Me and the President's Men

As this is published, the Honorable Donald John Trump is being sworn in as the Forty-Seventh President of the United States. Most of you will be glued to your screens to watch the formalities, even those who came from out of town to see it before it got moved indoors (for the first time since Reagan's second inauguration forty years earlier).

I remember the first time I met Donald Trump -- well, sort of.

Along the stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue, in Washington DC, is the Old Post Office and Clock Tower. Construction began in 1892, and was completed in 1899, and was the main post office in the Nation's capital until 1914. In recent years, after being saved from near destruction, the government made numerous attempts to find a sustaining purpose for the building. None seemed to work.

Then in 2013, Donald Trump wanted a hotel in the heart of the city. And he wanted it to make one out of that historic building.

But first, he had to go through a government agency known as the General Services Administration (GSA), which is the building manager, purchasing agent, and IT acquisition manager of the Federal government. It is also where I worked for more than forty years before my retirement in July of 2022.

No, I've never mentioned before, in public social media, where I worked in the federal government. Yes, because I'm retired, it can now be told.

I was with the communications staff of GSA. By the early 2010s, I had already transitioned from graphic design and publishing to video production and photography. The leasing of the historic building to "DJT Holdings LLC" was to be highlighted by a grand ceremony involving the turning over of the keys. After spending over an hour convincing a bunch of rent-a-cops that we belonged there, we started setting up cameras and microphones and the whole nine yards. It was a hot summer day, which didn't make it any easier.

As preparations began, there he was along the mezzanine, speaking with three of the men for whom I worked, all of whom stood there, as mesmerized as I might have been. There I saw a man, the author of "The Art of the Deal" and as big as life, a man sure of his destiny in life, a destiny that called to him to grab unto himself that which was his. I never was impressed with his television appearances on "The Apprentice" or anywhere else, but seeing him there was enough to convince me, that yes, he was larger than life.

I operated the camera in front of the podium. I also did the editing of the video you see here, and worked with Judy, who did the voiceover, and with whom I got it uploaded to the server just before the deadline.

Fast forward to 2016.

The race was between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. I didn't care for either of them. A wise priest told me that "the lesser of two evils is still an evil." And after years of choosing between an unsuitable candidate, and an uninspiring candidate, I was considering staying away from the polls that year, abstaining from the first presidential election since I was eligible to vote in one in 1976.

But fate intervened, and I found myself five hundred miles west of my precinct on Election Day, to bury my mother, who had passed into eternity only two days before.

It so happens that the GSA, however obscure to those not on the federal payroll, has a little-known but very critical role during the change of the executive office of the President. After an election, the Administrator of General Services has the power to determine, as a matter of statutory law, and in advance of formal determination by the Electoral College, the presumptive victor of the presidential election, followed by the handing over of any funds or facilities necessary for the transition to complete its ... well, transitioning.

It is rarely a controversial matter, except maybe once.

I was a graphic designer (or "Visual Information Specialist GS-1084") for most of my career, beginning in December of 1980. After completing diploma studies for Web Design and Interactive Media at the Art Institute of Washington from 2004 to 2009, I learned that my agency did not require an additional web designer after all (so I didn't complain that they paid for most of it). Meanwhile, I learned that animation software (Adobe After Effects) was very similar to video editing software (Final Cut Pro, later Adobe Premiere Pro). I had also studied photography in college, so that was my way into a new field. Eventually, I was transferred to Video Production (as an "Audiovisual Production Specialist GS-1071").

My director assigned me to be vetted by the US Secret Service, and I had access to the secured wing of our building that was used by the Transition. I was told to wear a suit every day (which I would have done anyway). I had to have special identification card to wear, opposite the agency credentials, to wear within the secure area, and to hide the minute we left said area, so as to avoid surprise inquiries from the press (and until then, admonished only to say "no comment").

One of my first assignments was to photograph the provisional office spaces for the President-Elect, the Vice President-Elect, and the "First Spouse" and "Second Spouse." Yes, they each got their own, whether they used them or not. During this time, I was given my own personal Secret Service agent. His name was Steve, he wore tactical gear, and he carried a really big gun.

The Vice President-elect and his wife eventually used their offices. The other couple, not so much.

The President-elect must appoint several thousand men and women to various policy positions throughout the executive branch. The key apppintees -- those who would head the various cabinet departments and agencies -- must be approved by the Congress. Their previous official portraits might contain backdrops that render them unsuitable, so they must have new ones, with only the American flag in the background. That's where my director and I came in.

And so, I got to meet some of the key appointments, at times even being practically alone in the room with them.

Among the first was South Carolina Governor Nimarata Nikki Randhawa Haley, aka Nikki Haley, as Ambassador-designate to the United Nations. She was the most distant of all of them -- my director took care of her, while I adjusted the lighting -- and she had the largest entourage of all of them, at least three staff members, and two plainclothes South Carolina state troopers. The police guys were pretty cool, the others eager to please en route to the UN. But to her credit, shw was also the most photogenic -- my director said she practically took her own photo.

I did the official photos of so many of them, but a few out of all of them were memorable.

There was General John Francis Kelly, USMC, as Secretary-designate of Homeland Security (later White House Chief of Staff). He noticed the Eagle Scout insignia on my suit lapel -- yes, I made a point of wearing that one -- which he was quick to notice. He pointed to it and told me "that's a really big deal." After the session was done, he made his selection, and said it again: "That's a really big deal."

I didn't know what he meant at the time, but it occurred to me later. In some branches of the Armed Services, Eagle Scouts get a bump in rank by the time they complete basic training. And why? Because they know stuff before they even get off the bus; how to pack gear, how to hike, how to set up camp, how to track, how to cook meals in the field, how to shoot guns, how to treat basic wounds, how to carry the wounded, how to jump in water over one's head to save someone else's life, all the while risking one's life, and so on.

Yeah, that is "a really big deal." I thanked him for that.

Then there was Rex Tillerson, Secretary-designate of State, and former President of the Boy Scouts of America (2010-2012). I would seldom speak to the subjects unless spoken to. In this case, when it was over, I leaned in and said: "From one Eagle to another, good luck, sir." He responded with that characteristic Texas drawl. "Yeah, it sure meant a lot to me back then."

Most of the appointees were just here for the day, and would be shuffled from one meeting to another, and I was lucky to get five or ten minutes with them, not a lot of time for do-overs. I didn't need do-overs. But there was one notable exception.

No, not for do-overs. Bear with me.

James Richard Perry was the immediate past Governor of Texas, and Secretary-designate of Energy. He noticed my lapel pin immediately, came up and shook my hand, and identified himself as a brother Eagle. We spent at least five or ten minutes just comparing notes, how his Class of 1965 was the last class of Eagles without the mandatory service requirement, how mine as one of the Class of 1971 would never pass muster today, that the National Council of BSA realized they couldn't buy the kind of publicity these service projects gave them. He was sincerely fascinated by this.

After the session was over, he wanted to see my camera. I thought he wanted to pick his choice. No, he wanted to check out that big 200x piece of glass I had for a lens. It seems that photography is another of his hobbies. So we talked about that too. I don't know how he finds the time.

When was leaving the secure area for my office, I saw him rush past members of the press waiting by his car without comment. To think that he was unable to spend a few minutes with them, in favor of talking to a nobody like me.

What a stand-up guy!

It all came to an end on the 19th of January, when my final assignment was as photographer for the Vice President-elect's final press conference before his inauguration. In the months and years that followed, I heard from other Trump appointees, of how my reputation for my work was to my credit, and that of my agency. That stayed with me, and kept me going, all for a career change in mid-life that I entered "through the back door," learning along the way, and learning from some of the best and most patient men and women on the federal payroll.

I also remember what Tucker Carlson once said about Trump in his book Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution

Trump’s election wasn’t about Trump. It was a throbbing middle finger in the face of America’s ruling class. It was a gesture of contempt, a howl of rage, the end result of decades of selfish and unwise decisions made by selfish and unwise leaders. Happy countries don’t elect Donald Trump president. Desperate ones do.

In retrospect, the lesson seemed obvious: Ignore voters for long enough and you get Donald Trump.

I retired at the end of July of 2022, but of all the experiences I ever had, all my accomplishments, all my memories, the aforementioned remains to this day on the short list of the most memorable. My only regret is that my mother and father were not alive to hear me tell of it. After all, I worked alongside men who would go on to make history. Not too shabby, don't you think?

Or don't you?

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Childermas Reconsidered: My Important Year

“You’re beginning something pretty important, and it will be forever.”

On this day in 1954, actor Denzel Washington, professional wrestler Lanny Poffo, and magazine editor and morning news anchor Gayle King, were born -- as was yours truly. Shortly after seven in the morning, at Saint Ann's Infant and Maternity Home on Cleveland's east side, I came into the world. About two weeks later, already settled into the second floor of a modest duplex apartment, I received my first letter.

Saint Susanna Rectory
500 Reading Road
Mason, Ohio

January 8, 1955

Master David Lawrence Alexander
875 Helmsdale Road
Cleveland, Ohio

Dear Davie,

Before this letter arrives, you will have been welcomed many times. I wish to add my voice to the chorus of welcome however.

You're beginning something pretty important, and it will be forever. You've got a big job to do, and that is to save your immortal soul that the Good God has given you. Dad and mother will help you in that, and will consider it their most important duty and privilege, which of course, it is.

But God will likely expect more then usual from you. You see, you have very good stuff in you, and that makes His investment pretty heavy and serious. So you'll have to do more than most others because of your rich endowment.

But despite the fact that you mommie and pop are pretty high class folks, even they have their shortcomings. Take dad for instance. Somehow or other, dads have a way of wishing their sons were big guys before they are. And so they treat them kinda rough some times. If he gets to throwing you up in the air and catching you, just to make you rough, you better explain to him that you do not approve. The first way to do that is to cry real loud. Sometimes that does the trick; but not always. Then you have to use stronger measures. For instance, sometime when he has a nice clean shirt on, and he gets a bit rough, just throw up on that nice clean shirt. That, Davie, will do it! If even that doesn't cure him, I guess you'll have to write me for further suggestions.

And now, Davie, if there is any time that I can help you to straighten out either dad or mom, just drop me a line, and I'll be glad to do what I can for you. And be sure to give them my best regards, and congratulations too on your safe arrival.

Faithfully yours,

[Father] Charles J Murphy

I still have the letter somewhere, amidst a host of memorabilia, papers, magazines, pamphlets, photographs -- things that seem worthless to anyone but whomever collected them. They are the things that trigger the memories, that tell the story, somewhere between the lines that are their pages, and the dust that collects thereupon.

My Favorite Year

Life has its own challenges at the age of sixty and beyond. One is past the point of building a life, and the focus is on how to spend its last years gracefully. This year, at the age of sixty-two, I am officially eligible to collect Social Security. However, I'd have to quit working full time in order to do that, and my benefits would be reduced.

But there will be no retirement at the end of this year. In fact, 2016 has probably been the best year of my career. After more than thirty years as a professional graphic designer, I made the decision seven years ago to switch to videography. One condition was to also serve as a photographer. Another was to risk failure, but that was less certain than the risk of mediocrity. Three and a half years ago, I was officially reclassified, from being a "Visual Information Specialist GS-1084" to an "Audiovisual Production Specialist GS-1071." And with the most recent evaluation, I went beyond a "Satisfactory" rating of "3" to a "Highly Satisfactory" rating of "4" on a five-point scale. When I was in college, I wanted my graphic design career to specialize in multimedia. The only problem was, the thing that I wanted to do hadn't even been invented yet. The merger of art and technology took nearly four decades for me. Far from slouching into obsolescence, I am at the very height of my career. A prediction of two years ago is continuing into fruition.

While the year has seen discoveries, and rediscoveries, there were sacrifices that had to be made, disappointments endured. They will be the subject of a piece to be released as the year draws to a close.

And so it goes.
 

Childermas Reconsidered: Turning Sixty

“You’re beginning something pretty important, and it will be forever.”

On this day in 1954, actor Denzel Washington, professional wrestler Lanny Poffo, and magazine editor and morning news anchor Gayle King, were born -- as was yours truly. Shortly after seven in the morning, at Saint Ann's Infant and Maternity Home on Cleveland's east side, I came into the world. About two weeks later, already settled into the second floor of a modest duplex apartment, I received my first letter.

Saint Susanna Rectory
500 Reading Road
Mason, Ohio

January 8, 1955

Master David Lawrence Alexander
875 Helmsdale Road
Cleveland, Ohio

Dear Davie,

Before this letter arrives, you will have been welcomed many times. I wish to add my voice to the chorus of welcome however.

You're beginning something pretty important, and it will be forever. You've got a big job to do, and that is to save your immortal soul that the Good God has given you. Dad and mother will help you in that, and will consider it their most important duty and privilege, which of course, it is.

But God will likely expect more then usual from you. You see, you have very good stuff in you, and that makes His investment pretty heavy and serious. So you'll have to do more than most others because of your rich endowment.

But despite the fact that you mommie and pop are pretty high class folks, even they have their shortcomings. Take dad for instance. Somehow or other, dads have a way of wishing their sons were big guys before they are. And so they treat them kinda rough some times. If he gets to throwing you up in the air and catching you, just to make you rough, you better explain to him that you do not approve. The first way to do that is to cry real loud. Sometimes that does the trick; but not always. Then you have to use stronger measures. For instance, sometime when he has a nice clean shirt on, and he gets a bit rough, just throw up on that nice clean shirt. That, Davie, will do it! If even that doesn't cure him, I guess you'll have to write me for further suggestions.

And now, Davie, if there is any time that I can help you to straighten out either dad or mom, just drop me a line, and I'll be glad to do what I can for you. And be sure to give them my best regards, and congratulations too on your safe arrival.

Faithfully yours,

[Father] Charles J Murphy

Sixty is the new forty.

Parade magazine recently broke the big news of a generation, that life really begins, not at forty, but at the age that everybody with an unpublished thought claims only seems like forty. Or something. We examine it more closely as we read the signs of The Times. For example, there's the one in New York ...

Yes, my generation, born between 1946 and 1964, has physical concerns: Friends are dying, joints are aching, and memories are failing. There are financial issues, with forced retirement and unemployment, children needing money and possibly a bed, and dependent parents. But for many of us, it is a psychological quandary that is causing the most unpleasantness: looking around and suddenly being the oldest.

Every generation gets old, but for those who were told we’d be forever young, it just seems more painful …

... which comes off as only so much self-indulgence. One is more inclined to identify with the voice of a similar name in London.

And please, can we stop this “60 is the new 40” thing? No one is saying 20 is the new 10. And who wants to be 40 anyway? An insipid, insecure age.

They're right.

I remember turning forty. I had been divorced two years earlier, and was only then getting used to the solitary life on my own terms again. I wouldn't return to that era even if it did buy me another twenty years on this earth below. The office environment had become thoroughly dysfunctional, my supervising official was an alcoholic and a sadist who made my life absolutely miserable, and who fooled everyone with a title (rather easily, I'm sorry to say) into thinking nothing was amiss. They would learn differently only five years later, and my view of management was forever changed (the details of which will find a proud place in my memoirs, or my retirement luncheon, whichever comes first).

I remember turning fifty. Sal and I were sitting in an Irish bar in Cincinnati. We were in town for her to meet my family. My life, for the first time in what seemed like … well, ever, was more or less where I wanted it to be. And where I was, was a helluva long way from forty.

I remember turning sixty. Or at least I will. But how, exactly?

It is when reading the New York Times piece, that part of you wants to say, oh, cry me a river already! And then you remember that you're actually talking to yourself. Yes, "my generation, born between 1946 and 1964," really didn't want to end up like our parents; old, in the sense of being "old-fashioned," confined to the rocking chair and decrying "these kids today." But you really can't help it, because "these kids today" really are a pain in the ass. You see it in the workplace. Not only do they not show much respect to their elders, but they really don't see the point of it. They are younger, brighter, prettier, more enlightened, and in many cases, they outrank you. What more could you ask of a generation?

At the place where I work, I am older than most of the people I see in the office, in the hallways, in meetings. The exceptions are almost all of Senior Executive rank, which I try not to think about, since over the years, people who couldn't organize a sock drawer have assured me that I have no future in management (and looking at them, I can see why). I have a son who's older than one political appointee or another, any one of whom could very well feel obliged to explain to me how the world works. It doesn't actually happen to me personally, but I know it happens to others. Alas, many of the Enlightened Ones will be replaced in two years, by those who appear even younger, but who are not, because I got older.

To reach sixty is to know that your own mortality is just around the corner. People get heart attacks at this age. Even the annual issue of Esquire magazine, the one devoted to maturing through the decades of life, concedes that after your fifties, "you're on your own." For me, going back to "the Latin Mass" was a sign of getting on in years, when after seeing "folk Masses" consisting mostly of aging adolescents trying to hang on to the unattainable, one is even less tolerant of anything with the appearance of novelty. Who wants to remember, or be remembered for, the things that pass like leaves in the wind?

Finally, and as can be discerned from the above, to reach sixty is to no longer care so much what others think of you, secure in the knowledge that, even if you had to, the die that is you has been pretty well cast by this point, and the world is going to have to live with it, if only for a little while longer.

The above being said, one can enter the later passages of life gracefully. Witness a certain Phyllis Tucker-Saunders of Newark, New York, for whom time will not slow her down. And there are so many others, who can look in the mirror and say, well, at least I still have my health. I can say that as well, up to a point. I have a herniated disc that got a good dose of Cortizone back in 2011, and there is the occasional flare-up of arthritis in my knees. I cannot walk for great distances without a cane, and even a minor back injury prevents me from being able to stand on a moving bus. So I have a cane with me, and I have to sit down.

And I'll still take to the hills around Mount Rainier when I tour the northwest. It's harder now than a decade ago. Still ...

On the other hand, people keep telling me (and without any prompting) that I really don't look sixty. Sal assures me of the same thing -- with my hat on.

The Road Not Taken -- Yet

It is the point in life when the light at the end of the tunnel that is retirement looms ever larger. They tell you to start planning for the inevitable, and so I shall. The soonest I would ever retire from the government is the end of 2020, when I will have just turned sixty-six. But even then, I imagine I will continue working for several more years.

And why wouldn't I?

When I was in college studying graphic design, I wanted to pursue an academic minor in multimedia. But even though I learned to use simple video equipment, and made a couple of animation films, what I really wanted to do with my life hadn't been invented yet. In the coming year, I will return to my studies in web design and development. I also found the sort of curriculum that is suited for my needs, not to mention my budget. Between that and a growing aptitude in video production, and I can finally say I have reached that goal of forty years ago, the marriage of art and technology. My next few years in my evolving profession could very well be my finest. I was always a late bloomer anyway.

And so it was, that after the Latin Mass today, for which I was the Master of Ceremonies, the sacristan dragged me to the rectory basement to help her bring my present upstairs. I tried really hard to act surprised by what I found as a turned the corner, really I did.

And so it goes, turning yet another corner, on to the next decade.
 

Shutdown: What It Is, What It Ain’t

This past midnight, the United States government not only did not have an annual budget (and has been without one for the last four years), but also lacked what is called a "continuing resolution," that to which Congress and the President agree as a means of operating at "present spending levels" for a specified time of up to, but not usually, a fiscal year. This short-term fix has kept the nation's government operating for at least four years. But after continued parlays from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, and (when it comes down to it) both sides of the political aisle, the luck ran out.

This morning, all federal employees deemed "non-essential" were required to spend up to four hours on duty for "shutdown operations," after which they were sent home. They will get paid for those hours -- eventually. Once a budget or continuing resolution is passed and signed by the President, all employees will return to duty. Whether they will be paid retroactively is a separate decision made by the Congress. In the past, they have done so, but the present general sentiment indicates that they most likely will not. (Relax, all 535 elected members of the legislature who have been dicking around for the past four years are considered "essential." They will get paid on time, if they have to run the presses and print more money by themselves.)

Now, I know what at least one of you is thinking: “Dude, we never know the difference when [begin dripping sarcasm] non-essential workers [end dripping sarcasm] are sent home for a few days, or a few weeks, so, like, um, why should we care? You should suffer just like the rest of us.” My initial response would be thus:

You're an idiot.

That's right. You merely think there's no difference, as long as your Aunt Minnie still gets her Social Security check on the same date every month, and you yourself are not otherwise inconvenienced. Tell that to the war veterans who literally tore down the fences blocking the World War II Memorial today (with the help of at least two members of Congress), because all national parks are now closed. You gotta hand it to them; at this age, these old grunts haven't lost their touch. Meanwhile, dear old Auntie will get her check -- eventually. You see, the money may come from a separate fund, but most of the people responsible for processing it have just been sent home, you big dummy! So you may have to float the old gal a few hundred until the unpaid masses yearning to assist you get to return to their jobs and do just that.

Now that I've got what's left of your attention, let's take a closer look at that, using big words that you'll have to read slowly, to see how some of you will be inconvenienced.

FINANCIAL SERVICES. The Small Business Administration will stop making loans, federal home loan guarantees will likely go on hold, and students applying for financial aid could also see delays and backlogs in applications.

HEALTH CARE. The National Institutes of Health will stop accepting new patients and delay or stop clinical trials. Medicare and the Veterans administration will continue paying out benefits, but new filers could face delays and doctors and hospitals may also have to wait for reimbursements.

PUBLIC SAFETY. The Environmental Protection Agency would stop reviewing environmental impact statements and food inspectors would stop conducting workplace inspections unless there is an imminent danger. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms could stop processing applications for permits.

SECURITY AND TRAVEL. The Department of Homeland Security would suspend the E-Verify program, which helps businesses determine the eligibility of employees, creating hiring delays. The State Department will also likely halt new passport and visa applications.

PARKS AND RECREATION. The National Park Service sites and the Smithsonian Institution will be shutdown. During the 1990s, 368 sites closed down and approximately 7 million visitors denied entry.

DISASTER RELIEF. In preparation for a potential shutdown, the Utah National Guard is holding off on sending a team to help rebuild areas in Colorado devastated by massive floods last week. More National Guard engineers are desperately needed to repair major roads and bridges in Colorado. Roughly 240 Colorado National Guardsmen currently working on flood missions are also in danger of losing funding.

NUTRITION FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN. Though food stamps will still be available in the event of a shutdown, the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program, a service meant to help new and expecting mothers and their young children get nutritious foods, will not. If a shutdown lasts for more than a few days, the roughly 9 million Americans who rely on WIC could see their assistance dry up, leaving them food-insecure.

The article at ThinkProgress.org couldn't be more biased against Republicans for allegedly causing this, as the party that didn't control both houses of Congress when the no-budget scenario began, doesn't have one of its own for President who won't sign it without that which most Americans do not want. and didn't have one of its own say that "you'll have to pass the bill to see what's in it." All that aside, the above is a pretty good indication of what you will be missing until this is straightened out. Granted, some things will be missed by some people more than others. But a great portion of the population will be at least mildly inconvenienced while its tax dollars are not at work, including anyone with a government contract that's waiting for their business to be conducted smoothly. That last one will hurt the small businesses the most.

All the crybabies who think they can get along without the government, still want to feed from the federal trough. They are used to it. The most ardent Tea Party member wants their Medicare and Medicaid benefits. They paid for them, right? Well, yes, but you also pay for people to make sure you get them. You also pay for the federal government to swoop down on your little hamlet if there's a tornado, even before the governor of your state can ask them, which is required.

And last but not least, federal employees pay for the same things, with taxes, just as you do. They often get much of the blame for that over which they have absolutely no control. This brings up one more subject. Salaries and benefits are a substantial percentage of a state budget, but only a fraction of a percent of the federal budget. The savings to the federal debt incurred by three years without a cost-of-living increase for federal employees, will amount to about one-fourth of one percent. The woman who once told me -- in full view of Twitter, of all places -- that federal workers should suffer like others do is an ill-informed little twit! What possible benefit will come from wishing ill on people who try to make an honest living? If she can think of one, she can tell it to Federal defense worker Rob Merritt, a husband and father of four, who would have gone bankrupt from a furlough due to medical bills from heart surgery.

(As for me, I am one of the lucky ones. I have a contingency in place, so there will be no "tin cup rattle" campaign at this venue anytime soon, at least not to pay my mortgage.)

What can you do about what's wrong with Washington? Hold your elected representatives accountable. Quit re-electing the same bozos every time they want to keep their miserable job with exorbant benefits, and exemption from many of the laws they pass (including the Affordable Care Act, aka "Obamacare"). That goes ditto for you idiot Republicans in Arizona who keep sending that geezer John McCain back to Washington. For pity's sake, stop making that poor old man think he's indispensable, and let him retire in peace.

That, and quit crying to me about it. We get the leaders we ask for, the leaders we deserve. That means you, too, buckaroo!
 

A Prayer for Government

The following prayer was composed by John Carroll, first Archbishop of Baltimore, in 1791. John was a cousin of Charles Carroll of Maryland, the only Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence.

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We pray, Thee O Almighty and Eternal God! Who through Jesus Christ hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of Thy mercy, that Thy Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of Thy Name. We pray Thee, who alone art good and holy, to endow with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal, and sanctity of life, our chief bishop, Pope N., the Vicar of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the government of his Church; our own bishop, N., all other bishops, prelates, and pastors of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise amongst us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct Thy people into the ways of salvation. We pray Thee O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty. We pray for his excellency, the governor of this state, for the members of the assembly, for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability. We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal. Finally, we pray to Thee, O Lord of mercy, to remember the souls of Thy servants departed who are gone before us with the sign of faith and repose in the sleep of peace; the souls of our parents, relatives, and friends; of those who, when living, were members of this congregation, and particularly of such as are lately deceased; of all benefactors who, by their donations or legacies to this Church, witnessed their zeal for the decency of divine worship and proved their claim to our grateful and charitable remembrance. To these, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, grant, we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment, light, and everlasting peace, through the same Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Amen.

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An observation by our correspondent Tim Ferguson is worth nothing, that Chief Justice John Roberts has become the first man to administer the oath of office four times to the same President. It was necessary to fulfill the constitutional requirements yesterday at noon, as the 20th of January fell on a Sunday, and that the public recreation of the same take place today. Historically, republics tend to endure for little more than two centuries. Inasmuch as this is so, we have been blessed.

So far.
 

Ron Paul’s Swan Song

Congressman Ron Paul, Republican from the Texas 14th Congressional District (Galveston and vicinity), considered by many to be the “intellectual godfather” of the Tea Party movement, recently announced his retirement from the United States Congress. Yesterday, he gave his farewell address, which is shown here. Also available is the full transcript of that address.
 

America: The People Have Spoken ... Right?

One week ago tonight, we learned the results of this year's general election, including that of President of the United States. As forty-eight percent of the population were stunned by the results the following morning, fifty percent of the population were jubilant at what they termed a "decisive" victory. Now, fifty percent is hardly decisive. Neither is fifty-one percent, which is what they had once Florida's votes were counted. As the inevitable appeared likely, Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly had this to say as to why the incumbent would be re-elected.

WHAT HAPPENED (IN A NUTSHELL)?

The white establishment is now the minority ... The voters, many of them, feel this economic system is stacked against them and they want stuff. You’re gonna see a tremendous Hispanic vote for President Obama. Overwhelming black vote for President Obama. And women will probably break President Obama’s way. People feel that they are entitled to things — and which candidate, between the two, is going to give them things?

If one can overlook the ethnic distinctions, which are in danger of having entirely too much significance attached to them, it makes a great deal of sense. The unemployment figures do not always count those who have given up looking for work, and if there are enough of them (and the numbers tend to be disproportionately higher among nonwhites), and if enough of them have given up, they will abandon opportunity for dependency. This is part of the cycle to which we alluded just four years ago at this time.

For most of this week, I have chosen to view the reactions of others to the recent election, and synthesize their opinions of what happened and why, what should have happened, and where to go from here. It was during that time that I discovered this quotation from an anonymous source:

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over a loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through this sequence; from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependency back again into bondage."

In contemplating that passage, I am struck by the process of ascendency and decline, measured as though it were the everlasting series of benchmarks of all empires in our history, as though moving in a circle ...

Meanwhile, there is already a grassroots petition to demand a recount, for all the good it will do, even though there are numerous instances of voter fraud reported in several states, including those by mainstream news sources, such as this one in Ohio by no less than the Columbus Dispatch:

In two counties, the number of registered voters actually exceeds the voting-age population: Northwestern Ohio’s Wood County shows 109 registered voters for every 100 eligible, while in Lawrence County along the Ohio River it’s a mere 104 registered per 100 eligible ...

... and that's just for openers. Personally, I don't imagine the President or his campaign to be responsible for this. They wouldn't have to be, with support at the local and state levels from the Service Employees International Union (you know, those goons in the purple tee-shirts who would beat up people outside of "town hall" meetings), and whatever demon spawn has arisen from the ashes of ACORN. It has also been observed that Obama lost every state that required photo identification in order to vote, which cannot help but say something about the integrity of our voting process. Is it so unrealistic to expect people to prove who they are to vote in an election?

While all that's going on, we thought we'd take this opportunity to look at the why and the wherefore of the results, both the big picture, and the devil in the details.

LOOKING AT THE STATES

The Washington Examiner provided an excellent guide to the ballot counting by state, and the electoral vote. We would be remiss not to acknowledge this resource in reporting our findings.

First, let's look at the nationwide map from more than one vantage point. The first map (in this case, from CNN) is how the results would have looked if only those who paid federal income taxes had voted. We can see that it would have been no contest for former Massachusetts Governor and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. This scenario might lend some credence to O'Reilly's observation, especially when you consider that nearly half the population pays no federal income tax. Or so they tell me.

The second map is which way the states actually ended up going. While the popular vote was 51 percent for Obama to 48 percent for Romney, the electoral vote, that which actually determines the election, was counted at 332 for Obama to 206 for Romney. In the United States, the people do not elect their President; the states do, in the form of electors, representatives of the will of their respective states, apportioned by population. But even this is misleading in terms of where the nation as a whole stood with this election.

(We note the exclusion of Alaska and Hawai'i in our subsequent examples. For what it's worth, the former was overwhelmingly Republican, and the latter was overwhelmingly Democratic, so there you go.)

It is here that we look to how the counties voted, which gives up a more accurate depiction of the mind of the popular electorate. In particular, we will look to three of the "battleground" states; Ohio, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

First, we examine this writer's native Ohio. It is the Buckeye State, above all others, which is arguably the most representative of a cross-section of the nation (or as I used to call it, "the most average state in the Union"). Here we see a state that has long been culturally and economically divided. The northern part of the state is part of the Great Lakes region, with traditional blue-collar industries such as automobiles, coal, rubber tires, steel, and other forms of manufacturing. They would be dominated by the labor unions, whose members traditionally vote Democratic. The central and southern parts of the state are a combination of agrarian-dominated rural and small-town areas, and cities with a balance of white- and blue-collar industries. The southern part of Ohio, in particular, shares a common culture with the South, which in the last several decades has been more conservative, and tends to vote Republican. With the vote from Hamilton County in the southwest corner (which includes Cincinnati) having been swayed to vote Democratic in the 2008 and 2012 elections, it was enough to swing the state's 18 electoral votes (with 50.1 versus 48.2 percent of the popular vote) in favor of Obama.

We see similar dichotomies in Pennsylvania and Virginia. The former is divided between the larger urban centers of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and smaller ones such as Erie and Scranton, all with mostly blue-collar and/or minority populations. The latter is more or less split along the Rappahannock River. To the north is a region largely consisting of non-southerners and foreign-born, who rely on the federal government as a "company town" and want to keep it that way, and so will tend to vote liberal; that is, Democratic. The rest of the state is very southern, ergo conservative, ergo Republican, except for the urban centers such as Richmond and Newport News/Norfolk, which are, in concert with northern Virginia, enough to give its 13 electoral votes to Obama as well.

There is another perspective to our cultural divide that was brought to our attention just recently. “One can drive nearly the entire length of the continental United States in a straight line, over 3000 miles [from Curry County, Oregon, to Granville County, North Carolina], without going through a single county that voted for Barack Obama. North to south [from Divide County, North Dakota, to Terrell County, Texas] isn't even difficult.” Well, the west-to-east route could have been pulled off by angling it just a touch southward towards the end, but you get the idea. The bulk of the Democratic vote is concentrated in the northeast, along the Great Lakes, and the east and west coasts, not to mention the Indian reservations. Virtually everywhere else is distinctly Republican. This is how America is divided; urban against rural, urbane against provincial, liberal against conservative. We are supposed to be united as a country, even after a general election. But with the popular vote split so evenly in the last two elections, we live in what Michael Barone calls "two Americas."

One America tends to be traditionally religious, personally charitable, appreciative of entrepreneurs, and suspicious of government. The other tends to be secular or only mildly religious, less charitable, skeptical of business, and supportive of government as an instrument to advance liberal causes ... The election may be over, but the two Americas are still not on speaking terms.

How did it get this way?

PONTIFICATING PUNDITS

People like Ann Coulter blame everyone but Romney, namely those who were what she calls "purists,"while insisting that everyone should have quit the internecine bickering and go with the most palatable, least offensive candidate from the get-go. She does manage to explain, if badly, why the middle-of-the-road approach did not work in 2012. Yet she and so many others of her ilk neglect to explain why this approach also didn't work in 2008, in the form of the wannabe "maverick," Senator John McCain.

The advocates of a middle-of-the-road Republican candidate, which dominate the party establishment and show no signs of yielding, continue to deny that their approach continues to fail. As Jonathan Last points out:

Romney was an ideological Rohrschach test for voters onto which they could project whatever views they wanted. As such, you can’t really say that they were uniformly rejecting some particular brand of ideology.

Nor can you say that they were embracing one. That's why they call it "middle-of-the-road." It was the downfall of Bush the Younger's legacy, it didn't work in 2008, it didn't work in 2012, and the definition of insanity, where the same thing is tried repeatedly in the hope of different results, would once again prove fatal for Republicans.

Another columnist for the National Review, Kevin Williamson, boils Romney's loss in Ohio down to three things ...

1. Ohio likes crony capitalism. The automotive bailout is popular in Ohio, and not just among self-interested workers and investors in that industry ...

2. Class warfare works. It is juvenile and it is economically illiterate, but a fair number of Americans worked themselves up into a lather over Mitt Romney’s paying a relatively low tax rate ...

3. Repealing Obamacare was not a deal clincher in Ohio. A number of people I spoke to in the state suggested that the Romney-Ryan ticket paid too much attention to repealing Obamacare without spelling out an alternative ...

... the first amounting to borrowing from China to prop up a "too big to fail" industry, the second being a confirmation of how Camille Paglia became disillusioned with Obama, the third underscoring Romney's fundamental weakness: the inability to elaborate on a specific plan, relying too much on that of his running mate (who couldn't very well coach him during the debates, now, could he?).

Then there was the usual canard about playing to the conservative base, the so-called "Tea Party" -- by the way, there's no such thing, as it's more of an idea or a movement, than it is a single, coherent organization -- at the expense of the big tent, the broader conservative constituency; in other words, the country-club-joining, three-martini-lunch-sipping, East Coast banker-and-lawyer types, the aging white guys once known as "Rockefeller Republicans." This old party establishment went out of their way for at least a year to ensure that their man got the nod no matter what enthusiasm any other candidate for the nomination would generate. Don't worry, they'd tell themselves, they'll all say or do something stupid sooner or later.

The thing is, most of them did. On the other hand, none of them ever strapped a dog cage to the top of their car with the dog still in it. In other words, Romney was no more immune from the frailties of the human condition than the rest of them. Many have gone to considerable lengths to describe the Republicans stumbling all over each other, but the most amusing (if only as an acquired taste) came from none other than my son, wunderkind of game design and would-be political wonk Paul David Alexander, a couple of months ago.

At the beginning of the year, it was somebody, ANYBODY but Romney. Romney was a wishy washy twerp who couldn't possibly guide true conservatives to victory. His chief accomplishment in office was Romneycare for [pity's] sake! SuperPACs flooded the campaigns of Gingrich, Cain, Bachmann, Perry -- a different crazy kook every other week, all in the desperate hopes of avoiding what most pragmatic conservative pundits saw as the inevitable. When that didn't work, conservatives pitched a fit and insisted Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Sarah Palin, or the resurrected corpse of Ronald Reagan take a shot at it. When THAT didn't work, every single notable radio/talk show conservative pundit -- from O'Reilly to Coulter to Huckabee to Beck -- insisted that they were drawing a line in the sand. No way, no how were they gonna get behind this guy. They trashed him week in and week out. My, how things change.

And change they did, which actually proves one of two things. Either the GOP should have come to a conclusion sooner, saving a lot of money on the convention and the primary brouhaha, or the party establishment should have gotten the message that maybe the proverbial cat was not necessarily in the bag, that the "least offensive candidate" approach was going to fail -- again. Alas, they didn't get the hint, and they didn't get the White House. Not very "pragmatic," is it? My, how things don't change. (See "definition of insanity," above.)

AND NOW, THE SO-CALLED “CATHOLIC VOTE”

You were wondering when we'd get to this one, weren't you?

The very idea of discussing the Catholic vote, at first glance, is a joke, as ably demonstrated by those on the political left or right who attempt to claim it. The very fact that such a voting bloc can be determined solely along partisan political lines is a perfect illustration of the ideological tail wagging the Catholic dog. Well-intentioned organizations like CatholicVote.org come off looking like neo-conservative front groups, when they draw up litmus tests that read like a Republican scorecard, heedless of such factors as reservations of two popes concerning America's war in Iraq, all in relation to the "just war theory." One can disagree as to whether or not this criteria may apply, and it is not an absolute teaching like, say, abortion, but when a Pope speaks out on it one way or the other, it carries a certain weight -- unless, we can only surmise, it becomes politically inconvenient to do so. (Mind you, their list isn't wrong, merely short-sighted.)

Attempts to explain the Catholic vote are also pointless without certain distinctions being made.

The poll shows that 50% of voters who identified themselves as Catholics voted for Obama, and 48% for Republican nominee Mitt Romney. The CNN poll did not distinguish between active and lapsed Catholics [which, upon doing so in the exit polls] showed a clear preference for Romney (59-39%) among voters who attended church services weekly, and an even more pronounced tilt toward Obama (62-34%) among those who never attended services.

Getting past why an ostensibly "conservative" Catholic source would refer to assisting at Mass as "attending services" (which some of us are old enough to remember never being done), we can see that practicing Catholics vote one way, and non-practicing Catholics vote the other. Otherwise, the above only proves that the Catholic vote is just like the Catholic divorce rate; indistinguishable from its non-Catholic neighbor.

In other words, the Catholic vote is no big deal. It's just like how we don't have the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, but just "attend services." Geez!

WHO LOST?

Besides Romney, that is to say? At least his life will go on, and it's not as if he needs the job. He could retire comfortably for the rest of his life, although he probably won't. Other candidates in recent years have learned their own lessons from losing as well.

One big loser is conservatism in America, and the Republican party in particular. There are fiscal conservatives who are not keen on the social issues, and social conservatives who court the "religious right," but end up being "big government" conservatives when in office. George W Bush was an example of the latter, and to hear some say it, he has yet to live it down. But one segment of the conservative movement is consistently ignored, and has the capacity to both rouse the traditional party base, and win a good share of the young vote. The so-called "granola conservatives" (or as Rod Dreher so ineptly refers to them, "crunchy conservatives") endorse fiscal prudence, social conservatism with a locally-based activist streak, and a foreign policy of non-interventionism, which we may be forced to adapt sooner or later, as we may no longer be able to afford our Wilsonian vision as the world's babysitter. The most viable standard-bearer for this point of view in the 2012 race was Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who has been the laughingstock of his party's establishment, not to mention some of the candidates.

But the really, REALLY big loser in this election year, which may not be apparent for a while, is the mainstream media. Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel assess the bitter fruit of playing the lapdog for the Obama presidency, with so-called journalists resigning themselves to rare press conferences, evasive responses, and being confined to soft-balling questions, lest they appear "rude" to a thin-skinned chief executive.

The media are rooting for Barack Obama. They’re not hiding it.

Consider Benghazi. An American consulate is destroyed and a US ambassador murdered at a time when the president is boasting at every campaign stop that he has crushed al-Qaida. In an effort not to disrupt this narrative, the White House and the Obama campaign spend weeks claiming the incident was merely a protest over a video, rather than a real terror attack. Then intelligence surfaces showing just the opposite: The killers in Benghazi were no street mob, and Obama knew as much from the beginning.

Imagine if George W. Bush, or even Bill Clinton, had tried something like this during a re-election campaign ...

We'll leave the rest to you since, having witnessed Joe Biden's completely boorish conduct during the vice-presidential debate, we know you can very well imagine.

HOPE BREEDS ETERNAL (IF MOMENTARILY ELUSIVE)

Syndicated columnist and Pinay Jersey girl Michelle Malkin found reasons to rejoice over the election, if not at the national level, but at various congressional, gubernatorial, and other assorted victories across the nation, in her "20 things that went right on Election Day." One victory she neglected to mention, probably because the results were not immediately apparent, was that of Michelle Bachmann, once-defeated candidate for the Republican nomination, who went on to regain her seat in the House of Representatives, on behalf of Minnesota's 6th congressional district.

Of course, this also means that I won't be getting any more fundraising e-mails from Madame Congresswoman with the subject heading:

“Stop what you're doing.”
 

Getting Ready for “Frankenstorm”

Hurricane Sandy is due to hit the eastern coastline of the United States as the weekend is over. There are already indications that it could be one of the worst tropical storms in many years. All the way from Maine to Florida, people are stocking up on white bread and toilet paper. There will be massive panic at the gas stations.

(Hey, that reminds me, I gotta get up early tomorrow ...)

This weather forecast from Fox News is from last night. Best we could do.

Here in the Nation's capital, we are expected to get the edge of it (which is bad enough), while people in New Jersey and eastern New York state, on up into New England, will get the worst. Federal employees have already been advised by their agency heads of contingency plans, whether for the reporting of essential personnel to their duty stations, or by means of teleworking from home as long as the power and internet holds up. It's all part of what is called “Continuity of Operations” or COOP. You can rest assured that your Aunt Minnie's Social Security check will be processed and delivered on time. (Trust me, if it wasn't, even the Tea Party would march on Washington.)

Meanwhile, here at Chez Alexandre, we have our hatches battened down. If the power shuts off, the first thing to do is turn on an emergency lamp in the living room. Then the refrigerator is secured with duct tape, to avoid anyone "accidentally" opening it. Even the frozen food can last for at least three days. Finally, in the event that smartphones with emergency battery chargers are the laat line of defense, we here at mwbh central will be monitoring the hashtags "#frankenstorm" and "#sandy" on Twitter, to provide you with continuous coverage of forces beyond everyone's control.

Don't you feel safer already?
 

Your Federal Tax Dollars At Work

Nearly a decade ago, I knew I had gone as far as I was going to go as a graphic designer, at least where I was currently working. So I wrangled my employer into paying roughly half my tuition expenses for diploma studies in web design at the Art Institute of Washington. I completed the course work and was preparing for final review when they told me, we don't need you to do web design, we're outsourcing the back end of that anyway.

So I wrangled them into getting me into video editing. I learned the software, did a couple of assignments, and got a year-end bonus equivalent to one paycheck, which was unprecedented for me, and anyone at my pay grade, for that matter. In the year that followed, they sort of went back and forth on what they wanted me to do. Then they put some sniveling empty suit in charge who came out from underneath his desk when the political execs weren't around and said, hey, we just don't see you doing video anymore, but we need a photographer, so would you ...?

Then, after a year of doing "grips and grins" (and getting quite good at it), they said, hey, we need you to get up to speed in a big way with video editing, and what the hell's taking you so long?

Still wonder why government doesn't work? You don't know the half of it!

So for these past two weeks, I (more or less) successfully produced, directed, shot, and edited my first training video. I can't show it here because it's not final, and it's for internal use only (besides giving away where I work), so here's a sample tutorial of the software I used to get the job done.

After all, who am I to argue with the kind of reasoning described above?