Intent

In a statement released on Sunday, TFG (The Former Guy) claimed that “Mike Pence could have overturned the Election!”

This highlights three important points:

1. TFG understands that he lost. He would not want to “overturn” an election that he had won.

2. TFG’s intention was to overturn the election by putting pressure on Pence and promoting The Big Lie. (To prove a conspiracy, prosecutors must demonstrate intent. Here, the intent has been admitted without duress.)

3. If VP Pence really did have the “right” to overturn an election, and if elections laws aren’t modified, VP Harris will have the same “right” in 2025, in 2029, and for however long she and her party intend to hold onto power. (Clearly, that is not what our constitution intends.)

Dream

Before you can accomplish a magnificent achievement, first you must dream that it’s possible.

Grudges

We may have had problems in the past, but I don’t hold grudges. Send me a big enough check, and I’ll call us even.

2022 Objectives

A friend shared a list of her objectives for the year. She expressed them so nicely that I felt inspired to do the same.

1. Compose some new concertos, record songs that I wrote years ago, and record some jazz standards.

2. Read two Shakespeare plays and watch some good movies.

3. Travel to interesting places and explore parts of New York where I don’t spend much time.

4. Work less and get more rest.

5. Get in shape for beach season even if I don’t go to the beach.

6. Research and write about my family’s history.

7. Enhance my skills so I can do more in less time.

8. Publish one of my writing projects.

9. Enjoy each day and have fun in all that I do.

Your Style

Everything you do has a style. The way you read a book has a style. The way you butter your toast has a style. The way you shop for groceries has a style. The way you eat french fries has a style. The way you walk, breathe, speak, laugh, and make love has a style.

Your style is the product of countless judgments, evaluations, movements, and sensations that make sense to your mind, body, and heart, decisions that are so deeply ingrained in your being that you rarely notice them.

It’s better to embrace and refine your own style than to copy the style of others. When your are being yourself, you flow with the mighty tide of your talents, skills, preferences, and intuition. Emulate someone else, and some of those components may align with them, but others will conflict resulting in confusion, frustration, and chaos.

Be yourself. Be your BEST self. Develop your unique qualities, and offer to the world what is uniquely yours to give.

Bordeaux

I wish I could go

Far away from the snow

Hop on a plane

And fly to Bordeaux

Spend some lovely quiet time

Sipping wine

And nibbling tartes

Thinking about life

And love and the arts

I would so enjoy

Each precious day

Secretly wishing

That I could stay

For another week or two

Of laughing and drinking with you

January 6 Sentencing

Why are the January 6 terrorists being sentenced like shoplifters? If ISIS had mobbed the Capitol and beaten police officers in an attempt to interrupt official US government proceedings, they wouldn’t be given thirty days of home confinement and three months of probation.

Chicago Teachers Union

The recent standoff between the Chicago Teachers Union and the city government has been interesting. The teachers refused to return to work after the holiday break. They claimed that not enough was being done to manage the virus as the Omicron variant raged.

The mayor insisted that the teachers return to their physical classrooms without delay. The reasons cited are illustrative.

Was academic progress the chief concern? Not really, as that could have been addressed via remote learning.

The big reason was that parents needed to be able to go to work. Many people don’t have jobs that can be done remotely. They can’t work if they have to stay home and watch their kids, and if they don’t work, they might lose their jobs and eventually be evicted.

The second reason cited was food insecurity. Many students depend on the school system for meals.

Let’s think about this critically. It appears that primary function of school is not education but caretaking. Watch the kids so the parents can go to work, and feed the kids, because the jobs that employ the parents don’t pay enough for them to make sure that their children are fed.

If this is really true, that’s a bleak assessment especially in a country as prosperous as the United States. In a country where the wealthiest people have so much money they’ve started their own private space race, working people don’t make enough money to feed their children, instead relying on the public school system to keep the kids fed.

Looking at this through a political lens, this illustrates why President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda is so important. The primary function of schools should be education, not child care and food service. The country needs to invest in affordable child care and in jobs that pay a living wage. And lest we convince ourselves such investment is too expensive, remember that Congress gave billionaires a $2 trillion tax break in 2017. Remember that the defense budget is nearly a trillion dollars PER YEAR, and most of that money goes to defense contractors. Remember the trillions of dollars that were dumped into Afghanistan over twenty years of conflict.

There’s an old saying: “If you want to know someone’s values, look how they spend their money.” The US has always been a place where the wealthy get the lion’s share of the spoils. Build Back Better would take one small step toward helping working people for a change. That’s why the forces of conservatism (read: greed) have pushed back against it so forcefully.

Sidney Poitier

The first movie that I saw at a theater, albeit a drive-in, was “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” (1967) starring Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, and Sidney Poitier, three giants of American cinema.

The first movie that I saw at an indoor theater, over the stern objection of my parents, was “Destroy All Monsters” (1968) starring Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra, three giants of Japanese cinema.

All kidding aside, Sidney Poitier was a giant among giants in the entertainment industry, a consummate performer with unrivaled charisma, dazzling intelligence, fierce passion, deep commitment, and an incomparable stage presence.

“In The Heat Of The Night” was released in the same year as “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner,” but I didn’t see it until two decades later when it became available on VHS. It was worth the wait. It’s one of the most powerful films that I’ve ever watched; it must have landed like a gut punch in 1967.

Poitier was like dynamite to Rod Steiger’s TNT as they dealt with questions of race, law, and perception, questions that the country still grapples with today. Steiger won the Oscar for Best Actor.

The last film that I saw with Mr. Poitier in a featured role was 1992’s star-studded tech caper “Sneakers.” His power and range as an actor had not diminished. He could switch from light comedy to deeply serious drama in a heartbeat. One of my favorite scenes is when he holds the car phone up and calls out to Robert Redford, “It’s your mother” to save his friend from a run in with dangerous bad guys.

You can’t go wrong watching a movie with Sidney Poitier. He always delivered an amazing performance, standing out like a giant no matter who else shared the stage.

Epiphany

A Christian doesn’t try to overthrow the government on Epiphany. The word you’re looking for is Barbarian.

Good Luck

I wish you a life of good fortune

But if you have some bad luck

I hope you’ll rebound

Like The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Who had good luck when bad luck struck

Resolution Solution

If you’re making New Year’s resolutions, avoid resolving to do something every day, like “exercise every morning before work.” Sooner or later you’re going to have an unusually hectic or challenging day, and you won’t be able to keep that resolution. When that happens, you might be tempted to give up on a positive trend simply because you missed one day of activity due to circumstances beyond your control.

Instead, build flexibility into your plan. Set weekly or monthly goals, and give yourself grace days, as in “I’m taking a grace day on my ab workout, because my dog needed an emergency trip to the vet.”

Don’t set yourself up for disappointment by setting impractical goals. Set flexible guidelines that keep you going in a positive direction through the ups and downs of life.