A member of the MHS Class of '72 approached to talk with me at the diner this morning. It's nice to be recognized and to talk with someone with whom I share memories from pretty far back. The friend told me his '72 Class had its 50-year reunion the night before, Saturday. The gathering was at the bowling alley. Did the bowling alley really have the roof blown off in the derecho?
My, I got my bill from the tree specialist a few days ago. Homeowners insurance help is nil when it comes to trees only. So this is one of those annoying unexpected bills. Is there any other way to describe them? I must say, the tree professionals in this community do great work.
Is there any doubt we are seeing inflation with regard to all contractors? And shouldn't inflation be getting our attention more? The news reminds us, without a doubt. The issue seems not to have crossed a line yet, for getting people real nervous. I assure you that the time most likely will come.
In the meantime, maybe you're wearing out your credit cards? Good luck with whatever your approach is. Me, I have never had a credit card. I have never had a female significant other either. I can suppress my expenses better? It would seem obvious. One of my dear friends with my own MHS Class of '73 once said to me: "Brian, I think you're the kind of person who likes having his own time and his own money." There are things to be said for those qualities.
My mother may have instilled in me a distrust of women. She felt they were always up to something. God rest her soul. She was no doubt imbued with caution because of having grown up in the Depression. Dad too. It has been broadly commented that these people developed traits that stayed fixed, and to an extent got passed on to their own children. So, I don't use credit cards.
The increased cost of dining out does not seem to be bothering people yet. The official inflation rate is a disturbing 9.1 percent and since the announcement of that, the Federal Reserve has done nothing. So the Fed just sits there as prices swell. Seems a rather odd stance.
The Fed ought to be a major story unto itself. Its influence is extending beyond the original boundaries, to where it might be argued that it is the real government of America. Its accountability to the people is very thin. The Fed acts like it is the caretaker for us all. So when the pandemic broke, it called an emergency meeting and lowered interest rates by a full point. It acted out of sense of emergency. But about the current inflation of 9.1 percent? Might that be seen as an emergency too? To over-use a cliche, it's "crickets." ( I actually hate that term.)
We may all someday wonder why the events of Jan. 6 were not seen as an immediate obvious emergency. I mean, to feel alarmed and just assume that the highest law enforcement powers of America would immediately get to work, roll up their sleeves.
A normal and rational person might think the Republicans would have been embarrassed and wanting to send a message that the day's events were abysmal. Republican leaders instead went to visit Trump, not the other way around, to "make nice" and make clear that the Republicans were not going to be hostile or questioning of this dangerous man-child.
Daily I continue to be astounded at how so many of us cannot see the obvious. Do we become zombies as the headlines get rolled out in front of us?
I'm looking at the "Mediaite" home page for today, Sunday. Let's look at how Fox News is situated for today. Let's look at Bret Baier, considered the last bastion of reason and objectivity on that network. Isn't that sad? Ah, you don't want to agree with me on that. Maybe you attended a fanatically evangelical type of church this morning. News reporting comes out all the time about how America's young people are slipping away from churches including the "evangelical" ones, though I am pressed to define "evangelical." In the media it's shorthand - because the media likes shorthand - for a certain type of Christian who is a know-nothing.
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| Bret Baier |
Oh, please. We have known about the sheer absurdity of Donald Trump for so long now. It has all been right in front of us. And this man has a serious flirtation with getting power back? He is written about as such. He'll take a sledgehammer to the whole Federal government if he gets back, and a chief priority will be sheer vengeance. People lined up to be killed? Congressman Jim Jordan has approved or forwarded along such thoughts. Outrageous to think this? We might have felt it was outrageous to elect Trump and still take him seriously for so long.
The insane revelations about Jan. 6 just keep rolling out. So much of the testimony has come from his own people. Almost all of it, really. What does it take for us all to gain realization?
Most Morris area residents might have reservations about Trump and his clan seizing power again. However, there is one thing these people will not do: support Democrats. Their demonization of Democrats has become one of the most alarming elements. So if Democrats are off the table, we'll have a red wave promoted by all the people of America's so-called heartland, and that means us in Stevens County.
They glibly look me in the eye and attack "liberals." So let's have an all-out autocracy? Outrageous? All along we've been witnessing outrageous things - bleach and UV light, the "Access Hollywood" tape - and cannot act to try to push it aside in favor of the normal sanity. "Sanity" would mean Hillary Clinton. Yes, eight years of Hillary Clinton, and just saying that would make my glib friends have a conniption. "Hillary!" Well, she would govern like Bill, one can presume. And I thought the eight years of Bill were pretty decent for America.
We have already lost the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is careening down its own narrow right wing path, to have gutted women's reproductive health rights. Could not we just have left Roe vs. Wade alone? Just saying.
The Class of '72
So, the Morris High School Class of '72 marked the milestone of 50 years since graduation. I remember being at the graduation. From my own memory I call up the following words from the podium: "The future is ours, how shall we decide?" Oh, it's rather unoriginal and boilerplate, I guess. But so what?
How are the Class of '72 members deciding in these Trump times? Are they part of the problem? I'm afraid my generation has been sitting on its hands too much.
My 50-year reunion will be next year. These are always bittersweet affairs. We notice classmates or their spouses with health limitations. We notice the empty chairs of friends who have left this life. We regret some of the stupid things that happened in high school. We probably look back on high school as having been too demanding and too unpleasant. High school should have done more to lift us up, not discourage us with a stupid grading system. Teachers had to give out a certain percentage of the lower grades. They had to find a way, to scheme against us.
Today there is great enlightenment in our schools - many more of the higher grades are given out, many more kids on the A and B honor rolls - no comparison.
We cannot re-write the past, alas. We remember teachers gruffly saying "take out a sheet of paper" (for a pop quiz) as if they were on the attack against us. Is that how our parents really wanted things?
I have great affection for the Morris High School Class of '72. My date of birth might suggest I could have been a member, but maybe my parents could see I was too dumb to start school that early. Maybe I was too dumb even a year later.
Based on my Christmas greeting list for sending my original Christmas songs, it appears I have greater affinity with the Class of '72 than with '73.
We greatly miss deceased members like Skip Sherstad and Becky Felstul-Burnett. Eventually we'll all be together in the school hallways in the sky. But hopefully not to take any pop quizzes. Congratulations Class of '72, Morris High School. Oh, I'll name-drop the '72 member who befriended me at Don's this morning: it was Steve Schmidgall.
The Morris police
A fellow '73 MHS grad answered an email I sent him re. the big news of Morris ending its city police department. This friend has worked as a rent-a-cop himself. He's pretty well-versed on these things. His brother had a career with a sheriff's department. Here's what my friend wrote. Shall I name-drop again? He's Art Cruze.
Wow what a story. The Morris police department being disbanded! You're right about departments being disbanded and turned over to the sheriffs departments. I think for two reasons: lack of police candidates (you can’t find anyone) and tighter budgets. Think about it - why would anyone want to be a policeman today? You’re one misstep from going to prison yourself. Plus so much pressure for officers from drug calls to mental health emergencies. It’s terrible. Although I’ve heard very positive comments about Jason Dingman as your Sheriff. I’ll try to make it over to Morris for lunch soon.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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