Honorable andTrue

Notes of Concern…

   …Jack Blair

Honorable and True

Who knows how we develop our ideas, our principles and make our commitments. 

Nature?

Nurture?

We are born into families, groups of people with strong beliefs and prejudices. Who among us can deny we pick up on what we see as we grow? Then we are off school where we are influenced by a larger group that includes contemporaries, teachers, and administrators.

Some of us go on and gather more education, others go into the workforce, but in every instance we are exposed to larger groups who influence our views. Sometimes we adopt the views of those we admire most. Other times we actually begin to form our own view of things.

I am never more reminded of these truths than during our presidential elections when tempers and opinions run high. Friends often find their friendship tested in the fiery ways as the interpret the difference they see in the candidates, the party, or the platforms.

I worked with an administrator at an educational institution who was also a psychologist, and I remember her saying if you haven’t resolved your personal issues by midlife, they would likely ever be resolved.

I have thought of that often because I know she did not mean it in the sense that we can not change or alter our beliefs when confronted with evidence that we are wrong. I choose to believe she meant that we should know ourselves as adults, be true to ourselves, and be able to ably defend how we think about the issues at hand, while still being open to discussion that would take us in a different direction.

If we put being honorable and true to ourselves and our beliefs in a sacred place in our  lives, if are willing to entertain new thoughts but not so readily give up the thoughts formed in our lives through so many experiences, and if we can keep from being cynical, argumentative, even hateful, then we can live with our decisions and appreciate that they are not subject to blowing in the wind with every new rumor or attack of slander.

Also I know that the personality of a candidate can outweigh the programs he or she promises. How often in your lifetime have you seen the winning candidate hold to the platform on which he ran. When does he/she gets the grade card that says essentially “You promised this, but you failed to deliver.”

Well that “report card should be delivered at the ballot box. Did the party in power do what they said they would or did they fail? Do you accept their excuses for their failure? Or do you think it is time to congratulate them on their performance. Perhaps you think it is time for new leadership.

Be honorable and true to what you know to be your core beliefs, and the Ship of State will remain strong. Vote not on what you are being told in the next few months but vote on what you know to be true about actual performance and results for the last four years.

LUCY

Notes of Concern…

   …Jack Blair

LUCY

One of the nice things about being a columnist is you can write about almost anything. Over the years I have had to write some sad columns, ones that were cathartic for me. This is one of those. If you are in love with your pets or easily moved to tears, you might want to simply not read this one.

For many years my wife and I have had two labrador retrievers in our household. She was never happy about having two, but I became insistent because our jobs took us out of the house for long periods each day, and I felt my one lab just wasn’t having a very good life, being lonely for most of the time.

So we started having two.

When one would pass, I would be out looking for another. After time my wife said we should not get a second lab. I kept secretly looking. She said she didn't want to have to train a puppy and go through all that stuff again. I kept secretly looking. Our breeders had been predominately from Ohio, so I was in touch with them for suggestions.

One day I received a note saying that the breeder had taken a “pick of litter” expecting the dog to be a show dog but she did not grow to the requirements of length and height. She was eight months old and house trained.

We had always had black male labradors. This was a yellow female. One night at dinner I was telling our fellow diners about a fabulous, trained labrador I had learned about in my search for a puppy and said if any of them were interested, I would give them contact information. 

That was when I got kicked under the table.

Later my wife asked me why I would be offering a lovable, already trained, beautiful labrador to other people.

Victory!

Lucy, originally called “Snowy” by the breeder because of her lovely light yellow coat arrived by plane at a local airport. I picked her up. She had been bathed and fluffed, and when we opened the door at our home, it was love at first sight for my wife and Lucy.

She was a lovely pet. She was playful. She tolerated the cats. She loved to ride in the car. And she was better than ADT at letting us know someone was on the property or at the door.

There was a big difference in my life with this labrador. All the others were with me short periods of time when I was home and not at work. While Lucy lived with us, I was retired and my wife was still working. So every day, 24-7 we were together. She followed me around the house. She ate any leftovers I had on my plate. She went everywhere with me in the car, even if just a short trip to the grocery. She was my companion.

She had been having some trouble with the ligaments in her right hind leg, and she favored that leg, still getting around on the other three. On the last day of her life she sat at my chair watching me eat eggs Benedict, with that soulful look on her face that said “save some for me.” So she got half an order of eggs Benedict and was very grateful. She followed me around that morning. She lay  in front of the fireplace while I read. After lunch I suggest we go outside, and as we walked around the property, she attempted to jump over a low stone fence. Her bad leg did not support her, and her other leg gave way. She landed on the paved driveway, yelping and rolling around on her side. I didn’t know what to do. Someone came along and helped lift her into my SUV. I called the Vet and explained the situation, saying I thought she might have broken her leg.

After the Vet X-rayed her, I was told the situation was not good. The first leg problem was worse. In addition, a new problem had now developed with leg number two. Nothing was broken, but the X-ray showed a large lump of cancer in the spine.

I telephoned my wife who came immediately to the Vet to say her goodbyes. Lots of tears and memories. And then she was gone.

From eggs Benedict at breakfast to being gone in a matter of hours. Eleven years of joy and love, gone in an instant.

I know dogs aren’t humans. They have a short shelf life. But when they pass, it reminds us of our own immortality. The crate is dismantled and packed away. The toys all over the house are picked up and stored. The collars are boxed. And the favorite toy is being laundered by my wife and will remain with us as a memory of our life with Lucy.

We have had to put a lot of dogs down in our 47 years of married life. People think it must get easier. My wife knows that not to be the case. She says every time we have to put one down, all the memories of the others are stirred up.

I expect to see Lucy every time I open the door. I am distraught when I look at the empty space where her crate was kept. I miss her on my lonely car trips. 

But I am ever so happy that she enjoyed eggs Benedict on her last day.

TRUMP CLINTON

Notes of Concern…

   …Jack Blair

ON TO THE RACES

I promised in an earlier column not to write about politics until I watched both conventions. So this will be my assessment today.

In few presidential election years have I seen such horrible statements, speeches and columns. Supporters of Sanders, Clinton and Trump are hot and angry and determined.

It has turned out that it will be Clinton vs Trump with Sanders endorsing Clinton, much to the anger of some of his supporters. I watch the polls on Real Politics and I find they are usually reliable. They show today a very close race.

That being said, I think the polls will be useless in this election. Probably a majority of people do not like either candidate. But they are smart enough to realize that voting for a third party candidate or not voting at all simply helps the candidate you like least. Our duty is to choose the best of the two major party candidates.

The reason I think polling will be misleading is that I know so many people who say they will vote for Trump but will not say so publicly. So when they go behind that curtain and cast their vote it is my view that a significant number of those who say they are uncommitted or will vote for Clinton will actually vote for Trump.

As I have said in previous columns it is not an endorsement of Trump. Anyone who took Trump’s position that our nation has been led for many years by the wrong kind of people, would have been popular. The majority of people do not think the nation is headed in the right direction.

This is a positive for Trump and spells trouble for Clinton.

Clinton may yet win not because people think she is appropriate but because trump is a roll of the dice. We know what we get with Clinton. We have watched her for decades, since she was the wife of the Governor of Arkansas. We do not know what we will get with Trump. I do not side with those who think he would be a disaster as I have know idea how his business successes and his ability to see the major issue before Americans today, unhappiness with business as usual, will affect the way he would lead the Republic.

OFF TO THE RACES

Notes of Concern…

   …Jack Blair

ON TO THE RACES

I promised in an earlier column not to write about politics until I watched both conventions. So this will be my assessment today.

In few presidential election years have I seen such horrible statements, speeches and columns. Supporters of Sanders, Clinton and Trump are hot and angry and determined.

It has turned out that it will be Clinton vs Trump with Sanders endorsing Clinton, much to the anger of some of his supporters. I watch the polls on Real Politics and I find they are usually reliable. They show today a very close race.

That being said, I think the polls will be useless in this election. Probably a majority of people do not like either candidate. But they are smart enough to realize that voting for a third party candidate or not voting at all simply helps the candidate you like least. Our duty is to choose the best of the two major party candidates.

The reason I think polling will be misleading is that I know so many people who say they will vote for Trump but will not say so publicly. So when they go behind that curtain and cast their vote it is my view that a significant number of those who say they are uncommitted or will vote for Clinton will actually vote for Trump.

As I have said in previous columns it is not an endorsement of Trump. Anyone who took Trump’s position that our nation has been led for many years by the wrong kind of people, would have been popular. The majority of people do not think the nation is headed in the right direction.

This is a positive for Trump and spells trouble for Clinton.

Clinton may yet win not because people think she is appropriate but because trump is a roll of the dice. We know what we get with Clinton. We have watched her for decades, since she was the wife of the Governor of Arkansas. We do not know what we will get with Trump. I do not side with those who think he would be a disaster as I have know idea how his business successes and his ability to see the major issue before Americans today, unhappiness with business as usual, will affect the way he would lead the Republic.

KILLING FIELDS

Notes of Concern…

   …Jack Blair

KILLING FIELDS

Almost every day I awake to learn of new carnage somewhere in the world. Sixty four dead here, 5 dead there,beheading a priest, attacking a Mass, hundreds wounded, people being more cautious in their travels, our government telling our citizens abroad to shelter in place because going outside could make them targets.

These stories get huge play on social media, in the printed news and on television.

I try to remind myself that in the overall course of events these tragedies are small, they do not compare to the dead counts when we are actually at war with another country. Somehow it is a matter of the expected and the unexpected.

Every life counts and when I read of the loss of even one my heart breaks.

But I do not believe we have a credible solution to ending these kinds of killings. We don’t know where these enemies are. We don’t know which of the various radical groups has gotten to them, invaded their brains, and sent them out as mercenary killers. More importantly, we don’t know which of the mentally ill Americans are being radicalized simply by reading and watching.

Until we do find a way to track terrorists  and put them down this is going to continue unabated. I suggest that some of our own Judaeo Christian heritage prevents us from making the hard decision to meet them with the same kind of indifference to life that they demonstrate. And readers, our enemies count on our thinking that way. Our morals, beliefs and traditions are their most effective weapons.

Bottom line: their religion celebrates murder. Our religion condemns it.

When they kill they are going to paradise. 

When we kill we are going to hell.

If we are to survive these wounds, these multiple knife wounds and bullet deaths it will require some revisiting of our own thinking. Do we have a duty to keep killers from killing and, if so, does that mean our killing is noble. Or is the killing, no matter the reason, simply unacceptable.

To those who find killing unacceptable under any circumstances, it is incumbent on you to put forth a different path for ending this horrible course of action taken by sworn enemies of ours.

For those of you who would consider the killing of the killers of innocents to be appropriate, it is incumbent on you to select people to run our government who have the strength and commitment to carry out policies of identify, discover and eliminate.

Not easy decisions morally or religiously or politically.

But the head in the sand approach isn’t going to work.