James, Tristian, Tony and Pete

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear not evil  -- ‘cause I’m the meanest S.O.B. in the valley.” (Vietnam-era Tee Shirt)

Has anyone here seen my old friend James? Can you tell me where he’s gone?

I never knew James Alford. He was my grandfather and my middle name is Alford. I passed that on to my son Matthew, who really doesn’t like it. Perhaps the name will carry on among my cousins’ clans?

James died in the trenches of France during the First World War. A patriot, he also fought in the Spanish-American War as a member of Teddy Roosevelt’s famous Rough Riders, His death was only a few months before the war ended.

Having been born after the Second World War. I never knew him, but his death has shaped much of my life. He left behind his wife and three daughters, Margaret, Nellie, and Mary. Margaret, who legally changed her first name to Peggy, was my mother.

Nellie was my aunt and was Irish to the core. She had three children, two boys and a girl. One boy served in the Air Force during the Korean era and the other in the Navy during the Vietnam era. I rarely see them, though. For many years my mother feuded with her sister and now every few years we get together as I travel through the area where they live.

Mary never made it to her teens, dying from Scarlett Fever after a long, slow process. My oldest cousin, Rita, has been a treasure trove of family history for me and says she was remembered as being pleasant and kind, though confined.

But war and sudden death have taken a generational toll. Left with three children, my grandmother, also named Margaret but commonly called Maggie, was destitute. In those days, there was no life insurance for servicemen. So she struggled cooking, cleaning and doing laundry for others. The most regular job was cooking for a Jewish family on their Sabbath. They were not permitted to perform work on that day.

But it wasn’t enough. Nellie had to drop out of school in her teens, dressed older than she was she became a telephone operator; and my mother, at about the age of 9, became “Baby Peggy,” who performed in local Vaudeville in Jersey City. There were many “Baby Peggy” acts at that time. Little Irish girls who could sing and dance were very popular.

But as Peggy grew up into the Roaring ‘20s she became a “flapper” – a very liberated party girl. -- a fashionable young woman intent on enjoying herself and flouting conventional standards of behavior. Smoking, drinking, and sexual experimentation were characteristic of these young woman. Short hair and shorter skirts added to the effect. One thing was certain: Despite the potential political and social gains or losses, the flappers of the 1920s sure managed to have a good time. In this era, Prohibition was in effect; so much of the drinking was in speakeasies, illegal nightclubs that served alcohol. I am certain my mother chose this path to escape the burden of struggling to get past her father’s death. She became an alcoholic and smoked two packs of cigarettes until her final days when she was confined to a nursing home, senile and dying from lung cancer. I remember sometimes seeing her perform her baby act when she was in her sixties and drunk when she thought no one was watching.

Her alcoholism had an effect on me. A touchstone moment was when she drunkenly told me at the age of 7 “Tell your father I’m leaving” and left in a taxi.

Later living with her constant drinking really screwed up my life. It wasn’t until she was diagnosed with the lung cancer in her late 70s that I was finally able to confront her about what her drinking had done to me. Her apology came way too late but enabled me to care for her in her last few years, though she was mostly in hospitals and a nursing home. I sometimes feel I live in a closed loop, traveling into my youth. I live in the town where she left and frequently go to a nearby town where I graduated from high school. The other day, I took my fiancé to the hospital there and as we drove back, I pointed out the place where I lived; where a friend lived; where a candy store was; where I worked; a park where my father and I went during his visits; and much more. I realized that I have probably done it several times before, slipping in and out of a past long gone.

Has anybody here seen my old friend Tristian? Can you tell me where he’s gone? 

Tristian Whitney Hayes was my best friend in my freshman year of high school. We were in Boy Scouts together and I often visited his house. He was a very nice guy, rarely getting into trouble. He was into various toy soldiers, the small metal kind. We went into New York City a few times and he would go to a couple of stores around Times Square and look at them. He knew the many uniforms from many wars.

I was a year ahead of him and as he moved into high school, we slowly lost contact. One day, in the summer of 1967, I was reading the paper and saw his photo from his high school yearbook. He had died in Vietnam, one of the first from our town. The story did not reveal details. I suppose that changed my mind about Vietnam. I had planned on joining the Coast Guard, but wound up in the Army. Stationed at Fort Knox, I would do volunteer work for Presidential Candidate George McGovern in the evening.

Many years later, I chaperoned my son’s eighth grade trip to Washington DC. We visited “The Wall” and I found Tristian’s name. I started to tell the students about the eighth grader I knew so many years ago. I spoke about the war and the many differences that filled that era. I talked about my Army experience, and the counter-culture of that time. And I concluded that somehow we seemed to survive. Somehow America worked. By that time, about 20 other people were listening to me.

The memory of Tristian rarely left me. And I eventually looked him up as search engines like Google became available. I was stunned to discover he had won a Bronze Star for his action in combat. It was like the scene in “Forrest Gump” where his squad was attacked and he took command, leading his squad to safety while carrying his wounded leader on his back. He was wounded and a few weeks later, for reasons unknown, he killed himself.

At that time I was a teacher, and every Friday preceding Memorial Day, I would show my eighth grade students what war’s real consequences were.

In 2011, I learned about my high school’s “Wall of Fame.” The school, whose core building is approaching a century in age. It had a magnificent stairway at the main entrance. In my time there, the staircase was reserved for seniors and towards the end of the school year, there was a “senior skip day” where many seniors simply skipped a day of school. And on that day, the juniors “rushed” the stairs, taking over for at least a day. While it was a fun ritual, these days the school has expanded, more than tripling in size. And the main entrance is further down the street. The area is now open to anyone and has been turned into a “Wall of Fame” to honor graduates and teachers who have made a difference in people’s lives.

Taking resource material I found on line, I nominated Tristian for the wall, and he was accepted. But there was a problem. Tristian had no survivors. An only child, his parents were diseased and there was a cousin somewhere who couldn’t be found. Tristian died before siring his own children. I was asked to speak. Of course, I was honored to accept. It was a very weird feeling returning to speak at the auditorium. I had been on that stage many times – in plays, choir performances, and athletic awards. Here I was, speaking in front of about half of the student body, and more importantly, to some of my teachers. One teacher in particular was Joseph Dempsey, who assigned us reports about Vietnam before it heated up. He knew that it would explode into a war and wanted us to understand it.

I began by asking everyone to stand, in accordance with military tradition, when medals were awarded. I read the Bronze Star citation and when concluded, it was giving a standing ovation. I then spoke about Tristian. I told people about how Mr. Dempsey had made us understand Vietnam and recounted an incident during football practice where he grabbed Tristian’s facemask and told him to “play until the whistle blows.” And I concluded by saying that Tristian had indeed played until the whistle blew. I was given a second standing ovation as I left the stage. But, to me, it was the “welcome home” Tristian never had. I believe it was the noblest thing I have ever done in my life.

Has anybody here seen my old friend Tony? Can you tell me where he’s gone?

Tony was my father-in-law and managed to live through the African campaign of World War II. He was one of two survivors in his unit who fought for a hill in the desert against Rommel’s top Nazi troops. Wounded in his back and butt, he dug a foxhole with a stone and managed to literally crawl back to his lines and safety. Like Tristian, he also received a bronze star and purple heart. But he never, ever, forgot.

Probably filled with survivor’s guilt, and later diagnosed with PTSD.  He spent the three decades I knew him talking about the war and his experiences — except the actual combat. He had seven siblings and he talked about them, and his buddies. Some of the time he was ignored. But he was never disrespected about it. He had a summer home in Orange County, NY where a flag was proudly raised every day he was there. He saved a lot of letters he and others wrote during the war and began doing research. His last task was writing about every one of the winners of the Congressional Medal of Honor. I once told him the only reason he didn’t get one was no one was left alive to see what he went through. He laughed.

As he aged, he became very ill. And became a frequent visitor to the Veterans’ Hospital where he died around 2006; and was buried at Calverton Military Cemetery with full honors. I managed to donate his papers to the history department of my university and a wonderful letter from a professor to my wife helped ease her sorrow. And even after my wife and I were divorced, I visited his grave a few times, taking photos for my children. He was a real war hero and even after the divorce I had to honor him when I was in the east. You may see me at Joe’s grave in Jersey City and Tony’s grave on Long Island this Monday.

Has anybody here seen my old friend Pete? Can you tell me where he’s gone?

Pete was a high school classmate. I didn’t know him very well, though we shared some classes. But when our 45th class reunion approached, I became better acquainted. A man who had recently lost his wife, we met in a bar where he often drank. Four of us wound up trying to bring him back into the world that night and, after he got into a bit of trouble, with the help of friends he managed to get his act together.

Pete, unlike Tony, held his memories of war close to the vest. He was a MP in Vietnam. He opened up to me, a fellow Vietnam-Era veteran, and other vets but rarely to others. We all shared a common thread of the lack of recognition for our military efforts. In many cases we were despised. I vividly remember coming home on leave in 1971. It was summer and I had a convertible. I drove down to the Jersey Shore just to sit on the beach and chill out. I spotted a pair of girls hitching and picked them up, perhaps hoping I would get real lucky. As we talked, they asked me why my hair was so short. I said I was in the Army. The girls quietly talked for a few moments and then asked to be let out. As I drove away, they screamed “baby killer” at me. Hell, I had never left the states. Alas, it wasn’t unusual.

Pete was Vietnam causality, though it took close to 50 years to kill him. He died of complications from his exposure to Agent Orange. He’s buried in a veteran’s cemetery in Texas.

There are others out there in my personal universe. Paul was wounded in Vietnam and Larry served in the Air Force. Mike served along the coast on a Navy carrier. And perhaps the place I most revere is Valley Forge. To walk among the fallen in America’s bloodiest battle is a lesson I wish all of us could understand.

And so, I will skip the Bar-B-Que this Monday and go to burial grounds. And as I go, I realize that I am approaching 70 years of age this year. My health sucks. It’s because I have spent a lifetime binging on food. And I know I have few years ahead of me. So perhaps, if I am truly blessed by God, one day someone will think they saw me walking over the hill with James, Tristian, Tony and Pete. It is certainly something I don’t deserve.

President Chump

I have gone from an attitude of Donald Trump winning and I’ll have to accept it to remembering the Watergate era and a President who was forced to resign.

The sudden firing of FBI director James Comey rings of Nixon’s Saturday Night Massacre.

The Saturday Night Massacre refers to President Richard Nixon's orders to fire independent special prosecutor Archibald Cox, which led to the resignations of Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus on October 20, 1973, during the Watergate scandal. Cox led the investigation about Nixon’s role in the attempted robbery of files at the Democratic National Committee’s office at the Watergate office complex in Washington D.C. These days, with everything on computers, a digital robbery is far easier and easier to get away with, as is the case of Russian/Wickileaks release of Hillary Clinton’s confidential e-mails.

Both Comey and Fox were investigating two Presidents whose paranoia is very obvious. Trump also fired Sally Yates, the acting attorney general holdover who remained in the position pending Senate approval of Trump’s nominee, Jeff Sessions. She was allegedly fired because of her refusal to support Trump’s aborted Muslim ban but she was, like Comey, investigating the Russian connection to the Trump campaign.

Towards the end of the Watergate investigation, as evidence mounted against Nixon, the then President became increasingly paranoid and tapes from his office confirmed his increasing anger to the point of rage. Trump doesn’t need to express himself in the privacy of the White House. His rampages take the form of Twitter tweets, often making little sense.

And then there are the attacks on the press. I was the editor of a weekly newspaper in suburban New Jersey during Vice President Spiro Agnew’s and Nixon’s resignations. Even a local weekly newspaper that covered town council and board of education meetings had tons of hate mail. We were accused of being impartial and slanting the news. Hard core Republicans insisted most of the editors were Democrats. In fact the owners of just about every newspaper in the country were Republicans. And how does this resemble Trump’s “fake news?”

Even in the Nixon era, the President addressed the working press. I vividly remember Nixon’s exchange with Dan Rather, the then CBS White House reporter. Nixon was asked a question by Rather and he responded by asking if he was “running for something.” “No,” replied Rather. “Are you?”

But these days, news organizations such as the New York Times, the Washington Post and CNN have been banned from the White House press office at times and Trump as repeatedly refused to answer questions, calling it “fake news.” At the same time, his chief advisor, Steve Bannon, was the CEO of Breitbart News  -- an ultra-conservative news organization well known as misleading and inaccurate according to fact checking organizations.

So Trump has gone way beyond what Nixon ever did in terms of dealing with the press. And that’s just the beginning. Trump was elected on campaign promises that most of those who opposed him said were unconstitutional or against the law.  A prime example is the Muslim ban. It was outright stopped by a federal court judge based in Hawaii. And the Trump administration blasted the decision. And, of course, there was the judge in a civil suit against Trump that was of Mexican heritage that Trump demanded to step down because he supported a wall.

There are many, many Presidential acts that have been embarrassing to the country and have made us look downright stupid in the eyes of the rest of the world, especially in England, Germany and Japan, our main military allies.  And I worry about Trump’s military orders, sending 50+ missiles into a Syrian airport and dropping a huge bomb. His refusal to state that he would not use nuclear weapons scares just about everyone except the terrorists.

I frankly don’t care that Trump has failed to implement most of his campaign promises. There is no wall. Coal miners and steel workers have not returned to work. And this is because their jobs have become automated, not because of environmental regulations being eliminated.

Nothing yet has been done about NAFTA; the Iran deal remains in effect; and we haven’t done much about ISIS.

Nixon once said, “I am not a crook.” What amazes me is that Trump, with his constant refusal to pay suppliers, declaring bankruptcy many times, cheating people with his “university,” and so much more that was known during the campaign still was elected.

The man is a divisive person, and he has done little to be the president of all the people. I know that people who disgust me are his key supporters. I know that his comments about women and minorities have created hard feelings. I see his cabinet as mostly white males and business and Beltway insiders. The swamp has not been cleaned up.

Today, Trump took a “mental health day” according to his embattled press secretary. My biggest issue is Trump’s mental health. Have the demands of the presidency made him unable to function? He is under attack from all sides, including his Republican allies. Can he hold up? It seems he isn’t doing very well at the present time. His sanity has been questioned in the campaign. Now, even more so.

I make many mistakes when I’m under stress. I say and do the wrong things. I frequently fail to engage my brain before I open my mouth. Trump and I are the same age and I can see my mental capabilities becoming reduced. I have a very hard time organizing my day. I have to write things down to organize simple tasks. I’m currently working on the back yard landscaping. I have to figure out the order of things. I find there are a dozen or so tasks to do and I have anxiety as to what to do next. I can envision Trump having the same issues. I am not surprised that he has family members close by in the West Wing. For several decades he has relied on family, and I hope that they and his advisors are enough to support him.

I doubt if he will be impeached unless there is absolute proof of cooperation with the Russians. The Republican Congressional majority will not permit it to happen. And so I ask that no matter how much you dislike Trump, I want you to pray for him. He is an emotionally fragile man, perhaps for a long time. And he is being overwhelmed by both his duties and the absolute political and personal hatred from so many. Trump, unwisely in my opinion, pays way too much to social media. It is the communication tool of the common people. There are millions who revile him as well as many who support him. He simply can’t set himself above the fray. Like most of us, his humanity is facing difficult tasks; unlike most of us, his tasks are overwhelming. 

What did you expect?

I’ve just taken a week off from Facebook. Everybody was screaming bloody murder about what President Trump, whom I can’t stand, is doing. But I had to get away from the haters. Yes, many are concerned about Trump, with good reason, but I see far too much from “news” sites I never heard of until this year. Yes, fake news.

You know what he’s doing? He’s fulfilling his campaign promises. I don’t understand why so many find it shocking. He’s doing exactly what he said he would. And while I personally think his actions are amateur – and after all, he is an amateur – he is doing the things he was elected to do.

And frankly, the problem isn’t Trump. It’s the Congress. It is overwhelmingly Republican and many of these people are even nuttier than 45.

So why are we so shocked? I, as a former newspaper reporter and editor who covered the Nixon years, am astounded to find I agree with Trump’s contention that the media is the enemy. Let’s look at the inauguration. It was clear that there were fewer people at Trump’s inauguration than Obama’s. So what? The media made a big deal out of it. It’s a non-story. What should have been covered is what the President said in his address. Throughout the campaign, what I read in newspapers I respect, especially the New York Times and Washington Post, was completely unbalanced. I expect slanted news from MSNBC and Fox News, but to see what happened with CNN astounds me. Clearly, there is more than bias.

And there are dozens of different attacks going on regarding his cabinet appointments.  Every President has had the right to name the people whom he wants to work for him. President John F. Kennedy named his brother attorney general. The fact is that people who oppose the status quo are being appointed. Trump based his campaign on opposing the status quo.

We now have Betsy DeVos heading the Education Department. So what? Republicans have already introduced legislation to eliminate it. And the fact is that the department has failed, under leadership in both parties, to fix the mess education is in. And it should be eliminated and given back to the states to handle. How can you make the same national standards to help the children in the slums of New York City and the farm boys and girls in Wall, SD – population: about 800? What is the big deal about Betsy? She’s a businesswoman who will administer the take down of the department.

And our new attorney general is a bigot. Bigots apparently hold the political power.

There was a raid on terrorists in Yemen. I would venture that at least 90 percent of Americans have no clue where to find it on a map. An American soldier died, as did some civilians, including children. While this is tragic, we are involved in a W-A-R. People, including soldiers, civilians and, yes, even children, will die. Yet the media is screaming about it.

So what is to be done? RUN FOR OFFICE. If you don’t like what is going on, become a board of ed member, a town councilperson, a county politician. Join the political party of your choice and start fundraising and looking towards 2018 when you can take back the Congress.

BUT ABOVE ALL, stop acting like Trump by crying how unfair it is. Man up and realize the next four years are going to be filled with changes you won’t like. Realize that electing someone other than Trump is not the issue. Taking over Congress is what is necessary. Get ‘er done.

Jacksonian or Amateur Politics?

I’m trying to figure out what the 45^th President of the United States is trying to do with his newfound powers. So far, I think it’s either a deliberate attempt to reduce the size of the government, or just plain amateur handling of the most powerful government in the world. Perhaps it is both.

The President campaigned on reducing taxes for all, which I’m not sure isn’t a bad idea as long as we don’t go into further debt. The Bush administration had to borrow money from China to repay a surplus back to taxpayers. Mr. Trump immediately put a hiring freeze into effect, which will slowly reduce the federal employment rosters as people retire or find a place in the private sector. I can agree with that. But his choices for cabinet have politicians on both sides of the aisle scratching their heads and voicing strong concern about their qualifications, or lack thereof. But can you think of a better way to downsize bureaucracy than to put people in charge of government organizations they oppose? In some ways I agree with the idea of destroying the education department. I’ve always viewed education as a state, not federal, issue. Any school board member will tell you that complying with federal regulations takes up a sizeable share of a school budget.

And of course, there are other departments that seem to be going down this path. If there is one bureaucracy that has been very ineffective, it is the EPA. Now the most obvious thing is that the environment is a federal issue. And the EPA does do many good things for the environment. But there are many, many things that are mired in bureaucratic nonsense and should be state issues, especially polluted sites. A good example can be found in the waters of the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn in New York City. More than 100 years ago, oil was stored in the area and leaks were ignored at that time. Now, the area is a major problem as toxic waste water has invaded the ground water among other things. My former sister-in-law became involved in this and if I am correct, she believes that the area has a high cancer rate as a result.

But this area, as well as hundreds of toxic areas throughout the country, has to involve local, county, regional, state and federal government organizations. Millions, and probably billions, of dollars are wasted on study after study. And the federal government provides the funds to clean up these sites. The problem is the feds don’t clean them all up. There’s not enough money in the budget. I wonder if it became a matter for the states to fund, that we wouldn’t have a higher priority for places like Greenpoint where hundreds of thousands are being affected?

I also wonder if we are looking at an attempt to revive Jacksonian democracy, which is a political movement toward greater democracy for the “common man.” Andrew Jackson's policies followed the era of Jeffersonian democracy. And much like today it was a movement to reduce the role of the Federal Government. A major concept of this political idea was that Congressmen (no women then) would serve one or two terms and then let another person serve. If this was the case, I suspect we would have more of the best and the brightest serving. But to paraphrase E. Y. “Yip” Harberg: Each Congressman has two ends – a sitting end and a thinking end. And since his whole success depends on keeping his seat, why bother friend?

Each Congressman has two ends – a sitting end and a thinking end. And since his whole success depends on keeping his seat, why bother friend?

We have term limits for our presidents for good reason. But term limits for Congress would also have the impact of far less political spending. Today, it’s not about serving. It’s about getting and keeping power. And so I doubt that term limits are possible. Republicans have struggled for many years to dominate all three branches of government and since they will determine the makeup of the Supreme Court, I have no doubt they want to keep that power. I am somewhat fearful about this since throughout my lifetime both parties have generally shared power. How will they do so is something those who oppose them will remain a critical idea.

Now if we are going to downsize the federal government, we’re probably going to ramp up state governments. I’m not sure about this since the coastal states tend to be dominated by Democrats and the rest dominated by Republicans. If states choose to refuse the responsibilities a reduced federal government will foist on them. It could cause chaos.

Let’s look at the differences between the era of Jackson and the 21st century. First of all, the United States had settled little west of the Mississippi River, though that would soon change as the result of Jefferson’s purchase of the Louisiana territory and the Lewis and Clark expedition. But we weren’t a world power by any means. Immigrants were more than welcome although discriminated against. Chinese immigrants built our railroads in the west, but were subjected to much discrimination, including the Chinese Exclusion Act in the 1880s after the railroads had been built. Of course just about every group who came here faced problems. Catholics had little influence outside of Maryland in colonial times, and it wasn’t until 1960 that an Irish-American Catholic became president by a very close margin. My father’s German-American family faced great discrimination during the world war eras. And the sins against Japanese-Americans during the Second World War is a national disgrace.

Perhaps, our greatest shame has been our dealings with Native Americans. An unforeseen part of this was the spreading of “white” diseases such as measles and smallpox. It is estimated that 90 percent of the Native American population died of these diseases. And the greed of whites resulted in constant wars after broken treaty after broken treaty, including today. 

But this is history. Today we are a world power, but not the only one, as some will have you believe. The re-emergence of Russia onto the world stage as well as the development of China as the world’s leading economic power has recreated an economic cold war, which will be impacted by Mr. Trump’s “America First” policies. Now don’t get me wrong. I think NAFTA always has been a dumb idea as good American jobs went both north and south of the border. Well-paying union jobs in manufacturing disappeared almost overnight. Nearly all of our appliances and a growing number of our automobiles are being made in Mexico and Canada has a major share of the auto parts industry. Trains and subways are now built in Canada too. So yes, I actually agree with the President on some things.

But this is history. Today we are a world power, but not the only one, as some will have you believe. The re-emergence of Russia onto the world stage as well as the development of China as the world’s leading economic power has recreated an economic cold war, which will be impacted by Mr. Trump’s “America First” policies. 

But our level of political sophistication has gone way beyond Andrew Jackson’s time. We have nukes, and so do Russia, China, North Korea, India, Pakistan, Israel and France. Iran will, no doubt, develop them (if they haven’t already) and worst of all, terrorists are capable of creating “dirty” bombs containing nuclear material that are just as able to make a city unlivable as a nuke.

Our position in the world, as well as our domestic issues calls for a very sophisticated presence. So can the Trump administration do this with inexperienced “amateurs?”

Now although I do not personally approve of  many of the nominees that have been put forth, many are highly successful businesspersons who, I suspect, will turn out to be fairly good administrators.

But the way the American people have traditionally been informed is through a free press. The profile of the press has certainly changed. Newspapers, then radio and television have been the way to inform us. But this election campaign has seen the emergence of many so-called Internet “news” sites that have done little but rile up people with misleading and false articles without attribution. And frankly, I have been very disappointed in the content of such institutional papers such as the New York Times and Washington Post, which have been clearly biased. As a former newspaper reporter, I have long since learned that freedom of the press belongs to those who own the press.

As a former newspaper reporter, I have long since learned that freedom of the press belongs to those who own the press.

At the same time, the role of whatever press we now have is continuously changing. As a teenager, I had access to many magazines such as Newsweek, Time and U.S. News and World Report. Now, these magazines are a shell of what they are and have drifted politically. As one political comedian pointed out the only person that Newsweek has put more on its cover than Sarah Palin is Jesus.

When I was in high school, we also had Life, Look and The Saturday Evening Post. All gone though the Post has restarted as what is basically a bi-monthly nostalgia magazine.

Yet, the need for a free press remains a backbone of our way of life. While many still feel it was wrong, a free press uncovered Watergate, as well as many political scandals from other eras.

The handling of the White House press corps has been bungled badly. You don’t call CNN liars, especially when they are the most neutral cable news enterprise. You don’t have your press secretary tell “alternate truths” about the size of the inaugural crowds, especially in light of the photographic evidence and DC Metro passenger data.

And finally, we need to ask ourselves if the President the Electoral College has chosen is up to the job. He obviously has a tremendous ego and is very quick to make judgments about things that don’t please him. He is clearly not “acting presidential” and I wonder if this is a good or bad thing. Harry Truman was known as one who also spoke his mind. But he also guided us through the end of the Second World War and most of the Korean Conflict.

Does the new President have the political sophistication to deal with a worldwide economic system and our longest war ever?

But most importantly, during much of my near-70 years, politics has been vicious. I can’t think of a single administration since Eisenhower’s that has not been under a microscope by the press and political opponents. Mr. Trump, it seems to me, must develop a thick skin, and so does his press secretary. Ignoring those who disagree and simply stating his policies and views must be the cornerstone of his administration. I don’t like the man. But he is our President. Mr. Obama once noted that the job of the President is to serve the American people, not just his supporters. I hope Mr. Trump can rise above partisan politics. It’s about time someone does.

Booked

My Facebook friend, Wendy Wilson, recently posted the ten books that most influenced her. I have been contemplating this and wanted to share. These are not the best books I have ever read, but the ones that influenced me the most.

1. The Bible. Whether or not you believe (I do, but challenge a lot of it), it is a seminal concept for America’s laws and mores – for better or worse.

2. Robert Heinlein’s “Stranger in a Strange Land.” It was, in it’s own way, a bible for the 1960s counter-culture. Do you grok it? I’ve read everything Heinlein has ever published and he is a helluva storyteller. By the way, I read it only after my first lover insisted it was the greatest book ever. Thank you Karen.

3, The Hardy Boys stories. One day, when I was in eighth grade, I got suspended for the day for a minor infraction. I had to spend the day in the library and found, ironically, “The Tower Treasure,” the first in the series. I must have read at least 20 or so of these detective stories, often two per day on weekends. Last spring, I ran into an old friend from those days and his main memory of me was that I loved to read. That day started it.

4. “The Cruel Sea.” Written by Nicholas Monsaratte, the book is a tale of the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War. The focus was far more on the men who served on escort ships rather than the war itself. It was the first time my father gave me an adult book to read. As a senior, I wrote a book review on it and the teacher read it to the rest of her classes. It was the first time anyone had done so and it was the first small step towards becoming a professional writer.

5. “The Fireside Book of Baseball.” A huge book filled with articles and cartoons about baseball, much of it was focused from the turn of the 20^th century through the early 1950s. It was a compendium of short stories, newspaper reports, and excerpts from books. Given to me by my father, it inspired a lifelong love of the game. I lost it when I was in the Army, but was delighted to again find a copy when my ex’s parents passed. I don’t have many hardcover books as Amazon’s Kindle made reading easier as I travelled throughout the country in recent years. But I hold this one to be very precious.

6. The Harry Potter books. I began reading them when I was a teacher to find out what my students were so crazy about. I wound up buying the last one at midnight of its first day of sale. About once a year, I re-read each book and then binge watch the movies.

7. “The World of Jimmy Breslin.” At that time, Jimmy was a writer for the New York Herald Tribune and this book is a series of his columns from that era, along with some stories about Breslin. This includes the famous column about the JFK murder where he interviews the man who is digging the grave. While most students would get the Times delivered to their homeroom, I always brought the Trib in. Going back to early childhood, my parents would read the color comics to me every Sunday. Breslin was a writer who inspired me to top him – I never did. I even saw him on the Subway when he was writing for The Daily News. It was so like him to live the life of the blue-collar folks who so loved his work.

8. “Executive Orders.” I began devouring Tom Clancy’ s novels about protagonist Jack Ryan with “The Hunt for Red October.” In “Executive Orders,” Ryan is waiting outside and about to make an acceptance speech as he replaces a disgraced vice president when a 747 airliner smashes into the Capitol Building killing virtually every government leader – The President, Congress, the Supreme Court, the Joint Chiefs, the Cabinet and heads of many agencies such as the FBI. Ryan has to rebuild the entire government and it makes for a fascinating look at our government.

9. “Ender’s Game.” I discovered this book at the end of the summer as the library sold off its collection of summer reading paperbacks. I bought a bunch mainly for incarcerated students I was teaching at that time. But I’ve read this book over and over. It’s about a bunch of genius kids who are sent into space to fight a war against aliens. The ‘battle school’ they attend is designed to teach strategy. But these children, who have superior intelligence, are isolated and it helped me understand my own dealings with the school system. I had an IQ of 134 according to my high school transcript, but graduated #380 in a class of 400. I just couldn’t be bothered to do the busy work because I already knew it, having read the entire textbooks by October. It helped change my opinion of my high school self.

10. “The Age of the Tail.” Author H. Allen Smith was a well-known humorist. His most famous book, “Rhubarb” is the story of a cat that inherits a major league baseball team. But I loved his look at the social ramifications of the changes in life when in 1957 all mankind begins being born with a tail. Hilarious changes in etiquette, clothing and more are satirized. For example, one woman, born just before the change, doesn’t want to be associated with ‘older’ people. For her wedding, she wears an artificial tail as her bridesmaid moves it during appropriate times of the ceremony. Yet another gift from my father, it taught me satire.

Honorable Mention: Hector Hugh Monroe, whose pen name was Saki, was a British writer of short stories during the late 1800s and early 1900s. His life was shortened when he died at the age of 46 during the First World War. My favorite story is “Tobemory,” a satire on Victorian manners. At a country house party, a man announces to the others that he has taught the house’s cat how to speak. Tobemory has viewed many indiscretions of the guests. But being a ‘gentlecat’ he speaks no evil other to imply what he knows. Meanwhile the terrified humans attempt to kill him – unsuccessfully – in several ways. They are saved when another cat kills him. Of course, another gift  from my father.

From here???

It has come to my attention that while Trump won the election, Hillary will win the popular vote. It's happened five times before -- beginning with Andrew Jackson, and until this election, the Al Gore defeat. But the political differences have never been so dramatic until now.

That, of course, leads us to why we need — or don't need — the electoral college. People scream that the election should not be decided by 538 people. It isn't really. Each of the electors, people assigned by the candidates to represent them, generally reflect the choices made by voters in their state. It was proposed by Alexander Hamilton and opposed by James Madison. 

But that's history, as this election will shortly be. And while Hillary supporters hope that some rogue Trump supports will vote for Hillary, Trump has just too many electors for a few to make any difference.

And so we have a president elect who is loud-mouthed, addicted to Twitter, without experience and is appointing cabinet members who, in the minds of many, are completely opposed to the status quo. You can't have much public housing when the Secretary opposes it. The EPA has someone who is decidedly anti-EPA, and so it goes. 

What is going to happen will be far more than the end of Obamacare. It will be a cultural sea change, perhaps a violent one. Many aspects of our social agenda will be completely changed. Programs from the Lyndon Johnson era may disappear. What would our society be like without head start? 

We will see an even greater polarization of racial lines which, I suspect, will lead to increased violence. There will be many anti-poverty campaigns. But here's the problem: Johnson's Great Society programs weren't aimed at the Black population. Its primary focus was on rural Appalachia and similar places of intense poverty. And if you travel across rural West Virginia, for example, you encounter countless abandoned and crumbling housing owned by whites. 

Once, places such as rural Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Western New York grew as huge corporations ripped natural resources such as iron, coal and even oil from the ground. We've pretty much stopped using coal, especially to heat our homes. the amount of iron our steel mills use has been reduced considerably through recycling. And mills are closing due to competition from Asia and cheap and inferior steel products flood our markets. And with them, tens of thousands of good union jobs. I am a baby boomer. And I grew up in an era where it was assumed I would be better off than my parents. And for much of my life I was until the great recession put me permanently out of work and my marriage ended. . But if you ask young people today, they are not expecting that the "American Dream" is their birthright.

There is going to be a huge economic upheaval. One of my sons works for a human service organization treating developmentally disabled adults. I wonder if it will be funded? I certainly can see much legal action as programs are cut and a conservative Supreme Court upholding the cuts. They will have to rule not on the Constitutional issues, but on the issue of if the government has the right to not provide social services. It has already been ruled that social services themselves are Constitutional, but does that mean they have to continue to exist?

It is a scary prospect. I am glad that I have Social Security, a dependable source of income. I don't envision even a conservative court disbanding it. But the fact is, it is possible that the amount of my monthly payments could be reduced. I can envision people like myself flooding bankruptcy courts. 

Do you know what I know?

It’s the holiday season again. I have more than 200 holiday songs in my iTunes and sometimes I suddenly burst into tears when one comes on. I suppose after listening to many of these songs for nearly 70 years, it can be normal.

Take, for example, “I’ll be Home for Christmas.” It was originally recorded by Bing Crosby in 1943 – the Second World War era. While generally considered as a letter written by a soldier to his family, the lyricist, Kim Gannon, said it was written about anyone who couldn’t be home for Christmas. In fact the song was banned by the BBC because of its potential do damage troop morale. The last line, I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams,” was considered quite depressing at the time.

But my interpretation of it differs strongly. The song begins “I'm dreaming' tonight of a place I love • Even more than I usually do
• And although I know it’s a long road back, • This, I promise you …I’ll be home for Christmas.”

The song describes an ideal holiday, with snow, mistletoe and presents – all where the love light beams. And for me, that was the Christmas of 1954; the last Christmas my family was together before my mother walked out on us in a drunken stupor.

The place I loved was that day and that time and the road back was impossibly long. My parents never divorced. I have no clue why. But from my childhood I hoped that one day they would reunite. But my father died in 1972 and finally I accepted, at the age of 24 while in the Army, that my being home for that Christmas was only going to happen in my dreams.

Perhaps the saddest Christmas song ever also came out of 1943. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” It was originally part of the score for “Meet Me In St. Louis,” a musical. Judy Garland, a tragic figure in her own right, sang the song.

“Next year all our troubles will be out of sight,” was a hope a frightened little boy could cling onto. And that frightened little boy grew into a still-frightened big man. Perhaps I was looking for the “olden days, happy golden days of yore. There have been way too few Christmases with faithful friends gathering near to me, and I thank God for my friends Frank and Gina who were there on those first Christmases after my wife of more than 30 years and I divorced. Even then, I have felt friends were few and far between. I find myself blessed with more than 100 Facebook friends these days and while most are simply acquaintances and classmates (some of whom I barely knew then yet somehow am close to now), there are many I feel very close to.

Yet still this song nearly always turns me into a tear machine. Both these songs are of hope. Yet in my soul I know that Christmas, and Jesus Birth, is the real hope in my life. These days, my favorite carol is “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem.” This is a version sung by the Joy Strings, a former Salvation Army Band, and is set to the melody of “House of the Rising Sun.” I feel that every year we have the opportunity to make the community we live in our personal Bethlehem. For in every heart there is a chance for a spiritual rebirth.

The earliest Christmas song I remember is Gene Autry’s “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” that my parents gave me for my wind-up record player. I was around three or four when I went to my cousin Luke’s Cub Scout Christmas Party and the children sang “Silent Night, Holy Night.” To this day I think it was one of the most wonderful performances ever. I was so filled with peace.

I am not a big Elvis fan. Like others, I really liked him when he burst upon the scene. But I became less passionate about his music. But he put out a Christmas Album with the classic hymns: “It is not secret what God can do” and “Peace in the Valley” that are filled with passion and hope.

Other songs bring back happy memories. “Do You Here What I Hear” was always an enjoyable carol. But I remember it from my senior year of high school when I joined the chorus in need of three more credits in order to graduate. We sang it for our Christmas Concert and went caroling one night at the town green. Yes, they were called “Christmas Concerts” in the1960s and are now “Winter Concerts.” And battles still continue over religious music in public schools, as administrators have to walk a fine line. It seems that religious music is acceptable in a concert not exclusively dedicated to a Christian or other religious holiday. And so, perhaps, “Away in a Manger” is fine as long as it mixes with songs like “Winter Wonderland” and “A Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire).

It is interesting where religion fits into the public schools. Sometime around 1995, I was substitute teaching a third grade class in a local public school. I decided everyone should write something about Christmas. I asked the children to give me words about Christmas and they were very enthused about sharing words like Santa, presents, Christmas Trees, decorations, writing cards, snow, etc. We were about 30 words in before one of the children asked, “Doesn’t Christmas have something to do with Jesus?” Walking a very fine line, I was allowed to say that Christians believe Jesus Christ was called Christ because it means “Savior” and the mas in Christmas meant birthday. The children then took the words that were on the board and had to use at least five of them to write about Christmas. Alas, not one referred to Jesus in their essays, which I suppose was good for me since it was a public school after all.

Other songs lift up my spirits. I laugh at “Dominick The Donkey,”  “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” and similar songs. There are those who may say that these songs are disrespectful to God, but I think that no matter how much we are off target regarding Jesus birth, God enjoys his children laughing about silly things. As a young child, for example, I loved Spike Lee’s “All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth” and “I’m Gettin Nuttin For Christmas.” I always enjoyed the sexual byplay of “Baby It’s Cold Outside” and Ertha Kitt’s sensuous “Santa Baby.” And I remember a version of “12 Days of Christmas” via Sesame Street with Cookie Monster ending each verse with “And one delicious cookie.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GibJKwCGkk8

And then there is the New Year. Long before Dick Clark’s “Rocking New Year’s Eve, Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians ruled the roost in the early days of television, coming from first the Roosevelt Hotel and then the Waldorf Astoria. I found his last New Year’s Eve show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL60HdslvOk

Dan Fogelberg’s “Same Old Lang Syne” came at a time, 1980, when I was having problems in my marriage. I spent much time thinking about old girlfriends and lovers. “We drank a toast to innocence…” seems to continue to play on my mind. I find great comfort that my senior prom date and I have been reunited. As I listen to this song, I wonder about so many different “might have beens” and think how I found so many different ways to just walk away from relationships. Many remember Harry Chapin’s Taxi. He wrote a sequel to it called, “Sequel.” It was the story of Sue and he many years later as Sue is flying high on life and Harry is acting on the stage. Harry ends with:

Yes, I guess it's a sequel to our story

From my journey between Heaven and Hell

With half the time thinking of what might have been

And half thinkin' just as well

I guess only time will tell

There are dozens more songs that, as happened many times, have overwhelmed with Christmas spirit. There are some radio stations that dedicate their entire playlists to Holiday music. It’s a nice break from sports, politics and oldies. Yet, driving in my car, I can still burst into tears. . .and also into joyous song!

So tell me, how does holiday music affect you?