What Can I Say?

There has been yet another school shooting.  There have been so many, it seems that one blends in to the other. I can’t keep them all straight. All I know is that too many children, teachers, aides, administrators, and others have died because apparently, this country values its guns over the lives of children and adults. I am so sad and so angry that I can’t focus my thoughts well. I can’t say it any better than Robert Reich, Heather Cox Richardson, or anyone else. I feel absolutely zero optimism that anything will be done about these deadly weapons, despite words from President & Dr. Biden and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of NY. The National Rifle Association is deep into the back pockets of legislators. Nothing will change until THEIR children are killed in a mass shooting.

I read that Elon Musk of Twitter and other social platforms (like Facebook?) are going to institute or are considering instituting paid memberships. Right now, I’m thinking, go ahead. Start charging. It’s probably time I get off social media completely and find another way to stay in touch with my family and friends. I dread the news: the mass shootings, the latest fascist acts being perpetrated in FL, TX, and other red states, and the latest poisonous spouting of the man who should’ve been in jail by now.

Yesterday was the anniversary of Japan’s gift of cherry trees to the United States. This was in 1912, and the trees were planted around the Basin near Jefferson’s Memorial. I have seen the trees in blossom only twice in all the years I lived in the DC area. The first time, I was about 12 and during spring break, we drove to Washington to see the sights. The cherry trees took my breath away. I had a Polaroid camera but at that time, the pictures were only in black and white. I wished I had a color film camera to capture the beautiful blooms.

The second time was about 30 years later, in 1996. I was working as an interpreter for the Deaf and had become very familiar with the Metro transit system to get around town. My first husband, Rich, and I took the kids to DC during their spring break. We drove to the subway station and parked there. Using the Metro, we could transfer from train to train and get all around town. One of the first places we wanted to see was the cherry trees. 

They weren’t at their peak yet, but they were still pretty. I had a camera with me—one of those Instamatics so that I didn’t have to load the film.  I took lots of pictures on that trip but was only able to find one of the cherry trees.  We spent most of our day visiting the Smithsonian museums.

 

                                           That's my son in the Cub Scout cap

Today is another anniversary: the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in western Pennsylvania.  It led to a partial meltdown that released toxic gas into the air on March 28, 1979.

By unhappy coincidence, I’d just seen The China Syndrome, a movie starring Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda, and Mike Douglas. The movie was pretty darn scary and drastic. What would happen in a total meltdown? Well, everything melts into a toxic kind of lava that releases all kinds of radioactive stuff into the atmosphere.

Now, something like The China Syndrome was happening just hours away from where I lived! For three nail-biting days, my friends and I wondered if the hydrogen bubble found inside would explode and release contaminants into the air. Before this accident and the movie, people thought nuclear power plants were a great idea to save energy. During those three days and afterward, no one seemed to support the idea anymore.  For years, no other nuclear power plants were built. That changed about 10 years ago. There is one in Tennessee now.

Before the week was over, we learned that the bubble wouldn’t cause an explosion and we wouldn’t get radiation poisoning.  Although people around TMI were exposed to some radioactive material in the air, the levels were very low. There were no deaths or injuries. As far as I know, there haven’t been clusters of cancer or other radiation-exposure illnesses.

Ending on a happier note, I submitted a flash memoir to a Writers Advice contest. I just heard back from them, and they requested a bio and an illustration for the story. I have no idea how I placed in it and won’t know anything until it’s announced.  I feel very happy and positive about it.

December 8, 1980

 

On the early morning of December 9, my cousin Anne and I were up early, getting ready for work. I was happy. I’d moved states away from my dysfunctional parents and was living in my grandma’s cottage until it was sold. Anne, who was also looking for more independence, had moved in with me the previous June.  I was working as a high school interpreter/tutor for Deaf students at Cleary School for the Deaf.

A news announcer broke into the music with what had happened the night before: a “fan” had shot and killed John Lennon in front of his residence in New York City. John and his wife Yoko Ono were returning from a recording session. Earlier, John stopped to autograph an album this “fan” brought with him.

Anne and I were shocked to the core, frozen to our spots.  We’d grown up with the Beatles. In fact, John was my favorite Beatle. I was a bit unhappy with him when the group broke up but afterwards, I admired the work he was doing. I was impressed with his demonstrations against the war in Viet Nam.  For some years, we hadn’t heard from him, and I later learned he’d stopped recording to be a house father, raising his young son, Sean. Recently, we’d been enjoying new music he’d just begun releasing that year.

Shot by a fan? Whoever heard of such a thing? Why would a fan shoot John Lennon, of all people?

Later we learned more about the assassin, Mark David Chapman. The man waited for the police to arrive, reading his copy of Catcher in the Rye. We also learned that he was a rather conservative Christian who took umbrage with an old statement Lennon made while with the Beatles.  Joking or not, Lennon said the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. Chapman also didn’t like things Lennon had done, like having a nude bed sit-in against the war. But all of that was years and years before. He’d been holding a grudge that long? That’s not the behavior of a true Christian., which is to be forgiving and loving.

Against the advice of his attorneys, Chapman pled guilty to murdering Lennon. He said it was “the will of God”, not mental illness.

Fans all around the world grieved.  Part of Central Park’s grounds is called Strawberry Fields, in honor of Lennon.

Anne and I grieved, unable to wrap our minds around such a heinous act. Of course, that was followed the following year by John Hinckley’s attempt to kill then President Ronald Reagan.  Apparently, he was trying to impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he had an obsession. And to top it off, two months later, a terrorist shot Pope John Paul in a failed assassination attempt.

These were all shocking events then. Now, they seem to happen so often they’re like “the new normal.” I won’t accept that and won’t become numb to the acts of foreign and domestic terrorism, even though not detaching hurts my heart.  I always used to detach myself from my feelings during a traumatic event to avoid pain temporarily. The pain still comes anyway so I am learning to process it as it happens.

Just as I miss Harry Chapin, I also miss John Lennon. He contributed so much to music, and I hope he never becomes a distant memory.

Where Do I Even Begin?

 

Where do I even begin?

Of all the issues that have been going wrong this summer, this one is at the forefront of my mind today thanks to Michael Moore’s column here https://www.michaelmoore.com/p/he-knew-no-one-would-expect-a-woman?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share.  I knew the killer was savvy enough to realize that he should dress up like a woman and put heavy make up over his facial tattoos.  After all, of all the mass shooters this year and any year, not a one has been a woman.  He was able to get away easily, running from the scene like any panicked woman would.

Here is what I didn’t know: Highland Park is made up of a third of citizens of the Jewish faith.  Half of the people killed were Jewish.  OH.  Why was this not reported?  That makes this, in addition to being a mass slaughter of humans, a hate crime.  But no one has said anything like that yet, and I think it’s because it hits too close to home.

We are made up of an overwhelmingly large population of hateful white supremacists.  White supremacy has been around since even before our country was founded.  White nationalists are rising again to regain “supremacy” in this country.  They claim they are Christians but they are not.  They do not follow Jesus’ teachings of love, acceptance and inclusion.  I don’t know why they think they reign supreme; we originated in Africa and the Middle East, not in white countries.  Where do they get this misbegotten notion that whites are better than everybody else?

There’s always been slavery among all the races.  One group has to subjugate another, humiliate and enslave the losers’ citizens.  It’s as old as groups of people on earth.  The US, sadly, has been no slouch at it.  It’s just that the white supremacists don’t want to face it, as the Germans did their truth about anti-Semitism and Hitler.

Since Congress has no interest in doing anything about restricting automatic killer weapons, surely there will be another mass shooting soon.  Here is a link from the FBI about what to do when (and it’s inevitable, when) there’s a mass shooting around you: https://www.fbi.gov/about/partnerships/office-of-partner-engagement/active-shooter-resources

What with our do-nothing Democrats and gun control as well as seeing to it law breakers (i.e., Rethuglicans as well as violent white supremacist anarchists) face consequences, it’s no wonder no one has any confidence in the government, police, or other federal agency these days.  The obstructing Rethuglicans aren’t any help either.  Congressional legislators are at the very bottom of the heap for peoples’ confidence and trust.

Gallup Polls have been around forever and, while I’m hesitant to completely trust the results of polls, theirs have been pretty much on the up-and-up.  No one has faith in government anymore.  Approval and trust have dropped not only for federal government, it’s also down for the police, medical profession and healthcare, banks, news media, justice system state and local, and just about everywhere else you can think of except for the military.  I guess we hope our soldiers would defend the Constitution even if no one else will.  I have my doubts, to be honest.  There were military folks at the insurrection, right in the thick of it all.  https://news.gallup.com/poll/394283/confidence-institutions-down-average-new-low.aspx It’s kind of depressing to think you can’t trust your own government or formerly trusted agencies to look out for your best interests.  They used to once upon a time, or did they?

One major drop in approval was for the “Extreme” Court, rogue SCOTUS.  I feel sorry for the three clearly thinking justices (Sotomayor, Kagan and now Jackson).  They are being drowned out by the outrageously right wing Christian nationalist judges who want to strip away our fundamental rights.  I think those six are salivating at the thought of being able to totally screw up the viability of our votes.

I can’t stand the idea that my vote might become meaningless.  If they get away with it, SCOTUS can legalize all the nefarious crap tRump pulled trying to overturn the election by having the states reject votes they don’t like and reissue new electors who’ll vote the way they want.  So, in 2024, the Democrat wins the popular vote and even the Electoral College but before it can be all certified, the red states can call “do-over” so that the Rethuglican candidate would win.

That terrifies me.

Here’s another thought that terrifies me while I’m thinking about treason and white supremacists: during the House Committee Jan 6^th hearings, there were video tapes of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers conferring before the Capitol assault.  I’m sure they’re all in communication with all the other hateful supremacy groups out there and I’m also sure they welcome the addition of the mass shooters with their depraved manifestos and plots.  What if they all come together in one force?

Anything is possible.  

Next on my mind: what our stinking Democratic leadership should be doing to protect women's health rights...and all our other fundamental rights~

Also: why did it take 60 bullets to stop an unarmed Jayden Walker at a traffic stop but the Highland Park mass killer was arrested without incident?  Could is be an issue of race?  One man was black; the other, white.  Guess which is which.

More SCOTUS: why are right wing Christians coming in to pray with the justices IN the Supreme Court?  Inquiring minds want to know.