Before I get to Fino, I would just like to remind the regular readers of this Blog of my repeated attention to the impact of social unrest on society. Okay, that’s exactly what we are seeing right now in Iran. How it works out will unquestionably influence the whole Middle East and in turn the rest of the world. In the meantime, let me get back to Mr. Fino.
For so many days now in my 92nd year the obituary page of The Times reminds me of things past. Todays paper, June 19th, reports the departure of Congressman Paul Fino, “Politician Who Battled Lindsay.” At one point in that effort I was used as a battering ram.
It was 1965-67. I was Deputy Manpower Commissioner in charge of Youth Employment for the Lindsay Administration. One afternoon the phone rang, which it did constantly. My secretary said it was an important call from John Kifner of the New York Times calling from Washington. Kifner told me that Congressman Fino had just successfully had an amendment passed to the Anti-Poverty legislation requiring a loyalty oath from all people working in the Anti-Poverty Program. Fino, citing this man Schrank, a notorious known communist, was in charge of the largest anti-poverty effort in the country, dispensing millions of dollars to whoever he wanted. Kifner said that because NBC had given Fino 5 minutes on the evening news they would give me equal time to reply. He also added that he didn’t think the amendment would go anywheres as it would by all probability be killed in the Senate. He said the whole story would be in the morning paper.
I waited for the early edition of The Times and there was the whole story. By the time I got home there were calls from my boss at the agency, Mike Sviridoff, as well as calls from the Mayor’s office and NBC. A little background. I was working at Mobilization for Youth at the time I was asked to come to work for Lindsay. I said I would make the switch, but first I needed to talk with the Mayor. One of his deputies said it was okay to tell him anything I had on my mind. “No,” I said, “I need to talk directly to Lindsay.” A few days later I was summoned to City Hall at 8.30a.m. to meet with the Mayor. Upon arrival at his office there were three or four staff “kids” as the Mayors entourage came to be known. I suggested Lindsay and I meet alone. He nodded approval and a disgruntled group of guys filed out.
I told Lindsay about my communist past and my three expulsions from the Union for “supporting communist causes.” I reminded him of the Eagleton nomination and everybody's surprise that the guy had a history of mental problems. “Mr. Mayor,” I said, “we are not going to play that game of ‘oh, if I only knew,’ because sooner or later it will come up. If that bothers you, do me a favor and don’t hire me, because if and when it does come up, I will cite this conversation.” John Lindsay was most courteous. “First off,” he said, “we have run more checks on you than anyone in NY history. The FBI says you are fine and the NYPD, which is better at this stuff than the FBI, has a phone size book about you and they say your okay. So what’s to worry about?” That is how I went to work for John Lindsay.
The next morning Mike and I headed for City Hall. A funereal atmosphere hung over the room. On my way to the Mayor’s office some of the staff suggested that I could do Lindsay a huge favor by just going away. Unfortunately for the Mayor there were a number of his staff boys who were drooling over the idea of going to the White House with Lindsay as President. They saw me as an obstacle to that effort. After a brief discussion regarding our options, I said that if there was any effort to resign me, such as an announcement that I had resigned in deference to the Mayor, I would go on NBC and take my five minutes to blast not only Fino, but the Mayor as well, citing my conversation with him prior to my employment.
Lindsay had a good sense that this was not going in the right direction. He looked over at me, smiled, and asked, “What would you do if you were me?” By this time the Blue Room at City Hall was pacted with reporters. I said, “Mr. Mayor, just go out there and tell them the truth of what happened when you hired me, as well as what you think of my record as Commissioner for Youth Employment.” He stood up said,”That’s what we’re going to do if you agree not to go on NBC?” “That’s okay with me as long as there are no slip-ups along the way.” We all shook hands and went off to the Blue Room.
Lindsay was great. He did exactly what he said he would and went far out of his way to praise my work for the City saying he would like to hire 25 more like me. Mike Sviridoff and I left delighted with the outcome. I called NBC and told them the Mayor had adequately answered all the questions.
I had one more piece of unfinished business. After reading the speech Fino made on the House Floor, it became obvious that he was not competent enough to have written it. So who did? Years before all this, when I was still in the Union, I had occasions to deal with the Mafia. At one point during a police investigation I was asked about some of their shenanigans with health insurance programs. I had written about that in our union paper. I declined saying that my job was in the Labor Movement and not as a policeman or prosecutor. At a Union Convention I had met a Mafia leader who said, “Schrank, we owe you. So call me when you need something.” And so I did. He called back ten minutes later to say, “The speech was written at the Powerhouse on 50th Street” (St. Patrick’s Cathedral by Monseigneur Ahearn). Just another New York story.
Thanks Kate. N.H.W.Y.
PS. Did I ever tell about my job interview with the Mafia bosses, the two Tony’s?
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Good Old Ideas
As I am continuously trying to understand the world around me I stumble across interesting ideas that I ran across in my long life of observing what was going on in the world. I have mentioned the name of Karl Marx in my blog as he could explain to us the source of our present economic crisis. Looking at the tragedy that is South Africa the name Frantz Fanon came to mind.
(I wasn’t at all sure about Fanon and it was my friend Bill Kornblum who assured me I was on the right track.)
Fanon was a black man born in the Caribbean who was an active participant in the Algerian war for independence. He had a unique perspective as he was also a Psychiatrist. He wrote about the black body white mind phenomena. He was very much concerned with with what he referred to as the “colonial mind.” People who live under an oppressive colonial regime develop a way of thinking that tells them “this is the way to rule.” If and when they get rid of their oppressors the leaders tend to behave the same as the former oppressors. Why? Fanon explains it, as their only experience of what leaders do. They simply have no other frame of reference. Or an alternative way to think about it. Which brings me to South Africa.
Fifteen years after the end of Apartheid there has been progress for a number of Blacks who have made it into the middle class. Yet the conditions in the Townships has hardly changed at all. The unemployment rate hovers around 25 percent. Millions of people continue to live in the same miserable conditions that they experienced under the Apartheid regime. No running water, no electricity, no sanitary facilities, in essence no change. How can this be? You ask. This is were Fanon comes in.
Watching the farce of Jacob Zuma’s ascendance to the Presidency of South Africa is a culmination of the decline of the Afican National Congress the ANC since the departure of Nelson Mandela. His successor was Mbeki who had a masters degree in economics from the University of Sussex in Great Britain. He spent a good part of his time as the President convincing the banking investment world that South Africa was a place that the Wall Streets of the world could feel very secure about their investments. That might have been an important strategy to encourage western bankers to trust the Mbeki administration. They managed a 5 billion dollar loan for military equipment. It was in the course of negotiating that loan that the payoffs on a broad scale involved many of the ANC leaders including Mbeki and the new President Zuma. Think for a moment what 5 billion dollars might have done for the needs of the Townships? What exactly is the great need for military equipment? Who exactly is threatening South Africa? Good questions no answers. Unless, maybe it’s a concern for social unrest in the Townships that is sure to come if there is no change.
What does Fanon hve to teach us about the South Africa problem? First Mbeki and now Zuma have gone out and bought themselves a fleet of fancy cars, a series of large mansions spread around the country and I am sure Rolex watches and other appurtenances that make “no mistake as to who I am.” All to make them appear as powerful as their predecessors. It was Fanons observation that with the end of colonial rule the oppressed having experienced no other kind of relationship assume the role as ruler in the same way as their oppressor. This is the tragedy that is unfolding today in South Africa.
Fanon believed that a violent overthrow of the colonial rulers was necessary to clear out the old social relationship. The revolution would have an opportunity to create a new way for people to relate to one another. Yet it seems to me that violent revolutions do not necessarily end up with some new form of governing. The Russian Revolution ended up with a structure that very much resembled the old Czarist regime. Stalin as Ivin The Terrible.
In essence I believe that Fanon was trying to address our age old problem of heirachy. All of western civilization is based on the old military model of hierarchy. Power starts at the top. As it descends it gets distributed to the various people making up the power structure until it reaches the bottom, the local policeman on the beat. My own many years in the Labor Movement bares out the hierarchical way that power is vested in the work place and how difficult it was to try to change that.
I think I’ll stop here for now and continue this discussion in another blog.
Thanks Kate N.H.W.Y.
(I wasn’t at all sure about Fanon and it was my friend Bill Kornblum who assured me I was on the right track.)
Fanon was a black man born in the Caribbean who was an active participant in the Algerian war for independence. He had a unique perspective as he was also a Psychiatrist. He wrote about the black body white mind phenomena. He was very much concerned with with what he referred to as the “colonial mind.” People who live under an oppressive colonial regime develop a way of thinking that tells them “this is the way to rule.” If and when they get rid of their oppressors the leaders tend to behave the same as the former oppressors. Why? Fanon explains it, as their only experience of what leaders do. They simply have no other frame of reference. Or an alternative way to think about it. Which brings me to South Africa.
Fifteen years after the end of Apartheid there has been progress for a number of Blacks who have made it into the middle class. Yet the conditions in the Townships has hardly changed at all. The unemployment rate hovers around 25 percent. Millions of people continue to live in the same miserable conditions that they experienced under the Apartheid regime. No running water, no electricity, no sanitary facilities, in essence no change. How can this be? You ask. This is were Fanon comes in.
Watching the farce of Jacob Zuma’s ascendance to the Presidency of South Africa is a culmination of the decline of the Afican National Congress the ANC since the departure of Nelson Mandela. His successor was Mbeki who had a masters degree in economics from the University of Sussex in Great Britain. He spent a good part of his time as the President convincing the banking investment world that South Africa was a place that the Wall Streets of the world could feel very secure about their investments. That might have been an important strategy to encourage western bankers to trust the Mbeki administration. They managed a 5 billion dollar loan for military equipment. It was in the course of negotiating that loan that the payoffs on a broad scale involved many of the ANC leaders including Mbeki and the new President Zuma. Think for a moment what 5 billion dollars might have done for the needs of the Townships? What exactly is the great need for military equipment? Who exactly is threatening South Africa? Good questions no answers. Unless, maybe it’s a concern for social unrest in the Townships that is sure to come if there is no change.
What does Fanon hve to teach us about the South Africa problem? First Mbeki and now Zuma have gone out and bought themselves a fleet of fancy cars, a series of large mansions spread around the country and I am sure Rolex watches and other appurtenances that make “no mistake as to who I am.” All to make them appear as powerful as their predecessors. It was Fanons observation that with the end of colonial rule the oppressed having experienced no other kind of relationship assume the role as ruler in the same way as their oppressor. This is the tragedy that is unfolding today in South Africa.
Fanon believed that a violent overthrow of the colonial rulers was necessary to clear out the old social relationship. The revolution would have an opportunity to create a new way for people to relate to one another. Yet it seems to me that violent revolutions do not necessarily end up with some new form of governing. The Russian Revolution ended up with a structure that very much resembled the old Czarist regime. Stalin as Ivin The Terrible.
In essence I believe that Fanon was trying to address our age old problem of heirachy. All of western civilization is based on the old military model of hierarchy. Power starts at the top. As it descends it gets distributed to the various people making up the power structure until it reaches the bottom, the local policeman on the beat. My own many years in the Labor Movement bares out the hierarchical way that power is vested in the work place and how difficult it was to try to change that.
I think I’ll stop here for now and continue this discussion in another blog.
Thanks Kate N.H.W.Y.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Manual Labor As Quaint
Once again we are having an upsurge of the wonders of doing manual labor. This time it’s”Shop Class as Soulcraft” by Matthew Crawford. A short time ago it was Richard Sennett singing the praises of manual labor in “The Crafts Man.” When my own book “Ten thousand Working Days” came out in 1978, it too was cited as a praise of good old hard manual work.
I spent the first third of my working life working as a plumbers’ helper, a machinist apprentice, a machinist, a tool and die maker, and finally as New York State President of the Machinists Union. I have some ideas about manual work. In “Shop Class,” Crawford writes about how unsatisfying he found working in front of a computer screen all day. By the end of the day he had no real sense of what in fact he had accomplished. I guess one could say he was truly alienated from his work. In his youth out in San Francisco with the hippies he discovered manual work by rebuilding old Volkswagen engines. That was his introduction to work that had a “product” at the end of the day.
Mr. Crawford went on to get a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and then to a job in a Washington DC think tank. His experience at the “tank” drove him to consider the difference between working with ideas as against making or fixing something with your hands. As someone who has always worked with his hands, I could not agree more with Crawford regarding the joys and satisfaction of understanding how things work. What flows from that knowledge is the notion of how one might go about fixing things that don’t work. Anyone who has met me knows that I am an inveterate “do it yourselfer,” no matter if it is plumbing, electricity, woodworking or cars. The latter has given me the creeps since they put in the micro processors. Now diagnosing a car requires a computer to tell you what’s wrong with it. I miss listening to the engine like a doctor with a stethoscope and making decisions like, “Yup, the valves need adjustment.”
Okay, having sung the praises of manual labor, why did I leave it? It was probably some time around 1946-7. I was working in a toolroom making dies for high speed presses. There were about a dozen other guys working on that floor. It was lunch time. We were sitting outside enjoying a sunny spring day. Somehow the talk got around to the mutual health problems of the tool room gang. Now keep in mind these men were at the top of the machine shop pecking order. All them over 40 said they were having serious varicose leg problems from the constant standing. They were all wearing heavy glasses from the constant eye strain from reading the fine lines on micrometers as well as other instruments that could read ten thousands of an inch. As I looked around at their skin conditions it struck me that these men have sacrificed a major part of their physical conditions in order to do the kind of work they loved. In some unconscious way I decided then and there I was not going to end my life half-blind with varicose veins and serious skin infections from exposure to toxic cutting oils. Some years later, at the age of 47, I decided to go get a college degree so I would not have to live my life out in a factory.
It has often struck me that folks who discover the wonders of working with one’s hands are often professionals with at least a post graduate degree, as in the case of Matthew Crawford. He decided to open his own business; a motorcycle repair shop in Richmond, Virginia. Well that’s very nice. He does not punch a clock. He can come and go as he pleases. He is not doing mind-numbing, repetitive work that resembles sitting in front of a computer screen all day doing claims adjustments at an insurance office. My point is that most corporate work has been broken down into tiny pieces so that no real skill is required to do it. That is the dirty little secret behind the success of mass production; interchangeable parts as well as interchangeable people. That is the price we have paid so that we can all drive around in our nifty automobiles.
After spending years working as a manager in a variety of places, I went back to my childhood avocation in my spare time; fixing things like an old country house, building a bulkhead, and of late making antique furniture reproductions. I do not confuse those tasks with any repetitive type job in business or industry. This whole story is a classic case of lack of differentiation. Yes, it’s great to understand how the internal combustion engine runs an automobile or what happens when you flick a light switch, but please don’t confuse that with working with your hands doing hard physical labor that is not only not very satisfying but is also physically very destructive. If you want to get into some manual work as a hobby, I will be happy to advise.
Thanks Kate. N.H.W.Y.
I spent the first third of my working life working as a plumbers’ helper, a machinist apprentice, a machinist, a tool and die maker, and finally as New York State President of the Machinists Union. I have some ideas about manual work. In “Shop Class,” Crawford writes about how unsatisfying he found working in front of a computer screen all day. By the end of the day he had no real sense of what in fact he had accomplished. I guess one could say he was truly alienated from his work. In his youth out in San Francisco with the hippies he discovered manual work by rebuilding old Volkswagen engines. That was his introduction to work that had a “product” at the end of the day.
Mr. Crawford went on to get a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and then to a job in a Washington DC think tank. His experience at the “tank” drove him to consider the difference between working with ideas as against making or fixing something with your hands. As someone who has always worked with his hands, I could not agree more with Crawford regarding the joys and satisfaction of understanding how things work. What flows from that knowledge is the notion of how one might go about fixing things that don’t work. Anyone who has met me knows that I am an inveterate “do it yourselfer,” no matter if it is plumbing, electricity, woodworking or cars. The latter has given me the creeps since they put in the micro processors. Now diagnosing a car requires a computer to tell you what’s wrong with it. I miss listening to the engine like a doctor with a stethoscope and making decisions like, “Yup, the valves need adjustment.”
Okay, having sung the praises of manual labor, why did I leave it? It was probably some time around 1946-7. I was working in a toolroom making dies for high speed presses. There were about a dozen other guys working on that floor. It was lunch time. We were sitting outside enjoying a sunny spring day. Somehow the talk got around to the mutual health problems of the tool room gang. Now keep in mind these men were at the top of the machine shop pecking order. All them over 40 said they were having serious varicose leg problems from the constant standing. They were all wearing heavy glasses from the constant eye strain from reading the fine lines on micrometers as well as other instruments that could read ten thousands of an inch. As I looked around at their skin conditions it struck me that these men have sacrificed a major part of their physical conditions in order to do the kind of work they loved. In some unconscious way I decided then and there I was not going to end my life half-blind with varicose veins and serious skin infections from exposure to toxic cutting oils. Some years later, at the age of 47, I decided to go get a college degree so I would not have to live my life out in a factory.
It has often struck me that folks who discover the wonders of working with one’s hands are often professionals with at least a post graduate degree, as in the case of Matthew Crawford. He decided to open his own business; a motorcycle repair shop in Richmond, Virginia. Well that’s very nice. He does not punch a clock. He can come and go as he pleases. He is not doing mind-numbing, repetitive work that resembles sitting in front of a computer screen all day doing claims adjustments at an insurance office. My point is that most corporate work has been broken down into tiny pieces so that no real skill is required to do it. That is the dirty little secret behind the success of mass production; interchangeable parts as well as interchangeable people. That is the price we have paid so that we can all drive around in our nifty automobiles.
After spending years working as a manager in a variety of places, I went back to my childhood avocation in my spare time; fixing things like an old country house, building a bulkhead, and of late making antique furniture reproductions. I do not confuse those tasks with any repetitive type job in business or industry. This whole story is a classic case of lack of differentiation. Yes, it’s great to understand how the internal combustion engine runs an automobile or what happens when you flick a light switch, but please don’t confuse that with working with your hands doing hard physical labor that is not only not very satisfying but is also physically very destructive. If you want to get into some manual work as a hobby, I will be happy to advise.
Thanks Kate. N.H.W.Y.
Monday, June 1, 2009
The Boot Strap Problem
As being one who has been characterized as a “bootstrapped” I have become increasingly concerned about it implications. It was upon the publication of “Ten Thousand Working Days” in 1978 a review in the Harvard Business Review suggested that I was a real Horatio Alger success story. I had pulled myself up from a High School dropout to the glorious heights of success as a Ford Foundation Program Officer plus lots of other nifty achievements. In other word I had pulled myself up by my boot straps and for that I was a credit to our system and myself for being able to do it.
As I thought about it it did strike me as kind of strange for an old thirties radical being hailed as evidence that the capitalist system indeed does work. All one needs to do is work hard and overcome what ever adversity might be in your path and guess what you “can make it.”'
Man, is this a dangerous notion. It clearly suggests that those who don’t make it can only blame themselves. I of course do not believe that for a minute. There are so many variables that can decide who makes and who does not. I for instance did not have to deal with race or immigrant status. I came from a very literate work oriented culture. “Learn a trade and you can always get a job.” The world of radicals I grew up in were primarily skilled workers so I became an auto mechanic, machinist, tool maker, union official. My background prepared me for all of them. Besides I was in the right geographic location, New York City. Add to that, luck was on my side.
Which brings me to the Sonia Sotomayer’s nomination to the Supreme Court. My concern is not where she grew up. That’s interesting and I am glad for her. As in the great American success stories, she grew up poor in the Bronxdale Public Housing. If that is her major achievement then I know little or nothing about what she thinks or believes in. Yes she was part of the Puerto Rican Defense fund and thats a plus. I remember that organization from my days working for John Lindsey as Deputy Manpower Commissioner.
This brings me to Justice Thomas who also grew up poor. In his case the Dems. tried their darndest to find out what was his judicial philosophy and what did he believe in? Because he never was a judge we didn’t have a clue where he would fit in the political spectrum of the court. His years on the court have convinced me that mostly he believes in Justice Anthony Scalia. I hate to admit this but I am in the same place with nominee Sotomayer.
Now in her case there is a trail of decisions she made in the Circuit Court of Appeals. I have not looked at any more than a few cases. I am sure others will do a far reaching analysis of her decisions so we can see exactly what is her judicial philosophy? Does she think the Constitution protects a women's right to privacy? I don’t know and that’s the heart of Roe V Wade. In a number of decisions involving police officers Sotomayer tilted toward the cops overturning lower courts favoring the plaintiffs. Is she an authoritarian because she grew up in an disorderly lawless community and now is a law and order compulsive? Don’t know the answers just got lots of questions.
Thurgood Marshall, was nominated as the first Black to sit in the Supreme Court. He was an absolute known entity. He had been a civil rights lawyer for all of his professional life. He brought that same commitment with him to the court. We knew exactly what we were getting up front. In the present case of Sonia Sotomayer I am not at all sure about what to expect from her. Especially since a number of Republicans are saying they are just going to let the nomination go.
I must admit I don’t remember any administration were I had so many “we’ll sees” as I have with this one. I just don’t know what our President believes in other than trying to get everyone to go along. It’s referred to as “pragmatism.” Is that just seeing what you can get the opposition to agree to and if they don’t just drop it or compromise it beyond recognition? We’ll see?
Thanks Kate N/H.W.Y.
As I thought about it it did strike me as kind of strange for an old thirties radical being hailed as evidence that the capitalist system indeed does work. All one needs to do is work hard and overcome what ever adversity might be in your path and guess what you “can make it.”'
Man, is this a dangerous notion. It clearly suggests that those who don’t make it can only blame themselves. I of course do not believe that for a minute. There are so many variables that can decide who makes and who does not. I for instance did not have to deal with race or immigrant status. I came from a very literate work oriented culture. “Learn a trade and you can always get a job.” The world of radicals I grew up in were primarily skilled workers so I became an auto mechanic, machinist, tool maker, union official. My background prepared me for all of them. Besides I was in the right geographic location, New York City. Add to that, luck was on my side.
Which brings me to the Sonia Sotomayer’s nomination to the Supreme Court. My concern is not where she grew up. That’s interesting and I am glad for her. As in the great American success stories, she grew up poor in the Bronxdale Public Housing. If that is her major achievement then I know little or nothing about what she thinks or believes in. Yes she was part of the Puerto Rican Defense fund and thats a plus. I remember that organization from my days working for John Lindsey as Deputy Manpower Commissioner.
This brings me to Justice Thomas who also grew up poor. In his case the Dems. tried their darndest to find out what was his judicial philosophy and what did he believe in? Because he never was a judge we didn’t have a clue where he would fit in the political spectrum of the court. His years on the court have convinced me that mostly he believes in Justice Anthony Scalia. I hate to admit this but I am in the same place with nominee Sotomayer.
Now in her case there is a trail of decisions she made in the Circuit Court of Appeals. I have not looked at any more than a few cases. I am sure others will do a far reaching analysis of her decisions so we can see exactly what is her judicial philosophy? Does she think the Constitution protects a women's right to privacy? I don’t know and that’s the heart of Roe V Wade. In a number of decisions involving police officers Sotomayer tilted toward the cops overturning lower courts favoring the plaintiffs. Is she an authoritarian because she grew up in an disorderly lawless community and now is a law and order compulsive? Don’t know the answers just got lots of questions.
Thurgood Marshall, was nominated as the first Black to sit in the Supreme Court. He was an absolute known entity. He had been a civil rights lawyer for all of his professional life. He brought that same commitment with him to the court. We knew exactly what we were getting up front. In the present case of Sonia Sotomayer I am not at all sure about what to expect from her. Especially since a number of Republicans are saying they are just going to let the nomination go.
I must admit I don’t remember any administration were I had so many “we’ll sees” as I have with this one. I just don’t know what our President believes in other than trying to get everyone to go along. It’s referred to as “pragmatism.” Is that just seeing what you can get the opposition to agree to and if they don’t just drop it or compromise it beyond recognition? We’ll see?
Thanks Kate N/H.W.Y.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Obama Stop Pussyfooting!
Okay it’s time for Obama to imitate former President Truman’s “give em hell speeches.” Yes, start a fight for your chance at change. It is interesting to note that when it came to saving the banks the Republicans were oh so mild in their opposition. At any rate, the trillions went out and we are not even sure who got what. Nor have I seen an accounting of how much of these banks we, the taxpayers now own.
I did notice that we, the taxpayers, will be major stockholders in GM, together with the UAW. Now there’s an opportunity to try some new ways to run a company. Having spent many years of a long life trying to figure out a model of “Industrial Democracy” here's a real opportunity to experiment. I don’t know who might still be around who knows how to make Industrial Democracy work. The late Walter Reuther and Irving Bluestone leaders of the UAW believed in it. Forgive me as I am drifting away from my subject. More of this in another blog.
Grasping at straws the GOP has found what they think is a wedge issue. Guess what? Closing Guant’anamo. This only indicates their bankruptcy in the ideas department. I am sorry Obama got himself cornered in this mess. When you consider all the really critical problems out there Guant’anamo is pretty far down in the urgency agenda. But when cornered, the only thing to do is “give em hell.”
GOP desperately trying to come up with an opposition starts a NIMBY campaign, (“Not In My Backyard”) against moving prisoners out of Cuba to the US. Mr. President, would you please remind the folks out in Colorado at the Maximum Security lock up that it’s the Federal Payroll that keeps that town at a very comfortable economic level. If they don’t want the prison there, just ask for volunteer towns across the country: “who would like to have a brand new maximum security prison in their backyard and be on the Federal payroll for the rest of their lives.” I mean the rest of their lives cause when they retire they get the niftiest benefits until the day they meet their maker. Lot better then those GM auto workers who could lose their whole retirement when GM goes belly up. (Just ask the folks in upstate New York if they would like a Federal prison in their backyard. If you ask be ready to build it.)
I know Mr. Obama, that you are very committed to this reaching across the isle stuff. Thats fine as long as you don’t find yourself reaching for hands that aren’t even there. Long ago they have decided there was no way you were going to find a hand to grasp when you reached out. Overwhelmingly the folks across the isle from you have gone hunting to find any way they can to bring you down. So when you reach out and there’s no one there to take your hand and run with you, then it’s time to go after what you want and give the opposition hell. Look, they have made it clear that there is no way in heaven or earth that they are gong to support anything that you want on the “Change” agenda. Another Truman quote might be appropriate. “If your looking for a friend in Washington get a dog.” Mr President If your reaching out and they just ain’t there, I’m sure Bo will always be at your side. Thank Truman for that.
Mr. President one final observation. If you look carefully at how your opposition is scratching around to find issues that might energize the nutpack in the GOP back to life, it becomes exasperatingly clear they don’t have a program of their own. They are looking for some dirt, they hope will wake up the, “Grand Old Party.” Go to think of it that’s a very apt name. Go get’em Mr. President.
Thanks kate N.H.W.Y.
PS. After being rear ended at a red light a week ago, we are both beginning to feel better. Thanks for your concerns. RS
I did notice that we, the taxpayers, will be major stockholders in GM, together with the UAW. Now there’s an opportunity to try some new ways to run a company. Having spent many years of a long life trying to figure out a model of “Industrial Democracy” here's a real opportunity to experiment. I don’t know who might still be around who knows how to make Industrial Democracy work. The late Walter Reuther and Irving Bluestone leaders of the UAW believed in it. Forgive me as I am drifting away from my subject. More of this in another blog.
Grasping at straws the GOP has found what they think is a wedge issue. Guess what? Closing Guant’anamo. This only indicates their bankruptcy in the ideas department. I am sorry Obama got himself cornered in this mess. When you consider all the really critical problems out there Guant’anamo is pretty far down in the urgency agenda. But when cornered, the only thing to do is “give em hell.”
GOP desperately trying to come up with an opposition starts a NIMBY campaign, (“Not In My Backyard”) against moving prisoners out of Cuba to the US. Mr. President, would you please remind the folks out in Colorado at the Maximum Security lock up that it’s the Federal Payroll that keeps that town at a very comfortable economic level. If they don’t want the prison there, just ask for volunteer towns across the country: “who would like to have a brand new maximum security prison in their backyard and be on the Federal payroll for the rest of their lives.” I mean the rest of their lives cause when they retire they get the niftiest benefits until the day they meet their maker. Lot better then those GM auto workers who could lose their whole retirement when GM goes belly up. (Just ask the folks in upstate New York if they would like a Federal prison in their backyard. If you ask be ready to build it.)
I know Mr. Obama, that you are very committed to this reaching across the isle stuff. Thats fine as long as you don’t find yourself reaching for hands that aren’t even there. Long ago they have decided there was no way you were going to find a hand to grasp when you reached out. Overwhelmingly the folks across the isle from you have gone hunting to find any way they can to bring you down. So when you reach out and there’s no one there to take your hand and run with you, then it’s time to go after what you want and give the opposition hell. Look, they have made it clear that there is no way in heaven or earth that they are gong to support anything that you want on the “Change” agenda. Another Truman quote might be appropriate. “If your looking for a friend in Washington get a dog.” Mr President If your reaching out and they just ain’t there, I’m sure Bo will always be at your side. Thank Truman for that.
Mr. President one final observation. If you look carefully at how your opposition is scratching around to find issues that might energize the nutpack in the GOP back to life, it becomes exasperatingly clear they don’t have a program of their own. They are looking for some dirt, they hope will wake up the, “Grand Old Party.” Go to think of it that’s a very apt name. Go get’em Mr. President.
Thanks kate N.H.W.Y.
PS. After being rear ended at a red light a week ago, we are both beginning to feel better. Thanks for your concerns. RS
Sunday, May 17, 2009
The Fish and the Tern
For many years I have watched the schools of fish bubbling the water in the bay. Out of the sky comes a flock of attack birds diving for the fish. The birds hit the water, grab the poor fish, and its gone. I have long seen this as a metaphor of our lives. I am sure I have been influenced by my mother’s sudden disappearance when I was just a kid. We were poor. There were three kids. She didn’t want anymore. And so in some back alley she bled to death. That was the biggest adversity that I ever had to face.
So here we are driving along Route 25 in Ridge, Long Island. We are stopped for a red light. Both Kate and I are relaxed, enjoying our days accomplishments when out of nowhere comes the tern, a Cadillac Escalade slams into us. Before we know what is happening the emergency vehicles are there. Both Kate and I are strapped onto boards, totally immobilized, put into an ambulance, and taken to an ER. Luckily we are not seriously hurt, just banged up enough to bring on the trauma of one’s mortality. A trauma I am very familiar with.
I believe that early childhood experience has very much shaped how I have lived. Life could be snuffed out in an unexpected moment. Like the fish swimming along minding his own business, one swoosh from the sky and he’s gone. That has made my living intense. I simply am never sure when my walk down this beautiful road might suddenly end. None of this is very conscious. I do believe that makes me want to take as much advantage as I can of this wondrous journey.
Our little trauma has no impact whatsoever on the unfolding drama in the nations capital. Pelosi weaving and ducking on the torture problem. Obama unable to make up his mind to release the torture pictures or not. I see so many of these issues as sidebars or ways to prevent focusing on some of the fundamentals, like “the economy stupid.” I have asked my Congressmen and Senators why they don’t just reintroduce the Glass Steagal Act. (No reply yet.) That would separate our Savings Banks from Investment Banks. That’s what FDR did during the 1930’s depression. It was the repeal of that law that permitted Citibank to buy Travelers’ Insurance and send it on the road to bankruptcy only to be saved by the tax payer.In the meantime, one of the major players in the old derivative stunt crowd, Mr. Geithner, is expected to now make certain that everything the bankers do is transparent. Fat chance. But this story is disappearing from page one. We are losing sight of the issue--”It’s the economy stupid.”
I have noticed of late that there are other voices beginning to ask what happened to all that grass roots support that elected Obama? While he tries to find a place from which to lead, it would be very helpful if our professor President heard more from his constituents. Perhaps that would help him to understand that leading means committing yourself to a position and fighting for it. If your major objective is to have everybody agree with you, that can end us up compromising away all the things we believe in. At some point you may have to fight. Maybe he will learn that as he nominates a justice for the supreme court. Obviously his opposition doesn’t give a hoot who he nominates, they are about to give him a lesson how to fight. Hope he learns from it.
In the meantime keep in mind the fish and the tern, and don’t waste any time being bored.
Thanks Kate. N.H.W.Y.
So here we are driving along Route 25 in Ridge, Long Island. We are stopped for a red light. Both Kate and I are relaxed, enjoying our days accomplishments when out of nowhere comes the tern, a Cadillac Escalade slams into us. Before we know what is happening the emergency vehicles are there. Both Kate and I are strapped onto boards, totally immobilized, put into an ambulance, and taken to an ER. Luckily we are not seriously hurt, just banged up enough to bring on the trauma of one’s mortality. A trauma I am very familiar with.
I believe that early childhood experience has very much shaped how I have lived. Life could be snuffed out in an unexpected moment. Like the fish swimming along minding his own business, one swoosh from the sky and he’s gone. That has made my living intense. I simply am never sure when my walk down this beautiful road might suddenly end. None of this is very conscious. I do believe that makes me want to take as much advantage as I can of this wondrous journey.
Our little trauma has no impact whatsoever on the unfolding drama in the nations capital. Pelosi weaving and ducking on the torture problem. Obama unable to make up his mind to release the torture pictures or not. I see so many of these issues as sidebars or ways to prevent focusing on some of the fundamentals, like “the economy stupid.” I have asked my Congressmen and Senators why they don’t just reintroduce the Glass Steagal Act. (No reply yet.) That would separate our Savings Banks from Investment Banks. That’s what FDR did during the 1930’s depression. It was the repeal of that law that permitted Citibank to buy Travelers’ Insurance and send it on the road to bankruptcy only to be saved by the tax payer.In the meantime, one of the major players in the old derivative stunt crowd, Mr. Geithner, is expected to now make certain that everything the bankers do is transparent. Fat chance. But this story is disappearing from page one. We are losing sight of the issue--”It’s the economy stupid.”
I have noticed of late that there are other voices beginning to ask what happened to all that grass roots support that elected Obama? While he tries to find a place from which to lead, it would be very helpful if our professor President heard more from his constituents. Perhaps that would help him to understand that leading means committing yourself to a position and fighting for it. If your major objective is to have everybody agree with you, that can end us up compromising away all the things we believe in. At some point you may have to fight. Maybe he will learn that as he nominates a justice for the supreme court. Obviously his opposition doesn’t give a hoot who he nominates, they are about to give him a lesson how to fight. Hope he learns from it.
In the meantime keep in mind the fish and the tern, and don’t waste any time being bored.
Thanks Kate. N.H.W.Y.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
A Week With a Fox
Remember Isaiah Berlin’s notion of the difference between a Hedgehog and a Fox? The hedgehog does one thing very well, like building a hegehog fence. The fox does lots of different things, some well and some just so-so. I have always felt like I fall into the latter category. Now that’s both a curse and a blessing. This week is a good example:
1. Kate and I went to Broadway to see a play, “Mary Stuart” by Fredrick Schiller, a German poet circa 1700. The play is about the struggle between two women for the crown of England. Schiller was one of my father’s favorite poets. Beethoven used a poem of his for the 9th symphony. He was a champion of freedom. I think that was the idea of the play, two women caught up in the struggle for power. Stuart is held prisoner for 19 years to make sure she does not win the crown from Elizabeth. Underneath the struggle for power there are the Protestant men who don’t want the Catholic men and the Pope telling them what they can and can’t do. The women are caught up in different power groups vying for control.
2. Sunday night we are watching 60 Minutes. There is a segment on the Drone pilotless aircraft and hosted by a new young “glamorous” reporter, Lara Login. She is in absolute awe of this wonderful new weapon of war that can be flown anywhere in the world. It is controlled from Creech Air Force Base in Nevada. It can dump its bombs, kill a lot of people, and return home without a soldier getting scratched. Lara thinks it’s just so nifty that we don’t need any pilots to risk their lives while the bombs are falling. I am beginning to seethe. Don’t they know that it has also killed lots of civilians who just happen to be near the target zone!? All 60 Minutes had to do was go on Google and ask, how many civilians are killed by Drones? Over 516 known. And we wonder why people in the Middle East don’t like us?
I’m up half the night sending e-mails to 60 Minutes asking whatever happened to serious reporting? Or are we just going to be subject to obsequious, glamorous women asking cute questions?
3. Before getting to sleep I notice that the outdoor front censor light is staying on. It is suppose to only be on when there is motion in front of it and go off after 5 minutes. I trace the circuits to see what could be causing the malfunction and decide the car parked in front of it is reflecting light; confusing the signal. I move the car, the light goes out. Thinking about the photo electric cell in the motion light, I remember Einstein played a major role in its invention. Back to bed to try get some sleep.
4. Next morning I wake up thinking about drawers on a writing desk I am making in the shop. Assembling the parts is always the most telling part of furniture making. The drawers are not sliding smoothly. Take off a little here, a little there, and finally we are on a smooth ride. Then I think about finishing. What kind of stain, varnish, or maybe a wax finish? We’ll see.
5. I want to do a blog on Social Security (SS). I get so mad when I hear the pundits with their dire predictions of when SS is going to run out of money. The Government in Washington has been taking money out of the SS trust fund for the last 25 years. Remember the 2000 campaign when Gore and Bush were promising the SS lock-box. It never ever happened. Okay, so you want to know how much the Government owes SS? How about 2.2 trillion dollars! Put that money back in and we have many more years to go before it would run out of money. Funny how we could get up all the dough in a hurry to bail out the banks, but we don’t seem to be able to put the money the government stole or borrowed back in the SS. trust fund.
6. I am reading the Atlantic Monthly article on “Happiness.” It is based on an extensive lifetime study of men and what they did with their lives. It’s very interesting, but I will have to put off commenting because I need to go back and take a look at what others have had to say on the many subjects covered in the piece.
7. It’s morning. The sun is shining. Time to cut the grass. The damm lawn mower battery is dead. What could be draining it? I figure there has to be a grounded wire somewhere. Spend the next hour checking each and every circuit. Ahaa, here it is. A wire with the insulation ripped off needs to be replaced. Recharge battery, put in new wire, and off we go.
8. I have started on a series of poems about life in the early 20th century for my great-grandson Soren. It’s not pressing for him since I am sure he’s very smart and it’s going to be some time before he’s reading. But I am never sure how much time I have, so there’s the pressure to get it done.
9. Keep playing the guitar and singing otherwise you lose it. Especially the hands are getting stiff from arthritis and your vocal chords need exercise same as your legs.
An old therapist friend said I suffered from a “divine curiosity syndrome and that can be a blessing or a curse.” For sure it doesn’t make sleeping easy. So goes the life of a Fox. Sometimes I wish I was a Hedgehog and just did one thing perfectly.
Thanks Kate. N.H.W.Y. (Even when she has a nasty cold.)
1. Kate and I went to Broadway to see a play, “Mary Stuart” by Fredrick Schiller, a German poet circa 1700. The play is about the struggle between two women for the crown of England. Schiller was one of my father’s favorite poets. Beethoven used a poem of his for the 9th symphony. He was a champion of freedom. I think that was the idea of the play, two women caught up in the struggle for power. Stuart is held prisoner for 19 years to make sure she does not win the crown from Elizabeth. Underneath the struggle for power there are the Protestant men who don’t want the Catholic men and the Pope telling them what they can and can’t do. The women are caught up in different power groups vying for control.
2. Sunday night we are watching 60 Minutes. There is a segment on the Drone pilotless aircraft and hosted by a new young “glamorous” reporter, Lara Login. She is in absolute awe of this wonderful new weapon of war that can be flown anywhere in the world. It is controlled from Creech Air Force Base in Nevada. It can dump its bombs, kill a lot of people, and return home without a soldier getting scratched. Lara thinks it’s just so nifty that we don’t need any pilots to risk their lives while the bombs are falling. I am beginning to seethe. Don’t they know that it has also killed lots of civilians who just happen to be near the target zone!? All 60 Minutes had to do was go on Google and ask, how many civilians are killed by Drones? Over 516 known. And we wonder why people in the Middle East don’t like us?
I’m up half the night sending e-mails to 60 Minutes asking whatever happened to serious reporting? Or are we just going to be subject to obsequious, glamorous women asking cute questions?
3. Before getting to sleep I notice that the outdoor front censor light is staying on. It is suppose to only be on when there is motion in front of it and go off after 5 minutes. I trace the circuits to see what could be causing the malfunction and decide the car parked in front of it is reflecting light; confusing the signal. I move the car, the light goes out. Thinking about the photo electric cell in the motion light, I remember Einstein played a major role in its invention. Back to bed to try get some sleep.
4. Next morning I wake up thinking about drawers on a writing desk I am making in the shop. Assembling the parts is always the most telling part of furniture making. The drawers are not sliding smoothly. Take off a little here, a little there, and finally we are on a smooth ride. Then I think about finishing. What kind of stain, varnish, or maybe a wax finish? We’ll see.
5. I want to do a blog on Social Security (SS). I get so mad when I hear the pundits with their dire predictions of when SS is going to run out of money. The Government in Washington has been taking money out of the SS trust fund for the last 25 years. Remember the 2000 campaign when Gore and Bush were promising the SS lock-box. It never ever happened. Okay, so you want to know how much the Government owes SS? How about 2.2 trillion dollars! Put that money back in and we have many more years to go before it would run out of money. Funny how we could get up all the dough in a hurry to bail out the banks, but we don’t seem to be able to put the money the government stole or borrowed back in the SS. trust fund.
6. I am reading the Atlantic Monthly article on “Happiness.” It is based on an extensive lifetime study of men and what they did with their lives. It’s very interesting, but I will have to put off commenting because I need to go back and take a look at what others have had to say on the many subjects covered in the piece.
7. It’s morning. The sun is shining. Time to cut the grass. The damm lawn mower battery is dead. What could be draining it? I figure there has to be a grounded wire somewhere. Spend the next hour checking each and every circuit. Ahaa, here it is. A wire with the insulation ripped off needs to be replaced. Recharge battery, put in new wire, and off we go.
8. I have started on a series of poems about life in the early 20th century for my great-grandson Soren. It’s not pressing for him since I am sure he’s very smart and it’s going to be some time before he’s reading. But I am never sure how much time I have, so there’s the pressure to get it done.
9. Keep playing the guitar and singing otherwise you lose it. Especially the hands are getting stiff from arthritis and your vocal chords need exercise same as your legs.
An old therapist friend said I suffered from a “divine curiosity syndrome and that can be a blessing or a curse.” For sure it doesn’t make sleeping easy. So goes the life of a Fox. Sometimes I wish I was a Hedgehog and just did one thing perfectly.
Thanks Kate. N.H.W.Y. (Even when she has a nasty cold.)
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