The Putin Wing of the GOP

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The Republican leadership in the US House of Representatives is responsible for keeping the 210 (more or less) members of its caucus focused and working on the party’s objectives, but that task is especially difficult when a politically popular ex-president is sitting down in Florida and pursuing his own agenda.  Some members undoubtedly feel that they must serve two masters, and some make a conscious decision to defy their party hierarchy and follow the dictates of Trump.

Nowhere is this schism within the party clearer than it is with regard to the on-going Russian assault on Ukraine.   At the outset of fighting Trump described Russian leader Valdimir Putin in glowing terms like “smart” and “savvy,” and he even referred to the Russian leader as “a genius.”  Some of that public adulation toward Putin has spread out among other elements of the party, and it seems to be particularly strong with “Christian nationalists.”

Donald Trump, who some believe has aspirations to secure business opportunities within Russia, and who has apparently leased and sold many properties to Russian oligarchs and businessmen, has long been seen as having an uncomfortably close relationship to Putin.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has also been roundly criticized for promoting what some refer to as “Russian talking points” with regard to the war in Ukraine on his show.

The words of Trump and Tucker Carlson taken together give a certain degree of right-wing cover for politicians to question the US support for Ukraine and to perhaps even provide some moral support to Russia - positions not held by the Republican members of the House leadership.

Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican of Wyoming, has called this group “The Putin Wing of the GOP."

Madison Cawhorn, a congressman from North Carolina, early on referred to President Zelensky of Ukraine a “thug.”  Zelensky donned military fatigues at the outset of the war, picked up a rifle, and joined his troops in an active and very dangerous defense of their homeland.  Cawthorn went on to describe the Ukrainian government as “very evil.”

Matt Gaetz, a congressman from Florida who is currently undergoing an FBI investigation on sex-trafficking allegations, has publicly questioned the “necessity” of defending Ukraine.

Three Republican members of the House voted against a bipartisan resolution to stand “steadfastly” with the people of the Ukraine.  They were:   Paul Gosar of Arizona, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, and Matt Rosendale of Montana.  More that four hundred members of the House, from both parties, voted in support of the measure.

Representative Marjory Taylor Greene of Georgia, another Republican, has stated that she has reservations of giving US aid to Ukraine because she fears it might wind up benefiting Nazis who reside within the nation.  Greene has shown no concerns regarding the activities of Nazis residing within the United States, and, in fact, even spoke at a gathering of the America First Political Action Caucus last month in Florida, a group that some claim represents authoritarian elements of American politics.  Members of the group cheered Russia at the national conference, a gathering at which Greene and Congressman Paul Gosar of Arizona were featured speakers.

And so it goes.  President Joe Biden and a big majority of elected officials in both parties support the efforts of Ukraine to preserve its freedom and independence, but a handful of Republicans prefer to be swept along in the fawning admiration that Donald Trump expresses for Putin.    Some might question the patriotism of those Republicans who carry water for Russia, and all should at least question their intelligence.

Liz Cheney may not be right about everything, but when it comes to the “Putin Wing of the GOP,” she knows what she is talking about. Putin is not a friend of democracy, and that seems to be just one with certain members of the GOP. Eisenhower would be appalled. Hell, even Nixon would be appalled!

Biden Said What Needed to be Said

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Last Saturday US President Joe Biden spoke to the world for twenty-some minutes from the grounds of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland.  The speech was a recap of progress that had been made during a couple of days of meetings among leaders of NATO countries regarding Russia's on-going war on Ukraine.  The speech, which had been billed as a major event, focused on the continuing and growing sanctions that the United States and its allies were imposing on Russia.  By all appearances Biden's speech had been carefully scripted and was being delivered by the US President, a skilled public speaker who also had a strong background in foreign policy and dealing with foreign leaders.

Everything was going along swimmingly right up until the end of his remarks.  At that point Joe Biden apparently went "off-script" and uttered these nine un-scripted words in regard to Vladimir Putin, Russia's leader and the man who engineered the war against Ukraine.  The President of the United States said, in regard to his Russian counterpart, "For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power."

And the public relations war was on!

Russia was quickly outraged, and it was safe to assume that Vladimir Putin, the Russian politician who had been directly interfering in US politics since the Obama administration, was not happy with what appeared to be a direct call for his removal from office.

US diplomats from Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on down quickly began denying that Biden had urged a "regime change" in Russia, but had instead been voicing his frustration at Putin's instigation of the unnecessary and unrelenting war on the peaceful nation of Ukraine.  Yes, Biden had gone off-script, but he was speaking from the heart and simply let himself get carried away by his passion for peace.

That was the defense:  Joe got carried away.

But not everyone was buying that.  One journalist who had been at the event noted that President Biden's cadence during the speech slowed just prior to those infamous nine words - to a more deliberate pace, because he wanted to emphasize them.  The words may have been tactfully omitted from the prepared text, but they had been intentionally inserted by the President.

Biden knew what he was saying, as someone with a background in foreign policy he knew the impact that those particular words would have, and he made a conscious decision to speak those words.  He put his thoughts out there, and now they were part of the official public dialogue, regardless the efforts of diplomatic underlings to lighten the mood.

Joe Biden said exactly what he intended to say - and now he needs to stand up and own his words.  With the attack upon Ukraine, Putin crossed the diplomatic "Rubicon" and things can never go back to the way they once were.  Vladimir Putin dealt Russia out of the world community of civilized nations, and he will no longer be welcome in in the international councils of world leaders.  Putin can push on and try to redeem himself with a big win in Ukraine, but if that happens he will be recognized as an autocratic despot who operates beyond the bounds of decency - and a bloodthirsty killer.    Or Vlad can step down (or be removed) from power and revert to the role of a "has been" world leader.    Whatever the fates hold for Putin, it seems relatively certain that he will never again be member of the team of world leaders.

Putin is out, and so is his Russia.

He needs to be off of the world stage.

Joe Biden made that very point - and he did it very well.  He said what needed to be said.

A Pair of Bullies

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

It happened Sunday night at the 94th Academy Awards ceremony.  One bully, a fifty-seven-year-old actor and comedian who was hosting the event, told an unscripted joke about the physical appearance of an actress who was in attendance, and another bully, a fifty-three-year-old actor who also happened to be the husband of the woman who had been targeted by the joke, responded by marching onto the stage and slapping the crap out of the host.   Not long after that happened, the slapper was given the Oscar for Best Actor!

Hollywood just can't write them any better than that!

And immediately the national conversation changed from the war in Europe and the treasonous activities of the wife of a Supreme Court Justice to a juicy piece of celebrity drama.  All of the meaningful stuff went right out the window, leaving Americans to wallow in tabloid headlines and Hollywood gossip.

The war and the treason of January 6th could wait.  America had a Hollywood itch that was demanding to be scratched.

And so it goes.  We are continually distracted by shiny objects while the world spins down the toilet bowl and civilization heads for the cesspool.  This time the distraction was a pair of bullies interrupting an awards show in order to measure their manhood before the cameras and a live audience.

America - and the world - need to feel a moment of shame for Chris Rock and Will Smith, and then we need to refocus on the things that truly matter - like the survival of democracy and the survival of the world.

There are many urgent demands on our attention, and this is not a good time to be distracted by egos and personal animus.  

Put them back in your pants, guys.  We need to be talking about other things.

Monday's Poetry: "A Prayer in Spring"

 

by Pa Rock

Poetry Appreciator

Spring officially arrived a week ago yesterday on Sunday, March 20th, and the next Saturday, March 26th, was the birthday of one of America's best loved poets, Robert Frost.  To mark both occasions, the internet publication, "The Writer's Almanac," featured Frost's ode to the season, "A Prayer in Spring," on his birthday.  It's a beautiful offering of thanksgiving, not for a harvest but for the bursting spring that is ultimately responsible for the harvest.

Robert Frost, who was born in San Francisco in 1876, lived and wrote in England, and is best known for being a hard-scrabble farmer in New Hampshire.   He was educated and well-traveled, but with a connection to the earth that dominated his poetry.  Frost is the only poet to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry four times, and he was the first poet to ever speak at a presidential inauguration.   John F. Kennedy had asked Frost to read an original poem at his inauguration on January 20, 1961.  Frost wrote a special poem for the occasion but was unable to read it due the glare from the sun, so he recited another of his works "The Gift Outright," from memory.

Here, in appreciation of spring and the life of Robert Frost, is "A Prayer in Spring":

A Prayer in Spring

by Robert Frost

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;

And give us not to think so far away

As the uncertain harvest;  keep us here

All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,

Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night,

And make us happy in the happy bees,

That swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird

That suddenly above the bees is heard,

The meteor that thrusts with needle bill,

And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,

The which it is reserved for God above

To sanctify to what far ends He will,

But which it only needs that we fulfill.

Birth Control Pill for Men

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

In a move that is almost certain to significantly reduce the number of Bible-thumping GOP politicians who pay for abortions, researchers at the University of Minnesota are in the process of testing a non-hormonal birth control pill designed to be used by men.  According to a paper that was presented at the American Chemical Society last week, the new pill has proven to be 99% effective in mice, and human trials are expected to begin later this year.

Scientists have been trying to develop an oral contraceptive to be used by men for many years as an additional family-planning option.    The pill will also be one more tool in the effort to control population growth.  Most of the previous attempts have focused on using various hormones to attack testosterone, but those have the potential to cause unwelcome side-effects like weight gain, depression, and decreased libido.   The new product being developed at the University of Minnesota does not rely on hormones, and it appears to be highly effective while forgoing all of those unwanted side-effects. 

The mice were rendered sterile while they were being given the pill, and they were able to reproduce six weeks after being taken off of the pill. 

Placing more responsibility on males for birth control is almost certain to generate all sorts of trust issues and unexpected consequences, and will undoubtedly quickly find its way into the plot lines of many novels and movies.  But male contraception will also make the important issue of family planning a responsibility that can be physically shared by both partners.

(And for those whose lives revolve around what other people are doing in the privacy of their own bedrooms, it represents one more insult to an angry God.)

(And for an already severely over-populated planet, oral contraception for males represents another slim thread of a hope for survival.)

In Support of a Strong Central Government

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

As our nation was struggling with its birthing pains two-and-a-half centuries ago, there were many issues of a political nature that needed to be resolved.  Two of the most overriding concerns were those of slavery and states' rights.

The people who had fled Europe for the Americas weren't interested in maintaining the European systems of social order and forms of government that subjugated those born in the "lower" classes and kept them there.  They wanted independence, the freedom to move about and to feed their families off of the bounty of the land without first sharing that bounty with their "betters."  The new country was to be more egalitarian and democratic than what they had left behind.

That philosophy ran counter to the reality of slavery, humans keeping other humans in chains and forced-servitude, a moral conflict that tore at the soul of the fledgling nation until if finally resulted in a horrendous war that ultimately freed the slaves but left ugly scars of racism that still fester and bleed today.

The states' rights question was deeply woven into the slavery issue.  At the core it was this:  what should reign supreme in this new nation, the will of the federal government, or the will of the various individual states.  George Washington's cabinet consisted of only four individuals, and two of those men strongly represented opposing views on the question of states' rights.

Thomas Jefferson, our first Secretary of State and a slaveholder from Virginia (as was President Washington) was a proponent of a decentralized federal government with most of the decisions of government being made at the state level.  In Jefferson's view the federal government should maintain a military and stand ready to protect the states if called upon to do so - and assist with commerce between the states without getting in the way.  The federal government could push the Native Americans around and clear lands for future settlement, and conduct wars to protect the interests of the states.

Alexander Hamilton, our first Secretary of the Treasury, was an advocate for a strong central government.  Hamilton proposed that the federal government win the good will of the states by paying off the debts that they had incurred during the Revolutionary War..  That, of course, required revenue at the federal level, some of which was being raised through tariff's on imports from overseas, but more money was required. 

Hamilton convinced Washington to support an excise tax on the manufacture of whiskey.  That tax angered the farmers who supplied the grain for the product and the distillers who manufactured it.  There was a citizen's revolt in Western Pennsylvania in which local distillers refused to pay the tax and local citizens rioted and demonstrated against the federal government.  The "Whiskey Rebellion" went on for months, and eventually President Washington sent in troops and restored order - and the dominance of the federal government was established.    Today that dominance still prevails and still generates much resentment in some quarters.

The US Civil War was the ultimate clash over the concept of states' rights - with eleven states exercising what they saw as their "right" to secede from the Union and form a "confederacy" of states among themselves.  The federal government of the United States saw the departure of the rebellious states as treason against the nation.   When troops from one of the rebel states attacked the federal military base at Ft. Sumter, South Carolina, the war was on - and eventually the "confederacy" was forced to sue for peace and perform acts of contrition in order to rejoin the "Union."   

The pain of reconstruction is still reflected today in how some people view the federal government, and it plays out in acts of resentment that are often interwoven with racism.

And all of that serves as a necessary backdrop to Indiana Senator Mike Braun's comment this week that the whole notion of "interracial marriage" is one that should be decided by the states.  Braun has since backpedaled from that statement, but it still hangs out there like dirty laundry from a bygone era.

There are areas of the United States where the ugliness of racism still prevails among the populace, and if states were given the authority to decide the issue of interracial marriage, clearly it would be outlawed in some places.  The right to gay marriage would begin disappearing next.  

A strong central government formed through the consent and participation of those it governs makes a strong nation.  

We show strength in unity, and chaos without it.

And we are strong enough as a nation to allow consenting adults to marry whomever they damned well please!

Where's Clarence?

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

John Roberts, the Chief Justice of the United States, reported last Sunday that the Court's senior Associate Justice, Clarence Thomas, had been hospitalized in Washington, DC, with "flu-like symptoms," and that he would be back to work in a couple of days.  Apparently Justice Thomas did not show up for work this entire week, and his current status and location remain unclear.

Enquiring minds, like those of the citizens of the United States of America who pay his salary and live their lives bounded by the constraints established by Justice Thomas and his eight cohorts as they interpret law and decide cases, want to know where their employee is and what type of physical shape he is in.

Justice Thomas, are you battling the flu?  Or COVID?  (If it's COVID, I have contacts at the local feed store who could fix you up with a deal on bulk Ivermectin - and don't overlook the healing powers of Clorox!)  Or are you just holed up somewhere waiting on the news cycles regarding your wife's bizarre text messages to run their course?  (The wife of a Supreme Court Justice talking about "the Biden crime family" and encouraging the Chief of Staff to the President to "release the Kraken!"  She must be a real hoot at the breakfast table!)

Sincere best wishes to  you, Justice Clarence Thomas, wherever you are, for a speedy recovery and a quick retirement move to Florida.

Don't make us fire you!

MacKenzie Scott: My Favorite Billionaire

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Seattle resident MacKenzie Scott did something altruistic a couple of years ago:  she signed a "Giving Pledge" stating that she would give at least half of her wealth to charity over the course of her lifetime or as a final bequest.  The "Giving Pledge" program was organized in 2010 by billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates.  

And MacKenzie Scott, whose net worth is somewhere north of $50 billion, has plenty to share.

(In addition to being a philanthropist of note, MacKenzie Scott is also a writer with two critically acclaimed novels to her credit and surely more on the way.  She was a student of Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Toni Morrison, and served as a research assistant to Morrison.)

Ms. Scott is also the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com and currently the world's second richest human.  She is not, however, some bubble-headed trophy wife who made a lucky catch, but rather a savvy business woman and hard worker who married Bezos before Amazon and who helped him found, organize, and run the company that taught the world haw to market on-line.   When the couple split after more than a quarter-century of marriage, she took four percent of Amazon's stock with her - the primary source of her wealth.

So when MacKenzie Scott says that she will give at least half of her fortune away, she ain't talking peanuts.

Ms. Scott signed the "Giving Pledge" in 2019, after her divorce from Bezos.  Her new husband, a Seattle area high school science teacher, has also signed the pledge.

Ms. Scott says that her giving primarily focuses on support of "underrepresented people from groups of all kinds."  Since last June the charitable billionaire has given more than twelve billion dollars to over 1,250 groups.  Some of the donations seem to be designed to raise of eyebrows of certain segments of the population.  Yesterday, for instance, a new round of donations was announced that included $275 million to Planned Parenthood, a perennial target of right-wing politicians, and $413 million to Habitat for Humanity, an organization that builds homes for low-income individuals.   (The donation to Planned Parenthood was the largest donation from a single source that the organization has ever received.)

Ms. Scott also supports charitable initiatives as diverse as the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Urban Teachers, and the National Rural Health Association.

Many members of Congress, the legislative body which sets the nation's spending priorities through control of the government's pursestrings, do not seem to mind that some of the world's richest individuals, like MacKenzie Scott's ex-husband, pay no taxes, but they may well become interested in the spending patterns of billionaires when they see their massive wealth going to support things they abhor - like reproductive health care for women!

But for those of us who are less "special" than members of Congress, it is refreshing to learn that one of the world's richest people is a true human being!

Seven Four

 

by Pa Rock

Old Fart

Today I begin my 75th trip around the sun.  Appropriately, I am reading a science fiction novel called "The Hail Mary Project" by a fellow named Andy Weir.  It is about an extremely bright junior high science teacher who awakens from an induced coma to discover that he is alone on a spacecraft that is approaching a different sun.  I am enjoying the book, which I found through a recommendation from American oligarch Bill Gates, immensely - and Gates liked it, too!

This birthday is one that I could well have forgotten, but a couple of strangers wished me an early "happy birthday" on Twitter yesterday.  After a little exploring I learned that Twitter profiles routinely contain birthdays.  I never look at my Twitter profile and was surprised when I saw it there.  Today I checked it again - that's the OCD clicking in, I check everything multiple times - and when I looked today I found that Twitter had put up a "happy birthday" message with balloons floating upward across the profile.  Woo-hoo!

I also received a very sweet email message from a young lady in Japan whom I do know.   Mineko was a foreign exchange student who lived with our family during her senior year of high school back in the early 1980's.  Today she lives near Tokyo where she works as a translator.  Mineko, whose primary language is Japanese, is also fluent in English and French.  She wrote to wish me a very happy 69th birthday - and shaving five years off of my actual age made me very happy indeed!

One birthday that I am remembering today was my "Will you still need me, will you still feed me?" 64th birthday of ten years ago.  Several friends and I celebrated in the bowling alley at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa.  I hadn't been bowling in years, and it showed - all night long!  Somebody brought a cake, probably Valerie, and we all had a very nice time - despite my awful bowling.  (Not surprisingly, I haven't bowled since!)

I have received a few cards over the past couple of days and expect to hear from at least some of my busy offspring today.  I have one steady-eddy old friend who phones in congratulations every year, and it is always fun to hear from her.  Also, I am getting a cake!  My oldest son makes a wonderful pineapple upside-down cake that he bakes in a cast iron skillet!

All of that, and I am finished with the blog for the day!

Blackburn Blows the CRT Dog Whistle

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Marsha Blackburn, a GOP senator from Tennessee, is operating well beyond her competence level.    Blackburn has a seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, a perch which gives her an irresponsible amount of time before press cameras, especially when there is something of interest before the committee, such as a proposed impeachment or the appointment of a Supreme Court Justice.

Today the ambitious senator from the Volunteer State had the opportunity to question Joe Biden's first nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Blackburn, of course, was quick to unleash a GOP bogeyman and sic him on the jurist.  Her particular bogeyman, a vague concept that the Republicans use to scare the bejeezus out of their racist base, is something they refer to as "Critical Race Theory," or CRT.

Although Republican politicians, or any politicians for that matter, are unable to specify exactly what Critical Race Theory actually is, or name anyplace where it is taught, they know that it has something to do with teaching about the actual racial strife that has been occurring in the United States since just after the first slave ships from Africa began arriving on American shores.   It is a story of the sordid aspects of slavery, Jim Crow laws, and the long struggle to integrate society, and it is not a story that some people, such as those who feel threatened by the empowerment of racial minorities, want told.

Some Republican politicians and voters say they are  very concerned that the teaching of America's history of racial strife will make some students feel bad - or even humiliated.    They are really concerned that educating children about racial conflicts of the past will lead to a more equitable future for those who have long suffered from the effects of oppression - and when the lower classes rise, there will be fewer people to look down upon.

So enter Marsha Blackburn and turn her loose on the first Black woman in history to be nominated for a seat on the US Supreme Court.  The American Bar Association had already given Judge Brown Jackson its highest possible rating to serve on the Court, so it would be pointless to waste too much time on questioning her qualifications.  The Fraternal Order of Police had also endorsed the black jurist, so painting her as a radical, even if she is black, would also require a careful approach so as not too backfire.  Blackburn referenced a few of the judge's past decisions and did her best to paint the jurist as a radical, but those decisions were not the senator's major thrust

In the end the Senator chose to primarily attack Judge Brown Jackson with Critical Race Theory, something that is ethereal in nature but nevertheless a triggering factor for the rural white voters - like those in Iowa, New Hampshire, and even Tennessee - the people to whom she was actually speaking.  Blackburn asked Judge Brown if she intended to insert CRT into the nation's legal system.

By attacking with that weapon, Blackburn was also reminding her base that the nominee is a black woman with a strange sounding first name - one of the "others" and not one of "us."  It was not a serious question, just a statement disguised as a question - and it did not have to make sense.

Dog whistles are like car alarms - they serve no purpose whatsoever except to get people angry and excited.

Hawley Crawls into the Gutter

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

The US Senate Judiciary Committee will begin the confirmation process today for President Biden's first nominee to the US Supreme Court,  Ketanji Brown Jackson who currently a federal judge on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.  Judge Brown Jackson, a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School, is a former judge on the US District Court for the District of Columbia, a former Vice-Chair of the US Sentencing Commission, and a former federal public defender who worked at defending those without the means.  (Judge Brown Jackson would be the first former federal public defender to ever serve on the US Supreme Court.

The American Bar Association has given Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson its highest approval rating for a seat of the Supreme Court, and a recent poll by Axios reveals that over half of the American public (55%) support her appointment to the nation's highest court.

The Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, has gone on the record stating that the confirmation process of Judge Jackson Brown will be "thoroughly respectable."  Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the group that will interrogate Judge Brown Jackson beginning today, also said that Republicans would not be "getting in the gutter" with regard to this nomination.

But Josh Hawley, a Virginia resident who claims to represent Missouri in the US Senate, has his own agenda and will not be constrained by the dictates of tired old men like McConnell and Grassley.  Josh "fist-in-the-air" Hawley is a shameless self-promoter with presidential aspirations.  He is also a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who is not about to squander all of the free airtime that will come with Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation hearings.

Over this past weekend, in advance of the judiciary committee hearing, Hawley crawled into the political gutter with an attack on Judge Brown Jackson that accused her of going easy on sex offenders who preyed on children.  Hawley's bizarre attack was quickly fact-checked and dismissed as spurious by credible sources like the Associated Press, CNN, and The Washington Post.  Andrew McCarthy, writing for the conservative publication, National Review, rejected Hawley's allegation calling it "meritless to the point of demagoguery."  

But Josh Hawley, guttersnipe, was not speaking to people who read National Review or The Washington Post.  Josh was directing his remarks to Republican voters in places like Iowa and New Hampshire,  many of whom regard Donald Trump as a statesman and a stable genius - and tend to view America through a racial filter.  Those are the people to whom Josh Hawley speaks.

Other right-wing zealots with presidential aspirations - Ted Cruz,  Tom Cotton, and Marsha Blackburn -   also serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee.   Hawley may have been the first to crawl into the gutter, but it is safe to assume that he won't be the last.

County Clerk Discriminated Against Same-Sex Couples

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

A US District Judge in Kentucky has ruled that the former county clerk of Rowan County, Kim Davis, discriminated against two same-sex couples back in 2015 when she refused to give them marriage licenses.   Davis said that she was refusing to issue marriage licenses to the two couples, a right that had been determined by the US Supreme Court's Obergefell v. Hodges decision, because of her religious beliefs.

Kim Davis spent a few days in jail for refusing to carry out her duties as clerk of Rowan County, and while she was in jail an assistant clerk in her office issued the licenses and the couples were married.  But the newlyweds went to court and sued the clerk for having interfered with their right to get married.   This week, seven years later, a judge has finally ruled that Kim Davis did discriminate against them.  Now they will all be headed back to court to argue over damages.

Kim Davis, who had herself been married four times when all of the controversy arose, became a favorite of right-wing media during the anti-gay marriage tumult that followed the Supreme Court's decision that made the practice legal across the nation.  She said she could not in good conscience have her name on a document that permitted the marriage of a same-sex couple.  The Kentucky legislature soon passed a law removing county clerks' names from marriage licenses - and the voters of Rowan County voted Davis out of office in 2018.  After that her star quickly faded. 

Critics of Davis argued that if she had sincere religious opposition to a practice that was a part of her job, she should resign that position and look for a job that did not interfere with her religions beliefs.  Davis, however, opted to keep her position as county clerk (for as long as she could), while trying to impose her religious beliefs on others.  During her brief encounter with fame she appeared on numerous talk shows and at public events, and she received national and international press coverage.  

But all of that fame came with a cost, and another judge will soon decide exactly how much that cost will be.

The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine.

Another Tragedy Near Charleston, Missouri

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Last month in this space I wrote about a mass shooting that occurred in a small community of Charleston in the Missouri "boot heel" and near the Mississippi River - not too far from where I live.  A large group of young people were at a private party when shooting erupted.  Sixteen individuals were shot, and two of them died.   A few days later local police announced the arrest of two young men from he town of Charleston, a 19-year-old and a 21-year-old, who were each charged with second-degree murder.

Up until that time the little berg of Charleston (population 5,600) was best known for being the hometown of Missouri's first two-term governor, Warren E. Hearnes, and his wife Betty, a state representative who ran an unsuccessful campaign for governor on her own behalf several years after her husband left the governor's office. 

This past Thursday morning Charleston, Missouri, once again made national news - this time over a very dramatic traffic accident.  A massive pileup occurred on Interstate 57, a busy thoroughfare just north of Charleston, in a fairly dense fog.   One vehicle struck another, and others quickly piled on.  The Missouri Highway Patrol put the number of vehicles ultimately involved at forty-seven, twenty of which were large tractor-trailer rigs..   

The wreckage was spread out over half-a-mile of the interstate, and the vital traffic artery had to be closed in both directions for several hours.   Reports from the scene described it as resembling a war zone.

Six people died in the melee of crashing vehicles, and at least fourteen others suffered injuries.  One news account said that a temporary morgue had to be established in Charleston.

The mass shooting at the party in Charleston occurred on February 19th, and the traffic catastrophe happened on March 17th.   The residents of the small Missouri town have had more than their fair share of grief and suffering, and they are undoubtedly ready for the news spotlight to move elsewhere!

A Day on the Road

 

by Pa Rock

Road Warrior

I’m headed to extreme southwest Missouri this morning to deliver my income tax materials to the lady who has prepared my taxes for the past forty years.  I suffer from a constant fear that I will outlive her and will then have to trust my tax preparations to some novice who isn’t familiar with my entire personal and work history.

The round trip will be about 400 miles.  I have an option of spending a night a my sister’s place in Rogers, Arkansas, but suspect that after she and I have lunch I will elect to drive back to the peace and tranquility of my little place in south-central Missouri.  Be it ever so humble . . . and all that jazz!

Rosie will stay in West Plains, and she will be quite unhappy when she figures out that I have left for the day.

On the road again . . . just can’t wait to get on the road again!

Oligarchs Begin Losing Their Luxury Yachts

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Not only is Russia suffering staggering losses of combat troops, military equipment, and international prestige through it's ill-conceived and poorly implemented war on Ukraine, it's people are suffering at home both through the traditional costs of war as well as through special hardships caused by international economic sanctions against their government.

It is always the poor and those without real power who endure the most indignities, pain, and death in any war.

But with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, some of Russia's wealthier citizens are also beginning to experience the personal pain of war - at least in their wallets.

The Russian oligarchs, a class of people who rushed in and stole their nation's wealth and resources when the Soviet Union collapsed nearly forty years ago, are now dealing with governments arbitrarily taking their assets, and, in particular, their big, luxury yachts.

Since the Russian war on Ukraine began on February 24th, at least seven enormous private vessels have been seized by European governments, and two more and stuck in ports and cannot return home.  Italy leads the field with the seizure of four yachts belonging to Russian olkgarhcs.  So far the Italians have taken the "Lady M" valued at $27 million, the "Lena" worth $8 million, the "Sy A" (Sailing Yacht A), a $440 million prize, and the "Gennady," which is worth somewhere between $8 million and $55 million.

Spain ranks second in the total number of boat seizures with two:  The "Valerie" with an estimated value of $140 million and the "Crescent," a true prize worth $600 million.

The French have so far grabbed only one:  the "Amore Vero" worth $120 million.

Germany has the ultra expensive "Dilbar," priced at $735 million, in one of its ports and is not allowing it to leave.  Although the German government is not officially claiming to have "seized" the "Dilbar," the impact is the same:  another rich Russian rogue has lost control of his boat.

This morning there is a news story circulating about a group of individuals who have also managed to "seize" the yacht of a Russian oligarch.  The "Ragnar," a super yacht worth $85 million and belonging to an associate of Putin and former US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, is stuck in a port in northern Norway because no one will sell it fuel.  The fuel suppliers in the harbor are suggesting that the crew "row" their boat home!

"Row, row, row your boat gently 'cross the sea!"

That is nine very luxurious sailing vessels that are now beyond the control of their owners, and certainly there will be more to follow - all thanks to the war-mongering of Vladimir Putin.   The poor and downtrodden have little recourse as they are ground into the bloody horrors of war, but the ultra-rich oligarchs might just have some options in dealing with the man who cost them their big boats and put their wealth and lifestyles at risk.  

Money talks, and sometimes it bares it teeth and bites!

(Maybe the big boats should all be armed and given to Ukraine - or perhaps used to house Ukranian refugees.)

Senate Moves to Protect Sunshine

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Yesterday the United States Senate passed unanimously, by a voice vote, a piece of legislation entitled "The Sunshine Protection Act."   The bill would make daylight savings time permanent beginning in 2023 and put a stop the the twice-a-year time-change that the nation has been experiencing almost continually since the 1966.   In order for the bill to become law it will still have to pass a vote in the US House of Representatives and then be signed into law by President Biden.

Daylight savings time is currently in operation throughout most of the United States.  Hawaii does not use it, nor does most of Arizona (the Navajo Nation, most of which is in Arizona, does use it), and it is also not in effect in any of the overseas US Territories, including Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa,  the Northern Mariana Islands, and the US Virgin Islands.  The new legislation would still allow those places to remain on "standard time" if they desired to do so.

Benjamin Franklin proposed a system similar to today's daylight savings time nearly three centuries ago.  Germany instituted the modern version during World War I and it was quickly adopted for the duration of the war by the other combatant nations, including the United States.  The United States had also used daylight savings time throughout World War II.  President Lyndon Johnson signed daylight savings time legislation into law in April of 1966.  It was controversial then and remains so today, nearly sixty years later.  

Congress made daylight savings time a year-round affair from early January of 1974 through late April of 1975 as a fuel-saving response to the international oil embargo, but the regular time changes were resumed once the crisis passed.

Those who favored the change back in the 1960's successfully argued that providing more hours of daylight during summer evenings conserved energy by reducing demands of lighting and heating, gave people more recreational time, and reduced crime and car accidents.  Now proponents of extending daylight savings time to a year-round basis are also arguing that it will help reduce seasonal depression (Seasonal Affective Disorder).

But others pushed back against the change by noting that it forced children to leave for school in the dark.  Today that argument is still cited, and some sleep experts are also contending that daylight savings time makes it harder to be alert in the mornings.

One big change that rippled across the American landscape when the current system of daylight savings time came into effect was the quick demise of drive-in theaters.  The outdoor entertainment centers were a fixture of many communities, but the new summer hours meant that the darkness - which was necessary for the outdoor movies to be seen - now came an hour later.    The drive-ins, whose busiest seasons were the warm months, the months when the new daylight savings time was in effect, were forced to start movies around 9:00 p.m. or later, which meant that a long movie might run until midnight, and a double-feature might even run later than that.

There are those who also suspect that the onset of daylight savings time in the 1960's has led to the steep decline in the nocturnal rural pastime of raccoon hunting.

Golf courses, on the other hand, benefitted from the longer days, as did people involved in the manufacture and sales of charcoal.  (More evening daylight created extra time to barbecue.)

Congress and the President will soon let us know what time it is - and for how long!

Random notes:

1. There is a fringe group (this scribe included) grousing that if we are going back to a permanent-time concept, why not just return to "standard" time.   I really enjoyed drive-in movie theatres, and I don't play golf.   Raccoons, on the other hand, would probably disagree.

2.  A Native American gentleman occasionally posts a tweet on the topic of daylight savings time in which he states:  "Only a white man would cut two inches off of the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom of the blanket, and think that he has a longer blanket."

Olive and Sully at the Hotel del Coronado

 

by Pa Rock

Proud Grandpa

My son, Tim, and his family have been on vacation in California for the past week or so and have shared bits of their trip with me.  I know that they have visited Disneyland in the Los Angeles area where the kids - and I suspect the adults, too, had a wonderful time.  Olive is ten and Sully is five.  I was ten when I made my first and only visit to Disneyland, an adventure that I still remember fondly and clearly.

Now they have gone south to the San Diego area where they will be visiting San Diego's world famous zoo.

Last night Tim emailed a photo of Olive standing in the lobby of the beautiful Hotel del Coronado in San Diego.  I have written about the "Del" several times in this blog.  It is a sumptuous, historic old hotel right on the beach in San Diego, on a strip of land referred to as "Coronado Island," although it is technically not an island.   Coronado is accessed by a very long and high curved bridge that spans a mile or so of a beautiful blue inlet off of the Pacific.   The bridge to Coronado was featured in the opening to the old "Simon and Simon" television series.

And the beautiful, architecturally unique, Hotel del Coronado is a focal point of the "island."  It was built in 1888 and has hosted many prominent world figures over the years and several US Presidents going as far back as Benjamin Harrison.  The Del is also the hotel that was featured in the 1950's film classic "Some Like It Hot," with Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, and Joe E. Brown all cavorting on the beautiful beach that sits between the Del and the Pacific.

I first became familiar with the Hotel Del Coronado when a friend and I stayed there in one of their cheap rooms in May of 2008.  It seems like we paid $300 a night for a room that wasn't even in the main section of the hotel.  I checked my old blog-posting from that weekend and found that the Mother's Day brunch was $72 per person.  (We were neither one mothers, so we ate elsewhere!)

My daughter, Molly, who was living in Oregon at that time, was planning her wedding for November of 2008, and she wanted the big event to happen on a beach.  She chose, without ever seeing it, the beach behind the Hotel del Coronado because it was literally one of the southernmost beaches on the West coast and would still be warm enough for a late November wedding.  It was a beautiful ceremony, even with the frisbee players running along the edges of the big event - a nearby volleyball game - and a platoon of Marines jogging past singing Jodies and then stopping right next to the wedding party and pulling off their tee-shirts in unison!

I seldom visit that San Diego without stopping by the Hotel del Coronado and spending some time enjoying its lobby, gift shops, and beach.  I have taken the "ghost tour" where a local historian leads a group through the historic building and relives strange occurrences of its past, and I have also visited during the holiday season and enjoyed the massive Christmas tree that is displayed in the lobby.  

The Hotel del Coronado may not be as much fun as Disneyland, but I am happy that my grandchildren have been introduced to it.  Now, on to the zoo and the wonders of Balboa Park!

Enjoy San Diego, Olive and Sully, and have wonderful lives.   Time goes by way too fast - I was ten just yesterday!

William Hurt has left the Stage

by Pa Rock

Film Fan

One of my favorite actors passed away this past weekend, in one of my favorite cities.

I had been thinking of William Hurt just a few days before his death when I came across the movie, "Gorky Park," on television.  The 1983 movie wasn't a major entry in Hurt's legacy of over a hundred films, but it was a good production and one that came when as his career was peaking - sandwiched between "The Big Chill" and his Oscar-Winning performance in "Kiss of the Spider Woman." 

"Gorky Park" was based on a novel of the same name by Martin Cruz Smith.  The Russian detective who served as the protagonist for the story was Arkady Renko, a middle-aged public servant who tried to  navigate the Soviet bureaucracy in solving crimes without drawing undo attention from the KGB.  Renko was a complicated individual who operated in an environment that was closed and secretive.  

I had read the novel, "Gorky Park," many years ago, and was surprised that Hollywood chose to tackle the material for a movie.   It has a complex plot navigated by a detective who was as alien and strange to American audiences as the Russian culture and Soviet bureaucracy in which he had to operate.  Giving life to Arkady Renko and turning "Gorky Park" into an enjoyable movie was undoubtedly a challenge, but William Hurt was the right person to pull it off.

William Hurt, one of the most accomplished actors of his generation, passed way in Portland, Oregon, yesterday.   He died of natural causes at the age of seventy-one.

Conservatives Grapple with War Response

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

There seems to be a fair amount of political angst in conservative circles over how to respond to Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.  Do they tack political and follow Trump's lead by turning a blind eye on the bloody carnage of war while continuing to praise Vladimir Putin, the man who unleashed that horror?  Do they justify the rolling atrocities and war crimes by quoting from Tucker Carlson's Russian talking points on the war?  Do they cloak themselves tightly in Christian nationalism and proclaim proudly that Christianity filtered through an authoritarian government is a better Christianity than one which is allowed to express itself freely in the weeds of democracy?

Or do they do what is right and condemn Russia's brutal assault on the free and peaceful nation of Ukraine, an unjustified war that has displaced millions and killed and wounded thousands - including women and children.

A political response or one based on morality?   It should not be a hard choice

American televangelists, a traditionally conservative group, also seem to be having difficulty in settling on a response to the war in Ukraine.  Ancient Pat Robertson, whose pronouncements don't always make sense, even to other televangelists, quickly linked God directly with Team Russia.  Robertson informed his viewers that "Putin is being compelled by God to invade Ukraine." (Screw you libs and get off my lawn!)

Former evangelist of yesteryear, Billy Graham, used to routinely condemn and vilify the communist ideology of Russia, but today his son and successor in the family preaching business, Franklin Graham, refers to Putin as a "good leader."   A few days before Russia attacked Ukraine, Graham asked his followers to "pray for Putin," and then received press and public blowback because he neglected to suggest that they also pay for Ukraine.  

But not all conservative evangelists are of the pro-Putin mindset.   James Dobson of "Focus on the Family," and a man whose intolerance of certain aspects of contemporary society is legendary, nevertheless has come out in support of the victimized nation of Ukraine.  In a message to his followers, Dobson said:

"We join millions of Americans today in sadness and outrage in response to Russia's unprovoked assault o the peace-loving people of Ukraine.  Vladimir Putin, the thug and former KGB head of the Soviet secret police, reportedly murdered countless enemies of the state in his day.  Now, as President of Russia, he has rained down terror on innocent Ukrainian men, women, and children, who are desperately trying to defend their beloved homeland."

Dobson went on to heap some obligatory political scorn on President Biden and the leaders of Europe for "dithering" in their response to Putin's attack on the Ukraine.

Conservatives may love some of Putin's hardline authoritarian policies, such as his forceful anti-LGBTQ stance which they equate with a family value, but it's still difficult to fuse their deep admiration of Putin, the man, with his responsibility for a needless war that is separating families and killing family members as they rush about in panic seeking shelter and safety.

 

As the war in Ukraine drags on, the atrocities escalate, and the bodies pile up, it becomes harder and harder to defend the evil machinations of Vladimir Putin.  He was compelled by a lust for territory and power to invade Ukraine - and God had nothing to do with it!  

Defending Putin is a hard row to hoe, but some conservatives feel compelled to keep trying.  Dedicated conservatives may applaud Putin's political positions and policies, but what kind of monsters can justify indiscriminate bombing, the displacement of families, and the murder of children?   

There are lines that should never be crossed, and decent people know it.

Big Truck Republicans

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Texas  GOP Senator Ted Cruz spent part of yesterday - or maybe it was the day before - riding the beltway around Washington, DC, in a large "18-wheeler" semi - as a passenger.  A few truckers - and there weren't many - were trying to emulate last month's trucker protest in Canada that put pressure on the Canadian government to end COVID restrictions.  Unfortunately for US truckers operating south of the Canadian border, our government is already eliminating COVID safety measures at a reckless rate, so the passion for protest just was not present.

But Ted Cruz was.

The pot-bellied Texas senator somehow managed to get into and out of the big truck without assistance and without physical mishap, though it appeared to be touch-and-go for awhile, especially as he was disembarking.  Cruz, who always seems to regard himself as above the average man, no doubt enjoyed his elevated perch looking down on the little people of Washington, DC,  as they scurried to-and-from work.  There were only a very few trucks in the "convoy" which was unable to block anything.  As the irritated commuters raced around the trucks, many flipped their regards to Cruz and his brother truckers!

Sarah Palin, the Lauren Boebert of the North, is another GOP politician who likes big trucks.  This week Palin made an appearance on the Jesse Watters show on Fox, the only network where GOP has-beens can seem to find airtime.  Palin had come on the show to snarl about high gas prices and to try to join Fox in placing the blame for the rising prices on President Biden.

For some odd reason Sarah wanted to let America know that it cost her nearly $140 to fill her truck up with gas.  She then defended her choice to drive a gas-guzzling big truck by taking potshots at White House press secretary Jenn Psaki, whose name she seemed to intentionally mispronounce, and then to make an attack of fuel-efficient Asian cars which she pejoratively referred to as "rice rockets."

I drive a "rice rocket" and I like it.  My Kia is roomy and comfortable, has a nice sound system, and, even with today's gas prices, can be filled from empty for right around forty dollars - and it will go more than 400 miles on that tank of gas!

But Sarah Palin, who has been in Manhattan suing newspapers, spreading COVID, and doing guest spots on Fox for most of the last several weeks, probably needs her big truck for farm work, or hauling around the carcasses of big animals that she has killed.  And she is certainly entitled to roar down the road destroying the environment and consuming far more than her fair share of the world's scarce resources - because Sarah works hard for her money!  (Wheeze, snicker, guffaw!)

Big guns and big trucks.  It's all messaging.  Some folks want the rest of us to understand in the clearest possible terms that they are bigger and more important than we are.

Ten-four, good buddies.  Message received!  I'm flipping you my personal response as I type!

Another Scam: Trump Force One

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Last Saturday Donald Trump boarded a borrowed private jet for a flight from a Republican National Committee meeting in New Orleans back to his rat's nest called Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.  The aircraft was about thirty minutes into the flight when one of its four engines went out and it was forced to return to New Orleans.   Trump, always on the lookout for a new way to fleece his witless supporters, quickly turned that bit of sky drama into a fundraising appeal.

Trump sent out an email to his followers telling them of a new plane that he is having built that will be called "Trump Force One," and then he, of course, invited them to help pay for it by sending along love offerings donations.  In Trump's email he made it sound as though the project was a big secret from the media and general public that he was sharing with his followers.   Lucky dogs!

One is left to wonder why a person who claims to be a billionaire would be in need of donations to help build a vanity plane.  One is also left to wonder how long the Republican Party is willing to stand idly by with its collective head up its ass while Donald Trump siphons off donations that could be benefitting the entire organization instead of instead of just Trump and his useless family.

Donald Trump has his own private jet, a big one, a Boeing 757 with his name painted on the side.  It's a flying billboard that he used during the 2016 campaign to highlight his fame and importance.  Now the relic from his past sits in a warehouse at an airfield in Orange County, New York, where it is in need of major repairs and unable to be flown.   That plane was apparently the original "Trump Force One," 

With Donald Trump it's all about ego, and show, and getting someone else to pay for it!

Aeroflot? I'd Rather not.

by Pa Rock

Retired Globetrotter

A friend of mine posted a funny tweet the other evening linking Senator Ted Cruz to Russia's national airline, Aeroflot.  That reminded me of a personal journey that I once took on Aeroflot, and I tweeted back that I would relate that tale via this blog.

My flight on Aeroflot was from London to Moscow in May of 1999, just a week or so after the birth of my first grandchild - who is now about to graduate from college (yea, Boone!).  I was headed to Russia and then on to Sweden as part of a social work tour for graduate students from several universities.  My particular small group (three of us) from the University of Missouri flew out of St. Louis to Newark, New Jersey, on an American Airlines passenger jet.  At Newark we boarded an elegant British Airways airliner for the flight to London - which took us directly over the New York City skyline where I had my first and only view of the World Trade Center's twin towers.  We disembarked at Heathrow in London and minutes later boarded a much less elegant, and much older, Aeroflot for the flight on to Moscow.  

Because I knew we were going to be in the air for a long damned time, I packed everything that I could in my checked bag so that I would not have to lug it through multiple airports.  Unfortunately, one of the items that I stuffed into the checked bag was a smaller bag containing my diabetes medications.  That was a mistake that I have never repeated!

By the time our bumpy, low altitude flight reached Moscow, I was way overdue in taking my meds.  While out group waitied in the airpot for the arrival of the tour bus that would take us to the hotel, I went through my checked bag and discovered that my medications and a leather belt had disappeared.  Everyone with whom I discussed the matter told me that the crime was not unusual, and that it had certainly been conducted by Aeroflot staff - and that there was nothing that could be done about it.  

That night I was examined by hotel doctors, transported by ambulance to a Russian hospital on the other side of Moscow, and examined by chain-smoking hospital doctors who were open in their resentment of having to leave the comfort of the hospital cafeteria in order to deal with me.   The evening culminated around midnight with our young British tour guide teaching me how to hitchhike in Moscow as we made our way back to the hotel on our own.  I remember amusing myself by whistling "Midnight in Moscow" while Cornelius was busy flagging down Ladas.

I recounted the complete adventure in this blog on February 10, 2008, in a piece entitled "Midnight in Moscow."  This morning I reread it for the first time in fourteen years and found the entry to be a passable and somewhat amusing account of my first night in Russia's capital.   (For those who would like the full story, it might be easiest to access by googling "Pa Rock's Ramble, Midnight in Moscow.")

Now, unfortunately, it looks as though it may be awhile before Americans are once again allowed to hitchhike around Moscow at all hours of the day or night!

Vlad, you suck - and so does Aeroflot!

Missouri Sanctimony

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

This morning I fully intended to write about a personal encounter that I had with Aeroflot, Russia's punchline of an airline, more than twenty years ago, but before I could get the keyboard and my brain cells fired up to meet that challenge, I was sidetracked by a tweet that my congressman posted.  Jason Smith, an unhappy Republican from southeastern Missouri who voted not to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election, and who seems to become enraged any time Joe Biden does anything to help anyone, posted a very pious snippet about how much he values life:

"Life begins at conception. As a man of faith, I will always fight for the right to life."

Smith, like pearl-clutching Republicans everywhere, defends the "right to life," but then shows no concern at all for protecting and nurturing children once they have passed through the birth canal.   

Where is the wrath over infant mortality, Jason?   Or homeless children, or kids who are constantly undernourished and hungry?  Why isn't every Republican focused ending homelessness, lifting children out of poverty, defeating hunger, stopping domestic violence, making quality pre-school education readily available to all, or keeping guns off of the streets and out of the hands of unstable individuals?  Those are all things that would increase the quality of life for children.

Life, Jason, does not end with birth.

This week the Republican-controlled Missouri legislature made room in its busy schedule of reducing school funding and limiting educational opportunities to consider a bill that would make abortions more difficult.  Those politicians, like Congressman Smith, support the notion of "life" right up until the babies leave their mother's womb.  Beyond that point they are on their own!

Life grows in a garden love, commitment, and action.  Sanctimony won't nourish or protect anyone.

Politicians who wail to the heavens that they pro-life - should actually strive to be "pro" life!

One Smith Family (Part 15)

 

by Rocky Macy

(Profiles of the final five heirs to the 1920 estate of William C. SMITH of Newton County, Missouri.)

43.  C.R. HANKINS was born Charles Rown HANKINS in Saint Louis Township of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, to William Franklin and Louisa Marie (EVANS) HANKINS on March 2, 1892.    Charles’ father, William Franklin HANKINS, was the son of Sarah “Sallie” Ann (SMITH) HANKINS, an older sister to William C. SMITH.  That made William Franklin HANKINS, the nephew of William C. SMITH, and Charlie Rown HANKINS William C. SMITH’s grandnephew. 

(Charles Rown HANKINS  became an heir to the estate of William C. SMITH when his father, William Franklin HANKINS, passed away in Binger, Caddo County, Oklahoma, on July 18, 1916, over three years before his uncle, William C. SMITH, died in Missouri on February 8, 1920.)

Charles Rown HANKINS was the last of eight children born to William Franklin and Louisa Marie (EVANS) HANKINS.  His older siblings included:   Sadie M. (1871-1956), who married George Thomas SMITH;  Lucinda Louisa  (1874-1958), who married Jefferson D. SMITH;   Alice (1876-1960), who married Mortimer GREGORY;   Absolem HANKINS (1879-?), spouse unknown; Nellie Lenora (1884-1963), who married Joseph Wesley WILSIE;   and, William Bruce (1885-1965), who married Alta Enid HALE. 

The 1900 US census for the birth family of Charles Rown HANKINS has not been discovered as of this point in time, an indication that they may have been missed in that national count.  By the time of the 1910 US census 18-year-old “Charley” HANKINS was the only one of William and Louisa’s children who was still living at home.  Also in the household were his father, W.F. HANKINS (age 60), his mother, Louisa HANKINS (60) and an unrelated 55-year-old white male by the name of W.C. MILLRANEY who was described on the census as a “servant” and a “laborer.”

“C.R.” HANKINS married Deloris HISER in Caddo County, Oklahoma, on March 15, 1917.  The wedding license listed his age as twenty-five and hers as fifteen, and both were noted as residents of Binger, Caddo County, Oklahoma.

Charles R. HANKINS registered for the World War I draft in Caddo County, Oklahoma, on June 6, 1917, less than three months after his marriage.  That registration described him as having a “medium” build, being of “medium” height, and having brown hair and eyes.

“Charlie” and Deloris (HISER) HANKINS were living in Conewango Township of Caddo County, Oklahoma, when the 1920 US census was taken.  He was listed as being twenty seven, and she was eighteen.  They were living in a rented home, and Charles was described as a farm laborer.  The couple had no children in their household at that time.

The 1930 US census found “C.R.” HANKINS (age 38) and his wife, “Veloris” (28) residing in a rented house in Gracemont, Caddo County, Oklahoma.  They had two children:  Alice V. HANKINS (7), and Charles R. HANKINS (4).  That census revealed that Charles was a cotton farmer working on his own account, and that the family did not own a radio.

Deloris, who had been born on December 1, 1901, in Asher, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, passed away on March 3, 1935, in Binger, Caddo County, Oklahoma, leaving Charles a widower with two children - both of whom were still at home.

Charles signed up with the new Social Security program in 1937.  There he listed his place of birth as the community of Maud in Seminole County, Oklahoma.  On his World War II draft registration form five years later he listed “Pottawatomie County” as his place of birth.  On his “Find-a-Grave” site on the internet, which was likely created by one of his children or grandchildren, his place of birth is listed as “Saint Louis, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma.”

Charles R. HANKINS and his two children were living in a home that he owned in White Bread Township, Caddo County, Oklahoma, when the 1940 US census occurred.  That census indicated that the family had been residing in rural Caddo County, Oklahoma, in 1935.  It also indicated that Charles had an 8th grade education.  Present in the household in 1940 were Charles R. HANKINS (age 49), Alice V. HANKINS (17), and Charles R. HANKINS (14).

Charles Rown HANKINS registered for the World War II draft in Caddo County, Oklahoma, on April 27, 1942.  At that time he was still living in the community of Gracemont.    The registration form described Charles as being five-feet-seven-and-half-inches tall and weighing 134 pounds.  He had brown eyes and gray hair. 

Of the two children born to Charles and Deloris (HISER) HANKINS:   Alice Virginia HANKINS (1922-2010), married a man whose last name was CLEMENTS;  and Charles Ray HANKINS (1925-2014), married Marie MASHANEY.

Charles Rown HANKINS passed away in Chickasha, Grady County, Oklahoma, on October 29, 1985.   His Social Security record indicates that he was residing in Binger, Caddo, County, Oklahoma, at the time of his death.  He is buried in the Binger Cemetery.

44.  Alice GREGORY  was born Alice HANKINS in Choctaw, Oklahoma Indian Territory, to William Franklin and Louisa Marie (EVANS) HANKINS on May 13, 1876.    Alice’s father, William Franklin HANKINS, was the son of Sarah “Sallie” Ann (SMITH) HANKINS, an older sister to William C. SMITH.  That made William Franklin HANKINS, the nephew of William C. SMITH, and Alice HANKINS William C. SMITH’s grandniece. 

(Alice HANKINS became an heir to the estate of William C. SMITH when her father, William Franklin HANKINS, passed away in Binger, Caddo County, Oklahoma, on July 18, 1916, over three years before his uncle, William C. SMITH, died in Missouri on February 8, 1920.)

Alice HANKINS was the third of eight children born to William Franklin and Louisa Marie (EVANS) HANKINS.  Her siblings (from oldest to youngest) were:   Sadie M. (1871-1956), who married George Thomas SMITH;  Lucinda Louisa  (1874-1958), who married Jefferson D. SMITH;   Absolem HANKINS (1879-?), spouse unknown;  Nellie Lenora (1884-1963), who married Joseph Wesley WILSIE;   William Bruce (1885-1965), who married Alta Enid HALE;  and, Charles Rown (1892-1985), who married Deloris HISER.

The HANKINS family has not been located on the 1880 US census, and the 1890 US census was destroyed by a fire, so Alice’s first official entry into the existing public record occurred on  October 16, 1895, when she married Mortimer GREGORY in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma.    

The young couple was living in Moore Township of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, when the 1900 US census was taken.  They had three young children.  The household, all GREGORYs, consisted of “Martan” (age 24), “Allice” (24), Rudy (Roy, 3), “Yula” (Eula, 2), and Robert (11/12).  

By 1910 the family had moved to Conewango, Caddo County, Oklahoma, and there were four additional children in the household.  When the US census was taken in 1900 the members of the GREGORY family included (all GREGORYs):  “Mort” (age 33), Alice (33), Roy (13), Eula (11), Robert (9), Willie (8), Clistina (Christine, 5), Maybelle (2), and “Mort” (0).

The GREGORY family was still in Conewango in 1920 when that year’s US census was recorded.   Present in the household were (all GREGORYs):  “Mort” (age 43), Alice (43), Roy (23), Robert (19), Willie (17), Christine (15), “Mort” (10), Sadie (7), and Alice (3).

The 1930 US census found the GREGORY family still in Conewango, but it was down to just four members, the parents and the two children who were their namesakes.  The four GREGORYs who were still at home in 1930 were:  Mortimer (age 53), Alice (53), Mortimer (20), and Alice (13).

According to information on the 1940 US census, the GREGORY family had been living in Conewango in 1935, and they were still there in 1940, but by then all of the kids were gone.  The family members were recorded as “M. Mort” GREGORY (age 63) and Alice GREGORY (63).

The ten children of Mortimer and Alice (HANKINS) GREGORY were:  Roy Monroe (1896-1971), who married Mattie TUCKER;   Eula (1898-1983), who married Alva A. HISER:   Robert Lee (1900-1977), who married Ophelia VANDERFORD;   William M. (1902-1998), who married Inez Viola WITT;   Christine Mae (1904-1988), who married Howard L. CABBINESS;   Maybelle (1907-1914), who never married;  Mortimer ”Jake” (1909-1994), who married Virginia BURCH;   Sadie  Louise (1912-1993), who married Nathan Burt WILLIAMS;   Alice Jane (1917-2005), who married Henry Arthur GAINES;   and, Bryan C. (1920-1922), who never married.

Alice (HANKINS) GREGORY passed away in 1960.  She is buried at the Binger Cemetery in Binger, Caddo County, Oklahoma, next to her husband, Mortimer, who died six years later in 1966.

45.  Nellie Wilsie was born Nellie Lenora HANKINS in Oklahoma Indian Territory to William Franklin and Louisa Marie (EVANS) HANKINS on August 20, 1884.    Nellie’s father, William Franklin HANKINS, was the son of Sarah “Sallie” Ann (SMITH) HANKINS, an older sister to William C. SMITH.  That made William Franklin HANKINS, the nephew of William C. SMITH, and Nellie Lenora HANKINS William C. SMITH’s grandniece. 

(Nellie Lenora HANKINS  became an heir to the estate of William C. SMITH when her father, William Franklin HANKINS, passed away in Binger, Caddo County, Oklahoma, on July 18, 1916, over three years before his uncle, William C. SMITH, died in Missouri on February 8, 1920.)

Nellie Lenora HANKINS was the sixth of eight children born to William Franklin and Louisa Marie (EVANS) HANKINS.  Her siblings (from oldest to youngest) were:   Sadie M. (1871-1956), who married George Thomas SMITH;  Lucinda Louisa  (1874-1958), who married Jefferson D. SMITH;   Alice (1876-1960), who married Mortimer GREGORY;   Absolem HANKINS (1879-?), spouse unknown;   William Bruce (1885-1965), who married Alta Enid HALE;   and, Charles Rown (1892-1985), who married Deloris HISER.

The 1890 census was destroyed in a warehouse fire and Nellie’s birth family has not been located on the 1900 US census.  Nellie Lenora HANKINS’ first known entry into the public record was on December 7, 1902, when she married Joe Wilsie in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma.  The marriage certificate listed Nellie’s father as “W.F. HANKINS.”

The groom, Joseph Wesley WILSIE, had been born in Clarksville, Johnson County, Arkansas, on October 14, 1881.  

The 1910 US census found Joe (age 28) and Nellie “WILSA” (24) living in Fern Township of Caddo County, Oklahoma, along with two children:  Earl “WILSA” (6) and Thelma “WILSA” (0).

Joseph W. WILSIE registered for the World War I draft in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, on September 12, 1918.  

By 1920 the WILSIE family was residing in Moore Township of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, and had two additional children - a pair of twins.  According to the 1920 US census, the household included the following WILSIEs:  Joe (age 37), Nellie (35), Earl (16), Thelma (10), Marjorie (4), and Marvin (4).

The 1930 US census found the WILSIE family still in Moore Township of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma.  The two older children were no longer in the household which by then included only four members, all WILSIEs:  Joe W. (age 48), Nellie (44), Marvin (14), and Marjorie (14.).

All of the children were out of the household at the time the 1940 US census was taken.   Joe WILSIE (age 58) and Nellie WILSIE (54), were living in St. Louis Township of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma.  That census revealed that they had also been living there in 1935.  

Joe Wesly WILSIE registered for the World War II draft on April 25, 1942.  That form stated that he was living in Pearson (Pottawatomie County), Oklahoma, and listed his spouse as “Nellie WILSIE.”

The WILSIE family suffered a tragedy on October 23, 1952, when (Richard) Marvin was killed in combat in North Korea.  He left a widow, Ina (COTTINGHAN) WILSIE and a son, Richard Dan WILSIE (1940-1964), as well as both of his parents.  

The other three children born to Joseph Wesley and Nellie Lenora (HANKINS) WILSIE were:  Robert Earl (1904-1990), who married Beulah ROSS;   Thelma L. (1909-1989), who married 1. Edd BARNETT, and 2. Mr. POTTER; and Marjorie (Marvin’s twin) (1915-1994), who married James DAVIS.

Joseph Wesley WILSIE died on March 20, 1957, in the state of Oklahoma.  Nellie Lenora (HANKINS) WILSIE died nearly six years later on February 26, 1963.  They are both buried in Tecumseh, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma.

46.  Sadie SMITH was born Sadie M. HANKINS in the state of Missouri to William Franklin and Louisa Marie (EVANS) HANKINS on November 25, 1871.    Sadie’s father, William Franklin HANKINS, was the son of Sarah “Sallie” Ann (SMITH) HANKINS, an older sister to William C. SMITH.  That made William Franklin HANKINS, the nephew of William C. SMITH, and Sadie M. HANKINS William C. SMITH’s grandniece. 

(Sadie M. HANKINS  became an heir to the estate of William C. SMITH when her father, William Franklin HANKINS, passed away in Binger, Caddo County, Oklahoma, on July 18, 1916, over three years before his uncle, William C. SMITH, died in Missouri on February 8, 1920.)

Sadie M. HANKINS was the oldest of eight children born to William Franklin and Louisa Marie (EVANS) HANKINS.  Her siblings (from oldest to youngest) were:   Lucinda Louisa  (1874-1958), who married Jefferson D. SMITH;   Alice (1876-1960), who married Mortimer GREGORY;   Absolem HANKINS (1879-?), spouse unknown;  Nellie Lenora (1884-1963), who married Joseph Wesley WILSIE;   William Bruce (1885-1965), who married Alta Enid HALE;   and, Charles Rown (1892-1985), who married Deloris HISER.

According to marriage records maintained by the state of Oklahoma, Sadie HANKINS married W.T. SANDERS on July 24, 1891, in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma.  She gave birth to a daughter, Lettie S. SANDERS, on April 24, 1892, and a son, Austin Tyson SANDERS on October 28, 1893.  It is unclear at this point what became of W.T. SANDERS, but, according to information contained on the 1900 census for Moore Township of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, Sadie married (George) Thomas SMITH in 1897 and had two additional children with him by the time the census was taken.

That 1900 US census entry for the SMITH household of Moore, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, listed six individuals, all with the recorded surname of “SMITH”:  Thomas (age 41), Sadie SMITH (28), “Wallice” (Wallace Irvin SMITH, a son of George Thomas’s from a prior marriage, 17), Lettie (8), “Asestan” (Austin, 5), William (1) and Evey (Eva, 4/12).

(Lettie and Austin continued to use the SMITH surname while they were growing up, but Lettie began using her husband’s surname of “COLLINS” when she married, and Austin began using the SANDERS surname when he left home.)

The SMITH family was at home in Barnard, Hughes County, Oklahoma, when the 1910 census was taken.  The individuals in the household included the following, all listed as SMITHs:  G.T. (age 52), “Sada” (36), Lettie (16), Austin (14), William (11), Eva (9), Bryan (7), Ralph (2), and G.T., Jr (0).

By 1920 the SMITH family had relocated to Grenville, Union County, New Mexico.  The US census that year recorded the following household members, again all SMITHs:  George T. (age 62), Sadie (46), William O. (21), J. Bryan (17), Ralph P. (12), and George T. (10).

George Thomas SMITH (the father, who had been born in June of 1858 in Texas) passed away in Grenville, Union County, New Mexico, on March 22, 1922, and he is buried in that community.  Sometime between when he died and the 1930 US census, Sadie and her kids who were still at home, returned to Barnard, Hughes County, Oklahoma.  The census of 1930 listed Sadie SMITH (age 58) as the head of the household, and noted the two children still at home as Ralph P. SMITH (21) and George “J.” SMITH (20).

By 1940 Sadie was living in the home of her daughter, Eva (SMITH) BARNES and her family in Brown, Seminole County, Oklahoma.  That family included the following BARNES members:  Edd M. (age 44), Eva (40), Carl (20), Hazel (19), Mannie (a daughter, 17), “Laon” (possibly “Leon,” a son, 16), “Daharell” (a son, age 8), and Sadie SMITH (68).

The complete roster of children born to George Thomas SMITH and/or Sadie (HANKINS) SMITH includes at least:  Wallace Irvin SMITH (the son of George Thomas SMITH, Sr) (1882-1957), who married Dora M. HARRINGTON;   Lettie S. SANDERS (the daughter of W.T. and Sadie HANKINS SANDERS) (1892-1979), who married Henry COLLINS;  Austin Tyson SANDERS (the son of W.T. and Sadie HANKINS SANDERS) (1893-1974), who married Rosa WHITE;   William Osborne SMITH (1898-1974), who married Velma Proctor;   Eva S. SMITH (1900-1989), who married Edward Mack BARNES;   Jennings Bryan SMITH (1902-1979), who married Nannie M. GREGORY;   Ralph Percy SMITH (1908-1964), who married Bessie McKINZIE;   and, George Thomas SMITH, Jr. (1909-1972), who married Cora O’KELLY.

Sadie (HANKINS) SMITH passed away on August 5, 1956, and she is buried at the Lamar Cemetery in Lamar, Hughes County, Oklahoma.

47.  W.B. HANKINS  was born William Bruce HANKINS in Joplin, Jasper County, Missouri, to William Franklin and Louisa Marie (EVANS) HANKINS on February 13, 1889.  William’s father, William Franklin HANKINS, was the son of Sarah “Sallie” Ann (SMITH) HANKINS, an older sister to William C. SMITH.  That made William Franklin HANKINS, the nephew of William C. SMITH, and William Bruce HANKINS William C. SMITH’s grandnephew. 

William Bruce HANKINS became an heir to the estate of William C. SMITH when his father, William Franklin HANKINS, passed away in Binger, Caddo County, Oklahoma, on July 18, 1916, over three years before his uncle, William C. SMITH, died in Missouri on February 8, 1920.)

William Bruce HANKINS was the seventh of eight children born to William Franklin and Louisa Marie (EVANS) HANKINS.  His siblings included:   Sadie M. (1871-1956), who married George Thomas SMITH;  Lucinda Louisa  (1874-1958), who married Jefferson D. SMITH;   Alice (1876-1960), who married Mortimer GREGORY;   Absolem HANKINS (1879-?), spouse unknown; Nellie Lenora (1884-1963), who married Joseph Wesley WILSIE;   and, Charles Rown HANKINS (1892-1985), who married Deloris HISER.

William B. HANKINS made his first appearance in the public record when he was twenty-one-years-old and living in the home of his step-father-in-law, Jordan EMMONS (age 51).  Also in that household were “Sansa” (Sarah) E. EMMONS (Jordan’s wife and William’s mother-in-law, 41), Ethel HALE (Sarah’s daughter and William’s sister-in-law, 20), and Alta HANKINS (Sarah’s daughter and William’s wife, 19).  The family was residing in Grand Valley Township of Beaver County, Oklahoma.

(Alta Enid HALE was born March 4, 1892, in the state of Indiana to Samuel P. and Sarah E. (ADAMS) HALE.  According to the Kansas state census for 1895, at that time she and her birth family were residing in Ward 2 of Kansas City, Wyandotte County, Kansas.)

William Bruce HANKINS registered for the World War I draft on June 5, 1917, in Beaver County, Oklahoma.

Ancestry.com’s US census record for Grand Valley, Beaver County, Oklahoma, or 1920 lists William and his family under the surname “HAWKINS” even though the original document clearly spells it as “HANKINS.”  William and his family of a wife and two sons, were living on a mortgaged farm.   Present in the household were the following, all HANKINS:   William B. (age 30), Alta E. (27), Floyd J. (5), and Alvin (2).  William listed his occupation as a farmer.

The HANKINS’ family was living in a rented house in Delaware Township of Caddo County, Oklahoma, in 1930 when that year’s US census was taken.  The size of the family had grown by two children.  Those present in the  household were, all HANKINS:   William B. (age 41), Alta E. (38), Floyd J. (15), Alvin F. (12), “Leoan” (Leon) D. (8), and Bernadine A. (3).  William was still farming at that time.

Information on the 1940 US census reveals that William and his family were residing in Anadarko, Caddo County, Oklahoma, in 1935, but sometime later - and before 1940 - they joined the Dust Bowl migration to California.  William registered to vote as a Democrat in Bakersfield, Kern County, California, for the 1938-1940 election cycle.  He gave his occupation on that voter registration form as “laborer.”

William’s occupation was a more specific “farm laborer” on the US census form for Kern County, California, in 1940.  That census showed that he had a 5th grade education and had only managed to work 24 hours the previous week.  Present in the household were the following, all HANKINS:  William B. (age 51), Alta E. (48) Alvin F. (22), Leon D. (16), and Bernadine A. (13).

Alvin Franklin HANKINS, William and Alta’s 23-year-old son, who was still residing at home with his parents in Bakersfield, Kern County, California, registered for the World War II draft on October 16, 1940.  William Bruce HANKINS also registered for the same draft as a resident of Bakersfield, Kern County, California, sometime during 1942.

William B. HANKINS registered to vote in Kern County, California, (as a resident of Bakersfield - and as a Democrat) in 1954 and 1956.

The four children of William Bruce and Alta Enid (HALE) HANKINS were:  Floyd Jordan HANKINS (1914-1975) who married Mary Irene LOOKHART;   Alvin Franklin HANKINS (1917-1980), who is believed to have married a woman whose first name was “Eudocia”;   Leon Donald HANKINS (1923-1996), who married Jo E. DAWSON;  and, Bernadine Alta HANKINS (1926-1987), who married Hugh William BALL.

Alta Enid (HALE) HANKINS died in Kern County, California, on August 11, 1962.  William Bruce HANKINS passed away three years later on August 23, 1965, also in Kern County, California.  They are buried at the Greenlawn Cemetery in Bakersfield, Kern County, California.  Three of their children - Floyd, Leon, and Bernadine - are at rest in the same cemetery, and Alvin is buried in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

(This concludes “One SMITH Family,” the collected profiles of William C. SMITH of Newton County, Missouri, his six or seven siblings, and forty-nine of his fifty-three heirs.  If more information becomes available, it will be added to the existing profiles in this blog, and at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later, the entire chronicle will be indexed, printed, and copies placed in several libraries where they will await the discovery of future family researchers.  Thanks for putting up with this effort.)