A Half Century Later: Some Memories of My 50th High School Reunion

Some Stayed Later

Fifty years ago this past Spring, 118 of us graduated from Boyd County High School, near Ashland, Kentucky.  We had our adult lives fully before us; and we were excited for various reasons related to freedom, college, jobs, marriages and families, and lots more in our futures.

On October 13, 2013, several of us in that graduating class reunited at the new Boyd County High School building for a reunion.  We learned right away that twenty-four of our classmates had died, though some said it seemed like a low percentage, since nearly 100% of us would be 68 or 69 years old this year.  

I had never even seen the outside of the new high school building; and I was impressed with the location, on a hillside overlooking the valley, two stories tall and very different from the building where most of our class had spent four years of their lives.  More on this building later.

As I exited my car in the large parking lot, I saw another classmate get out of his vehicle.  Bruce Adkins was as casually dressed as I would have expected and looked good.  (Please note:  Most of us looked a lot better fifty years ago as you would expect, so when I say looked good, I am not likely to be comparing folk to their much younger appearances.  Bruce looked good for his age, a little better than most.)  We greeted each other as we walked into the building and saw others in the distance heading there as well.

I also want to note that a few of the "girls" present were still very nice looking, including one in particular whom I thought was prettier, though older looking of course, than she was in high school.  No names, though, to save her from embarrassment and any other girls there from feeling left out.

The team who had put together the reunion details were well organized, had a professional photographer taking photos of everything; and registration was easy and we each had on a name tag with our graduation photos.  (I don't believe it was to remind us of how old we were but so we'd recognize that person we may not have seen for decades; but it was a reminder of how old we were anyway.)

I really enjoyed seeing everyone.  I didn't get to speak with enough of them.  Some I have as Facebook friends and get updates about their lives anyway; but it was still good to see them in the flesh and get hugs and handshakes and smiles and to talk in person.  Others I barely remembered from high school except, perhaps, for their names.  Many of them, though, would have been among my closest friends in high school.

Relatively soon we were invited for a tour of the magnificent new facility.  Two stories high and beautifully built and modern inside and out.  On the tour, Bill Edison and I were frequently near one another; and we were impressed with the facility and its equipment.  They have what would have seen like magical white boards in the classrooms that used an electronic method to make writing appear on the white boards.  That, in itself, was impressive; but the thing Bill, in particular, noticed was the large number of video cameras stationed around the building.  A boy wouldn't have to worry much about having his pants pulled off of him in the restroom and the guy or guys who did it getting away with it at the new BCHS facility. 

Earlier Bill Eidson and I had discussed with others how he, in particular, and most of us who had good reputations at the school really didn't do that much wrong; but that, when we did we were more clever about it.  Bill, in particular,  as the School Superintendent's son, would have been in lots of trouble.  (Now I am not saying Bill or I ever actually DID anything bad while in the high school, of course.)  While on tour, though, Bill leaned over toward me and whispered something like, "Mike, how long do you think it would have taken us to hack those cameras if we were students here today?"  I laughed and said, "You're right, Bill."  That is exactly the kind of thing we would have tried to do, not to make trouble, but just for the adventure of it all.
 

Can you find any of the cameras?

Some of us at the reunion were apolitical.  Others, like me are very progressive, though I won't name them just in case they are still in the closet with their political leanings.  Others were very conservative to being regressive, not just conservative, it seemed to me.  One thing I noticed in the directory they sent out following the reunion is that in June following our graduation the "Equal Pay Act" was passed.  Unfortunately it is still not a reality as women continue to make about 20-30% less than men, in spite of strides that have been made.

I won't identify the person; and I still like him because he hasn't had my experiences in life nor even the amount of education; but I also know that from some others I still might have heard the following that shocked me, even though I shouldn't have in this conservative red state in an even more conservative part of that state: 

Wait, scratch that, I'm not going to tell that racist, anti-Obama "joke" on my blog.  Just let me say that I realized I wasn't "in Kansas anymore," or more specifically, I wasn't in my dominantly progressive County of Woodford just outside of the dominantly progressive City of Frankfort anymore.  It took me a few minutes to get over that; and it made me uncomfortable for the rest of the evening, though. I probably would have been a bit more outgoing if I hadn't been careful about blurting my beliefs out loud about equality and progressive ideals.  And the bigger question is why someone who is basically a nice, funny guy would think it was Okay to tell the joke in the first place.

One of the more impressive parts of our get together was the meal itself, prepared by the Culinary Arts department at the school.  (Would we have even known what "culinary arts" meant in 1963?)  It was excellent; and the presence of the high school students who prepared and served the meal was a welcome addition to the evening.  Before the evening was over our class presented a porcelain dinnerware set for the use of the department.

We had several group photos; and I have gone through them to see if I missed anyone from my list of those present.  I think I have missed one person, possibly more; but here is my list, using only maiden names for the women::

Cheryl Barker
Fleming "Pete" Literal
Sandy Stewart
Alma Cumston
Jim Adams
Jay Young III
Kathy McGuire
Shirley Robinson
Bill Bradley
Becky Bowling
Ardena Ellis
Wesley Robbins
Judy Groves
Virginia Smith
Horton Rice
Denver Bluegaum
Bruce Adkins
Mary Lee Arthur
Bobby Browning
Jim Taylor
Brenda Peterman
Claude Whitt
Judy Rice
Juanita Pack
Anna Mary Hicks
Roland Sturgill
Pat Deskin
Ida Ruth McGuire

Those are in order as I remembered them; but, if you notice someone from the class who was present but whom I missed, please let me know so I can add them.  Below are the two best photos, in my opinion.

Finally, I went back to my sister's house to spend the night.  The next day I visited with two old friends.  One of them was a very negative experience, again seeing a regressive, fear-based approach to life, but, in the evening, a meal with another of my BCHS friends from "back in the day" was a delight.

On Sunday afternoon I stopped at the Taylor Home, my great-great-grandfather's log cabin, which has become a museum of sort after being moved to Grayson, just to see it from the outside.  Within a  month I was able to go back there.  Perhaps I'll blog about my trip to a friend's wedding where I got to see the inside and learn more about my ancestry later.

A Few More Photos From The Night

 

9/11: A Day of Infamy? NO! A Day When I Knew I Was In the Minority.

I am sure I have left out many things that happened in my life and our country's during the hours and days immediately after the attacks of 9/11/2001; but I felt the need to share my thoughts and memories even though they will be incomplete.

We lived in the small town in southern Jefferson County/Louisville, Kentucky, called Ludlow.  I was the pastor of the Mount Holly United Methodist Church.  My wife, Gay, had lost her sight thirteen months before, broken her hip ten months before and was asleep in the bedroom upstairs. I actually wrote about this event shortly afterward; but I changed email addresses and ISP and, added to the  loss of computer hard drives, I only have the memory and not the record of that event and what followed now.

Our family room also contained my home office and computer which faced away from the television.  I had on the Today show; but I was facing the computer screen working on the following Sunday's worship bulletin earlier than normal when I heard something in the background about one of the World Trade Center building's having been hit by an airplane.  I must not have heard this news at first because almost immediately after I turned to face the screen following my hearing about the first airplane, I saw a second airplane hit the other World Trade Center tower! I knew immediately, as did the Today Show folk, this was no accident.

Bulletin preparation was suddenly unimportant as I sat on the couch transfixed by the images on the screen.  Before long I also heard of a downed airplane in a Pennsylvania field and an airplane having struck the Pentagon.  Assumptions were immediately made by the TV pundits; but it did not take long before we heard that all air traffic had been banned across the USA, then of a few Muslim men who had caused all of these tragedies and the loss of lives of hundreds of people.  Since Ludlow was within a few miles of a major airport the silence in the air later that day and beyond was almost palpable.

I had to go to the church office; but I tried to keep track of what was happening by going to one of the rooms in the church building with a TV but no antenna or cable connection to watch news about the event and report back to the church secretary who also did the same for me.  I learned how the fire in the World Trade Center buildings had spread, then watched (I do not remember whether it was a live broadcast or replay) the buildings fall to the ground as though being imploded.  I heard of the bravery of the first to respond to the fires and watched as people ran from the WTC buildings and from nearby locations to try to escape the cityas  a cloud of toxic smoke, ash, and dust came toward them as they tried to get away from the area.

Before Sunday morning I heard of the support our nation was getting in response to these tragedies from people around the world in virtually all, perhaps all of the countries in the world.  I saw video of people in Muslim countries holding flags of the United States of America and with signs honoring our dead and damaged citizens. I should note that most of those countries likely also lost citizens in the attacks.  For me it became a time of hope for building bridges, increasing  bonds between the nations of the world.

As time went by I learned that the world trade center was filled not only with American citizens but citizens from many more nations.  To quote my friend, Rikka Wallin, "More than 90 countries lost citizens in the attacks on the World Trade Center.  A total of 372 foreign nationals (excluding the 19 perpetrators) perished in the attacks, representing just over 12% of the total."

I almost immediately saw what I considered to be a crazed reaction to this tragedy in the almost unanimous desire for retribution.  American flags were suddenly scarce commodities as it seemed nearly everyone wanted one outside their home or on their clothing and patriotism eventually went to the silly extremes of renaming French Fries in the cafeteria on Capitol Hill "Freedom Fries," because the French wouldn't join us in the wars that followed.

Anyone who didn't jump on board the patriotic band wagon was labelled a traitor, or at least unpatriotic.  When Natalie Mains criticized President Bush (justifiably, in my opinion), radio stations refused to play music by the Dixie Chicks, some of them even destroying their recordings.

Seeing USA lapel flags everywhere I made a decision.  I am a citizen of the United States; but that is a tertiary position to being secondarily a citizen of the world but, as a follower of the Way of Jesus Christ, as we learn from Christian scripture in Philippians 3:20, primarily a citizen of heaven.

So, even though I knew it would likely cause offense to a lot of my friends and family, but also certainly to those who were already prepared to wage war against "the enemy," even though no one was sure exactly who the enemy was, I could not jump on the patriotic, retributive bandwagon.  After all it was citizens of Saudi Arabia who were those who staged these attacks, "..why are we planning to attack the people of Afghanistan?" I thought eventually.

I also was distressed that virtually no one wanted to be introspective about our role as a nation in creating the attitude of hatred for the people of the United States of America because of our own actions toward other nations of the world  seemingly constantly at war against some enemy or another.  So I went to my computer, downloaded a United Nations Flag, reduced it to lapel size, printed it in color, and pinned it to the lapel of my jacket and wore it for several weeks.

I wrote emails that were essentially blogs calling for peace rather than retribution, for working with the United Nations and the world community to find solutions.  I watched as the Patriot Act took away (in quite an unconstitutional manner) many of our rights as citizens, all in the name of "security."  (I should note that scripture also would say that the only security for at least Jews and Christians is the Holy One, not guns and bombs.)

And I watched as friends and family, if they didn't publicly ostracize me for not being gung-ho about attacking that perceived enemy, got very quiet.  It wasn't that I didn't believe we should be doing something to reduce the chances that more attacks would happen within our borders, it was that I wanted it to be a reasoned, sane, cooperative response of the nations of the world.

Since then I have watched as we did not start the limited police action to try to stop what we call Al Quaeda but an attack on the entire country of Afghanistan.  Then I watched as we declared an illegal, immoral war in Iraq, based on a lie.  I have watched as thousands of our military folk have been killed and thousands more have come home suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and large numbers of others have committed suicide.  (More of our soldiers have committed suicide than have been killed, I read.)

We also killed thousands of Iraqi and Afghanistani citizens and created hundreds of thousands of refugees, as well as thousands of orphaned children.  We criticize the use of chemical weapons to kill children while we use drones and see dead children as a result of what we falsely call "collateral damage."

Today I believe that our actions in Afghanistan and Iraq and other locations has actually increased recruitment for fanaticism within Muslim countries toward the USA.

So, when I remember 9/11/01, it is with many different feelings.  I feel sad that we didn't respond differently. I feel sorry for the families from countries around the world including my own who lost family members on that date.  I feel pride in the way the police, fire departments, and other folk including volunteers who responded to the World Trade Center fire and collapse.

I also feel as though we haven't learned much from the event itself.  We still, not just as the United States but, it seems, the majority of the nations of the world,  seem to believe that fighting with one another will produce peace rather than death and destruction. May we eventually learn.

Tonight, as many folk will be getting very "patriotic" about 9/11/01, I shall be rallying for peace in Lexington.  I believe that is the most patriotic thing I can do.

Back in the Saddle Again

I have not posted a blog since November of last year!

It was about that time I got distracted from my blog and eventually became rather depressed, though still excited about my continuing weight loss, which now includes an improvement in physical fitness as well.

I am going to make an intentional effort to change that lack of blogging beginning now, but creating something more substantial tomorrow.  I want to create something in a longer format than would generally happen on Facebook posts that is also likely going to be more personal and better researched.

There are only a few people who are signed up to receive notice I have created a new blog; but I am going to post the link to this on Facebook and Twitter in an attempt to get an answer to what some of you all would like to hear from me.

I should say, though, that our national healthcare policy (or lack thereof, too often) is a primary issue for me.

The continued decline and apparent eventual disappearance of the middle class should things continue as they have been is another thing that makes my heart race.

This week I need to add the possibility of multiple pipelines running though the Commonwealth of Kentucky carrying toxic, potentially explosive materials as a concern.

Next week a fairness ordinance will receive a vote in Frankfort Kentucky.

The Trans Pacific Partnership is up for a "fast track" vote via the Obama Administration.

Al Jazeera America is on the air; and I have watched it more than any other news the last two days.

Then there are personal things like what is going on in my own life and the lives of my family members and friends, though I generally share those little ditties on Facebook in more limited ways.

So if you read through this to the end, post a note to me on the blog or a private Facebook message telling me what you think would be a good use of my blog, please.

In the meantime, please keep at the work of creating positive progressive change whenever you can.

Mike

Today I Realized I Know a Lot About Politics

I have been a political junkie since shortly after George W. Bush and the Supreme Court stole the election from Al Gore.  I voted for Bush.  Had I failed to do so, he would still most certainly have been elected since no electoral college votes were going to go to Gore, so I don't have to feel too guilty about my vote having changed the outcome.  Within weeks of that election I already regretted my decision; and, in the process, I became almost (some folk would say I should leave out the word "almost") obsessed with what decisions were being made in our national and local political life.

The event that changed my life was 9/11/01 when Muslim SAUDI ARABIANS attacked the USA with airplanes killing nearly 3,000 people and destroying two landmarks.  Afterward then President Bush pushed us into a war with Afghanistan and its Taliban.  This despite the fact that no country has successfully fought a war in that region, except for the people of Afghanistan!  In spite of the fact that the terrorists who killed our people and damaged our emotional health as a nation were not from Afghanistan.  In spite of the fact that we couldn't even be sure that the man who claimed responsibility, Osama Bin Laden, was actually in Afghanistan.

Then the nationalistic warrior spirit (not the Spirit of the Prince of Peace whom so many Americans claim to follow) that ignored everything but vengeance, which is supposed to be God's according to those same folk who claim to follow that same Prince would also claim is in their book.  The Dixie Chicks were vilified before it was all over with for having some common sense and speaking their mind.  Muslims who previously had good relationships with their neighbors in the USA were suddenly in danger even in this place where we claim we have religious freedom.  The concept that diplomacy and/or limited action against the perpetrators themselves (including the planners) and not everyone who happened to be a right wing religious nut in Afghanistan and for whom that war became a recruiting tool for more religious nuts right up to today.

Anyone who challenged the warrior demon was called anti-American.  We even went to the point of attacking verbally our long-term allies, the French, by renaming the "French Fries" in the Capitol dining room "Freedom Fries."  That was one of the most stupid, time wasting of the many stupid, time wasting, fervor producing events of the day, too, with too many more to mention.

On top of that the American "conservatives" (which they are truly not but call themselves that) used their opportunity to continue the assault on the middle and lower classes, to enslave thousands of minorities in prison for minor offenses but making them vital tools for the Prison-Industrial Complex, and the list goes on and on because of what I consider to be the most devious and affective measures those so-called conservatives have used.  The corporate "news" media were complicit whether it was intentional or not, too, by not challenging the line of thought but just spouting it.

So today, I am looking forward to a probable victory by Barrack Hussein Obama for a second term as President of the United States.  I am following the news this morning on CBS when an event occurred I wouldn't have even noticed in 2000, but that I saw as instructional to those who don't see the ways that our thought patterns are being retrained by changing the meanings of words and phrases to mean something else entirely.

Obama surrogate Dee Dee Myers and Newt Gingrich were just on CBS this morning talking about the campaign. She did not challenge a completely false statement by Gingrich that may have won some votes for stupid people in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Gingrich said that Romnmoney was concentrating in two areas where coal was a major industry and the "war on coal" was why he was there. Myers should have said something like, "Mr. Speaker, you KNOW there is NO war on coal." She sat silent instead. Myers did not say, "Mr. Speaker, what do you mean by a war on coal?"  at the very least.  Trying to keep the people of coal-producing areas and the miners themselves alive by environmental safety and mine safety is NOT a war on coal. It isn't even anti-coal for the most part. It is just plain good policy for the future of the people of that region and for the long-term continuance of humans on earth.

This is just one more example of the Republicans taking a word or concept that has one meaning and making it mean something else. Social Insur

ance becomes Entitlements, when much more money is lost and spent due to the corporations and very wealthy who almost all seem to believe that they are ENTITLED to pay less than the poor in percentages of income.  People who cannot find work and receive any kind of government assistance (even including Social Security and Medicare, more so Medicaid) are called lazy.  "Go get a job," they say while providing no jobs and blocking legislation that would provide jobs and improve the nation's infrastructure.

Teaching science and the Theory of Relativity becomes a war on religion; and we have states trying to teach religious doctrine (Creationism) as science in public schools to be "equal." (That is pure nonsense, of course. There is no such thing as creation "science." There is theology; but that isn't the same thing.)

Do you wash your hands? Then you believe in the germ theory. Just a theory, like evolution; but you believe it because it is true and because a scientist was smart enough to figure out the correlation between germs and disease.

Do you regularly fly around above the ground without an airplane or other device? That's because of the THEORY of gravity, which very few people would challenge, but still just a theory.

Choosing to treat all women equally by providing birth control as a part of their insurance coverage requirements becomes a war on religion, in spite of the fact that the majority of those whose religion believes that contraception is wrong use contraception anyway, and that the vast, vast majority of Americans believe in contraception as well.

Equal rights and responsibilities for gay people becomes a "War on Marriage."  There is even a little bit of anti-religion thrown into this mix because it is often (usually?) illegal for a church to perform a ceremony that resembles a marriage too much.  I know that was true when I was a pastor in Ohio.

So, when a major spokesperson for the Obama campaign fails to pick up on that and say something, I begin to think I have a future in TV "journalism" and a job with the next four years of the Obama presidency, in spite of the votes Myers lost with her failure to challenge Gingrich this morning.  We Progressives need to continue to learn how to utilize language change over the long haul to our own benefit.

Cuts in social welfare programs are often pro-death, anti-life actions.  

Expecting corporations and wealthy individuals to pay the same percentage of Social Security and Medicare taxes as the "underclass" is not a war on the wealthy.  It is taking away one of their entitlements.  (BTW, Social Security would be solvent in perpetuity if that one change were made in how it is funded and everyone paid that 8.5-15% (approximately) for their Social Security INSURANCE>)

The so-called pro-life people are almost always only pro-fetus, which is what I call them since they would let the baby starve to death after they're born for a day or three.  Most of them are also pro-war and don't equate our execution of innocent bystanders by drones in other countries as genocide but as "part of the cost of war."

Get out there and vote today.  But vote for someone who is, overall, making a positive long-term difference in the world and in the United States of America.  Don't let the ignorant rhetoric grab you on the way there.  Vote for the better candidate who is most likely to protect those whom Jesus talked about.  Then let the so-called Christian pro-war people learn the language of love.

Rick Santorum Can't Possibly Be As Ignorant As He Sounds

I have work I need to do; but I keep thinking about how ignorant Rick Santorum sounds when he makes any statement about theology or the Bible.

Surely he's just telling lies, because he cannot believe that his "biblical" theology is any different than the president's "biblical" theology. Both of them are based in their views of the Bible; and both of them are somewhat based in a "pick and choose" theological framework.

Santorum likely does not believe in the Biblical prescription for stoning adulterers or he'd have to stone his current wife if stories are true about her previous relationship(s) and this in light of the Bible's story about God telling Hosea to marry a prostitute (whore). Which one does Santorum actually believe is biblical?

I doubt if Santorum has realized that, when we talk about the Biblical foundation for so-called biblical creationism that there are TWO stories of the creation in those first few chapters of the Bible, that at least some of those stories in the first 11 chapters of Genesis are found in other societies with sometimes vastly different details, that Jesus (since Santorum is a so-called Christian himself) never said one word about homosexuality, gay relationships, or much of Santorum's ignorant platform but instead spoke strongly against divorce. (There are too many divorced people for Santorum to pick on them, I suppose; and, besides that, he is technically, from the First Testament's description of marriage, married to a divorced woman.)

There are literally hundreds of other biblical "commandments" that Santorum ignores because this isn't a pre-Jesus world, or a pre-science world either. Like literally everyone he takes the words in the Bible and THEOLOGIZES about them. I believe his theology is stupid theology; but I don't even believe he believes what he says when theologizing. In the midst of his claim to be a Christian while attempting to live outside the New Testament Gospels for the most part, we have just two lines in the Bible that should be among those he should quote:

"Love one another as I have loved you." "This is my commandment, that you love one another." (Just in case you don't know, these, according to the scriptures, were things Jesus said.)

Now you can THEOLOGIZE about what those two sentences mean; but it isn't biblical theology any more than Santorum's concept that birth control is sin nor than that the instant sperm and egg unite we have a complete human being, nor that the Bible even defines marriage as it occurs today.

I am sick of hate filled people like Santorum, who probably has a lot of self loathing going on that he is trying to overcome, speaking for the Christian Church.

For now, though, I had to get this out. My brothers and sisters whose skin color is and was dark had the Bible used against them for literally centuries from the very same perspective of biblical theology Santorum uses. Women were seen as chattel for centuries based on the very same biblical theology Santorum uses. I cannot let my gay, bisexual, or transgendered brothers and sisters continue to be treated as not quite citizens without speaking out. I cannot let his inconsistencies of theology go unchallenged.

For him to claim that Obama is not a Christian while acting hateful toward his own President
(1 Peter 2:13-15) "Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men."

Jesus deferred to authorities when asked about a coin. Santorum acts as though he believes his ignorant theology is better than Jesus', apparently.

There are Facebook friends of mine who are much more able to write eloquently about the general topic I have written about above: (D. Miller or A. Gibson or N. Kemper, are you reading this?) I'll post their responses should they respond.

For now, though, I cannot let Santorum or anyone else act as though his style of theology isn't what helped to keep my dark-skinned brothers and sisters enslaved and considered to be less than human for hundreds of years in this country. I cannot pretend that Santorum's style of theology helped to keep my sisters of every race held as chattel for thousands of years, that his "biblical" theology is any more than, well, theology.

And, finally, this: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."

Santorum can claim what he wants to claim; but the truth is that he wants to establish a particular type of religious doctrine on the people of the United States. The rules may be different in Islam; but it is no different from those who claim that Muslims would force us to live under Sharia Law.

If Santorum were to become president of the United States I would have little choice but to try to find a way to move to a different country where the people live in the 21st century, not the 13th century.

People Power and the Internet!

People Power and the Internet!

So we CAN agree, then!

I was already having a bad day. Our grass is too tall. Our lawnmower isn't working right. Our finances are in a shambles. Our nation is in a mess with both sides worrying more about being reelected than fixing what's wrong. I already had a disagreement with a family member; and I had spent time in a meeting where I left not feeling as comfortable as I wanted about how our preparation for an upcoming event was going to come together later on.

After the meeting I went outside our meeting venue at the Kentucky Coffeetree Café in Frankfort, Kentucky, the capital city of the state. I spoke with some folk who were at the meeting and were continuing discussions about politics, life, whatever. As we/they were discussing the needs of the USA, a nearby person said loudly something like, “Well we need to get rid of all this liberal control and go back to what the constitution says.”

One of my friends prodded him about what part of the constitution; and they ended up in a short but interesting and significant manhood competition about whether the more liberal one had really served in the military. They discussed the size of a particular tank and how much it weighed, etc., for my friend to prove he had really served. I actually thought afterward it was kind of funny that it was so important to the guy who didn't like liberal politics.

Somewhere during the talking, in my already aggravated state, I started challenging some of what he was saying; and we ended up yelling at one another loud enough to draw the attention of a lot of people on the block who were sitting talking, eating, drinking coffee, walking their dogs, etc. Two of my friends tried to calm me down; and, before things really calmed down, at least one of them left to go home. One had left earlier; and one more went to another table to sit, probably to avoid the inevitable blood shed that might come my/our way.

There was a discussion of American history with very different ideas about what that history entailed. (For example, Clinton didn't balance the budget. George H. W. Bush's policies actually did the balancing.)

He was applauding the Tea Party! I consider the Tea Party to be a manufactured group by the very rich who convince them to vote against their own self interests without realizing that is what they are doing.

I kept prodding the guy who didn't like liberals whose name was Jim, about what he saw being needed in the USA; and it was immediately obvious that even though we might not agree on HOW to fix our problems, we certainly agreed on what those problems were. The loudness of our respective voices reduced; and the discussion became both better in nature and more productive. It seemed we agreed on a fair amount of things:

1. We both believed that the Supreme Court “Citizens United” decision was an affront to the intentions of the framers of the Constitution.
2. We both believed that we needed some form of social protection net. He especially seemed to understand the need for the Food Stamps program.
3. We both believe that our current two-party system is failing the country. He thinks the Republicans are more likely to have a solution. I believe the Democrats are trying the right approach.
4. We both believe congress is taking too much time on things that really don't matter that much to the American people. One example of that was the time taken to vote on returning incandescent bulbs to our store shelves, led by the party that first sought to eliminate them just a few years ago.
5. We both believe our governmental systems themselves need to be improved. He says that government needs to be reduced. I argued that the size isn't the problem but that what we needed was effective government of the size necessary to make it effective.
6. We both agreed that taxes were too low on the very wealthy and too high on some lower paid folk.
7. We both agreed that the invasion of Iraq had disrupted the mission in Afghanistan and causing more problems for the USA.
8. We agreed that too many people don't have a concern for the USA and want it to be successful, though we might not have agreed how that would be seen. We never discussed that question of how, though.
9. He believes the Healthcare Improvement Act (what negative folk call Obamacare) is bad for America; but we both believe our health care system needs to be improved. He believes the health care mandate is unconstitutional. I believe we need at least needed a “public option,” which to my surprise he didn't reject.
10. We shared our own European ancestry and how our families had arrived in the USA, though we never discussed immigration itself.

We shook hands, said we'd likely bump into one another downtown again some day, and headed our respective ways without any apparent resentment from either of us for our earlier disagreement.

We discussed the changes in the American neighborhood and agreed we could both place part of the division of the USA today on the lack of the neighborhood structure and a place (restaurant, library, bar,, post office or other) that was a center where folk could share news or gossip or concerns. We see a need for a return to locally-owned and run businesses. It was obvious he was already helping to support that kind of business in our small city at the heart of the Kentucky Bluegrass area.

There are still plenty of differences between the two of us. Even though I was fairly active in “school yard” athletics in elementary and high school, I was always more of a “bookworm” and geek. His most significant experiences, instead of in a classroom, seemed to be in the military.

And yet, as far apart as we likely were in many subjects, when we actually sat down to talk about that on which we agreed (and which I admit to having deliberately done), it seemed we two middle/lower class/poor, I'm not sure which, folk had much more in common than differences.

It's a shame we can't take the time as a nation to sit down like that. My new friend Jim thinks President Obama needs to have a kitchen table with a pot of coffee available on the side to invite national and even international leaders to come sit together and talk out problems. There are ways I saw that as a little too simplistic (that a lot of world leaders would never drink coffee is one of them); but, as a symbol, it seemed very right.

Now for our national and international leaders to get their shouting out of the way and start talking about that on which they do agree and start working on how to make it better for the people who are most in need without taking anyone's actual rights away.

Father's Day Memories of My Father

My father was the oldest of nine living children when I was born. James Dillon Mansfield had gone through the depression, worked at the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P) in high school, served in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II where he was a desk sergeant, married literally the girl next door during the war, and eventually landed a job in their hometown of Ashland, Kentucky at Ashland Oil as a laborer. He was gradually promoted and ended up in management as a shift foreman, in charge of an entire refinery where he remained employed until he retired at age 62.

Photo above is Bea Wilson Mansfield James Michael Mansfield, and James Dillon Mansfield

My oldest memories of my father, include his being the disciplinarian in the family, and one who spent a lot of time working when others would have rested. He wasn't afraid to use the “hickory stick” of which the song speaks: “Reading and writing and arrhythmic, taught to the tune of a hickory stick.” I remember hearing, “Just wait until your father gets home” more than once. Since I was the one in the family most likely to ignore rules I was also the one most likely to endure corporal punishment. My Grandmother, though, said my parents were just learning how to discipline through me rather than that I was too often the brat in the family.

My absolute first memory of my father was when I was being "Mike" at about age 5 and experimenting with the cigarette lighter my Uncle Bus left behind after a visit. I managed to get my Uncle's Zippo lit, then set fire to the curtains, which set fire to the painted ceiling in my "dormer-style" bedroom. It was then I realized I better tell on myself and screamed for help. My father and mother both came upstairs; and one of them tore the curtains down and stomped the fire out. Daddy realized he had a quick way of putting out the fire. The bathroom was on the other side of the room; and we had one of those rubber-hosed shower heads for rinsing hair while taking a bath. While my Mom held it onto the tub spigot, he pulled it as far into the bedroom as possible with the water going full force. Somehow it reached far enough (probably 10-15 feet) to put out the fire! You don't forget that kind of excitement.

As I said before, my father was a disciplinarian; but I do not remember any punishment for setting that fire, what was probably the worst things I did as a child or teen. I believe he had the wisdom to know I had been punished enough by the immense fear this had caused me. It is possible I was given some kind of corporal punishment or banished from play or something else; but, if so, I have no memory of it but only of the fire and my Dad's quick action to save us and the house.

Another important thing about my Father was how much he knew about so many things. This might not have been a special thing among his peers of that; but I never knew anyone else who could do so many things so well.

He built the home in which I spent years 6-20. When I say he built it literally. He dug the trench for the footer, mixed the concrete and poured it, laid the block on which the frame was placed, put on the siding, installed the windows and doors, laid the flooring, put in the furnace and water heater, wired the entire home, and roofed it. He only had help in two ways: Friends and family members helped raise the frame since doing that as an individual would be very difficult or impossible. Those friends and family would occasionally come just to help with whatever he was doing that day, too. He hired someone to plaster the inside walls and ceiling. He could weld, solder, work with electricity, fix the car, and more things than I can remember.

Photo above: Three of theMansfield children
In front of the home their father built..

He was not affectionate in a physical manner; but it would have been difficult to deny that his love was there for the five of us and our mother. As he got older he became more demonstrative; but it was difficult for him, just as it was once difficult for me.

One of the most dramatic memories I have of my father begins with the arguments we would have about the War in Viet Nam. We could never agree; but the war eventually ended. Many years later, with no lead up, my Father turned to me and said, “Mike, I was wrong about Viet Nam.” It wasn't easy for him to admit when he was wrong; but this was far beyond any usual disagreements we might have. This had to do with what the core of the United States was about and even when a veteran would have to say about that particular war. Later on Robert McNamara confirmed what we both eventually believed about Viet Nam.

I had a great mother. Perhaps I'll get the chance to write about her on a Mother's Day in the future; but my Father had an awful lot to do with the person I became, working hard, not giving up, and staying married now forty-six years, almost as long as he and my Mother.

Thanks Daddy. I'll miss you again this Sunday.

Mike

--  Reverend J. Michael Mansfield, BS, MT(ASCP), M. Div.

Taxes, Rallies, Politicians, Rich Folk, and Who's to Blame?

Russ Kronke is a member of our Frankfort, Kentucky, MoveOn Council. He brought the following information for sharing at a recent meeting of our council. I immediately appreciated how Russ had put a difficult subject into a clear concise document that, to me at least, asks the right questions and gives the right information. Thank you, Russ, for sharing this with us.
Mike
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TAX DAY RALLIES, ETC

PROBLEM

• Verizon, Amazon, BFA, GE, Citi, etc are doing what the tax laws allow them to do. The corporation lobbyists may have influenced legislation, but corporations are not the right target.

• It’s the government, its rules and regulations and the legislators who are being bought off that are the problem.

• Rally, where, why and how? To get what? What can I do?

DEFICIT: It’s the revenue, not the spending.

WHY IS REVENUE A PROBLEM?

• Oil subsidies

• Corporate tax loopholes

• Tax cuts for the wealthy

• Jobs shipped overseas

• Unemployment, insufficient job creation

• Republican obstructionism and Democrat wimpishness, Lobbyists.

• Citizens United Supreme Court Decision (Koch Brothers, Chamber of Commerce)

IS THERE A SPENDING PROBLEM?

• We certainly don’t want waste but we don’t want to cut good programs. Republican ideology is attempting to slash good programs.

• Too much war and defense spending

• Need to spend more in areas that will create jobs and improve the economy.

• Education needs support.

HOW CAN IT BE FIXED?

• Grass roots activism to get leadership to act

• Educate the public and get them to vote

• President and Democratic leadership need to take a stand

• It can only be fixed by Congress and the President.

WHAT ABOUT ENTITLEMENTS (SS, MEDICARE AND MEDICAID)?

• Social Security is solid for 30 years --- do not touch

• Medicare only source of affordable health care for seniors.

• Medicaid is being abused by states and needs some reform.

• Health Care costs need to be contained. They increase too much too fast.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

• Rallies? Town halls? What kind? Where?

• Get our organizations to support going after the real target, Congress and President

• Demonstrations? Target legislators?

• Letters to editors

• Educational forums and material

• ????????????????

MoveOn.org---Political Action

Make Them Pay Tax Day Protest

WHAT: Make Them Pay Tax Day Protest

WHO: Lexington-Frankfort Area MoveOn Members and Friends

WHERE: U. S. Post Office, 1088 Nandino Boulevard , Lexington, KY

WHEN: 5 PM-8 PM - April 18, 2011

On Tax Day, Lexington-Frankfort Area Residents To Protest Corporate Tax Dodger Chase Bank

Participants At “Make Them Pay” Event To Deliver Tax Bill To Chase Bank

On Monday, April 18, Tax Day, Lexington-Frankfort Area residents will protest outside Chase Bank and urge them to pay their fair share of taxes.

The event is part of a nationwide Tax Day campaign called “Make Them Pay.” Events similar to the one in the Lexington-Frankfort Area are taking place all over the country targeting “The Deadbeat Dozen”—GE, Bank of America, Google, BP, Amazon, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Boeing, ExxonMobil, FedEx, Goldman Sachs, Chase—wealthy corporations that are doing everything in their power to avoid paying taxes in America.

“During these difficult economic times, when all Americans are being asked to sacrifice, it is simply wrong that Chase Bank is shirking their American duty to pay their taxes,” said business owner Rikka Wallin. “We are protesting on Tax Day because corporate tax dodgers have a responsibility to our community and our nation to pay their fair share. We pay our taxes. Chase Bank should too.”

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR CONTACTS:

Rikka Wallin 859-272-9166

rikka@insightbb.com

Mike Mansfield 502-682-8704

revjmike@gmail.com

MoveOn.org Political Action is a political action committee powered by 5 million progressive Americans. We believe in the power of small donors and grassroots action to elect progressive leaders to office and to advance a progressive agenda. We do not accept any donations over $5,000, and the average donation to MoveOn.org Political Action is under $100.