Views on relevant stuff by the Curmudgeon-in-Chief

LENOIR, N.C. – Well, didn’t we have an interesting week last week? So, lets start with the obvious …

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin Tosses Principles Aside – Again

After the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School several years ago, U.S. Senator Joe Manchin promised to work towards reasonable controls regarding access to guns, such as background checks at gun shows. That is until the NRA reminded him who was who in the zoo. So, he caved in, clearly more concerned about re-election than the lives of children.

Manchin

Well, he’s done it again in voting to seat Brett Kavanaugh on the U.S. Supreme Court. Manchin briefly achieved his objective – his poll numbers improved a bit in his re-election bid again Tea Party tool Patrick Morrisey. That won’t last though. He has betrayed the Constitution and spit in the face of women.

Manchin has made a terrible misjudgment. He thinks that by siding with Donald Trump – who visits West Virginia regularly to campaign for Morrisey – he will be re-elected. He won’t. Nor does he deserve to be.

His “family tradition” has not been to help the people of West Virginia. His daughter, Heather Bresch, is the CEO of Mylan Pharmaceuticals, the company that raised the cost of EpiPens by 400 percent. She would not have that job if not for her dad’s connections and a questionable resume. West Virginia University cast doubt upon her claim that she had a master’s degree from the state’s flagship university. You can read about it all here.

Manchin has a net worth of over $3 million and has investments in the coal industry. In light of today’s report that we are literally killing the world (and hence ourselves) because of our addiction to fossil fuels, his wealth and ties to the coal industry reveal a man devoted to one cause – himself.

Patrick Morrissey – like all Tea Party tools – is not good for America. They are the modern version of the Flat Earth Society.

Nevertheless, it’s time for the voters of West Virginia to retire Manchin. He certainly does not represent the people or state motto – Montani Semper Liberi (Mountaineers are always free). Indeed, the opposite is true. He is a slave to power; as such, he has betrayed his calling to represent the people of West Virginia.

Missing the Greatest Generation

I am again reading “The Greatest Generation Speaks: Letters and Reflections” by Tom Brokaw. The follow-up to “The Greatest Generation,” Brokaw said the second book came about because of “ … the avalanche of letters and responses touched off by that (first) book.” The generation of my late mom and dad truly was our nation’s greatest. What made them so? A common purpose. A belief that good must triumph over evil, but to do so requires tremendous sacrifice by people. It doesn’t just randomly happen.

My generation has, in short order, undone much of the miracles performed by our parents. We are not the greatest country in the world. Not even close. As we see in this iconic scene from the TV show “The Newsroom” starring Jeff Daniels, “It sure used to be … (but) America’s not the greatest country in the world anymore.”

We have failed our parents. We have failed our nation. We won’t sacrifice because we don’t even agree anymore what the United States stands for. As Abraham Lincoln said two years before being elected president, “A nation divided against itself, cannot stand.”

We owe our parents – and our children and grandchildren – more than “working for the weekend.” Leisure has its place. However, it can quickly devolve into apathy, especially if we allow ourselves to be distracted by the toys and gadgets we accumulate.

Enough. It’s time for us to grow up. That means we are going to have to fight evil just like our parents did. Only this time, the enemy is within – in the Oval Office. The first challenge is to recognize the evil. If you don’t see it, you’re not looking. The second – and this is imperative – is to challenge and defeat Donald Trump peacefully and constitutionally.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve wanted to pick up the phone and call mom or dad to seek their wisdom. But, there are no telephones in heaven. However, Tom Brokaw has done us a great service in capturing their voices and the sacrifices they made without complaint. I suggest you pick up a copy.

On the Brink

Speaking of books, one of my dearest and oldest friends makes sure my library continues to expand. So in my mail last week was, “On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity & Getting Old” by Parker J. Palmer. I have just begun reading it, and it’s slow going because of the time spent underlining sentences, circling words and writing notes in the margin. In it, Palmer writes, “When young and old are connected like the poles of a battery, the power that’s released enlivens both parties and helps light up the world.”

I can testify to that. Most of my friends are in their 20s and 30s, introduced to me by our 30-something children. They brighten my world. They challenge my thinking. They respectfully listen!

However, there is darkness in the conversations. They are concerned about the future. Again, as we learned today, we are on the brink of extinction if we don’t address climate change. Hence, we might be well served to ponder this insight from Palmer: “But isn’t it possible we’re on the brink of flying free, or discovering something of beauty, or finding peace and joy”? Though he is referring to our last season of life, he could just as easy be referring to our nation; we are indeed, “on the brink.” My artistic, musical and philosophical young friends understand that. They, as a lot, remain hopeful.

I, however, can’t say the same. Experience or pessimism? I don’t know. I would like to believe that the optimism in Palmer’s outlook is applicable to our current national crises, and is well-founded. That, however, requires the end of tribalism and an embracing – not just tolerance – of the “other.” There are few signs of that though. Still, I look for the signs of us being on the brink of a revival of civility and cooperation. But I do so with quite low expectations.

Such is the life of a curmudgeon. 

© Michael M. Barrick, 2018.