"Such poor leadership ability by the mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort".
-- Donald J. Trump, September 30, 2017 (There. I said his name).
Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico about ten days ago. It was a category four storm, carrying sustained winds of up to 155 miles per hour, leaving behind what can only be described as total devastation. For ten days now, there has been virtually no electricity, no water, little food, fuel, hope and most importantly, virtually no help from our government.
Almost immediately, it became apparent that the storm would leave in its wake the potential for a human catastrophe the likes of which we have never seen before, as the population desperately scrambled to stay alive without power, fuel, food or water, or any practical way to get any to it.
As of 2015, there were approximately three and a half million (that's 3,500,000 for those of you who need to see numbers) people living in Puerto Rico. That's three and a half million people who are citizens of this country, even if they do not get to vote in federal elections, even if many of them are of darker skin tone, and even if many of them do not speak English. So what? They are all American citizens.
Even more important, they are all human beings.
So, the reaction has been what?
After nearly complete radio silence for days, the occupant of the White House went on the air to say that he was doing a "fantastic" job responding to this humanitarian crisis. What exactly he had been doing up until that moment that was so fantastical remains a mystery to the rest of us. Right after making the announcement, it is believed he visited his orthopedist to get the shoulder he dislocated from patting himself on the back surgically reattached. He then strongly implied that one of the problems was the fact that Puerto Rico was struggling under massive debt that had crippled the economy of the Island, which seemed to further imply that he was reluctant to respond to a humanitarian crisis because those suffering owed money to those who could provide the relief, or that the storm was divine retribution for not paying the bills on time.
If only his creditors and the courts had reacted the same way each time he or one of his "world class" companies fell into massive debt and filed for bankruptcy.
Right after that, as emergency supplies began arriving at the port in San Juan and just sat there, we began to question what was being done to help our people, our fellow Americans, who were getting beyond desperate. We were told by those on the ground, that the supplies could not be delivered due to a lack of drivers, who were obviously at home trying to somehow survive and save their families, a lack of fuel and the fact that most roads remained impassable. So, where were the helicopters, the army of national guardsmen, and the aid professionals sent by the government who can drive trucks, the tankers who could deliver the oil, provide humanitarian relief and put boots on the ground to start making the roads passable enough to deliver food, water, medicine, fuel, etc.?
In the interim, further shipments of relief supplies sat off the coast and could not be delivered because of the Jones Act. What is the Jones Act? Look it up. 46 USC 688 and 46 USC 30104 for those who want to bother slogging through the United States Code. The Jones Act was originally codified in 1920, and remains on the books to this day.
In short, the Jones Act exists, at least in part, to protect the United States Merchant Marine by requiring all goods transported by water between the ports of the United States be carried by United States flagged ships, constructed in the United States, owned and manned by citizens of the United States. There is nothing in the statute that either obliges or prevents anyone on board from taking a knee as the ship enters port. Foreign ships inbound with cargo are not allowed to stop and offload their cargo at certain locations, specifically including Puerto Rico, without paying a significant tariff on the goods on board. As a result, many of these shippers simply do not send their goods via water to Puerto Rico in the first place.
The effects of the Jones Act are bad enough; however, it is not difficult in times of emergency to overcome the hurdles to humanitarian aid presented by the Act. All that is needed is an executive order by the president waiving the Act and allowing the aid to flow. He did that almost immediately for Texas after Hurricane Harvey. Texas went for him in the election. Ditto for Florida after Hurricane Irma. Florida also voted for him in the last election. He did not do that for Puerto Rico until he was practically shamed into it. He only did it after originally explaining that he was not going to waive the Jones Act for Puerto Rico because the American shipping companies did not want him to do it. In other words, the potential protection of profits of American shippers was more important to this guy than saving lives of American citizens in Puerto Rico. Nearly three and a half million of them.
And when he did get around to finally doing the right thing, his order waiving Jones Act requirements, issued September 28, only waived the requirements for ten days. This at time when it is generally understood that it is going to take months, if not years, if not our entire lifetimes for Puerto Rico to get back to where it was before the storm hit. So eight days from now, Puerto Rico is going to be right back where it was ten days ago, unless he can be prodded or shamed into doing something again.
Puerto Rico does not vote in presidential elections.
Puerto Rico has a large population that does not speak English.
Many Puerto Ricans do not look like "us".
Besides, as our nitwit in office told us yesterday, Puerto Rico is an island. It is surrounded by water. Lots of it. As Jim Wright at Stonekettle Station said yesterday, we would all like to thank the president for filling us all in on what an island is. We never would have known otherwise.
Throughout this time, politicians in Puerto Rico; specifically, the governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rossello, and the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz, complimented the president, telling us all that the president had been responding to all their requests. While they were complimenting the president, it was clear that the situation on the island (surrounded by all that water) was becoming more and more desperate by the moment. To many of us, both the governor and the mayor made their statements knowing that the only way to get something out of this president is to compliment him. So to save their people, they said he was fully responsive and on top of everything.
Until they could not say it any longer.
This has gone past the point of desperation. People -- American People are dying. People are dying of thirst. People are dying of starvation. They are dying because they cannot get their medications. They are dying because they are shut off from the rest of the world while our president is more concerned with the profits of American shippers and whether or not football players are standing at attention for the national anthem.
Finally, the mayor could not play the game any longer and criticized the lack of response from our government to save its own citizens.
"We are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency and the bureaucracy".
His response? A tweet.
His people are dying, and he responds with a tweet.
And the tweet, of course, lashes out at the mayor, accusing her of poor leadership. Well it takes one to know one...
The tweet concludes with a statement that Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans "want everything".
No, they just want help. They want enough food and water so the citizenry will not starve to death, medical supplies for the sick and wounded, and help starting the rebuilding of their homes, their infrastructure and their lives. We did not seem to have that sort of trouble in Texas or Florida. As far as I can tell, at this point, he has not asked congress for anything for Puerto Rico, although he has repeatedly told us what a fantastic job he is doing.
Aside from the lack of concrete assistance, the lack of a plan, the lack of urgency, and the basic lack of humanitarianism, the tweet brings to mind that old stereotype of lazy Hispanics who want nothing more than to live off the largess of the rest of us, resurrecting an old canard that insults everyone, not just Hispanics. Especially not Puerto Ricans. Not now. Not ever.
I would like to think that real aid is on its way. I would like to think that there is much more going on to help than appears apparent from what we have seen on television, even on the Fox Cheerleading Network. One would hope that the allusion to the lazy Puerto Rican bringing all of this upon themselves is not what the president meant.
But then again with this guy, you never know.
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Monday, September 25, 2017
some thoughts on kneeling during the national anthem
Since nobody in particular asked, I thought I would add my two cents to the National Anthem/NFL debate.
During the time I participated in sports through high school and then in college, the anthem was played at just about every event, except perhaps little league games. Nobody missed the fact that the anthem was not played at little league games. Nobody demanded that it be played. At the organized high school and college games, everyone stood at attention during the anthem. It was just the thing we did without thinking about it at all at the time. If the anthem was not played, very few, if any, would have demanded to hear it. At the games I played when the anthem was not played, nobody called a timeout to demand it be played. Nobody missed the fact that it was not played at all. Frankly, for many of us playing in the games, the anthem was an interruption in our pre-game preparation that we knew was coming, we knew we had to stand politely for, and we just wanted to get over with so we could get on with our preparations and the game itself. Patriotism, real or otherwise, had nothing to do with it.
How or why the anthem came to be played before just about all games is not relevant to this discussion, other than to note that in the NFL, which seems to be the controversy du jour, it was not until 2009 that the teams even came out onto the field prior to anthem being played. It was only when the government thought that in the interests of patriotism and recruiting folks to join the military that the teams were trotted out to stand at attention on the sidelines.
And they only did this because our government, in their great judgment about where to spend our money, paid the billionaire NFL owners millions annually simply to have a somewhat elaborate and entirely unnecessary pageant/ceremony associated with the flag and the anthem before each game.
Query whether or not the owners would have made the players come out and stand for the anthem if they were not getting paid to have them do it. That stands for Jerry Jones, who owned his team prior to 2009 and who never made the players come out and stand for the anthem before he was paid to do it, and now says any of his guys who do not stand will be immediately fired. I for one am really looking forward to Dez Bryant, Ezekiel Elliot, Dak Prescott, et. al. taking Jerry up on this, and watching him run out onto the field and fire them on the spot, thereby eliminating the possibility that the Cowboys will win the Super Bowl this year or that any minority NFL superstar, or anyone for that matter, will ever want to sign to play for the Cowboys again.
So there is no requirement by law that says anyone, including NFL players, has to stand for the anthem, although many folks think they should. In fact, there is Supreme Court precedent in connection with the Pledge of Allegiance that says we cannot be forced to stand. There is also nothing in the NFL collective bargaining agreement that says the players have to stand; therefore, as a condition of their employment, they do not have to, and the owners cannot stop them from kneeling, turning their backs, or eating a hot dog during the playing of the anthem, as many of those at home actually do if they are not using the time to go to the bathroom, nor can they discipline them if they choose not to stand.
Which brings us to the National Anthem and the present spreading protests, which he who is residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue would have been far better off keeping his mouth closed about if he had any sense about the situation at all.
I never served in the military. I never had any desire to. I have family and friends who have served. I have all the respect in the world for them. I have all the respect in the world for all who served. I also have all the respect in the world for those who kneel or who do not stand with their hands over their hearts during the anthem. Doing so has nothing to do with respecting the flag, the anthem or our military. It has everything to do with upholding the rights our military supposedly fights for.
When we send our military to defend this country, if we are not sending them to protect this country and its people, and to protect our rights under the Constitution, then what are we sending them for? If we are sending them simply to make profits for oil companies, then the troops should be brought home and the oil companies should be told to protect their pipelines and their profits themselves. I am not a citizen of the United States of Exxon. If we are sending troops to fight and die for us simply to massage the ego of whomever is in charge at a given moment, bring them home, and kick the ego out of office.
There is not, and should not be an argument that our military is there to protect our rights under the Constitution, and that the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance exist to recognize our rights.
All of our rights.
Each and every one of us and each and every one of our rights.
One of those rights is that granted under the Constitution to petition our government with our grievances, as explicitly provided for under the First Amendment. There is a reason that freedom of speech and freedom of peaceful assembly is the first of the amendments. It is that important.
When one is kneeling instead of standing for the anthem, one is expressing those very rights. Considering that our military is fighting on our behalf for those very rights, I would ask who is right and who is wrong when Colin Kaepernick kneels on the sideline. Mr. Kaepernick, who is quietly, and I would add respectfully expressing and asserting his rights or those who are denying his right to do so simply because they do not want to see it. As long as the protest is done respectfully, there is nothing wrong and everything right about it. Players quietly kneeling on the sideline shows no disrespect to anyone. It simply makes a statement and upholds the right to protest as guaranteed under the First Amendment.
Besides, is there really a dispute that people of color, who were enslaved for nearly the first one hundred years of our history are still not treated equally?
Is there really a dispute that educational, housing, employment, etc. opportunities are much greater for whites than they are for people of color?
Is there really a dispute that whites are given the benefit of the doubt by law enforcement far more than minorities?
Is there really a dispute that when I am walking in a strange neighborhood at night and happen to pass by a police officer that I will simply nod to him and he will nod back, but if I were a minority, chances are I would be stopped and questioned over what I was doing there?
Really?
If you ask most veterans, while they have enormous reverence for the flag and for the anthem, nearly all of them will tell you that they fought or continue to fight for the rights granted to all of us under the Constitution. That includes the right to protest peacefully.
So when Colin Kaepernick sees what is happening and decides to exercise his constitutional right to protest, is he really wrong?
And if we recognize the right to protest, who better, a star athlete who will be seen on national television or some guy who anonymously kneels in the stands of the game or at home?
So in the interests of peace and understanding, why don't we just stop playing the anthem before games. Nobody will really miss it. Nobody will complain when the players kneel in protest beforehand.
Even better, how about we address the problems those protesting point out instead of yelling about supposed disrespect of a piece of cloth that happens to have stars and stripes on it.
During the time I participated in sports through high school and then in college, the anthem was played at just about every event, except perhaps little league games. Nobody missed the fact that the anthem was not played at little league games. Nobody demanded that it be played. At the organized high school and college games, everyone stood at attention during the anthem. It was just the thing we did without thinking about it at all at the time. If the anthem was not played, very few, if any, would have demanded to hear it. At the games I played when the anthem was not played, nobody called a timeout to demand it be played. Nobody missed the fact that it was not played at all. Frankly, for many of us playing in the games, the anthem was an interruption in our pre-game preparation that we knew was coming, we knew we had to stand politely for, and we just wanted to get over with so we could get on with our preparations and the game itself. Patriotism, real or otherwise, had nothing to do with it.
How or why the anthem came to be played before just about all games is not relevant to this discussion, other than to note that in the NFL, which seems to be the controversy du jour, it was not until 2009 that the teams even came out onto the field prior to anthem being played. It was only when the government thought that in the interests of patriotism and recruiting folks to join the military that the teams were trotted out to stand at attention on the sidelines.
And they only did this because our government, in their great judgment about where to spend our money, paid the billionaire NFL owners millions annually simply to have a somewhat elaborate and entirely unnecessary pageant/ceremony associated with the flag and the anthem before each game.
Query whether or not the owners would have made the players come out and stand for the anthem if they were not getting paid to have them do it. That stands for Jerry Jones, who owned his team prior to 2009 and who never made the players come out and stand for the anthem before he was paid to do it, and now says any of his guys who do not stand will be immediately fired. I for one am really looking forward to Dez Bryant, Ezekiel Elliot, Dak Prescott, et. al. taking Jerry up on this, and watching him run out onto the field and fire them on the spot, thereby eliminating the possibility that the Cowboys will win the Super Bowl this year or that any minority NFL superstar, or anyone for that matter, will ever want to sign to play for the Cowboys again.
So there is no requirement by law that says anyone, including NFL players, has to stand for the anthem, although many folks think they should. In fact, there is Supreme Court precedent in connection with the Pledge of Allegiance that says we cannot be forced to stand. There is also nothing in the NFL collective bargaining agreement that says the players have to stand; therefore, as a condition of their employment, they do not have to, and the owners cannot stop them from kneeling, turning their backs, or eating a hot dog during the playing of the anthem, as many of those at home actually do if they are not using the time to go to the bathroom, nor can they discipline them if they choose not to stand.
Which brings us to the National Anthem and the present spreading protests, which he who is residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue would have been far better off keeping his mouth closed about if he had any sense about the situation at all.
I never served in the military. I never had any desire to. I have family and friends who have served. I have all the respect in the world for them. I have all the respect in the world for all who served. I also have all the respect in the world for those who kneel or who do not stand with their hands over their hearts during the anthem. Doing so has nothing to do with respecting the flag, the anthem or our military. It has everything to do with upholding the rights our military supposedly fights for.
When we send our military to defend this country, if we are not sending them to protect this country and its people, and to protect our rights under the Constitution, then what are we sending them for? If we are sending them simply to make profits for oil companies, then the troops should be brought home and the oil companies should be told to protect their pipelines and their profits themselves. I am not a citizen of the United States of Exxon. If we are sending troops to fight and die for us simply to massage the ego of whomever is in charge at a given moment, bring them home, and kick the ego out of office.
There is not, and should not be an argument that our military is there to protect our rights under the Constitution, and that the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance exist to recognize our rights.
All of our rights.
Each and every one of us and each and every one of our rights.
One of those rights is that granted under the Constitution to petition our government with our grievances, as explicitly provided for under the First Amendment. There is a reason that freedom of speech and freedom of peaceful assembly is the first of the amendments. It is that important.
When one is kneeling instead of standing for the anthem, one is expressing those very rights. Considering that our military is fighting on our behalf for those very rights, I would ask who is right and who is wrong when Colin Kaepernick kneels on the sideline. Mr. Kaepernick, who is quietly, and I would add respectfully expressing and asserting his rights or those who are denying his right to do so simply because they do not want to see it. As long as the protest is done respectfully, there is nothing wrong and everything right about it. Players quietly kneeling on the sideline shows no disrespect to anyone. It simply makes a statement and upholds the right to protest as guaranteed under the First Amendment.
Besides, is there really a dispute that people of color, who were enslaved for nearly the first one hundred years of our history are still not treated equally?
Is there really a dispute that educational, housing, employment, etc. opportunities are much greater for whites than they are for people of color?
Is there really a dispute that whites are given the benefit of the doubt by law enforcement far more than minorities?
Is there really a dispute that when I am walking in a strange neighborhood at night and happen to pass by a police officer that I will simply nod to him and he will nod back, but if I were a minority, chances are I would be stopped and questioned over what I was doing there?
Really?
If you ask most veterans, while they have enormous reverence for the flag and for the anthem, nearly all of them will tell you that they fought or continue to fight for the rights granted to all of us under the Constitution. That includes the right to protest peacefully.
So when Colin Kaepernick sees what is happening and decides to exercise his constitutional right to protest, is he really wrong?
And if we recognize the right to protest, who better, a star athlete who will be seen on national television or some guy who anonymously kneels in the stands of the game or at home?
So in the interests of peace and understanding, why don't we just stop playing the anthem before games. Nobody will really miss it. Nobody will complain when the players kneel in protest beforehand.
Even better, how about we address the problems those protesting point out instead of yelling about supposed disrespect of a piece of cloth that happens to have stars and stripes on it.
Monday, September 11, 2017
september 11
So that day has come upon us again.
Once again, I find myself wanting to hide and stay away from the onslaught of social media, urging me to "Never Forget", as if I could. It certainly is not my intent to tell everyone or anyone not to commemorate this day, nor is this meant to insult the memory of anyone we lost or anyone who wishes to look back and contemplate the events of the day. Like many other days, events, or experiences in life, this is personal to each of us and one that should be observed as one wishes. If you believe that we should "Never Forget" and that the meaning of this day is that we should be patriotic on this day, then by all means, that is your right, and I will not try one bit to prevent anyone from doing so.
As for me, I don't want to forget, but I don't want to be awash in the tidal wave of "patriotism" that images of the towers, first responders, weeping statues of liberty and bald eagles can rain down upon me in a single day.
For three hundred and sixty-four days a year, we face a continuous torrent of hate postings calling all of us anti-american, haters, bigots, etc., simply because we have some basic disagreements over how we should be governed, over our form of government, over how we approach basic decency between us. Much of this comes from our so called leaders and television commentators who all get way more attention than they deserve. I admit that I am probably as much a part of that onslaught for a good many people on the right. That being said, we come together for twenty-four hours a year because somebody else attacked us.
We don't seem to come together so much when it is a commemoration of when we attacked ourselves. Please note we do not come together April 19 every year. What is April 19? In case you forgot, that is the day of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 by "one of us". We also do not seem to go into a national catharsis every year on December 14, which is the date "one of us" shot up Sandy Hook Elementary School. That day was not even enough to get a package of common sense gun control legislation passed.
We also do not seem to come together so much when it comes to upholding decent human rights and dignities in this country. It is worth remembering that the atrocities that occurred on September 11, 2001 were not perpetrated by every single Muslim in the world. It is also worth remembering that there are any number of persons in this country who are just as American as anyone else, but either look different, sound different, worship a different god than you do, love somebody you personally would not fall in love with and live a lifestyle you do not want for yourself.
On this day, and every other day, they are just as American as you are.
On this day, they hurt just as much as you do.
On this day, they remember too.
So on this day, as I search for something to say, as if I or anyone else really has to, I come back to what I wrote and posted on Facebook as the tenth anniversary of that day approached. It seems just as valid to me today as it did then:
"i was downtown at my office four blocks from the world trade center that day. i watched the second plane hit. i watched from my office as the first tower fell, and received word that the second tower fell while in the bomb shelter of the building. the attendant at the parking lot and i brushed a couple of inches of building dust and probable human remains off my car so i could drive home. at each corner was a national guardsman with rifles pointed straight at us. i don't intend to watch all the 9/11 hullabaloo tomorrow. i would like to spend a quiet day of reflection and relaxation, while not having the day shoved down my throat. i've had enough. i hope that doesn't make me a bad person".
God bless everyone one of those who we lost on that day, and may this be the year we finally remember each other with kindness and respect the other three hundred and sixty-four days of the year.
Once again, I find myself wanting to hide and stay away from the onslaught of social media, urging me to "Never Forget", as if I could. It certainly is not my intent to tell everyone or anyone not to commemorate this day, nor is this meant to insult the memory of anyone we lost or anyone who wishes to look back and contemplate the events of the day. Like many other days, events, or experiences in life, this is personal to each of us and one that should be observed as one wishes. If you believe that we should "Never Forget" and that the meaning of this day is that we should be patriotic on this day, then by all means, that is your right, and I will not try one bit to prevent anyone from doing so.
As for me, I don't want to forget, but I don't want to be awash in the tidal wave of "patriotism" that images of the towers, first responders, weeping statues of liberty and bald eagles can rain down upon me in a single day.
For three hundred and sixty-four days a year, we face a continuous torrent of hate postings calling all of us anti-american, haters, bigots, etc., simply because we have some basic disagreements over how we should be governed, over our form of government, over how we approach basic decency between us. Much of this comes from our so called leaders and television commentators who all get way more attention than they deserve. I admit that I am probably as much a part of that onslaught for a good many people on the right. That being said, we come together for twenty-four hours a year because somebody else attacked us.
We don't seem to come together so much when it is a commemoration of when we attacked ourselves. Please note we do not come together April 19 every year. What is April 19? In case you forgot, that is the day of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 by "one of us". We also do not seem to go into a national catharsis every year on December 14, which is the date "one of us" shot up Sandy Hook Elementary School. That day was not even enough to get a package of common sense gun control legislation passed.
We also do not seem to come together so much when it comes to upholding decent human rights and dignities in this country. It is worth remembering that the atrocities that occurred on September 11, 2001 were not perpetrated by every single Muslim in the world. It is also worth remembering that there are any number of persons in this country who are just as American as anyone else, but either look different, sound different, worship a different god than you do, love somebody you personally would not fall in love with and live a lifestyle you do not want for yourself.
On this day, and every other day, they are just as American as you are.
On this day, they hurt just as much as you do.
On this day, they remember too.
So on this day, as I search for something to say, as if I or anyone else really has to, I come back to what I wrote and posted on Facebook as the tenth anniversary of that day approached. It seems just as valid to me today as it did then:
"i was downtown at my office four blocks from the world trade center that day. i watched the second plane hit. i watched from my office as the first tower fell, and received word that the second tower fell while in the bomb shelter of the building. the attendant at the parking lot and i brushed a couple of inches of building dust and probable human remains off my car so i could drive home. at each corner was a national guardsman with rifles pointed straight at us. i don't intend to watch all the 9/11 hullabaloo tomorrow. i would like to spend a quiet day of reflection and relaxation, while not having the day shoved down my throat. i've had enough. i hope that doesn't make me a bad person".
God bless everyone one of those who we lost on that day, and may this be the year we finally remember each other with kindness and respect the other three hundred and sixty-four days of the year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)