Sunday Morning Coming Down

Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business and degenerates into a racket according to Eric Hoffer. This is why we have  regular elections and is a serious reason for democracy.  Unfortunately electing folks is becoming much more of a business than it should   Over this last electoral cycle I have heard it said  that the function of political parties is to win.  I guess politics and jobs are joined at the hip. If everyone is so dissatisfied why are incumbents reelected often with no opposition. Eric Hoffer was on to something.

Open carry of guns is now allowed at the University of Texas.  I remember the Day of Charley Whitman in the Bell Tower.  August 1, 1966 , he killed his mother wife and fourteen others.  A former Marine sharpshooter's rampage ended as he was killed by police. I doubt that Charles Whitman is the reason open carry of guns is allowed on campus. Fifty years is a long time ago.  Today a lot of undergrads are carrying around large sex toys.  The chant is "cocks not glocks". It will be interesting to see how this goes.

The Republican Party was anti slavery during the Civil War.  I'm not sure what the current Republican Party in the State of Mississippi thinks about slavery these days.  It's not that important because slavery was outlawed by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.  During the Civil War it was the Democrats that wanted to protect slavery in the Confederate States.  The State of Kentucky ratified the 13th Amendment in 1976, while the State of Mississippi waited until 1995. The Republican candidate for president may be changing his positions on immigration and lots of other policy issues.  In what may be just more political expedience which is almost a given in general elections, it is almost impossible to reconcile the positions taken during the primary contests and the latest speeches given by Republican candidate. Winning or losing this election may be less important than another realignment by the political parties.  The last eight years have been mor...

I am really having a difficult time trying to connect small government Republicans and their presidential candidate's outreach to African Americans,and the candidates dog whistle about law and order and rigged elections. If it is reaching outreach to college educated Republican women, I don't get that connection either, same small government issues again.

Riding buses in Miami during the summer can be a very sweaty experience. The buses are air conditioned and it is a relief to finally get on one that isn't very crowded.  Ridership goes down during the summer.  MDTA in an effort to make the bus riding more pleasant has installed an air conditioned bus shelter  in Hialeah.  It has bench space that accomodates four and standing room for 11.  MDTA leadership calls it prototype.  The cost is about $65,000. I hopes this works but I have my doubts.  For the same reasons that there is a need for guards at Metrorail stations and trains, the transit police will need to patrol that bus shelter.  I can only imagine the issues with folks sleeping at that bus shelter.  In the short term it is difficult to believe that it will get people out of there cars to increase ridership enough to make a profit on that route and the way things are accounted for more riders means the transit system loses more money...

J.D. Vance wrote Hillbilly Elegy and I just finished reading it.  The reviews for the book have been positive and it is #3 on Amazon's List of Best Sellers.  Mr. Vance's writing is interesting and timely for those trying to explain aspects of American life.  I lived for about one year in Morgantown, WV and that experience was enough to make me cough up cash to buy the book. A memoir at age 31 is probably a little bit early in the game for anybody but I have to admit the guy's story is interesting.  His family story is confused(probably an understatement by me) as most single parent families are and he was fortunate to have grandparents to pick up the pieces as necessary.  Four years as a marine were another form of institutional support that happened at the right time  The proverbial fork in the  road and he seems to have made the most of it. A bright ambitious kid can finish college in less than four years.  The jump from The Ohio State Uni...

I've lived through Hurricane Andrew and I believe it is time for President Obama to visit Louisiana to see the damage done by the recent floods.  If that means he has to cut short his vacation, as a 7th grade teacher said: "Tough toenails, you grew em, you chew em." The golf games, summer play lists, and the rest of the stuff you might want to do might need to be put on the shelf. My limited experience with FEMA tells me they will never have enough oversight and this disaster warrants a Presidential visit.