Tag: Politics

WHAT OF THE ART OF THE DEAL?

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

He claims to be a skilled negotiator, someone who can finesse a deal, but that’s not what we’re seeing. It’s all bluster and bullying. In a business deal, the other party cries “Enough!” and leaves the table. No deal, forget it, we’ll do business elsewhere. Or the workers strike or quit en masse or simply but effectively undermine the whole operation. (Anyone want to cite case studies? By the way, this guy’s refusing to open his books to potential suitors. Where are those tax returns, anyway?)

One possibility, as some power brokers seem to be sensing, he’s way out of his league. Are they sniffing weakness behind all his bravado? The way a wolf pack smells blood? Or the way an investor or market quickly turns in a flash to depose of a loser? Write off a bad investment or risk? Is there enough in his political portfolio for as much as a fire sale? Can he even keep his shirt, if his act falls apart?

Besides, in this game he should know, the house always wins, at least over time. Remember, he’s not playing in Trump Casino anymore. This is the Republican tent, where the owners are getting antsy and wonder about calling in security to escort a player from the premises.

Besides, the joker’s not the only wild card in this deck, and it’s dwindling.

Now, whose turn is it to deal?

COULD IT BE QUICKSAND?

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

For those who set out to shut down government in Washington, the next step should be fascinating. Are they prepared to shut down their own political party?

A line emerging in the sand (is that quicksand?) would separate those determined to stand on their stated values from those putting their faith in continuing the organization at all costs, regardless of its position. It’s looking more and more like they can’t have both.

This is shaping up as a definitive history-making moment. An earthquake, perchance? In Cleveland? Woodpecker will be watching closely, sensing it looks a lot like climatic instability, an issue many of them have long denied.

But then, sometimes reality hits. This time, a mega-storm seems to be brewing.

AS FOR THAT SECOND AMENDMENT

~ Jnana Hodson ~ 2 Comments

For those who claim to be defenders of the Second Amendment, let’s insist they embrace the entire provision, the part that mentions a well-regulated militia.

There’s nothing well-regulated in what we’re seeing in the cancer of mass murders resulting from assault rifles. A particular model, at that.

Note, please, that regulated means regulations, first, and their efficient enforcement, second. The Congress that adopted this amendment knew what it was doing, unlike more recent politicians beholden to the gun lobby. As the amendment insists, it’s the militia that shall not be infringed. The well-regulated militia.

By the way, having lived in rural areas, I’ve come to appreciate the place of hunting and knowledgeable hunters in the wild. Some are deeply devoted naturalists, aware and alert in the nuances of their surroundings. Natives have much to teach about the rhythms of their game. I’ve seen how a local hunting and fishing club regulated much of a rural county, keeping irresponsible “sportsmen” away. In Washington state, the return and proliferation of elk can be credited to concerned hunters in conservationist organizations. There’s a role for that culture – one, we should note, that accepts legal limits on its activity.

~*~

These days, I’m thinking more and more about the militia part of the Second Amendment. What if we required all gun owners to be a member of one? Perhaps it would be like the Army Reserve, where each member would have to take so much training each year and put in community service time. Training? First-aid and CPR are always good for the public. We’re far more likely to need those than a gun, anyway. I see this as a kind of auxiliary for public service. Why not?

No exceptions for people who claim to be too busy, either. Someone like Donald Trump would have to put in hands-on time. Public service, indeed.

OF AN OLD DOG WITH A MASTERY OF DIRTY TRICKS

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

Well, well, well, Karl Rove’s finally popping up in the campaign, albeit criticizing Donald Trump’s strategy but not the message. Here I’d been expecting we’d have found his fingerprints all over another dirty primary in South Carolina as a dutiful Bush operative. Admittedly, I wasn’t looking that hard, but apparently, neither was anyone else. Just see what happened with Jeb as a consequence.

S0 what’s  the story now? Is Rove feeling left in the dust? Is he hoping to land an insider role with Trump? For a fly on the wall, that could be entertaining.

And if they get together? Woodpecker, for one, would be busy.

WELL, IT REALLY WAS NEWS TO ME

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

This morning’s newspaper had a headline that sent an “Oh, gee, I haven’t seen that before” running through my head. As I mentioned the other day (Why Woodpecker Can’t Keep Up, June 14), so much of the news can be same-old, same-old variations on a theme. But this one really was new:

Motorcyclist Hits Bear.

As I also mentioned (Harley Heaven on Lake Winnipesaukee, June 16), we just had the nine-day Laconia Motorcycle Week, which attracts swarms of bikers to the Granite State, and racing along mountainous roads is one of their joys. Every year the event is accompanied by accidents and usually a few fatalities, but I don’t ever remember seeing one involving a bear. This one happened in the afternoon. Broad daylight on a perfect day.

Unlike moose, which are slow and dumb, convinced they can continue ignoring oncoming traffic, bears can be fast-moving, when necessary, and alert. Moose-car accidents are, in fact, commonplace throughout northern New England, while bear-car encounters are also a standard news item, though less frequent. I suppose I’ve seen a few moose-motorcyclist crash stories over the years, or at least should have.

This time I found myself recalling a report I’d edited and written the headline for back on my first news desk position right after college. We were Upstate New York, which has its own mountainous terrain. That time, a motorcyclist ran into a porcupine on a dark highway, and the results were fatal. As a city-boy, porcupines were still a curiosity, rather than a critter I often acknowledge in my journeys.

In this morning’s dispatch, the driver was airlifted to a hospital and reported to be in critical condition.

~*~

Another item making the rounds also seems to slip over from one of the routine categories — in this case, political survey results — into the I’ve-never-seen-that-before status. In the race for the White House, a Democrat, and a woman at that, is polling evenly with Donald Trump in the overwhelming Republican state of Utah.

~*~

This reminds me of another reaction I often have as a novelist: “This wouldn’t work in fiction.” Accompanied by “You couldn’t invent this if you tried.” Life really does take some bizarre turns if you look.

Really.

WHEN YOU WIPE OUT HOPE

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

I keep thinking about that negative reaction to Barack Obama’s promise of positive politics – that red bar and circle over the word HOPE. And then all the destructive backpedaling from those deriding any outlook of hope – their refusal to work together for any real solutions to the issues facing the nation or world.

Or their blatant cry of NOPE!

Doesn’t that make theirs the party of No Hope? The party of Despair? Or even the party of Hate?

That’s how it looks from here, even before we add Trump’s tyrannical bluster.

Well, I’d welcome a similar red circle and bar over their campaign posters and ads in the fall. Along with a bold proclamation: NOPE! NOT THIS ONE! OR ANY OF THEM!

Just to be fair.

A FOOTNOTE OF SORTS

~ Jnana Hodson ~ 1 Comment

Many of the Red Barn’s Woodpecker Reports, you may have noticed, are rooted in the years of the George W. Bush administration. Contrary to recent public opinion and propagandists, it was a dark period that launched a very expensive and unjustified war and nearly crashed the country into another Great Depression. Toward the end, there were moments we were only hours away from global financial collapse.

Barack Obama deserves praise for his drastic efforts to turn from that fate, even if he can – and should – be faulted in restoring the banking system rather than rebuilding it on a new foundation far more open to the American people.

Despite steering the nation back to economic health as far as Wall Street goes – something that has yet to take hold for the nation’s working families – and of inheriting two wars that defy true resolution, Obama’s legacy stands tainted by the GOP’s bitterly partisan control of the House of Representatives, severely crippling any effort to move forward on many critical issues. A party intent on obstruction and destruction rather than acting as a loyal opposition deserves far more blame than it’s been given.

In its own failure to proclaim this burning message, the Democratic Party, in turn, has no justification in being baffled by its own current state of wreckage.

So where do we go? Where do we turn? How do we move forward from this mess?

FEELING A BERN

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

I was already deep in trying to comprehend and explain just what hit us in the hippie outbreak of the late ’60s and early ’70s. As I’ve recounted, there were many overlapping strands of activity and interests within the movement, many of which continue as active parts of the American scene, and no one could possibly embrace them all.

Many of those I knew could be hardworking, responsible, loyal individuals taking steps toward lofty goals. Some of the others, well, lazy was only part of their problem. ‘Nuff said?

Outwardly, the subsequent decades weren’t kind to our vision, however hazy it may have been. So much went underground, even as it became accepted part of American culture. Organic food, anyone? A peace protest? How about yoga?

And then Bernie Sanders embarked on his White House run. Attending his early town hall meetings was like a retired hippie reunion, except that there were a lot of serious, neatly attired young adults there, too. It felt like a hippie revival, actually, at least for those of us of the more political activist vein, plus a lot of back-to-the-earth types.

Yes! Keep the faith and keep on truckin’!

What a relief after the embarrassing recognition that many who continue in the stereotypical “hippie look” carry an air of loser more than the cutting-edge adventure and discovery we embraced in our youthful exuberance. Yes, there are still beards and long hair, along with the baldness and natural-looking cuts.

Looking back, I can point to a host of reasons the movement lost direction and traction in the ’70s. This time, I’m hoping we can keep our eyes on the destination and our egos in check. We’ve had enough bad trips, OK?

Remember, it’s not just the White House if we want to make the changes we’ve long dreamed.

If we should have learned anything in the hippie experience, it’s this. Nobody can do it alone.

RANTERS, THEN AND NOW

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment

One of the most remarkable periods in world history came in mid-1600s Britain, an outbreak that included the execution of the monarch by commoners (rather than a rival for the throne) amid a host of social, economic, and political upheaval. For an overview of the ferment, you can read Christopher Hill’s The World Turned Upside Down or Antonia Fraser’s Cromwell, Our Chief Among Men.

My primary interest, of course, focuses on the rise of the Quaker movement out of the waves of conflict – with the rise of a two-party political system and a loyal opposition as a byproduct of a pacifist faith. I also see parallels with much of the counterculture experience I’ve known from the hippie era on, where some have remained faithful but many others have flaked away.

The waves of English radicals can be fascinating, from the New Model Army and Levelers, Diggers, and True Levelers on through the Muggletonians, Fifth Monarchists, and others, but for Quakers, the Ranters presented a special cross to bear.

Like Quakers, the Ranters espoused personal experience of ecstatic faith, and the two movements were often confused with each other by the wider public. Unlike the discipline and discipleship among Quakers, though, Ranters had no qualms about sexual promiscuity or any other limitations (it was all God’s will, in their eyes, no matter any hurt to others), at least until persecution hit and they readily recanted. Not so the Quakers, who insisted on eternal Truth. God doesn’t change.

So here we are. What are our deepest values? Where do we stand firm, and where do we yield and bend? What is principle and what is opportunistic? How far out is our vision, and how much a matter of short-term maneuvers?

Where are we – each of us – truly accountable?

Anyone else feeling uncomfortable?