...we will not look away...

   Bob Dylan's recent and rare interview with historian Douglas Brinkley covers sensitive history and sacred ground and does so at this time when the history we are creating shakes us to the core. 
    The rebellion against racism is global. The outcry about killer police and the culture of inadequate training and profiling is also world wide. It seems people of reason are fed up with the enabling of racist attitude. Non-Black people are the majority of this universal movement. This may be one of those "inflection points in the arc of history."

     "...If you can't speak out against this kind of thing, a crime that's so unjust,

      Your eyes are filled with dead men's dirt, your mind is filled with dust..."

      Dylan wrote the lyrics to the Death of Emmett Till in 1963, 8 years after the bright eyed 14 year old Chicago youth was savaged into a grotesque corpse in the Mississippi delta.

      "...For you let this human race fall down so God-awful low!"

     Years later a white woman admitted she lied about the incident that sent her husband and his half brother into a rage where they grabbed the youth from his uncle's home, beat and mutilated him, shot him in the head and put him in the Tallahatchie River. 

     An all white jury acquitted Roy Bryant and J.W. Millam. A year later the men admitted they killed Till.

    "...This song is just a reminder to remind your fellow man

  That this kind of thing still lives today in that ghost robbed Ku Klux Klan."

    Till's family wanted an open casket. The gruesome truth helped launch what we call the Civil Rights Movement.

    Dylan's song came in the midst of the push for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that outlawed segregation. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibited discrimination in elections. 

     

     We know those rights did not come without bloodshed, police violence, massive marches and demonstrations. 
     The extension of those freedoms were born of courage and faith.

      And, it seems, we are back to the start, though now everything is accelerated. The 21st century struggle against racism and repression is world wide. 

      People around the globe are demanding better training and less violence from their cops. 

       Too many men and women, black and white are killed by police without cause and for crimes that are minor, not serious and would never carry a death sentence. 

       Whites do not walk out of their homes with the daily fear that accompanies Blacks; will this be a day when a police encounter ends my life?  Being white in America offers a safety. Being Black in America brings jeopardy. Still, all these years later!

       Things must change and the momentum has filled our screens, dominated government attention, and provoked something new and powerful. 

     This has happened more rapidly than any political movement I've witnessed. But the grievances are centuries in the making.

      Something seems different. There is a kind of spiritual momentum. Justice and equality seem to be getting breath, bringing a multitude of races and ethnicities together and into the streets and halls of government with a common purpose.

   

     But racism does not die and it's congress of dunces do not go easily into the night, here or anywhere in the world.

     Ignorance is a powerful strain in humankind. While some refuse to see and understand, resisting all the while proclaiming they are not racist, others conspire to keep a knee on the neck of equality. We need only look at what Georgia did in their recent primary, suppressing black votes, as they did earlier in electing a racist governor denying hundreds of thousands of votes to a Black woman, the likely winner.
     The Republican strategy of voter suppression is in full overdrive, now trying to eliminate vote by mail, even in the midst of the pandemic. There continues a deliberate attempt to deprive people of the right, because of the color of their skin.

     It is dead wrong, but not surprising as the two most powerful racists in the US are the President and his partner Mitch McConnell.

    People of conscience should note, some of the harshest critics of the racist Trump and McConnell are Republicans, former Republicans now. They are a bit like the Germans who fled as the world watched the rise of a fascist regime.
Those who stay loyal to this President will be marked by history as ignominious fools.

        It is not unreasonable to see the murder of George Floyd as being a galvanizing moment, one death too many. In that way his murder by a dead eyed, trouble making cop captured on video is like the horrible casket photo of Emmett Till. We can not look away from that kind of evil. We can't deny the hatred, the racism, the stupidity, that still exists.
      Those of us who thought the legislative acts of the 1960's fixed the problem, were naive and racist in our way, because we refused to see the truth. 
     Racism is a human stain, it is ours to eliminate. It does not happen with one election, or a congressional action, or better testing of the psychological fitness of cops. 
     My dad used to say, equality cannot be legislated, but discrimination can be outlawed. Real equality is the work of the heart. 

       "...but if all of us folks that thinks alike, if we gave all that we could give,
        We could make this great land of ours a greater place to live.
           from The Death of Emmett Till-  Bob Dylan

beautiful diversion

Jacaranda trees are in bloom on the California central coast

     Take care, stay well.

      See you down the trail.

Days of Hope-Night of the Jackals

    Absorbing the overwhelming passions of life in the US these last days, I stammer to say we appear to be acting in diametrical dramas.
    We are separate realities, multiple players, different scripts desperately grabbing for control of our national soul.
    Our screens reveal who we have become, and who we may yet be. 
    Amidst it all a shroud of echoes hangs like a mist over America.

   
    The reverberating consequence of centuries hurled into our lives in 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Those minutes of hate blew away the fetters of pretense. Police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd on camera. The days and nights since have forced the US to face its demons, and to acknowledge that racism shelters deep in our history and is the father of malignant offspring. 

   Chauvin is the most recent pestilential hatch to betray his dark perversion. They are amongst us. It is inexcusable. Civilization knows better. Humanity rises above the beasts, but every racist heart is a liege of evil and the pulse of atrocity.

    The world has been watching. Millions abroad have also risen up. As veteran observers note, this is not just a "moment," this is about more than Floyd and the other victims before him, this appears to be an awakening. 
    The diversity of the demonstrators is extraordinary. Race, ethnicity, age, gender, and conviction of belief. We should not be sidetracked by the few; agitators, criminals, troublemakers, looters, idiots, or brutal and bully cops. There are jackals are both sides. They are overwhelmed by those who demand we understand what is systemic racism, and then do something, finally. After centuries. 

     We are adding chapters to an old discussion.

  

   A vintage photo of my late brothers, John and Jim.

  John, a charismatic psychologist/counselor was also a political radical, my good friend and best debating partner. He was SDS and on the front line of 60' and 70's politics. Protest, like that we are seeing now, was to him only a beginning. He wanted fundamental systemic change and reasoned if the system does not respond, if change does not occur, then a little revolution, even violence, was in order. He was confident he was purely Jeffersonian. 

     Being a couple of years his elder and working as a reporter, striving for objectivity and balance, I was a perfect foil, arguing that political change, the ballot box was the best route. He had little patience, citing the years of racism and economic exploitation and the privilege of the upper class and of late, their penchant for the profits of war.

     His milieu was the underground, striking at and undermining an indifferent ruling culture.

     

     50 years later I still argue for change through the electoral process and in legislation, but my patience is gone. I understand brother John's warrior soul. 

     

failed?

    From abroad we are viewed as a failed nation. We have lost credibility and impunity. Great American leaders question aloud if the American experiment has failed. I cannot recall American military leaders speaking out thusly, speaking against the character and leadership of a sitting US President. 

    We are in deep water and troubled seas.

    It does not help that a racist, spiritually crippled and inept man sits in the White House. George Will calls him a "malignant buffoon." He is a malignancy indeed who empowers a generation of racists, supremacists, and a dangerous species of losers and malcontents, some of whom are bad cops, all of whom have no place in the 21st century.
    We are better than Trump. The majority of US voters voted against him, in part in fear of exactly what we are living through. 
     He's been a bully on twitter and in his self loving rallies, now he is a bully using police and military powers. His comments on the day of Floyd's memorial service may be the most distasteful and appalling in Presidential history. There were echoes, a warning.

     After Trump finished his dark inaugural address George W. Bush whispered to Hillary Clinton "That was some weird shit."

    In our debates my brother always challenged, "...have you seen enough change, has it gotten better?"
      "It's a long process. There have been improvements, "I'd say.
     If black or brown or a woman, or an Asian, or native citizen, I would have had a different sense of timing and patience. White privilege had me in blinders.
     I suspect of a lot of us have caught up with my brother's urgency and zeal. 

a portent?

     Most US citizens don't know what happened a century ago. Aside from the Spanish Influenza pandemic, the US lived through a period of bombings, mostly by anarchists. The root was economic inequality, and the efforts of workers to organize. There was a wide gulf in wealth, wages, living and working conditions.
     The LA Times was destroyed in a 1910 blast with immense legal and political fall out. 
      It was a time of division and working people were trying to even the playing field. The Attorney General responded by trying to kill the movement and labor organizations. What followed was a series of bombings that shook the nation. Political and national leaders were targets of mail bombs. Buildings were bombed. There was fear. 

      The situation has echoed several times in our history including during those turbulent 60's and 70's, the back drop of my brotherly debates.  
       Once, John was willing to give "the system a try."

     He "got clean for Gene" peace candidate Eugene McCarthy for whom he campaigned and worked as a body guard and driver for one of McCarthy's leading spokesmen, actor Paul Newman.
    But as 1968 played out, he found himself back on the other side of the police lines in Chicago at the Democrat national convention, where the "police rioted," as a presidential commission later reported.
    The Trump and Barr ordered rush at peaceful demonstrators at the White House was reminiscent of 1968. At our station in life we've see things a time or two. 

     In 1968 a prophet of peace and change and a man who practiced non-violence was gunned down. Martin Luther King Jr was killed by a racist. The US exploded and cities burned. Months later Robert Kennedy, arguing for a new way, for racial justice, was gunned down. There was more violence.
     All these years later it is still dangerous to be black in America. Inequalities and disadvantages and risks that are seeded in slavery, remain. The political system that I argued was a place for change is presently inhabited by a racist, fascist in the White House and pandering sycophants and racists in his party. 

experiment on

     Police officers take a knee with protestors, military heroes warn us about the danger of the president, while some bad cops brutalize for no good reason and some troublemakers try to ruin a movement for change. We are talking about American values and the use of Presidential power. It seems the lobby for litigating justice and prosecuting racism has been emboldened. 
    The American experiment is not over, but it's noisy, ugly and may get worse here in the lab.

  A democratic republic can be messy, it was intended to that way. More voices can drive us to reason. Participation is essential.
  The US is not perfection, it remains a work in progress, an experiment. Change is the life blood, the hope of our days. 

   See you down the trail.

   

Mounting Appeals

     I thank you for your patience over the last 10 years and 1,245 posts. We have not always agreed, the posts may not have been to your liking, but you have given me the kindness of your attention.
     In this post I come to you with a set of appeals, and, as is the case, the appeals are to a higher principle or value, or an effort to change a judgement or reality.

the list

•     An appeal for a place of history, just up the Pacific Coast Highway. It is a very special place.
•     An appeal to the Biden Campaign.
•     An appeal to Donald Trump
•     An appeal to you and the news media. We begin here.

a plea for perspective and proportionality

    covid-19 

      At this writing 101 thousand people in the US have died from Covid-19. Most have been horrible deaths, often alone, following terrible suffering. The attempt to save victims has overwhelmed some hospitals and has cost the life of medical personnel. 

     101 thousand deaths in three months=33,000 deaths a month.

     At this time 1.72 million cases have been reported and 365 thousand are reported to have recovered. Hold these numbers.

     Most of the stats are from the CDC and the calculations are estimates based on several years. 

     heart disease

    More than 647 thousand people in the US die from heart disease. That is 1 in 4 US deaths=53,916 deaths a month.

     cancer

    More than 606 thousand people in the US die from cancer=50,000 deaths a month

     stroke

    More than 140 thousand people in the US die from stroke=11,000 deaths a month

     alzheimer's disease

    More than 122 thousand people in the US die from Alzheimer's disease=10,000 deaths a month.

      influenza 80 thousand people in the US died from influenza last year=6,666 deaths a month.

     Covid-19 fatalities will increase. If it kills at the rate it has thus far, it will not be the most lethal disease on our shores.    
      It is a new and changing virus and it may prove to be more deadly than any disease. We are still not sure about legacy effects and so it needs study and research. You and I and the media can't help but pay attention.

     A raging, invisible enemy virus is too important a story to ignore. 

     But when the pandemic is under control, and/or when a vaccine or treatment drug is available, will there be dire reporting about the monthly or weekly toll of heart attacks, cancer, stroke, alzheimer's? 
    I'm not suggesting an equivalency. The virus has hit like an invasion and it kills, some, rapidly by comparison. 
     I wonder as some talk about "herd immunity" why we then don't also speak of "thinning the herd?"  It is an indelicate and insensitive thought, akin to "survival of the fittest" or, in my view, the detestable concept of Social Darwinism. But when a disease attacks the most vulnerable, the eldest, those with illness, it operates functionally as such. 
    In some some cultures, those least able to keep up are left behind. Today we hear people say reopening the economy puts some at risk.
     As the virus has killed, it has killed people of color and disadvantage disproportionately. There are reasons for that, but few seem interested in that discussion. That topic is much like the economic disparity the resulting pandemic recession has brought to light. There is much in the US that is not equal, despite our creeds otherwise.  

    If we care about the daily death toll of the virus, should we not also care about other killing illnesses? At this time they are more lethal and less likely to be halted by a vaccine. Certain clarifying truths have been revealed since Covid-19 attacked, and there is much about our for profit medical system, our ailing government, our strategic readiness, and our priorities that need attention.

     I'm appealing for perspective, and a sense of proportion.

attention biden campaign

     A thought about bona fides; there are resumes more impressive than mine, still I made a living covering politics. I was on campaign trails since 1968, covered conventions, moderated senate and gubernatorial debates, questioned presidents, was an on air analyst, have written and reported and documented. So consider this as worth two cents, or not.

     This speaks to two tracks, the election and then governance.

      It behooves Joe Biden to do early transition work and reach out for Cabinet members and key roles now. There is much to do to repair the damage of the last 4 years, at home and around the world. Works and strategies should be underway now. It also helps strengthen the campaign's appeal.

      If US voters can see the experience, stability and qualification of the Biden team, it helps to draw a clear picture of comparison. What is most appealing-calm, experience, and strategic or irrational, erratic and inexperienced bungling, compounded by deception?

      Mr. Biden and his advisors should be meeting with Speaker Pelosi and Senator Schumer collaborating on a legislative agenda. This is the time to work out the friction points and polish off the agenda for the first 100 days. 

      When congress convenes in 2021 a united Democrat effort, from the White House to Capitol Hill, should immediately jump into recovery from the pandemic's economic impact. 
       The Biden team should look closely at the FDR approach. Something like a new version of WPA could  put millions to work rebuilding infrastructure, roads, bridges, schools, sewer systems, neighborhoods and more. 
      What have we learned during the lockdown that might help to positively shape education, business, and a transactional culture? The Biden team should be on top that. 

      The Biden effort could tap Bill Gates to assemble a team of thinkers to advise the administration in how to embrace the technology and communication driven changes that are necessary in the Federal system and in the wider economy. The conundrum of a 21st Century population dealing with federal agencies that are still using 20th Century data and processing allows for fraud, waste, and results in things like  veterans having to wait for attention, or delays in getting small business loans processed, lack of oversight in how the Trump people are dumping millions to favored businesses and countless other problems. 

      It is an organizational as well as functional problem and the expertise and brilliance of innovative minds could make an impact. Think of it as a new generation of bright ideas.

      Biden should speak of the New Beginning, and set the vision for repairing the damage done by the stooges of the last 4 years. 

hit hard and often

      The campaign should hit Trump hard. It is effective to simply show video of his thousands of lies and his egregious behavior, and his traitor like sycophantic pandering with Putin and Kim. No one has held his feet to the fire because he is the master of slime and changing focus and he keeps putting a new bright shinning object out there to distract. 

      I appeal to the White House Press corp to continue to evince courage and to challenge lord blowhard and not let him prevaricate and lie. 

      The Biden campaign should unleash a full scale assault on the Trump deceptions, fraud, failure and his unfitness to lead. They should reach out to Republicans, true traditional Republicans, to help with the repudiation.

      This heavy work is to be done in the media, mainstream and social. No one should be able to turn on screen without seeing the dissembling of the Trump era.

target keys 

      As noted earlier there must be a full on campaign in those key swing counties and states. A majority of popular vote for Biden is likely, but the Trump path is in the key counties and precincts that could swing an electoral vote. 

     The Biden team should include, Sanders, Warren, Klobuchar, Castro, Harris, Booker, Buttigieg, Yang, at the very least. Let them campaign to those segments and regions where they have appeal.

      A good question to drive home time and time again in those traditional Democrat states that voted for Trump in 2016 is the old "Are you better off than you were" before Trump? Ask that to the coalminers for example. Just this week it was announced that 13 coal mines are closing. This on the watch of the man who was going to open the mines. Remember the video of him shoveling and crowing about how he was going to reopen the mines? There is a lot of that sort of thing available. 

      His shamelessness can be used against him, by the media team, while Joe and his administration team explain how they will rebuild and repair and recover and make a New Beginning. 

an appeal for an historic piece of california

   Just up the road from this iconic view of Big Sur is bit of California hospitality that has enchanted visitors since the 1930s.

     I have avoided doing pitches or appeals, so this is an exception to my rule. At the bottom of this post is a piece from Deetjen's Inn. It tells of the history and the struggles they face.
    I provide just one more space for their outreach.

    These images are from a family outing and stay at the funky, eclectic Big Sur institution. 

    Since our grand daughter was with us, we took this cabin. Mom and kid down, Lana and I took the upstairs, in the trees. 

         The dining room is legendary itself. It is not unusual for people to book a stay, just to dine.

   The grounds offer trails and places to walk and meditate in the red woods. 

     At night the cozy charm almost glows. 

      

Deetjen's Big Sur Inn Needs You Now!

For years Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn has weathered fires and floods, mudslides and crashing trees, and we have survived. The crisis surrounding Covid-19 and the sweeping Federal, State, and local states-of-emergency is being felt nationwide and it pains me to have to ask for help during this impossible time. Today, I am writing to you from a place of uncertainty. Today, Deetjen’s needs you! DONATE NOW If you have ever loved a pancake, a cup of coffee, an Eggs Benedict, or a candle-lit dinner, a glass of wine, a fire-warmed room on a rainy night, or have been welcomed to the Inn just passing through, I am appealing to you. If you have a memory of the first time you ever came to Deetjen’s in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, 00’s, or 2010’s, I am appealing to you. On March 20, 2020 we closed our doors to guests and sent most of our team home. We asked ourselves: how long can we stay closed, who can we support right now, and what will it take to get back opened. Like everyone, we wondered “how long will this take?” And like everyone, we have very few answers. Our considerations are, first and foremost, for the health and safety of our staff, our guests, and our community. We are in constant deliberation and engaged in very challenging decision making to ensure that we can reopen the Inn. In 2016 the Soberanes fire interrupted business at Deetjen’s and in 2017 Deetjen’s was closed for 8 months as a result of the failure of the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge and subsequent closing of Highway One and then in the devastating winter of 2016/2017 Deetjen’s lost 4 guest rooms to falling trees. In addition to the destruction of our rooms, in December 2017 the IRS reviewed our 501(c)3 non-profit status. In January of 2020 the IRS returned with our affirmation, the mission and related non-profit status of Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn was upheld. Deetjen’s was able to reopen its doors in October of 2017 because of generous support from our community and from the worldwide Deetjen’s family. Though reconstruction was permitted in December and finally commenced in January 2020, Deetjen’s has never fully recovered from the previous years’ losses.  For more information about Deetjens Big Sur Inn Preservation Foundation Inc. visit our website at www.Deetjens.com In Service to the Inn,  Deetjen's Big Sur Inn Friends and Family  DONATE NOW Deetjens Big Sur Inn Preservation Foundation, Inc is a 501(c)3 Non Profit Charitable Organization. Activities include lodging to the public to visit and experience the historic location in authentic, historic and original redwood cabins, with educational activities, experiences, and tours.  California Residents Disclosure: The non-profit status with the state of California Franchise Tax Board remains unresolved for the time being and itemized deductions of contributions will be permissible on your federal return, but possibly not on your California state return (unless we can get FTB straightened up before the end of the year).

Donate Now!

       

   the appeal to trump

    Find a reason to go away. Blame it on the deep state conspiracy that created the pandemic just to ruin your reign.

Blame Obama, Hilary, Comey, and all of the fake media for setting out to get you. Just leave, quit, go back to your faux palace and gold leaf toilets. 

    There is a reason why some 50 high Republicans warned us about you. As they said in August of 2016 you are unfit, unqualified and you lack the character to lead. You have proven that every day.  They said you would be dangerous, and you have been.  

     The people who were once decent Republicans would be so much better served if you left now, blame it on those bad bone spurs. Tell us that Obama snuck into the White House and put drill worms in your ears. Tell us that Melania is worried about how Mike Pence looks at her. Anything, just say it. Tell us you are going to invent a new florescent suppository that will cure the next pandemic the Deep State will unleash. Maybe you've already said all of that. I'm like millions of others, we just don't listen anymore. The country is over you. 

     Let your buddy Mr. Mannequin have his day in the sun.  Tell us you made America great again and did everything to make it all perfect, and then just shrink away. That would be beautiful, just beautiful. You know, that's what we're hearing, that's what people are saying. Now, just go.

      Take care of each other.
       See you down the trail.