National

Just a Bit Inside!

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Last evening Philadelphia Phillie Rhys Hoskins homered off of NY Mets reliever Jacob Rhame in a 6-0 win.  This came just one day after Rhame buzzed two consecutive fastballs just above Hoskin’s cranium in the meaningless ninth inning of Mets 9-0 blowout.  Hoskins basked in the moment, taking a very long 34 seconds to touch all of the bases.

Joe Biden hopes he hit a home run too.  Just one day after he was supposed to release his presidential campaign announcement video he did.  His video is a good bit longer than 34 seconds(209 to be exact) and he doesn’t touch all of the bases.  Rather it appeals directly to his base.  It buzzes a fastball or two right at the cranium of President Donald Trump.

And so the race to rally the base is on.  In the very first inning of Biden’s video he remembers the conflict (and tragic death of one innocent bystander) between far right-wing groups and anti protesters in August of 2017 in Charlottesville, VA.  He calls out Trump’s comments that there were “a lot of good people on both sides there.”  So the race for 2020 among 20 Democrat hopefuls is joined.  Biden wasted no time telling us that Trump was bad.

Old school baseball at its finest, or at its worst if you prefer, was on display in NY.  “He got me,” Rhame said. “Make a better pitch, he doesn’t get to run the bases.”  Added Mets manager Mickey Callaway: “I really don’t have any thoughts on it. That’s their team. They can do what they wanna do.”  “If a ball goes over your head the night before, the best way to get back at the pitcher is by putting the ball in the seats,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said.  Unapologetic it was. Old school it is.

So too is Joe Biden.  Old school politician he is.  The last time he had to raise funds he shook many a hand and hugged and hugged and hugged many a lady.  Today, the world-wide web is your fundraising friend.  Obama’s campaigners ran breathlessly to Beto’s camp. What a breath of fresh air this Beto guy is they said.  He reminds us of a certain guy named Barrack in 2008 they said.   O’Rourke is 47.  Joe turns 77 this year.  He’s old enough to be his crazy uncle.  He could be related, but can he relate?

But Joe is apologetic.  A month or so ago he apologized to all women, saying about the Anita Hill testimony during the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nominee hearings ” I wish I could have done something.”  “To this day I regret I couldn’t come up with a way to get her the kind of hearing she deserved, given the courage she showed by reaching out to us.”  Joe forgot, or forgot to tell us, that he was the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee that ran the hearings then.  And just a couple of weeks ago he apologized for hanging on too long during all of those uplifting hugs.  He said “I will be more respectful of people’s personal space.”  He even noted that today is more about taking selfies.

Hoskins said that the slow homerun jog wasn’t about retaliation. “A couple of guys kind of said the phrase, ‘Don’t poke the sleeping bear,”‘ he said.  And with that baseball continues to slog on with some of yesterday’s traditions.  Perhaps far too comfortable insiders are still running the show.

Today Biden can take a 209 second video trot around the diamond. The 24 hour news cycle will provide the stadium.   Tomorrow he should expect two fastballs high and tight.  Eventually he will have to stop apologizing for his past.  Eventually he will have to stop telling us who Trump is.  Eventually he will have to tell us who he is, won’t he?

Or, he just pokes the bear that President Trump is.  And The Donald never sleeps.

 

 

 

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

With 5G technology and artificial intelligence on our doorsteps we will very soon be able to see, hear, and do things better and faster than ever before.  So what will America prioritize to see, hear, and do better than ever?

While that conversation, driven by capitalism, evolves in boardrooms and meeting rooms the world over, Wall St. has certainly has bought in.  A record-setting day yesterday had most indices closing at new all time highs.  This writer took a Uber ride Friday night and the driver was eager to give us stock tips.  A good stock tip might be “when Uber drivers give stock tips it’s time to sell stocks.”

Regardless, Main St. seems to have bought in too.  Employment is at all time highs too.  Inflation is low.  Interest rates are tame.

All is well, eh?  Well.  Maybe not.  A quick trip around the newsrooms in the last 24 hours shows us just how bad life really is apparently.

Brick and mortar is dead.  Brick and mortar is dead.  Maybe not.  Kohl’s Department Stores announced yesterday that they are expanding their agreement with Amazon to increase the number of their retail stores from 100 to all 1100 to accept Amazon returns.   Traditional stores teaming up with fierce internet competitors that were going to drive them out of business sounds crazy. It’s about foot traffic, always.  Both stocks rose sharply.  Bernie Sanders called Amazon criminal the other evening in a town hall.  It turns out that they very legally pay less taxes than Bernie wants them to.  Sounds like they help employ a few folks that do pay taxes.  “Crazy Bernie” someone calls him.  We’ll be back after this commercial break.

California wants to eliminate those tiny plastic shampoo bottles that hotels provide.  Turns out that they are being found in the oceans at an increasing and alarming rate they say.  First it was those plastic rings around so many six packs of cola strangling all of the seals.  Once eradicated, the plastic straws that you drank the cola with started floating in the seas.  What could be next?  Could it be all of the plastic syringes lying in the streets that were handed out to drug users up the coast to insure clean needles for all?  More after these commercial words.

A few of the now 20 and counting announced Democrats for president have endorsed giving voter rights to either all Americans 16 and over, or all people living in this country, or all people living in this country that are incarcerated, or all three of the above.  We wonder if the cry for sixteen year olds to vote coincides with them being 18 and of legal age to vote come 2020?  First come, first served.  We wonder when it became a right of a non US citizen to vote, period?  See if you can vote in the country of your choice the next time you travel abroad.  We wonder if the plan is to bring the polling booths to the prisons, or to bring the prisoners to the polling booths?  We’re up against a hard break.  Back in two minutes.

We are back.   Elizabeth Warren one upped Bernie Sanders’ free tuition giveaway.  She wants free college too, but first wants to forgive 50k of student debt per individual that had to pay.  Meanwhile, Maxine Waters, Chairperson of the House Finance Committee, wants to know what the big banks are going to do help these million or so yearly student loan defaults.  She “grilled” several bank CEO’s  two weeks back asking what they were going to do about this crisis.  After the third CEO in a row reminded her that the government took over the loan program from these greedy bankers in 2009, she relented.  Awkward.  To summarize, the debt isn’t being repaid.  Warren wants to forgive and forget about it anyway.  It’s our government that is running the loan program even though the Finance Chairperson doesn’t know it.  Lets just make college free.  Banks are bad.  We’ll be back with some final words right after this important message from our sponsors.

We wind down our 5G broadcast to you tonight on a lighter note with a look at this brief video of the latest advances in robotic programming.  Wow.  Artificial intelligence is creepy.

And, just before we close we have breaking news.  It is confirmed that Joe Biden, who has been bidding his time, will announce tomorrow that he is entering the crowded Democratic field of announced candidates for president in 2020.   Wow.  How ironic is it that we mentioned Biden, artificial intelligence, and creepy all at the same time?

Thank you for watching.  Good day.

Mr. Magoo and the Haymakers

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Emboldened by what he called “total vindication,” President Trump took a victory lap after the knockout to Grand Rapids, MI. and back for one of his feel good pep rallies of his base.  The Mueller Investigation findings, though not yet totally released, proves, he says, what he told us all along.  That is, no Russian Collusion.

Some Democrats, like a dog on a bone, won’t yet let go.  One such bow-wow, from the great state of California, Adam Schiff continued his diatribe into the weekend that he knows Trump is guilty and he has proof.  When he became Chair of the House Intelligence Committee in 2019, Schiff made it his personal mission to investigate Trump’s connections to Russia, separate from the investigation by the Special Counsel.  Schiff came under significant fire when asked if he would accept it if the Special Counsel’s investigation concluded that Donald Trump did not collude with Russia.  He stated that he has great confidence in Mueller but that “there may be, for example, evidence of collusion or conspiracy that is clear and convincing, but not proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” as is needed for a criminal conviction.

So, President Trump, once the star of the hit show The Apprentice, took his show on the road.  No apprentice at assigning nicknames to friend or foe, “The Donald” offered a new one in describing the House Intelligence Chairperson.  It played quite well in Grand Rapids, and we suspect it’ll play quite well in red states coast to coast.  Of course there aren’t many red states on any coast really unless you include the Gulf Coast.

So, since he has such an affinity for nicknames, BBR decided to countdown our thoughts on his best (if you are from the right) or his worst (if you are from the left).  The hit list is the same either way.

Many honorable mentions are possible.  We chose four that follow.

Little Marco – Then candidate Trump went from stage left to center stage after just one Republican debate.  He bullied several believed to be serious candidates right down podium row.  Marco Rubio, of diminutive size, took a shot to his ribs, lost his composure more than once, and never recovered.

Crazy Bernie- Bernie Sanders pushed Hillary Clinton much further left than she wished to gain the Democratic nomination in 2016.  The now Prez relabeled “free college tuition” Bernie as Crazy Bernie.  Bernie’s glasses and uncoiffed grey hair could, given a lab white lab coat, come across as a bit out there to anyone to his right.  And we think many are to his right.

Lyin’ Ted- Ted Cruz stayed above it all for much of the Republican campaigning and debating.  As also ran’s ran out of support or money or both, Ted stayed firmly in the race.  Mr. Trump took exception to a few of Ted’s characterizations of him and labeled him Lyin’ Ted Cruz.  Trump trumped Ted in the debates by pulling out the nickname early and often is his rebuttals of Ted’s shots across the bow.  Ted eventually bowed out.

Mr. Magoo- President Trump appointed Congressman Jeff Sessions as his first Attorney General of the United States.  Alabamian Sessions was an early, avid, and outspoken advocate of candidate Trump.  Trump spoke glowingly of Sessions.  He did at least until Sessions recused himself in the beginning stages of the Russian Investigation that led to the appointment of Special Prosecutor Mueller.    Sessions decided to not participate.  He concluded “I should not be involved in investigating a campaign I had a role in.”  Trump denies that he ever called AG Sessions “Mr. Magoo.” Of course he denies any Stormy relationship that turned stormy for him as well.   We think the nickname is too good for Trump to not take credit.  So, we included it here, authorship be damned.

Remember, President Trump says that he never starts a fight, he just counter punches until he ends one.  Maybe.  But, there is no doubt that he’s a heavyweight champion of nicknames.  The one he put on Schiff is a punch straight to his manhood.

Tomorrow we count down his top five haymakers.

They all hit like Mike Tyson.

 

New York Makes an Amazonian Sized Mistake

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s old news to you now that Amazon, Inc., try as it might to not, decided to pull the plug on their new New York headquarters #2.  A year-long “contest” ended with Virginia and New York both winning the “Amazon please be thy neighbor” prize.  But, then New York started acting like a petulant child.  The new news is a peek behind the curtain that fascinates.

This link is an open letter from a NY official that details the why of the wow.  Reading the details is like watching a train wreck in slow motion.   Wow indeed!

Start spreading the news, New York, New York failed to deliver a huge, gift wrapped economic boost to its people.

“Made in China” made February 21st Relevant

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Yearly February 21st holds little cache’.  Sure it’s a week after Valentine’s Day so it might be remembered for throwing out dead roses that warmed hearts for about five minutes.  But in 1972 February 21st was a day that warmed an ice-cold relationship and in turn gave hope to a world that had plenty of cold wars brewing.

President Richard M. Nixon arrived in Beijing, the capital of the People’s Republic of China, on the first ever US President’s visit to the world’s most populous nation. Because the U.S. federal government had formerly opposed China’s communist government since it took power in 1949, Nixon was also the first president to visit a nation not recognized by the United States. In Beijing, President Nixon met with Chairman Mao Zedong.

At the Shanghai Communique on February 27, Nixon and the Chinese premier agreed to lessen the risk of war, expand cultural contacts between the two nations, and establish a permanent U.S. trade mission in China.  The two leaders also secretly discussed how they could work together to carefully watch the growth of Soviet power in Asia and elsewhere around the globe.

It was progress, but it was begrudging and it churned forward slowly.  As the years wore on the trade between the two superpowers grew and grew.  But so did the trade imbalance and the tariffs imposed by China.  Both have risen geometrically and unchecked by the US.

And now a mere 47 years later President Trump is attempting to tackle it.  He is seeking what he calls trade equality.  In short he states that he wants to balance the trade imbalance-make the China exports and imports more equal in dollar value.  And he want the tariffs (taxes imposed by both countries on incoming goods) equalized as well.

After years of trade agreements that bound the countries of the world more closely and erased restrictions on trade, a populist backlash has grown against globalization. This was evident in Trump’s 2016 election and the British vote that year to leave the European Union.  You know, MAGA.

Critics note that big corporations in rich countries exploited rules to move factories to China, then shipped these goods back to their wealthy home countries while paying low tariffs. Since China joined the WTO in 2001, the United States has “lost” nearly 3 million factory jobs, though many economists believe a significant percentage of that loss is not just to trade but to artificial intelligence(robots) that replaces human workers.

President Trump blames what he calls their abusive trade policies for America’s persistent trade deficits — $566 billion last year. Most economists, by contrast, say the deficit simply reflects the reality that the United States spends more than it saves.

In 1972 the US was very divided over Nixon’s visit to China.  “Why should America even step on communist soil?” was a constant retort.  Just shy of two years later Richard Milhous Nixon was impeached for all together unrelated reasons.

In 2019 the US is very divided over the imposition of these tariffs on China as well as the many other nations that the Donald John Trump team has renegotiated trade deals with.  “Why mess with what has been working?” is the constant retort.

In fact in 2019 the US is very divided over everything.  Two years from now a new congress and either a new president or President Trump are sworn in to office.  If it’s a new congress that takes control of the Senate and President Trump is reelected might he be impeached for all together unrelated reasons?

If you are old enough you can still hear the tone and see President Nixon as he assured America, “I am not a crook!”

What fate lies ahead for President Trump?  And what will he say when he exits the American political stage whether forced out, elected out, or has served the maximum eight years allowed by our Constitution?  Our guess is that it will be strongly worded regardless of the pulpit, the audience, and the reason.

Meanwhile, the cost of your “made in China” items are about to go up it seems because Trump thinks China is a crook.

 

 

Chad, Ima, and the Florida Swamp.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Do you remember Chad?  They say that everyone is famous for 15 minutes.  Chad was that and then some.  Hanging around for days, Chad was no dummy either.  He chose warm south Florida in mid November just eleven months after we celebrated the year 2000 and the 21st century replacing 1999 and the 20th century.  So just who was he?  Or better yet, what was he?

A “chad” is the fragment or fragments of paper left over when you punch a hole in a card.

In the 2000 United States presidential election, many Florida voters used Votomatic-style punched card ballots where incompletely punched holes resulted in partially punched chads: either a “hanging chad”, where one or more corners were still attached, or a “fat chad” or “pregnant chad”, where all corners were still attached, but an indentation appears to have been made. These votes were not counted by the tabulating machines. The aftermath of the controversy caused the rapid discontinuance of punch card ballots in the United States.

And what an aftermath it was.

On election night, no clear winner emerged. Print and broadcast media cited often contradictory exit-polling numbers, and the races in Oregon and New Mexico would remain too close to call for several days. Ultimately, the contest focused on the great state of Florida. Networks initially projected Gore the winner in Florida, but later they declared in favor of Bush. Gore called Bush to concede the election, but in the early hours of the following morning it became apparent that the Florida race was much closer than Gore’s staff thought.  Fewer than 600 votes separated the candidates, and that margin appeared to be narrowing.  About 3:00 AM Gore called a stunned Bush to retract his concession.

The aforementioned Bush would be one George W. Bush, then governor of Texas, and son of former President George Herbert Walker Bush.  Papa Bush was prez no. 41. The aforementioned Gore would be one Al Gore, then VP to impeached, but not removed, two term President William Jefferson Clinton. Clinton was prez no. 42. The winner of this undecided race would be prez no. 43.

That Gore won the popular vote wasn’t contested.  The final electoral college vote count, however, was left hanging by hanging chads.  The race in Florida was so tight that a miniscule difference of 537 votes sent the nation into a tizzy.  And, it sent Florida into a mandatory recount per state voting law.  As it stood prior to any recount, the red Republican Bush states amassed 271 electoral college votes to 266 for the blue Democrat Gore states.

Democrats embraced the recount.  But the Florida Secretary of State declared Bush the winner in mid recount.  Lawsuits, rulings, appeals, and reversals kept the finality of the outcome at bay for five weeks.  A few counties that still voted by using punch cards began their recount at the outset of the legal back and forth.  Was it a vote or was it the dreaded pregnant chad?

In the end the process(mess) reached the US Supreme Court.  By a five to four margin the highest court of all ruled that no timely resolution could be reached other than the original one.  This effectively made George Bush no. 43.  Chad’s fifteen minutes were up.

Indeed Chad’s fifteen minutes were up.  But meet Chad’s cousin, Ima Contest.  She surfaced last week for her fifteen minutes of fame.  She showed up in, of all places, warm south Florida in mid November.  Give that family three things-they know just where, when, and how to make an entrance onto the political main stage.

Incumbent Democrat Senator Bill Nelson and former Governor Republican Rick Scott engaged in an expensive and hotly contested mid-term race to represent Florida in the Senate.  The results are inside of 0.50% points difference.  It’s deja vu mandatory recount time.

Oh, and meanwhile in the governor’s race, unofficial results show Republican former Rep. Ron DeSantis leading Democratic Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum by 0.41 percentage points.  Gillum, identically to Gore(the inventor of the internet) called DeSantis and conceded.  But as Lee Corso (Floridian himself)has said a few times, “not so fast my friend.”  Then Gillum, identically to Gore (the world’s most respected authority on climate change) retracted his concession.  He wants to monitor the mandatory recount too.

Ima contests the two elections because, of all things, not all of the votes supposedly have been counted when they were supposed to be by law.  These include 266 absentee ballots that arrived Sunday at the Miami-Dade election office.  Sunday was a full five days after the law mandates all votes be counted by 7 pm on the night of the election.  But, laws be damned apparently as the incumbent Senator Nelson contends that not counting these votes will disenfranchise(remember when you had thankfully never heard of that word before?)  voters and has filed a suit accordingly.

Some recently displaced hurricane evacuees voted by email.  The county commish in that area admits that this isn’t within approved voter guidelines. Will those votes be allowed?  Palm Beach and Miami have now failed to get the recount done in a timely manner as well.  Lawsuits, allegations, claims of voter fraud, and more lawsuits from both sides have further muddied the murky waters.

How about a request for removal from office?  Even former Governor Jeb Bush had a few words for that swamp near The Everglades.  “There is no question that Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes failed to comply with Florida law on multiple counts, undermining Floridians’ confidence in our electoral process,” former Governor Jeb Bush said. “Supervisor Snipes should be removed from her office following the recounts.”

Of the 4,687 US statewide general elections held between 2000 to 2015, 27 were followed by a recount, and only three resulted in a change of outcome from the original count.  So, the odds are slim to none that anything becomes of any of this other than lawyers making bank.

Yet, recount deadlines have been missed and missed again.   Apparently the educational system in a few counties in the great state of Florida isn’t too good.  Some folks can’t count, while others can’t tell time.

Eighteen years ago, after five weeks of back and forth, it all wound up in the US Supreme Court.  This time we stand at a week plus and counting.  This mess of a messed up process might end up in the highest court as well.  If it comes to that, shouldn’t newly appointed Judge Kavanaugh cast the deciding vote?   That would read like a movie script, and Oscars for all.

Chad and Ima and Florida are unfortunately forever linked and riding on this Groundhog Day, post-election merry-go-round.  And around it goes.

 

Why Did We Stop Now?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff
  • And, for some reason, all is now quiet on the “must take down offensive monuments front.”  So, now that many “offensive” Civil War memorials have been taken down in several of our “united” states ,we ponder, ‘is society any better because of it?’  Did the ones we took down make our country a better place?  Do all of the ones that remain up make our country a worse place?  Why did we put them up in the first place?  Why did we take some of them down?  Where is the outcry to take the rest down?

How many remain?  Ah, take a look.  The research done for that recent AL.com article shows 30 of the 50 United States still have one or more tributes, monuments, or statues depicting a Confederate memorial of some sort.  The list is led by Virginia where 242 still stand upright.  242!  In all there are approximately 1728 spread across the aforementioned 30 states.  1728!

The vast majority stand south of the famous Mason-Dixon line.  But not all of them do.  One or more adorn public land in Iowa, Maryland, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and shocker of shockers, Washington D.C.   But, but, how can that be?  Seems like we agree to disagree?

Apparently, we couldn’t even agree in the mid 1700’s where Pennsylvania and Maryland began and ended.  It’s how we first came to know Mr. Mason and Mr. Dixon.  A World Atlas excerpt follows.

The Mason-Dixon Line became widely known as the symbolic divider between the Northern and Southern states during America’s Civil War; in short, it divided slave states from non-slave states.

However, the original Mason–Dixon Line was actually a demarcation (or border) line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, in an effort to settle an 80-year land dispute between the two colonies. It also included the western border of present-day Delaware, as it was then a part of the Pennsylvania colony.

The ongoing dispute between the Penn family of Pennsylvania, and the Calvert family of Maryland over the border between the two colonies finally erupted into war in 1730, one known as Cresap’s War. After years of conflict, England’s King George II negotiated a cease-fire in 1738.

Shortly thereafter, the Penns and Calverts commissioned two Englishman, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, to mark the official border, and solve their property dispute.

Mason (an astronomer) and Dixon (a surveyor) used celestial measurements to form an accurate 233-mile-long line (or boundary) between Pennsylvania and Maryland, and the 83 mile-long between Maryland and Delaware.  The project took nearly 5 years.

After we solved where Maryland ended and Pennsylvania began, the Mason-Dixon line was extended, as mentioned above, to mark the south (slave states) from the north(non slave states).  So, after the war and over time, well over 2000 memorials were erected to honor the bravery, leadership, or passion of those who fought (and/or died) for the Confederacy. Even more were erected nationwide to honor the Union side of the very deadly combat.  The Confederate ones were placed in at least 30 states. There were only 36 states ratified into our United States by the end of the war in 1865.

Can’t you imagine the dedication ceremonies back then?  They likely looked and sounded just like the ones we have now.  The Star Spangled Banner was played by the local high school band.  Politicians stood up and thanked all for coming.  They droned on about how important this moment was to memorialize those who came and died before us.  A prayer was said for those who perished for what they thought was a good cause.  People dutifully bowed their heads.  The statue was unveiled.  People clapped.  Then, everyone ate a ham sandwich and drank a cup of punch.  Work beckoned.

One hundred and fifty years later we decided that these monuments were actually a terrible reflection on our society even though 30 of 36 states erected them and celebrated them for what they were-symbols of what tore us apart and eventually made us stronger, one union, one United States of America.

And, what about those Union memorials.   There are many thousands and they adorn every corner of this country.  Should they be taken down?  They honor Americans who displayed the same passion, leadership and bravery.  They stood for what they believed to be the right thing.   They fought and killed many thousands of US citizens who opposed the abolition of slavery.  Slavery, mind you, was but one of a few other disagreements that never are mentioned nor discussed.  The Union memorials were erected and celebrated for what they are-symbols of what tore us apart and eventually made us stronger, one union, one United States of America.  Sound familiar?

U.S. women were granted the right to vote in 1919.  The right was ratified as the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920.  Just four years prior, in 1915, the US House of Representatives voted against the right to vote.  Should any memorial for any US citizen or US government leader who opposed this cause be torn down?  Or, maybe this discrimination doesn’t rise to the tear down level?  There were even women back then who opposed having the right to vote!

In recent years incivility and unrest over jury verdicts or police actions has led to serious street violence and crime.  A few have reached a level of violence where citizens have thrown rocks, or worse shot at and killed law officers they feel break the law, not uphold it.  Should we have statues erected for the citizens cause?  Should we have statues erected for the police cause?  Both?  Probably neither.   But if we did, my guess is that in 150 years or less one side of the cause will have had their statues removed.  Times change.  Opinions change.

Heck, Mason and Dixon probably disagreed with one another.  Can’t we all just get along?  Obviously not.  Or, better yet, can’t we all realize that what tears us apart can make us stronger if we are willing to recognize it, debate it, and learn from it?

History cannot be changed.  History cannot be erased.  History can teach.  It’s time to learn.

 

 

 

 

Will Calling Them “Campers” Really Help Anything?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

editor’s note: The post that follows is not meant to demean the downtrodden.  It only expresses our view that while many are well intended to help those in need, perhaps the problem and the solution needs examination.  Further we know many of our readers do great work in this area to make the best of this problem.  We would appreciate your candid feedback on this if you wish.

From 1951-1971 a very popular TV show had a 20 year run with an unbelievable 672 episodes in “the can” as the Hollywood crowd used to call it.  Impressive.  It was called The Red Skelton Show.   It starred none other than a quite famous actor/comic named, you guessed it, Red Skelton.  Red did standup, had a couple of guests, an occasional musician, and did several skits with characters that he developed quite well.  It was truly a variety show.

One of the characters that Red developed quite well was Freddie the Freeloader.   As you can see from the linked clip the jokes were about a down on his luck homeless man.   Let’s repeat that, “the jokes were about a down on his luck homeless man.” In today’s world even the thought of that would not be whispered in creative circles.  It isn’t what we do today.  Today we help people.  We make all feel good, feel equal.  Or, at least we think we do.

This writer actually met Red Skelton at a poorly attended book signing of his many years ago.  It was so poorly attended we had the opportunity to get better acquainted.  My impression in a short 15 minutes was that what Red actually attempted to do in all of his works was show a world as it was and do so in a kind and funny way.

Today his message would not even be heard because his premise would be looked on as outrageous by those who choose what actually goes “in the can.”  It would also be panned by those who wish to shape the narrative for political gain by telling those that are willing to listen that others are insensitive.

You see Freddie the Freeloader, by his own admission was a “hobo.”  If you can believe Wikipedia,  a hobo is a migrant worker or homeless vagrant, especially one who is impoverished. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States around 1890.[1] Unlike a “tramp“, who works only when forced to, and a “bum“, who does not work at all, a “hobo” is a traveling worker.

So, a hobo was a homeless worker as opposed to a tramp, vagrant, or a bum.  That’s a small consolation prize perhaps. Eventually, the words tramp and bum fell strongly out of favor for “the homeless.”  Homeless, soon enough, sounded too demeaning and was replaced by “the underserved.”  Recent trips to Portland and other cities that embrace/accept high populations of whatever you choose to call “them” now refer to “them” as “campers.”  Yes, if you haven’t been to sunny Portland you haven’t seen the many campers.  If you haven’t been to downtown LA you haven’t seen the square city miles of sidewalks of tents pitched.

So, we must wonder aloud, does what you call a person who unfortunately has a problem or problems that lead to this life make that person’s life any better?  Does it make you or them feel any better about their plight? More importantly, what are we doing as a society to reduce the number of campers by solving the root cause or causes of their descent?

We ask because we don’t know.  Recent surveys by multiple services and government agencies show that in spite of everyone’s best efforts the homeless population stands at a guesstimated 550,000 people.  It’s down from a 2008 Great Recession peak by about 70,000.  If you look at a glass as half full I suppose that is progress.  But, if you look at a glass as half empty, isn’t having over one half of a million people sleep on the streets of the most developed country in the world sad?  It is.

Some folks are in the camp (no pun intended) of “you are what you make of yourself.”  Others want to give everyone everything to either make themselves feel better about themselves or truly think they are making a bad situation better.  We wonder if there is a middle ground that should be vigorously explored.

Goodness knows a warm bed for a night or a sandwich during the day is a nice and needed humane gesture.  We just wonder if the root cause is being addressed aggressively enough.  In other words what got someone to this spot?  Are we treating the symptom or the illness?  The symptom is homelessness.  The illness is?  Addiction?   Mental illness?  Physical disability?  Job loss?  Indifference?  Laziness?  Several of those can be helped.  At least one or two don’t deserve it.

We are very familiar with a worthy mission in Houston, TX.  It is The Star of Hope.  It has multiple programs for men, women, and children.  Taken from their mission statement is “Positive life changes are encouraged through structured programs which focus on spiritual growth, education, employment, life management and recovery from substance abuse.”

The program within the program that we are most familiar with helps mothers who have been domestically abused and have or would be living in the streets with their children were it not for this program.  Picture an old school motel layout.   Hotel rooms are more like small efficiency apartments.  There is a cafeteria, a meeting room or two, and a few offices.  The one and only goal is to get them back into society in a productive manner ASAP.  The requirement to live there is that either you have a job, are actively looking for one, or are headed back to a school to get to a trade or job.  All children must be enrolled in a school.  The help given is only for those looking for a hand up, not a hand out.  But the help given demands that you understand the difference between the two.  And, that, we believe is a real key to success.

We don’t know, but are fairly certain, that there are many fine outreach programs across the US.  We wonder aloud though, “isn’t there a better way, a quicker solution, a more concerted effort available to us if we put our collective heads together?” No, we aren’t talking about another bloated government tax dollar throw away.  We are talking about civil people doing civil things.

Or, is this the far end of the tough side of the bell curve and we should just do what we can(whatever that means)? We’ve been to black tie fundraisers and ate steak and drank champagne and donated money for a couple other homeless causes.  It felt good I guess, but it didn’t do anything.   In 1986 we connected our hands together for “Hands Across America.”  It felt good I guess, but it didn’t do anything.

We suppose the answer lies in who you think “campers” are.  We suppose the answer lies in what you think “campers” can become.   We don’t think it’s what you call them.