There Are No Words for this Insanity

Over 144,000 dead in a growing pandemic.  A crumbling economy and millions unemployed.  A White House administration full of fascists and incompetents echoing racist slurs.  Immigrants and their children detained in concentration camps.  Federal storm troopers seizing peaceful protestors and holding them without due process.  Our global reputation in shambles and our citizens banned from traveling to other countries.  And a "president" who shills for a Hispanic-owned food company while he labels our Latino and Latina citizens and neighbors drug dealers, murderers, and rapist and is building a wall to keep them out.  Is this what a great America should look like?     

We Are But One

Today would have been Madiba's 102nd birthday. Although he is no longer with us, his spirit urges all of us to work together for racial harmony and good will. Or as he would say in his native Xhosa. Ngaphantsi kolusu lwethu sibomntu omnye. Beneath out skin we are but one humanity.

The Fourth of July - Hardly a Reason for Fireworks This Year - Part 2

My response to this year’s July 4^th holiday was not originally intended to be a two-part posting, but then again this holiday has been unlike any we have experienced in this country’s 244 year history. Yesterday I addressed the event at Mount Rushmore on July 3rd, and today I am focusing on the July 4^th "festivities" here in Washington yesterday. I was shocked, not awed.

As I mentioned yesterday, for many years my wife and I have celebrated this holiday in Maine or elsewhere and we were just as happy to be away from the hubbub of the Nation’s Capital. Not a fan of large crowds, I have only seen the huge fireworks on National Mall twice in the 44 years we have lived in the Washington, DC area. And I don’t feel the need to fight the crowds and the normally hot and humid weather to try again. Been there. Done that. Finding myself at home this year, I was happy enough to spend a quiet day; just me and the dog, a writing project, and a good book. And besides . . . I had been sheltering in place for 121 days, the temperature was ranging into the 90s, the humidity was thick enough to swim through, and there was not a breath of breeze stirring. No thanks.

As the day began few had any idea how it would all play out. The traditional parade along Independence Avenue had been cancelled by Mayor Muriel Bowser and the city hoped residents and visitors alike would heed the earnest request to stay at home, or if they did decide to come into the city, to respect the strict social distancing measures and crowd size limits in effect, and to wear protective face masks. The traditional fireworks display on the National Mall was still scheduled for the evening as it is administered by the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service which are not required to adhere to city restrictions. As at Mount Rushmore, the National Park Service announced that the wearing of protective face masks and the maintenance of proper social distancing would not be enforced. Insanity continued to prevail.

The National Park Service predicted upwards of 300,000 would attend the festivities and during the morning people began to show up to stake out prime viewing sites to enjoy the festivities, including a military flyover and the massive fireworks display billed by Trump as a "Salute to America." After his speech at Mount Rushmore the day before, I wondered whose America was he referring to? Groups of protesters also converged on the Mall and local streets were closed to traffic and the areas around the White House and the Lincoln Memorial were sealed off. There were a few motley demonstrations as well as sit-ins which had begun already the night before in front of the Supreme Court and at the recently renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza just north of the White House and Lafayette Park. This was the scene of last month’s clash between peaceful demonstrators and police and National Guard ordered there by Trump so that he might walk across the park to St John’s Church to hold up a Bible for a bizarre photo-op. I was sickened by a report that Washington Police were flanking a group of several dozen Trump supporters who marched past the National Museum of African American History and Culture on the Mall, some of them using hand gestures known to symbolize white supremacy. Not surprisingly, few were wearing masks.

By early afternoon local WTOP radio reported that the crowds on and around the Mall were remarkably "sparse," reminiscent of the "crowds" that attended Trump’s January 2017 inauguration). About half the small crowd appeared to be wearing face masks according to WTOP. Trump must have been furious and I wonder whom he will blame for this? Serves him right, but think of all the wasted taxpayer money squandered to stroke his tender ego.

Firecrackers began to pop in my suburban neighborhood during the late afternoon. Otherwise it had been a normal, quiet Saturday afternoon here in Historic Mount Rainier, Maryland. The peace and quiet was suddenly shattered shortly after 7pm when the US Air Force Thunderbirds and the US Navy Blue Angels precision flight demonstration squadrons, part of the planned military flyover, passed very low directly over my house follow by a B-2 stealth bomber with a fighter escort, as well as a variety of other military vintage and modern aircraft. The windows rattled and the dogs began to howl. In all the years I have lived here I don’t ever recall seeing military aircraft fly over at such a low altitude other than the morning of September 11, 2001.

Local private firework displays (official fireworks shows in several regional towns and counties had been cancelled due to the pandemic) crackle, joining the growing cacophony shortly after sunset at 8:30pm, and just after 9pm I began to hear the steady crumping of the firework explosions over the National Mall. We live only three miles away as the crow flies, and less than a mile from here is a ridge line, one of the highest elevations in the District of Columbia, where one is offered a broad panoramic view of the city with its monuments, the Potomac River, and Virginia beyond. On an exceptionally clear day one can see the faint outline of the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west. It is a favorite spot to watch the fireworks. I remained at home as planned.

Only after the smoke from the 45-minute display slowly drifted away did I begin to read reports of Trump’s earlier address to a by-invitation-only audience on the South Lawn of the White House. I was quite certain it would essentially be a repetition of his ludicrous indictment of the many domestic enemies who do not share his astigmatic and fascist vision of an America in which people are divided rather than united in a common cause. This vision. Trump announced, would be achieved by "defeating the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters, and people who in many instances have absolutely no clue what they are doing." The last reference seems to better describe Trump and his fanatical base. He promised to "safeguard our values," but are these really our values? "We will defend, protect and preserve the American way of life which began in 1492 when Columbus discovered America." May I remind the president that Columbus did not discover America. His three voyages to the New World brought him to the Antilles and the coasts of Central and South America; he never stepped foot on the North American continent presently occupied by the United States of America. The first European to do so was Leif Erikson centuries before Columbus was born. The America Trump was referring to did not exist until July 1776 when it declared its independence from Great Britain. He is the president. He should know that. After all, this is what we were celebrating yesterday! He seems to hold tight to the myth so many of us were taught in elementary school. What Columbus brought to this hemisphere was a cruel and at times genocidal colonial occupation, torture, and disease epidemics. I am not really surprised that Trump has a particular affinity for the likes of Columbus.

We don’t want to erase our history, but on the same token, we need not honor nor commemorate the darkest and most regrettable chapters of that history or traitors who for whatever reason took up arms against this country. These monuments in question need not be destroyed, but they should be removed from public lands and placed into museums where they can be presented in a proper context to better educate our citizenry. I am a historian by both inclination and profession and I have no desire to erase our history. It was the 20^th century thinker George Santayana (1863-1952) who reminded us that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Trump is a perfect example of this caveat. We are not trying to indoctrinate our young, as Trump alleges; we only want to present them with evidence and arguments and encourage debate. What is wrong with that? Do we want informed citizens or lemmings headed for the abyss?

There is a different America out there than the one Trump envisions. There are no simple solutions and we must all be up to the challenge. The Great American Experiment remains a work in progress. We must continue to work together to create an America that works for all of us regardless of who we are, where we come from, what gods we worship, or what languages we speak.

The holiday is thankfully behind us. Now it is time to look to the future and the elections just four months away. We must speak truth to power . . . and ignorance . . . and work hard to sweep this national aberration into the dustbin of history and refocus our priorities and return to the values that made us united, strong and determined in the first place. We will have many challenges to confront. The job will be difficult, but the results will be worth the sweat and tears.

The Fourth of July - Hardly a Reason for Fireworks This Year - Part 1

A MSN poll posted this morning indicates that 57% of Americans have no plans to celebrate this July 4^th holiday. 50% stated they would not be displaying the American flag and only 11% of those celebrating today plan to attend a fireworks display this evening. And 93% have said they have no plans to travel anywhere today, more than likely due to the surging COVID-19 pandemic across the country which reported in excess of 50,000 new cases daily for the past three days. Clearly there is little room to celebrate July 4, 2020, an annus horriblis if there ever was one. And it’s only half over. 

Yesterday Trump paid a visit to the Mount Rushmore monument in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Billed as an official White House holiday celebration, the event under the watchful gaze of presidents who were far more important and effective than Trump, was nothing more than one of his partisan political rallies designed to fire us his base supporters as he faces an uphill reelection campaign. It was reported that less than 7,000 attended the event. This one was held on federal land at the expense of all American taxpayers. It had nothing to do with the celebration of the 244^th anniversary of our country’s independence. Instead Trump used the event to present what The Times of London described as his "sermon by the mount," his alternative view of reality in his America, a country he says is under attack by a "new far-left fascism."

In his January 2019 inaugural address, he described an "American carnage" perpetrated by enemies from beyond our borders. Now the enemy is American, people of color and those of us who do not buy into his vision; who wish to live in a democratic America and not the fascist state he is transforming it into. He clearly does not realize that fascism is, by its very nature, a reactionary far right concept. Perhaps he should do a little more reading before he opens his mouth? He blames this so-called "mob" for destroying this country’s values and moving it toward totalitarianism. This sounds like the pot calling the kettle black. He shows no interest is seeking out what brings Americans together; only that which, in his perverse mind, advances a miasma of fear and division. "If you do not speak the language, perform its rituals, recite its mantras and follow its commandments, then you will be censored, banished, blacklisted, persecuted, and punished." Trump added "This is not going to happen to us." This is rhetoric straight out of the Third Reich.

Trump’s plans for a two day "celebration" of the July 4^th holiday sparked controversy from the outset, much like his military parade in Washington, DC last year. The planners of the event at Mount Rushmore announced that social distancing and the wearing of protective face masks would not be mandatory even though the event was being held in a state that has experiences over 7000 cases of COVID-19 resulting in almost 100 deaths to date. South Dakota Governor Christ Noem, an ardent Trump ally, insisted that masks and social distancing were not required although her jurisdiction does not extend to a national monument administered by the federal government.

Furthermore, the event was perceived by many as an intentional slap in the face of this country’s Native America peoples who have also been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus. The Lakota Nation considers the Black Hills sacred land promised to them by the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. It was later stolen from them when gold was discovered in the Black Hills and they were forced off their land by army units under the command of General George Custer who got his comeuppance a dew years later at the Little Big Horn. Some of the land was later earmarked to honor white leaders who had, in the its opinion of the Lakota, oppressed their people. This year they also opposed the planned fireworks which Trump promised would be a display "never seen before in America" (yet another example of his best ever bombast). Such displays have long been banned at the monument for fear of sparking nearby brush fires and spreading potential pollution into local streams and rivers. Prior to the event Native American protestors, almost all of them wearing face masks, blocked roads leading to the monument until they were dispersed by National Guard troops armed with pepper spray. This is yet one more instance of the Trump administration perpetuating violence against a peaceful demonstration.

Agence France

Perhaps I should mention here, too, that Trump could not have picked a better spot couched in racism to deliver his message to his America. Mount Rushmore was designed and executed by Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941) who was, in addition to being an artist and sculptor, a Knight of the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacist who held strong racist and anti-immigrant views at the time he began work on the Mount Rushmore project in 1927. 

Today Trump brings his Nuremberg-style rallies back to Washington, DC where for a second straight year he will host what is billed as a "Salute to America" (but whose?) yet his evening address from the South Lawn of the White House will surely be a carbon copy of his indictment of the "culture war" for which he himself is largely responsible. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser has urged residents to stay home. Visitors who do attend the event are urged to wear protective face masks and practice social distancing. Strict social distancing measures and crowd size limits remain in effect for the city. The National Independence Day Parade along Constitution Avenue has been canceled, along with fireworks shows in several regional towns and counties. The traditional fireworks display on the National Mall is still scheduled as it is administered by the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service which are not required to adhere to city restrictions. Once again, as at Mount Rushmore, the wearing of protective face masks and the maintenance of proper social distancing will not be enforced.

Mayor Bowser contacted the Department of the Interior stating that the event runs contrary to the city’s wishes, as well as the advice of health officials at the Center for Disease Control, but to no avail. I consulted the National Park Service’s website this afternoon. It cautioned spectators visiting the National Mall to wear appropriate eye and ear protection and to protect themselves against heat related illnesses (the forecast called for temperatures in the mid-80s and high humidity at the time of the display beginning at 9:07pm. There is not one word concerning the wearing of protective face masks or the maintenance of safe social distancing. This strikes me as bordering on the criminal given the dangerous circumstances in which we find ourselves. According to many reports the Park Service expects hundreds of thousands of spectators on the Mall this evening and they were already beginning to gather early this morning to claim a prime viewing spot. Groups of protesters were also converging on the Mall and local streets were closed to traffic and the areas around the White House and the Lincoln Memorial sealed off

On Memorial Day, just 35 days ago, the number of victims of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States numbered 100,000. Today the CDC reports this number has climbed to 128,648. Despite claims by Trump and Pence that the US is flattening the curve and the virus is beginning to disappear, all evidence is to the contrary as the pandemic has surged in 30 states. Trumps seems to believe that by reducing the number of tests one can reduce the number of cases. This is like saying, if we just close our eyes Trump will go away. It does not work like that. Any sensible person understands this. The virus that causes COVID-19 also increased from last week and it appears that a second wave of infections and hospitalizations is on the rise. This one is wholly on the shoulders of the White House which seems little interested in stemming the tide of this horrible pandemic.

I read this morning that the US-Canadian border may remain closed for another year at least, and Americans are still banned from travel to and throughout the European Union countries which have begun reopening their borders to other travelers, including those from China where the virus began. We have become prisoners in our own country and I can’t help but wonder if this is not a perverse goal of the Trump White House.

I am trying very hard to feel patriotic today, but it is difficult when I look at what has happened to our country over the past three and half years. This year especially the holiday seems to be all about Trump and his perverted vision of America while the rest of us recognize the dangers, perhaps even existential dangers, it faces. Where is the celebration of the Declaration of Independence and our Founding Fathers? Trump claims that these so-called "mobs" are trying to destroy our heroes and our values yet his actions speak volumes that he himself has no interest in preserving them.

Over the past decade, as fellow citizens would gather at the History Barn in New Gloucester, Maine, where my wife and I spend our summers, I have participated in the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence on the morning of July 4^th. I have long felt that every citizen should read and reread this founding document as a reminder of how the United States came into being and why. I looked forward to this event as a prelude to the tradition American celebration of the holiday with barbeques, flags and fireworks. But not this year. As a result of the pandemic and travel restrictions both at home in Maryland and in Maine, we are foregoing our annual hiatus at the lake cottage (more on this soon) and remaining at home. New Gloucester has cancelled the annual reading, and has joined towns and cities across the nation in scaling back, if not outright cancelling, other holiday festivities. It makes sense. It’s the prudent and cautious thing to do given the dangers we face. But Trump does not see it that way.

I hope all of you have a safe and healthy holiday. Here’s hoping our country will right its course in November and return to the values instilled in us by out Founding Founders.