TRUMP, REPUBLICANS, ME AND KAYAKING

 As soon as we rounded the tip of the point, we were in the washing machine of wind, waves and tide all colliding in one space. The strategy for paddling in this kind of water is to keep your nose into the waves and paddle like there is no tomorrow. A strong westerly wind was blowing upstream (east) and the waves it produced were at least 3 feet tall and mostly coming straight up-river. I say mostly because some waves were reflecting off Tongue Point and coming crosswise, while others occasionally came at us from the other side. I fell into a rhythm of steady and long paddle strokes, focused on keeping my paddle blade in the water and my nose into the waves, watching the bow of my kayak come off the top of a wave so that 1/3 or more of the boat was in the air, and then plunging into the trough and disappearing below the next wave until it suddenly lifted clear again. Sometimes the nose of the boat would go below water far enough that my waist was almost in the water; this is when a paddler appreciates a drysuit and a well-fitting spray skirt!

I clearly remember to this day the wave that suddenly reared up to my right heading straight for me and slapped me across the face. I didn't see that one coming, but it was very refreshing. What a wild ride, what a fun time, what a lot of work!

This excerpt is from my journal of a 90-mile paddling trip from Portland to Astoria, Oregon, on the Columbia River. And you, dear reader, are wondering what this has to do with Trump and the Republicans. And I'll tell you. 

For the past four years, we have been in the washing machine of Trumpism, tumbling daily between reality and fantasy, truth and lies, normalcy and outrageously abnormalcy. Finally - finally - we had an election and Donald Trump was given his pink slip, his boot in the ass, and shown the door. And yet (which has become a favorite term of mine recently), here we are, nine days after the election, Joe Biden clearly the winner, and Donald Trump refusing to accept defeat. Worse yet, his Republican cronies, his enablers, have his back! What shall we good people of America do?

I know certain things from my many years of paddling a kayak on big rivers and tidal bays. These things are reflexive now. I have been in situations, such as that described above, where there is no time or purpose for worrying, for fretting, for trying to analyze the future. If reflex and determination and persistence do not take over the "deep doo-doo" can be very, very serious. 

So this is what we good people of America need to do: stay focused, keep our noses into the wind, paddle with strength and determination, trust that our vessel is sound and designed to stay afloat, and keep the goal in sight and mind. Sure, some rogue wave might slap us in the face, but it will only make us that much more resolved to move forward. We will get to our destination, and yes, we will be tired but joyful. 

Donald Trump will be gone in January, 2021. If we persist, if we stay strong and focused, if we see our goal as a better America, we will not be defeated. This I know.

My buddy Dave and I did conquer everything the mighty Columbia threw at us that day, and arrived tired, safe, and joyful in Astoria. Let's all work together to conquer the dark and turbulent politics of our time, and arrive safely in a different place. 

(I did not paddle again after that trip for three years, until I had shoulder surgery. And I can't think of a good analogy for that!)

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PLASTIC BAGS: THEY’RE BACK!

This is a plastic bag that our groceries came in when we did a pickup at Safeway recently. It surprised me, because we have a plastic bag ban in Portland, as well as the State of Oregon. So, um, what the....?

I have not done any research; however, it is obvious that this is considered a reusable bag - it even says so on the bag. This bag is very thick plastic (HDPE) and the text on it says that it can be used at least 125 times. It can be recycled by returning it to the store, so it says on the bag.

This bag seems no different from many of the plastic reusable shopping bags we already have, unless those are made from recycled plastic (these do not appear to be). These are pleated on the bottom, so the stand by themselves when loaded with items. My own reading has led me to believe that, in many instances, plastic could be better environmentally than shopping bags made of cloth or other materials. But that’s a longer post, which I might do someday. 

So, yes, we kept these nice, heavy-duty plastic bags, and will reuse them for a variety of things. For now, during the pandemic, we are not doing our own shopping, so we order on-line and pick up the order curbside at the store. These orders typically come in paper grocery bags, and because I have a garage full of those, the new ones immediately go into the recycling bin. Seems kind of wasteful to me.  

So plastic is back. OK, I’m down with it!

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SHOULD WE WISH WHITE HOUSE FOLKS WELL IF THEY CONTRACT COVID-19?

As reported on October 25, 2020, “We’re not going to control the pandemic,” White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.” 

Meadows argued that the administration wouldn’t get the pandemic under control “because it is a contagious virus, just like the flu.”

He also said Americans, including the president, should “certainly” follow CDC guidelines, but when it comes to wearing masks at rallies, he said, it’s not mandated because “we live in a free society.”

(Source:https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/25/white-house-chief-of-staff-controlpandemic-432236)

A few days ago, it was announced that Mr. Meadows, the White House Chief of Staff, had tested positive for the coronavirus. A number of other people in the White House have also tested positive in the past week, and this adds to the people, including the President, his wife and youngest son, who have tested positive. 

Everyone on the news programs we watch - MSNBC and CNN - and NPR have made the requisite statement that they wish Mark Meadows well, or don't wish him ill, or similar. But you know what, this sticks in my craw! These folks such as Meadows have bought into a herd immunity strategy that is now the official policy of the Trump administration. So basically, he has contracted the disease because that is the plan - everyone should contract the disease and then it will simply go away. 

So here's what I wish the media folks would do: if they are going to report that people in the White House or the administration have tested positive for COVID-19, they should lead with the fact that the White House pandemic strategy is that everyone should contract the virus. Then they should not wish these folks well, they should congratulate them for complying with the administrations pandemic policy! (Keep in mind that these folks knowingly expose thousands of people to the virus.)

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AMERICAN POLITICS AS WAR: A THOUGHT EXPERIMENT

 The 2020 election is over (yes, Donald, it is), and we now move into a new phase of American history. Here's a thought experiment that could help put things into perspective.

Let's say we think about American politics as war, with two opposing sides battling for dominance. There is trench warfare - in the Congress and state legislatures - and there are major battles every two years, and very major battles every four years.

One side just won a very major battle and will control the Executive branch of government. So let's talk about winners and losers.

When a war is won, a peace treaty is usually agreed upon by both (or all) sides. Often, the winner will agree to help the loser rebuild its economy, infrastructure and other aspects of its society that were damaged or destroyed by the war. And so we can expect the new administration to offer assistance to the people on the losing side in the form of stimulus money, economic development, health care (especially regarding the current pandemic) educational assistance, &c. In other words, give things to the losing side that will hopefully help them salve their resentment towards the winners.

There is a major problem with this analogy of war and politics; the losers didn't really lose. Unlike the period after a war, the losers (Republicans)  still have all of their military leaders in place (in politics this is the electeds), and, importantly, their propaganda machinery is still cranking out the propaganda (in this analogy, Fox News and its ilk). The losing side still controls the judicial system (judges appointed by Trump). And so the analogy breaks down. 

The important point of this thought experiment is this: the Democrats won a major battle, but the war rages on. Without some kind of peace treaty between the two political sides, we can expect the battles to rage on. If very recent history tells us anything, one of the generals on the losing side (Mitch McConnell) will rally his troops to resist any kind of cooperation or collaboration with "the enemy." As the war continues, citizens on all sides will be the ones who suffer, except for the very wealthy class, who fund the generals. 

In a rational society, everyone would understand that politics is not war, and that governance is an activity in which all sides work together, always with some disagreements, to find a path forward that improves society. The job description of members of the U.S. Congress is simple, as stated in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. The Congress "...shall have Power To...provide for the common Defense and General welfare of the United States...." The Section contains a list of Congressional Powers, all of which pertain to providing for the common Defense and the general Welfare. Nowhere does the Constitution state that elected members of Congress must swear to defend their political party; in fact, the oath taken by members of Congress has them swear to "support" the Constitution of the United States (see Article VI). 

President-elect Biden and many others stress that the great divide in our country has to be healed. This can only happen through leadership at many levels. Unfortunately, the Congress of the United States, the legislative body that was established to provide for the general welfare of the country, has devolved into partisan warfare, and the general welfare has suffered greatly. This has to stop. Partisanship in Congress, and the Executive Branch, leads to partisanship among citizens. 

On January 20, 2021, then President Joe Biden will have a daunting set of tasks before him. He alone will not be able to heal the divisions in this country; only the combined efforts of all members of Congress can accomplish that task. Perhaps that is a fever dream. 

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UM, WHERE AM I?

Everyone I know woke up the morning after the election, looked at the 2020 election results so far, and said aloud and posted on their social media feed, "Where the eff am I? What happened to my country?"

Yes, everyone I know is a coastal elite (whether or not they live on a coast). We were certain - CERTAIN - that after four years of abuse, most Americans would repudiate Donald Trump and everything he stands for. But no. 

As of this moment (November 5, 2020; 08:16 AM (Pacific time), 68,538,176 Americans have voted for Donald J. Trump. Joe Biden has 71,414,442 and is (hopefully) closing in on the magic 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency (he has 253 compared to Donald's 214). 

That's right, sixty-eight million five hundred thirty eight thousand one hundred and seventy six Americans think Donald Trump deserves another four years in the office of President. This is astounding! 

Joe is saying the right things about healing, about being President of all Americans, about finding common ground, about going back to what America stands for while moving forward. But everything seems different now, and the United States of the future will never be something it was before. Various terms are are floating around in our heads: culture wars, civil war, unbridgeable divide. We are all mostly in bubbles of likeness, perpetuated by social media (anti-social media is what I call it) and the mostly partisan news sources we watch and read. 

Do people in Redlandia and those on Bluelandia have values that are so dissimilar that we will never come together? Will we always be divided by narratives - often false - that become fortified mantras? I'm a devoted cynic. No matter how cynical I get, I just can't keep up (thanks Lily Tomlin). But there is hope, and it will require great effort. The hope is founded on changing our behaviors, something we have the innate capacity to do, but usually the mind set to resist. In a recent post I talked about where we humans are in the process of evolution, and I wondered if intelligence is the end point of natural evolution, and the beginning of conscious evolution. We can change our behaviors if we want to. 

And by the way, my map, above, is obviously a great over-simplification. There are many blue folks in red territory, and red in blue. The urban-rural divide is real and a major factor. We have serious issues to deal with, and the best thing we can do is get started.

Now...how will we connect the disparate parts of Bluelandia? High-speed rail? Solar-powered airplanes? Hmmm.....

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