We cannot count on the best outcome, much as we'd like the reality to reflect the always-rising stock market. These are two different things, incidentally, and it is possible to be a skeptic about the markets.
But in-person school? Is this something we should welcome here in Morris? Does it just reflect our impulse for denial of harsh facts? You have probably seen the headlines about University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill reversing from in-person classes. How much of a harbinger might we recognize here?
Optimism is nice. It has generally served us well over the recent past. So optimistic are we, we drift toward politicians who seem to believe we hardly need government, we hardly need the Post Office etc. Which reminds me: I need to check today if the collection box by the public library is still there. These have been disappearing all over as Trump - which he admits - wants to kill the potential for mail-in voting.
Not that he doesn't have other ideas in his bag of tricks. A headline this morning has Trump thinking he may deserve a third term because he was "spied upon." And we thought there was enough fear over a second Trump term.
Trump's failure on the pandemic is easy to document. Back in October - seems another whole epoch - the U.S. was judged very well-positioned to deal with a health crisis like the one that is ravaging.
Obama when president talked elaborately about preparedness. But of course, Trump and his mesmerized legions cannot say one good word about anything that the classy Obama did.
Was Obama not the epitome of proper decorum as president? How could he have done better in that regard? And do we even have to argue the decorum point in connection to Trump? Well, I'd probably have to. You see, this is Morris MN, where we support Republican state lawmakers and our most important local industry has a blue "Trump/Pence" sign on its property. Isn't it true that Superior owns the land immediately to the east of the soils lab? I have to look at that sign so often.
The president has, if nothing else, left us in a confused state, to where "funny" emails are forwarded around pointing out all the inconsistencies in the various pandemic strategies we have implemented, or experimented with. The humor comes in the scattershot nature. And if a simple quick "wipe" of a shopping basket handle is the difference between life and death, isn't that really kind of ridiculous?
I guess you're required to use hand sanitizer before entering the library. I love the Morris library but its rules seem onerous now, too restrictive to enjoy spending time there. We could embrace these rules if we saw uniformity, as if we could all be made to believe in them.
Inconsistency? We enjoy it when we can access businesses or facilities that are "loose." We feel relief at "stepping back in time" to the pre-pandemic experience. Like, going to Don's Cafe Sunday morning, where the capacity was nearly full and you'd never guess any special circumstances were in effect. I had to sit at the counter. The mood was bright. All this is a pleasure to report. I personally liked the experience. But was it prudent? It may well not have been.
But we circulate in an environment with indecision here now, as we acknowledge that the U.S. has more than one-fourth of all Covid cases in the world. The U.S. is judged to be a disaster zone. Trump has appeared to painstakingly "do the opposite of Obama" is if that has been the point all along. This by itself would demonstrate psychological dysfunction. I'll just point out that this man, Trump, is president of the U.S. Just thought I'd mention it, in case you're not adequately attuned.
And yet we insist that so many of our young people go somewhere to attend college. As if wisdom is so essential. And yet we elect Trump and are largely not receptive to putting Obama on a pedestal. The president says things that the average person wouldn't consider. "There are those who say you can test too much." How would Trump acknowledge the disaster that his administration has become, in terms of pandemic response: "It is what it is."
Elected people are supposed to recognize a crisis in the making, and work tirelessly to prevent it. Even worse is when Trump says the virus will "just go away." It's the dream of Republicans I guess: having a problem evaporate without the need for any government commitment or expense. Haven't you figured out this is what Republicans stand for? What a rude awakening for a lot of people.
We must seriously discuss if the military will be needed to ensure proper disposition of the election results. Only nations that are on the brink would countenance such a discussion. This is America. Isn't our stability and civility underscored in high school civics classes like the ones taught by the late Andy Papke? We were a model for the world. But now Trump apparently with the support of our Superior Industries, is trying to sabotage legitimate mail-in voting overseen by the various elected secretaries of state, and he won't even rule out seeking a third term or perhaps power for life. A child could deduce why Trump would take all measures to avoid leaving office. He would almost certainly be in legal crosshairs once he leaves office.
Why did us Americans bring this situation on ourselves? We could have had a nice civil presidency under Hillary Clinton who would surely have governed like Bill. She would have called for sacrifices and short-term pain when the Covid began looming, and she'd be hated for it by a considerable segment of the U.S. population, like the people in the pews of the Morris area conservative or "evangelical" churches, although it's hard to define the latter term. I don't think it was meant to have such a political component.
"Evangelicals" might be the biggest advertisement for leaving the Christian faith. In my case, I don't know where else I'd go.
Trump said just on Monday that he moved the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem "for the evangelicals." He even said "Christians are more excited by that than Jewish people." What an incredibly asinine comment. In the final analysis, Jews are just a means to an end for these most rabid "Christians." Jews merely help fulfill prophecy. That's their utility.
Church without real fellowship is hopeless. We crowd into restaurants and thus far have dodged the bullet, I think. But there's a sign on the First Lutheran doors: "If parking lot service is cancelled, do not enter building." The word "not" is underlined. "This means you!" I'm just kidding with that. If I were to go inside, I suppose someone might say "can't you read?" That's the line I'd expect from the old cartoons.
"Do not feed the bears."
Church is all about fellowship. You can be a Christian without belonging to a church. But we're looking ahead to such a long winter, aren't we. Who knows what kind of disaster might be awaiting us? Could UMM's activities feed into that? It is a scenario we cannot rub out, in spite of our conditioned optimism. UMM might be whistling past the graveyard. Actually UMM is right next to a graveyard!
Here's a question I'm weighing: When the hiatus from high school football is over, will fewer boys be interested in playing it? Maybe the sport will fade away and then we'll wonder with great consternation, why we ever supported it.
Please visit my podcast
"Church and demographics" is the title of my "Morris Mojo" podcast post for today. It is inspired by a column written by our ELCA presiding bishop, Elizabeth Eaton. I invite you to listen:
https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/Church-and-demographics-eiaptt
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment