Archive for the ‘Musings’ Category

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THE ART OF THE DEAL

Monday, March 14th, 2011

When you stop and think about it, our justice system has, for decades now, operated more like a used car lot than the lofty dispensary of justice that we imagine it to be.  Still the best system in the world? Maybe, but something went wrong somewhere along the line.  Maybe there’s just plain too much crime in this country to adequately deal with using our current infrastructure of police departments, courthouses and prisons.  I think we’re in pretty good shape as far as lawyers go.

Maybe our parsing and interpreting of every RSA has gone overboard, our studying of the minutiae replacing common sense.  Think back to the O.J. Simpson trial…I mean…really…is this what the legal system has become?  Laughable presentations, even in the face of overwhelming evidence of guilt, turn the “trial” into a contest between defense and prosecuting attorneys.  It really is a contest between them…who can do the best for their client, and in turn up their own worth in the arena of law as sport.  Watch the defense lawyers associations scramble any time a piece of legislation turns up that mentions “mandatory sentences.”  You would have to unleash killer bees to see overweight men move this fast.  But mandatory sentences, even as codified under “Jessica’s Law”, the law drafted in memory of Jessica Lunsford, the nine year-old Florida girl who became famous in death after being molested, then buried alive, by a serial child predator just released from prison, strike fear into the hearts of defense lawyers.  Why?  They negate the possibility of plea-deals, that’s why, and force judges to impose minimum, mandatory sentences.

Lawyers and courts will argue that plea-deals save the legal system, and hence the public, money.  They often negate the need for lengthy trials, the assembly of juries, the calling of witnesses the use of courtrooms, etc. and the sometimes uncertain outcomes of those trials.  There are times when it makes sense. When there is questionable evidence, unreliable witnesses…maybe not enough to ensure a prosecutor that he or she is going to get what they, and probably society at large, consider a suitably lengthy incarceration.

And then there are times when the evidence is strong, and the crime is so heinous, that a trial may be the only way to ensure a suitable punishment is handed down.  Indeed, there may be times when a plea-deal is used as enticement to the victim’s family not to have to endure the pain of a trial…testimony…graphic details and pictures…it is easy to imagine wanting to avoid that.

It sounds as though that is what happened to John Foreman in 1983.  His son, Jason, at age five, went missing.  That was in 1973.  It wouldn’t be until 1982 that Rhode Island police would find themselves searching the home of Michael Woodmansee, who lived just up the street from the Foremans.  There…wrapped in plastic and a rug, they found the skull, ribs and some bones that would turn out to be those of Jason.  He had been murdered, and the flesh removed from his bones in what police believe was a cannibalistic ritual.  Sorry for the details…but you’ve got to imagine what this father went through.  All of this after…after…enduring 9 years of having know idea what happened to your five year-old son.   A neighbor.

Woodmansee was convicted and sentenced to 40 years…under a plea deal which the elder Foreman now blames himself for. “Stupidly, I accepted a plea-deal so we would not have to endure the agony of a trial…”.  Well…then maybe we, as a civilized society, ought to find a better way to afford justice to a family like the Foremans.

Michael Woodmansee, only 16 at the time of the crime, and now 52, will be released in August after serving only 28 years, earning early release for “good behavior”.  I recall the Massachusetts parole board that voted 6 – 0 to release Dominic Cinelli from a 3 life-term sentence, citing his “strident improvements” while in prison as grounds for his release.  Months later he shot and killed a Woburn Policeman during an armed robbery.  Woodmansee’s release, though, has a black cloud hanging over it.

That “black cloud” is John Foreman, who told a radio host at WPRO in Providence last week that he will “find Woodmansee and kill him”.  He sounds like he means it, too.  I wish him happy hunting.

Now, I’ll wait for the emails about how two wrongs don’t make a right and how we have to live with our justice system because “it might be bad but it’s still the best one in the world…”.  Or how John Foreman never should have agreed to the deal, or if he kills this man then he will go to jail and he becomes the “second victim”.  Yet…I’m a parent, and I listened to this man recall the details of his sons death, sobbing heavily some 37 years later.  I try to imagine that pain, and I can’t, but I can certainly understand him wanting to kill that bastard.

Moreover, I’m left wondering…exactly what…what…does one have to do in this country to get a true life sentence?  Abducting, molesting, murdering and then eating a five year-old boy is not enough?  That fact is far more of a crime than anything John Foreman may do to Michael Woodmansee.  Justice was not served…but I’ve got a feeling it’s on the way.

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A SHOT ACROSS THE BOW

Monday, March 7th, 2011

Imagine trying to use an old rotary phone dial on a new cell phone, or Ford Model A tires on a new BMW.  Sometimes, this is what I feel we are trying to do, when adapting notions and laws from over 200 years ago and trying to apply them to a society gone slightly mad.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Westboro Baptist Church, a small group of lunatics known best for disrupting the funerals of soldiers by congregating with signs such as “God Hates Fags” and “Dead Soldiers are Good Soldiers”.  I have already had several animated conversations with friends who side with the Court and take, apparently, the right of “Freedom of Speech” to be an absolute.  They see the caveat to that right, that one can’t yell “Fire” in a crowded theater, as not an analogy but a specific exception.

To me, it is clear what our forefathers had in mind.  That the freedom to express one’s opinion shall not be squelched by any government, and in particular the right to speak out against said government.  The theater exception says, in theory, that there is an exception to free speech that incites violence or creates an unnecessary danger to other people.  I see no difference in that scenario and the egregious act of displaying such hateful signs, and yelling equally hateful slurs, to families burying loved ones.

The folks that cry “Freedom” at every turn seem to hold themselves in high esteem.  That they are above it all, on a higher intellectual level than the rest of us, willing to endure such unpleasant folks as the Westboro monkeys, in the name of our high ideals.  Yet…do not the freedoms afforded to us as Americans come with any sense of discipline?  Is an absolute free-for-all what we’re looking for?  Is there anyone who thinks that the thoughtful men who drafted our Bill of Rights and Constitution, would support the Westboro Baptist Church?

Look…I’m not saying their opinion should be muffled or denied, just moved to a less antagonistic venue.  Their actions seek violence from those they speak against.  It strains the good nature of people who know better than they, and eventually it will cause an act of violence.  I can tell you without hesitation, I would not tolerate their presence at the funeral of one of my loved ones and would do whatever necessary to remove them.  Have your opinion, have your posters and signs, but have them a good distance away from a funeral service.  People have the right to an expectation of privacy and respect at a burial.

We are a country awash in our own sense of “freedom”.  It seems as though it’s never enough.  Is there anything…anything…that is off limits in this country?  We have become a nation that tolerates everything in the name of political correctness.  I have to believe that if an anti-gay crowd was gathering at homosexual funerals, the Supreme Court would have gone another way.  At the very least, there would be hoards of opposing views at those same protests, and the ACLU would be tripping over itself getting lawyers to the scene.  Imagine a group that hates women showing up at any funeral of a female and espousing similar views against women.  How about a pro-rape group assembling at the funerals of victims of sexual assaults?  Maybe a small contingent of pro-child molesters arriving at funerals for children?

Watch now, as the Westboro Baptists flaunt their new found power bestowed upon them by the high-thinkers on the Court.  Yes…we are a nation built on high ideals…ideals paid for with blood and treasure, and because of that high cost, we owe it to ourselves and our culture to take a long, hard look at the possibility of drawing a line in the sand now and then.  Ironically, it is these very soldiers who defended the “right” of a group like Westboro to congregate and promote whatever warped view of the world they have taken on.

I believe our forefathers would gladly return quickly to their graves if they could return momentarily and see the country as it is today.  A visit, by the way, I would not wish on anyone from that long ago.

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IT’S NOT EASY BEING GREEN

Tuesday, March 1st, 2011

One of my favorite songs, and covered by everyone from Van Morrison to Kermit the Frog…”It’s Not Easy Being Green”, takes on an entirely new meaning when applied to saving the planet.  Before I get accused of being a knee-jerk naysayer, let me remind the reader that I have espoused my views on “Global Warming” in prior columns.  In short…I’m not sure what’s happening to the atmosphere or who is to blame, but I’m of the opinion that something is happening, and I’m in favor of erring on the side of caution.  That means…we need to be better stewards of the planet.  It just bothers me to see it politicized and corrupted.

Speaking of politicized and corrupted, here’s a good example of how the effort to be “green” can be expensive in addition to “not easy”.  The city of Nashua, NH, under the guidance of Mayor Louzeau, decided it would like ten new garbage trucks that ran on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) which burns clean and is relatively inexpensive.  It requires little refining between source and retail and this plays a major part in keeping the cost low.

Consider, though, that each new truck costs an extra $40,000. above and beyond a normal diesel model.  Whoa…that’s pushing a half million bucks in extra costs for ten trucks.  That fact alone would slow down most buyers, but Nashua found some help with the cost.  That “help” came from the State of NH Department of Environmental Services.  This is the agency that licenses and oversees everything from septic system design and installation to hazardous environmental issues.  They also levy fines over a large array of violations from wetlands to gas stations.

Yes…the D.E.S., even as the State struggles with budget cuts and red ink,found there was four hundred grand lying around to help a single city achieve a single dream.  Unbelievable.  Every taxpayer, I’m sure, will be getting a little “thank you” note from Mayor Lozeau.

The silliness doesn’t end there.  You may already have asked yourself…”where do you fill up with CNG?”  Well…nowhere, at the moment.  There are roughly three…yes…three CNG stations in the State of New Hampshire.  I think two of them are owned by the State and do not sell to the public, or to cities who may just have purchased new “Green Garbage Trucks”.

Naturally, as with any ill-fated project being driven by politicians and governments, the obvious solution is for Nashua to have its own CNG filling station.  A brand new one that will require the purchase of land, permits from the D.E.S., and of course, construction and then staffing.  No word yet on whether or not this will be a “public” station, or just another facility for the City of Nashua to maintain.

You see…there’s nothing wrong with the idea.  Green, eco-friendly trucks.  The mistake is getting the taxpayers involved.  If there is a market for it…and I bet there is…let a private company buy those trucks and make a go of it.  Find customers willing to pay a little extra, and I bet you could, to dispose of their trash with the services of said company.  If it doesn’t work, then we’ll all know the market wasn’t ready for it.

It’s another example of the “Two Americas”.  The one with common sense…and the one without it whose mistakes are always funded by BOTH groups.

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AS IT SHOULD BE

Monday, February 21st, 2011

Every now and again we are offered a glimpse of a more perfect world.  It’s different for everyone, but I think in every journey through life, occasionally we see something, meet someone, read something or in some other way experience small epiphanies along the way.

One of the hallmarks of the Tea Party movement is a desire for smaller government.  A governing body more representative of what many Americans interpret the original desire of our founding fathers to have been.  I don’t see how anyone could argue persuasively that we have not moved far away from that.  We can all disagree, to a degree, on what the intent of our forefathers was, when drafting the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, but it is very clear that limiting the power and scope of government was a prominent concern.

In the last two years, under the Obama administration, the tentacles of the federal government have thickened and multiplied.  The result of that effort lies before us now, and the unmitigated disaster that government-controlled health care will be is just beginning to unfurl.  These are just a few of the reasons that, last week, the State legislature in Maine gave me a small glimpse of hope.  A fleeting wisp of a more perfect world.

Last week the political powers in Maine had before them the weighty issue of whether or not to name the Whoopie Pie as the State Dessert.  Yes…the venerable Whoopie Pie, long dismissed as the pastry of “white trash” and excluded from the pastry carts at high-end beaneries all over the world.  Snorted at, and looked down upon, the calorie-laden treat, consisting of two thick wafers of chocolate cake with an enormous dollop of white, frosting-like filling between, has been discriminated against and ridiculed for decades.  Now…finally,,,thanks to a profile in political courage unrivaled in recent history, the W.P. will finally find it’s place in Maine…and American…history.  Even Amos Orcutt, President of The Maine Whoopie Pie Association…no, I didn’t make that up…is delighted with the prospect of their little cake assuming such a powerful position in the dessert world.

Laugh if you will, but hours were spent on modifications to the Bill.  First, an amendment had to be made to allow, vanilla, red velvet, and pumpkin cake to be allowed into the fold.  Naturally, many variations of the Original W.P. have been developed over the years.  Try spending a winter in Northern Maine and eventually you will be reduced to recipe experiments as a last resort activity to keep yourself from going nuts.  And so it is, a multitude of cave flavors will be accepted, but the construction of the treat, the ‘blueprint” if you will, must remain the same.

What is most heartening to me in all of this, because I don’t care for Whoopie Pies though I have nothing against them and would allow them in my home, is that finally a government body has recognized its limitations and decided to act within them.
We should all hope that this same sensibility would spread to Washington.   It’s perfect. Name the State Bird, pick a flower, go ahead and pick out a license plate theme.  Also, kick in a little for National Defense and highway maintenance and construction…but as far as the rest of it?  Pour yourself a glass of milk, have a Whoopie Pie, and get out of the way.

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FIELD OF DREAMS

Monday, February 14th, 2011

Let’s just say that the recent CPAC convention was not exactly a “9″ on the Richter Scale.  The gathering of conservative political activists most always portends future political winds.  All eyes were on this year given the high stakes of the 2012 Presidential campaign for Republicans.  Mitt Romney spoke, still not admitting that he is running.  Tim Pawlenty, kind of the same.  A surprise speech by Donald Trump shook things up more than anything, served with a cherry when Trump announced that “Ron Paul can’t win an election…”.  This vibrated the room as the event is routinely stocked with hoards of Ron Paul supporters. It is one of their hat tricks and gathers no more attention than migrating geese.

The more noticeable quake came from outside the event…in the form of a just-released poll that showed President Obama beating proposed front-runners like Sarah Palin and even Mike Huckabee and not by just a little, either. One has to wonder screwed up things have to be before a pragmatist can get a foothold in this race.  The New Hampshire Primary is less than a year away.  Usually…and you’ll notice I didn’t say “normally”, things are less fluid at this point.  Something weird is happening.

At first glance, given the overwhelming win by conservatives in November, the 2012 Presidential race would seem like a given.  The economy is in shambles.  Obama has failed to come through on nearly every campaign promise.  Even the Crown Jewel…Health Care Reform…is in jeopardy and may well end up before the Supreme Court.  And yet, there is a “you go first” air about the candidate field.  There is the lingering question of whether or not the Tea Party and the Republican Party will become “one”.  Or are they “one” already?  Depends on who you ask.  Michelle Bachman insists that if you abhor the philosophy of the current administration then you are a Tea Party member.  Simple as that…and I like that call.

Still…it doesn’t appear as though it’s going to be that simple for others.  I sense a division and, worse, I see a lackluster field of hopefuls.  Romney has the failed Massachusetts Health Care Reform hanging around his neck like an albatross.  He’s got a lot of appeal otherwise, but I don’t see him getting around that.  Pawlenty?  Sharp cat. I like him a lot, but I don’t know if he’s got that “certain something” that a President really needs to have.  Magnitude.  Presence.  I don’t know exactly what it is…but it’s missing.  I want to see him get hot…lose it a little.  I want a President with a bit of a temper and who is innately impatient.

Mike Huckabee…been there, done that.  I like the guy a lot, I think he’d make a fine President.  But we have to WIN this one.  It’s not so much about liking someone this time around, I want to like what they stand for…and I want someone who can win.
I’d vote for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in a heartbeat on style points alone…but…who knows if he’s running and he’s another one that makes me nervous in the “likelihood of winning” column.

Interested to know what you think…but as of right now…I get a lot more heat from a Marvin Gaye ballad than I got from anyone speaking at CPAC last week.

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SON OF A GUN

Monday, February 7th, 2011

Hey! Son of a gun…who knew it was a breeze to purchase firearms at a gun show?  O.K…calling it “a breeze” may be a little overboard, but I think it’s pretty general knowledge that gun shows have, for a long time, been known as a place to purchase firearms with less scrutiny than at a typical gun store.  For anyone who didn’t know that, or disagrees with the premise, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg sent a task force to an Arizona gun show and they came back with some pretty revealing tape.

My first thought was…what is Bloomberg doing looking for gun show loopholes in Arizona?  To be fair, he does head up a national organization that investigates and analyzes the general problem of too many guns in the wrong hands.  The tape brought back from Arizona shows an undercover agent approaching various dealers and asking to buy a gun, while asking if there is a background check required and claiming that he “probably couldn’t pass one.”  That declaration did nothing to slow down the dealers shown in the undercover tape.  They remained ready, willing and able to sell this person a weapon.

I believe firmly in the right to bear arms.  I also believe, however, that we are negligent as a society if we do not at least examine the rather extreme amount and variety of violence we have in this country.  I think the NRA does itself a disservice when their reaction to something like the Bloomberg investigation comes in knee-jerk form.  They are always quick to overreact.  To enact some kind of limitation on firearms and their purchase and ownership, is a long way from going door to door and confiscating weapons.  This is always the extreme example that is leapt to.

On the other hand, Bloomberg’s trip to Arizona wasn’t about gun safety at all…it was political.  Just some posturing in the wake of the tragic shooting in Tucson.  Otherwise, I would think, that same task force would show up at any of a number of similar shootings that happen on a pretty regular basis around the country.  Workplace massacres barely make page 5 in the newspaper anymore. Old news.  Husbands come home and gun down an entire family.  Barely a column inch given.

Furthermore, as a culture, we seem less than enthusiastic about keeping violent people in jail.  Even the rather small percentage of violent people that are caught, and then successfully prosecuted, and then clear the hurdle of actually receiving a long-term sentence, seem somehow to find themselves back on the street.  Look no further than Worcester, Mass., just a few weeks ago, where a career criminal, paroled from a 3 consecutive life-term sentence, fatally shot a Worcester Police Department veteran during an armed robbery. I would be much more receptive to a deeper look into gun shows and who is buying weapons there, if, we had a justice system that was serious about keeping seriously violent people off of the streets. We don’t, and so investigating the sales process at gun shows seems like minutia to me.  It says, “we are serious about guns and violent crimes in America.”  Until it comes to punishment…then we’re not serious at all.

So the gun-show-loophole is a tiny piece of the equation.  It’s just a bit like examining the hinges on the barn door long after the horse is gone.  The problem isn’t the hinges, they’re just part of the door.  The problem was leaving the barn door open in the first place.

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IT’S THE PITS

Sunday, January 30th, 2011

Often in life it is some unexpected event that exposes the true colors of an individual.  Talk is cheap, action is King.  There are many of us, including myself, who love to opine on our politicians and who leap, like wolverines on a gazelle carcass, when we see an opening.  On the other hand…what other sub-culture provides more of those openings than our politicians.

Let me bow to political correctness by stating the obvious ( a chore that is now on every writer’s checklist), that not all politicians are bad people.  Maybe it’s easier to pick on their faults because they are in the limelight and under media scrutiny.
I find no shortage of people who are lacking in morality in my everyday life, but then again, I can pick and choose with them.  They are not writing laws, they have not campaigned for my support and in general, what they do and where they do it has no effect on me.

Nor am I surprised, in particular, when a politician reveals his or her self to be a scurvy spider.  Volumes could be written.  Where would one begin? Nixon? Spitzer? Edwards? Clinton?  How about Senator Kerry…that bluest of blue bloods who would have all of us donate at least half of our paychecks to support the disenfranchised.  Yet…when he had an opportunity to dump a hefty sum into that same kitty, he balked.  He hid his 7 million-dollar yacht in Rhode Island hoping to avoid a quarter million-dollar tax that Massachusetts would have levied.  C’mon, John…you should be anxious to write that check.

Still, just when you think you’ve heard it all…when you think to yourself…”nobody could top that one…”, someone comes along and elevates “sleaze” to an entirely new level.  That elevation was performed most recently by Dennis Kucinich, former Presidential candidate and current Congressman, I believe.  You remember Dennis, right?  He was still in the chrysalis stage when he ran for President, looking like he would turn into a butterfly at any moment and leave the stage in search of a warm light bulb.  It seems, though, that the butterfly thing never happened and instead he morphed into…simply…a worm.

Kucinich, apparently, suffered the unbearable pain and indignity of biting into an olive pit while eating a sandwich purchased at some White House cafe.  Who among us, at some point in our lives, has not bitten into something that was not supposed to be there?  Not fun, but generally an event from which you dust yourself off and keep moving.  Not Dennis Kucinich.

He is suing a small list of people for the dental work, oral surgery and “loss of enjoyment” he has suffered.  The price tag? A cool hundred and fifty grand.  I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’m not.  You could smell the wet weasel fur on this guy from a mile away, and now he his proving the point.

Like all folks who partake in frivolous lawsuits, he will convince himself that he deserves compensation.  He’ll convince himself that the money comes from some magic place.  The rest of us know that “magic place” is the premiums that the rest of us pay.  Imagine, too, suing these people that run a deli or catering service, and that you see everyday.  Imagine, also, that you’ve already got a job that pays you a hundred times more than your worth and comes with a Health Plan(including dental) that is literally fit for a King.

The strangest thing about the entire story may be that a guy who is married to an 8′ tall Redhead who is drop-dead gorgeous got taken out by an olive pit.  When I first heard that Kucinich had suffered an ‘oral injury”, I can tell you that an olive pit was the last thing that came to mind.

Thanks, Dennis, for reminding me how correct my instincts about you were.  I hope the money helps you find, once again, that “enjoyment” that you’ve been temporarily deprived of by…of all things…an olive.

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SHOUTING “FIRE”

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

More and more, every day, we find ourselves confronted with the difficulties of applying our beloved “Freedom of Speech”, as defined by our Forefathers, to modern life.  Personally, I find it pretty black and white most of the time, but that’s because I almost always agree with myself.  More and more, every day, we find how deep the disagreement is over exactly what that provision provides.

There is the caveat that free speech does not include the right to yell “fire” in a crowded theater.  I have met people who actually take that literally, that is to say that the only thing you can’t say in this country…is the word “fire”, at an elevated volume, in a crowded theater.  I take the exclusion as an analogy, particularly given the time period in which it was written.
Our Forefathers wanted, most importantly, that the voice of the people not be squashed by their government, that the freedom to voice dissent should never be tamped down, and that to do so would be the beginning of tyranny.

We are a long, long way from anyone not being able to voice a dissenting opinion about their government.  Even the McCain-Feingold effort to rein in corruption in political campaigns, which enraged many Republicans who saw it as limiting Free Speech, was no danger to our Freedom, in my opinion.  Preventing companies from dumping huge amounts of money into political campaigns in exchange for future government contracts and payoffs, does not limit the ability of any single American to stand on his front porch and express his disdain for the government…or disdain for anything for that matter.  It would surely have slowed down the dirty money, though.

Moreover, a “Free” country must have some common sense.  With the increasing absence of manners, judgment and boundaries, we find ourselves in the constitutionally uncomfortable position of having to create new laws to…in essence…legislate manners, judgment and boundaries.  Anyone who has read my stuff or listened to my radio show knows that I am loathe to create more laws, because more laws invariably means more government.  Yet every now and then, along will come an idiot…or group of idiots…that forces the rest of us to do the uncomfortable.

It happened in the wake of the horrific Tucson, Arizona shooting of six innocent people attending a political event.  Among the dead, a beautiful nine year-old girl.  If you can imagine, threatening to “protest” at her funeral was the equally horrific Westboro Baptist Church.  The WBC is a small group of fanatics who have made it their moniker to protest, mostly, at military funerals.  They post themselves at close range and hold signs and yell things, mostly epithets against homosexuals, but language that none of us would tolerate hearing from across a parking lot at the Mall. It is so vile, I could not even consider printing it here,

For some reason, though, we are expected to endure it.  The Supreme Court is considering a case from a father whose son, a Marine killed in action, was buried against the backdrop of the WBC soundtrack.  These people, if I may exercise my right for a moment, are some of the most deranged, disgusting and narcissistic human beings I have ever seen.  Bad enough, the funeral for a Marine.  Bad enough…ANY funeral, but  the funeral for a young girl innocently shot?  I was beside myself, as were many, after hearing that these morons were planning to set up their circus tent at this heartbreaking event.

Then…a miracle of sorts happened.  The Arizona Legislature…and this is one of the reasons I love Arizona, in their usual no-nonsense style, drafted a law preventing the protest from happening, and passed it overnight. One of the legislators involved, State Rep. Daniel Patterson(D) said simply “we’re going to try and protect the families from undue harassment”.  Thank you, sir.  The Chair of the Pima County GOP however, Brian Miller, was not as thrilled, saying the law is a dangerous infringement on free speech laws.  Nonsense.

Is there anyone who thinks that our Forefathers, if able to time-travel to 2011, after picking their jaws up off the ground, would not be applauding the Arizona lawmakers?  Preventing the WBC from protesting in the very cemetery that a funeral is taking place is not quelling their right to an opinion.  They can go 400 yards down the street and express their opinion.  A family ought to have the expectation of, and right to, privacy as they bury their nine year-old girl.  Nobody is telling the “Church” not to express their opinion.  Simply…in the absence of common human decency, judgment, self-discipline and respect for others, we had to make a new law.  The Greater Good is served by that action.

Finally, I am not blind to the story nobody noticed here.  Next week’s column may be titled “Greased Lightning”, to describe the astonishing speed and grace with which a government agency was able to move when duly motivated.  If only Washington could follow this lead.  I always wondered why it took years and hundreds of meetings to pass any meaningful legislation, and if there was a reason it had to be that way.  Now I know…there isn’t.  Thanks for that, too, Arizona.

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GRIEF: AMERICAN STYLE

Monday, January 17th, 2011

When I was young, I vaguely remember a television show called “Love:American Style”.  It was one of the first of a new breed of tacky and somewhat callous television programming, though it wouldn’t even be salacious enough for Nick, Jr. by today’s standards.  Indeed, in contrast to the world we live in now, it was as pure as the driven snow.

There isn’t a breathing sole who has not heard, at length, about the horrific murders in Tucson, Arizona this past week.  A young man, clearly deranged, opened fire at close range during a political meet and greet, and the rest is now history.  Among the dead, a nine year-old girl who had taken an interest in politics at school.  Her date of birth? September 11th, 2001.  How crushing that her young life, begun on a day that brought the term “senseless violence” to a new level…ended too soon on similar terms.

The event has oddly chronicled many of our cultural weak links.

First, as we learn more about the shooter, there were more “red flags” than one might see at a demolition derby at the Helen Keller School.  Nearly everyone that this young man came in contact with in recent years had chills go up their spine, and yet we live in an era that finds people loathe to intervene.  What are we afraid of?  Hurting someone’s feelings or bothering law enforcement with seemingly silly phone calls?  “I saw a guy that looks weird to me…”.  On the other hand, if you watched a Wooly Mammoth walk up your street, I bet you’d drop a dime.

Conversely, consider Dominic Cinelli in Massachusetts, paroled in the midst of a three-consecutive-life-term sentence, who ends up fatally wounding a police officer.  So…we can’t even keep the criminally insane off the street AFTER we catch them, so what are the chances of intervention ever being a practical means towards preventing scenes like we saw in Tucson before they happen?  Slim to none.

Second…the knee-jerk pontification that seems to follow every remotely political act of violence.  Almost immediately, even from the Pima County Sherriff in charge, allegations that somehow Sarah Palin or Sharon Angle were to blame…or the entire Tea Party for that matter.  Even our President learned the hard way, remember the incident with the Cambridge Police Department and the Harvard Professor, to season commentary until at least a handful of facts are on the table.  In the end, the shooter, Jared Loughner, was apolitical…simply insane, and planning, as it turns out, a massacre of some sort for possibly as long as years.  Yet by indicting innocent people and drawing them and their families into the fray, more harm is done, and the grieving process for the families of victims, for Tucson, for the country…is further tainted.

Third…absolute Freedom comes with a price.  We are a country in excess of 300 million people.  We move about freely, express ourselves in any number of mediums, have ready access to firearms, booze and drugs, behave in such myriad ways that it is hard to imagine any behavior, in public or otherwise, that would land you involuntarily in a psychiatrists office.  That can make for a dangerous world at times. Unless we make a serious effort to locate and diagnose the severely mentally ill, and house and help them, then there is no reason not to expect similar acts of abject violence with no grounding.

Finally, the grand finale had to be the Memorial Service held at the University of Arizona last Wednesday night.  Attended by President Obama and the First Lady, there was also a host of other speakers, including Janet Napolitano,and a Tucson native who offered a Native American prayer, the President of the University, and others.  Until I heard some news reports in the days following, I thought I might be the only one who was squirming throughout the entire event.  In fact, I couldn’t watch it all.  It had a strange, celebratory air.  The crowd was cheering too much…at the wrong times, at least.  There were T-shirts and at times I was expecting a CitiBank endorsement.  It had the feel of a corporate retirement party.

It was, oddly enough, President Obama who managed to reel in the exuberance and bring back a more somber and solemn tone to the evening.  Odd, I say, because I have found him to usually be the one who is disjointed socially, smiling at the wrong times and not always appearing sincere.  I thought his speech Wednesday was excellent and resonated with the proper emotion and timbre.  It just seemed strange to me, after 6 innocent people had been murdered, including a young girl, that a “memorial service” would be orchestrated that more resembled a giant tailgate party.

I watched Mark Kelly, astronaut and husband of Gabrielle Giffords, the Congresswoman struggling to survive a gunshot would to the brain, as he appeared visibly uncomfortable with the entire event.  There were a handful of people, at least, who looked as though they were expecting Rod Serling to be the next speaker at the podium.  Yes…it was that uncomfortable.

Maybe this is part of the New America.  Maybe “somber” and “demure” are words, and postures, that are slowly being eradicated from the landscape.  I know this much…had I lost a loved one at that event, the last place I would have been on Wednesday night was the University of Arizona.

My thoughts and prayers to all of those who lost those dear to them on that day, and to Tucson, the iconic city in a State that has already endured it’s share of heartache.

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EXCESSIVE EXCESS

Sunday, January 9th, 2011

One of my favorite writers, George Will, discusses in his most recent column a book by novelist Daniel Akst titled “We Have Met The Enemy:Self-Control in an Age of Excess”.  Not the first opinion merchant to tackle the subject, Akst nevertheless does it in a unique way, offering different perspectives on the “good” or “bad” of it.  He is also fun to read, giving such memorable phrases, in describing our culture, as expounding upon the “collapse of delay between impulse and action”.  I would pose that we are well past having a “delay” between impulse and action, and that any gap between the two must travel faster than light in our current culture.

It’s interesting to ponder our journey to excess.  I have written many times about the difference in our culture, even from, say, the 1950′s through to 2011.  I have had many brisk discussions with friends about what may have brought us here, but one point that remains beyond argument is that something certainly changed.  Will speaks about the “repudiation of restraint” of the 1960′s when restraint was equated with repression.  I remember vividly my parents wrangling with my older brother and sisters who were right smack, dab in the middle of the “revolution” of the 60′s.  I would hear my father issue dire warnings about the social and personal cost of casting restraint and self-control to the wind.  Naturally, and not just in our home, those forecasts were met with snickers and head-shaking.  We all went through that magic age when we were so much smarter than our old, fuddy-duddy parents.  As Mark Twain pointed out, at eighteen he couldn’t believe how stupid his father was, but by the age of twenty-one he couldn’t believe how much his father had learned in three years.  Beautiful.

Alas, though, there was great truth and wisdom in those predictions.  In many ways it was the first loose thread in the unraveling of morality which continues today with increasing voracity and speed.  We live in a world of 24/7 instant-gratification with  stores that are open virtually constantly and a menu for decadence that is unrivaled anywhere in the world.

Traditional values seem to get harder and harder to instill, and once instilled, to uphold.  Look at the many technological elements that work against marriage.  The advent of Facebook and other social networking sites are, more and more, cited as factors in the breakup of marriages.  Whether they served as vehicles for people “hooking up” or simply became substitutes for interaction between husband and wife, they have collectively become a factor in disintegrating marriages.  There are websites, think Ashley Madison, that are exclusively designed and implemented as tools for married folks who want to cheat.  A sad commentary on our culture, no matter how you cut it, and don’t think for a moment that our children do not witness all of this, process it, and inherit some meaning to it into their being.  Again, sad, and there is very little discussion about it.

Akst writes about “managing desire in a landscape rich with temptation” and there is no question that our landscape is rich in that regard.  More important than ever, then, to have dialogue with our children about the dangers of self indulgence and the differences in their world from ours, in terms of growing up.  Will points out the notion of “Free Will” and recalls Isaac Bashevis Singer who famously pointed out that “of course I believe in free will…I have no choice.”  We have always had free will, though.  What is most important now is teaching our children, and ourselves for that matter, the importance of self-discipline and that despite the increased menu at the grand buffet of life, the end of result of allowing oneself any and all pleasures almost always ends on the same sad note.

There is a reason that a generation or two ago we denied ourselves so much more than we do today.  There was an innate understanding that to drink from that cup would most likely result in a desire for more trips to the cup.  Without mores, society crumbles and chaos ensues.  Can anyone argue that we are seeing it happen before our eyes?  Even in our own home, I see what George Will described as “families dispersed within the home”.  Generations ago, families huddled around a lone radio.  Now, everyone is in their own corner with a laptop or some electronic device.  I complain regularly, but I believe I am being increasingly dismissed as paranoid or someone who simply “doesn’t get it”.

But I do get it.  It’s not for me.  I would sooner lay on the lawn and stargaze at night then to sit on Facebook posting information about my lunch with “friends”.  That kind of anonymous back and forth, I must admit, holds no interest for me.  I also have little doubt that it is damaging “us” and that there will be a price, yet determined, to be paid somewhere down the road.  Look at that…I’m sounding more and more like my father.  I hope I’m not as right as he turned out to be.

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