EPIPHANY OF THE DAY

 IMMUNITY

There was a fellow on our Navy ship, a two-year seaman apprentice which meant that he didn’t meet some standard for full enlistment. This shipmate was, as they say in LA, “a bit limited.” It may have been autism for, at any moment, in any situation, in any context, he would say whatever the voices in his head suggested.

Bigotry determined most of his utterances, whether alone, in the presence of white shipmates, a mixed crowd, or a crowd of African American shipmates, known as “brothers” in those days. Odd thing was: he never suffered for his utterances. No matter what bigotry emerged from him, shipmates ignored him. It was like he lived in a separate universe, one free of ordinary judgement.

For nearly two years, he lived free from serious punishment that would have resulted in severe repercussions if done by any other person. These were tense times, racially, in the military following the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. Racial epithets did not enjoy a great deal of tolerance.

But with this shipmate, even his supervisors would say, "It's only [him]."

The closest person I have seen to him since is Donald Trump.

That is why I predict he will emerge as “the victor” in the upcoming debate.

EPIPHANY OF THE DAY

 COACHES

 Thinking about football coaches. Never sell one short.

Some years ago, I was sitting in the lobby of a real estate office in a mid-sized Arkansas town waiting to see the owner about his current development plans. A man entered and walked through the lobby and the sight shocked me. Later I told the owner, “That man looked like our old football coach Marcus Kaufman.”

“Yep.”

“Really?”

“Our top salesperson.”

“He was our football coach and math teacher for years.”

“Sells real estate now. And does he ever."

It was true that he had been a coach. Legendary ain’t the word. Rumors abounded. A prevalent one had him flying a fighter plane in WWII. An adjunct rumor had him shot down, an incident that left him with an uncontrollable tick when he got excited. He had two modes: telling you to do it and telling you how you did. He once gave my sister an A+ on her report card and scribbled a note to my parents saying he was sorry it couldn't have been higher. How would you like to carry that on your shoulders through High School?

“Your top salesperson?”

“He is great with young folks. He shows them several houses and when they opt to see another, he stops the car and tells them they have seen enough and they need to pick one so they can get settled in and start their family. Works every time.”

Never sell a teacher short. I think Coach Walz said that.

EPIPHANY OF THE DAY

 DEBATES

There are things about the telecasting, nationally, of so-called presidential "debates" that bother me. Yes, first and foremost is the fact that they aren't debates at all. They don't even resemble the classic confrontations of Lincoln and Douglas. In fact, it is hard to say of what they actually do remind one.

Best analogy I can think of is a verbal confrontation between Hulk Hogan and Jake "the Snake" Roberts.

Then there is the fact that some people simply appear more likeable on TV. Back during the start of modern debates, people hearing "Kennedy v. Nixon" on the radio tended to grant Richard Nixon the nod of success. Those watching on TV picked the young and vibrant John Kennedy over the sweating and unshaven Nixon.

Then there is the lack of discipline imposed by the producers. This is, after all TV. These events are not designed for information, much less for decision-making. They are designed for ratings-making. Producers jump for joy when an unmanageable bully like Donald Trump treads all over the time allotted to a policy-wonk, and female, like Hillary Clinton. "Eye-God, he showed her" or something like that dominated the headlines.

Then there is the fact that the aftermath, the denouement, the score in effect, is managed by the pundits. Say two debaters perform miserably. Reports of that won't sell. Pick one as "the loser" and let the public decide through some form of mental subtraction, that the other was "the winner."

Above all, though, is the issue of expectations. Take the Bush Jr. v Gore debates. All the former had to do was not say "I haven't a clue" and remember who the president of Mexico was, and he achieved Mt. Everest-sized accolades. Oh, and poor Al Gore sniffed more than once. When one has the Supreme Court of the United States in his corner, the achievement of expectations falls in importance.

Now we have an upcoming debate in which the following standards exist. Achieving them all will gain a resounding worldwide claim of victory for one of the contestants:

CONTESTANT ONE:

Outline a clear plan for world peace. Outline a clear plan for establishing an economic system that is equally fair and equitable for all, Outline a clear plan for solutions to nagging problems such as supply-chain delays. Solve a major immigrant problem caused in great part by Americans' penchant for illegal drugs from South America. Reduce grocery prices while on stage. Appear like the kindly neighbor down the street. Convince all under 40 years of age that this is the contestant with whom one would most like to share a beer or two.

CONTESTANT TWO:

Make it to the podium without wetting himself on national TV.

One suspects that the pundits have already written their reviews. 

EPIPHANY OF THE DAY

 POLICIES

Time was when political elections featured well-formulated policy statements, called platforms, from which voters were to choose. For example, look at the 1952 election, a time seemingly proposed as worth returning to by many Americans (of specific race and gender.)

Both political parties spelled out their aims clearly.

The Republican platform pledged to end the unpopular war in Korea, supported the development of nuclear weapons as a deterrence strategy, to fire all "the loafers, incompetents and unnecessary employees" at the State Department, condemned the Roosevelt and Truman administrations' economic policies, supported retention of the Taft–Hartley Act, opposed "discrimination against race, religion or national origin", supported "Federal action toward the elimination of lynching", and pledged to bring an end to communist subversion in the United States.

The Democrats favored a strong national defense, collective security against the Soviet Union, multilateral disarmament, repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act, equal employment opportunities for minorities and public assistance for the aged, children, blind, and the disabled, expansion of the school lunch program, and continued efforts to fight racial discrimination.

Americans chose the Republican candidate, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who claimed victory graciously, over the Democratic candidate Adlai E. Stevenson, who accepted defeat graciously.

Neither vowed to claim fraud or to spur violence over the results.

Voters then went on about their business.

Neither platform sought simply to build raw power at the expense of the common good.

Neither platform described the other party as “garbage.”

Neither platform vowed the use of religion as retribution if enacted.

Neither party employed a professional wrestler as its spokesperson.

Maybe there are some tidbits of the past that could make America an even better country.

EPIPHANY OF THE DAY

 LEADERS

When I started my professional career, I had the opportunity to work for many of the cities in our state. Without fail, the leaders of those cities, not necessarily the elected ones but those holding power, looked like I do today.

Old fat white men.

Yep. And as time passed, I heard a consistent message from younger potential leaders. “Those old men won’t step aside and let us assume leadership positions.” Of course, women and minorities weren’t even part of the conversation. But that’s how the baby boomers felt.

Now the baby boomers are in charge, today even joined by selected females and people of color. Guess what the young folks are saying?

Yep. As a friend pointed out during a lunch yesterday, it’s probably true with each generation.

“They just won’t get out of the way and let us in to lead.”

That’s one—just one—of the magnificent aspects of President Joe Biden’s speech this week. The most powerful man in the world, not the leader of some mid-sized town in Arkansas but the most powerful man in the world, is “getting out of the way.”

One immediately hears the opening of the fourth movement ofBeethoven’s Fifth symphony erupt.

EPIPHANY OF THE DAY

 CHANGE

Events of this week have touched me to and amazing extent. First of all, they demonstrated once again how wrong I could be.

Yes wrong.

I had avowed that the drag on one political party was the thought that a mixed-race Californian as a vice-presidential candidate would be come president sometime before 2029. America wasn’t ready.

Seems I was wrong.

So what happened?

I’m thinking the events caused some sort of cosmic shift in our national psyche. That happens, often negatively. Look at what happened in my part of the country when America elected an African American president. Bigotry didn’t simply emerge as valid political weapon. It exploded like a dormant volcano.

No, this enervated something good and decent in our genetic banks. Maybe America was tired of the sight of two grumpy old men dominating the media and our national psyche.

Sometimes we just want to see the image of what we think America needs. I think it happened to some extent with the emergence of Ronald Reagan as a presidential candidate. After the nightmare of the Nixon debacles, America longed for a kindly old uncle, or at least an actor who could play one.

Too late we discovered that our kindly old uncle wasn’t averse to taxing Social Security payments so the rich could pay less taxes.

But now.

Now I think we want to see a fresh face of decency. We remember civility. We remember love of country. We remember respect for our military personnel. The so-called “suckers and losers,” along with their friends and families, longed for some sense of decorum.

At any rate, the news has shaken things up. One can tell by the reaction of the opposing party. I longed for an apt description. I searched and researched my memory.

Finally it came, attributable I think to Henry Miller in his Tropic of Cancer:

They are sh*****g arpeggios.

Yep.

EPIPHANY OF THE DAY

 STEREOTYPES

Interesting day yesterday was. A sitting president finishing his first term and actively campaigning for a second ended his effort. He endorsed his vice-president who is female and of a mixed-race heritage. Most Americans know little about her other than her party affiliation.

That’s all that matters to many.

For the sake of argument, we might for a moment consider that she is, in fact, the chosen candidate to run for the seat in November.

How will the press stereotype her?

The press does that. It stereotyped Gerald Ford as a harmless, but clumsy, nobody when he tripped exiting Air Force One.

It stereotyped Jimmy Carter as a clueless, hardheaded outsider.

It stereotyped Ronald Reagan as America's favorite old uncle.

It stereotyped Bus the Elder as America's rich uncle, but invisible.

It stereotyped Bill Clinton as a lovable rogue. (Yes, they do get close on occasion.)

It stereotyped Bush Jr. as a cowboy. (Go figure.)

It stereotyped Barrack Obama as cool, except in the South. The South viewed him differently.

And Joe Biden as dottery.

Then there was the one who defied stereotyping, one who simply, like a pinball, bounced from one display of idiocy and malevolence to another so quickly that labels didn’t stick.

Now what?

An angry woman out to avenge her sex?

A liberal icon who will sacrifice the future of working families in order to protect the least of those among us?

An accidental president?

A surprise?

A sheep among wolves?

It would be a simple matter of speculation if the future of our planet didn’t depend upon it.

EPIPHANY OF THE DAY

 EGO

Long ago in an America far away, I stood on the edge of the Great Tide Pool in Monterey, California (actually Pacific Grove) one bright November morning. For those who don’t know, I had positioned myself very near the most western spot of dry land in our country.

In one hand I held a copy of orders to report to the Support Activity in Da Nang, Vietnam for a year’s duty in Naval security. They would soon train me to use weapons, throw grenades, and be brave even when I didn’t feel safe. Then they would set me at the edge of a jungle with a rifle in my hands, waiting for whatever happened.

In the other hand I held an offer for an all-expense-paid escape into Canada, from where I was told then I would be safe from the war but could never return to America.

I sat on a dry rock and smoked a cigarette, an infiltered Camel as I remember. The moment was too important for distillation. Finished, I put the cold butt in my pocket. That place was too sacred for despoliation.

My mind was tearing itself apart. My ego was telling me that no person or agency could make me participate in a war that I didn’t support. My life belonged to me to do with as I pleased. What I wanted stood far above what my country wanted.

My heart was telling me that my America had nourished and protected me for my entire life and deserved repayment. My family's name was worth the danger to a son and brother.

My ego screamed, “Do what you wish.”

My heart said, “America may wander afield, but she needs good people to bring her to harmony."

I stood and turned to face land. The entire United States of America lay in front of me, from where the wild Pacific pounds on her shores to where the gentle Atlantic flows past a simple public place called Fort Sumter, bought with the blood of many who may have been as unwilling as I.

Life demanded a decision.

I put my ego aside and did what I thought was best for our country.

Sometimes you just have to do that, even when it hurts, even when it hurts very badly.