Good Morning Justin

Letter to my Son
Sunday, 31 August

Good Morning Justin…

It’s the Labor Day weekend.  I don’t care how hot it is there’s the feel of Fall in the air, like it’s the first day of school.  We’ve turned a corner and there’s no going back.  Halloween get-ups are beginning to creep onto the retail shelves, taking the place of notebooks and other school supplies.  Swimsuits are marked seventy percent off in this part of the country.  All community pools will soon close.  It’s near time the leaves begin falling from trees.  Are you ready for another round of family gatherings for the holidays?

Hold everything.  Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  The acorns are still locked in the crowns of their trees.  I haven’t yet heard the sound of a single one land on a roof and roll off into a rain gutter.  The day I hear that sharp thunk followed by its tailing uneven rolling rattle is the day we can officially mark as the start of Autumn.  It won’t be long.  It arrives before the first votes are cast.  Yes, this is an election year.  This is good.  I’m a someone again.  My Senator can’t stop thinking of me.  She’s always in need of my money.  If only I can open my wallet one more time we can maybe meet our monthly goal.  Please.  Even five dollars would be so gratefully received.  Surely I won’t miss such a trifling amount.  Won’t I take a moment of my time right now and wire off the money immediately?  By the way… am I aware a gift of another twenty dollars or more will place me on a list of donors deserving special thanks from the Senator and her family?  The Senator hopes I realize how important a person I am to her.  That’s why she feels good about asking me for an additional hundred dollars.  After all, I am just like family.  Yes, these are desperate times.  No, I certainly don’t want to see my freedoms eroded.  I can make a difference.  People have turned to me to help put things right.  The campaign is at a critical juncture.  It’s up to me, now.  I stand tall.  I’m big enough to meet this challenge.

Doesn't a hundred dollars seem a bit small for the task at hand?  The Senator knows I won’t let her down.  I’ll simply juggle these bills a bit and see what’s left to give.  It’s a tidy sum for a man living on social security.  My heart swells with humility knowing the appreciation felt towards me.  Please don’t embarrass me by unduly fussing over my generosity.  Let’s just say I've made a wise investment in democracy and the future of our nation.  I’m feeling quite the statesman right now.  Yes.  May I suggest we not publicize the extent of my contribution?  I've come to appreciate that my role in saving western civilization is all the thanks I’ll ever need.  Each dollar freely given from my wallet acts now as a sentry protecting justice and fair play. 

I’m overwhelmed.  I've scaled heights too dizzy even for me.  Maybe I've over reacted.  Am I truly ready to take on all this responsibility?  You did say five dollars, right?  Listen, you know I’d love to help but I don’t get paid for another week.  If only I hadn't bought that Starbucks latte the other day.  I swear to you here and now I wouldn't have bought it had I realized you needed another five.  Five bucks seems so little.  Gee, there’s got to be plenty of people other than me that can swing you a five.  Why don’t you ask around.  Maybe I know someone that can help.  I can’t promise anything.  Most people I know are voting for the other guy.  They’re all good people, though.  Guaranteed they’ll feel just terrible knowing five dollars can mean so much and yet be so far out of reach.  A horse!  A horse!  My kingdom for a horse.  Mark Twain, I think.

Love,

          Dad

Good Morning Jack

Letter to my Son

Sunday, 10 August

Richard Nixon works the crowd

Good Morning Jack…

August is the beginning of the end for kids running free during summer vacation.  Back to school sales are hard to avoid.  Paper, pens and all the items needed for homework assignments are pushed right to the front of the store.  It’s like a call from your boss on the last Friday of your vacation wanting to know if you can make it in especially early Monday morning because of the oversize stack of assignments waiting impatient for your return.

August also begins the serious push for candidates in the coming fall election.  Between now and the first Tuesday in November there will be almost no days off for paid campaign workers.  Organizers typically start in May and are given three days off during the period leading to Election Day.  As of today, Sunday the 10^th, there are 85 days remaining until ballots are cast.   Chances are these organizers have used one of their days off by now which means they have a long stretch of 12 hour days ahead of them.  Democracy is a fundamental principle of a free nation.  The campaigns to elect a candidate for office are a particularly demanding business.  Politicians serious about their profession expect to win their job once the votes are cast.  Campaign managers, like the candidates they promote, are among the winners and losers.  Winning keeps you on track for a shot at the title – a race with national prominence.  With back to back loses you’ve earned the right to manage a city council contest in Palookaville.

It’s always good to start with a quality candidate – someone who relates well with the voters and has a message that resonates.  Someone verbally sure-footed and dynamic is going to attract money, which is good since state-wide campaigns are going to be expensive.  Big money flows to those who have a realistic chance of winning.  There’s little upside to having influence with a politician out of office.  Keep the race close in the polls and money is there.  Fumble during the campaign allowing your opponent to take a double-digit lead and you economize while your rival cashes in.  The race becomes theirs to lose.  You’re left being the goat in the media narrative and that’s tough to shake.  You call for a debate, hoping a couple of choice zingers will right your sinking ship.  Why would the other side allow you such an opening to get back in the game?  Unless the voters absolutely demand it, your opponent’s campaign will ignore your plea, sit on their lead and ride out the clock, all the while buying expensive air time to mercilessly trash your image with negative TV ads.  Your audience dwindles and TV news loses interest in what you have to say.  Here’s where we pull out the script that we don’t believe in polls.  The only poll that matters is the one on Election Day.  Only the die-hards retain any hope.  Everyone else has bailed.  The show is over.  Curtain down. 

Volunteers are fundamental to a winning campaign.  People need to work for free on your behalf if you are to be a credible democratic choice.  Making phone calls to voters for hours on end and spending weekends going door to door in unfamiliar neighborhoods requires a personal conviction in your candidacy that can’t be bought.  Your volunteers aren’t slick professionals.  What they bring to your cause is simple sincerity.  Their importance is not in switching anyone’s opinion but in emphasizing the importance of casting your ballot.  Grassroots campaigning is about making sure your supporters are sufficiently energized, if not totally enthusiastic, to take the time and vote.  This is important because the candidate better able to rally their supporters to the ballot box is the one getting the job representing the people.  That is no small accomplishment.  By the first Tuesday in November people are sick of hearing about the campaign.  They just want it over.  Often they are filled with disgust.  They don’t like their choices.  Get over it.  Hold your nose.  Mark your ballot.  Vote.  Saints don’t run for office.  Just folks like you and me.

Love,

          Dad

No Purity in Politics

No Compromise

I can appreciate, with certain caveats, the philosophical basis for Republican ideology which places a premium on protection of private property, the encouragement of the entrepreneurial spirit and sanctifying individual self-reliance as a way of life.  The belief is that unleashing the energies of self-interest is the best way to grow the economy and raise the standards of society as a whole.  Our constitutional government makes the rule of law the bedrock of all government decisions.  Our historical philosophy has always been to hold the power of governance with suspicion.  This has served us well.  No one individual, no matter his office or station in life, is above the law.

I cannot fault any of these ideas as they are expressed.  Similarly, were I to examine the key underpinnings of Marxism I would also find them worthy of merit.  I am inclined, though, to have greater regard for the strivings of the individual.  I believe honest work should be rewarded in kind.  I am personally willing to put up with a certain degree of greed, corruption and unfairness that comes with our economic and political model because I believe it to be the best possible solution available to us, despite its many drawbacks.  This is because I view myself as being pragmatic.  I love noble philosophical outlooks but they serve only as guidelines and I think they quickly break down when implemented as policy by their true believers, left or right.

Government is not well suited to make decisions for industry but the results are worse for society as a whole when government relinquishes its role entirely to the mechanisms of free enterprise.  The fundamental problem I have with unrestrained capitalism is that power follows money.  Taking just the economic history of this nation since the mid-nineteenth century provides substantial evidence to support this conclusion.  The problem is not just the unfairness that results from a concentration of power and wealth that is limited to a relative privileged few. 

The resulting oligarchy does not well serve either economic growth nor is it faithful to the democratic process.  This is because large centers of financial power resist any changes that might undermine their own self-interest no matter the consequences to the greater good. 

We believe that we are best protected from the tyranny of government power through a system of built-in checks and balances.  The President has veto over congressional legislation.  The Supreme Court has veto over any law counter to the Constitution and the President appoints Supreme Court justices with confirmation by the Senate.  It has worked fairly well for two hundred years.  I believe our economic system also works best when there are similar mechanisms of balance.  One example is that there are laws against monopolistic practices because competition encourages innovation and better quality products for the consumer.  Government has a role in the economy that private enterprise cannot supply.  One example is the setting of monetary policy that is provided by the Federal Reserve.  Another example is implementation of regulations that ensure the safety of the food we eat, our water supply and control over the busy airways that link our cities.  All these systems are for the good of society as a whole but their integrity could be jeopardized if powerful money interests had undue influence over the workings of government. 

I’m making just a general argument here for the role government must play if there is to be a healthy equilibrium within our society.  Our economic and political welfare hinges upon a well educated population.  We should always keep in mind that our number one resource as a nation is our people.  Our policies should reflect this conviction.

Good Morning Justin...

Letter to my Son

Sunday, 27 October

James Madison  1788 Salesman of the Year

Good Morning Justin…

It is interesting to note that when George Washington became the first President of the United States there were only eleven states under the new union.   North Carolina ratified the Constitution the next year and Rhode Island came aboard in 1790.  Despite the reputations of luminaries like Washington and Benjamin Franklin backing the new government, there were many who believed the delegates to the Philadelphia convention of 1787 had overreached their authority in proposing a new Constitution, instead of modifying the existing Articles of Confederation.  What they were confronted with in 1788 was the framework for a single nation to replace the loose confederation of states, and a compact between the people and their new government that laid down rules for which ordinary citizens could govern themselves.  This fledgling foundation for democracy, untried since the ancient Greeks, was the first step in a difficult and, often painful, experiment in representative government – an evolving process that continues even today. 

Getting three hundred million people, of widely varied perspective and passionately held beliefs, to come to an agreement on a single course of action will always be a challenge, requiring persistence and patience from legislators of extraordinary talent.  Democracy, within the rule of law, is not governance through good will and comforting voices of reassurance.  It is an on-going family argument, a confrontation involving both individuals and groups, upholding with strong convictions their diametrically opposed views.  The strength that underlies good government is the recognition that nothing constructive is accomplished without compromise.  This means that people on both sides of the bargaining table, having finally struck an agreement, come away with the feeling that they somehow gave away too much for the cause of stability and the pragmatic goal of achieving what is ultimately possible.  We can only feel frustration when we believe with all our heart we should be celebrating a clean-cut, unmistakable victory.  Clearly, democracy is a dreadful means of managing this enormous, overly complex enterprise we call the United States of America.  I am open for alternative suggestions. 

They must, of course, retain all the guarantees of personal freedom and restraints on abusive power that I have long ago come to take for granted.  That means Democrats and Republicans forever eye one another and sound the alarm over any attempted shenanigans, Congress puts a lid on the White House while the White House threatens vetoes of acts by Congress, and the Supreme Court reigns in the excessive passions of all our elected officials while those same representatives of the people decide who it is that is going to reign them in. 

You can thank, among our founding fathers, the likes of James Madison for this Gordian knot approach to governance.  Any Federal action of consequence requires a near avalanche of certainty by legislators.  Either they are convinced they are working the will of the people or they feel justified in defying the will of their constituents and vote their conscience, knowing full well they may be swept from office at the next election.

We don’t often idealize our representatives in Washington.  After all, they generally share the same traits common to many of us, for better or worse.  The one thing that does set them apart, though, is that they are willing to stand before us and go on public record in declaring what it is they believe… usually.  It sometimes pays to be a bit slippery on the details if you plan to make a career in politics.  Showing up every election Tuesday with a majority of voters behind you requires a talent most people don’t have.  Being a politician means you need to bring diverse groups together into what is often an unlikely alliance.  It is up to you to find a binding common interest powerful enough to override the many conflicting goals these groups have amongst themselves.  It can mean something comparable to locking a constituent into buying a Kia when their heart was set on a Beemer.  It’s about persuasion and it’s sleight of hand.  Believe it or not the founding fathers knew all this.  They also were politicians.  They were asked to fix the old Articles of Confederation and, instead, they got the voters to drive off the lot in a brand new, gleaming U.S. Constitution.  Now that’s talent.

Love,

           Dad

October Odds and Ends

Donna

Good Morning Christa…

How can this be?  Donna has lived happily forever in her small, eccentric address near the shores of the Pacific.  I can’t imagine there is anything comparable available for her, anywhere.  How does she feel about grits, white lightening moonshine and the passionate rants of southern secessionists?  No, I don’t see a walk among Spanish moss and beneath magnolia a likely option for her, either.  She needs an attic room sturdy enough to hold her boxes of rocks, clocks and assorted bargain store treasures.

I want to soon see 12 Years a Slave.  I suspect my reaction to it will be much like how I felt about Schindler’s List – it’s the most wonderful movie I hope to never see again.  I rarely go to the theater, though.  Like Blue is the Warmest Color, this will probably be a movie I can wait to purchase when it is released on DVD.

You are, indeed, your neighbor’s keeper.  You take your Christianity seriously while I simply buy the book.  It gives me a good feeling while I read Christ’s teachings.  Too bad I can’t seem to schedule the time to turn his words into actions.  Is it possible I can find my way into Heaven with a grade of Satisfactory Intent?

I hear you.  You have the same reservations I have about political writing.  I want to approach issues with a broad brush and resist falling into the trap of dogmatism or of nitpicking to death the workings of government minutia.  I don’t want this to be about personalities but I certainly appreciate the bigger than life characters that are attracted to the bright beacon of power.  They are an absolute feast, and as a group they are generously seasoned with every possibility of human strength and foible.  They are all emperors without clothes, preening and pontificating, espousing sometimes equal parts wisdom and nonsense, and everyone, all the while, naked as jaybirds before the microphones and cameras.

Of course, I don’t expect to always meet my goals.  Goals are like the bull’s eye on a target.  Any number of reasons can have me land wide of the mark.  It can be as simple as drinking over-cooked coffee or not feeling loved by my dog.  Even words intended as a measure of reasoned thought are tirelessly inflected with the soft tramp of yearning for something more.

Winter cold has arrived.  Yesterday was the first morning with ice on the windshield.  If you’re an insect that has somehow survived this night you are certain to be finally serious about writing your last will and testament.  The curtain has dropped with a sudden, sharp thud on one more season of sunshine and frolic.  Most of us here have by now unpacked our heavy coats, gloves and thick stocking caps.  A few of the wealthier neighbors among us have undoubtedly booked passage destined for a lovely new spring south of the equator.  I’m thinking two weeks in Fiji will make for a splendid port of call.  Bon voyage, everyone.  Bon voyage!

Tom

Good Morning Justin...

Letter to my Son
Sunday, 26 May

Time Piece

Good Morning Justin…

A car starting at point A moves 65 mph towards point B and a truck, starting at the same time, moves 55 mph from point B towards point A.  The distance between points A and B is 125 miles.  How many miles does the car travel before passing the truck?  I think the answer requires a bit of calculating that I don’t feel is worth the effort to know. 

I think about the issue of immigration and I feel insecure about my job.  I’m going to evaluate the various aspects of a problem while having a possible financial stake in determining its solution.  I am emotionally invested in its outcome.  Were I the judge making the decision here I should recluse myself because I have a finger on the scale of justice.  This is as it should be when discovering what’s best in a court of law.  Politics, though, is not antiseptic when deciding the public’s welfare.  It vigorously shakes the beaker that holds both rational thought and emotion-bound motive.  In this context a vote of up or down on a measure never decides the debate in a democracy.  For the loser there are clear signs of villainy at work in the process.  Money has been passed.  A congressman’s career has been set among the chips being gambled.  Voices have filled the airwaves with warnings and scurrilous charges.  Mud is slung from all directions.  Making law in a democracy requires a good scrub down afterwards by all involved. 

Where are the men of marble now when we need them most?  The fact is they never were.  It’s impossible to function when carved of pure gleaming stone.  Our statues commemorate what’s admirable about those that have made our history.  Their human failings are among the discarded chips of marble tossed on an ash heap, lost from sight.  Our memory of past heroes has been carefully selected for us.  Our current view of future heroes is not well choreographed.  Petty weeds distract us.  We feel the jostling elbows and choke on dry, kicked up dust.  Shirts cling from effort, no longer fresh.  We’re penned in a corral.  There is no dignity here.

What a wondrous vista I see described before us.  A gentle breeze rustles the leaves of a distant tree lost in a sea of grass.  I hear the sparkle of a stream.  The air is honeysuckle.  Bees mingle among the clover.  This is our future as it can be, I am told.  If only the hearts filled with darkness could see what we see, know what we know, and feel what it is we feel with all the passion that comes with our love of truth and beauty. 

Get out your eraser.  This too was never true.  Human progress requires nature be put in its place.  An inspiration derived from the occasional brilliant mind must find its reality through endless keyboard taps, staff meetings and battling memos swirling amidst a vast, trudging bureaucracy.  These are the gears of our truly glorious civilization.  We are the new culmination in the long line of progressing vertebrates - primates that ate from the Tree of Knowledge.  Forced from the Garden of Eden we killed animals for food and clothes.  We tamed the majestic horse for our own purposes.  We organized cows into feedlots, turned black ooze into fire, contained it within metal and drove this contraption about the landscape.  We devised a scheme to capture electrons, turning our life into a magic show of light in the midst of night, pictures drawn from the air and machines to do much of our thinking for us.  We’ve gone to the nearest planet and safely brought back some of its rocks even though it doesn’t much matter.  We’re smart.  We’re stubborn.  We find ourselves endlessly fascinating and we might just punch you in the gut if you look at us cockeyed.  We won’t be here forever.  Maybe our epitaph could read, “On the whole it was worth it.”

Love,

          Dad