Defining Our Era?

Wokeism. Cancel culture. The dangers are all around us--and seem to be growing. Is this how history will remember us, as people who treasured freedom of speech, well as long as it doesn't offend anyone? No micro-aggressions allowed. Freedom of speech (and all of expression) is easy to embrace if we agree with the speech. It becomes far more troublesome when it involves ideas we hate. But that's when freedme of speech is most necessary. Voltaire purportedly said more than 200 years ago, "I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." But today is different. People from all walks of life are getting penalized, even fired from jobs, for what they say and have said in the past, as long as decades ago in some instances. Some, for voicing views others find disagreeable, have had their home and business addresses posted on social media (Yet another reason to despise social media.), opening them up to the woke, cancel culture mobs. I read a recent poll where a significant majority of Americans highly regard the freedoms of the First Amendment. At the same time, a majority indicated they have refrained from expressing an opinion because of fear of the consequences from the mob. All this in the United States of America! No US citizen should fear to express him/herself. Not to mention years and years ago; who didn't say or do something stupid when a kid? This was carried to an extreme (which seems to be becoming more the norm as weak, cowardly, and ignorant leaders cave to the mobs) earlier this year. A journalism professor at a state university was suspended and then fired (There was a separation agreement with the help of a rights organization.) from his position because a student, just one, posted on social media that he, the professor, was a racist. Over the years, this professor has taught several thousand students, but only one, just this one of them, has made such a disparaging remark. To this student (I have no idea if a he or a she, black or white, or whatever.), the professor is "racist" because he used the "N" word in class. Making it worse, he used it more than once. In fact, he has uttered it many times in the course of teaching this class over the years. Aha! But wait a minute! What this professor did, many times, was quote directly, verbatim, from a US Federal Court of Appeals opinion, one written by Judge Damon Keith. In case you don't know, the late Judge Keith possessed one of the greatest legal minds this country has ever seen. He was a decades-old civil rights activist, going back to the '50s and '60s. Oh, Damon Keith was a black man. I know the word "icon" is tossed around far too casually these days, but Judge Keith was a legitmate icon. Yes, in his opinion, Judge Keith wrote the "N" word several times, citing the plaintiff and knowing it was central to the case--one concerning free speech! The instructor merely read from the Appeals Court's ruling, nothing more and nothing less. When this student's social media (Don't you just detest that term!) post was brought to the attention of the university's administration, the professor was suspended upon review. He was given no opportunity to explain, that he was quoting from Judge Keith's opinion, using the judge's own words. Several months later the professor was given the ziggy, still not allowed to defend himself. This is merely one example of cancel culture run amok, with just plain rotten consequences. So many things are wrong here, spelling out the dangers Americans and freedom of speech now face from the woke crowd. First, the professor should have been invited in to explain the episode. The issue should have been dead as soon as he did. But he wasn't. Second, this student should have been questioned by university officials. The line of questioning should have focused on the student him/herself. Did he/she not know what the professor was doing? If not, if still offended, the officials might have suggested the student find another school to attend. (Long ago, in a far different context, after one of my very sub-par papers, one of my professors suggested just that. "If that's the best work you can do, I suggest you transfer to another school." Gulp!) After all, if this is how limited this student's thinking skills are..... Third, a return to the college administration. Talk about ignorance to the point of stupidity! What college official, presumably with one or more college degrees, would take such action--to suspend and then dismiss this professor for this? Was there any any examination of the situation? My guess is there wasn't. The college administration didn't know about the legal giant Damon Keith, he from their own state! Could the officials be such dolts they didn't recognize this professor's attempts to get students to think? Are they really that ignorant? Their actions lead me to believe they are. Instead of the professor losing his job, the university officials responsible for that should have been canned! Their incompetence is an embarrassment to the school. Perhaps both this student and the college officials operate under the premise of "No thinking allowed." Apparently we have reached the point where people must be careful, extremely cautious, about what they say about their beliefs and views. Does the fate of thinking people now lie in the hands of people, including bosses, who are either unable to think rationally or too cowardly to stand up to ignorance and stupidity or both? Are the mobs coming after us next? After all, in their ignorance, they have torn down monuments to even Abraham Lincoln.

Standing Up for Principles

Donating blood yesterday, I sat on the guerney (?) and thought that an Amherst graduate made all that possible. Dr. Charles Drew was the one responsible for blood donations, blood drives, and blood mobiles. I wonder why Drew didn't win a Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology. If I recall correctly, Drew was an undergraduate with William Hastie, the first black man appointed to a federal district court and, later, a federal appellate court. I'm not sure they were in the same class, but crossed paths certainly. Drew played football and ran track and was the class valedictorian. After graduation, to earn money for medical school, he spent time as the football coach at Morgan State University, a historically black college. With nothing to do while my blood dripped into the bag, I continued to think. Drew was not just brilliant, but very courageous, a man of principle. During the Second World War, among other positions, he was the director of the first American Red Cross blood bank which supplied blood for American and British soldiers in the war. He protested the Red Cross policy of segregating blood from blacks. Not only was "black blood" not transfused to whites, it was even stored in different places! His protests went nowhere and he resigned his position. This reminded me of the recent "sick out" by pilots of Southwest Airlines, in protest of coming company mandates for employee CoVid vaccinations. I know many people were upset by the pilots' actions. Surely they inconvenienced a lot of people, some far more so than others. To a different and, I think, lesser degree the pilots were doing what Charles Drew did--standing up for themselves, for principles, for their rights/liberties. Some might argue that lives were lost when Drew resigned, just as some people were inconvenienced by the pilots' "sick out." I do not argue either. But I would say the onus for both the lost lives and any inconvenience, no matter the seriousness, lies far more with the American Red Cross and Southwest Airlines. Each could have done the right thing. The resignation and sick-out would not have been necessary. During the American Revolution, a minority of colonists stood for independence, an even smaller number for war. Yet, as Abraham Lincoln later noted in a different scenario, "And the war came." How many people, who didn't want war, were "inconvenienced," ruined by the War for Independence? The number was considerable. Some died. Some were financially bankrupted. Their lives were turned topsy-turvy. Are we then to vilify the likes of Washington, the Adams boys, Hamilton, Frankline, etc. for "inconveniencing" or worse so many people? Standing up for principles is not easy. It often requires great sacrifice and with that comes the knowledge that other people might also face serious consequences not of their doing. I've always found this pithy saying to be trite, "You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs." Maybe this is fitting here.

Sometimes I Sits and Thinks and Sometimes...

...I just sits. I had a long talk on the phone yesterday with a former student. It was a nice chat and we agreed that we seem, more and more, to be living in The Twilight Zone. I was reminded of this this AM as I pored through the news. I received a pamphlet the other day that explained the January 6th "Insurrection Hoax." I've written about the folly of that, that Viking Helmet Man was leading the overthrow of the American democracy. Seriously? It played nicely into the hands of something I read this AM. Two federal office buildings were attacked by climate change protesters this week. These housed the Departments of Interior and Commerce. At Commerce, spray paint was used to deface the building. At Interior, police and guards were assaulted and injured, some being hospitalized, by the violent intruders who entered the building. Where are the reports, not to mention condemnations, of these violent protests? Even the official statement from the federal government seemed to be muted, even apologetic. Several dozen violent protesters were arrested. I looked completely through my newspapers Wed, Thur, and Fri; nary a word about this "insurrection." Apparently, it's only violent, an "insurrection," and "a threat to our democracy" when the other side does it. I saw a video that was hilarious. A woman pulled up to the drive-through window at a fast-food restaurant. The worker wouldn't give the woman her drink because she didn't have a mask. So, he handed her, through his window and hers, a mask. Why was it more dangerous to have handed her the drink than to hand her the mask? I see an NBA player is done for his season, if not career, over blood clots he is sure came from getting the vax. I don't know if the vax was the cause, although he seems to be certain. But that underscores the initial problem with the vax. It was fast-tracked, without real testing. Oh, I know people will claim the RNA technology has been in development for a decade or more. So says the CDC, which of course has never been wrong; just ask it or St. Anthony. But there were no long-term tests of the technology with the CoVid vax; that's because there was and still isn't any long-term. Are we likely in the next years to discover issues with blood clots, enlarged hearts, reproduction, even cancers? I don't know and that is the issue. Neither does the medical community. Although, as with all the critics of the CoVid strategies (masks, shutdown, distancing), there are some pretty noteworthy medical folks questioning the vax. But they are shunted to never-never land, never to be seen and never to be heard. I'm not an anti-vaxxer. All I want is to be told the truth, that the medical community doesn't really know, that's it's making guesses and that some of the guesses have been dreadfully wrong. Be honest. Give me all of the facts before I am bullied into making "an informed decision." But I forget, yet again. Being honest reflects good character and, I am repeatedly told, character doesn't matter. Related, a federal court ruled that Michigan State University could require employees to get the vax. Among other things, he wrote, "...bodily autonomy has not been deemed a fundamental right." If Americans don't have control over their own bodies (including I would submit, their minds) in the face of government mandates, then they can't be free. He wrote, "There is no fundamental right to decline a vaccination." Huh? What's next? The possible list of things for which "There is not fundamental right to decline" is practically endless. Our Constitutional system was devised around several very basic, but fundamental principles. Two of them are limited government and popular sovereignty, that the people not Big Government decide. Coercion by the state, either at the federal or state level, of individuals violates both of these principles. This judge was appointed by W. Bush. Yet another reason to rank him among the worst Presidents. "Worst Presidents?" It used to be only a handful were included in this list; but the list is growing and growing quickly. One nationally-respected immunologist stated of this opinion/ruling, "I was disappointed to see our judiciary's weakness on display." He cited the federal government's "draconian behavior on vaccination mandates [for] the recently infected and naturally immune is unscientific and, likely, unconstitutional." (Not if the federal courts say it isn't! Whimps/Wimps!) He added, "In national emergencies, reason, science, and ethics fail us and fear prevails." Amen. I still chuckle at "Let's Go, Brandon" every time I see it or hear it. I think it would be hilarious if, at the football stadiums this weekend, "F*ck You, Biden" was replaced with "Let's Go, Brandon." The chanters could make fun of and protest more than one target. Here's another one I just discovered this AM, "Empty-shelves, Joe." As the main grocery shopper for our household, I know that one and will chuckle tomorrow AM as I can't find what I want--honey, toilet bowl cleaner, dog food, peanut butter..... Last but not least, several thoughts emerged from one this week. I noted to my class that one Alexander Macomb was said to have owned a couple of dozen slaves in the early 19th Century. That, of course, was and is abhorrent and presumably banned by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 ("Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist....."). In Michigan, Macomb County is named after him. I wonder how long before there is a movement afoot to change the name of Macomb County. A couple of weeks ago, another Robert E. Lee statue/memorial was taken down. I know many people think this is wrong, a product of wokeism or some such. But I still can't figure out why Americans would want to honor someone who committed treason against the US, whose treason was responsible (because of his military brilliance) for the deaths of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Union soldiers. And to wrap up, Monday was Columbus Day, the national holiday. I still have some trouble with the idea of so honoring Christopher Columbus. I will grant he was a great sailor and even a great salesman. But many will see my reticence as some sort of revisionist history. No, it's exactly the opposite. I know my histor, that is, the history of Columbus and he wasn't "St. Christopher." Besides, why does Columbus get his day, but Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Dwight Eisenhower and other worthy Presidets must share a day with the likes of James Buchanan, both Johnsons, W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Jimmy Carter, John Tyler, Warren Harding, et al?

Arrgghh!!!!!

More and more I find myself wanting to scream! Mostly it's at people. I hesitate to ask, "Can they really be that stupid?" Do these people representing us in Congress ever stop to think? Do they realize what $3.5 trillion is? I recall not too many decades ago Sen Everett Dirksen of Illinois once admitting, "A million dollars here and a million there and pretty soon we're talking real money." Yes, he said, "million," not trillion or even billion. And this is on top of how many hundreds of billions of dollars, if not more, spend on CoVid funding. Joe Biden has made the idiotic claim that this bill will "cost zero dollars." Maybe he uses the "different math" the school district where I used to work used. His explanation sounded like this to me. I can go to the grocery store and buy my goods, putting the cost on my credit card. But I have no intention of making any payments to the credit card company. Do I have that right? Senotor Joe Manchin has been hailed as a hero of sorts by standing up to the Democrat leadership, refusing to agree to a bill more than $1.5 trillion. Yeah, some compromise, huh? Yet I see he's changed his numbers. Now he might be agreeable to only $1.9 to $2.2 trillion. Yep, only. And for how long afer a few billion bucks are tossed his state's (West Virginia) way? I hope he holds the line, but I'm not convinced he will. Don't these Bozos in DC yet know that corporations don't pay taxes. No, they don't. They pass along the increased taxes in the form of higher prices. Like other costs of doing business, taxes determine consumer prices. So if companies pay higher taxes, in reality, it's you and I who are paying the taxes. Oh, but didn't Biden say he wouldn't raise taxes on those making less than $400K a year? Either he was just kidding or he has no clue about economics. Apparently it is true that the Attorney General has asked the FBI to crack down on "domestic terrorists." No No, not the ones you may be thinking of. These are worse. These domestic terrorists are parents who are starting to attend school board meetings to protest mask mandates and critical race theory creeping into their children's curriculum. Now, I haven't heard of any violence at any of these meetings. Nobody has been attacked, not even my Viking Helmet Man. No school buildings have been burned down. All I've noticed is a lot more parents attending meetings to express their anger at what adminstrators and their rubber stamp school boards are doing. Now, I would think having parents involved would be a good thing. But, having spend 51 years in education, I know having parents involved in school matters is only a good thing if they completely agree with administrators and school boards. Opposing views, regardless of how well-thought and factual, are not allowed. Oh no..... Hey, the current Secretary of Education has said that parents should not be "the primary stakeholders" in their children's education. This guy had already established himself as a loon in my book and now confirms it. Speaking of "domestic terrorism," I'm really glad the Justice Department cracked down on all those BLM and Anti-fa rioters, er, "peaceful protesters." Oh, they didn't? How many businesses and government office buildings were looted and set on fire? How many private citizens' homes were attacked and damaged? Where is the Attorney General on all this, which is still ongoing? The followers of Viking Helmet Man have been charged, with Justice Department investigations, criminal charges, etc. So, where are all the trials for the BLM and Anti-fa thugs who destroyed people's businesses, jobs, and income? I forget which DC loon said this, some woman last week. I don't remember if she is in Congress or the Administration. She noted the difference between the January 6 mob (although the overwhelming majority of the people where were not at all violent, didn't enter the Capitol, and did nothing illegal) and the violent/destructive BLM and Anti-Fa thugs. One (Viking Helmet Man's people) were trying to overthrow the government while the "peaceful protesters" were working to advance civil rights. And all this CoVid stuff!!!!! Our "15 days" of masks to "flatten the curve" has turned into about 20 months, with no sign of ending. Oh, there was a hiatus of sorts, but then the "experts," whose recommendations obviously didn't work, jumped back on the mask bandwagon. There are mandates out there, in cities and states and even some businesses. So, far I'd say a sizable majority are not complying, but for how long? I noted that many schools are mandating masks, in disregard of "the science" they hold so dear. Kids 18 and under are of extrememly low risk of contracting the virus. But to "save" them from this thing not at all likely to happen, schools and parents are damaging, in big ways, kids psychologically, socially, academically, physically, emotionally, and more. I read of one mother who drove her kids three hours in a car to attend a mask-mandated school. She was protecting her children, apparently not concerned what all that time in a car five days a week is doing to her kids. I know this will generate a lot of disagreement, but I'm still not sold on the vax. Initially, we were told by people who were wrong before about masks, distancing, shutdowns, etc. or even lied about them that the vax would offer "absolute immunity." Absolute, to me, means 100%. I wasn't foolish enough to believe the "absolute" part. Then the rate of effectiveness dipped to 95%, then 80%, and now 30% of the people who are hospitalized with CoVid have had the vax. I don't think Massachusetts is an outlier, but a recent study there showed that almost 3/4 of the Covid deaths occurred in people with underlying conditions/co-morbidities and that the median, yes, the median, age for Covid deaths in the state is 82! I have read analyses of the effectiveness of the vax that continue to show it's not what it was promoted to be. That is, the numbers presented to the public are skewed. Without going into specifics, we are presented with linear interpretations of the effectiveness of the vax. Yet the reality is not at all linear. Not all of us are the same. Those 45 and under are not at all likely to get sick, especially seriously so, or die. Healthy people who are fit, like me, are also extremely unlikely to get the virus. So, how much good is the vax really doing those who probably are not going to contract it anyway? Yet, those people skew the effectiveness upward. I'm not necessarily blaming the "experts" or the medical community they inform. CoVid was and is a new breed. There was and is a lot we don't yet know. But I wish they wouldn't issue opinions from on high, like there is no alternative except to die. That just isn't so. My beef with the medical community is they are people of science. The essence of science is to question, to challenge. They should know the science is never "settled." They seem to have forgotten that. I'm too busy and tired to proofread; forgive me.