A Brighter Future

by Pa Rock
Old Fart

It's easy to get down on things and worry that the world is going to hell in a hand basket, especially in dire economic times like the ones that we are currently experiencing. But there is a brighter future just starting to peek over the horizon, and it will be ushered in by people much younger than myself.

Arizona is a good case in point. It is basically a conservative place that has put forth national candidates named Barry Goldwater and John McCain, and prides itself in having the most sadistic sheriff in America. The population is old, especially during our warm winter months when the blue haired "snowbirds" descend into the state from the nation's colder regions.

But Arizona also has a vibrant and diverse cultural base of Hispanic Americans as well as a significant Navajo and Hopi Indian population. There is nothing that I enjoy more than putting the top down on my little car in the cool of the evening and driving through the Hispanic sections of Phoenix, listening to the music, absorbing the smells of Mexican cooking, and taking in the vibrant colors the adorn the street signs and businesses.

The future of Arizona, as with the nation as a whole, lies with its young people. The total population of the state includes 59% non-Hispanic Whites, and 30% Hispanics. But that number changes significantly with its teen population which is currently 45% non-Hispanic Whites and 41% Hispanic. Not surprisingly, Arizona's teens think differently than their elders - and some of that free-wheeling thought will stay with them as they age - just as it did with my generation.

The Morrison Institute of Public Policy at Arizona State University released a poll of 950 Arizona teens (age 13-19) last week that portrays the young folks of this state as decidedly more liberal than the old fogies who are currently making such a mess of things. And while all is not roses with this group - for instance, like teens historically they still practice risky behaviors with regard to sex, drugs, and cars - this group does offer a lot of promise.

One of the items on the survey involved how these young people define the good life. Twenty-percent said that to have a good life it is necessary to have lots of money. Thirty-three percent said that doing good for others is an element of the good life, 57% said it involves having a happy family, and 58% tie the good life to having an enjoyable job. My father grew up during the Great Depression. Sadly, he and many in his generation have only one standard for success - money.

Older people in our country are racially and culturally sensitive. While the baby-boomers leaned toward Obama in the last election, their surviving parents did not. Ninety-three percent of the teens surveyed by the Morrison Institute agree with this statement: "I enjoy being among people with different backgrounds and lifestyles." The world is getting better in spite of itself.

These young people are tuned into national issues, and again their responses signal that a new day is at hand in Arizona and America. Immigration is a hot-button issue in the southwest (actually, in most of America), and demagogues are constantly using it to stir the rabble. But these young people are not as fearful of immigrants, even illegal immigrants, as are the older residents. Seventy-five percent of teens taking the survey said that illegal immigrants should be given the chance to become citizens. Three out of four young people surveyed are accepting of these people who risk their lives crossing into the United States in order to make a better life for themselves and their families. We are going to age out of these hateful times!

Remember all of that science that the Bush team tried to rewrite? It didn't take, at least not with Arizona teens. Seventy-two percent of them agreed with the statement that "Global warming is a long-term crisis caused mostly by human action, not just natural temperature changes." Al Gore is proud, and so am I!

Sixty-five percent of the teens in the Morrison Institute survey agreed that the choice of whether or not to have an abortion should be left to the woman involved. Fifty-six percent agreed that there should be more legal restrictions on gun ownership. Trust me on this - those are not the views of their parents!

The subject of evolution is a little murkier, but still shows promise. Forty-three percent agreed with the statement "The theory of evolution best explains how life developed on earth." Thirty-one percent disagreed with that statement, and 26% were undecided.

Gay marriage, anyone? Thirty-nine percent agreed with this statement: "I think marriage should be allowed only between a man and a woman." Fifty-one percent disagreed - that's over half of the teens surveyed who are open-minded on the subject of gay marriage! Ten percent were undecided.

How about helping those less fortunate than ourselves - basic Christian charity? Twenty-percent agreed with this uncharitable comment: "Society is too generous to poor people, who would be better off if made to stand on their own two feet." Sixty-four percent disagreed with it, and 16% were undecided. Wow! America has been castigating the poor since the days of Reagan, but these kids must have not gotten the memo!

One subject that the Arizona teens did not have a clear opinion on was the death penalty. This statement brought a fairly even distribution of responses: "The value of the death penalty outweighs the danger of executing an innocent person." Thirty-six percent of the kids agreed with that statement, 32% disagreed, and 32% were undecided.

Overall, I am amazed and pleased at how bright the future looks for Arizona, and I have a sense that young people around the world are nurturing the desire to roll up their sleeves and take charge of their lives and their planet.

I wish them Godspeed!

Piss Off, Joe!

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

Senator Joseph Lieberman, a once prominent Democrat who rose to the heights of being Al Gore's running mate in 2000, has been on a downward spiral since he became a cheerleader for the Oil War in Iraq way back in 2003. His ardent support of that ill-conceived and misguided military misadventure resulted in him losing the Democratic primary election in Connecticut in 2006.

In order to save his Senate seat, Lieberman ran as an independent and managed to defeat the Democratic and Republican candidates. He came back to an evenly split Senate as an independent and caucused with the Democrats, allowing them to keep the chairmanship of all of the Senate committees, and in return allowing Lieberman to remain chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. It was a classic marriage of convenience: the Democrats needed Lieberman to stay in control, and Lieberman needed the Democrats to remain relevant.

But then came the 2008 Presidential election. For months Joe Lieberman has served as John McCain's right hand man, joining him in public appearances, coaching him on Middle East fine points - like the differences between Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims, and probably checking the water temperature in the bathtub before McCain got in.

Not only was Joe not supporting the Democratic ticket, he was actively campaigning against them! That should be it - marriage over! But for some inexplicable reason, Harry Reid seems to be hesitating about taking Lieberman's Homeland Security chairmanship away from him. The Democrats have a solid majority now and no longer have to pander to two-faced Joe. The man who should have been elected Vice President as a Democrat in 2000, has now turned his back on all of those who worked so hard to get him elected. It's time to return the favor!

Harry Reid needs to call the clown into his office and fire his butt, and if he doesn't do it, the Democratic caucus in the Senate needs to do it for him. Let the old fart roam off into the wilderness and live with the Republicans. Even that is better than he deserves!

For the Times, They are a Changin'

by Pa Rock

The need for change in this country, and indeed in the world, is so pervasive and obvious as to be almost maddening. The inequities of energy consumption around the world and the effects of the world's continued reliance on carbon based energy sources are two cases in point. We have been trapped into a dependence on oil for over a century. The auto companies and oil companies have openly conspired for the past four or five generations to limit our transportation options, and to make sure that those options relied on regularly tithing at the gas pumps. When some daring soul speaks up about the need for more public transportation or alternative forms of energy, corporate America roars back about the impracticality or expense of that option, and often tries to paint the person making the proposal as being some sort of socialist. Speech, of course, has never been free, and the big boys who had the money to control the media, controlled the message.

But the Internet has changed all that. Now anyone with an idea or a cause can generate or join a world-wide audience. The Internet has changed politics, it has exposed the ills of society and promoted unique solutions, and it has brought together activists who no longer are consigned to suffer in silence.

The following are three examples of people organizing over the Internet to promote activist policies and challenge the status quo.

1. www.pickensplan.com This group has been previously mentioned in this blog. It was organized by oilman T. Boone Pickens to promote wind and solar energy - heresy to his oil buddies in Texas - and to the oilmen currently running the White House.

2. www.stopglobalwarming.org This is an endeavor by activist Laurie David to build a coalition that will promote alternatives to carbon consumption in an effort to save the planet from the worst effects of global warming.

3. wecansolveit.org This is Al Gore's group that is promoting renewable energy alternatives - primarily wind and solar. Mr. Gore, of course, also maintains a strong commitment to stop global warming.

Each of the above organizations build political muscle through membership. Congress listens to groups that can generate long petitions and massive amounts of mail. Politics is about numbers and power, and greater numbers equate to greater power. Just ask the clowns at the NRA.

The Internet is the greatest source of democratic power in the history of the world. Take advantage of it. Get out there and join a group or start a group. Find those people who think like you and make your agenda happen. It's time to lace up those Doc Martins and kick some cyber butt!

My Tour of the White House Kitchen (for Noreen)

by Pa Rock

The tale of my visit to the White House kitchen begins during August of 1814. The War of 1812 was still going on and the British were intent on winning the war, or at least leaving their Yankee cousins some payback for twisting the British lion’s tail. President James Madison was away from the White House helping to wage the war, and he had left his First Lady, Dolley, back in the capital with orders to save as much of the country’s valuable papers as she could in the event that the British advanced on Washington D.C. Word came to Dolley on August 23 that the British would soon be in the city – she had to flee. Saving several trunks of government papers and the large Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, Dolley Madison hopped into her carriage and barely escaped capture by the approaching British soldiers. When the British reached the White House, they executed their payback on their uncouth American cousins by torching the President’s house and burning it almost to the ground.

(Necessary Digression: Recounting that bit of actual history begs these questions: How long would the Iraq War have lasted if Dear Leader had been required to help lead our brave troops into battle? Indeed, would that war have even been initiated if the Commander in Chief had to actually put on a uniform and engage in the fighting? Enquiring minds want to know!)

Pitch forward to May of 1999. Our social work graduate group from the University of Missouri went to Washington D.C. for several days to lobby Missouri’s members of Congress on issues that we had been researching, and to also attend some workshops with the Child Welfare League of America where one of our members was serving an internship. Pat Tyler, one of my best friends and a classmate, had a cousin who was an Air Force pilot and was assigned to Air Force Two – making him Al Gore’s pilot. Pat’s cousin arranged for our group to take an evening tour of the White House.

Our tour guides that evening were two young Air Force enlisted men whose regular duty involved working at the White House. We were somewhat of a rowdy crew, and most of us were old enough to be the parents of our guides. Upon reflection, I believe that we were probably somewhat intimidating, and they were struggling for ways to keep us entertained and under control.

Evening tours get to go places that are off limits to the day tours. We got to step up to the door of the Oval Office and look in. We were taken to the small theatre-type room where press conferences were normally held. While in that room most took a turn stepping up to the podium and making some smart-ass remark. Mine was “I did not have sexual relations with that woman!” We quickly became right at home in the President’s house, pulling books off of shelves, sitting on the antiques, and generally keeping our guides on edge.

They eventually made a decision to get us to a more controllable location. One of the young men suggested that we might be interested in seeing part of the original White House – the one that John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James and Dolley Madison had occupied. He said that a section of an original outer wall had survived the fire and was now part of the White House kitchen. So off we marched into what was the equivalent of a very nice basement. The kitchen was active with several people involved in preparing food for the following day. Toward the rear of the work area was an old block and mortar wall that had seen many coats of paint over the years. Everyone got to rub their hands on the wall and issue appropriate ooh’s and aah’s. Soon thereafter we were shown the door!

Later that night our guides met most of us at a bar downtown where they thought that they would finally be able to relax. But that wasn’t going to happen because we were having too much fun! One of the young men inadvertently let it slip that one of his functions was to announce the President when he stepped into the room for a press conference. He was the voice that boomed, “Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States.” It took several drinks to get him primed, but he finally stood and made his announcement in the packed bar! (I’m sure that the next morning he wished that they had never let us out of the kitchen!)

A Good Day in Arizona!

A friend from Ft. Campbell, KY, sent me an email this afternoon. She lamented that it was snowing there for the second day in a row, and that all of the area roads were icy. I immediately wrote back and told her how badly I felt for her and all of my old friends at Ft. Campbell. Then I went on to add that it was eighty degrees in Arizona and I put the top down on my little convertible when I went to lunch today. She never wrote back after that!

I miss winter - just a little - but I am going to Washington, DC, in a couple of weeks and will probably get a dose of it there. I hope that it is nice, though, because I want to get over to Baltimore and have seafood at one of their beautiful restaurants on the harbor.

The last time that I was in our nation's capital was in 2003 when my friend Millie Crossland and I went to see one of my son Tim's plays that was being presented in a competition at the Kennedy Center. Millie and I managed to get over to Baltimore where we had a great seafood dinner and a boat ride with Michael Hyman, my roommate from the Russia trip.

I was also there in 1999 with my social work classmates from the University of Missouri. We developed positions on a set of issues and proceded to lobby Missouri's Congressional delegation. During that trip I also went to the outdoor inauguration of the new Teamster's President, James Hoffa, Jr. It was being held next door to our hotel and I just admitted myself to the boisterous gathering. I met a lot of very interesting people there! One member of our social work group had a cousin who flew Al Gore's plane, and he got us night time passes to tour the White House. We saw it all, from the kitchen to the Oval Office. Later our Navy tour guides joined us downtown at the bars! One other highlight of that trip occurred when we got off of the tram from the airport and were dragging our baggage to the hotel - looking somewhat like the Beverly Hillbillies. As we were crossing a street, one of our group saw Vice-President Gore walking out of a building where he had been attending a fundraiser. He jogged to his limo and then made a point of waving to our group and smiling as he was chauffered by us. Big Al was almost skinny in those days!

But, back to the topic of Arizona. It is what it is - a beautiful place to spend the winter!