Congress Should Thoroughly Vet the Navy Secretary Nominee

I have a piece up over at the Commander Salamander blog urging the Senate Armed Services not to rush to confirmation on the Navy Secretary nominee.  See it here.

Am I Allowed To Say That I Am Enjoying This?

Yesterday marked the one month point in The FerryBridge Farm COVID-19 Quarantine. The four of us are healthy, and we've each adapted in our own way. I was thinking this morning about each of  us, and the challenges of our individual adaptation. Because I get in trouble when I talk about the Kitten and the Kittens, I won't cover their situations, or to be clear, my perception of their situations. I'll stick only to myself. And I am here to tell you that putting aside the mental load that this virus has dealt me (worry about the health of those I love and other humans in general, financial and business considerations, more time to consider how corrupt, malevolent, and incompetent our President is, toilet paper and Shake and Bake supplies, no sports), when I sum it all up, I'm here to say that I am really, really enjoying myself.

Ok. I get it. You are reading this and saying "McGrath is an idiot. How can anyone enjoy being restricted to their home wondering where their next square of TP is coming from?".  Well, I have an answer for you. About four months ago, The Kitten and I had some married friends over. He lived in the same dorm as I did first year at UVA, and she was The Kitten's roomie at boarding school. During the visit, we began to talk about retirement, and I revealed that my plan was to work for no man's money after my 60th Birthday, and if things went right, I'd maybe even stop before then. Bertha (name changed to protect the innocent) seemed not to accept that I would be able to stop at such a relatively young age, that I would get bored, that I would need to feel more vitality to be happy. I contested her at every front. She then said, "ok, describe for me what your average day in retirement is going to look like."  And I did.  You know what?  It sounded a HELL of a lot like the way I am spending my days these days. With the exception of the actual paid work that I do in spurts throughout the day--either on the phone, skype, or at the computer--the Q-Life and the R-Life have a lot of overlap.

Don't tell anyone, but I am not unhappy.

I wake naturally between 0630 and 0730 after eight hours of (CPAP enabled) blissful sleep. I feed the dogs and grab some joe on the way out to my garage office/mancave. I spend a couple of hours reading the news/playing around on social media. I have some more coffee. I practice my trumpet. I write a few hundred words in my novel. I do 30 minutes on the treadmill at 17 degrees incline, 3.7mph.  I have some more coffee. I reach out to friends on Facebook video messenger. I read, professionally and personally. I walk the half mile round trip to and from the mailbox to check for mail.  I do Zoom meetings with other navalists. I do Zoom meetings with friends. I have been skipping lunch, but I go find my the Kitten/Kittens and sit around in conversation with them, sometimes while they are eating. I read some more. I record a trumpet piece on Facebook. I screw around on social media some more. I make a grocery order, or I review a grocery order already begun. I question myriad items on the list that are not fit for human consumption or that I have never heard of. I bother The Kitten.  I blog. Then I bother the kitten some more. I leave the ManCave/office/fitness center because late in the afternoon, my fitness oriented daughters each seem to need 2 hrs apiece in it. I sometimes nap. I read some more. I make dinner, usually only for myself but occasionally for me and the Kitten (the Kittens do not eat as they were trained, and now seem only to consume legumes). I have my last coffee of the day.  I binge some TV, sometimes in the ManCave (after the Kittens have vacated it), and sometimes with The Kitten. Lights out at 2200.

I am a man of routines and my days are nothing but a series of routines. What day it is, is almost immaterial, except for some days have routine items associated with them. It is blissful. I don't have to drive anywhere, but I do get to look at my lovely cars. I certainly don't have to drive 150 miles round trip to Washington several times a week.

I can honestly say that -- putting aside for a second the horrors of a global pandemic -- the sacrifices being asked of me to "flatten the curve" have not been sacrifices at all. They've given me a glimpse of my future, and I am looking forward to it.

Say Goodbye to the 355 Ship Navy

In the olden days of the blog, I did quite a bit of writing about Navy oriented stuff. I would post some of those thoughts here, and some at the venerable Information Dissemination blog. But over time, I found that other avenues were more influential in getting my Navy thinking out, especially the guest slots that Commander Salamander has graciously offered me at his site and longer form articles that the great Ryan Evans has posted for me at War on the Rocks.

As I've said, Twitter has eaten into the world of blogs, in a big way. Additionally "content aggregation" sites (that is, sites that have a ton of people writing things for them for free in order that the writer can get their thoughts out--like War on the Rocks above) have enormous readership, so you can squirrel away your work on a blog that 275 people read, or you can submit it to these sites and have tens of thousands of people read it. Because those sites are highly professional (as opposed to this scattershot blog) there are often multi-pass editing processes involved. Because I have the attention span of a three year old, they frustrate me, and so I tweet and I blog. But this is an important one.

The worldwide COVID outbreak will effectively kill the 355 ship Navy planned by this Administration and enthusiastically supported by this author. If I were a betting man, I'd put a hell of a lot more money on a 250 ship Navy emerging from this crisis, than a 355 ship Navy.

All of the major GOP presidential candidates in 2016 supported building a bigger Navy. The Obama Administration had a plan for a two-hub (Far East, Arabian Gulf/Indian Ocean) Navy of 308 ships, and was steadily building to that goal. It was however, insufficient. On the Rubio Team, I helped put together a plan that got us to 324 ships within ten years of taking office. When Rubio imploded, I joined a Cruz team (unenthusiastically) that had developed a 350 ship architecture. When Cruz imploded, many of those Cruz national security types meandered over to the Trump team and lo and behold, Trump started talking about a 350 ship Navy.

Trump's instincts are to build, and a larger Navy fit in well with his MAGA approach and his stated promise of rebuilding the military. It was then and remains now one of the few areas of wholehearted support I have given a Trump policy. Truth is, I've supported it a hell of a lot more publicly and effectively than the President has supported it, but that is a different story.

Soon after announcing the 350 Ship goal, the Navy--still under Obama--undertook a "Force Structure Assessment" that reached the conclusion that the requirement had grown from 308 ships to 355 ships. This was to some extent, a pissing contest between the Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus--who believed that we needed to build ships--even less capable ones--so that the hulls would be available for future upgrades--and the Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, who wasn't as interested in a larger Navy. This 355 ship Navy remains the "force structure" goal of record, even though there has been a good deal of churn in the past year about what that number means and how to achieve it. I am not here to get into a deep discussion of fleet architecture--there is plenty of that going on elsewhere. What I am here to do is send a message that we are more likely to see a Navy of 250 ships in ten years than we are to see one of 355.

Alternative futures exercises produce a menu of "futures".  Some of those futures are "more likely" than others, some of those futures are "more disruptive" than others. As I look at the worldwide COVID pandemic, I begin to think in terms of alternative futures. Here's one of the ways I think about things:

You can think about myriad events and then attempt to fit them into the framework suggested above. What I am suggesting is something that I see on the likely side of the graph, and in the disruptive (upper half), don't know where I'd put it, I guess I'd have to look at other possible events/futures and then do a relative assessment. But what I am suggesting is that is is likely that our economy will contract at some point in the next year, and possibly go into depression. Such an event--would I think, be very disruptive. Clearly the economic impact would be enormous, but so too would the social and political costs. 

I simply do not believe that a contracting economy can and will continue to spend $750B annually on defense (round numbers), nor do I believe that the social fabric of the country will permit it. The defense budget is a fabulous pool of resources for pet social projects in the best of times, so in a time of legitimate crisis, the resources DoD consumes will jealously--and rightfully--eyed for other purposes.

I believe that defense planners should begin to think about (my guess is they already are, by the way) what the priorities in a DoD budget will be with cuts of 10, 25, and 40 per cent.  Given the nature of modern defense strategy making and its inability to make hard choices, my guess is that the cuts would ultimately be dealt equally to the armed services and their capabilities. And while I could make an argument under any of these conditions that seapower should be privileged over many other elements of military power and that the NAVY SHOULD KEEP GROWING EVEN IN A DEPRESSION, I harbor no illusion this would come to pass.

Therefore, I think Navy planners should think about a world with considerably less money coming their way. What do we do? Cutting people is would be an enormous savings, as people are enormously expensive. But would this be the time to throw Sailors off the payroll? Tough political decision. An easier decision would be to cancel selected acquisition contracts (ships, submarines, airplanes, satellites, etc) and expensive platform modernization efforts. I fear though, that too much cutting here would leave the Navy dangerously unprepared when the impact of COVID has been completely worked though. Another area where considerable money could be saved is in simply tying ships to the pier, and even decommissioning some of them altogether. My point is--and I concede it is a pretty obvious one--the 355 ship Navy is likely dead, and a smaller Navy is far more likely in the near term than a larger one. What that smaller Navy looks like, what it does, where it does it, and to what extent--are all questions that remain.

Winter is coming.

Q-Life Update: Provisioning in the Time of the Great Quieting

I read on various social media outlets the narratives of parents sheltering in place with their young children, and I am grateful that the Kittens are 18 and 20. I didn't have the patience for full time parenting, so the Lord kindly dropped me into a ready-made family when the girls were 6 and 8 respectively. The little family I joined had its vibes and rhythms, and I joined in as best I could. Well, that's probably not true. I wasn't much of a "get down on the ground and play" kind of parent (though they delighted in it when I did), and I do regret lost opportunities. I suppose I always felt like if they could just hang on until they were young adults, I would have something to offer them that they might value. We're still waiting on the results of this approach.

There is of course, a new appreciation for the role of teachers in our society as adults are caged with their own progeny all day, and the videos capturing these challenges making their way to the interwebs can be pretty funny. But what this post is all about is the challenge of provisioning a house of four, cross-generational, adults of both sexes.

I have made two provisioning runs since the Q-Life began. By my own standards, they were somewhat successful. I was able to bring home steak, pork, bacon, lamb, chicken, eggs, milk, half/half, salmon (both filet and smoked slices), everything bagels, Life cereal, tuna, mac and cheese, pasta, pancake mix, maple syrup, swiss cheese, cream cheese, brussel sprouts, baking potatoes, asparagus, and sundry salad fixings. Bear in mind, this was on top of all the food that already existed in our house. I estimate that if we were to go all in, we have sufficient calories for four adults for 3 to four months on hand. Minimum.

But....we must remember...my standards are not necessarily shared standards. For instance, how can one possibly survive without pomegranate seeds? Or cilantro? Or cubed sweet potatoes? Or ginger? Or bibb lettuce? Or chickpeas? Or harissa paste? Or quinoa? Or "fresh" almond butter?

You see where I'm going with this?

Moving on to some other provisioning "issues". How about we all agree that grocery shopping during a pandemic is NOT a social event, hmmm? Dependent children, the handicapped, and the aged (in SOME cases) excepted, the rest of us should be sending ONE HUMAN PER CART into the store to interact with the other humans in the store. I saw multiple instances of three to four person moving roadblocks laughing and frolicking as I (head down) moved through the store.

Also--the toilet paper and paper towels hoarders are filthy animals. Let's just get that out there. They've created a problem that would never have existed but for their utterly selfish and anti-social behavior.

A final observation. I am, by virtue of the profession I've cobbled together, capable at least for a time, of continuing to earn my living while operating in lockdown. I am grateful. I am also grateful for the people who do not have this option, who by virtue of their jobs and the needs of a civil society, have to keep working. Folks in the transportation industry, the grocery stores, restaurants etc are to be admired and praised. Those working in our nation's hospitals--especially under the conditions we read about in population dense cities--are going to be what keeps this society together when all is said and done. I am awed by their sense of duty.

On the Loss of Sports

As I reflect upon now two weeks of the Q-Life, there are a number of things whose absence is meaningful to me. I miss interacting with smart people in professional settings. I miss whatever it is was passing for normality before all this. I miss 24% of my net worth. What I miss more than anything though, is sports.

I am not a sports freak. I am in fact, a University of Virginia sports freak, and I take a great deal of interest in the success and failure of my Wahoos, irrespective of the sport. But the great mass of public, professional sports is really not on my radar. I follow no professional sports team of any variety with anything close to real interest. I don't mind attending pro sports events in person, but I do it rarely. As I age, I make a promise to myself around New Years every year to watch more baseball, but I never do. My friend Dan and I attend a Packers game every couple of years together, but it is more about the weekend than it is about the sport (at least for me. Dan is a deranged Packers fan). 

With all of that as background, I must admit to missing sports in the time of the great quieting. Of course, I miss March Madness, the greatest sporting event known to man. But I miss pro basketball. I miss the spring training noise. I miss watching the big golf tournaments. It isn't just the watching, though. It is the reading, and the talking, and the listening. Sports--even those in which I have little interest--have formed the soundtrack of my life. Even though I didn't WATCH these sports, I followed them at a distance, if for no other reason than to be an informed participant in the conversations of other men. Ladies, don't take this as a swipe, but to the extent that I have had conversations about professional sports in my life, it has virtually always been with men. There are three grown women in my house, and annually on Super Bowl Sunday, at least one will inquire who is playing. 

Some may consider this antediluvian, but there is a not insignificant component of being a man of a certain age--at least in the circles in which I travel-- that requires one to have at least passing knowledge of what is going on in the major sports of the season. Again--I point to my lovely daughters. They are not only women, but they are young women. There simply is NO requirement for them in their everyday lives to be up on whether LeBron or Giannis should be the NBA MVP, or why the Astros batters seemed to get beaned all through the beginnings of spring training. 

So all of this was sort of a windup to the actual pitch.... and that is, a world without sports (or at least mindless chatter about sports) is a little bit frightening to me, because it is one step closer to the feminist Valhalla of a world without men. Sports small talk is the stuff of a giant slice of male interpersonal relationships. No sports, what do we have to talk about? 

Q-Life: Day 13

We are nearing the end of the second week of what I have taken to calling "The Q-Life", or quarantining at home, and thus far, the program is proceeding swimmingly. Our provisions are holding up well, and our equanimity toward each other remains high. I have in my ManCave, various implements of torture, including a treadmill and numerous dumbbells, in addition to a bit of space in front of my bookshelves. Having now to share the exercise area with the Kittens means working out schedules and the like, not only because of the use of the equipment, but also because of the horrific noise that passes for music they enjoy listening to and its impact on my ability to work in the same space. They have not generally been active in the mornings, and I am all too happy to vacate around 3PM, so we've entered into a reasonable accommodation.

The news greets us today with reports of Senator Rand Paul having contracted the virus, and therefore several other Senators with whom he had been in contact recently going into voluntary quarantine. This news came quick on the heels of reports of several recently frolicking "Spring Breakers" having contracted the virus. You may consider the irresponsibility of both by your own standards.

Talk in the (socially distanced) kitchen last night was that the Kittens' spring semesters are underway in earnest today via the interwebs. With all the classroom instruction and streaming of all kinds going on, this time is providing a solid stress test of  "the internet", to the extent that it can be considered a thing at all.

As I walk about, I see various "Spring Cleaning" kinds of jobs that need doing. I reported to the Obergruppenfuhrer yesterday that I would -- on nice days -- be available for such labors from 3 to 5PM, and she is dutifully working up an OPORDER for my execution.

I had hoped to use this time to pick up my new banjo and get more acquainted with it, but in tuning it, I managed to break two strings. It don't have a feeling that for $179.00, I bought the greatest banjo in the world, but now I need to restring it before I can begin lessons.

As expected, the numbers of reported cases and deaths from the virus are increasing as the testing regime begins to kick in. We need to get more tests out into the public faster, but we cannot look at testing as a silver bullet for combating this thing. It seems common sense to assume that "social distancing" will be at least as influential as testing, if not more influential, in slowing the spread of the virus and allowing for proper treatment of those already sick. As we got into this fight late, the numbers will continue to grow for some time, before they begin to flatten. Things are going to LOOK horrific in the next ten days or so, but as long as we all hunker down, continue to remain distanced, and give the healthcare system the tools it needs, we should begin to see favorable trends in the not too distant future.  But for God's sake....stay home.

There is news of great chicanery going on in Congress as our two dysfunctional parties attempt to figure out how to respond to this crisis. You see, that's the first thing. What they should be thinking right now is that they are passing a "disaster relief" measure-- not a fiscal stimulus or economic recovery measure. Yes, those things are part of the total, but what we are trying to do (or should be trying to do) is to use the vast resources of the nation to buy time and space for the medical effort to succeed. The immense social pressures that will accrue if a fifth of our workforce lose their jobs and great calamities continue in businesses small and large, will have devastating impact on the disaster relief effort. A friend of mine Tweeted the following yesterday:

Americans expect and deserve bipartisan teamwork https://t.co/1xVyRHIEsn

— Patrick Cronin (@PMCroninHudson) March 22, 2020

I snarkily (but honestly) responded "All evidence to the contrary". What I meant by that remark was that if Americans truly valued bi-partisan teamwork in times of crisis, they would elect men and women who practice it in times of calm. Compromise and bipartisan problem solving is not valued by our hyper partisan electorate who would rather watch split screen show-ponies on mindless "news" programs from their easy chairs. We get--and have--exactly what we deserve.

On China and COVID-19

There is much in the news these days about the coronavirus and its origins in China. It seems to me, beyond dispute, that like several other instances of feared viruses, this one too came out of the Far East. And while it is "possible" that the virus was the result of a weaponized biological program of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), I rate that possibility as "barely measurable to remote". Why?  Because (if you click the link above and do a minor bit of online research) as I said, a lot of viruses have their genesis in China. It's sorta just the way it is.

So, the virus appears to have started in China, near the City of Wuhan. Accelerating its spread was the fact that many of the Chinese diaspora came back for the Chinese New Year celebration. Some contracted the virus and then returned to their adopted countries bringing the virus with them and infecting local populations.

Also apparently true is that when the virus began to show up in China, the Chinese government and public health systems failed. Here is a decent timeline that shows both mistakes and likely coverup.

So--we have a massive and influential government with a serious viral outbreak making poor and corrupt decisions and statements designed to minimize the public reaction to the seriousness of the virus. And we had what China was doing too.

Ok. Some of you are going to read that last paragraph as a swipe at our federal government. That is exactly how I meant it. Take a look at this timeline. While I realize that what the President is saying is not the sum total of what the federal government was doing, the President's statements and his obvious desire to minimize the impact on markets and his re-election, had an impact on how subordinate departments reacted to the growing crisis.

And now we come to what appears to be the thing that really has the attention of the inattentive, and that is whether calling this virus the "China virus" or the "Wuhan virus" is racist. I think not. Many viruses and sicknesses across time have taken on the names of locations where they started or where there were major outbreaks. This is not a racist construct. I prefer "coronavirus" or "COVID-19", but that is me.

The next question is, is it wise to use the location names? This is a good question, and for some it is an open and shut case. These people believe that since so much of our supply chain for medical supplies and devices comes from China, it is unwise to piss them off. Short of that, these folks believe that a truly international response to this crisis is required, and we shouldn't be worried about a childish schoolyard fight when what we should be doing is defeating the threat.

Ordinarily, I would tend to agree with this.

The thing that makes this a lot harder is that elements of the Chinese government have undertaken a program of propaganda designed to blame the virus on....you guessed it....the United States. This is largely for domestic consumption, but it--along with their massive humanitarian response elsewhere--is designed to seed doubt as to the US as a reliable partner. Is this a response to leaders in the US "blaming" China by using location names for the virus? Would this propaganda push be happening anyway (i.e., if the virus had started elsewhere)?

I don't know the answers to these questions. What I do know is that smart diplomacy is needed in addition to energetic response. I'll keep talking and writing about corona or COVID. I urge you to do so also.

What Will Never Be The Same?

When the virus (that's the way I'm going to talk about it now, casually calling it "the virus" without differentiating it from the thousands of other viruses there are, because you damn well know what I'm talking about) began to rage, and the American system of higher education decided to send our young folks home with vague promises of internet-based instruction with details to follow, I thought to myself that this could be the beginning of the end for the traditional Western university that has had a pretty decent 1200 year run. After all, if we can do this in an emergency (a bug), why couldn't we do it as a practice (feature). Yes, yes, I know, there are already all kinds of internet learning paths...but what I'm talking about here is the "push" that actually brings about the end of one paradigm and the flowering of others. 

So the purpose of this post is to ask, what else is on the chopping block? You can use the comment section if you like.

Here's one. Healthcare. Yes, I know. There's a lot of "distance medicine" going on right now. But think about a day where a small set of computer peripherals hook directly into a mediating software enabling a proper back and forth in real time between a patient and a provider. What percentage of physical visits could be avoided? How much more efficient could the system be? And as we become more accustomed to telemedicine, could whatever regulatory/rent-seeking barriers that continue to carve up the nation's health insurance markets within state lines begin to fall?

Obviously, Amazon has changed our world. But I need Shake and Bake for pork right now. I only have one packet remaining (crisis). A distribution system that brings it to me today, or a system where I could make an order, get in my car, and drive up to a delivery kiosk where my order would be available for pickup based on code I received?  Yes please.

I think the whole "tele-work" thing could explode after this, with more and more Americans working from home. Or--we could find that after studying this period, we all really did just "phone it in" and our productivity went through the floor. Or maybe we find that because people can and do work when they want throughout the day and life, that there is a productivity increase? I don't know...but it will be interesting to see.

COVID 19 and the American System

Not everyone is going to be happy with this post, but I guess that's the nature of the beast. I want to talk a little about "The American System", specifically the oft-maligned (and Constitutionally enshrined) system of "federalism", in which the national (federal) government is vested with specific (enumerated) powers, with remaining powers vested in the "several" states.

I think this is a good system for a number of reasons. As an ideological conservative, my mantra these days is "smart people existed before me". To this end, I think our Founders were a smart bunch of guys (sorry ladies), and they gifted to us a political system of great genius. A good deal of what passes for governance in our everyday lives is state and local, and the degree to which we interact with the federal government each day is actually quite small. This may strike some as an odd thing to say, given how much power and authority has managed to migrate its way to the federal government in the 233 years of our Republic, and given how a nationalized, internet and cable news driven media environment serves to make us feel that all issues are national and that what's happening around us (Talbot County, MD, for instance) is only our little piece of much bigger national trends and narratives.

And then we get a viral pandemic. We turned to our nationalized media. In some cases, that media, acting as a mouthpiece for our national government, misled us. Watch the video embedded in this Tweet--it is breathtaking. 

How Fox News has shifted its coronavirus rhetorichttps://t.co/iWGZqoprvY pic.twitter.com/L9nITMkV6F

— The Fix (@thefix) March 17, 2020

Speaking of that national government, you are not a serious person if you do not believe that the go-to move from the Administration was to minimize the threat, and point (well-deserved) fingers at the Chinese. Watch the video contained in this Tweet too:

https://t.co/uAsrB2DF9k pic.twitter.com/O2tmh9CwQ4

— Barry Rubin (@barubin) March 18, 2020

The funny thing is--as damaging as the slow and stumbling response to the virus from the federal government was, we had fifty other relatively efficient forms of governing happening around the country, and the nation's governors--watching in horror as the feds worried about the stock market and re-election--started making decisions. Now--I don't want to go too far with this. The federal income tax system and the other streams of revenue that the federal government receives pre-determine that it is the most efficient means for centralized resourcing and national response. But utilizing these resources in a coherent response did not happen fast enough because of the government we chose in 2016. State governments have a good deal of resources and tools at their disposal to respond quickly and effectively too, and many have done just that.

What we have in federalism is an insurance policy against bad governing. If--as things are today--we have a feckless presidential administration that ultimately decides to step up its response only after one of their media lackeys turns his criticism on them , strong state responses to disasters (think about Jeb Bush responding to nine hurricanes while in office) can and should mitigate impact. If we have a strong and competent federal government, it can catalyze and coordinate action in concert with governors of energy in order to create truly effective national responses. If one lives in a state with a bad governor right now, I guess the system isn't providing as much solace.

The best of all worlds would have been a competent response from the feds coordinated with competent responses in the states. This may be finally underway, and a truly "federal" system can begin to show its strength.

Signs of Spring

It is a difficult time for all of us. We are in fear and doubt as to what is next and when it will be over. So, let us concern ourselves with what we can count on. Today, that is spring's arrival.  Here are a few photos from around the house to remind us.

The Return of The Conservative Wahoo

This blog has lain fallow for quite some time. It was once a passion of mine. It led to a short-lived internet radio show (before podcasts became all the rage), a good deal of social media exposure, and the small-scale notoriety afforded by the internet to narcissists everywhere. I took full advantage of it and although I often became a slave to it, I enjoyed the writing. I fancied myself a great political thinker and took great pride in that writing, yet time and again, the writing that seemed most likely to resonate across my readership base was everyday stuff.

Then came the election of 2016. I was from the get-go, decidedly against one candidate. That candidate went on to win both the Republican nomination and the Presidency. In the process, I used the blog to vent my spleen and take shots at those I considered to have compromised on whatever principle they once had. I grew more and more disconcerted with people I thought I once knew, and I grew more distant from the blog over time.

Truth be told, Twitter also got in the way. Why would I sit down and write a long form post on something of interest when I could pithily opine away in 144 (and then 288) characters for the instant entertainment of 6000 people? I've pretty much turned all my public writing into Tweets of some sort, with the exception of the Navy related stuff that one or two of you still read.

But things have changed. We are visited by a fast-moving, global pandemic that has caused our various governments to restrain our activities by force, and that has caused our society to exercise self-restraint through public spirit, along with time-honored acts of public shaming. Here in Maryland (for those new to the blog, I live on Maryland's Eastern Shore at the sufferance of a beautiful woman (The Kitten) and her two daughters (The Kittens)), our Governor has closed down most commerce and we are--as one used to hear back in the Navy--sheltering in place. The Kittens were cast out of their womb-like existences in modern university settings, only to land back at home under the command of Obergruppenfuher Momma, whose disciplined approach to social distancing was somewhat more stringent than either had considered.

My social distancing began two-weeks ago, when upon returning from a convention in San Diego early one post-redeye Thursday, I took myself to the local Doc-in-a-Box (from whence comes my "urgent care") feeling god-awful. I brought along a little bag of toiletries and chargers, thinking that I was sure to have the dread COVID 19 virus and would immediately head into immunological prison.  The good news was that it was plain old Influenza A, and since the Kittens were still at school and the Kitten was frolicking among friends elsewhere, I took to my sickbed and began an around the clock regimen of sleep punctuated by big shots of Vicks Nyquil. Always does the trick.

Since then, the virus has exploded and fuller measures have come into practice. We have--as many others have--provisioned ourselves for a long sequester, although I wonder (sometimes aloud, sometimes not) at the various products that find their way into the category of "staples". Somewhere in the last ten years, the number of things calling itself "milk" have proliferated, and there currently resides in the kitchen refrigerator almond milk of several varieties, cashew milk, vitamin D milk (natch), 2 % milk, and half/half. Also something called "Kombucha", which I dare not investigate.

I made the initial victualing run, returning home with pasta, mac and cheese, cans of tuna, bacon, eggs, salad stuff, veggies, etc, along with steak, pork, and chicken. You know. Stuff people survive on. My choices were instantly flagged as insufficient, and several additional runs have occurred since. Our cup runneth over.

I have an office carved out of one of the bays of our garage and the window to my right looks out
over the Miles River upon which The Kitten's house sits. Her people have lived in this part of Maryland for four centuries, and on this particular plot of land for something like seven generations. In my office are my books, a treadmill, some (little used) dumb-bells, a bit of furniture, and a giant flat screen. Ordinarily at this time of year, I would be social distancing in front of the TV watching college basketball, but you know the story there. One of the great regrets I have of this time is that there is no baseball, as it is a later in life goal of mine to once again become a baseball fan. Baseball could fill a lot of this time.

My business is defense consulting, and I can do a good bit of it right here in this office. My clients are also trying to figure out how to deal with all of this, but so far everyone seems to be behaving responsibly. I am determined to do all of the things I have been reading on social media for those who work at home every day. I am showering, dressing in proper button-down shirts, and wearing actual shoes (rather than the dreamy Bean ankle-high shearling slippers in which I generally knock-about. I even shaved today.

So--what is this blog to be? I'm not quite sure. Probably a lot like it was before the 2016 election, with some daily life, some politics, some pop-culture, and some Navy related stuff. Probably a bit of Dafoe's "Journal of the Plague Year". I don't know how long I will keep it up, but as I end this post, I find myself content with its resurrection.

The Day of Reckoning is Nigh

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Americans who support Donald Trump--whether they consider themselves Republicans, conservatives, or simply people grateful for certain policies he has put forward--are soon to face a reckoning point.  That is, given what is certain to be shown as serial, reflexive dishonesty wrapped around utter disdain for anything but personal gain, the outcome of which has been an invigorated American left and a smoking wreckage of a GOP--how can one continue to support Donald Trump as President.

Notice I did not mention anything here impeachable. I do not think Donald Trump will be removed from office (though the House may impeach him). Not because I do not think he should be removed, but because as of yet, I have seen nothing to convince me that a sufficient number of Republicans in the Senate would vote to do so. That said, armchair Constitutional scholars will point to "...treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors..." without processing the larger point that what is impeachable ultimately boils down to what a majority of the members of the House of Representatives say it is.

Putting impeachment aside for the moment, we will soon be treated to findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who has conducted his affairs in the highest of standards in stark contrast to the serial obfuscaters and sycophants who publicly slander him and his team, including the President himself. Mueller will deliver a report that will ultimately reveal several things which are simply beyond dispute:

--Candidate Trump's inner circle was deeply enmeshed in routine interactions with Russian government figures, Russian intelligence officers, and Russian organized crime figures, interactions that were routinely denied by both Trump and his circle.
--Candidate Trump and members of his inner circle were aware of in advance and supported the activities of Julian Assange and Wiki-leaks to reveal embarrassing emails from major Democratic figures in order to impact the Hillary Clinton campaign.
--Mr. Assange's and Wiki-leaks reputation as a front for Russian Intelligence was an open secret at the time. 
--Candidate Trump continued to pursue lucrative real estate deals in Russia that included solicitation of support from Vladimir Putin until the summer of 2016, six months after the Iowa caucuses. During this time, Candidate Trump made a number of "Putin-friendly" statements that were not aligned with prevailing Republican attitudes. 
--Candidate Trump and his inner circle actively sought to suppress potential embarrassment caused by revelations from former sex partners, to include financial payoffs. These revelations were vehemently denied by Candidate Trump, President Trump, and his inner circle. 

The points above represent what I consider to be irrefutable assertions based on what we know in court filings thus far in the Mueller investigation and that of the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Behind these indisputable assertions of fact lie some interesting inferences that not only raise the specter of impeachable offenses, but which make the point of reckoning mentioned above that much more real.

--Reports of the surprise of Candidate Trump and his inner circle that he prevailed in the election lead to the conclusion that he believed he would likely lose. What then, are the links (if any) between his business objectives and his campaign statements, especially those that were at best--soft on Putin, and at worst--admiring of him? Was the future President of the United States setting the course of US foreign policy in a pro-Russian direction simply as a hedging strategy for his own business? Just yesterday, he admitted as much. 
--Further to this point, there remain open questions about the suppression (by Paul Manafort) of a plank in the GOP platform in the summer of 2016 that advocated arming Ukranians in their conflict with Russia. Could this have been yet another instance in which Trump sought to curry favor with Russia in furtherance of his business goals?

Please notice--neither of the previous two inferences--serious though they may be--involve "collusion". Dead-ender supporters of Trump (the "I could commit a murder on fifth avenue and they'd still support me" types) have created a construct in which only a video of Trump and Putin strategizing in shirtsleeves would represent collusive behavior--so I'm not addressing these people. I'm writing for the rest of us, who--while we may be unable to believe that there was collusion (coordination, strategizing) between the Trump Campaign and the Russians at this point, are perfectly willing to entertain the possibility, presented with sufficient evidence. To that end:


--Was there any information passed from the Trump campaign--either directly or through intermediaries--as to where (geographically--remember, 80,000 votes in three key states tipped this election) "friendly" online activity ("fake new", targeted emails, etc) should be concentrated?
--Was there any coordination between the Trump campaign as to the timing of release of information damaging to the Clinton campaign, such as the release of DNC emails in close proximity to the "Access Hollywood" tape becoming public 2 days before the  second Presidential Debate?

Again---this post is not for the MAGA- hat wearing, dead-ender who simply wants to drink "liberal tears". This post is for thoughtful, patriotic Americans who have for one reason or another, continued to support President Trump in the face of serial dishonesty, churlish behavior, and disreputable dealing with friends and allies. The GOP just lost 40 seats in the house and squandered the most favorable Senatorial map in a generation, even as it gave back a third of the seats it won in state legislatures in the age of Obama. Things will not get better while this man is supported.

Cut this anchor loose; regroup, move on, and live to fight another day.

Thoughts on Thanksgiving 2018

It is quiet, and I am sitting in the kitchen next to a gas fire with two lovable Labradors nestled about me. Soon this place will be a bustle of activity as Catherine and I bring off another Thanksgiving together. For now though, she and the Kittens slumber while I write to you.

Calm before the storm

 This year's feast brings the first real change in players, as Catherine's uncle and family patriarch Tiny died earlier this year. We'll miss Tiny. Eleven years ago I was invited to Thanksgiving in his house, just a few months after beginning to date his niece. His brother John having died the year before, he took the role of giving me the business seriously, but by the end of the evening, I felt that I had passed.

We have a new person joining us today, and that is my brother Tom. Tom is driving up from Richmond and will be spending the night. He and his wife split earlier in the year, amicably it would seem, and I jumped the gun on inviting him early on in fear of someone else obtaining his wit and presence at their table.

Both girls are home, and they've been busy helping Cat with pies and setup. It is good to have the whole team together, even if just for a few days.

I get a lot of grief for how early I begin to celebrate Christmas. People think I give Thanksgiving short shrift in the process, but nothing can be farther (further?) from the truth. I love this day--and I see it as part of a joyous season. This day serves almost as a ritualistic cleansing, a day for gratitude for all of the blessings we enjoy. I have read that "gratitude is the parent of all other virtues". I surely see it that way. Here are some things for which I am grateful.

--The health and love of my parents
--A supportive and loving partner
--Two accomplished daughters growing to honorable womanhood
--A large and loving family of siblings and their families
--Acceptance into Cat's family
--Meaningful work
--Close friends
--Citizenship in this great country
--Shelter and sustenance beyond what I merit
--The love and companionship of two cats and two dogs
--Four years at the University of Virginia followed by every day since

From Catherine, Hope, Hannah, and Bryan--Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Sunday Potpourri

Last week on Saturday Night Live, on of the stars did a terrible bit about a Republican running for Congress who lost an eye in combat (Dan Crenshaw, who won his race), and so wears an eye patch. It was stupid. It wasn't very funny. It was pretty much panned by everyone who watched. Last night, this guy (Pete Davidson) made things right by asking the target of his ill-humor to join him as he publicly apologized. Watch below:



A couple of things. First, Dan Crenshaw handled this thing pitch perfectly from the very start--it was a pitch in the dirt and he didn't swing at it. Secondly, I thought Davidson did the right thing and he did it pretty well. Bottom line--I've said and written a lot of dumb and regrettable things in my life--and it is tough to judge Davidson too harshly given the stupidity I've engaged in.

About the election last week--I guess I got it about right, but the D's did a bit better than I thought they would. That didn't stop the President from claiming a great victory, but he's obviously full of shit. His firing of Jeff Sessions -- that is what it is called when you ask for someone's undated resignation letter and then release it when it suits you-- is all about the stew he's in with Mueller, which is only going to get hotter here in the very near future. Bottom line prediction: they won't get to Trump--but they are going to get to people who mean a great deal to Trump.

Speaking of our President--his performance in France was once again a shitshow. I can't even imagine the uproar from sanctimonious Republicans had Obama skipped a ceremony honoring war-dead because of a little rain. I am sure they'll come up with some lame rationale--but it will be just one more step into the abyss of relativism that the GOP has been undergoing since 2015.

Sunday Potpourri

As I look out my window at the newly harvested fields on the west side of our farm on a glorious fall day, I am filled with gratitude. To my teachers and professors for shaping my mind, to the Navy for shaping my character, to Catherine and the girls for shaping my compassion and to my parents for virtually everything else. I bitch a lot about the world we live in these days, but sitting here--in the present--I am embarrassed by my good fortune but thankful for it.

Tuesday will be a big day for the country, and no, not because your 2019 NCAA Men's College Basketball Champion Virginia Cavaliers kick off their season, though that is not unimportant. It will be a big day because we'll have a chance to collectively register our thoughts about where we are and where we are going as a country. My sense though, is that all we have a right to expect as a people is for our respective priors to be confirmed. It appears that the Senate will either stay Republican or get a little more so, and that the House will flip. Both sides will claim great victories, and neither will have a right to do so. We will find ourselves in a worse version of where we are now, and we have no right to expect better. We HAVE the government we deserve. Anyone who thinks we deserve better should show their work.

The trip to Charlottesville this past Friday for the game vs. Pitt was a mixed event. The game itself sucked. For the first twelve minutes of the first quarter I sat in a torrential downpour. Then the weather actually got pretty nice, but the team Virginia had on the field was pretty inept. Additionally, four starters were injured during the game, not a good sign for the future. I was worried about this one all week, I thought we were overrated, that we are a decent team in a terrible conference. I suspected Virginia fans were getting ahead of themselves, and I think I was right. We're not bad, we're just good. Barely.

I saw some of my best friends in the world the other night, guys I've had laughs with since the fall of 1983. At one point during the game, late, when it was clear we were going to lose, I just stood up and looked at them, and thought about how much time we'd spent together and how dear they are to me. This is the kind of thing I need to do more of, I think. Just being in the moment, not worrying about past injuries or future schemes. Totally present. It was sublime.

Sunday Potpourri

Well, well, well, would you look at what's happening with my beloved Wahoos football team. They beat UNC yesterday (covered the spread) in Charlottesville and are likely to crack the Top 25 in voting later today. I'm a little dubious about their being ranked, this week--I'd prefer to wait until next week after we play Pitt on Friday night in Charlottesville, but the turnaround in this team the past two seasons is becoming undeniable. Really happy to see competent football return to UVA. If the football team does get ranked, it would be the first time since November 2011 that both the football and basketball teams were ranked at the same time. By the way, wanna know who has been a believer in the Hoos since the early season? The Hammer!

Speaking of basketball, the Hoo's had a "secret" scrimmage with Villanova yesterday.They do a good job of keeping the news from these games on the down-low. That said, I look at Villanova as the team the Wahoos are emulating, just a few years behind. Jay Wright had some real disappointments before finally getting his team to the Final Four, and now it is a machine. I'm hoping for the same with Tony Bennett. The boys (Rob, Tom) and I are heading to C'ville December 9th for the VCU game, which has me very excited.

Missed the football game yesterday because it was Kitten #2's final "parents weekend" at her school, and was supposed to be the final home field hockey game (rained out). Kitten #2 is a fierce field hockey player, with serious speed to burn. It is sort of a slow game, but she adds a little speed to it. We had a team/family party in the afternoon, and some of her younger teammates had wonderful things to say about her, her leadership (co-captain this year) and her kindness. It was too bad the room was so dusty, as I had a hard time watching without my eyes watering. I remember when she was a freshman watching this event and thinking how far away senior year looked. Those were the days.

While enjoying the festivities at Parents Weekend, I chanced to see the horrific news of the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh yesterday. Coming as it did on the heels of the (you can't call it anything but) mass assassination attempt on leading Democrats and Liberals, I found myself wondering deeply about the state of our country. We are sick, very sick. I'm not interested in whatever your comment section justification is, so save it. Actual ideas about how we might move forward in a more civil and rational way are welcome.

Someday, I may understand anti-Semitism. But this is not that day. Has there been a group of people more unfairly treated in modern history? I'm often surprised by the descriptions of those who attack the Jews in this country, specifically by what appears to be a significant lack of any real contact with Jews in a way that might contribute to the demented hatred. But no. Just looney-tunes.

The election is just around the corner, and it looks like we'll get just what we deserve...mixed results that everyone will be able to claim victory from. The D's are likely to take the House back, and the R's look to increase their margin in the Senate. No one learns anything, no one is taught anything, everyone will fall back on their familiar talking points and venom, and our collective descent into madness will continue.

Back to good news? Hunting season is just around the corner. I'm hearing more and more geese in the cove, taunting me whilst fattening up for my table. I haven't renewed my licence yet--need to get on it.

In the previous sentence, I misspelled licence. I always misspell licence. And initiative, which I just misspelled again.

Now through mid January is "silly season" in my line of work. Every year, same thing. More speaking engagements, more client meetings, more travel, more personal stuff (UVA football games), more stuff in general. Good problems to have, but problems nonetheless.

Sunday Potpourri

My women have abandoned me this weekend, leaving me free to pursue various methods of time wasting and reputational self-destruction which include both my Twitter habit and this blog on occasion. Fall and winter clothes in the attic are not going to bring themselves down to our closets, and the electric dog fence is not going to self-heal. There are things to do, but first, a few words.

I made a quick trip to New Jersey earlier this week to finalize preparations for my 35th high school reunion. We're essentially re-doing #30, but there are still details to be micro-managed. Having a bit of time before my meeting, I drove around some of the haunts of my youth, and I was amazed at how everything has shrunk. What I mean is that how I experience distance at 53 seems markedly different from how I experienced it at 17. My high school (Lenape, go Indians) is on Hartford Road in Medford, New Jersey. 

Driving to school each morning, either as passenger to an older brother or as driver, the distance between Elbo Lane and Lenape High School along Hartford Road seemed considerable. I also remember running to lose weight for wrestling, thinking that getting to Elbo Lane was a drudge. Driving this on Wednesday evening, I covered the distance in what seemed to be an instant. No, I was not exceeding the speed limit. And yes, my mind may have been elsewhere. But this phenomenon--the shrinking of familiar drives--repeated itself throughout the visit. Have any of you ever experienced this? Oh, and if you're Class of '83, don't forget about our reunion on October 20th at Ott's in Medford.

So much Kavanaugh in the past few days. I'd like to say I'm glad that's over, but I can't because it isn't. This is going to go on, and on, and on. We are a divided country and we see nothing but malevolence in the views of "the other". I am no angel--my problem is that I see malevolence on both sides these days, although I at least THINK that my ideology is based in principle. Others may not see it so. Former Republican national security guy Max Boot -- who has gone 180 degrees the other way and now identifies utterly with the Democrats-- and I had an exchange on Twitter this morning that raised a ruckus among others who rolled in on me from both sides. Trumpies don't care for me because I have no love for their man who I believe is doing long-term damage to our country. Liberals seem also set against me because my disdain for Trump is insufficient, I must go full Boot and declare my loyalty to their party.  I am comfortable where I am.

We are in the midst of college hunting for Kitten #2, which accounts for 2/3 of my women being gone this weekend, headed south to North and South Carolina on college visits. The college admissions game is much changed from the early '80's, and not for the better. First of all, the complete diminishment of any career not requiring a bachelor's degree has created a "demand" for undergraduate slots that is a distortion. Secondly, this demand has created (in my view) a situation in which the bachelor's degree is not worth very much, even as its cost explodes. Put another way, a degree from one of the top 50 universities in the country MAY matter, depending on what it is in. But outside of that group--unless you're in hard STEM stuff--the BA prepared you for little. The final piece of this pie is "the common app(lication)", which for those of us who hand-crafted four or five applications in the 80's without any similarity--sounds like a benefit. But it isn't. What it has become is a delivery vehicle for applications from unqualified--or worse--uninterested students who don't have as much work to do in order to apply to a school. And while universities are now able to point at how exclusive they've gotten (as their class sizes haven't increased as fast as their super-charged applicant pools), high school seniors work themselves into a lather when they see schools with what were (and are) middling reputations turning down 60% of their applicants. One hears from the next generation many tales of how much harder it is for them (likely every next generation has and will), but in this case, I think they have the facts on their side.

The geese have returned to the cove. Each season has its wonders here, and among those fall brings is the cacophonous arrival of geese. As I wrote this, a group descended noisily and distracted me from this post. And so I'll now pay them heed and wish you a good day.

Geese in the distance

Some More Thoughts on Kavanaugh

I look forward to the Kavanaugh vote, and I will accept the vote of the Senate however it turns out. This has been an entirely unsatisfactory period in our nation's history, and I look forward to its diminishment.

As I think about this whole sad and sordid affair, a number of things kept coming to mind, and I'll lay them out in no particular order. But the sum total of them has led me to be far more sympathetic to Kavanaugh than I would normally have been.

--This has never been about Kavanaugh, sexual assault, or teenage buffoonery. It has always been about Roe v. Wade and any attempt to make it about anything else is disingenuous. The left sees Kavanaugh as a potential fifth vote to whittle away at abortion rights, and they went to the mattresses in order to stop him. This includes willful manipulation of Professor Ford and her narrative and evidence.

--The degree to which the press has served as an advocacy arm of the Democratic Party in this sad affair cannot be overstated. There simply was no equality of effort in questioning the narrative of Professor Ford and the narrative of Judge Kavanaugh. Ford was believed, Kavanaugh was not, and it was open season on Kavanaugh. Ford's many, many, many inconsistencies, her failure to share even the evidence she had, and the indisputable lack of any corroborating witnesses--were never as interesting or salacious as the drinking habits of entitled young white men.

--The President's actions -- especially his performance at a rally the other night -- has been predictably gutter and utterly representative of this immoral and unethical man. That more Republicans did not vocally chastise the President is unfortunate, and unfortunately also predictable.

--The plain truth is that if the White House had pulled Kavanaugh's nomination, or if Kavanaugh had dropped out under this onslaught, a terrible precedent would have been set, one that would be more injurious to our Republic than the lifetime tenure on the court of a man who had been accused without evidence. The effort to get him to derail him guaranteed that a vote would occur.

I received a note the other day from a fellow Field Marshall in the #antiTrump movement who was dismayed at the degree to which I was not repudiating the GOP on its conduct in this matter. I reminded him of my lifetime disdain for the Democratic party and its tactics, and I pointed out that one of the things that he and I had been so vocally protesting--the destruction of political norms-- by Donald Trump, was EXACTLY what the D's were doing now with a wrecking ball (the media) at their control. I don't think the D's calculated the degree to which their efforts would cause a re-forming of the pre-Trump coalition on the Right. Don't get me wrong. I will not and can not every vote for Trump again, and I will not be a Republican while he and his ilk are ascendant. But they have the better of this argument and that's where I am on this.

Trump's Troubadour Wonders Where the Virtuous Politicians Are

Before the 2016 election, I did not know who Salena Zito was. Through the primary and since, I have come to know her as a sort-of "Jane Goodall" of TrumpAmerica, only in this case, the anthropological case study not only catalogs the society under review but acts as its truth-teller and advocate. Ms. Zito has a new column up at the Washington Examiner entitled "The Politicians We Deserve", and it caught my attention on a quiet Sunday in the late stages of our Republic.

Ms. Zito begins the piece with a paean to former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, who virtually every squishy, RINO, establishment, GOPe kind of person (like me) had hoped would someday run from President. The man was as Reagany and George W. Bushy as you could get, and those are great qualifications in my book.  In 2011, he ultimately decided not to, citing among other things, family concerns including the ups and downs of his marriage. Zito recently interviewed him, and he indicated that were he faced with the same decision today, not only would he not run, but the decision would be a no-brainer, the intimation being that the changed political climate including personal destruction was to blame. Zito sums it up thusly: "Daniels’ decision as a possible presidential candidate was a very high-profile example of when good men and women decide not to run for office, not because they aren’t capable, not because they lack leadership qualities, but because of the personal cost to their lives, reputations, and their family’s stability."

Zito's piece continues: "One of the most common complaints heard on the campaign trail in 2016 was this: Of all the inspiring, hardworking, bright men and women in this country, how did it come down to a choice between two people who were not exactly the paragons of virtue?" She goes on to answer her own question: "The answer two years ago was that people in this country had such a low viewpoint of government and institutions, it was hard to get good people to be willing to be involved because they lacked faith to get involved. In retrospect, two years ago may seem like a kinder, gentler time. Today, given that character assassination comes first, and facts come later, why would any good person jump in?" And "But in this age of vicious politics, good people will step back and refuse to upend their personal lives because the other side politically is set on winning at any cost"


I don't even know where to begin to unpack this. This woman who has spent a good part of the past two years attempting to normalize and legitimize not only the vicious and vindictive statements of the President-- but also in soft-pedaling the degree to which his supporters lap it up and internalize it--is all of a sudden lamenting the lack of good people willing to get into politics? Forgive me, but maybe I'm having a memory lapse. Did a former two-term governor of Florida not run in 2016? Did a former tech CEO not run? Did a brain surgeon not run? Did Senators from Florida and Texas not run? Were the sixteen others who ran somehow not virtuous enough? And was not every single one of these others (and at least one wife thereof) not savaged in personal ways by the man who eventually won? Remember-this wasn't "the other side". This was Donald Trump, running as a Republican, burning the crops in the fields as he roamed to the cheering and applause of the people Zito lionizes.



Does Zito REALLY think that if Mitch Daniels threw his hat in the ring in 2016 things would have turned out any differently? I mean--there was no more establishment guy around than Mitch Daniels--and I mean that with esteem and admiration. "Mitch the Knife" was the King of Cutting Entitlements and budget discipline. Trump and his followers want nothing to do with cutting entitlements, and they would have cheered and applauded while Trump turned his carnival act on Daniels, who is I think two or three inches shorter than "Little Marco" Rubio. My problem with Zito here is not that she is wrong in citing this as a problem, it's just that she is the absolute wrong person to point it out, as closely identified as she is with the defense of Trumpism and its adherents. Trump and Trumpkins did not invent the politics of personal destruction, but the degree to which they participate in its practice and defense is fundamental to the movement and its narrative.

Big Fat Friday Free For All

We live in troubled times, and I fear our nation is sick and broken. My day was a busy one yesterday, and I tried to use the busy-ness as a means to foist off the ubiquitous images coming from Capitol Hill, in which a group of people utterly certain of their priors preened for the cameras while a woman told a horrible story implicating a man who says it didn't happen. I was not totally successful in avoiding the horror, but I did manage to limit its impact on my already diminished capacity to watch the country devour itself in tribal displays. I have generally been optimistic about the future of our country, but the last two years have taken their toll on that optimism. What is most depressing about where we are is the degree to which people now question personal motives behind political ideas, while ignorant of their own horrible, tribal biases. I don't know how this ends, but I am not hopeful.

I have another busy day today, one capping off in a drive to Kitten #2's school to watch her play field hockey. She plays lacrosse in the spring, a sport I prefer. That said, as field hockey games tend to be low scoring affairs, there is often a good bit of tension as to the outcome. Afterward, she and I will drive back to Easton, an hour or so of me doing my best not to poke knitting needles into my eardrums to end the pain of the music she likes to play. I am that guy, but only on internal monologue (I have been told that voicing these objections is not welcomed by one's children). Every single damn song sounds like the one before it; monotonous, folksy, earnest. Blech. 

The Kitten and I have been solo for a couple of weeks, with Kitten #1 off on a gap-year Outward Bound course in the wilds of North Carolina and Kitten #2 off at school. I have to say that I've enjoyed it and am looking forward to more of it. The passage of the seasons was marked last night in our kitchen as the two candlesticks/white candles that sit atop our kitchen table during the fall and winter returned to their positions. No friend of fall and winter, the Kitten rages against the dying of the light by eating dinner aided by these candles. I like candlelight, and so look forward to the change. It won't be long until the gas fireplaces we installed during the renovation six years ago will be fired up, and I'll have my favorite little spot back by the fire in the kitchen for the mornings that I am at home, with two slumbering black labs nearby and occasional intrepid visits by the cats.

Every five years I am charged with rallying the Lenape High School Class of 1983 for our reunions, and this being one of those five years, I have been at this. Thirty-five seems like an odd number (not just mathematically) to celebrate, but we'll gather nonetheless. The event is a virtual copy of #30 which makes everything much easier. October 20th is the date if you are hoping to attend, reach out to me for details.

The big news in my life is that I am considering ending my 25 year relationship with America Online (AOL). That's right, I still have an AOL account (email only). The Kitten and I were chatting last night about the list of automatic payments that so effortlessly fly from our treasure each month, and after her list I laid out mine, which included AOL. She brutally brow-beat me on this, and my only defense was that of clinging to something old, familiar, and comfortable. This morning, I've begun the process of getting a new personal email (gmail) account and will take a hard look at these auto payments that desperately need pruning.

My beloved Cavaliers venture into my ancestral homeland of central North Carolina tomorrow at a gaudy 3-1 to face the undefeated Wolfpack of North Carolina State. It looks like something positive is happening with the Hoos this year, and I'll search the various forms of connection I have with the world to see which might bring me this game. Further to my previous paragraph, we have DirecTV, and pay an enormous fee each month for a thousand channels I do not watch. But when the Hoos are on Big Ten TV--well, I get to watch! The Kitten suggests that we might have a more restrictive (and cost effective) plan, but I have been unable to bring myself to shed the giant menu of unwatched fare.

A good weekend to you.