THE WHOLE PRIMARY THING

Notes of Concern….

                 …Jackson Blair

THE WHOLE PRIMARY THING

 PRIMARILY PRIMARY PONTIFICATING

When did the primary system we currently are experiencing begin? Could it have been at a time when people did not have radio, television or Internet? Was the current approach to election campaigning developed when the Pony Express was delivering the mail? Was it not at a time when you could actually get elected and people in far away states didn’t hear the results for months? It certainly began at a time when hardly anyone actually visited the nation’s capital or had any first hand exposure to candidates for office.

Elections occurred in such a vacuum of information that candidates who today would be considered, well, ugly could actually win an election. Fortunately, they usually had quite a bit of substance.

Flash forward to today. We still have the same, lame system. We pretend we need almost a year to get to know the candidates. We pretty regularly reward the “8x10” glossy attractive types and look askance at less attractive people who have substance.

Certainly there was a time when candidates needed to traipse all over the country so that voters could actually see them, hear them and question them.

There was also a need to “sell” ideas and convince the people who would gather in halls and parks to hear the candidates that they were, indeed, the best choice.

Those days are long gone.

Every single candidate for president appears almost daily on one or more television station. They offer views on the radio. And they have a constant presence on the Internet. We get robo-calls on our phones and the local mailman is more and more bent over from all the extra advertisements, pamphlets and requests for money.

We voters have outstanding opportunities to see, hear and read about the candidates. We do not need a multi-month, outrageously expensive, state-by-state travel- intense primary schedule.

The debates (and that is another story of excessiveness) provide anyone who wishes an opportunity to see a candidate’s style, to watch the candidate interact with competitors, to view how they dress, comb their coif, and treat one another. In addition, an occasional policy glimpse is provided.

For policy “wonks” most candidates provide detailed postings on their website permitting a careful study of their positions on everything from nuclear war to their spouse’s favorite recipe for cornpone!

Long ago when a candidate for president campaigned only from his front porch and refused to be drawn into this kind of stuff I would have thought him naïve. In those days you had to engage in this kind of circus in order to provide the people with a fair chance to evaluate candidates.

Today, many would applaud such a decision. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every one of our candidates just stayed at home, talked on television, and posted their positions on all the issues.

There is no longer a reason to charter planes, build an entourage, run from one state to the other for a gazillion debates, or for the length of the primary season.

Here is a revolutionary suggestion. I know it will not be met with widespread support:

Lets have two national primaries!

One for the Republicans to pick their candidate and one for the Democrats to pick theirs. All persons who wish to be considered for the nomination will appear in two nationally televised debates occurring two weeks apart.

Prior to the debates, for one month, each candidate will post on his website position papers outlining his views on a variety of subjects.

 This process would be completed in 45 days.

The winner of the national primary would be the Party’s nominee for President. The popular vote would be decisive. No apportioning of delegates, no smoke filled rooms, just a national poll of all the people. You could only vote in the primary of the Party with which you registered.

Now in order to let the folks have their “party,” sometimes known as their presidential convention, they could still meet in a city where they would anoint their nominee (previously selected by the people) and learn the candidate’s choice for vice president. They would then affirm that choice in the customary manner.

Millions of dollars would be saved.

Everyone would still have a “say” in the choice.

Obviously, details would need to be worked out but I bet that could easily be done. All the “I’s” would get dotted and the “T’s” would get crossed.

But it is an idea worthy of further discussion.

The circus we now call “national elections” demonstrates a complete refusal to grasp how our nation has really changed and to adapt to change.

Bottom line: you don’t have to do it my way but let us at least get a conversation going as to how to change this silliness.

For further information:  jacksonblair@gmail.com

ELEPHANTS DO FORGET !

Notes of Concern…

                               …Jackson Blair

ELEPHANTS DO FORGET

 

The South Carolina primary is over and the Florida primary has not yet taken place. This is a good time for a reality check. It is also a good time for a course correction.

Governor Romney has the war chest and the discipline and the long-term view to continue his quest through all the remaining months up to the GOP convention.

Speaker Gingrich is short on cash and almost wholly backed by a movie mogul who has dipped into his personal bank account to keep the Gingrich campaign alive.

Congressman Paul is the candidate of a very small, vocal minority in the United States. He is a man with a good heart and it is refreshing to hear him put the truth as he sees it right out there in the debates.

Senator Santorum has a personal life style that appeals to the Christian Right and to the Tea Party. He has walked his talk. He has a very small amount of money and it is amazing he has been able to continue to compete in a national contest.

Governor Romney is boring. Boring is OK. Our country does not need a president who can entertain us. We need a president whose experiences in life are transferable to the problems facing us. Governor Romney has executive experience. He has created jobs, made money for shareholders, run a large state government and led in many other ways, quite successfully. Despite what the Governor would have us believe, it does take trust and personality as well as experience to lead a diverse country.

Speaker Gingrich is exciting. Exciting is OK. Speaker Gingrich knows his way around Washington. One does not become Speaker of the House of Representatives without being very politically astute. And he parlayed his government experience into years of making millions of dollars because of his inside Washington connections and savvy. In spite of what he would like voters to think, the Speaker is not just a good fellow from Georgia who isn’t a Washington insider. He is a walking definition of the Washington insider.

Congressman Paul is, simply put, a medical doctor who found a long career in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is not a leader. He has not run any sort of executive business. He is not, even after all those years in the House, a leader. Congressman Paul is an idealist. He attracts young people readily to his ideas. It is refreshing to watch him. Over all these years he has achieved no leadership position in Washington, or in the business world or in the government of a state. He is a man of ideas, not action. Sometimes he operates on the fringes.

Senator Santorum is a conundrum for me. In his short tenure in the U.S. Senate he rose quickly to the leadership. That suggests his colleagues saw leadership potential in him. He is a morally righteous man. He lives his principles. That makes him a Washington insider/player, too. What else has he done? What has he led or operated? Unfortunately, the Senator lost his seat from Pennsylvania by a huge 18% to his Democrat opponent. Now he is selling the idea that he can beat the incumbent president. Maybe a stretch there.

When the Romney campaign was planning for a long contest they assumed they would not have much luck in Iowa, as he did not four years before. They assumed they would do well in New Hampshire, a neighboring state. And they assumed they would not do well in South Carolina because of Tea Party and Evangelicals in the mix.

When the Gingrich campaign was planning, they expected to “show” in Iowa, to be second in New Hampshire and to win in South Carolina.

Congressman Paul did not expect to win in Iowa, NH or SC. He did expect to attract more attention to his philosophy.

Senator Santorum practically moved to Iowa. He hoped to score an upset victory there that would attract money to his campaign and enable him to continue through a few more states. Whether the margin was 8 or 38 it is a stretch to see it as anything more than a tie.

Romney was wrong as he won Iowa. He was right about winning New Hampshire. Then he lost Iowa and went from wrong to right. Then he lost South Carolina as he had originally expected.

Gingrich did OK in Iowa. He did not do OK in NH. He had a huge win in SC.

Santorum is boasting a 30-vote win in Iowa, belatedly announced. Frankly, given his investment of time and money in Iowa, it is hard to see it as a victory worthy of mentioning.

Paul is “on his game.” He is doing what he intended with the intended consequences.

After a brief chance to catch our breath, all these players will be back at it in Florida, except for Paul. It appears that unless someone secures a knockout punch in Florida, the Republican campaign will be going on for some time. In that regard, it very much looks like the long fight between Obama and Clinton four years ago.

Lets keep in mind that after all the bloodletting in the Obama-Clinton fight; the winner went on to win the general election.

THE GRANDS ARE COMING!

Notes of Concern…

                               …Jackson Blair

THE GRANDS ARE COMING

I had to have a cooling off period before writing about Christmas.

My readers are probably just as pleased I waited because they had heard enough about Christmas from everyone else and, of course, had experienced it themselves.

However, this Christmas simply was not one to be ignored.

My wife and I hosted our four children and their spouses, fiancées, significant others, etc (whatever!) and four of our seven grandchildren. While they arrived and departed at different times, not considering the advantages (to me) of coordinated arrivals at airports, we did essentially have them all here for three overlapping days.

We have not had our hoard here for some time en masse so my wife was particularly eager to have it all go well. And I must admit that with all my bitching about airport runs, I really was excited to have them all coming, as is always the case, and I truly do not mind driving to the airport (evidenced by my volunteering in the midst of all these trips to take two friends to the airport at 4AM on one of the days!).

Leading up to the holidays I planned my driving. Two round trips to Logan and two round trips to Manchester. On one day we had kids arriving at Logan on the same day as kids arriving at Manchester. The car broke down. I repaired the car. A tire went bad. I replaced the tire.

After all, The Grands Are Coming. No one begrudges spending a few bucks under those circumstances.

At home, we have an indoor swimming pool. We didn’t build it, it came with the house when we bought it. My wife rarely uses it in the winter because she does not like to pay to heat it but, The Grands Are Coming.

On went the heater. The pool stayed cold. Out went the emergency call for help. The pool guy arrived, gerrymandered some valves and, voila, the pool began to heat. Hey, a coupla bucks. Who cares.

The Grands Are Coming.

Then the heater for the room in which the pool is located went on the fritz! Out went the emergency call for help. Heater repaired. Sure, the bucks are adding up but, The Grands Are Coming!

Time to clean all the guest bedrooms. The Grands are coming. No charge. Well, we did have them painted and carpeted first, but look at what we saved on cleaning them ourselves.

Two of the three vacuum cleaners did not work. They have worked for a decade. This week-nada! The third threw a stubborn streak of a couple of days. My wife said: no more repairs! She sure knows how to save those pennies!

Even when The Grands Are Coming.

I did not worry about this momentary economizing because as soon as she remembered the Grands were all under five and qualified as “rug rats” she realized you just had to clean the carpets.

The day before the first group was set to arrive, as my wife made menus for multiple days and planned her festive Christmas Day Feast, the oven stopped working. Since Grands are not only “rug rats” but “crumb grabbers” this presented a real emergency.

The Grands and The Kids are coming. 

Out went the emergency call for help. A momentary refusal to combine it with a call for help with the vacuums. The oven was repaired and no one need fear a lack of a Christmas repast.

Shortly after groups one and two of Grands and Kids arrived, a Grand slipped some coin into the disposal and it broke. Back to economizing. No call for help. Who needs a disposal? In fact, if you play your cards right and have enough Grands you really do not need a disposal. They will eat anything. And what they refuse, the dogs will handle in no time.

With nine adults and four kids, as opposed to just the two of us, things seemed to be manageable until the dishwasher stopped. Fortunately, this occurred toward the end of the family holiday. My wife looked at me intently and bestowed upon me the title Dishwasher-in-Chief.

Somewhere in the middle of all this the wine opener broke, two crystal glasses broke, the dogs ate various scrumptious dishes that had been lovingly prepared for people consumption, and we rarely had any idea which of our various Grands were sleeping in which rooms or with which set of parents.

The idea of having multiple guest rooms and a century old house with front and back staircases just proved too much for the youngsters. The non-stop running up and down stairs, squealing and chasing one another, is a never to be forgotten memory for me.

When they were not engaged in these activities they were happily chasing the two cats all over the house in an attempt to catch them and subject them to petting and kissing. When that failed, as it always did, they took to the less quick moving dogs and simply “hounded” them “24-7.” While I admit that being older makes all the noise a little bit nerve wracking I also admit to reveling in the memories of similar behavior when our kids were the ages of their kids now. My mind harked back to those days. My wife was a master of handling the troops back then and she made sure I had places to find peace and quiet after hard days on Wall Street. Nevertheless, after all these years, when the kids and Grands are here she effortlessly summons up that outstanding mothering ability and steps right into the situation.  I think women simply have this special knack and we fellows are so lucky. That knack does not disappear with age. Watch any grandmother and you will see! So in addition to recalling my own adult children in their “rug-rat-crumb-grabbing” years, I also saw years peel off my wife as she re-engaged with children.

Our family holiday is over. One night during the visitation my wife leaned over to me in our bed, where we had secluded ourselves from the circus around us, and whispered, “whose idea was this?”

It was a seminal moment.

All those feelings wrapped up in one small, simple sentence. She always has a way of simplifying things and making them manageable. But we both knew that we loved the memories, loved the return of our gaggle of kids with their gaggle of kids, and knew we would find the house strangely quiet and missing something special when they left to return to their homes where they are creating their own memories.

What could be done?

I am a man of action.

I can handle these small problems. Especially when they impact the domestic tranquility of my castle. So I went immediately to UMASS-Worcester, checked in at the surgical wing and went under the knife.

Whilst the cacophony continued at home, I blissfully rested in my room giving myself over to all the wonderful drugs the hospital is willing to provide when you visit. You can lie there and dream.

And so I did.

Someone brings your food. Someone empties the various vials that hold your bodily fluids. Someone brings you more drugs, on a regular basis. They keep you warm and bring you newly warmed blankets whenever you want them. They fluff your pillow. Now they even print their names on a white board so you don’t have to pretend to remember them as they change shifts.

Wow.

Such a deal.

When I came home, almost all of our houseguests had departed or planned to do so the following morning. The ones who remained were very solicitous of my recovery period and made sure I was permitted a lot of quiet time.

How could it get any better. And when the house was actually back to normal all would be right with the world.

Right?

Nope?

They are gone. I am vacuuming with an alarmingly inadequate sweeper. I am doing dishes by hand. I am not disposing of anything. I am not using the oven because I know if it breaks  wife will not repair it. I am not swimming in the pool…saving money on heating. I am not driving until I get all the pre-Christmas repair bills paid (besides the surgeon won’t let me yet).

My wife is back at work.

The Grands are back in their own homes.

The Kids are back to their daily routine.

I am left with the remnants of what will undoubtedly be considered the last of the really big family Christmases! Well, at least until this one becomes a faded memory and we all begin to plan on the next gathering of “the Clan.”

In the meantime, we plan trips to visit the kids and the Grands. We consider retiring to be closer to them and to see them more often. Our lives are made more meaningful each time we hear about their accomplishments and activities.

Such are the things of which priceless memories are made.

ANTHONISEN, JOHNSTON & THE ARTS

Notes of Concern…

                               …Jackson Blair

ANTHONISEN, JOHNSTON and ARTS

Writing a column that will be crafted prior to a major political primary and printed days after the conclusion of that primary is a daunting task.

So I have decided to be cowardly about it and say nothing about politics this week!

From time to time I have talked with you about the “arts”. In today’s column I want to introduce you to two really interesting players in the broader arts field. My hope is that you will follow up on both these recommendations and treat yourselves to a slower, broader exposure to the work of these two men.

When I was growing up I was a real fan of short stories. I like to think that it had something to do with a budding interest in reading but my wife tells me it probably just related to my having such a short attention span! It does not take a kid long to realize you can get an adult to read to you if you approach with a very thin little book as opposed to say War and Peace.

Short Stories are enjoying a Renaissance. And this Renaissance is due in no small measure to a retired Headmaster and writer down in Beaufort, SC who started Short Story America on Facebook. People interested in the short story format and those who just enjoy a quick, but thrilling, read flocked to this Facebook page. They tremendous growth has resulted in the publication of the first anthology, a copy of which I have obtained and read.

Tim Johnston is the force behind this renewal of interest in a long cherished art form. As Johnston travels throughout America and offers readings at bookstores and clubs, perhaps you will have a chance to actually attend one and learn first hand of his love of the short story. In the meantime, drown yourself in the book, lose yourself in the online stories, and get on the mailing list.

If you like to read, check out “Short Story America” on Facebook or go to the website shortstoryamerica.com and begin what will undoubtedly be a wonderful journey for each of you.

Down in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, out in the middle of a large river using a palette and easel designed for painting from amid a raging stream in order to capture new views of nature on canvas, sits artist Daniel Anthonisen. 

Daniel has captured nature in ways I have not seen it captured in many years. From small oils to large wall covering canvasses Daniel’s work grabs your attention, demands your consideration, and sends you dreaming for ways you could afford to collect it.

Daniel comes from a family of artists. His father, George Anthonisen, is one of America’s best sculptors. So with a little help from the “gene pool” and a lot of personal talent and love of nature he has built an incredible collection. My wife and I traveled to Pennsylvania to attend his most recent show. We were guests of his parents who are friends we hadn’t seen for almost 40 years.

When you see such talent up close it is impossible not to revel in the beautiful and marvel at the technique and detail. This man is already well known at the Michener Museum and other Buck’s Country cultural centers. As his fame grows, the value of his paintings will also.

Do yourself a favor and take a look at this talented young man’s work. Visit the website at danthonisen.com  You can also see Daniel’s work at the Travis Gallery in New Hope, PA and on their website: travisgallery.com

So as everyone is dealing with the fallout of the New Hampshire Primary and the coming contest in South Caroline, I leave you with two thoughts:

If you are wary of the stock market, invest in some art. If you do, be sure to take a close look at the work of Daniel Anthonisen.

If you are interested in investments of time and flights of fancy rather than money, grab a hold of Short Story America and sit back, relax and enjoy.