Hope is a journey, not a destination

Despite Coronavirus, the Dow Jones dumping a lot of its value and the ill-advised creation of the movie “Cats” we really are living in the best of times for most of the world.

It may not seem that way, in fact, all you have to do is go to any web “news” site like CNN, MSNBC, FOX, Drudgereport — you name it.  If you do, prepare to have your blood pressure go up and thinking to yourself that you should have built that bomb shelter or moved to rural Idaho a long time ago.

I get it.  It’s awfully scary out there in a lot of ways.  It’s hard to grasp how to deal with any of it.  Which makes it even scarier.  In the absence of information to help you deal with diseases and finance and which movies to really see at the theater and those to watch at home how is someone to cope in today’s world?

That’s why I wrote this piece.

I’m here to help you.  All of you.  And, it won’t cost you a thing except your time.

Help Somebody Who Needs Help:  It’s easy.  Instead of focusing on your own problems spend some time helping somebody else deal with their problems.  Go online and instead of typing in “What crazy disease should I worry about today” type in “Volunteer Opportunities in my community.”  Find someone who is worth your time instead of the website that’s going to waste your time.  Deliver a meal.  Pack food for someone in the world who needs to eat.  Help build a home.  Walk a dog.  Stuff an envelope.  But do something.

Say “Good Morning” on the elevator: Or, smile at someone on the street.  Hold the door open for someone.  Ask somebody if they’re okay.  Talk to the person on the bus who wants to talk when you don’t want to talk.  Engage in some meaningful way with someone.  Thank the person who cleans your office with a note.  The person who cleans your hotel with a tip.  Call or email someone you had a fight with and see if you can’t make amends.  Human kindness starts with human interaction.

Vote in an election:  Who cares what you stand for, your ideology or who you support or don’t support, empower yourself to empower your life.  Go to the polls.  Maybe you go vote in Super Tuesday.  It’s easy.  Even if you have never voted before.  If you live in Minnesota and have never voted before you can vote on Election Day.  Just follow this link to learn how:  https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/register-to-vote/register-on-election-day/ And here’s the thing, whether the candidate you voted for won or lost here’s what absolutely did win:  Democracy and you!  And, for those of us living in a democracy that’s a really big deal!

Eat the KFC Chicken and Donut Sandwich:  Trust me, I know it’s bad for me.  I know that it is really, really bad for me.  But, you know what?  Who cares?  Eat it.  Or, eat something else that you know you shouldn’t eat but you want to eat.  We have become so obsessed with how we look or how we are supposed to look or what someone thinks of how we look that we have stopped using our heads when it comes to food.  It’s not the one KFC Chicken and Donut Sandwich that’s going to kill you.  It’s the fact we don’t get out and walk and do even the mildest of exercise.  Eat the food.  Do the walk.  Simple as that.

Do some damn research:  If you’re going to go online today, go online to learn something.  Not to prove that you’re right about whatever bias you have about this, that or the other thing.  If Coronavirus is freaking you out, go to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and learn how to protect yourself and your family: https://bit.ly/2uQdgko If you want to know if what somebody said about this person, that person or someone else is true, spend 15 minutes doing the research to see if any of it is true.  Learn something about something you think even if what you find out means you are wrong.  If it’s worth the thinking you have put into it then it should be worth the time to find out if it’s right or wrong.

Pray:  You don’t need to pray to save the world but if you do that’s cool, too.  Pray to save yourself.  Pray to keep your cool.  Pray to send a message to G-d that He still matters in your life and the world.  Pray to send peace to people you know and those you don’t. It’s easy.  Close your eyes — or don’t– and simply Pray.  Don’t believe in G-d?  That doesn’t mean you can’t pray.  Don’t like calling it prayer?  Fine!  Call it meditation.  Call it murmuring, whispering or humming.  But, find a minute or more and do whatever it is that you call Prayer in your life and do it.

Cry.  Breathe.  Relax.  Make a Call:  It’s a world of 8 billion people out there.  It can get cold and scary and even with all those people we can all feel alone at times.  It’s okay.  Being scared, afraid, anxious and alone it’s what we all do in our lives.  It’s also okay to cry.  To breathe.  To relax.  Whether anybody’s watching or not doesn’t matter.  Take the time you need to do it.  Make the time you need to do it.  If you feel things are too much to handle then pick up your phone and call this Suicide Prevention Hotline number:  1-800-273-8255  Whether suicide is on your mind or not maybe you just need to make the call to ask somebody to help you be okay.  If you can’t call that number, then call my number at 651-600-1188.  You matter.  You matter to you.  You matter to the world.  You matter to me.  

Friends, we are all in this shit show together.  Life is what we all share in common.

While the CDC and others are telling us not to shake hands or hold hands or sneeze in one another’s face, that doesn’t mean we can’t find other ways to be in this together in a way to help one another.

Be smart out there in the world.  Make good choices.  Do things that matter to someone else.  Do things that matter to yourself.

We will get through this day.  All crisis pass.  There are more good days than bad days in this life.

You matter.  You matter to you.  You matter to the world.  You matter to me.

 

Despite Coronavirus, the Dow Jones dumping a lot of its value and the ill-advised creation of the movie “Cats” we really are living in the best of times for most of the world.

It may not seem that way, in fact, all you have to do is go to any web “news” site like CNN, MSNBC, FOX, Drudgereport — you name it.  If you do, prepare to have your blood pressure go up and thinking to yourself that you should have built that bomb shelter or moved to rural Idaho a long time ago.

I get it.  It’s awfully scary out there in a lot of ways.  It’s hard to grasp how to deal with any of it.  Which makes it even scarier.  In the absence of information to help you deal with diseases and finance and which movies to really see at the theater and those to watch at home how is someone to cope in today’s world?

That’s why I wrote this piece.

I’m here to help you.  All of you.  And, it won’t cost you a thing except your time.

Help Somebody Who Needs Help:  It’s easy.  Instead of focusing on your own problems spend some time helping somebody else deal with their problems.  Go online and instead of typing in “What crazy disease should I worry about today” type in “Volunteer Opportunities in my community.”  Find someone who is worth your time instead of the website that’s going to waste your time.  Deliver a meal.  Pack food for someone in the world who needs to eat.  Help build a home.  Walk a dog.  Stuff an envelope.  But do something.

Say “Good Morning” on the elevator: Or, smile at someone on the street.  Hold the door open for someone.  Ask somebody if they’re okay.  Talk to the person on the bus who wants to talk when you don’t want to talk.  Engage in some meaningful way with someone.  Thank the person who cleans your office with a note.  The person who cleans your hotel with a tip.  Call or email someone you had a fight with and see if you can’t make amends.  Human kindness starts with human interaction.

Vote in an election:  Who cares what you stand for, your ideology or who you support or don’t support, empower yourself to empower your life.  Go to the polls.  Maybe you go vote in Super Tuesday.  It’s easy.  Even if you have never voted before.  If you live in Minnesota and have never voted before you can vote on Election Day.  Just follow this link to learn how:  https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/register-to-vote/register-on-election-day/ And here’s the thing, whether the candidate you voted for won or lost here’s what absolutely did win:  Democracy and you!  And, for those of us living in a democracy that’s a really big deal!

Eat the KFC Chicken and Donut Sandwich:  Trust me, I know it’s bad for me.  I know that it is really, really bad for me.  But, you know what?  Who cares?  Eat it.  Or, eat something else that you know you shouldn’t eat but you want to eat.  We have become so obsessed with how we look or how we are supposed to look or what someone thinks of how we look that we have stopped using our heads when it comes to food.  It’s not the one KFC Chicken and Donut Sandwich that’s going to kill you.  It’s the fact we don’t get out and walk and do even the mildest of exercise.  Eat the food.  Do the walk.  Simple as that.

Do some damn research:  If you’re going to go online today, go online to learn something.  Not to prove that you’re right about whatever bias you have about this, that or the other thing.  If Coronavirus is freaking you out, go to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and learn how to protect yourself and your family: https://bit.ly/2uQdgko If you want to know if what somebody said about this person, that person or someone else is true, spend 15 minutes doing the research to see if any of it is true.  Learn something about something you think even if what you find out means you are wrong.  If it’s worth the thinking you have put into it then it should be worth the time to find out if it’s right or wrong.

Pray:  You don’t need to pray to save the world but if you do that’s cool, too.  Pray to save yourself.  Pray to keep your cool.  Pray to send a message to G-d that He still matters in your life and the world.  Pray to send peace to people you know and those you don’t. It’s easy.  Close your eyes — or don’t– and simply Pray.  Don’t believe in G-d?  That doesn’t mean you can’t pray.  Don’t like calling it prayer?  Fine!  Call it meditation.  Call it murmuring, whispering or humming.  But, find a minute or more and do whatever it is that you call Prayer in your life and do it.

Cry.  Breathe.  Relax.  Make a Call:  It’s a world of 8 billion people out there.  It can get cold and scary and even with all those people we can all feel alone at times.  It’s okay.  Being scared, afraid, anxious and alone it’s what we all do in our lives.  It’s also okay to cry.  To breathe.  To relax.  Whether anybody’s watching or not doesn’t matter.  Take the time you need to do it.  Make the time you need to do it.  If you feel things are too much to handle then pick up your phone and call this Suicide Prevention Hotline number:  1-800-273-8255  Whether suicide is on your mind or not maybe you just need to make the call to ask somebody to help you be okay.  If you can’t call that number, then call my number at 651-600-1188.  You matter.  You matter to you.  You matter to the world.  You matter to me.  

Friends, we are all in this shit show together.  Life is what we all share in common.

While the CDC and others are telling us not to shake hands or hold hands or sneeze in one another’s face, that doesn’t mean we can’t find other ways to be in this together in a way to help one another.

Be smart out there in the world.  Make good choices.  Do things that matter to someone else.  Do things that matter to yourself.

We will get through this day.  All crisis pass.  There are more good days than bad days in this life.

You matter.  You matter to you.  You matter to the world.  You matter to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t watch much “news” these days on television — nor do I find myself taking for granted that what I read or hear in the newspapers, online or on the radio is the “God’s Honest Truth” when it comes to consuming information.

As I write this it is important for me to emphasize that I deeply believe that America needs a robust, credible and aggressive 4th Estate.

There is nothing that holds truth to power more fully than an independent media that is believed by free people to be the indispensable purveyor of — the truth.

I also deeply believe that our national media is broken, dysfunctional and more often than not creates a further chasm between itself and the public that desperately wants to know — the truth.

Sadly, on a local level, our media suffers as well from an existence in which its subscribers, viewers and listeners can rarely distinguish fact from opinion and news from analysis.

The recent dust-up at Twin Cities Public Televison (TPT) underscores so much of what is wrong with our news media today.

When confronted with the fact that the news organization (let me emphasize that term: News Organization) deleted a portion of an interview with the powerful spouse of our powerful Minnesota Governor, Gwen Walz it wasn’t the “crime” it was the “cover-up” that has done in their credibility.

What has further harmed that credibility is their decision to “investigate” the incident and give two of the individuals involved with the incident an opportunity to give their perspective.

I say “two of the individuals” rather than “three people who were prominent…” in the story because the story is wholly incomplete, as is the reporting of the story.

The fact is, there was no viewing of any interview with the “…public relations…” firm that was involved with the event …the person who ordered the deletion of the video…or, for that matter, the person who actually deleted the video.

So many people who would have been in the chain of events beginning with a debate over the video itself — including those who had any role in its deletion–were either left on the sidelines or ignored.

Instead, there was an interview with the Event Moderator- Toussaint Morrison and TPT President of TPT Jim Pagliarini.

Morrison gives a compelling argument that the decision to delete the video is a clear example of white privilege and the powerful protecting one another when confronted with something that makes them uncomfortable.

Pagliarini gives a coherent and cogent impression of Donald Trump explaining why it is okay for him to change the rules of journalism’s relationship with the truth as long as it comports with his narrative.

The interviewer, David Gillette, is earnest but then proceeds to fail to poke and prod Pagliarini with questions about how the deletion of the video came to happen — what role did he play – and more importantly, what is the actual timeline of how all this happened and who was involved: “What did you know and when did you know it?”

Instead, he spends valuable time asking Pagliarini if he owes people an apology — and asking Morrison if an apology is deserved.

To the former, the answer was “No” and to the latter the answer was more along the lines of “Who cares about an apology; admit the truth.”

I know many people who work in journalism. There are far more of them that I know care deeply about their work, the institution and their obligation to help inform the public.

But, I also know they are in a war in which each battle is being more and more informed by decisions made above their pay-grade and a further deterioration of the lines between being a reporter and being a celebrity.

The rise of Twitter and the use of it by journalists to air their own personal political opinions and beefs with people, big and small, has destroyed the fragile concept that there is any objectivity in news that is reported by those individuals.

Cable news and talk radio has journalists competing with one another to be more outrageous — more compelling — more “human” — more outraged than the competition.

As I wrote to a friend on Facebook recently the most abused phrases and words in journalism reporting today are “May have..”. “Could have…” “Might be…” “Potentially could..” “Some have suggested..”

And the list goes on.

TPT-PBS messed up. It’s not important to know which “division” of the news organization screwed up. It’s important to acknowledge that it failed to live up to its obligation as a news organization.

It failed to be a trusted conveyor of the truth to the people it is accountable to: The public.

It failed to be trusted — it failed to say “No” to the powerful — it failed to stop its own powerful from catering to the powerful — it simply failed.

This is an important thought to consider: If any of the participants during the taping of the now deleted segment had uttered a racist comment–committed a crime–or admitted to a crime–would the station have so quickly deleted it?

I think not.

I am politically and ideologically unaligned at this stage of my life. My partisanship is to America — not to a party.

I fear more for America from the decay of our institution of the 4th Estate than I do with what the President or any member of Congress does — or does not — do in the conduct of their office.

I fear that our local media institutions don’t hold our local elected officials to account for their abuse of power and their deliberate attempts to avoid transparency.

Truth be told, I believe the disintegration of a robust local media is more of a danger to American Democracy than our national media.

The impact of the decisions made by Governors, State Legislators, Mayors, City Councils and County Boards do more to influence our lives than any act of Congress or a President.

Sadly, the question “If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is there does it make any noise?”can now be be rephrased to “If a City Council acts against the interests of the public and the press isn’t there does it make any difference?”

I fear our national media institutions have become impotent and irrelevant and consumed with their own celebrity. One cannot go onto a CNN, MSNBC or FOX internet news site and tell the difference between a “news” story and “analysis.”

People who used to spend a career and a lifetime becoming journalists are replaced by people who test well on television – who have extended their 15 minutes of fame into a television talk show — or done something unremarkable to the advancement of the journalism profession.

It’s not too late for our local media and news organizations to get back into the fight for American Democracy.

TPT-PBS can help lead the way and in doing so restore depth back to its self-professed claim to be a news organization.

It can start — not with an apology — but with an admission: We failed to report the news because we were more concerned with holding ourselves close to power than we were to holding truth to power.

It may not seem like it, but the 2020 Presidential Election is more than a year away.

More than enough time for all of us to spend more time fishing, going on vacation, seeing a movie – pretty much anything else other than thinking about an election!

Alas, such is the nature of our politics today that the day after every election becomes the start of the next election.

It used to be conventional wisdom that nobody paid attention to what was going on in an election until after Labor Day.

But, like most things that used to be a certain way the times have changed and with them our media’s never-ending fascination with all thing politics.

Such is the case with the all-consuming debate coverage taking place as Democrats running for President jostle their way onto a stage in which there are so many candidates that there isn’t enough time for any of them to substantively address issues they want to raise.

In order to get on that stage candidates are forced into a game in which they must prove they “deserve” a spot on the platform by “earning” it with proving they have secured financial support from tens of thousands of individual “unique” donors.

Billionaire candidate Tom Steyer who could, if he chooses to, self-fund his entire campaign even found himself pleading for people to donate money to him to get on that stage.

I suppose there is no perfect process for the party given the fact that there are currently 19 candidates who feel they have the chops to be the Democratic nominee to challenge President Trump in election that will be held over 400 days from now.

To be candid, I’m less interested in their process of choosing candidates than I am in how we choose our next President.

Specifically, I am more interested in the debate system that we use in this country to give our candidates for President the opportunity to share their vision, ideas and policies that will comprise the direction of their Administration should they be elected.

Watching any portion of the Democratic Debates one cannot feel for those candidates whether you agree with their ideas or not.

They are put in the position of attacking one another on issues in which they have virtually no differences in opinion – and on matters of policy they are separated mostly by differences of approach.

As more than one person I have heard describe them, the debates have become politics version of “The Hunger Games”  — hardly a positive process to select the candidate for President of any political party.

Debate “moderators” have as much to win – or lose – in their performance as the candidates themselves.

Far too often they deliberately set-up a confrontation between candidates with baiting questions such as “So, Candidate X your opponent, Candidate Y, says you don’t know what you’re talking about.  What is your reaction to that attack?”

Then, Candidate X and Y spend 10 minutes going back and forth accusing one another of saying bad things about the other while the rest of the candidates jump up and down on stage  — desperate to get a word in edge wise.

When the debate is done the “analysts” then pick the winners based on who seemed to be livelier in their defense of themselves – or the attack on another – and, of course, who had the best one-liner of the night.

This is no way to pick a candidate for President!

Which is why I propose a different approach to our Presidential Debates once each party officially nominates their candidate for President.

Rather than have media personalities “moderate” these debates I believe we should have President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama serve as Moderators for the next Presidential Debates.

After all, who knows more about what it takes to become President – and to be President – than our two most recent former Presidents?

And, shouldn’t we really want a debate about the issues rather than the personalities of our candidates for President?

Imagine a debate in which two former Presidents can frame the questions and challenge each candidate about their answers, policies  and approaches to governance.

Instead of allowing for canned answers and clever one-liners the candidates would be confronted by two former Presidents who know the difference between the rhetoric or reality.

What does Rush Limbaugh or Anderson Cooper or Sean Hannity or Rachel Maddow know about being President?

Other than what they imagine the role of President is or what the President does each day none of those media folks, or others who will be chosen to moderate future debates, has any clue of what it takes to be the President of the United States of America.

We are fortunate to have two former Presidents – one of each party – who can bring their own experiences to the debate.

Let them formulate the rules and the questions.

Don’t let the media or parties define the rules and regulations of the debates.

Let those who have done the job before be the ones that come up with the rules for how the debates will be moderated and let the press and the parties accept their decision.

If we believe in the power and importance of our democratic process, including the process that leads up to how we select our President, let’s have the most qualified people in America be the ones asking the candidates the questions.

Now that’s a debate worth having in this country!

 

Lost within the increasingly shrill debates about the President’s insistence that there be tanks on the Capitol Mall for the 4th of July, the childish rationalization by the St. Louis Park, Minnesota City Council to ban the Pledge of Allegiance and Saint Paul, Minnesota Mayor Melvin Carter’s petty decision to forego fireworks in the state’s Capitol City is this: American’s have a choice.

That’s right.  Unlike Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea and a list of other nations, Americans have a choice whether to accept the view of the world of these elected officials.

On this 4th of July one doesn’t have to work too hard to understand a galvanizing rationale for the birth of this nation was because those living in the colonies wanted a choice.

They wanted choices that an oppressive regime half-way across the world didn’t want to give them.

Those in the colonies wanted to decide what kind of government they would have — who would represent them in that government — how much government they would have — how much it would cost — and whether they would have the freedom to criticize that government without fear of reprisal.

Truth be told, they wanted other choices that, today, still tarnish the broad ideal of liberty and justice for all they espoused at the creation of America.

Murdering indigenous people and stealing their land, enslaving Africans and others to do their work and grow their own financial empires and deliberately choosing that men, not women, would guide this new nation’s path forward are a stain on this nation’s birthright.

Today, we find ourselves in an America stewing in these contradictions of what freedom and liberty meant then and what it should mean today.

On one hand, we celebrate the nation’s 1st Amendment, yet, social media has given us the hypocritical power to also express outrage when someone else expresses their 1st Amendment rights and we don’t like what they have to say.

Don’t get me started on the 2nd Amendment.

Other than to say that the nation’s Founders would be stunned to learn that nearly 13,000 Americans die as a result of gun violence every year compared to the total of 8,000 Americans who died as a direct result of the Revolutionary War.

I have no basis in fact for this belief, but I can only surmise that the tragic irony may indeed have many of them shaking their heads.

Still, I come back to the issue of choice.

Perhaps, more importantly, the freedom and liberty to have a choice at all.

A choice to change the direction of the country — at every level — or a choice to soak in our collective outrage and bitterness about our elected officials — our media — and, frankly, with one another.

We have a choice whether or not to buy Nike’s shoes after they made a choice — allegedly — to listen to the pique of a professional athlete whose worldview has been informed largely by himself and determined that one period of time’s flag represents something worse than another period of time in America.

Let’s be honest:  Colin Kaepernick would have complained to Nike whether it was the Betsy Ross Flag — the current flag — or the flag that once had only 48 states depicted on it.

Let’s be equally honest:  That’s his choice.  And, it was Nike’s choice to listen to him.  It’s also our choice to choose to buy their product or not based on their choice — or for some other reason entirely.

From big cities to small towns to expansive regional governments there’s not a single moment of a single day that any American doesn’t have a choice.

To the people we elected, the products we buy, the words we speak, the comments we post — or the absolute silence we exercise — we have a choice.

That’s what free people in a free country such as America have every single day.

Not because it’s neat, or cool, polite or convenient.

And, while it is neat and cool and polite, it certainly is not convenient.

It’s hard to live in a free country.

It’s hard because every single minute of every single day someone — somewhere — is trying like Hell to diminish it.

From outside the country it’s the Russians, the Chinese and others who still understand that the greatest threat to their oppressive rule is that someday enough of their people will say, “Screw you, I’m free!”

From inside our country, it’s ourselves.

It’s We, the People, who are the greatest threat to our freedom — our liberty — and to the choices we have to embrace them and celebrate them — or to allow ourselves to further diminish them.

Saying the Pledge of Allegiance — singing the National Anthem — buying a shoe with this flag or another flag or no flag — kneeling at a football game — or standing — supporting the President — opposing him — fireworks or not — none of these things, or any other things like them — make us more American or not than the other.

Our freedom to individually choose what kind of American we will be is what makes America so fundamentally different than any other nation on Earth.

American Exceptionalism is, and always has been, and always must be, rooted in American Individualism.

It’s our choice.

In attempting to justify its decision to eliminate the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag at its St. Louis Park City Council meetings didn’t do anything to unite anyone.

In fact, their justification in eliminating the Pledge, citing the growing diversity of their community, does a disservice to the very notion of the diversity that has made America the remarkable nation we are today.

The remarkable nation we have been for generations.

It boggles the mind that elected officials would suggest that their act of eliminating a rallying cry of support to democracy, freedom and liberty is because they want people to feel more welcome to their city.

What, exactly, about the Pledge of Allegiance offends the sensibilities of the residents of St. Louis Park?

What are the offending statements affirming America’s commitment to freedom for all that the St. Louis Park City Council felt any of its citizens would oppose?

And, more importantly, should any member of the St. Louis Park City Council embrace the beliefs of any of its citizens who oppose the Republic, the United States or liberty and justice for all?

Truth be told the Pledge of Allegiance has increasingly been something that fewer and fewer Americans recite in their day-to-day lives.

Fewer schools require it to be recited at the beginning of the school day.  Fewer public functions begin with a recital of the Pledge of Allegiance.

I suppose there’s lots of reasons for that.

I don’t think any of them have much merit.

It further erodes our celebration of the very freedoms and liberties we enjoy as Americans.

Yes, it’s true, there is freedom and liberty in not requiring people to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

I respect people’s reasons for not wishing to do so even if I disagree with their decision not to do so.

However, let’s be clear that eliminating the Pledge of Allegiance because we claim to want to respect other people’s belief’s and create some kind of “safe space” for those who are uncomfortable with the message of the Pledge of Allegiance does not unify us as Americans.

It simply further divides us.

It also takes away an extraordinary opportunity for all of us to better understand, respect and appreciate the true message of what is in the Pledge of Allegiance.

To be an American means something.

There’s a history of America that’s worth remembering and reminding all of us that began with a big idea.

And, that America, while imperfect in its execution of its Founder’s lofty ideals, remains the one nation still most capable of achieving them.

The words in the pledge aren’t throw away lines in a speech.

They are words that would never be spoken from the lips of despots and tyrants and repressive regimes.

One would not hear the leaders of Russia, China, Iran, Syria and a host of other nations that choose not to celebrate the inalienable rights of its citizens utter the phrase “…liberty and justice for all.”

Would we choose not to recite the Pledge of Allegiance for fear of offending them?

Perhaps instead of choosing to eliminate the Pledge of Allegiance for fear of alienating some of their citizens the St. Louis Park City Councilmembers could take the time to share with their citizens the true meaning of what it stands for.

It would require a belief that their allegiance to a flag of a nation, and a republic, which stands united, for liberty and justice for all, is something they, too, believe in.

At 56-years old perhaps I have become a member of that group of Old Fashioned Americans who believe that the blood and treasure that Americans have spilled and spent since the creation of the Unite States of America  is worthy of the less than 30-seconds it takes to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

I sing, badly, to our nation’s National Anthem.  I celebrate the 4^th of July.  I respect the fallen Americans during Memorial Day and I grateful for those who have served during Veterans Day.

I thank God for the freedom and liberty that men and women give to my family every single day by serving this nation across the world and here, at home, in America.

I am not afraid to say what I believe about America.

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.

And, to the Republic for which it stands.

One Nation under God.

Indivisible.

With liberty.

And, justice.

For all.

These four words were spoken this morning on the final block of my drive to the office.

As I came to a stop light I noticed a man in a wheelchair being furiously pushed by a man behind him — trying to get him through the snowbank that had built up on the ADA accessible ramp on the downtown City of St. Paul sidewalk.

Putting my car in park I jumped out and began to help the one man push and pull the wheelchair to get it up off the road, over the snowbank, and onto the clean portion of the sidewalk.

Seconds later another man showed up, looked at what we were doing and said:

“Here, let’s pull together!”

In no time the three of us strangers were able to help the stranger in his wheelchair up and over the snow and onto the sidewalk where he promptly thanked us and motored away to the bus stop.

I write this post this morning in no way to draw attention to my role in this morning’s experience.

But, to draw attention to the first stranger who came upon the stranger in the wheelchair who began the cycle of Good People Doing Good Things this morning.

He didn’t have to stop.  He had places to go.  But, he did.  And, he brought the man in the wheelchair as far as he could by himself.

My role was to try to get them to the next place they needed to go.

Yet, it was the final act by the final stranger who came forward to remind us that if we all “pull together” we would get to the place the stranger in the wheelchair needed to go.

Once the man was on his way the three of us strangers simply walked away — one to the bus stop — the other to the other sidewalk — and me to my car.

It was done.

We didn’t save the world this morning.

But, we hopefully helped save the morning of the stranger in the wheelchair.

And, I learned, once again, there are Good People Doing Good Things all the time.

“Here, let’s pull together!” 

It’s a good reminder for all of us.

It’s 12:30 in the morning on Monday, February 24th and I’ve spent the past 7 hours taking a “nap” after the 2019 Spare Key Groove Gala.

This is my first post on my new blog site https://goodpeopledoinggoodthings.blog and it’s appropriate given that http://www.sparekey.org has just concluded the past 6 months of work that led to more than 900 guests attending a non-profit Gala event that likely hasn’t been seen before in the Twin Cities.

I am tired.  My feet are sore.  I’m pretty sure the ache in my lower back is a combination of old age, too many pounds in my gut and spending hours moving silent auction items from one location to another.

But, it’s a good tired.  A complete tired.  One that comes from knowing that we put everything we had into an event that was not just about raising money but about creating hope for thousands of families who desperately need help to “Bounce and not Break.”

The Spare Key Team — Kristi Beaudry, Angela Cooperman, Abby Hunt, Jackson Larson and Jackie Le Vvintre — are wholly responsible for the success of this event.

Never before had they done this event.  They had a leader who could give advice, give perspective and offer support, encouragement and institutional memory, but he couldn’t do the work.

They did.

And, the end result of that was an event that didn’t just raise a lot of money, but it raised the spirits of 900 guests and, before the year is done, the hopes of thousands of families who are facing a medical crisis and are desperate for someone to support them in their time of need.

There are so many moments from the 2019 Groove Gala that stand out in my mind it is hard to recall them.

The grace, support and determination of Spare Key’s Board President Cindy Koebele, and the financial support of her company, TitleSmart, is beyond compare.  Cindy doesn’t just talk about what she will do — she does it

In a world dominated more and more who equate “support” with a tweet, Instagram post and a picture on Facebook, Cindy reminds us that you should “do what you said you were going to do.”

Spare Key’s Board of Directors, our Sponsors and the hundreds of volunteers who brought us to the moment and more — simply remarkable.

Our partners — those who donated food and product and services — and those who did them:  https://eidecom.com/ and http://edgproductions.com — were core to the outcome of the Groove Gala.

Justice Draconis and Angela Higgins of https://www.dragonslairperformingarts.com/ epitomize the fine art of living one’s art.  What they do and how they do it makes one want to climb a mountain, breathe fire, spin from the ceiling and defy gravity — both in the air and on the ground.

The talented men, women and children of https://lundstrum.org/ created moments at the Spare Key Groove Gala that brought us to our feet, tears to our eyes and a thrill to our hearts.  I am still smiling from what I saw, heard and felt because of their joyous talent and performance.

And, if the http://www.johnnyholm.com/ band doesn’t remind you that music and dancing are the reasons we live to be human then I don’t know what to tell you.  Johnny and his band have been a gift of joy for millions of people over the years — and for the nearly 400 guests who stayed to dance until 1:00 a.m. they gave young and old hours of pure ecstasy.

And, the moment for me that reminded me why I do what I do, and what I have done for the past 7 years, came just when I needed it.

It was the moment my dear friend, the person who has taught me more about what it means to be resilient, to be dedicated, to be fierce and to be hopeful despite all else that might take hope away, came when Norm Coleman ascended the stage towards the end of the evening.

Norm, as many of you know, is in his second fight with cancer.  Surrounding him has been an army of friends and family who have fought alongside him, supported him, prayed with and for him and given him their unconditional love and commitment.

As he stood on stage, emphasizing that what matters the most to all of us in this world is not the amount of money we raise at a Gala, or the size of the donation.

What matters the most is time.

At a moment of emphasizing that message along came many of those who had spent 5 weeks giving Norm that gift of time.  Men and women — family and friends — who came forward to surround him and let him know that their gift of time to him was their gift of love.

I am tired.  As I sit in the dark downstairs, illuminated only by the light on my laptop, after falling asleep on the couch with my smelly, chubby, snoring dog at my feet and my wife and kids tucked in upstairs for the night, I know that tomorrow begins another day.

I will spend hours unloading, loading and unloading again the final remnants of the 2019 Spare Key Groove Gala.

I will be asked, time and time again, how much money did we raise, did we raise more or less than the year before.  We will review what went well, and what needs to be improved, and each of the Spare Key Team will have stories to tell of the evening.

This much I know to be true – we raised a lot of money for the 2019 Groove Gala — we had a record attendance — record number of sponsors — and an event the likes of which many have never seen before.

To me, though, what matters the most is that what was in that room were hundreds of Good People Doing Good Things.

And, the conclusion of the 2019 Spare Key Groove Gala wasn’t the end of Good People Doing Good Things.

It’s just another beginning.

And, where does one begin to share all about them?

 

 

There is in each of us the need to make a difference in the world around us.

I truly believe in the inherent goodness of human beings.

I may not always like human beings.  Or all human beings.  And, on some days, very few human beings.

But, on the whole, I believe that human beings are remarkable creatures who have the capacity to do amazing things for one another.

I am not naïve.

I also know that human beings can be loathsome creatures who have the capacity to do horrific things to one another.

I do believe there is Evil in the world.

I believe there is, every single minute of every single day, far more Good in the world.

It’s difficult to see it some days.

When we see our political “leaders” bicker with one another so much that they shut down the very government they were elected to lead it is arguable that they represent anything good in our lives.

Stories of terrible people doing terrible things to one another lead nearly every newscast and are blared out on the radio and in huge letters in newspapers and on the internet.

It’s enough for any reasonable human being to conclude that the human race is broken, and we may be at the end of our run.

Which is why, as we come to the end of 2018 and prepare for the beginning of 2019, I’ve reluctantly decided to agree to a New Year’s Eve Resolution.

I hate New Year’s Eve Resolutions.

They are often screeds about getting fitter, eating better, reading more or living a bigger, bolder and larger life.

Don’t get me wrong.  I understand the need for motivation.  But, motivational memes and clarion calls to take risks and do outrageous things do little for me.

Maybe it is my natural cynicism.  Or, maybe it’s because I am a curmudgeon.  It’s probably a little bit of both that has me left cold to these efforts to amp up my enthusiasm to get outside of my comfort zone.

I live outside my comfort zone daily.  It can be outright exhausting.

Contrary to popular opinion I am not an extrovert.

While the entirety of my life’s career has required me to be one, I would more often prefer to be somewhere in the corner of a room unnoticed by everyone in it.

I’ve taken lots of risks in my life.  It is not a matter of courage as it has been a matter of necessity.

When you are of C- intellect and you posses no discernable life skills you have no choice but to take risks in life.

Yet, my fear is palpable in doing so.

I am afraid of the dark.  Small animals, insects and birds terrify me.

Yet, my cabin has a crawlspace that forces me, from time to time, to get into it and fix something.  I once had to save a squirrel that was stuck in stair railing and I nearly wet myself in the process.  I am fascinated by bees while at the same time I am convinced they are trying to kill me and while I think birds are magnificent creatures, they have eyes that follow me wherever I go.

So, when I decide that I will resist my natural inclination to avoid having a New Year’s Resolution it is, for me,  big deal.

So, what is my New Year’s Resolution?

It’s to be better at seeing the better in the world around me.

More importantly, I want to do better in calling out the good in the world around me.

I know.  It’s not very earth shattering.  It probably won’t change the world in a big and impactful way.

That’s okay, for me.

You see, every single day I see the better and the good in the world around me.

I see it in the men and women who work at Spare Key, www.sparekey.org, and make it their life’s work to make the lives of other people a little easier.

I see it in the members of my Board of Directors, as well.  Busy people with busy lives who have committed to serving on a Board to lift up people they will never meet but who desperately need their help.

I see it, too, in the volunteers who support the Twin Cities Squadron Sea Cadets www.seacadetstwincities.org, and give of their knowledge, skill, time and talent to train young men and women to give them confidence and build in them leadership skills.

I see it with those who teach my children at their schools.  In their JROTC Program, www.cretin-derhamhall.org/academics/academic-departments/jrotc/overview/ and their Robettes, www.therobettes.com Program.

And, I see it with my friends who have begun a transformation with www.promisehub.com

Imagine lifting millions of people up in the world to be job creators who can lift millions of others up to be job creators to create billions of jobs for billions of people?

All it took was two middle-age guys standing in a camp in Lebanon reading a note from a Syrian girl to look at one another and say, “We can do something for someone somewhere in a world that most everyone else forgot!”

And, they did.  And, most assuredly, they have with the passion, devotion and love of a small team around them who have dug in hard and done the work.

Some do it as a vocation, but all of them do it as their avocation.

In a time in which there is no shortage of platforms to call out the bad in the world I dedicate 2019 to calling out the good in the world around me.

I hope you will help me.

Perhaps you will share with me those stories of good people doing good things.

Or, maybe you will join with me in sharing more of those stories on your own platforms in your life.

My resolution in 2019 is to post something every single day about somebody doing something good in the world.

And, I begin that resolution by posting this:  You do good in the world.

Each and every one of you.

How you do it.  When you do it.  Where you do it.  It doesn’t matter.

Nor does it matter whether anybody but you knows you did it.

You will know it.

And, when all is said and done, and when each of us is said and done, all that matters is whether we felt we did good in the world.

Not enough.  Not more than enough.

Just whether we did any good in the world.

If all you did was any good, then you have done enough good in the world.

 

 

 

The passing of President George H.W. Bush should bring with it a measure of sadness, reflection and gratitude.

Not sadness that this old man had a long life, surrounded by those he loved the most, in a nation he cherished and honored with a lifetime of service.

At 94 years of age, with his wife having left this earthly place eight months earlier, I imagine that President Bush was prepared to leave his body behind and reconnect his soul with Barbara.

The sadness I feel is his memory, work and lifetime of service will be celebrated brilliantly for the next few days and then replaced with the ugliness and selfishness of our current day political reality.

We should reflect on this man’s service — and the values he instilled in his children, and his children’s children — to do more, to do better and to do always.

I  write this blog as I sit next to my 18-year old son, surrounded by men and women who have served this nation, at the International Symposium and Conference on World War II in New Orleans at the World War II Museum.

In front of me are a few scant living men and women from World War II — the same generation as George H.W. Bush — who listen to a history they fought and lived and survived almost 75 years ago.

I reflect on their service, as does my son, and we are honored and privileged to be in this place with them – in a country they served — for a cause they fought for —and a world they saved for us to inherit every single breathing moment since then.

George H.W. Bush served, fought for and saved America all the days of his adult life.

He will not be remembered as the best President, nor the worst, but he may well be remembered as being one of the most selfless men to hold the office.

He wielded the power of President in a way brought nations together in war, and in peace, and should remind us that leadership matters.  Always.

President Bush lost his re-election campaign for a lot of reasons.

He made promises he did not keep.  He lacked political skills that his opponents possessed in spades.  He  was a Cold War Warrior in a world in which Americans were tired and worn out by foreign conflict and existential threats.

At the time he was President I don’t know that I thought he was a great guy.  In fact, I thought he was a disaster as President.

I joined thousands dancing to Fleetwood Mac in New York when Bill Clinton was nominated to run for President by Democrats and was captivated by his youth, energy and enthusiasm.

The contrast between the two could not  have been more stark.

George H.W. Bush was the past.  Bill Clinton was the future.

I don’t regret my vote for Clinton.  Every generation comes and goes in America.

It has always been that way.  It will be that way again.

Those who swept Donald Trump into power in 2016, kept Republicans in the Senate in 2018 and replaced them with Democrats in the House, will soon find their political will replaced by a new generation of Americans.

I don’t have any specific memory of George H.W. Bush that springs to my mind this morning.  No picture of me shaking his hand.  There’s not an event I went to that lit a fire that moved me to reflect on the life of this American President.

Death brings closure to life.  From death springs reflection on the life of those who go to their eternal rest.  That’s where I find myself at this moment.

Reflection that at this brutal and vicious time of political life in America we desperately need a “kinder, gentler nation.”

A nation in which our political leaders remember that public service is supposed to be about serving the public.  That building America’s future requires we bring all Americans along.  An America in which an election shouldn’t be reason to settle old scores, and start new divisions.

George H.W. Bush climbed into a plane, nearly 60 times, and flew combat missions because he so loved America he was willing to give his life for it.

He ran for President because he so loved American he was willing to serve it.

When he lost the most powerful office on the face of the Earth, George H.W. Bush didn’t trash his office — break keyboards — unplug computers — or belittle the man who would soon occupy the place he once sat and controlled the enormous levers of Presidential power.

Instead he left a handrwritten note for Bill Clinton that ended like this:  “You will be our President when you read this note.  I wish you well.  I wish your family well.  Your success is now our country’s success.  I am rooting hard for you.  Good Luck.”

Bush knew then, as I am sure he knew in his last moments on Earth, that America’s promise is not kept by one man.  Or one election.

It’s held by each and everyone of us.

The country we want is the country we are going to leave behind.  Each and everyone of us.  What we do.  What we don’t do.  What we decide to do with and for one another will define America’s future.

This morning, on my right sits my 18 year old son, PO3 Owen Francis Mische of the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets and Deputy Brigade Commander of the Cretin-Derham JROTC Raider Brigade — on my left sits World War II Veteran of the Merchant Marines LTJG Ralph Krump.

Seventy-six years separate these two men — one young, one old — but what brings them together is the same thing that has brought Americans together time and agile again:  The powerful idea that freedom and liberty is something that is the birthright of all human beings.

George H.W. Bush leaves behind an America that is no less of that idea for billions of human beings across the world.

What we, each of us, do to keep that idea alive long after his death may be the best way for us to honor his memory and his service and his sacrifice.

We can find a way forward to work with one another to live up to the promise of our Founders.  To send a message to our critics across the world that the light of freedom and democracy may dim from time to time but it will never be extinguished.

George H.W. Bush once called for Americans to be like a “thousand points of light.”

All it takes is for one of us to be willing to be the first one to light the wick.