Don't Be Cruel (to a Heart that's True)

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                “For every complex problem there is a clear and simple solution.

 And it is always wrong“ H.L. Menken

There is perhaps no more difficult political subject than transgender sexuality: especially when it comes to young children. Recent legislation in Iowa, Utah, Florida, Indiana, & Texas and references to the “transgender agenda” by Nebraska gubernatorial candidates Jim Pillen and Chuck Herbster make the topic worth examination.

Have you noticed competing campaigns focus on similar issues? Politicians poll issues to identify topics that stimulate the base and build voting blocs. Through campaign ads, we can infer conservative voters are focused on inflation, the complexities of pluralism, and expanding rights.

I met her in a club down in old Soho where you drink champagne and it tastes just like Coca Cola (The Kinks, Lola)

At the heart of our model of self-governance are free speech and civic debate. I remind students their grandparents founded modern-day rights movements. It is through discussions that the language and norms develop for society to operate.

While slow and often painful, the arc of moral justice has progressed.

At the signing of the Declaration of Independence, 1 in 20 white males could vote (5%). It took 80 years for all white men to get the vote. Passed after the Civil War, the 15th Amendment failed to assure black men voting rights. Omaha’s trial of Standing Bear in 1879 recognized some rights for Native Americans.

Scholars peg the late 19th Century as the era when the Irish became “white.” In 1920, the 19th Amendment recognized women’s right to vote. And despite Henry Cabot Lodge’s blistering speech in 1896, over the 20th Century, Eastern European and Mediterranean Roman Catholics were accepted into the national tapestry.

In 1948 Asian-American rights were expanded under the 14th Amendment. And after 100 years of violent oppression, The Voter Rights Act (1965) afforded voting rights to Blacks. Finally, in 2015 the Supreme Court assured marriage equality nationwide.

Well I'm not the world's most passionate guy but when I looked in her eyes well I almost fell for my Lola

There are two aspects of the so-called Transgender Agenda I want to examine. 

Politics: Some claim the Transgender Agenda is driven by “woke Marxists.“ The recent flurry of legislation and campaign ads signals that many Americans grapple with transgenderism. While Polls indicate Americans are largely supportive of LBGTQ+ rights, political campaigns focus on activists whose views are louder and less moderate. Consequently, partisan discussions over-serve far-left and far-right views in order to stir up anxiety and motivate voter opposition.

While this may make good politics: its divisive governance.

Girls will be boys and boys will be girls. It's a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for Lola

People: As we cradle our babies, intentionally or not, parents dream of that child’s future. Some friends had a child with severe autism. The mother described it as a process of learning, mourning, and readjusting. Despite the unexpected challenge that autism brought her family, their love never failed but their life plans changed.

A mother shared the challenges of psychologically mourning the loss of a daughter while learning to love her transgender son. I knew a family whose son, from a very early age, dressed in his mother’s clothes. I don’t recall them offering me Karl Marx’s book Das Kapital, but I witnessed their soul searching when life threw them a curveball.

Admittedly, trans-sexuality is vexing. The National Institute of Health estimates less than ½ of 1% are transgender. Politicizing already challenging lives for votes seems unnecessary. Why be cruel when the issue calls for compassion? This issue is hard but only a bully punches down.  

Well, I'm not the world's most masculine man. But I know what I am and I'm glad I'm a man. And so is Lola

Riding the Train with Freddie Hubbard

 

Although not as well known as Miles Davis, among jazz fans, trumpeter player Freddie Hubbard is a well known and highly respected player. He'd apprenticed his way up the jazz hierarchy playing with fellow Indianan's Monk and Wes Montgomery as a teenager. His early career included stints with Philly Joe Jones, Sonny Rollins, Eric Dolphy, Quincy Jones, Wayne Shorter, J.J. Johnson, and the legendary John Coltrane. Recording with the prestigious Blue Note Records, Hubbard's debut solo album included McCoy Tyner. 

In 1978, as a college freshman, I attended the University of Wyoming in Laramie. For Thanksgiving break, I decided to take the train from Laramie to Denver to Omaha. I'd ridden trains throughout England and Scotland when I was 16 so I was looking forward to my first extended American train trip.

 I walked the mile from campus to the train station downtown. As one might expect in late November, it was snowing fiercely. Upon arrival, there were other passengers in the waiting room. What made them unique in this setting is six of my fellow passengers were black and one was a white fellow. They were clearly traveling together. I sat down and soon enough a conversation broke out. As we talked I realized this was Freddie Hubbard's band - who'd played the night before. Like me, they were taking the train to Denver.

 The white guy was from Sioux City and had gotten hooked up with Freddie's band while he was running sound for Herbie Hancock. He was the road manager/ sound guy. "Of course I knew Tommy Bolin" he said. That was all it took to get my complete attention. 

While we sat in the station he told me stories of Tommy from their days in Iowa. He shared a conversation he'd had with one of Tommy crew regarding Bolin's death in Miami a few years earlier. Again and again, he repeated the question he posed to the crew member, "But why didn't you call an ambulance?" For those that perhaps don’t know, Bolin replaced Joel Walsh in the James Gang and then moved on to replace Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple. After recording two studio albums, Private Eyes and Teaser, at London’s Trident Studio, Bolin died from a drug overdose in July 1976. He’d been struggling with drugs but was in Miami opening for Jeff Beck.

 As we boarded the train, they'd reserved a couple of private rooms on the train rather than sitting in general seating. I was invited to join them. Soon enough the train pulled out of the station on what was a chilly and snowy November day.

 Soon enough the train began to meander through the mountainous terrain of the Medicine Bow and Routt National Forest region. About 20 minutes into our trip there was a knock at the door. It was Freddie. Clearly, he'd been scouting out the train and he said to the band, and their soundman, "Let's jam!"

The band made its way to the cocktail car which, at about 8 a.m. on a Wednesday, was empty. Inside the car was a broken-down piano. The band sat down and soon enough Freddie put the horn to his lips. The drummer used his sticks against a desk-like fixture like you probably sat at in High School or Junior High. The piano player improvised around the broken piano keys. I was close enough that I could have reached out and touched the piano keyboard if I’d wanted to. As he played, a couple of porters wandered in, did a double-take, and decided to hang around for the impromptu concert.

As the train rose up hills and down into valleys, snow began to fall, and soon enough the pine trees were covered in fresh snow. Being one of three guests sitting in on the practice, Freddie would play, make eye contact, and smile at what few audience members he could. The private concert was a walkthrough of the band's brand new album, Super Blue. The album would eventually rise to #6 on the Billboard Jazz charts (I had to look that up). As the band played, the large train windows behind them depicted heavy snow falling across a moving mountain landscape. It was better than one could ever have imagined.

Eventually, we got into Denver. As we left the train Freddie gave me his home phone number and said, "If you're ever in Hawaii, give me a call." I never made it to Hawaii but the ride from Laramie to Denver was an once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"We're All Gonna Rock To the Rules That I Make"

Start the Video (music) then read the essay

What kind of mess have we gotten ourselves into? The art of politics aspires to the ideal but frequently wallows in drudgery. Aristotle warned, “Moral virtue is the primary purpose of [government]: to cultivate the habits that lead to good character.”

Despite his on-going bout with brain cancer, former Congressman Brad Ashford continues to inspire faith in our better angels. Although some feels otherwise, Ashford’s courage to stand on values and convictions, while lofting an olive branch across the political aisle, cultivates statesmanship. Ashford’s behavior transcends the seediness of team politics. 

Let’s whisper a prayer for the Ashford family.

Born in the shadow of monarchy, Americans have long been wary of government. Increasingly, our historically healthy skepticism seems to have given way to unhealthy cynicism.

I am frequently disappointed when those I know and once admired sit silently and abide the angry voices of modern political discourse. These elected officials and ideological leaders know better than most that the legitimacy of America’s model of self-governance rests upon the faith and trust of voters. 

I'm your top prime cut of meat, I'm your choice. I wanna be elected (Alice Cooper). 

Despite the endearing claim of divine providence, history “hath shewn,” when the people no longer hold confidence in themselves, in the leaders they elect, or in the institutions that govern them; damage to the institutions of self-governance ensues.

Oh yes, society will continue but self-governance may not. As hyper-partisans attack our national institutions including free & fair elections, one (wo)man: one vote, and free speech; the ideals and aspirations of the American Dream, including opportunity, fairness, and equality wither. 

I'm your Yankee doodle dandy in a gold Rolls Royce. I wanna be elected,

In the film The Dark Knight [Batman], Alfred, the butler, told the caped crusader, “Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

In the on-going false narrative of widespread election fraud, the former President actively undermines voter confidence in the single most important democratic principle: the legitimacy of official duly elected in free and fair elections.  

To the danger of every American’s dreams, this overt attempt to undermine American self-governance is now emanating throughout our political system. In Colorado, election commissioner Tina Peters (R), in on trial for her alleged role in a “deceptive scheme to breach voting technology that is used across the country.”

I never lied to you, I've always been cool. I wanna be elected.

Reliable news outlets report that efforts are being made in Nevada, Minnesota, Georgia, Michigan, Colorado, California, and Wisconsin to place officials or pass laws that could open the doorway to changing election results.

While winning elections is the singular purpose any political party, “moving the goal posts” (or changing the rules) to do so is monstrously unethical. Those who love this country and wish to see it continue shining freedom’s beacon to the world can no longer sit by silently and allow this nefarious and damaging subterfuge to continue.

We're gonna win this one, take the country by storm. We're gonna be elected,

While defining the voice of reason can and should be debated, those who wish ill on America’s model of self-governance by undermining the institutions by which voters rule themselves must be challenged, condemned, and ostracized from civil public discourse.

America faces many challenges today including Russian tyranny in the Baltic, Chinese sabre rattling over Taiwan, Iranian rocket attacks on U.S. Military personnel in Syria, a challenging post-pandemic economy, environmental issues, and the anxiety of rapid demographic change.

To divide Americans amid these domestic and global challenges by undermining our faith and confidence in free and fair elections is an unconscionable act of selfishness, narcissism, and sickening political theatre.

I know we have problems. We all have problems. And personally, I don't care."

                   Galusha, Cooper, Terry Van Cleave, Las Vegas NARM