The Other Big Lie of the 21st Century (so far)

 

Did he or didn’t he? Is he lying, again? Was it or wasn’t it? How do we know? What we do know is that false claims of election fraud are not the first Big Lie of the 21^st Century. My interests lead me to read books including Senator Ben Nelson’s (D) latest, Death of the Senate, My Front Row Seat to the Demise of the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body. In his book Nelson discussed the other Big Lie.

You better think. Think about what you're trying to do to me (Aretha Franklin)

                        Video: Aretha Franklin (feat Matt Guitar Murphy & Blues Brothers)

In his recount of the lead up to the war on Iraq, Nelson shares, “I do not regret voting for the war.” Should he? Obviously memoirs craft the historical record. Nelson walks the reader through the complexity of the issue and writes, “I regret that the misinformation was so bad.”

Let's go back, let's go way on back…

You couldn't have been too much more than ten.

We knew Saddam Hussein once had WMDs (weapons of mass destruction) because he’d gassed fellow citizens thirty-nine times resulting in mass genocide. Hussein’s potential ownership and threat to use WMDs was not unfounded. 

Today we know several things about the conflict in Iraq: oil played no role, WMDs were never found, and despite Vice President Cheney’s assurances, “…we will be greeted as liberators,” we weren’t, and there were no plans for governing in the aftermath. We did not export democracy, the world is not a safer place, and that those who peddled uncertainty and misinformation inflicted irreparable death, distrust, and damage.

After reading Nelson’s expose, I pondered whether the Big Lie of WMDs was a more significant deceit than undermining voter confidence in free and fair elections.

I ain't no psychiatrist, I ain't no doctor with degrees. 

But, it don't take too much high IQ's, to see what you're doing to me.

 Perhaps the first lesson from the WMD vote is that many got fooled by the deceit including both legislative branches. How did this happen? It happened because of the actions of a few. Through obfuscation, innuendo, and dubious sources, enough uncertainty was created to drag the nation into war.

They knew that once the masses bought in, the resistant few could be steamrolled with accusations of being unpatriotic, out-of-step politically, or worse, being cowards.

Today we know shoddy information cost hundreds of thousands of lives, hundreds of billions of dollars, and our sense of national righteousness. The city on the hill shone a bit less brightly.

There ain't nothing you could ask, I could answer you but I won't. 

What we should have learned is when elected officials play patty cake with the truth; their political opposition does not pay the price. Those who pay the price are that young man down-the-street who played little league with your son and then joined the Army after graduating from High School. Or the girl your daughter had stay overs with in third grade, then grew up and joined the Air Force. Too often the young and the innocent have paid the price for political deceptions.

We all lose when good candidates forego public service due to ideological litmus tests, fealty oaths, and overbearing partisanship.

But who wins? Today China leverages our failings against us including Biden’s fumbled withdrawal from Afghanistan, Trump turning his back on Turkish Kurds, and the erosion on democracy begat by the myth of election fraud,

What’s the lesson?

Citizenship includes responsibility. We didn’t really know whether Iraq has WMD or not. Upstanding citizens were bamboozled by those peddling fear, division, and exaggeration.  The late Colin Powell noted that misinformation and a rush to judgement cost us dearly in Iraq.

Unlike WMDs, we know with absolute certainty there was no widespread election fraud in 2020. Those who suggest otherwise, or who stand by with a wink and a nod, are actively dividing our nation and undermining our trust in the institutions that guide American democracy.

People walking around every day, playing games, and taking scores.

When Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley and Unicameral Senator Rob Clements genuflected before the mob in exchange for votes, they stoked the myth of election fraud. In doing so, they weakened voter confidence in our democratic institutions. 

Trying to make other people lose their minds. Be careful you don't lose yours. 

Although the facts have been settled in the courts, in all fifty states, in the House of Representatives, and by most politicos, when elected officials undermine trust in the institutions of self-governance, including the results of a free and fair election, the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution become antiquated obstacles to mere election strategies.

You better think. Think about what you're trying to do to me

Script: Prelude to the Declaration of Independence: Liberty, Equality, and Justice

Before we begin our exploration of the Declaration of Independence, let’s explore two essential values discussed in the Declaration: liberty and equality.

On the one-hand, the title of the document, the Declaration of INDEPENDENCE clearly points to liberty or independence. On the other-hand, Jefferson’s phrase, “all men are created equal” is a statement about equality. And the term, "equal" refers specifically to having access to equal rights. 

So both values are central to the Declaration.

And, indirectly, these two ideas suggest a third value, justice.

We want to pause and recognize that the Declaration of Independence, the document which signaled the birth of the United States of American, incorporates the three values that are considered to be the foundation of our society; justice, liberty, and equal rights or equality.

Let’s dig in…

Can one have too little liberty? Obviously this is true, but can one have too much liberty? This is also true.

As we will learn throughout the course, our American model of self-governance works best when individuals chose, as free women or free men, to willingly curtail their behavior, or liberty, in order to respect the rights of others. 

For example, my idea of freedom might be driving my semi-truck through rush hour traffic at 120 miles-per-hour. This expression of individual liberty is obviously a threat to the rights of others: in this case their right to life. Thus, justice curtails or limits liberty.

Can one have too little equality? Once again, this is obviously true. When someone is unable to exercise or use their rights, when their rights are denied to them, this person has too little equality.

But can one have too much equality? For example, suppose I work very hard but others do not. Is it fair to take from me, someone working very hard, and give it to someone who is capable of supporting themselves but does not? (Obviously, this is an argument of degrees since, according to the social contract, we all know how important it is to pay our share of taxes in order to support good roads, public education, military defense, and necessary services such as fire and police protection.)

Clearly it’s not fair to over-burden me with the needs of others, and, as history has shown again and again, in societies that pursue an extreme version of this sort of taxation, eventually I will work less hard since I am unable to enjoy the benefits of my labor. 

Once again, a sense of justice or fairness will limit equality.

Now, here’s a trick question. As we just saw, one can have too much, or too little liberty and equality. But, can one have too much, or too little justice? American philosopher Mortimer Adler argues that justice is binary value. You can either have justice or injustice but there are not shades or degrees of justice.

In her book, Our Declaration, Dr. Danielle Allen writes,

“Political equality is not, however, merely freedom from domination. The best way to avoid being dominated is to help build the world, in which one lives – to help, like an architect…Ideally, if political equality exists, citizens become co-creators of their shared world.”

Simply, Allen helps us understand how each of us can help assure that all of us live in a "good" society. 

To recap, we want to recognize how the values that embody our ideals of a good society, justice, liberty, and equality, or equal rights, are all seen in this important founding document.

As I kid I lived a year in Newcastle Upon Tyne. Sunday's in Northern England in the mid-1970s were endless boring. The religious program, Anno Domini was on TV followed by the 'Look North'  news program – which featured a blue globe rolling across the screen. It was endlessly boring if you were fifteen and locked up with your family. On Sunday's Newcastle shut down. It was a blue-collar, working-class town - not the sophisticated city it is today with its millennial bridge and toney modern buildings on the riverside. On Saturdays, after the football match, the pubs filled up and barrels of ale got drunk. Being from out-of-town, we'd evidently given up church for the year - which is kind of weird since our practice, Methodism, was from the Newcastle area.

But thank God dad read the Sunday newspaper.

On Sundays, the only place to get a newspaper was the Central Train station. (Commemorated in the Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) track, Fare Thee Well Northumberland 

Sometimes we'd walk down to the station, which was a jaunt. Other times Dad would drive the yellow, four-door Austin Maxi.

The London Times was a big paper that felt like tissue paper in your hands. The smells of the trains and the station, the freshness of the newspaper, and burnt unleaded fuels became familiar smells that filled my nose. The paper was sold in a Newsagent kiosk at the station. The agent had chocolates, candy, and, as I would later learn, the most current editions of the NME or Sounds (weekly music newspapers). Getting out of the house and going to the newsagent was like being delivered from hell: manna so positive that eventually, I learned to read the newspaper. 

The excursion was the highlight of my Sundays - pure bliss on the day of the week that for a 15-year-old was endlessly boring.

It was on one of these morning ventures that we discovered the Quayside open market. It was a bit like an open flea market. People! Tons of people hawking and gapping at generally useless stuff wrapped and hung in clear plastic bags so you could see - "but you'd better not touch, boy." Hundreds of people milling about, on the edge of the Tyne River, under the famous arched bridge, looking and buying.  

                                                                                                                                                                Some were talking, eating a "cornet" (which I later learned was flavored ice), and maybe buying something. Interestingly, I would much later learn that it was on the same approximate location that John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, gave his first sermon. The market was located at the bottom of the Dog's Leap Stairs which are commemorated on the debut Dire Straits album in the song, Down to the Waterline.

Sweet surrender on the Quayside

You remember we used to run and hide

In the shadow of the cargoes

I take you one at a time

And we're counting all the numbers

Down to the waterline

Near misses on the dog leap stairways

French kisses in the darkened doorways

A foghorn blowing out wild and cold

A policeman, he shines a light upon my shoulder

Up comes a coaster fast and silent in the night

Over my shoulder all you can see

Are the pilot lights

No money in our jackets and our jeans are torn

Your hands are cold but your lips are warm

She can see him on the jetty that

They used to know

She can feel him in the places where

The sailors go

When she's walking by the river

Or the railway line

She can still hear him whisper

Let's go down to the waterline, alright

Once we got to the Quayside, it was boring too, if you were 15, which I was, but it was loads better than being at home - cooped up without friends, no tv, and waiting for school the next day. I would
walk as slow as I could and feign interest in anything: anything to stay as long as possible, I remember once smelling some perfume that, later in the week, "Julie" who was a bit of a rough but attractive working-class girl wore. I remember that it was in our class of academic low performers that Julie and the dark-haired girl (third right, front row) that sat next to her talked about Rod Stewart's new album, Atlantic Crossing.

While I was all too familiar with Rod Stewart, and the Faces, somehow that image just seared into my mind. Patricia Cleghorn, who sat a row or two closer to the front of the class, had her sister's autograph book that one of my most favorites bands at the time, Bad Company had signed. I was definitely impressed!

5E5 Heaton School, 1975-76

 While I was all too familiar with Rod Stewart, and the Faces, somehow that image just seared into my mind. Patricia Cleghorn (2d left, front row), who sat a row or two closer to the front of the class, had her sister's autograph book that one of my most favorites bands at the time, Bad Company had signed. I was definitely impressed! (Can you figure out which one is me? 

Years later, I heard the song 'Debris' by the Faces. Sung by the band's bass player Ronnie Lane. For whatever reason, whenever I hear that song, I am back in the Toon, on the Quayside, living the most exciting year of my life. As you can see in the lyrics, the opening line beckon's the memory...

It was also during this era of pre-Thatcherism that coal mining strikes would grab the Northeast (see the movie, Billy Elliot). I can recall a news story reporting that youth in the area would never get jobs - that's how bad things were... reportedly.

As a kid, moving, was scary and, well, I just knew, it was going to be boring. And then there's David Wilson. (The guy was like a magnet. I'd hang around and eventually, some gal would spin-off and I'd make a play...which was a bit like a dog chasing cars: I had no idea what to do if I caught one but something told me it was going to be very cool...and very special. Which could bring us to the story of Karen and Sally but, well, then that would be talking out of turn).

Wilson dragged me around town like a cubbed dog - teaching me that pubs would serve you if you acted like you knew what you were doing, ('Uh, a pint of bitter please' was all I had to learn), the famed Brown Ale hospital ward - in case we drank too much of the famed powerful Northeast drink, concerts in the City Hall, but most importantly, how to talk to girls. (Which came in pretty handy in subsequent years). We'd walk miles from our house into the City Center to thumb through records stores, including up the stairs to the second floor to access the very cool, very new Virgin Record store (where my brother  Wes Galusha would buy a Harpo Marx button that looked mysteriously similar to my clearly not Jewish older brother) and romp around parts of the town which, years later, I would come to know were Sting's stomping grounds at about the same time.

It was an adventure that defined me - how I see the world and the song, Debris, brings it back. Years later, I would go see live music with a friend Geoff Schechter in Houston, Texas. One night, at a new place (Blythe Spirits), Geoff took me to see a band. (Geoff grew up in Austin and even then had a "cool cache" that came with his city of birth). As we leaned against the bar I noticed that a guy in a wheelchair was being wheeled past us. I remember thinking how cool it was that despite being confined to the chair - that guy was still getting out. As he wheeled by he smiled and, looking into his face, it was Ronnie Lane. Lane was suffering from MS and would eventually die due to the illness. We followed him out to the car where his friend was lifting the frail rock star and placing him into a well-beaten car. Lane could barely speak. We gushed respectfully and it seemed to make him happy.

I left you on the debris

At the Sunday morning market

You were sorting through the odds and ends

You was looking for a bargain

I heard your footsteps at the front door

And that old familiar love song

'Cause you knew you'd find me waiting there

At the top of the stairs

Ian McLagan, Ronnie Wood, Ronnie Lane, & Rod Stewart

I went there and back

Just to see how far it was

And you, you tried to tell me

But I had to learn for myself

There's more trouble at the depot

With the general workers union

And you said, "They'll never change a thing

Well, they won't fight and they're not working"

 

Oh, you was my hero

How you are my good friend

I've been there and back

And I know how far it is

But I left you on the debris

Now we both know you got no money

And I wonder what you would have done

Without me hanging around

Federal spending and taxation demands hard, unpleasant, civil, public debate

 October 2021

While we watch the national debt pass $28 trillion, thankfully Nebraska’s State Constitution requires a balanced budget.

Omaha voters should feel good about the low-rhetoric, fiscally responsible way in which Mayor Jean Stothert and the City Council have led. Despite the obvious benefits of tamped-down partisanship, odious actors maneuver to undermine George Norris’ nonpartisan unicameral system.

Money, get away. Get a good job with more pay and you’re OK. (Pink Floyd, “Money,” from “Dark Side of the Moon”)

While the economics of our national debt is complex, it’s clear that increasing spending amid massive tax cuts doesn’t work. Meanwhile, Washington officials leverage gorged spending to curry favor among voters and special interests.

It appears President Joe Biden has committed to Modern Monetary Theory, the idea that since we print our own currency, debt is not a concern. Gone are the days of discerning between needs, those things that require government spending; and wants, expenditures that haven’t previously won political approval.

As the number of those paying federal income taxes declines, the per-taxpayer share of the national debt exceeds $228,000. That’s not including Biden’s $5 trillion in spending bills.

Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash. New car, caviar, four-star daydream, think I’ll buy me a football team.

While there is plenty of fodder to wallop Biden, Republican administrations have grazed equally at the trough of excessive spending. According to WhiteHouse.gov, Jimmy Carter contributed a paltry $75 billion per year to the national debt while Ronald Reagan contributed $450 billion annually. Things tamped down under H.W. Bush ($375 billion) and Bill Clinton ($325 billion) before skyrocketing under G.W. Bush ($1.55 trillion per year). Barack Obama’s terms added $1.037 trillion per year while Donald Trump grew the debt by $1.7 trillion annually. Some estimate Biden could grow the debt by $1.825 trillion per year.

Money, it’s a crime, Share it fairly but don’t take a slice of my pie.

What to do? Weighing expenditures is one answer.

Recently Sens. Chris Coons and Raphael Warnock proposed government funding of Historical Black Colleges and Universities. HBCUs afforded African Americans a pathway to higher education at a time when racism and Jim Crow prevented them from attending most other institutions.

Although HBCUs certainly cradle unique cultural experiences and traditions, at a time when our national debt is so high, does this make fiscal sense? Should the federal government step up funding private HBCUs when we already have an extensive system of land grant universities?

Another option to addressing our rising national debt is to rein in spending.

Money, so they say, is the root of all evil today. But if you ask for a raise it’s no surprise that they’re giving none away

Despite warnings from Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, military spending remained high as the Cold War heated up. In 1996 we spent $266 billion on defense (16.8% GDP). Today we spend $800 billion annually (19.3%). However, China, ($252 billion) and (Russia $62 billion) combined, spend about a third of what we spend. For example, the United States today has 20 aircraft carriers. China has four and Russia has one. Earlier this year, the secretary of the Air Force asked Congress to allow him to retire obsolete aircraft systems including A-10s, C-130s, KC-10s, and MQ-9s because “they consumed necessary resources.”

One way to think about our debt-funded, defense umbrella is that it allows European nations to spend 1.4% of GDP on defense. One could argue that U.S. taxpayers are indirectly funding Europe’s free health care. Should we?

If we’ve learned anything from Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, it’s that military superiority alone has not won land wars.

What’s the lesson?

If we want to pass on something other than a national dumpster fire to our children and grandchildren, we must approach spending, and taxing, more responsibly.

This issue demands hard, unpleasant but necessary, civil, public debate to determine national priorities. “All of the above” is no longer an option.

I’m in the high-fidelity first-class traveling set. And I think I need a Learjet

Like the Greatest Generation that preceded us, baby boomers must lead by making personal sacrifices and forgoing wants, by demanding intellectual honesty from ourselves and elected officials, choosing to tamp down the corrosive effects of hyperpartisanship, and living within our means.

President	Net Contribution to Debt in Billions	Annual Equivalent in Billions (yrs/net)
Biden	7,300	1,825
Trump	6,800	1,700
Obama	8,300	1,037
Bush #43	6,200	1,550
Clinton	1,300	325
Bush #41	1,500	375
Reagan	1,800	450
Carter	300	75

Can an obscure academic theory help America work out a language to discuss race?

August 2021

Whether it’s using a shovel or a diploma, there’s honor in feeding a family through honest work. Today, plumbers, electricians and machinists earn as much as many people with bachelor’s degrees. Fittingly, society better recognizes the contributions of first responders and those in uniform. Those who work as farmers, hairstylists, restaurant and retail workers, small-business operators and more also need to be recognized for fueling our economy.

So when did education become a bad thing?

Today critical race theory is a hot topic. CRT is an obscure legal theory that, like most academic concepts, resided in the ivy-covered halls of those pursuing post-graduate degrees. Since I’m not a race theorist, let’s examine the debate from four perspectives.

Everybody’s talking about Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism, this-ism, that-ism, Ism ism ism. (John Lennon, ‘Give Peace a Chance’)

One: It is highly doubtful and there’s no evidence that CRT is being taught in communities like Scribner, Mitchell or Omaha. However, it’s equally clear that the modern GOP is using the issue strategically to rile up its shrinking voting base.

Predictably, the progressive left is working to discredit Republican CRT saber-rattling. For the rest of us, CRT is just the latest wedge issue ginned up to separate voting blocs.

Everybody’s talkin’ ’bout ministers, sinisters, banisters and canisters, bishops and fishops, rabbis and pop eyes, bye-byes.

Two: Clearly, CRT is touching a sensitive nerve. Since it’s highly unlikely, and in fact has yet to be demonstrated, that this theory is a widespread thing, perhaps the more important question is, what is it about this issue that has folks so riled up?

In the past, we focused societal fear on the Russians, Chinese and terrorists. On the eve of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the last time Americans came together in shared national grief, the Cold War specters of the past are mostly gone. The new partisan-invoked threat is each other, or so some need us to believe.

Between social media, cable “news,” the Great Lie, a pandemic and hyperpartisanship, anxiety is intentionally being ratcheted up. As anxiety goes up, trust goes down, and Americans become increasingly isolated.

No one wants to be called a racist. And most are not. The far left needs to drop this divisive narrative.

Ev’rybody’s talking ’bout John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Tommy Smothers, Bobby Dylan, Tommy Cooper, Derek Taylor, Hare Krishna.

Three: I am empathetic to the concern that some students may be taught a Howard Zinn-like approach to American history. Writing about citizenship, Andrew Oldenquist posits that students must first be taught love of country.

This makes sense to me. In fact, I teach it.

Americans have always been pretty good about eventually looking under the rug. No doubt we need to engage the agony and the ecstasy of our nation’s 400-year history. And like all the men and women who have made up this nation since its birth, our history is complex, frequently painful, but often extraordinary. It is a nation composed of mere mortals who aspired to create a “city on the hill,” yet indubitably fell short of perfection. While no one can change the past, we should acknowledge it and then learn from history. That is the proper role of education.

All we are saying is give peace a chance

Four: Throughout American history, various groups have, at various times, moved from the societal periphery to viewing themselves as ensconced citizens and demanding the full rights that come with that. This idea oversimplifies 400 years of American racial history, but I suspect that, sociologically, we are seeing Black Americans pushing that just demand to a higher level.

Understandably, as groups stake their claim in the American dream, they want their journey, hardships and celebrations to be fully acknowledged. We see this among The Sons of Italy, The Knights of Columbus, or via the display of Irish flags on March 17, Polish flags during The Feast of St. Stanislaus Day or Mexican flags on Cinco de Mayo. It’s what Americans do.

Ev’rybody’s talking about revolution, evolution, flagellation, regulation, integrations, meditations, United Nations … Congratulations.

Today, an effort is being made to achieve clarity of the innumerable contributions, and suffering, that generations of African Americans have made. While some want to demonize CRT, I suspect what we are actually seeing are Americans working out the language by which we can discuss race in a meaningful way. And then figure out how to scoot over a bit to assure that everyone gets an honored seat at the table of the American dream. Most have demonstrated a willingness to stand up so that others can finally sit down.

All we are saying is give peace a chance

Can we set some rules for civil discussion and evaluation of candidates?

September 2021

Every Friday for nigh on 15 years, the guys meet for breakfast to discuss politics and Husker maladies. After four years of timidity, some now want to discuss the Biden White House. Their reawakened principles are predictably partisan. Some of the breakfast bunch floated that since another Biden term seems unlikely, what would a viable 2024 Republican look like?

You made ten thousand promises you couldn’t keep. I forgave you when you lied, pleaded and weeped. Put up with your disrespect and neglect. What an experience, I’ll never forget (Bonnie Raitt & Delbert McClinton, I Need a Good Man). 

To avoid political quagmires, we erected a few bumper rails. For example, supporting a good idea while condemning a bad idea, regardless of whose idea it was. While that flies in the face of team sport politics, it’s pretty wise. No one benefits when office-seekers take calculated positions to win elections at the expense of good governance.

Second, the credit, or the blame, for things occurring on your watch goes to the incumbent. As Pete Ricketts told me, “You play the cards you’re dealt.” So no whining and stop shifting blame.

Third, some language is loaded. If you want to have an engaging conversation, language matters.

You better stop (and) think about what you’re saying, I was seriously dedicated (to you).

Finally, a former official shared criticizing “the other party is part of the fun.” They don’t call it politics for nothing. Expect some rancor and “truth bending” if it means rallying the base. Wish as we might, office-seekers are as imperfect as you and me. Mudslinging works.

If there’s one thing I’d bet my last dollar on, it’s that Nebraska’s prairie populism is moderate, centrist and fed up with the growing hyperpartisanship of the last 30 years. Oh yeah? When was the last time you voted for a national candidate instead of against the opponent? So if you’re looking for a new dance partner in the next cycle, here are some points to ponder:

One: Think about the things government could actually do that would improve your quality of life. Define those things, then find candidates who share your views. Avoid far-fetched agendas or those focused on overtly loaded partisan arguments such as the Green New Deal, voter ID, or critical race theory. To paraphrase Ed Koch, “If you agree with six of my positions, vote for me. If you agree with all my positions, get your head examined.” Be discerning rather than gullible.

So hard to see so far ahead, when I can’t seem to drag myself out of bed.

I gotta find a good (wo)man.

Two: Identify real-world issues. My group leans toward fiscal concerns like jobs, the economy and government spending. A fair criticism of Biden’s administration is overspending. However, Rush Limbaugh said, “Nobody is a fiscal conservative anymore. All this talk about concern for the deficit and the budget has been bogus for as long as it’s been around.” Today, we have a federal government Americans are unwilling to pay for. It’s a moral disgrace and both parties are guilty. Since neither taxing nor growing our way to a balanced budget has worked over the long term, an honest office-seeker will advocate simultaneous tax increases and cuts.

Three: Those who rely too heavily on loaded partisan terms or ideas are surreptitiously pushing societal division. Good candidates seek unity and are willing to compromise.

Four: Significant racial progress appears close at hand. Speak directly to this issue but ask questions first.

Five: Birthrates for Whites and Blacks have been declining for decades. Either fix immigration laws (and for God’s sake solve DACA now!) or support technological development that fills empty jobs.

Six: Energy use is paramount. The evidence is overwhelming. Climatologists agree, human behavior contributes to our changing climate. Office- seekers who deny the science are daft. From droughts to flooding, from wildfires to deforestation, a viable candidate will provide thoughtful and viable leadership on this issue.

Seven: The last president with military experience was George H.W. Bush. I think we need that experience in the White House.

Finally, look for consistency in word and deed. Saints live in heaven, what we need in Washington is honesty, compromise and leadership.

Till now, everything I did was wrong (I’m sorry, baby). Today you’re free. Gotta find a good woman, gotta find a good man.

Looking back over the two decades since 9/11

September 2021

For the first time in 20 years, the nation is commemorating the 9/11 anniversary while a war was not being fought in Afghanistan.

Watching helicopters lift off in Kabul, I recalled watching the evacuation of Saigon. It reminded me of the daily body counts on the evening news. And while I was too young to recall the nation’s angst, those coming home from Southeast Asia unfairly bore the brunt of American frustration.

Years later, former Secretary of the Defense Robert McNamara would tacitly apologize for the escalation and pursuit of a conflict that audiotapes revealed President Johnson felt was “unwinnable” in 1965. The conflict dragged on for 10 more years.

“Some folks are born made to wave the flag. Ooh, they’re red, white and blue” (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

Today, as the Afghanistan Conflict winds up, politicians and politicos are once again looking to place blame. When Nixon ended the Vietnam Conflict in 1975, he inherited a war that drew in President Eisenhower in the mid-1950s. While partisans attack and defend Biden, what we know is that like Trump, and Obama, President Biden inherited a conflict that began 20 years earlier.

“Some folks inherit star spangled eyes, Ooh, they send you down to war.”

While the withdrawal was not elegant, it was inevitable. As a rule of thumb, the administration in power gets the credit, or the blame, for events during their term. But only textbooks define history by presidential terms. As former Sen. Chuck Hagel noted, actions and agreements by previous administrations came to bear on the August withdrawal.

This past week I watched hours of 9/11 documentaries. I realized that, like many things, over time it had moved to the back shelf of my busy life. I’d forgotten scenes of those jumping from the towers, those burned when jet fuel flooded down the elevator shafts, and ashen faces on Manhattan’s streets.

I suppose it’s my Methodist sensibility, but overt displays of religiosity and patriotism make me nervous, especially when they come from elected officials. As we pause this week to remember the events of 9/11, it might be a good time to reflect on a couple of ideas.

History often mythologizes the fallen. President Lincoln was assassinated on Good Friday, about a week after the end of the Civil War. Because the tragedy occurred near Easter, some described him as “The Middle Adam,” placing him theologically between Jesus, the “final Adam,” and Adam from the Garden of Eden.

The affront of 9/11 was national but the losses were personal. Approximately 3,000 people died on Sept. 11. Estimates suggest that 170,000 people, including civilians and military, died in Afghanistan. We need to remember those who died as well as those who served and those who suffered physical and mental injuries; these losses are personal.

Perhaps, we should remember those left behind: children growing up without a parent, the empty place at holiday meals, and those who lost a child. These were real people who lived real lives and whose deaths broke spouses and tore apart families. Let us honor these lives with quiet reverence.

“And when you ask ’em, ‘How much should we give?’ 

“Ooh, they only answer ‘More, more, more, more.’”

On another note, what we didn’t learn from Vietnam, or Korea, was that venturing into foreign lands such as Afghanistan, Somalia or Iraq is costly in blood as well as treasure. Like President Johnson’s Guns and Butter speech, money spent in Southwest Asia was not spent on infrastructure or American needs.

These opportunity costs raise the question, does modern warfare still call on the USA to be the world’s policemen? While America invested in exerting military power across the globe, China used soft power to secure the minerals and resources that spur future technologies.

Finally, the aftermath of 9/11 was the last time Americans came together. Even record store rebels wore flag pins on Nirvana T-shirts. Today, rather than encouraging unity, political strategists promote societal division to mollify the beguiled voter.

“It ain’t me, it ain’t me. I ain’t no fortunate son.”

While politicos gin up issues that bear little consequence on our lives, most Americans are busy raising families, going to work, and navigating the evolving norms of an increasingly complex society.

“Some folks are born silver spoon in hand. Lord, don’t they help themselves.”

Elected officials need to provide earnest leadership rather than divisive rhetoric, a governing vision that extends beyond the next election cycle, employ emotional intelligence, and stop leveraging political opportunism for personal gain.

“It ain’t me, it ain’t me. I ain’t no billionaire’s son.”

Create a community-wide coalition to boost tree planting in Omaha area

August 2021 (Response to Galusha Op Ed earlier in August) 

John Winkler

The Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District would like to thank Rick Galusha for his recent column “We can come together to make a difference even after the storm has passed.” We agree. Not only would the city of Omaha benefit from a dedicated community tree planting program or campaign — so would the entire state of Nebraska.

Galusha noted, and we all witnessed, how the community came together following the devastation of many of Omaha’s trees due to recent hurricane-force winds.

Nebraska has always dealt with extreme weather, and the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events are expected to increase even more. We will continue to need to replace trees lost to storms, as well as the emerald ash borer, and we thank the City of Omaha for adding funding to its budget amendments for these purposes. However, we need the creation of a more proactive multi-organizational solution — a grand coalition to create a strategic community-wide plan for planting trees throughout the area and beyond.

Proactivity is key for not only developing a possible strategy for increasing the many benefits of trees throughout our community, but also for not missing opportunities that could help us do just that.

Case in point: Recently, the Papio NRD was contacted by one of its tree planting partners with an amazing opportunity to plant a significant number of trees in our city; the project was to be 100% funded by a private donor. However, the Papio NRD had to somewhat scramble to locate a partner with a suitable project location in time to take advantage of the opportunity.

This was nearly an unfortunate and disheartening outcome. Free trees designated for an urban area — but with nowhere to go? Understandably, you don’t just plant any kind of tree anywhere you want at a moment’s notice. Effective tree planting initiatives require a systematic approach and collaborative community partners to develop a successful and sustainable one. This effort would be a significant undertaking, but we should start planting the seeds by initiating a conversation about a community-wide coalition.

As a local governmental agency, the Papio NRD is a big contributor to tree planting and would be a willing and capable coalition partner; however, most people just don’t know this. The Papio NRD is not a household name but does contribute greatly to many households across our six-county service area by conserving, protecting and enhancing natural resources in a variety of ways. Trees play a critical role in that mission.

We are proud of our decades-long dedication to planting trees, funding tree grants for municipalities, and offering cost share tree programs to landowners:

The NRD over the past decade has planted/provided cost share funding for 201,583 trees and shrubs with landowners for homestead windbreaks, field windbreaks, and wildlife habitat improvement.

The NRD has provided approximately $14,000 per year in cost-share to landowners for seedlings.

It has distributed nearly 9,000 seedlings to 400-plus schools and organizations over the last decade.

Statewide, Nebraska’s natural resources districts have planted over 100 billion trees and shrubs since the NRD system was founded in 1972.

A larger, community-wide strategic initiative could incorporate these concepts, with our NRD as a partner for tree and shrub planting:

Budget $75,000 annually for grants for local municipalities to plant trees on public right-of-way.

Plant 12,000-15,000 trees per year.

The Papio NRD has formed numerous local and state partnerships to advocate and fund tree planting, including the Arbor Day Foundation, American Reforestation Initiative, Nebraska Forest Service, Keep Omaha Beautiful and others. We know the power of public-private partnerships.

Think of the impact on our community if a coalition of local municipalities, government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, private sector, and other community partners came together to develop a blueprint and action plan for a sustainable forestry program for the greater Omaha metro.

For many reasons, a reactive approach to our ecological infrastructure is not enough. Let’s come together to develop proactive measures and help them take root — and hopefully never have to frantically scramble to find free trees a home again.

John Winkler is general manager of the Papio-Missouri River NRD.

We can come together to make a difference even after the storm has passed

September 2021

All it took was a dry-land hurricane and just like that, we’re helping neighbors and strangers. Helping others was the silver lining of Omaha’s recent windstorm. It reminded me of the idealism of the 1960s.

Today, those boomers are moving into retirement communities. They changed the world through activism including advocating women’s rights, civil rights, Stonewall and same-sex rights, the antiwar movement and environmentalism. And thanks to their efforts these expressions of a healthy liberal democracy are with us today.

Thanks guys. But you’re not done yet.

Once there was a tree ... and she loved a little boy. And every day the boy would come and he would gather her leaves (Shel Silverstein, “The Giving Tree”)

Often problems today are framed as existential threats to humanity. From pandemics to global climate change, life’s fragility ricochets among headlines.

Recent stories included massive wildfires and 1,000-year droughts in the American West, 500-year flooding in Europe and China, melting glaciers and ice caps, climate-change emigration from Asia, water wars in Canada, clear-sky flooding and abnormally high tides along our Eastern Seaboard, electric cars, truck and trains, and the devastation of pine forests in Colorado and Wyoming.

In Omaha we endured hurricane-force winds, massive tree devastation and record electrical outages. We read about new bicycle lanes, ORBT (public transportation), neighborhood centers, and rentable bikes and scooters.

The empirical evidence of climate change’s adverse effects on your children and grandchildren are irrefutable, its consequences inescapable.

And when he was tired, he would sleep in her shade. And the boy loved the tree ... very much.

By serendipity, I had called Mayor Jean Stothert’s office, the Arbor Day Foundation, a member of the City Council and the city forester before our windstorm. I learned Omaha kinda, well sorta, ish, has a tree policy. On the one hand, the city is focused on slowing the spread of the emerald ash borer. And OPPD trims trees that threaten power lines.

All good things, however, could we do more?

But time went by. And the boy grew older. And the tree was often alone.

While hyperpartisans fiddle like Nero, temperatures continue rising. Organized tree planting has become one approach to our warming planet. The Nature Conservancy, China and India each set goals to plant 1 billion trees. Ethiopia planted 350 million trees in a single day.

“I am too big to climb and play,” said the boy. “I want to buy things and have fun. I want some money.” “I’m sorry,” said the tree, “but I have no money. I have only leaves and apples.”

This month National Geographic examined how planting trees can transform cities from simmering caldrons to be more beautiful and cooler. History shows that crime goes up as neighborhoods get hotter. Planting trees lowers ambient heat, provides cooling shade, filters air and water, reduces flooding and drought and helps mitigate food insecurity. It also reduces energy demand, costs and air pollution.

And a cleaner environment reduces health care costs and improves mental health. And trees reduce global warming.

Perhaps Omaha should initiate a community tree-planting campaign. Such an effort would benefit all residents. It would enhance the beauty of our city and thereby benefit tourism.

And because there’s no politics to planting trees, a voluntary community campaign could bring people together. Working together builds trust, creates social capital and thereby reduces partisan, racial and economic divides. You probably witnessed neighbors helping each other after the windstorm. Such community efforts bring people together by getting to know each other.

“Come, Boy,” the tree whispered, “come and play.” “I am too old and sad to play,” said the boy. And so the boy cut down her trunk and made a boat and sailed away. And the tree was happy ... but not really.

Let’s ask Douglas County to replace trees and bushes on hillcrests along the interstates. Let’s replant trees that were recently toppled. Heat generation in areas high in pavement can be reduced by planting trees inside the Omaha loop. Trees could be planted on city and county property, school lots and in cemeteries. Let’s plant trees at libraries, on MUD and OPPD property, and at police or fire stations. More trees could be planted in parks, recreation areas, along bicycle paths, waterways, creek beds and in sidewalk parkways.

And you can help. Plant a tree, volunteer, call an elected official, talk with others or make a donation to Nebraska’s Arbor Day Foundation or The Nature Conservancy.

Recently the mayor’s office asked for help on useful ways to spend the recent round of COVID relief money. Take a moment to encourage tree planting by providing feedback through the website: cityofomaha.org/American-rescue-plan-act.

“I am just an old stump.” “I don’t need very much now,” said the boy. “Just a quiet place to sit and rest.” “Well,” said the tree, straightening herself up as much as she could, “Well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come, Boy, sit down and rest.” And the boy did. And the tree was happy.

If you want a free press, you have to pay for it

August 2021

Whether it’s in the classroom or over coffee, people often tell me they don’t know which media outlet to trust anymore. A founding plank of Jefferson’s republican experiment was that an educated and informed electorate provides “the consent of the governed.”

Despite an overabundance of media outlets, Americans are described as having a “superficial knowingness.” Moving through our busy lives we vacuum up tidbits of news from social networks, phones, internet, TV, radio, cable and newspapers.

I see the bad moon a-rising, I see trouble on the way (Credence Clearwater Revival)

Another key plank of America’s founding is trust. This is especially important in an era of evolving pluralism. While other nations are held together by a shared language, religion or race, lacking these universal ties, the United States is held together by a single idea: our ability to self-govern.

As is the case with many of the institutions that hold our fragile liberty together, Americans have become distrustful of the media. Gallup reports that when it comes to trusting the media, 33% report “none at all” while 27% “have not very much.” Simply, 60% of Americans don’t trust the media.

Looks like we’re in for nasty weather, I see bad times today

At the very heart of self-governance is trust, and then debate. Debate that lacks a foundation in trustworthy facts is meaningless and, ultimately, manipulative.

There’s a bad moon on the rise

Those who plant the seeds of doubt and distrust undermine the very foundation of our nation.

American society is changing before our eyes. If this makes you anxious, you’re normal. How you choose to respond, however, defines the future. If you withdraw, as many have, trust will continue to decline and society will become increasingly coarse and divided. If you engage, you can participate in discussions shaping the evolving rules and norms of an emerging society, and, according to Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam, eventually obtain mutual trust.

This brings us back to the media. To my way of thinking, there are basically three types of news consumers:

Those who skim headlines or social media memes to trumpet out ill-informed opinions based on ignorance, emotion and virtue signaling.

Anxiety-driven partisans who knowingly use biased media to identify the daily threat in order to echo talking points while signaling tribal loyalty.

Those who want to be informed citizens.

In what seems like ancient history, in the spirit of good governance, political operatives once fought for the better idea. In fact, Republicans once boasted they were the party of better ideas. Then, in 2020, the GOP ran a presidential election with no platform.

I hear hurricanes a-blowing, I know the end is coming soon

Today, both political parties, at least at the federal level, seem to have forsaken good governance for the sole objective of winning elections. It is a tryst of tempests. Oh, there are some, such as the Problem Solvers Caucus members, who vie for reasonable compromise and civility. That Rep. Don Bacon is a member is to be applauded.

But let’s not be naïve; losers don’t govern, and raw political power is driven by cash. Idealists get crushed and pragmatists do whatever it takes to win.

Each year Ad Fonts Media publishes an analysis of media bias. Overall, it’s an objective, longitudinal examination of major media outlets. What they find is that publicly funded not-for-profit outlets (such as BBC, NPR and PBS) tend to be centrist, credible, unbiased and trusted. They also find that news source agencies and major networks are good outlets (AP, Reuters, CBS, NBC and ABC). But consistently, local news, such as this newspaper and local TV stations, are found to be the most trustworthy.

The study also finds that all three major cable “news” outlets (MSNBC, CNN, Fox) are heavily biased, somewhat dubious in their reporting, and, I speculate, the cause of much of today’s distrust for the media. Under pressure for advertising revenue and to fill the 24/7 cycle, cable “news” knows that anger, outrage and fearmongering increases viewers. It elevates anxiety by design.

Hope you got your things together, One eye is taken for an eye

Local entrepreneur Bruce Hoberman noted that the public is drawn to a train wreck in slow motion. We love dirty laundry. If a media outlet tells you its own anchors are untrustworthy (Lou Doubs, Tucker Carlson) or that they are entertainers rather than reporters (Rush Limbaugh), you would be wise to believe it.

Ultimately, you’re responsible.

At the heart of the First Amendment is the necessity of civil dissent. This duty of citizenship reverberates throughout our founding, including a warning in the Declaration of Independence and an overt reference to “just power.” Since few of us have the time to monitor elected officials or bureaucratic agencies, we are dependent upon the media to be our watchdog. Media outlets that knowingly deceive users by spreading distrust, reporting farcical rumors, implying innuendos or perpetuating stories of cabals and conspiracies are unworthy of our time or our respect.

In the past, those who perpetrated deliberate turmoil often acted alone or in small groups. As we saw in Charlottesville (2017) or on Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C., those who imbibe in the toxic elixir of deceit are now finding each other and infecting society with a poison more subtle and dangerous than any virus or partisan activist.

Intentional distrust is a terminal cancer prognosis for America’s future.

I fear rivers overflowing, I hear the voice of rage and ruin

Whether at home or in the classroom, I see America’s future being molded by young people where race, ethnicity and sexuality no longer define societal divisions. It beckons the dawn of a new day in America. Yes, there are those who want to leverage these issues to drive political wedges, but no, it is not yet a ubiquitous threat. Their train seems bound for glory. We should all hop on board.

Americans vote three ways: with our feet (attendance), with our money (spending) and in the voting booth. If you want a great America, and I hope you do, vote wisely and vote often through your actions, your judgments, with your values and in your dreams