just one more sign of just how "oppressed" the poor triggered members of Wisconsin Family Action, are?

It’s always interesting that “Conservative Christians” claim any form of recognition of the basic civil rights and human dignity of LGBT people is somehow “an attack” on them. But since none of the civil rights or societal benefits that these people enjoy are impacted by a Rainbow flag flying over a building; What opponents of equality are really saying is that giving LGBT Americans the same level of civic respect that they enjoy makes them mad.

It's not just that these people are upset that LGBT Americans have equal rights, they are upset that gays and lesbians have any rights at all. They see equal rights for anyone they don’t like as an attack on them. 

For years now , whenever the subject of LGBT equality comes up as part of our national discourse, We here these claims that it is“Divisive” and it is an "attack" on “religious liberty” So I decided to look up the word `attack' in the dictionary. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines it as: 

Attack Pronunciation: &-'tak Function: verb 

1 : to set upon or work against forcefully 

2 : to assail with unfriendly or bitter words 

3 : to begin to affect or to act on injuriously 

4 : to set to work on 

5 : to threaten (a piece in chess) with immediate capture 

Hmmm… to set upon or work against forcefully huh? Ok, so if we take this argument seriously, for LGBT Americans to have EQUAL treatment as Irish Americans with the Irish Flag for St, Patrick’s day, or the Nativity Scene, Christmas Tree and Menorah in the Rotunda for the Holidays, or a State proclamation for Black history Month. For LGBT Wisconsinites to be given that SAME level of civic respect means Christians can't  practice their religion?   

Uh.. ok.. How exactly?

Does that rainbow flag mean that Rep. Scott Allen must now fly a rainbow flag over his house? His Church? Does it mean he can now be fired for being not Gay? Does it mean he can be denied Housing, Health Benefits or service from any business because he is a “Child of God/Family Man,” ? Does it mean he will need to limit his travel because other countries  will pass laws that say as a Heterosexual he is considered a threat to the state? Does that Rainbow Flag flying over the Capitol for 26 days mean that the life of Allen, or anyone like him has changed in any way? 

No of course not. 

The pride flag bothers Rep. Allen because a group he doesn’t like is being shown the SAME level of respect that he demands. Well, it turns out there is a word for someone who is irrationally fixed on the artificial preservation of inequality that they feel is in their favor. Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines it as:

Bigot:
Pronunciation- 'bi-g&t Function: noun 

Etymology: Middle French, hypocrite, bigot

1: a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices .

How to Protest Trump's UK Visit

To my friends in the UK,

If you plan on protesting the Trump visit there next week. Here are your ultimate protest signs

 Forget the Baby Trump balloon. What we learned this week is THIS is Trump's Kryptonite. His ego is so fragile it can't take ANY reminder of just what a failure as President he is.

He is SO insecure about being compared to better, smarter Americans, that should he catch even a brief glimpse of these images, it will drive him totally off the rails. So trigger the Man-Baby and watch him implode

You want to reduce Donald Trump to a quivering incoherent mass of rage tweets? Simply print out these out and blow them up, and wave them at his motorcade at every opportunity

Memorial Day Voices...

I have posted the speeches below  because it it worth noting that today is a day that (should) transcend politics,

That being said. Memorial Day is one of those moments when the President of the United States must speak, for, to, and about our nation. Giving voice to the legacy of sacrifice, to which we all owe an unpayable debt for the freedoms we enjoy.

President Reagan - Memorial Day 1986 

at Arlington National Cemetery

President George HW Bush's Remarks - Memorial Day, 1989

at the American Military Cemetery in Anzio, Italy.

President Bill Clinton's remarks - Memorial Day, 2000

at Arlington National Cemetery

 

President George W. Bush's remarks - Memorial Day, 2002

at Arlington National Cemetery

  

President Barack Obama's remarks - Memorial Day, 2016

at Arlington National Cemetery

And today, Memorial Day, 2019.  When the 45th POTUS stood  before our Military Men and Women, and addressed them along with the rest of our nation and the world .... THIS is what we got,

President Donald Trump's remarks - Memorial Day, 2019

onboard the USS Wasp, docked in Japan.

 

I lament the loss of that "Presidential Voice".  The truth of this day is far too great to be reduced to a tweet or a glib panto performance.  What we saw today from the current occupant of the Oval Office  was not Presidential.  It was just plain embarrassing.  

Seeing the damage that has been done...

For the past few days, I have been in Washington DC on a business trip. Thankfully my meetings ended early enough in the afternoon to give me some time to once again, play tourist and explore the Nation’s Capital. While here I also had the opportunity to attend the National Police Unity candlelight vigil for Law Enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty last year.

I remember the first time I came here.  It was when I was in grade school, when my family took a trip during Spring Break. My second time was a few years later to participate in the “Kids to Kids” International Satellite demonstration as part of the American Council for Better Broadcasts annual conference. Aside from two other brief visits to attend the 1989 and 2000 Inaugurals I have not been back  until this past weekend.

For someone who has spent a good part of my adult life as an expat living outside the United States, visiting Washington DC is always in interesting experience. The City always had a certain majesty to it. A palpable sense of history and American exceptionalism. Embodied in granite and marble. A story told in museum exhibits, and  by grand statues and fountains at intersections.    It is a city that was designed to convey American Greatness, to inspire and humble foreign visitors and place the machinery of government in a stately setting, apart from the politics of any one particular state.

There was some of that, this trip. The candlelight vigil for fallen law enforcement officers and their surviving families was a powerful moment and one that made you feel grateful for the heroic men and women who stand on that “thin blue line” to serve and project us all.  It was  a humbling experience to stand there among the crowd of  Law Enforcement offers, their families and friends as the names of the fallen from each state were read aloud.   A sobering reminder that the men and women who have made protecting public safety their professional calling, often pay the ultimate price.

I made it a point to visit four things while  here. The first was for the Star Trek fan in me. The original  model of the Starship Enterprise from the first Star Trek TV series.  It has been  restored and is now back on  display in  the National Air and Space Museum. The first time I saw the model, it was hanging in a forgotten corner of the Museum’s gift shop. Now it stands proudly near John Glen’s Mercury capsule and Lindbergh’s “Spirit of St. Louis”.

After satisfying the SciFi geek in me, I made a more serious pilgrimage to the Lincoln Memorial, the National World War II and Korean War Memorials. The WWII Memorial is , I think after the Lincoln Memorial, the most impressive on the National Mall. With it’s two opposing towers commemorating both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of that war it is a fitting tribute to the generation that truly did save the world from fascism and tyranny.

The Korean War Memorial is located near the Lincoln Memorial  and  was dedicated  in 1995.  With its ghostly figures moving through the brush,  it is especially powerful when you see it just after dusk when the memorial's lights first turn on. It is a powerful and moving tribute to what is often known as the “forgotten war”.  The memorial commemorates the sacrifices of the 5.8 million Americans who served in the U.S. armed services during the three-year period of the Korean War.

I don’t care who you are, or what your politics are, but if you visit the Lincoln Memorial and are not deeply moved by the experience,  there is something wrong with you .  With it's walls inscribed with both the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln's second inaugural address, the interior of the memorial reads like a  marble storybook of the greatest challenge our nation has ever faced, and the tall quiet man from Illinois who truly gave his full last measure of devotion to preserve that nation.

Off to the right side when you enter the memorial itself,  there is a small gift shop with your standard collection of refrigerator magnets, postcards, and Abe Lincoln bobble-head dolls. After paying my respects to the memory of our 16th President I went into the little shop to see what they had.

It being May there were groups of middle school students from all over the country visiting the city. Everywhere I went I would see them in their matching t-shirts and lanyards being shepherded by tired and harried teachers constantly checking to see they hadn’t left anyone behind at their last stop.

There was a group from Texas at the memorial and the shop was full of young students jostling to get souvenirs . A group of girls were excitedly talking to each other alternating between speaking Spanish and English.

One girl turned to a friend and suggested she get a souvenir magnet that had the likeness of Lincoln over an American Flag.  Her friend examined the magnet then said “why would I want that? Her friend replied that Lincoln was a “famous President of our country”. 

Her friend then audibly scoffed and said “We speak Spanish, our country  wants to get rid of us, so why should I care about America or a President, when the one we have now hates Latinos?” 

I stood there speechless from what I had just heard this eighth grader from Houston TX say.  One of her Teachers standing near by looked at me sympathetically and shrugged. Then ushered the group out of the shop and back down the steps towards their bus.

I followed them out, pausing before the massive statue of Lincoln. Half expecting it to stand up out of the chair, chase after that young girl and tell her that America is better than the racism of one man or his followers. I wanted to bring her back inside to where the Gettysburg Address is carved in stone and read it to her,  

I wanted to tell her how the man memorialized here  felt that she was as much a part of the fabric of this nation as anyone.  How he had given  all he had,  that full last measure of his devotion to the idea that America was has much hers as it was anyone's

I wanted to take her to the spot only a few feet away, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood as he spoke of his dream of an America where a child like her is judged not by the color of her skin but by the content of her character.  But she and her friends were gone. Moving away into the early evening,  their voices a mixture of Spanish and English fading into the background.  I walked over to the MLK inscription and paused for a moment. I then moved to the side and sat down on the smooth white marble steps,  looking out at the National Mall with the Washington Monument off in the distance.  

As I sat there I couldn’t help but think about what the last two years have cost us as a Nation. I felt utterly defeated, knowing that there was nothing I could have said to that young girl that could have possibly countered the messages of racism xenophobia and hatred she hears on a regular basis coming from the President of the United States. 

 

The American Presidency is first and foremost about stewardship. You are the caretaker of  American greatness, NOT the owner of  it.  It is not a mantle you can claim,  it is duty you fulfil. Even the smallest of men who have held that office felt the need to rise above their own failings to meet the expectation.that the office is greater than its occupant. 

You are the steward of something far greater than yourself. Something too big ever be reduced to a glib slogan on a cheap red had made in China. The Presidency is about making the promise of America,   “E Pluribus Unum” out of many, one, real for as many of our citizens as possible.

We have had weak Presidents. We have had fearful Presidents, We have had Presidents who lacked intelligence, saw compassion as weakness, and who didn’t understanding their duty and even disregarded the truth.   But never before have all those human flaws congregated in one man who then became President. That is until now. 

Donald Trump sees the Presidency as a show. It is all about him. He will never see the need to serve something greater than himself, because in his mind there is nothing greater than himself. 

Washington DC is the ultimate “company town”. The machinery of government is the only real constant in this city.  Many here have taken comfort in knowing that like so many others that came before him. Donald Trump will one day be gone, and things will then get back to normal.

 But even that has been damaged by Trump.  His temper tantrum shutdown of the Federal Government earlier this year  took a heavy toll on people here, and you get the impression that this city has not yet fully recovered.  As I  walk the streets I get a sense of loss for some of the majesty that so awed and inspired me years go. Instead, it feels like just another city, trying to get through the day. 

Donald Trump has made being President all about him, at expense of nearly everything else the Office is meant to represent.   At the expense of truth,  at the expense of America's credibility on the world stage and  worst of all,  at the expense of an eighth grader from Houston Texas' faith in the idea that the President of her country is there to work to help make her dreams possible.  

 Donald Trump has  inflicted such damage on the American Presidency and to  the very things that office is sworn to preserve and protect, that it may well take an entire generation to repair it. 

I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together...

The world is a much sadder place today...

From NBC News :

Tim Conway, who made generations of Americans laugh on TV shows such as "McHale's Navy" and "The Carol Burnett Show," died Tuesday morning, his publicist said.

Conway won multiple Emmy Awards, most recently in 2008 for his role as a guest star on the comedy show "30 Rock" in which he played Bucky Bright, an old, long-forgotten television star.

The actor's big break in Hollywood came on "McHale's Navy," when Conway was cast to play Ensign Charles Parker. He was nominated for a best supporting actor Emmy in 1963.

But he'll probably be best known for his work on "Carol Burnett," the iconic 1970s sketch comedy show that included the likes of Burnett, Conway, Harvey Korman, Lyle Waggoner and Vicki Lawrence. Conway won Emmys for best supporting performer in 1973, 1977 and 1978 for his "Burnett" work.
He stole many a scene on "Burnett," with cameras often catching Burnett and Korman struggling — and usually failing — to keep straight faces after something Conway had said or done something hilarious.

"I’m heartbroken," Burnett said in a statement Tuesday, shortly after Conway's passing.

"He was one in a million, not only as a brilliant comedian but as a loving human being. I cherish the times we had together both on the screen and off. He’ll be in my heart forever.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I grew up watching Conway on the Carol Burnett show. Now even years later it doesn't matter how many times I have seen this, it has me on the floor doubled over in laughter.

Tim Conway was 85.

The issue is NOT a new one...

At the National Press Club in 1954 talking about the need for affordable quality health care for all Americans.

Who defines being "0ut"?

Last night, we saw history made on  national television.   A  credible candidate for the Presidential nomination of one of our major political parties  was asked a question we have never seen asked before,

Sitting across from MSNBC's  Rachel Maddow, (herself an out LGBT public figure.)  South Bend, Indiana Mayor, and newly declared Presidential candidate Pete Buttigeig was basically asked, why hadn't he told everybody he was gay earlier in life than he did. 

Before I get into the underlying issues  this exchange raises.  let me first say,  the question itself was not out of line,and certainly not out of line coming from Maddow.  This was going to come up sooner or later.  Clearly  Mayor Pete knew that,  and gave an incredibly thoughtful and genuine response,

I think had he been  on Meet the Press, or  Washington Week,  or even any of the other shows on liberal-friendly MSNBC,  this question would have been far more difficult to ask.   So major kudos to Rachel Maddow for asking it, and for prefacing it with some of her own coming out story.

That being said...   I will confess I still came away from watching it feeling .... annoyed.   Not with Pete Buttigieg  or with Rachel Maddow  as such.    But  with the context  that says this question had to be asked in the first place.  It smacked of the  questions  Barack Obama faced in 2007  about being Black or  "Mixed Race".     Despite Maddow's own preface and caveats, I  felt  there was an implied criticism  in her question. That by not coming out sooner Pete Buttigeig was not as "authentically gay" as Maddow.     

Rachel Maddow is  a few years younger than me.   She grew up in Northern California,, graduated from Castro Valley High School in Alameda County in the SF Bay area.  She did her undergraduate studies at  Stanford University in Palo Alto,  then (as she reveals in the interview) was the first openly Gay American Rhodes Scholar  at  Oxford University the UK.   All of  those environments have a very different relationship to the LGBT experience than the US Military or the State of Indiana

I am NOT saying that I think Maddow's journey to self acceptance as a Lesbian was less challenging as Buttigeig's as Gay man, and  I am in no way claiming any insights into Maddow's personal experience on that journey.

But, the reality is  Maddow's coming out journey took place in an environment where that process frankly is easier.  Meaning it was logistically easier to come out in Northern CA in 2005  than in central Indiana, even a decade later.

 "So why didn't you come out sooner?" , is a question many Gays and Lesbisans get asked.   I have been asked this question many times,  by well meaning  friends, and family.   The sentiment behind the question is one of love, and at times a bit of guilt..  They see how the experience of being in the closet  is such a difficult one, and worry that they somehow may have contributed to that pain,   Part of the coming out process is educating those closest to us,  that  it really had very little to do with them.  

Coming out is not just about telling your family that you are Gay, it is about first  telling  YOURSELF that you are.   That moment in front of a mirror in Sun Prairie, WI when I looked  my own reflection in the eye  and admitted  that  the prevailing social, cultural and yes,  religious expectations for the trajectory of life  were not going to pan out for me, was both liberating, and terrifying.

It would be nearly 15 years before  I would have that conversation with my own friends and  family.   And  part of that conversation was letting them know that it was never about them. 

This is a debate which has raged with in the LGBT community  for ....well  forever.    Who gets to decide what being  "out" means?  Who gets to judge when someone should come out?    Younger friends of mine who are in the midsts of the coming out process  have asked for advice. I always tell them  that  being "out" first and foremost is NOT about who you tell.  It's always first, and foremost about  how you feel. 

There is a tendency to think that a change in laws or policy is a silver bullet. It isn't.   A changed policy doesn't mean unversially changed attitudes  I have seen close up how the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"  did not suddenly make serving in the military as openly LGBT  easy or safe, or  how Anti discrimination laws didn't suddenly make being Out at work risk free.  Even if it had,   as much as I understand the question from an intellectual stand point,  my emotional reaction  was  that, coming out remains an intensely personal journey, the timing of which,  no one, not even Maddow, the "first openly Gay Rhodes Scholar"  should get to question.

Coming out for Buttigeig while in the US Navy, or even in Indiana  in 2015 was a far different proposition than for Maddow in the SF Bay Area, and Oxford in 2005. Her question, seemed to ignore that fact.

The implication  that if you are not  "Out and Loud"  before the age of 30 you are somehow doing a disservice to  the "LGBT Community" is  as dangerous and unfair an implication  as saying Barack Obama was not as connected to  the concerns of  the African American community  because he was of mixed race and grew up in Hawaii  and not some mainland inner city.

I know  that is NOT what  Rachel Maddow was implying,  and by asking the question first,  she has even done Pete Buttigeig a real favor,  pre-empting  it as a line of attack from those who will seek to make his sexual orientation the defining issue of his candidacy   Still  it's hard  not to come away from  watching that interview feeling  that the implication was there in subtext. 

There is a real tendency in Democratic Presidential primary politics to turn the process into a giant circular firing squad of  litmus tests.   Be it Kennedy's  Catholicism as a religious litmus test, Obama's relationship with his  former Pastor as a racial litmus test, or even Hillary Clinton's marriage as a feminist litmus test.    

I don't claim to speak for any constituency or group,   I am just sharing my feelings and impressions as someone who also has made this same, very  personal journey of self- acceptance.  Consequently,  I long for the day when  the process of choosing the next President of the United States is mainly about ideas  rather than identity politics.

To my friends who support Donald Trump…

What the ungodly F*CK is wrong with you!?! Seriously! I would really like to know.

I am not talking about Russia, I am not talking about the missing millions of dollars from the Trump inaugural fund, I am not talking about Wikileaks, I am not talking about Jared’s business ties to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. 

I am not talking about Ivanka’s Chinese Patents, or Don Jr’s ties to private prison companies.I am not talking about Paul Manafort and Ukraine, I am not talking about Trump Tower Panama, or Trump Tower Moscow, the Trump Hotel DC, or 666 Park Avenue.  I am not talking about Marina Butina and the NRA. I am not talking about Stormy Daniels, or Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova.

I am not talking about Mike Flynn and Turkey, I am not talking about the Trump Foundation or Trump University.  I am not talking about Rick Gates, Michael Cohen, George Papadopoulos or Roger Stone.  I am not talking about Tom Price, Scott Pruit, Wilbur Ross, Steve Mnuchin, Brock Long, David Shulkin or any of the other officials who have been forced to resign due to the myriad of scandals plaguing them and the rest of this Administration. 

I am not talking about the Mueller Report, the Barr Report or even whatever the latest gaslighting the President has spewed forth on Twitter today.  I am not talking about any of that. As awful as all that is, your support of the Donald Trump in that context just made me question your common sense, not doubt your fundamental human decency.

That is, until now.

As Donald Trump takes his victory lap claiming the (yet unseen) Mueller Report totally exonerates him of ….well, everything he has ever done in his life. What has he decided to focus on first? His promise of a Trillion dollar infrastructure plan? Nope.   Is he focused on his  promises to reform the criminal justice system? The Immigration System? The Postal System? Nope, no and not even close.

Donald Trump has decided to once again, try to take health insurance away from 29 Million Americans. (Forbes reports:)

In a brief filed late Monday, the Trump administration said through its Justice Department attorneys that it supported a recent U.S. District Court ruling that invalidates the entire ACA, also known as Obamacare. The law this past weekend celebrated its ninth anniversary of being signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010.

The case, which legal experts believe will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, could result in health coverage being stripped from more than 20 million people who have subsidized individual health benefits from private insurers and Medicaid benefits in more than 30 states under the ACA.



A study by the Economic Policy Institute found that across the country, 29.8 million people would lose their health insurance if the Affordable Care Act were repealed—more than doubling the number of people without health insurance. And 1.2 million jobs would be lost—not just in health care but across the board.   Let’s not even focus on the job losses, as odd as that sounds. Let’s just take that number of uninsured in the United States more than doubling. If you support this President, if you support this Administration, here is what you are saying you believe, and want. 

• If you have a pre-existing health condition, you can be denied health insurance. No matter what the condition is.
• Medicare should be cut and the payroll contributions you have made to it throughout your working life can and should be used to pay for tax cuts for the top 1% of earners and for Corporations.
• You believe Health Care is a commodity, and if you can’t afford it you should not get it. You believe in the United States in the 21rst Century, dying because you can’t afford health care is acceptable. 

Spout all the fake talking points you want about how “government run health care” is a total disaster, but the facts on the ground in 32 other industrialized nations prove you wrong. Here are some basic facts for you; Health Care is not like cars, or like consumer electronics. To claim that deregulation and competition will lower costs and increase access is a wonderful Fox News talking point but is completely false.

But hey, I’ll play along. To say you believe in a totally market driven health care sector is a valid position. But then be honest about what that means. The two core drivers in any market economy are what? Supply and Demand, right? When supply outpaces demand prices fall, when demand outpaces supply prices rise. That’s Capitalism 101.

So when you have a sector of your economy that is a basic human necessity where the demand will always, always, always far outplace supply. No amount of deregulation or competition will ever lower costs. There will always be more sick people than doctors and nurses. There will always be more need for hospitals and medicines than capacity. Left to “the market” prices and costs will never, ever decrease. That is why nearly every other industrialized nation on the planet has some form of universal health coverage for their people.

 So the only way a for profit model can make money is to deny care.  (or "manage utilization" as the for profit insurance companies call it).   So the question you don't want  to answer is this:  How many American deaths are acceptable to support your economic philosophy?   Because that is what you are advocating.

You are saying that in the United States  death by poverty is a natural cause.

The Kaiser Health Foundation did  a comprehensive study on Health and Health Care disparity in the United States.before the Affordable Care Act was in place.  They found  that disparity in access to health care, and the resulting impact that had on the health of various populations in the U.S. was a direct contributing factor in the deaths of over 87,000 Americans a year. 

Let me repeat that, because it is worth repeating. Not being able to afford Health Care, kills more Americans a year than all the terrorist attacks in history. It killed more Americans from 2000- 2001 than if there had been a 9-11 scale attack every week. 

THIS is what Donald Trump wants to return to, and if you are supporting, him, you are supporting this as well. It is an unconscionable, and deliberately cruel act by a small petty stupid man, because he is obsessed with jealousy and insecurity over his predecessor.  There is no “replace” in his repeal and replace.    This is all about Trump needing to defeat Barack Obama for whatever perceived slights his fragile ego and unstable mind can’t get past.

 He will get his vengeance, even if it kills thousands of Americans. 

If you support Donald Trump it gives me cause to doubt your basic humanity. It is not a policy disagreement. It is a clear case of good versus evil. To stand with Trump on this, is to stand with evil, and I am done with it, and with you.

Understanding the Brexit Debate....

Allow me to explain what's going on. Imagine this....

You along with all your friends and family decide to take a road trip.to the beach. Some folks including you, think you should use GPS to find the best way to go. Your friend NIgel says he has made a "magic map" that if you follow it will get you there faster, cheaper, and safer as you won't have to share the road with drivers you don't like. 

Now you think following a map your friend just made up, and that nobody else has ever used before, is a bad idea.  Your buddy Dave and his friends  however are sick of Nigel getting all attention so he gets an idea how how to steal the limelight and  says "Let's all vote on what we'll do!"

So you ask everyone in the car to vote. But the Majority of people in car are either asleep or looking out the window because they think whole idea of the  magic map is stupid,  and can't imagine anyone else taking it seriously either. So they ignore all of you and don't vote.

Out of the people in the car who did vote, 51% say give the magic map a try. Suddenly Your friend Dave remembers he gets carsick on long trips so he jumps out. leaving his girlfriend Theresa to take over following the magic map.

(Now Theresa has never driven a car before but says she has seen it done and truly believes in the Map now that she is driving, despite having voted against using it.)

You start on your trip but as you go, you notice LOT of things are NOT on the map. Large parts of the road are full of obstructions that have to be cleared, and  lots of other things on the map don't actually exist! Finally folks who were asleep in the back seat,  wake up and examine  the map and discover that it doesn't lead to the beach but takes you right over a massive cliff. 

So they and you,  start to demand that Theresa either turn off this road, stop the car, or at least slow down so everyone has time to figure out how to avoid going over the cliff!

Theresa's response is she can't do that because that would make the people who voted for the magic map feel bad. and "Map means Map!" not GPS, or Map plus GPS, and certainly not stopping to ask for directions! Theresa  adds that the majority of people who voted clearly said they wanted to follow the magic map. So that's what she is going to do.

You try to gently remind Theresa that the majority of people in the car didn't actually  vote, let alone vote to use the magic map.   Theresa says that doesn't matter, and to let the majority vote now would make those who did vote before, lose their faith in voting. So If that means driving off a cliff? So be it!

You keep hoping your friend Jeremy who is the designated back-up driver will say something.  But  turns out he is still asleep, and shows no interest in waking up.   Then Nigel and his friends start saying  that going over the cliff isn't a bad thing! In fact, even though it might severely injure us all in the short term,  the crash probably won't kill us,  and after healing from the injuries,  we will all be stronger and will enjoy the holiday even more. 

That is the insanity of the Brexit debate. Millions of people telling the driver she needs to stop speeding towards a cliff, While the driver and the idiots riding shotgun with her, are more worried about having to admit the magic map was a total lie to begin with .

The Sheer Exhaustion of Living with Trump.

I don’t know about the rest of you , but I’m tired. Really tired.

Every day the new insanity is crazier than the insanity the day before. There is no time to be shocked by what the Trump Administration is doing because the next shocking thing comes flying out moments after the previous thing.

Which is  the point. Donald Trump is many things. dishonest, corrupt, incredibly greedy, epically insecure, racist and  the most  emotionally unintelligent person to occupy the White House since Andrew Johnson. 

 But he is not, as many people have said, stupid. He is, when it comes to his own self preservation and enrichment, remarkably clever.  So it should come as a shock to …well,, nobody that Trump’s go-to maneuver comes right out of the playbook of Adolph Hitler’s own master spin doctor; 

 “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” - Joseph Goebbels

That is Trumpism in a nutshell. When faced with facts, gaslight your opponents and as loudly as you can, accuse them of what you actually did or are doing. “Hillary colluded with Russia!” “CNN Is Fake News!” “The Democrats are racist!”. The list has gotten painfully long. Most Americans have just stopped paying all that much attention and are just hoping Bob Mueller comes out with enough to arrest Trump for …. Something. 

Political and media pundits love to pontificate on the  constant state of “Oh God! What NOW???” that most of us are in with Trump by looking earnestly at the camera and asking, “Is this the new normal?” The answer to that,  sadly is  both Yes and No. 

Yes, this is the world we are living in now, and no, it is anything but normal. There have been a number of notable casualties in this war on reason and facts that Trump and his enablers have waged for the last two plus years. But the single greatest loss in this war on sanity. waged by Donald  Trump, may well be the Republican Party itself..

There was a time when the GOP wasn't a big bucket of crazy, it was the party that stood for individual freedom as well as individual and collective responsibility. So what happened? Simple, the Republican Party lost its mind, and sold its soul to Donald Trump. In exchange for tax cuts the GOP jumped on the crazy train, and in order to justify it, truth, had to became negotiable.

Abraham Lincoln led a GOP that sought to free the oppressed, unite the nation, and punish war profiteers. We now have a GOP that still seeks to ignore real threats to,  and attacks on our democracy.  Where we ignore or worse yet, enable human rights abuses in other countries because our family and  friends have business deals there.

Dwight Eisenhower led a GOP where war was always a last resort, and an unchecked military industrial complex is a threat to democracy. Now we have the very real possibility  the GOP will support a war in Venezuela for nor other reason than to help Trump change the news cycle,  and get stories about his relationship with Russia off the front page,

Even Richard Nixon understood we live in a world of interconnected global relationships. Constructive engagement and détente' is always more successful than direct conflict. We now have a GOP that believes  in "Trump First,  America Second"  or even third...  if we are lucky.  Where  America's intelligence agencies are attacked because  facts don't support Trump's  talking points.  Where  the Presidential Daily Intelligence brief is tossed aside in favor of the "good word" of  Vladimir Putin.

Gerald Ford led a GOP where duty and the interests of the nation were more important than polls or elections. Where accepting responsibility for the actions you take in office is a president's first obligation. No matter the personal political costs.  We now have a  GOP unable to even admit mistakes, let alone learn from them, where  defending  American interests in secondary to defending the interests and ego of Donald Trump.

George H.W. Bush once urged the nation to see; "In crucial things, unity, in important things diversity, and in all things generosity". The Republican Party of Donald  Trump has as a GOAL, to divide Americans more than at  anytime since the civil war.

Here is the reality of Donald Trump, he will say anything, that he thinks will sound good to his base. And he will do anything to protect himself, even at the expense of our national security  There is no thought process beyond “Is this good for Me?” . He gives no thought as to would it be a wise thing, or an appropriate thing, or even a potentially dangerous thing to do. Donald Trump's train of thought never makes it that far down the track.

We are now in a time when there is no point in asking if this latest episode of the Trump un-reality show will be too much for the Republican Party to bear. It's not. The fact is the GOP has decided that this is who they are, and the real tragedy is, they are right. This really IS who they are, and what they have become.

I'll say it again, Donald Trump is not stupid, he just can't be bothered care about anyone or anything but himself and his immediate interests. What Donald Trump is , is a fool. Like most fools, he will do and say foolish, reckless, even dangerous and profoundly stupid things, with no thought to any potential consequences; simply for the short term gratification of it.   Like most fools, he will make mind-bogglingly bad decisions, without a moment's hesitation, if those bad choices feed his ego. If anything bad does happen as a result, he will deny, lie, accuse and contort himself incoherently in his attempt to blame anyone  but himself.

Now, with the revelations by former Acting FBI Director, Andrew McCabe we see the final death throes of the Republican Party . In briefing to the senior congressional leadership, (known as the Gang of Eight) It was made painfully clear that Donald Trump was a compromised asset of the Russian Government.  

Yet for Mitch McConnell and the rest of the GOP, Tax Cuts for the top 1% and gutted government regulations are clearly more important than America’s National Security.

There are news reports that the investigations by Special Counsel Robert Mueller are about to come to a close. One can only hope that this will also bring an end to this long national nightmare of Donald Trump.   I know I hope so. 

Because frankly? I don’t know about you , but I’m really tired of it all.