It has been a long year for many of us, and yet, I have hope. I believe we may have reached a turning point as 2025 ends. A local Fauquier County MAGA man, as MAGA as they come, has turned on Trump. When someone like him calls Trump a “f^cking piece of sh!t”, you know the world is changing.
Continue reading “A Turning Point”
Yep. I was an Eagle Scout. A God and Country Awardee. A member of the Order of the Arrow. It turns out approximately 20% of West Point cadets are Eagle Scouts. I was not surprised, but nonetheless appalled to recently learn Secretary Hegseth plans to sever all military relations with Scouting.
Continue reading “Hegseth and Scouting”
As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, I was thinking about family dinners and how they have been affected by our President. The President does something better than anyone else in the world. He screws up relationships. I am talking about our personal relationships with each other – with our families, friends, and neighbors. It does not matter whether you are Red or Blue, or somewhere in between. If you are honest with yourself, you know your personal relationships have suffered.
Continue reading “He Does It Best”
R_____ looked at me and was on the verge of tears. “Oh Max, thank you so much. You are making me cry.” That wasn’t my intent. All I’d done was tell her that if she ran into problems, call me and I would help. It’s a shame what we have come to as a nation, when a person feels threatened by some of those around her.
Continue reading “R____”
Is July 4th, our Independence Day, a holiday we all still celebrate together as Americans? Or is it now just a fairy tale with fireworks as entertainment for the young, and no longer any unifying meaning? Some days, I’m not sure I want to know the answer.
I remember the celebrations of my youth in Ottawa, Illinois. On the evening of the 4th, Mom and dad loaded my sisters and me into the car and drove us to the high school parking lot. We kids ran around looking for friends until it grew dark and we rejoined Mom and Dad for the fireworks. They would launch out over the river and put on quite a show. Ottawa, Illinois had only 18,000 people then, but the show was always first class. We’d “Oooohhh!” And “Ahhhh!” with each launch. The grand finale was always amazing, at least to us little kids.
Overseas in the Army in the ‘80s, there was usually a cookout at someone’s house. A bit of America in Germany – no fireworks, but a gathering of fellowship and celebration. We shared the common cause of defending America and that seemed enough.
In the ensuing decades, Cathy and I celebrated the 4th with cookouts, visits with friends, and the occasional firework display. It was always a good time.
Over the past decade, things have devolved.
Six years ago, in 2018 I published a blog about celebrating the 4th of July in 1976, our country’s 200th anniversary (you can find a link to the blog in the Addendum). Here’s a partial extraction from the end of the blog:
“I’ve been thinking about that evening in 1976 as our Independence Day celebration approaches this year (2018). The country went through a rough patch in the early 1970s leading up to our 200th birthday. Vietnam, anti war protests, Kent State, Nixon and Watergate, race issues, the assassination attempts on Ford, and multiple drug overdoses, to name just a few of the issues of the day. And yet, to me on that Fourth of July, it felt like we were all in one boat pulling together. We weren’t Republicans or Democrats, liberals or conservatives, young or old, black or white. We were just Americans, and it seemed our differences were set aside, at least for that night.
Which brings me back to this year’s Fourth of July. It appears we are less united now and I sometimes wonder if we can bridge our differences any more. We have a seventeen-year war, a drug crisis, race issues, and politicians, some more than others, who divide us. Hatred grows. I know we have gone through similar periods in our nation’s history, but online media accelerates and exasperates the situation. I try and think what the future might hold for this great country of ours, and the answer isn’t always clear.”
If anything, our divisions are worse now than they were only six years ago. 1976 itself seems positively quaint. We have divided into our camps with the extremists pulling us further apart. Democrats are evidently communists, while Republicans are fascists. It appears we have little or no room for compromise.
I texted back and forth with my old friends Howard and Mark about this. We are all at various places on the political spectrum and often argue/discuss politics. The conversation was wide-ranging and we talked about many things, including our imperfect union:
We came to no conclusions. Howard made the comment “I think July 4th is, on the surface, a very uncontroversial holiday, because everyone looks at it through the filter of their own politics. If you want to barbecue, it’s a great holiday. If you want to look at the deeper meaning of the day, I think we have a lot of work ahead of us.” Mark had a great suggestion – “I think we should adopt an entirely new holiday on a specific date not associated with anything, where we gather with people of opposite political persuasions to discuss potential areas of compromise and agreement.” A brilliant idea, but of course it will never happen.
At times, I do see small signs of hope. My buddy Dave has a condo just above the Iwo Jima memorial. Every year he hosts a 4th of July party. The view from his balcony is one of the very best in the entire Metro DC area to watch the fireworks. At the party are Republicans and Democrats, political true-believers and agnostics. It’s a great party and a helluva view of the fireworks. People have a good time, enjoy the food, libation and of course the fireworks. Politics aren’t discussed. The view of the fireworks over the monuments is so beautiful, it could almost convince you by itself that all is well with America.
I think both Republicans and Democrats love America, or think they do. They also often believe the other side must hate America, otherwise, why would they adopt the positions they have?
I have no answers for these questions.
I was originally going to end the blog with the following paragraph:
If we can’t figure it out, I believe we will soon see the Grand Finale of America. Like the end of our fireworks display on the 4th, there will be a brilliant final scene, followed by darkness. Only in our case, the darkness won’t lift with the coming of dawn.
But, it felt too dark to me and I sat on it for a couple of days. I also talked with other friends.
We’ve had other tumultuous times in our history – the Civil War, the depression, McCarthyism, the 60s with Vietnam and racial strife to name a few. America has always managed to make it through. There have also been great moments of unity – World War II after Pearl Harbor, landing on the moon, our 200th birthday as a country, and the immediate aftermath of the 9-11 attack are a few examples in the last 100 years.
Those of you who know me, know I’m an optimist. I tend to see the good in situations and in people. In my heart, I think that optimism is also true for my view of our country. Whether Kennedy’s “City on a Hill”*, or George Bush’s “1,000 points of light”, America has largely been a beacon of hope for the world. Even today, with all of our issues people want to come to America, the land of opportunity.
Will we get through our current struggles? I hope and pray so. Maybe my “Grand Finale” mentioned previously is just one of a multitude of paths this country could take, and a low probability one at that. Still, I think it behooves all of us to do our part to ensure a better America, now and in the future.
I hope you enjoy your hotdogs and hamburgers this year, or whatever you are having to eat. If you can, take in the fireworks. Spend a few minutes thinking of our history and how we came to where we are as a country. Maybe also spend a few minutes thinking what you could do to elevate America for all of us. As Woodie Guthrie so aptly sang, “This land was made for you and me.”
Addendum:
Hup, two, three, four, Hup, two three, four… His army had been on the move forever and marched to the sound of the drums. They had lost a legion of followers, but the main fight was coming, and they were ready. They would take no prisoners in this final battle.
The drums beat, and they marched on. The cadence was locked in their heads. It was relentless and never ending. They didn’t sleep, they didn’t rest, they ate on the march. The drumbeat marked the passing of time.
Hup, two, three, four.
Who are we, marching for?
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Yes, it had been a long march since 2015. It had taken them years, but they had rooted out those who were disloyal to the cause. Now they were pure, and marching on.
Dead was the captured loser, McCain.
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Departing was the lightweight loser and compromiser Romney.
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Gone were his generals, Mattis, McMaster and Kelly who all betrayed him.
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Dead, or no longer relevant, were the Bush’s, father and sons.
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Irrelevant are the cowards and liars, Barr and Bolton.
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Gone were the Congressional betrayers, Kinzinger, Cheney and six of the other eight who voted to impeach.
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Retired was The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, who committed treason and maybe deserved death.
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Gone was the weak Secretary of Defense, Esper, who wouldn’t stand firm.
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Reduced to nothing was the traitor, Pence.
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Removed was the clown and Speaker of the House, McCarthy.
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Removed was the faithless Chair of the Republican Party, Ronna McDaniel.
Trump, Trump, Trump.
They marched on in lockstep.
Hup, two, three, four.
Who will we be fighting for?
Trump, Trump, Trump.
They thought about the constant questions coming from the enemy of the people, the fake news, or from those treacherous disloyal Americans they would deal with soon enough. They know there is only one answer to all questions.
Who is the greatest business man, even though his companies have declared bankruptcy six times?
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Who can shoot someone on 5th Avenue and get away with it?
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Who can grab women by the pussy and laugh about it?
Trump, Trump, Trump.
After the march of white supremacists in Charlottesville, who said there are very fine people on both sides?
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Who tells us the only social network or news we can trust is Truth Social?
Trump, Trump, Trump.
When asked about violence from white supremacists, who told the hate group, The Proud Boys, to “stand back and stand by” ?
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Who can work the very best deal with the dictator Putin?
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Who says he will let Russia do “whatever the hell they want” with our NATO allies?
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Who recently said he is friends with President Xi of China?
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Who privately calls dead and wounded American soldiers suckers and losers? Who made fun of Niki Haley’s husband while he was deployed overseas with the National Guard?
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Who promised to reduce the national debt, but ran up the third largest deficit in American history? (After Lincoln and Bush SR, who were both funding wars).
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Who is lying about making a profit while selling “special” Bibles at $59.99 (plus tax, shipping and handling)?
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Who fired the entire Republican National Committee staff, but told them they could reapply for their jobs, with this as one of their interview questions: “Was the 2020 election stolen?”
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Who issued an ALL CAPS statement on our holy Easter Sunday calling the judges & justice officials involved in his prosecutions “CROOKED AND CORUPT,” ending his screed with “HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!”?
Trump, Trump, Trump.”
Who’s the greatest Republican president ever? Was it Lincoln? No! Was it Reagan? No! It was,
Trump, Trump, Trump.
Who said: “Now, if I don't get elected, it's gonna be a bloodbath for the whole — that's gonna be the least of it. It's going to be a bloodbath for the country. That will be the least of it."
Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump. Trump.
They marched on. Yes, they were fewer now than before, but that didn’t matter. They marched on. And they knew if he won in November, they would root out more disloyalty – certainly in the government, but also in the party. Oh yes, there were many scores to settle.
Hup, two, three, four.
Who will we take vengeance for?
Trump, Trump, Trump.
They marched on.
— Feel Free to Share this Blog —
Addendum:
Here are a three previous blogs I’ve written about our former president, after he lost the election in 2020:
It’s been a busy couple of weeks for our former president. It’s not every month you get to announce your candidacy for the presidency, have dinner with a couple of racist Hitler fans, and declare the Constitution should be terminated. That’s a full month, even by Trump standards.
I don’t know anyone who was surprised when Trump announced he was going to run for the presidency in 2024. It was all his handlers could do to have him wait until after the midterms to announce. He was expecting a big splash from the midterms themselves, but most of his election denier choices went quietly into the night. Yea, Vance won in Ohio, and Lake is still whining like a mini-Trump in Arizona, but the rest of them? B’bye. None of it slowed down his big announcement though. It was almost as if he was oblivious to anything else happening. And the rest of the Republicans? Perhaps Senator Rubio said it best: “We should not have a Senate GOP leadership vote until we have a clear explanation for why our 2022 campaign efforts failed…”. Ummmm, Senator, I could help you with that…
Of course Mr Trump didn’t slow down. As a matter of fact, in typical fashion, he accelerated. Are any of us surprised he ate dinner with Ye (the former Kanye West) and white nationalist Nick Fuentes? Nothing quite says “there are good people on both sides” like having dinner with a couple of Hitler loving antisemites. It’s never a good sign when Alex Jones is distancing himself from some of your dinner guest’s comments, as Jones later did during his interview with Ye. The Republican response to all of this? Again deafening silence. Senator McConnell managed to say “Let me just say that there is no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy. And anyone meeting with people advocating that point of view, in my judgment, are highly unlikely to ever be elected president of the United States.” The brave Senator couldn’t bring himself to utter the “T” word.
Which of course brings us to Mr Trump’s most recent episode. His blast on the Truth Social network was … interesting. He called for “the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” because he lost the last election for president. He wants to be declared the “RIGHTFUL WINNER,” or “have a NEW ELECTION.” (All CAPS are directly from the Trump quote) Wow. Wanting to terminate the Constitution finally drew some rebuttals from the right, but not from everyone.
Just as the events of Charlottesville, or January 6th, or his continuing election denial caused some people to leave the Trump orbit, another dribble of people are departing after the Ye/Fuentes dinner and the subsequent “termination of the Constitution” comments. The vast majority of his core? Like a married couple, they are there through thick and thin, for better or worse. There will be no divorce. They will follow him to the bitter end, however that turns out.
I’m not really sure why I wrote this blog. It’s not going to change any minds. Having said that, I think we all have a duty to bear witness to what is going on in this country. If we don’t continue to speak out, the future becomes a foregone conclusion. As Edmund Burke (or maybe someone else) famously said “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
I have a couple of last questions for you. First, if Joe Biden declared he wanted to terminate the Second Amendment, what would the immediate reaction be? And second, does anyone doubt Trump would terminate the Constitution in a heartbeat if he could?
Finally, those of us who served in the military or the government swore an oath that started with these phrases: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;”. For my West Point and former military comrades who still support Mr. Trump, I guess we are finally at that point. Which do you support – Mr Trump, or the Constitution?
**Feel free to share this blog**
WARNING! If you don’t like seeing the F-Bomb in print, you shouldn’t read this week’s blog. I regret using it here, but it’s germane to the vandalism that has taken place with political signs and a building here in sleepy little Fauquier County. There is, of course, stupidity everywhere. It’s always fun when it hits close to home.
The sign crew from the Fauquier County Democratic Committee (FCDC) has been installing large signs, with the permission of landowners, along the highways and byways of our lovely county to support the re-election of Jennifer Wexton to Congress. Due to redistricting, Fauquier County moved from the very RED 5th Congressional District, to the slightly BLUE 10th Congressional District. Congresswoman Wexton has served in Congress for the last four years. Before that, she was a State Senator and a prosecutor. She is a great public servant who actually listens, and we are doing everything we can to re-elect her.
We’ve installed over 120 large 4×8 and 4×4 foot signs around the county over the past month. We placed them on road frontage and properties of landowners who specifically granted permission for these signs. If you are driving through the county, they are hard to miss. Recently, someone decided to deface two of the signs and wrote FJB in spray paint on the signs. — sigh — FJB? What’s does FJB stand for, you ask? “Fuck Joe Biden” would be the correct response.
The homeowners called the police, who dutifully took their report. Several horrified Republicans offered to pay to have the sign replaced. The owners gracefully declined. Our committee planned to replace the sign (we have extras for just such occasions), but for now, the homeowners wants them left up, so EVERYONE can see what respect some idiots have for political signs.
Afterwards, I was looking around online, thinking maybe they were using FJB to represent something else. No, “Fuck Joe Biden” was the first thing that came up. And then there was a wonderful song titled “FJB” by Parradox. Here are a few of the lyrics, or as a certain former President might say, very fine lyrics, very special lyrics, probably the best lyrics ever:
“Fuck Joe Biden and that bitch Kamala, too
And fuck Nancy Pelosi, don’t think I forgot ‘bout you
You attention craving bitch, that’s all the fuck you want
You think you high and mighty, but trust me, you are not”
I contacted my counterpart, Greg, with the Fauquier County Republican Committee to see if he would sign a joint statement with me for publication in our hardcopy and online local papers, requesting people respect election signs. He readily agreed. A letter was drafted and we sent it to the papers, where it was published.
In the next week, we had two roadside signs stolen.
Then, last Friday night, our FJB friends struck again. Maybe the miscreants who defaced our signs can’t read. Maybe they thought they were clever. Instead of spraying FJB on more signs, they decided to spray it on the side of a shop in downtown Warrenton. Yep. They graduated from defacing disposable signs, to defacing permanent buildings.
I realize both sides have their nitwits, but c’mon, some people are just stupid. Just south of here about 30 miles, you can find farms and homes with 8×4 foot “Fuck Joe Biden” signs right there on the road side. You can also go to Amazon and buy your very own “Fuck Biden” banner to display outside your home. Certainly the 1st Amendment protects people’s right to say what they want, and that’s fine. I guess I should be happy they are displaying those signs on their own property. There is nothing wrong with proudly letting people know your command of the English language. I always wonder how folk driving by explain those signs to their kids in the back seat of the car.
Still, I can’t help but wonder if the level of discourse has fallen enough, that it’s not toooooo much of a leap to go from seeing a “Fuck Joe Biden” sign on the side of the road, to cowardly scribbling FJB on a sign, or the side of a building in the dark of night. I’m sure their mothers, and many of their buddies are proud of them.
Keep scribbling. Show the world how ignorant you are. We have plenty of signs, and we are going to win this election.
—- Feel free to share this blog —-
Addendum:
Thanks to my friends Irv, David and Colleen for their help with this blog.
I have held various security clearances for decades in the past. I spent years working in a Special Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), both in the military, and as a civilian. I’m not here to judge, but I’d probably be in jail if I’d done what our former President did.
One of the things we learned about classified information early on is that in order to access classified documents, or programs, there are actually two requirements. First, you need the security clearance level required for that information. Second, you must have a “need to know” the information. That is, holding a TOP SECRET* (TS) clearance isn’t a sufficient reason to see a TS document. You also must have a specific need to see the particular information.
I obtained my first clearance, SECRET, while still at West Point in the seventies. They don’t just give you a SECRET clearance, or any clearance for that matter. You fill out a form answering several pages of questions, they do a background check, interview family and friends and determine whether you are “trustworthy”. The process takes a while. For most folk, unless you have done hard drugs, committed a crime, declared bankruptcy, or declared hostility to the United States, it isn’t too hard to receive a SECRET clearance.
In 1989, we returned from an assignment in Germany to the States and I transferred to a job in the DC area. For that work, I underwent a Special Background Investigation (SBI) in order to receive a TS/SCI/SI/TK (TOP SECRET, Special Compartmented Information, Special Intelligence, Talent Keyhole, clearance). These are a wee bit harder to obtain. Actually, a lot harder. It took months and months for the investigations to take place and for the government to grant my clearance (today, it’s not unusual for the process to take nearly a year). I provided information on where I’d lived over the course of my life, background about my jobs and employers, info on family members and friends, and several references. I documented all overseas travel. I documented any communications I had with East Bloc or communist personnel. In addition to verifying the information I provided, and talking with my references, the government also interviewed neighbors, former bosses, coworkers and family members. They physically went to my prior homes, talked with neighbors and asked about my habits. It’s an intensive and invasive process. When I finally received my clearance, I was also eventually “read in” to a couple of highly classified Special Access Programs (SAPs) further restricting who could access the information.
Everything we did in support of those SAPs was done in a SCIF. To access the SCIF, in addition to the combination lock, there was a retina reader at the outside door, and it was only after your eye was scanned that the door would unlock. Our particular SCIF also required two person access. That is, a person was not allowed in the facility by him or herself. There was a requirement for at least two people to occupy the SCIF, whenever it was opened. This was to prevent someone taking unauthorized information or files out of the SCIF.
The SCIF had intrusion detection systems, and needed to meet a host of other requirements effecting communication systems, the size of duct work and special wiring and HVAC requirements. Cell phones, or any other personal electronic devices weren’t allowed in the SCIF. Inside the facility, all of our classified information was stored in safes which met certain requirements. When you opened the safe, you initialed a form that you opened the safe, and what day and time it was. At the end of the day, when you returned the classified documents to the safe, after locking the safe, you again initialed the form, provided the time you locked it, and the date and time were then verified by a second person.
If you ever transported classified information outside the SCIF to another location, you needed a special permit. The classified info was double wrapped. You followed a schedule in delivering the information, including the expected arrival time. If there were schedule variances, you notified the authorities.
When I left those SAPs several years later, I was sworn to secrecy, and signed papers indicating I wouldn’t reveal anything about those programs for seventy years.
Honestly, it was all a pain in the ass. BUT, we all understood why it was required, and so we complied without complaining. We understood the security of the nation could be put at risk if there were security compromises, whether intentional or not.
I don’t know what is in the material the former President took to Florida. I also don’t know what he intended to do with it. I doubt we ever will. Based on the covers and documents shown in the now world famous photo, there was TS/SCI material, SECRET/SCI material and other classified information. There were empty SCI folders, with the info, perhaps, stored elsewhere. None of this was stored in a SCIF. As the President was now the former President, there was no longer a “need to know”. The information should not have been at Mar-a-Lago.
Was this a politically motivated search? I don’t know, but given the material found, it’s a moot point. The search was justified. What he did was wrong. Are there always two standards for everything – one for the former President, and one for everyone else? Why do citizens continue to listen to his claptrap**?
Here are some things I do know:
The final thing I know is that If I had done anything remotely close to this, I would have been dishonorably discharged if in the military, fired if a civilian, received a huge fine, and very possibly gone to jail. My public life would have been over.
Of course, unlike some people, I couldn’t shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and get away with it either.
Addendum:
In light of the recent 4th of July mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, I’ve been rethinking Stephen Stills classic song, ‘Find the Cost of Freedom’.
“Find the cost of freedom
buried in the ground
Mother earth will swallow you
lay your body down
Find the cost of freedom
buried in the ground
Mother earth will swallow you
lay your body down”
Written at the height of the Vietnam War, it was released as the B side to ‘Ohio’ which was a direct condemnation of Kent State. ‘Find the Cost of Freedom’ was less explicit. There have been multiple suggestions as to the meaning of the song, including the student deaths at Kent State, the death of our soldiers in Vietnam, or even the cost of war to us as a people. Although simply written, with fewer words, it’s a more complicated song.
The song was rereleased in 1982 as ‘Daylight Again/Find the Cost Of Freedom’, with seeming references to the Civil War. The line “When everyone’s talkin’ and no one is listenin’, how can we decide?” is added right before the famous refrain and it then becomes:
“When everyone's talkin’ and no one is listenin’, How can we decide
(Do we) find the cost of freedom
Buried in the ground
Mother Earth will swallow you
Lay your body down”
To me, this version seems a perfect summation of the entire gun violence issue. No one listens to anyone on the other side. The result? We see the cost of freedom, and the results of the Second Amendment, dead and buried in the ground. People are going to die, and that is just the price we need to pay for the freedom to own guns. Any kind of guns. All guns. Just lay your body down and accept it.
We here in ‘Murica have deemed that acceptable to protect our Second Amendment freedom. Everyone has the freedom to own their guns, even if it’s at the expense of other people, who just want to celebrate their freedom by watching a parade on the Fourth of July.
God Bless America.
Find the cost of freedom
buried in the ground
Mother earth will swallow you
lay your body down
Find the cost of freedom
buried in the ground
Mother earth will swallow you
lay your body down
…
… Feel free to share this blog …
Addendum:
You can read my previous blogs on gun violence here:
Live Life Exuberantly 