Notes and images from desert life (in Doña Ana County, NM) and other political and cultural observations, including reprint of weekly Sunday column in the Las Cruces Sun-News.
Monday is September 11th.
It is a date like December 7, and perhaps November 22 or August 6.
Sixteen years later, it cannot just be said. By 2033 will young
folks say it as easily as they say November 22 or August 6?
Memories force themselves on anyone
older than 19. After that surge of vivid memory, we reflect.
September 12th
That morning I was in the Library of
Congress. Someone suddenly announced the library was closing.
Didn't announce there'd been an attack, and that Congress – a block
away, connected by underground tunnels – might be a target. But
word spread.
The traffic jam was exceptional. Even
on my motorcycle it was tough going. For days, military helicopters
roared above us. At supper that night, from a rooftop restaurant, I
could see smoke still rising from the Pentagon. Early the next
morning I rode to the monuments. Streets empty. Just cops and
soldiers. I photographed the Lincoln Memorial at dawn, sans
sightseers and joggers, just Lincoln, long shadows, and a janitor
pushing a broom across a huge marble step.
The U.S. then attacked Afghanistan.
For no particular reason, we also attacked Iraq, which had nothing to
do with Osama bin Laden and (despite Saddam Hussein's viciousness)
was an obstacle to the spread of Iran's influence.
Neither war has ended. Will we still
have soldiers there in 2033?
It was obvious that destroying Iraq
would create more terrorists; and it has. The “nation” had been
shaped to suit the British. Ethnic and religious tensions would
obviously explode into civil war if Saddam's strong and ugly hand
were removed. And the Russians had demonstrated the difficulties of
war in Afghanistan.
We were in the throes of hysteria.
The destruction of the World Trade Center shocked us. Like someone
who's been mugged by people from a different ethnic group, we had to
struggle with the temptation to assume all Muslims (or all Arabs, or
all foreigners) meant us harm. It wasn't so. ISIL and most of the
terrorism carried out in the name of Islam during the past 16 years
has victimized fellow Muslims. Meanwhile millions of Muslims live
among us as quietly and productively and “American” as anyone
else. They worship the same God as Jews and Christians. (Quran or
Bible, old words in each can be misread to authorize terrible
things.)
Now?
We are sensibly more alert. Modern
technologies make us vulnerable. Anywhere, anytime, we could be
attacked by some deranged person. Modern weapons mean such attacks
can be deadlier.
Most others around the world have it
worse. Most have never formed the false sense of security our wealth
and geographic isolation have given us.
September 11th was and is a
test. Heroic efforts by people risking their lives to save others
was a great start to passing; but the longer-term test is to love our
country enough to hold to its ideals when the going gets tough.
We have been proud that our democracy
served as a model throughout the world, and that we were a refuge for
the persecuted and the unfree. Justice and tolerance are easier when
you're wealthier than anyone else and seem immune to attack. They're
harder to maintain when your pockets are emptier and your world seems
dangerous.
Is it easy to maintain our ideals?
No. Maybe it's easier to circle the wagons and hate anyone outside.
Harder to extend a hand to strangers. Well, marriage, child-rearing,
and living a good life take work too. But they reward us. Let the
heroism some showed then inspire us all to go above and beyond in
little ways.
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[The column above appeared this morning, Sunday, 10September2017, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and on KRWG's website. A spoken version will be aired during the week by KRWG and by KTAL-LP FM.]
On the 97th Anniversary of
women's suffrage in the U.S., two 97-year-olds, speaking on
consecutive nights, reminded us – more with their lives than their
words – of the importance of standing up against intolerance and
hatred.
Sunday, lifelong resident J. Paul
Taylor spoke. He embodies ethnic mixing: his Scotch-Irish father and
Mexican mother raised a fine young man who taught generations of
kids. Then, at 66, he started a nearly two-decade career as the
Conscience of the Legislature. He's always stood up for tolerance,
equality, and freedom. He still does.
Monday . . . Imagine a Jewish French
girl living near the German border during World War II. She and her
family suffer much as France surrenders and Germans occupy her town –
and the rest of France collaborates with the Nazis. She trains as a
nurse. Risking their lives, she and her family hide refugees, and
help them navigate the European version of the Underground Railway.
When France is liberated, she joins
the French Army, at 24. A captain learns she speaks and reads German
fluently. She has blonde hair and blue eyes. She ends up in
Intelligence, volunteering for repeated missions across the border
into Germany. (Only women can do this: posing as a male German would
fail, since any young male would be in the army.)
Sounds like a movie. Not something
you go into the Rio Grande Theater to hear the heroine describe.
Marthe Cohn's book, Behind Enemy
Lines tells a hell of a
story. Not without humor. As when she describes waiting with an
older French guide for nightfall, so that she can cross when the
German sentries won't see her. He tells her a lot about his wife and
family, then, with a strange smile, says, “'You may die tonight.
Why don't we have a bit of fun?” But, she tells us more than 70
years later, “that wasn't on my agenda.”
Across
the border, she mingles with Germans as a German nurse seeking her
lost fiance, a German soldier. She learns much about German troop
movements, information that saves lives and helps shorten the war.
When she's offered a chance to go home, she declines. Her mission
will only end when there's an Armistice. She asks only for a
bicycle, having walked many miles.
She
falls in with some Germans. One SS officer boasts of his atrocities
and brags that he can smell a Jew from a mile away. When he suddenly
faints, she nurses him back to health. Grateful, he invites her to
visit him at the Siegfried Line. Several weeks later, she tries, but
some German soldiers tell her that the entire area west of Freiberg
has been evacuated – and ambushes await the Allies in the Black
Forest. She manages to get this critical information into Allied
hands. (Fortunately, the first tank that shows up is French, since
she has not yet learned English.) “That is what they gave me all
those medals for,” she tells us, gesturing at the long table on
stage.
With
occasional help from her husband, she tells us her story. She speaks
with charm and wit, and a surprising command of the English
vernacular, referring to “mom-and-pop stores,” and of soldiers
“taking me for a bimbo,” and using such words as “newcomer,”
“rickety,” and entailed.” (She learned English after the war.)
Marthe
was pretty then. She's magnificent now. Like J. Paul, she speaks
with humility and grace.
Both
articulate a message still painfully clear: if we do not each
do what we can against hatred and injustice, the fight could be lost.
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[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 3 September 2017, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and KRWG's website. A spoken version will be aired by KRWG several times this week, including twice on Wednesday, and by KTAL-LP 101.5 FM on Thursday.]
[Much thanks to Dr. Richard Hempstead for alerting us to Ms. Cohn's imminent appearance here -- and treating us to seats; thanks to Rabbi Bery Schmukler and the Alevy Chabad Jewiosh Center of Las Cruces for arranging Ms. Cohn's appearance; and thanks to Cynthia Garrett and the others who organized the annual birthday fest for Mr. Taylor.]
Marthe Cohn signs a copy of her book - Rio Grande Theater 28Aug2017
J Paul Taylor - "Happy Birthday!" SNMFRM 27Aug2017
[To anyone who objects that Ms. Cohn's conduct is much more "heroic" than J Paul's, I'd agree -- as, I'm sure, would he. But the coincidence of hearing moving speeches by two admirable 97-year-olds on consecutive days was irresistible; and both speak to contemporaneous concerns, to which their own lives and spirit are highly relevant.]
Sometimes we change our minds about
people; or the people change. Or both.
I knew Garrey Carruthers slightly in
the 1970's. He was a business professor and chaired the State
Republican Party. I was an antiwar rabble-rouser, then a reporter.
We didn't particularly hit it off.
I lived elsewhere when he was
governor. After I returned to Las Cruces, and he sought the NMSU
Presidency, I wrote against choosing him. Nothing personal. He'd
apologized for Big Tobacco, and was sticking his head in the sand
about global warming; and he'd likely stress corporate and military
stuff rather than arts and sciences.
Soon after he got the job he appeared
on my radio show. We talked for an hour. Agreed about some things
and disagreed about others; but collegially and somewhat candidly.
Later, someone at Corbett Center
overreacted to students protesting the National Security Agency.
Alan Dicker held a sign pointing at the NSA recruiting table reading,
“If you want to work for Big Brother, apply here. The next day,
another student dropped a copy of Orwell's 1984 on NSA's table
outdoors. Both students were arrested. Which I thought violated
their free speech rights.
Representing the students, Mike Lilley
and I contacted Assistant General Counsel Lisa Warren. We said that
we could and would sue, and spend a lot of everyone's time and NMSU's
money litigating what seemed to us an obvious violation. Or
University and students could collaborate on rewriting the campus
free speech rules and educating staff on the law.
NMSU (Carruthers) agreed. As
I wrote then, the resulting Free Speech Task Force was a
delightful, cooperative experience. If you'd walked in during a
meeting, you would have had a hard time figuring out which half of
the members the University had appointed and which the students had
appointed. If NMSU Police Chief Stephen Lopez saw a way we should
state a free-speech right more clearly, he said so. If I saw
something that was good for free speech, but might have negative
side-effects on NMSU, I pointed out the problem.
Carruthers backed us wholeheartedly,
helping shepherd the new policy through the administrative process,
including Regents' approval.
It's been a tough time to preside over
a public university. Dwindling funds and a short-sighted governor
have exacerbated problems most colleges and universities are facing.
I lack sufficient knowledge to assess Dr. Carruthers's performance in
detail; I've heard things anecdotally. I like his readiness to jump
into a frank discussion with people, whether they agree with him or
not. He has substantial relevant experience, as NMSU student,
professor, dean, and now Prexy. He's likely a fine fund-raiser, with
varied contacts; and his openness to discussion probably means he can
not only raise funds from wealthy conservatives and corporations but
from more progressive entities.
So, why didn't the Regents decide not
to renew his contract? Ageism? Can't be poor performance. Sure
ain't because they want someone more liberal-arts oriented. The
Regents likely don't share my view that, except for the Ameresco
energy services contract, NMSU has been lousy on environmental
matters.
Or did Susana Martinez get her
appointed board to slap Carruthers down because he'd spoken up for
NMSU when she was having a hissy fit and not funding universities?
(Yo, that's his job!) Or has she whispered she'd like a highly-paid
gig after 2018, increasing her state retirement benefits?
Hope not. Unlike Carruthers, she
can't get along with people who aren't obedient; she holds petty
grudges and acts on them; she has no experience teaching at or
running a university; and she's screwed up her current job six ways
from Sunday.
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[The above column appeared in the Las Cruces Sun-News this morning, Sunday, 27 August, 2017, as well as on the newspaper's website and KRWG's website. A spoken version will air several times this week on KRWG Radio, and on Thursday on KTAL-LP, 101.5 FM.]
[I note the high praise for Carruthers
expressed recently by Bill McCamley, Mary Kay Papen, and others
who've had a better chance to observe Carruthers. I share their
concern that even if there's no plot to put Susana in Garrey's seat,
the Regents should not be turning a cold shoulder on Carruthers
because he spoke up for the University against Martinez's blanket
veto, and implicitly criticized her by noting he'd raised taxes as
governor when it appeared necessary.
I'm not suggesting we canonize
Carruthers; but I recognize that most of what I oppose in him is
stuff these Regents probably like. I'm not happy about NMSU's
development plans East of town; but that's me, and I recognize that
his plans may be pragmatically in the best interest of the
University's long-term finances. If Carruthers still isn't sure about global warming or thinks it's fine to deal with Monsanto, we still disagree and I still think those are important issues; but it isn't as if the regents share my concerns. Their secret reasons for sending him off into the sunset, IF they do so, are likely not that he's insufficiently concerned about the environment.]
[Meanwhile, between my writing of this column and its publication, the Sun-News has also editorialized on the subject and the Board of Regents plans to discuss the issue Wednesday morning and revisit Carruthers's future, (probably at about the time I'm discussing the issue with Bill McCamley and others on my weekly radio show). Since donors reportedly have also expressed the kinds of concerns the legislators, the Sun-News, and I have expressed, I'm hopeful the Regents will rethink this one.]
I think I understand why revulsion at
Trump's comments on Charlottesville is so universal.
Trump's “both sides are wrong”
response didn't shock or surprise me. Local Republican County Chair
Roman Jimenez's vicious writing didn't surprise me. Why would they?
But Trump is suddenly isolated,
deserted by business, the military, and other Republicans. Jimenez
has resigned under fire. Republican fire.
A book review helped me see why
this week's events elicited such a strong, universal reaction: what
we saw dredged up distant images locked in all our hearts because
they were so unthinkable.
The book review mentioned conductor
Arturo Toscanini getting beaten up by Nazi thugs in Berlin in 1931.
One of many harbingers of what was to come.
We have a president who encourages
violence. He plays to his audience by urging security to beat
protesters at rallies and by urging police to bang black arrestees'
heads against the hard steel roofs of police cars. When his
supporters do violence, he can't criticize them unambiguously. Nazi
wannabes shouted slogans against Jews. A nutcase from Ohio drove
into a crowd of people. Trump doesn't see the problem.
He can't unambiguously criticize an
insane and homicidal supporter. The victims were asking for it. Were
both sides guilty in the Miami nightclub shooting, because gay people
were dancing with each other in public? Democrats condemned the
shooting of Republican Congressmen at a baseball practice. I loathe
Steve Pearce's politics, but I'd sure stop someone from shooting
bullets at him if I could!
If a Muslim nutcase had driven that
car, Trump would rail against Muslims. But the White Supremacists
who egged this guy on? They were Trump's first supporters.
Even Republicans are appalled. Even
many conservatives are speaking out.
On the radio a black woman says she's
surprised not by the racism but by the Quad Cities speaking out
against that racism. She never saw that while she was growing up.
She felt good seeing white faces at a protest. In Doña
Ana County, Jimenez's extreme rhetoric is suddenly unpalatable to the
people who had made him their leader.
Why? Because a dangerous buffoon as
Chancellor, with thugs who support him beating people, feels eerily
familiar.
Whatever our political or social
views, we do not want that Nazi world. Trump and his supporters
have trod too close to indelible images from history carved somewhere
deep inside us: photographs from the Holocaust, Nazis kicking a
pregnant Jewish woman's belly. (I also recall TV footage of skinny
little black girls being escorted to school by the national guard, on
a sidewalk lined with jeering white adults.) Whatever our beliefs,
we know we do not want a world like that.
Trump is not Hitler. He's a
narcissist who's lived a privileged life. He has no strong political
views. He's greedy, shallow, and self-absorbed. He hasn't Hitler's
sharp focus or deep hatred. Trump looks down on blacks, but has no
desire to eradicate them. Particularly if they stay in their place.
And our middle class and lower-middle
classes aren't (yet?) nearly as shell-shocked as Germany's were
during the 1930's. Yeah, the last few decades have about made the
middle-class an endangered species, widening the vast inequality
between rich and poor and pushing more of us toward that latter.
But
things aren't as bad as they were in Germany.
We have a long democratic tradition.
Germany didn't.
But historical repetitions need not be
precisely identical.
The young woman murdered in
Charlottesville posted online that we must speak up against hatred,
that failing to speak was to support it.
It's heartening that so many are
speaking out. This time.
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[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 20 August 2017, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and KRWG's website. A spoken version will air during the week on KRWG and on KTAL-LP, 101.5 FM.]
[If it isn't clear what I'm saying and what I'm not: it feels dangerous to have a fellow in the White House spewing violent thoughts and encouraging the more vicious among us; when thugs do pro-fascist violence, he basically smiles upon them; and that can't help remind anyone who's old or has read any history of Germany in the 1930's. Not an appetizing prospect. I'm not saying Trump is Hitler; but if a man drives a car into a crowd because he's too busy looking at himself in the mirror to concentrate on driving, the people he kills are just as dead as if he'd planned it all out carefully. Same with our democracy, already under threat by Citizens United, Koch Brothers, ALEC, and the rest. That is, there are dangers here. Bad things are happening and more could be in store. There are a lot of reasons -- the responses of our business and military leaders, our democratic history and traditions, Trump's basic incompetence, and above all the fact that such a vast majority of people loathe Trump -- to hope nothing so vile as happened in Germany will happen here; so I don't believe anything similar will happen here. But most Germans couldn't have imagined what occurred there. I don't think we'll descend to that level; but I do think every thinking person of good will needs to pay attention and speak up. Hitler was even more marginal than Donald Trump when he started. Folks didn't suppose either would become their nation's leader. These are troublesome times, which I believe we'll survive -- but not if we sleep.]
[Saturday, as I was copying this column into my blog, I ran across these statements by U.S. Senator Ben Sasse (R-Neb). And although he and a couple of other prominent Republicans may be angling for visibility in a possible post-Trump Presidential race in 2020, similar sentiments seem widespread right now.]
My Sunday column a few weeks ago discussed Colin Kaepernick, and the NFL's informal blacklist of him for kneeling during the national anthem and making comments critical of our government and police -- and the history of both.
“Therewill be no footballin the state of Georgia if Colin Kaepernick is not on a training camp roster and given an opportunity to pursue his career,” said Gerald Griggs of the Atlanta NAACP at a Friday press conference, via fox5atlanta.com. “This is not a simple request. This is a statement. This is a demand.”
“Kaepernick engaged in a silent, non-violent protest,” says Senior Pastor Deblaire Snell of the First SDA Church in Huntsville, Alabama. “He did this to raise awareness to the number of brown and black individuals that have been beaten and killed at the hands of law enforcement across this country. Since the end of last season, as a result of this protest, Colin Kaepernick has been unable to find employment in the NFL. I find that strange, seeing that the NFL has employed individuals that have been convicted of sexual assault, domestic violence, cruelty to animals, along with driving while under the influence. A number of NFL owners have come out and stated the reason they cannot employ him is because of a fear of a backlash from sponsors or a certain segment of their fan base. And it’s interesting that they’ve capitulated thus far to a certain segment of the fan base while fearing no backlash from the African-American community. . . .
“My belief is simply this. If Colin Kaepernick was willing to take a stand for those of us who are non-celebrities that would have to interact with law enforcement on a day-to-day basis, if he’s willing to take a knee for us, certainly we ought to take a stand, and stand with him.”
Over the balance of the video, various others explain that there will be a refusal to watch the NFL, a refusal to purchase NFL merchandise, and a refusal to participate in fantasy football.
“We want you to know this protest is not anti-flag, because people of color love the Stars and Stripes,” says Dr. Leslie N. Pollard, president of Oakwood University. “This protest is not anti-American, because people of color have loved this country, even when this country has not loved us back. And this protest is not anti-veteran, because we support those who have made sacrifices so that our liberties have been secured. This protest is to ensure the rights of all Americans regardless of color and creed to be heard.”
previous update:
I felt, as others do, that Kaepernick was a sufficiently good quarterback that he should have been hired this offseason well before quite a few QB's that teams hired or retained. Without rearguing that, this post will note additional developments and contain links to some stories on those. This week, those include a couple of other prominent players who failed to stand for the national anthem before preseason games recently. Saturday, star running-back Marshawn Lynch sat before his first game as a Raider. Sunday, Seattle Seahawks' defensive end Michael Bennett, some of whose comments appear below, did the same.
Seahawks' head coach Pete Carrol didn't even realize until after the game that Bennett had sat during the anthem. A Seahawks' official said he was fine with Bennett's action "as long as Michael is preaching love and not hate." On Saturday, Lynch, Bennett’s former Seahawks teammate, sat on Oakland’s bench eating a banana during the anthem.
I’ve been thinking about sitting during the national anthem, especially after everything that’s been happening the last couple weeks. It’s just been so crazy right now, and I felt like the conversation wasn’t over. I know it offends a lot of people, that’s why I kept it straightforward. I love America, I love hot dogs, I love everything about it.
I thought about it right up to the beginning of the game, and finally decided not to stand because it just felt right.
Everybody’s supportive as usual, because people know I genuinely care about people and care about the way that the world is.
Not a lot of people are willing to stand up and say what they believe in. [N]ot everybody is willing to say that they hate injustice. It’s kind of one of those things where you’ll be ridiculed if you bring something like that up in any place, so it’s hard to do. I think I’m just a regular human being that’s wiling to be vulnerable in that way.
I really had to think about what I was doing. It was one of those things like, ‘Yeah, you’re really doing it. You’re really putting yourself out there to be attacked. You’re really stepping out. Are you ready for what’s going to happen? Are you ready for what people are going to say?’
So far, everything’s been positive.
Going forward, I want to continuously just push the message of equality.
My goal, my hope, is more action. Say less, do more.
(Twitter/@DennisTFP)
I think I’m at the point where spiritually, this is what you do. You dedicate your life to helping make change and using your platform to do it. You continuously have to be on that path to keep going, challenging yourself to do it. I think I’m inspired to keep doing more, even with all the hate going on. I’m inspired to keep trying to make a change.
I know some people won’t like it, but that doesn’t bother me. It’s a part of life, I think. Everybody’s going to attack you. If you’re in the game, you’re being attacked. I think being a sports star, you need to learn about fans, learn about people. The ups and downs of people, their beliefs – people feel one way one day and then change the next day. Sticking to who you are is, I think, the most important thing.
For me, I think wanting to make a difference started as a kid. I was always helping around, help doing things. I was on my grandpa’s farm, just doing stuff for the community. I got it from my parents. I think growing up reading about Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi and all these people, it really helped me cultivate what to do with my platform.
I always looked up to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Bill Russell, John Carlos. All these guys do so much.
Now I look at Colin Kaepernick and all these people who do so much in the community and raising the bar of what we can do as athletes and what we can do as people. Do we forget our story and our journey and recreate who we are? Or do we connect our story to where we are now to be able to give other kids opportunities?
People want to keep you on the field. Everyone cares about what you do on the field and not what you’re doing as a man or a father or a person. Every question is about sports and sometimes it can get annoying because you can kind of lose your identity within sports.
When you get in the position on a platform where you get a chance to give back and create opportunities for others, that’s where I want my legacy to be. Over the last four or five years, my story has been shared more than in the past. I want to create opportunities for others. I want to raise the bar about what we can do as athletes and people. I think that’s where I want my legacy to be.
People are inspired by each other and want to help each other, and I think that’s the message that I really want to speak to clearly. It’s about how do we connect with each other and remember that we’re all people, and we all want to be a part of this great thing we call life, and this great thing we call love.
Texas limits deer-hunting to certain
seasons, but is making it open season all year long on Latinas
without papers.
SB4 makes it criminal for a police
chief or sheriff to direct officers not to ask for people's papers.
Latinos and law-enforcement are united
in opposing this bill.
The Legislature ignored State Rep.
Mary Gonzalez's moving plea not to pass this vicious and misguided
bill. She too had been raped. A painful public admission. She made
the obvious point that discouraging victims from reporting rapes and
other crimes tells anyone contemplating such conduct that he probably
can get away with it.
Already, reports of rapes have
declined significantly among Latinas, while reports from others are
increasing. And it's not just rapes. A group of teenagers confessed
(or bragged?) that they targeted Latinos because “they don't call
the police.”
Since potential criminals don't
necessarily know who has papers, crimes against Hispanic citizens,
legal residents, and illegal residents will all increase. But so
what? They're brown, and they're in Texas.
As the Texas Major Cities Association
(TMCA) argues, cops “work extremely hard to build and maintain
trust, communication, and stronger relationships with minority
communities through community based policing and outreach programs.
[Laws like SB4] that push local law enforcement to take a more active
role in immigration enforcement will further strain the relationship
between local law enforcement and these diverse communities.”
This at a time when distrust and poor
communication between cops and minorities is literally killing
members of both groups. Why would a witness without papers answer
questions about a cop-killing in Dallas? They know the cops aren't
protecting them. Cooperating
could not only spark retaliation by the killers but get them
deported. (Would the cops actually deport such a person? They 'd
not want to; but would a witness take the chance?)
SB4 exposes Republican “law-and-order”
talk as empty rhetoric. The TMCA op-ed added, “if we don't arrest
criminals who victimize our immigrant communities, we allow them to
remain free to victimize every one of us.” Houston Police Chief
Art Acevedo tweeted, “Violent crime is on rise across our Nation &
some would rather men & women in blue go after cooks &
nannies, instead of hardened criminals.” TMCA suggested that a
real effort at decreasing immigration would go after businesses that
hire immigrants.
Although Governor Abbott says it's
about public safety, law-enforcement officials are nearly unanimous
in strongly opposing this bill. Cops know how things work on the
street. SB4 adds to their problems and dangers. But it fits the
anti-immigrant hysteria, and the Republican ideology. Who cares
about the people it hurts?
Who cares about anything sensible when
hysteria takes over?
The famous wall, if ever built, would
accomplish little, but would hurt the economy and ecology along the
border, divide communities, and cost a fortune. Just the threat of
it may be dampening cross-border trade.
Smart folks outside the U.S. are
already trying to replicate Silicon Valley, hoping that tech-savvy
folks from other countries will feel more comfortable bringing their
talents to somewhere that isn't in a panic against “furriners.”
I understand Trump's position. He was
never as popular as he wished, and now he's screwing up all over the
place. In traditional fashion, he's distracting us with convenient
scapegoats. The same tactics work well in Texas.
Studying facts and making reasoned
decisions was never as popular in government as it should have been;
but Trump's legendary disdain for truth and facts seems to work, so
why wouldn't small-minded Texas legislators emulate him. I hope New
Mexicans won't.
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[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 13 August 2017, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and on KRWG's website. A spoken version will air several times on KRWG Radio, and possibly on KTAL-LP, 101.5 FM.]
[Here's part of what State Rep. Mary Gonzalez said: "To my friends on this floor, if you ever had any friendship with me,
then this is the vote that measures that friendship. That you can vote
for this amendment, then you think it’s OK for women, for children not
to be able to go to law enforcement and be protected in their most
vulnerable time in their lives. That you’re willing to take that risk,
then I hope you never talk to me again, because this is people’s lives."There’s been a sharp drop. In rapes and sexual assaults alone, the
reduction has been 42.8 percent, while the rest of the community, the
numbers have gone up. The same holds true, to a lesser extent, I think
about 13 percent increase, with a decrease for all violent crime.
"And, you know, that’s the unintended consequence. When you start
trying to create the perception that front-line law enforcement
officers, who should be focused on public safety, are now going to
become ICE agents, you cannot argue with the
fact that it’s going to have an impact. Perception matters. And the
perception that SB 4, and the debate leading up to this law, has created
is that we are going to be required to be immigration agents, which
that’s not the truth. I mean, that’s not a fact, but it doesn’t matter.
You cannot—we just can’t seem to convince the immigrant community that
they need not to fear us."]
[Here's a link to Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo's press conference. (I'm proud of my former law school classmate, Houston Mayor Silvester Turner, for whatever part he played in making this guy chief.) The New Yorker quotes El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles as saying, “It’s kind of amazing that, during the initial hearing, the senators
had all these chiefs and sheriffs from across Texas speaking against the
bill—and they totally ignored the people in law enforcement,” adding that his
alread overworked officers are “too busy to waste their
time doing another agency’s work.” He also noted that the new law made this "[T]he only area
where one of my officers could now be allowed to go out there and ignore
his own bosses is on immigration. It’s crazy.” Republican supporters of SB 4 are doubly hypocritical: they're not only interfering with police when they're the loudest at screaming "Support your Local Police," they always preach "decentralization," but only practice it when they feel like it. As Acevedo told The New Yorker, “Texas
politicians always complain that Washington is trying to dictate to them
how to do things. Now they’re turning around and doing
the same thing to the cities in their own state.” Further, since police in most of these cities already asked about immigration status if it was material to an investigation or with regard to someone arrested, the effect of the change is to specifically targets witnesses and people reporting crimes. Victims. I'd sure appreciate that if I were a criminal in Texas!]
If no one hires Colin Kaepernick, I
won't watch professional football this year.
Some readers are now angry at me.
Many others may wonder what a Kaepernick is.
Colin Kaepernick is a quarterback. He
did some marvelous things as a San Francisco 49er. Then the team
committed suicide by getting rid of a great coach, Jim Harbaugh.
Kaepernick got injured. He recovered and played fairly well on a
terrible team. No one knows whether, on a decent team, he could now
revive the greatness he showed during the 'Niners' Super Bowl season.
Last year, Kaepernick (who looks to be
of mixed race, and was adopted and raised by a white couple) took a
knee during the pre-game national anthem.
He did so to
affirm, “Black Lives Matter.” They do. All lives matter, and we
shouldn't need to be reminded of that; but saying it, specifically
about black lives, also matters, because our society hasn't always
thought so -- and still sometimes seems to find them less significant
than white lives.
No one needs to say “White Lives
Matter.” “Blue lives matter” too. Black lifes have often
seemed to matter least. Blue lives have always gotten plenty of lip
service from politicians but are too easily dismissed; and if you say
black lives matter, you should also note that blue lives do.
Many have said that Kaepernick, making
a professional football player's salary, should donate money to
nonprofits working to improve things. He does.
After last season, San Francisco
parted ways with Kaepernick. Teams with excellent, proven
quarterbacks have a good football reason to ignore him.
But given his skills as a quarterback,
the game's key position, at least half the teams in the NFL should be
quite interested in hiring him, as starter or backup. This summer
teams have hired or retained many QB's far below Kaepernick in
ability, accomplishments, and winning probability.
The reason he's still available is
painfully obvious. Even Donald Trump has told the NFL not to hire
Kaepernick. One owner admitted that Kaepernick's politics were the
problem, while another owner (whose coach, Jim Harbaugh's brother,
John, wanted to hire Kaepernick), asked the public to “pray for us”
then vetoed the hiring.
Teams say the kneeling “is a
distraction.” But coaches from San Francisco say it wasn't a
distraction there. A couple of players kneeled with Kaepernick
instead of standing for the national anthem. Most players didn't.
Coaches confirm that there was no locker room distraction. And Kap
has said that if he gets a job this fall he won't be kneeling during
the anthem.
I enjoy watching pro football, though
less than when I was younger. But it is sort of militaristic, and
has been somewhat racist. All teams other than Green Bay are owned
by obscenely wealthy individuals or by corporations. I don't agree
with all the league's policies. Yet I've kept watching.
In sports, athletes' skills and
competitive drive should matter most. Unless a player's laziness,
undependability, or selfishness impacts the team's spirit and
cohesion, put the best on the field. Whatever color or religion or
nationiality they are. Whatever their beliefs. Particularly when
the NFL has a history of ignoring wife-beating and drunken driving
and battery offenses when committed by successful or promising
players. If punishing a freethinker or thoughtful dissenter is more
important than playing the best football you can, count me out.
I know I'm pretty insignificant. I
know the NFL ain't gonna miss one old guy in southern New Mexico with
his back steadfastly turned to the TV Sunday mornings. But it's my
turn to take a knee.
-30-
[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 6 August 2017, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and on KRWG's website. A spoken version will air periodically during the week on KRWG Radio (and on KTAL-LP, 101.5 FM.]
[The last few days have brought additional copy on Kaepernick, including a piece on the Baltimore debacle and a job opportunity Kap still might get.
"Colin Kaepernick is widely considered to be worthy of an NFL contract, but the former 49ers quarterback and social activist is still unemployed.
"With Joe Flacco injured, the Baltimore Ravens are in need of a quarterback. But they won't sign Kaepernick, and it's not a football decision.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and general manager Ozzie Newsome would like to sign Kaepernick, "but have met resistance from owner Steve Bisciotti," according to Dianna Russini, who also reports that this is not the first time that an NFL team has wanted to add Kaepernick only to be blocked by the owner.
"It's the first official report of the league black-balling Kapernick after he protested the National Anthem last year in San Francisco.
"Instead of following the wishes of the team's head coach and GM, the Ravens opted instead for former arena quarterback David Olson, whom they released after just three days. The Ravens then signed Josh Woodrum, who went undrafted out of Liberty in 2016.
"Behind Flacco, Baltimore has quarterback Ryan Mallet -- who has struggled early in training camp -- Woodrum and Dustin Vaughan on their roster."
Richard Sherman
Seattle Seahawks' wide-receiver Malcolm Baldwin:
"My original position was I thought that the situation last year with him taking a knee didn't have anything to do with it," Baldwin said. "After viewing what's going on, I've got to take that back. I definitely think that the league, the owners are trying to send a message of, 'Stay in between the lines.' It's frustrating because you want to have guys who are willing to speak out about things that they believe in, whether you agree with it or not. But I think that's definitely playing a role now moreso than I thought it was going to."
The Seahawks remain the only team that even brought Kaepernick in for a free-agent visit, but the team elected not to sign him.
Baldwin said Kaepernick's play is worthy of a job in the NFL.
"If you take a step back and you look at the overall picture, there's a lot of teams in this league that could use a quarterback of Colin Kaepernick's ability," Baldwin said. "And why he doesn't have a job, it's very telling to me. He's a very capable player. There's a lot of teams out there that need quarterbacks -- whether they're a starting quarterback or a backup-caliber quarterback. The fact that he hasn't been brought into camp yet is questionable."
That sure didn't sit well with some law-enforcement officers I know; and while there's more than a grain of historical truth to the spirit of that tweet, it's probably not helpful in trying to solve the problem. It could help inflame some dangerous minds; but then again it could help someone think about how things look from the perspective of some black folks. Whether you agree or disagree with Kaepernick, though, in my mind ill-judged tweets shouldn't make him unemployable. After all, it's not as if he were looking for a job as U.S. President!
You can read Whitlock on Kaepernick at any of the Internet sites for which links are listed here. ]
[note added 10August:] My wife says NPR's football commentator said much the same as I've said here; and a late-July pice by Jarrett Bell of USA Today notes that Dan Orlovsky had become the 24th QB, mostly backups, signed by an NFL team this offseason. As he notes, Kaepernick quarterbacked a team to a Super Bowl, while Orlovsky was a QB on the Detroit Lions the year they went 0-16. He notes too that last year, on that lousy San Francisco team, Kaepernick had 90.7 rating as a passer and a 16 to 4 TD to touchdown to interception ratio. The 90.7 is nothing stellar; but on a poor team, which means he's not getting the best pass protection or receivers with the surest hands, it's not bad, not is the touchdown to interception ratio. Other mediocre QB's signed this offseason include Ryan Fitzpatrick (69.6 rating, lowest in the league, on the Jest last year), Blaine Gabbert (whom the 49ers benched last season to play Kaepernick), and Austin Davis, whose such a nonentity as QB that I don't even remember who the hell he is!]
