National Political Conventions Are Here

As I've stated elsewhere, I'm a real political junkie. I am really interested in politics and political strategies. I have strong feelings about issues but love to watch and learn from any political party or entity.  From the time I was just a youngster I have stayed up and watched political conventions of the two major parties in this country. Sometimes that has meant little sleep for sustained periods.

This year is no different, although the Republican Convention in Tampa has already had delays and will be shortened due to Tropical Storm Isaac and now people are even talking about moving to one day conventions in the long term. It's been many years since real candidate decisions have been made at national conventions. Everyone has known for months that Mitt Romney would be the Republican nominee. We all also knew that President Obama would be the Democratic nominee. But there are new things that can happen at conventions. For one thing people have a chance to learn more about candidates. In addition, delegates and surrogates can cause or get into trouble and what party they belong to makes no difference.

So this week all attention is on the Republicans and Mitt Romney. Next week it will be the Democrats and President Obama. So I expect to be spending a lot of time watching all of the proceedings on tv and getting a little less sleep.

I was listening to some commentary on the radio yesterday that reminded me of a convention from the past. In 1964, Barry Goldwater was nominated as the Republican candidate for President. It's really interesting that George Romney, Mitt Romney's father, was the spokesperson for the moderate wing of the Republican party that year. He was very concerned about the direction of the party and its move toward the right. He spoke out strongly and fought for a plank in the party platform that year to support civil rights legislation. He lost that battle. He fought hard against what he considered to be Goldwater's extremism. I learned through the commentary yesterday that Mitt Romney attended that convention as a 17 year old and watched his father try to stand for moderation in the party. The senior Romney wrote Goldwater after the convention pointing out why the party needed to be more inclusive rather then moving in one direction or the other.

Here we are in 2012 with Mitt Romney seeming to move further and further to the right of center and it makes one wonder if he thinks about that convention in 1964 and what his father was trying to accomplish. I guess we'll see.

The Execution of Marvin Wilson

Let me say right off the bat that I’m opposed to capital punishment. Always have been and probably always will be. I’ve never believed the ‘eye for an eye’ concept as any kind of good public policy, but more on that in future posts. A Texas man convicted in the shooting death of a 21-year-old man in 1992 was executed Tuesday in Huntsville. Marvin Wilson was pronounced dead at 6:27 p.m. (7:27 p.m. ET) on August 7, 2012.

Here’s the thing. Wilson's IQ had been measured in testing at 61. Wilson, 54, had been declared "intellectually disabled" by a court-appointed neuropsychologist. "Despite all the signs of Mr. Wilson's intellectual disabilities and the diagnosis of the court-appointed neuropsychologist, the District Court of Jefferson County (Texas) concluded that Mr. Wilson is not mentally retarded," according to a posting by the ACLU, with "not" italicized for emphasis.

Wilson was convicted in the shooting death of Jerry Robert Williams in Beaumont, Texas. According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Williams was abducted and shot after a "physical confrontation" between the two men. Obviously, Wilson needed to be held accountable for his actions and that could have been done in a much more humane way than death by lethal injection.

Now I haven’t seen the court records or its final determination in this case but it sure sounds like the court may not have understood that the older term “mentally retarded” is in fact included in the newer terminology of intellectual disability as defined by the federal government. I don’t know if it is the case but what a shame if a man was executed because a court didn’t understand the definition of an intellectual disability.

The Supreme Court ruled a number of years ago that executing individuals with an intellectual disability is unconstitutional. The problem is that in that ruling the Court left it to the individual states in determining the level of disability. Ergo, Marvin Wilson’s problem - Texas and it’s definition/determination.

What really amazes me is the deafening silence from groups that present themselves as advocates for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities - The Arc and NYSARC are examples but there are others. These organizations have a bully pulpit of sorts and are in a position to educate the general public, politicians, lawyers and other advocates and professionals.

The United States is in the minority when it comes to capitol punishment in general. We should certainly be able to make clear determinations about the execution of people with intellectual disabilities. This decision by the Texas Court was a slap in the face to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court turned down Wilson’s appeal, so they took the slap. Within the same week, the individual who killed and wounded people in Arizona copped a plea and got life in prison. Strange and sad that Marvin Wilson didn’t have a chance.

Understanding Hate!

Both the shooting in Aurora, Colorado and the recent attack on worshippers at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin have me wondering and struggling with the issue of hate and its relationship to violence. I think it's pretty obvious that guns are out of control in this country but the bigger issue is that of hate, hate mongering, hate crimes and their relationship to violence.

What is it in our make up and/or backgrounds that allow us to use hateful language in conversations and sad attempts at humor? What is it that allows a seemingly nice, gentle person to make a wisecrack about another person or a group of people who are different due to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, size, age, etc.? We've all seen it and if we're honest, have probably participated on some level. Why?

People make excuses - "That's just Joe.", "It's the alcohol talking.", "She's young." - but the fact is we all participate at some level and when we do, those around us watch and learn. Yup, we're all teachers when it comes to the acceptance of making fun of people or speaking nonsense about groups of people.

But there are bigger issues. Like why do people really think racist or discriminatory comments are funny? What streak of meanness in all of us is satisfied by hateful comments? What is it in our backgrounds or growing up that makes any of this acceptable?

I'm truly at a loss. I do know though that societies all over the world have the same issues and we don't spend enough time trying to figure it out. Or we take the easy way out and chalk it off to adolescence, alcohol, stupidity and so forth.

Although I continue to struggle with understanding where this all comes from, I've concluded that as many people as possible have to begin or continue to speak out against hate when they see it. Walking away from a group or a conversation, speaking up, or speaking to people privately about our discomfort and nonacceptance are all ways to witness against hateful language. It also helps when families, teachers and leaders have conversations about hate and hate speech and hate humor. It has to start and stop somewhere.

Comings and Goings On Seneca Lake

One of the great things about Seneca Lake is all of the activity, by people, birds and animals of all sorts, shapes and sizes. Seneca is a huge body of water, thirty six miles long and 600 plus feet deep in some places. At its widest point it’s a little more than a mile. It’s a great place for boating, fishing and watching nature in every season of the year. Because of its depth and the movement created by such a huge body of water, it hardly ever freezes except along the edges. For the same reasons the water temperature remains pretty cool throughout the summer months although this year it has been warmer than usual.

When I was a young boy growing up in New Jersey, my father had a salesman friend who had connections with Seneca Lake. I was about 5 years old when my father, my brother and I traveled from NJ with his friend for a week of fishing on Seneca. As a matter of fact, where I currently live is directly across from where all of us stayed in a cottage, fishing for Lake Trout, skipping stones and enjoying the surrounding area. We made this trip a number of times over the years. My father’s friend had a 16 ft Penn Yan runabout that he ultimately sold to my father. I remember trailering that boat across Rt 79, through NY and down to Jersey and then a year or so later up to Cape Cod where my mother and father had purchased a cottage. Those were long and challenging trips in the days before Interstates. Those are a few of my my earliest memories of this beautiful lake known as Seneca. One of the lakes that Native Americans lived around, crossed and fished for many years.

So now I sit and enjoy the comings and goings on Seneca Lake. There are many, but I’ll share a few of the most recent. There are two characters who I watch regularly. They force the issue since they go back and forth daily in front of my dock and deck. I’ve named them both Rusty just because they need a name and that one seems to fit them well. The first is Rusty the Crow. He arrived in the early spring and has found a place to build a nest just north of my house. Well I watch Rusty go back and forth in front of the deck. First building a nest and now feeding his or perhaps her young. In reality it’s most likely two Crows but I’m not good enough to figure that out. 

Crows tend to fly and gather in large flocks in trees in the early evening hours. Many cities try to discourage these gatherings with noise making and light machines. It seems as though Rusty has gotten sick of all of that city living and fighting for space so he and his girl have become lake property owners and vacationers. I guess we’ll see if they stay throughout the winter. I honestly enjoy watching him fly back and forth doing what he does every day, three or four times an hour. He and the squirrels and the feral cats have figured out how to coexist with an occasional Caw, Caw to stake out his territory.

And then there’s Rusty the fisherman. I also see Rusty the fisherman everyday, heading south in his aluminum boat powered by an outboard, sitting in the back usually with a beer and traveling at a good clip. Now here’s the thing. He’s always heading south. I’ve never seen him going the other way. My guess is that he lives to the south and starts his trips by heading across the lake, going north, coming back across and heading home to the south. But that’s just a guess. Rusty’s an old time and experienced fisherman. You can tell by his poise and confidence. He enjoys what he does and loves the lake in good weather and bad. Even from a distance you can tell his skin is tanned and well weathered. His shirts are tattered. Sometimes he’s bare chested and sometimes he’s layered with sweatshirts and hooded garments. He always travels at the same speed seeming anxious to get home with his catch or perhaps stories of the day. He’s a loner. I've never seen him with a friend or partner or even stop to talk to another fisherman. It’s all good because it allows me to imagine his story, his life and his mission in life. One day he's a survivor, living off of the land in a ramshackle cottage and the next he's a well to do entrepreneur visiting his summer haven.

Now of course there are many more comings and goings on Seneca Lake - the summer crowd, the fish, the boats, the cats, coyotes, deer and of course the natural beauty - but those are a few that reach out to capture my attention on a regular basis. The lake has so many stories and so much history. I write things down and capture some of it as I can and will continue to share on this site as time permits.

Thank You Woody Guthrie!

"I am out to sing songs that will prove to you that this is your world and that if it has hit you pretty hard and knocked you for a dozen loops, no matter what color, what size you are, how you are built, I am out to sing the songs that make you take pride in yourself and in your work. And the songs that I sing are made up for the most part by all sorts of folks just about like you." Woody Guthrie

July 14th, 2012 will mark 100 years since Woody Guthrie’s birth. He was a national and international treasure. As with many treasures and artists, he wasn’t necessarily recognized as he should have been during his life.

I, like many others, was influenced by Woody Guthrie the troubadour, the singer, the musician, the storyteller, the organizer. He changed some of who I am and how I see things and what I do. Woody Guthrie stood up for people and stood up for ideas. He told stories through songs. He educated and influenced people, regular people and many times, important people. He saw and lived experiences of poor people, people of color, migrant workers and people just trying to make it through life.

Many people don’t even know they’re listening to or singing Woody Guthrie songs. In some ways his songs were speaking to universal issues rather than political issues. While he lived, some would write him off as a populist, a leftist, a socialist or even a communist but Woody had an answer to that - “Right wing, left wing, chicken wing, it’s all the same to me.” He was a poet and someone who knew the power of words and music. He also knew how to make people feel good about themselves and other people. He didn’t put people down. He raised them up. He respected people for who they were. His folksy way got people’s attention. He was an early rapper and a white blues man. He raised talkin blues into a genre.

I’ve sung his songs, raised a beer and told some of his stories and turned a few of them into mine. I appreciate his quote that “if you know or play more than two chords, your showing off.” So this is a big thank you to Woody Guthrie. Thank you for helping us all figure out how to raise each other up. Thank you for giving a two chorder confidence. I hope lots of people find a way to celebrate Woody's Birthday with a song or two. Thanks Woody Guthrie!