EDIT & REWRITE

        When I finish a written piece I give it a rest, often the next day I can come back to it with new eyes. My experience is that everything I write can be improved with an edit and revision. Sometimes you realize the story you wrote to begin with was not the story you were after and a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th rewrite is necessary. After so many rewrites the story may take on a new life. I started writing this piece over a week ago and have edited & rewritten so many times it doesn’t resemble the first draft. 

I tend to stay away from political issues and politicians but I will speak to that here. It should be no secret that I lean to the left so no surprises there. I don’t think political parties are so much the issue but rather the Conservative vs. Liberal chasm that separates them. Both major political parties have been around since before the Civil War but their finger prints have changed with the times. Two hundred years ago (1820’s) the Republican North enjoyed a booming economy with big banks and heavy industry. They were Conservative in their business but relatively liberal in social policy and practice. Southerners were Democrats, extremely conservative in both business and social custom, especially with slavery. At the time Democrats were at odds with big business and banks that patronized the South.

Back in the mid 1700’s the British colonies couldn’t get along with each other for the same reasons and getting them to cooperate against the British (1776) was unprecedented. Getting a constitution written that would satisfy both sides was accomplished only by vague language on thorny issues that could be argued convincingly from either side; to be ironed out after the war but was never resolved. So the constitution we love so much is still too vague to negotiate. 

After the Civil War ended (1865) Lincoln was murdered and his Vice President took his place, a Southern Democrat who pardoned the South for Civil War crimes (1865). The nation wanted to put the war behind them and launched “Manifest Destiny” a major push to expand our borders and influence from the Canadian border south into Mexico and westward to the Pacific. That new adventure superseded any measure of reconstruction in the South. The Confederacy lost the war but dodged the bullet. They came back as strong as before with Jim Crow segregation and vigilante (KKK) violence. 

One hundred years later (1965) a Democrat administration (LBJ) passed Civil Rights legislation that enraged Southern Democrats. Their response was to abandon the Democratic party in favor of a more conservative Republican party. White supremacy had overtaken economic issues and southerners felt much better in the Republican camp. Now, sixty years after Civil Rights, people of color are still struggling against prejudicial policy and practice. White privilege is still very real. Political parties can change colors but philosophy and ideology tend to stand fast. Rather than debate parties by their names I will speak to values, ideals and practice that are embraced in either Conservative or Liberal camps.

Donald Trump served as President (2016-2020). He pleased evangelical Christians with his Supreme Court appointments and rewarded powerful (rich) cohorts with tax breaks worth $$-millions. His flamboyant distractions kept his base onboard but a self-serving legacy of unfulfilled promises, confirmed untruths, pandemic denial and an appetite for self edification will never be reconciled. 

Obviously, I am not one of his supporters. I thought Joe Biden was unfit for another term and I was along with many other Americans, facing a lose-lose situation where the options were either Bad or Worse. When sleepy Joe conceded his spot on the ballot to a powerful, young, highly qualified woman of color I was restored with new Hope. She earned her stripes through decades of serving the public. That sets her apart from her opponent who has never sacrificed anything for anybody. The Trump Brand is the only thing he worships. In all my life I have never thrown money at a political candidate but the other day I did just that. When I dropped that envelope into the outgoing mail I caught myself smiling. 

        I cannot get my head around the belief that poverty is the punishment for being lazy or stupid. I think that individuals can have too much money and that you don’t make helpless people more helpless by helping them. Competition should be for bettering the product and a just reward, not cornering the market and hostile takeovers. I think Liberty is being confused with License, to do anything you can get away with, whatever it takes. At the end of the day the idea of equity and parity are noble virtues but they don't come from raising the ceiling, it comes from raising the floor. 

I am an old man, 85 last week; one of those high-risk covid people Trump said were going to die anyway. I’m through insulting him with truth and I’d rather have nothing to do with him or his malcontent followers. Make America Great Again: get serious. That greatness started falling apart shortly after Columbus landed in 1492. Actually, all I really wanted to do here today was to let people know what it is that makes me smile.