Where Were You?

Where were you in the summer of 1969? I was just a couple months shy of turning 10. My family and I were living in Illinois at Scott Air Force Base where my step-father was stationed. I remember that summer as being really hot and humid, though not unusual for the area. Most of my lazy summers were spent outdoors with my friends playing any number of games.

But not that summer. The parks and playgrounds were deserted and all was quiet. Instead, we were all glued to our televisions watching the drama unfold there. We were enthralled with the moon landing. I watched every minute of it, fascinated by the three men in that tiny capsule who traveled through the vast darkness. Watching Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin step from the lunar module to the moon's surface, I felt we were creating a new world, where interstellar travel and meeting actual alien races would be commonplace.

My new world looked like a combination of Star Trek and the Jetsons, shows that I loved back then. I couldn't wait for a world where we traveled to other worlds. Back on Earth we would have flying cars and live in apartments in the sky. Yes, I was an impressionable lad.

Fifty years later, we seem to have gone backwards in many ways. Yes, we have smart phones, smart cars, smart appliances, and even smart homes. But we don't have many of the other things we envisioned in 1969.

Instead, we have kids eating Tide Pods. We have anti-vaxxers that are bringing back measles and other diseases that were eradicated years ago. We have people trotting out their intentional ignorance and pretending it's as good as others' knowledge and education. Racism and xenophobia are back with a vengeance. Kids are in concentration camps on our southern border. Racist and homophobic attacks are commonplace and increasing daily. The similarities between 1930s Germany are astounding. And nobody seems to care.

We have a Congress that refuses to call out the criminal activities of the administration or even open inquiries into impeachment, something that desperately needs to be done. I believe that 2020 is our absolute last chance to save this once-great nation. Sadly, I don't see that happening.

Can we please go back to 1969?

Just a Quick Meme Today

Are You Celebrating Tomorrow? Because I'm Not

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, that quintessential of all American holidays. We celebrate the beginning of the Revolution that created a new nation from colonies of the British Empire, which eventually became the longest existing participatory democracy in world history. Many of us will grill food with friends, neighbors, and family. We will drink beer, play in the yard, and shoot or watch fireworks after dark. When I was little, it was one of my favorite days.

What will I be doing tomorrow? Probably working. My job allows me the freedom to work at home on my own schedule. My boss and many of our staff are on vacation this week and I can use the time to get completely caught up so I'm not rushed later. I actually enjoy working on days like that when I don't have to deal with other people.

What I will not be doing tomorrow is celebrating anything. Liar tRump has stolen this American celebration and made it into another display of his over-inflated ego. He's going to have flyovers by the military and tanks in the streets of our capital city in a huge display of our military might.

You know who else has parades like this? Russia, China, North Korea, and other brutal dictatorships whose despots rule with an iron fist. Former President Eisenhower, when asked if the United States should have parades like we saw in the Soviet Union in those days said that to do so would make America look weak. Indeed it does. tRump is putting his massive ego on display for the world and he will look like the small little man that he really is.

At the same time, we are running Concentration Camps (I prefer to call them tRump Camps. He created them, he owns them) on our southern border. Children are being warehoused in tiny cages and are being denied basic hygiene products by the for-profit companies running these atrocities. The administration's attorneys actually had the gall to argue that we are not obligated to provide these things. By now, we have all seen the heartbreaking photo of the dead father and his 23-month old daughter who were fleeing violence in their homeland and trying to seek asylum here in the Land of the Free. These people broke no law, it is legal under international law to seek asylum in another country, but we'll discuss that another day. What matters is that they are now dead. At least six other children have died in our custody. Hundreds of families have been separated and the children lost in the system; we can't even find them!

tRump and his minions are stacking the courts with the view to stripping us of our rights. They break the law with impunity and lie even when we can see exactly what they are doing. And we have a Democratic leadership in Congress that allows this to continue.

Are we free? Not in any meaningful way in my view. That's why I'm writing these little essays. It's not much, but it is something I can do. Share them with your friends, relatives, and even those nasty Republicunts you work with. We have the opportunity and the obligation to vote all of these fascists (let's call them what they really are) out of office next year. Democrats who don't stand up to this treason need to go, too (I'm looking at you, Nancy Pelosi). If we don't do it now, we may be too late.

Celebrate if you want to tomorrow. I won't be joining you. I'll be mourning the America that once was.

Is Anybody Still Out There?

It's been quite a while since I last posted anything on my little blog. I think it's time for that to change. There is so much going on with the upcoming elections and I feel I have something to say. When I blogged before under the name Iowa Guy, I posted something almost every day. Frequently, they were short notes that would have been more appropriate on Twitter (which I loathe most of the time).

Instead, I'm going to try to post one or maybe two longer items every week. They will concern the election, current events, and occasionally personal observations or things going on in my life. I hope to write things that will interest you as the reader. If you agree with me, great. If you don't agree with me, that's great, too. Share it with your friends. Think about the message. Most importantly, think.

We need it more than ever now. Are you with me? More soon....