Some Work of Noble Note

  When I decided to force myself to write, I looked for a title that would say something about me and what I have to say. I thought of several things, several of my favorite authors, but I finally settled on a phrase from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's “Ulysses.” This poem contains not only one of my all-time favorite phrases, "to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield," but also, as I read it again, I realized that it is a commentary on my current life.  When first I read “Ulysses,” it must have been my senior year of high school. I had an extraordinary English teacher who pushed us to the brink (sometimes over, we adolescents thought.) I fastened upon the above quote at that time, not really taking in the rest of the poem; although I'm sure our teacher taught it to us. After all, I was seventeen years old, and the entire world was ahead of me. What context could I bring to this poem? Later on, when I became a teacher, I taught English in addition to theatre (whic...

  When I was a child, I found a book my mother had bought through a book club. It was called Little Britches . The story was narrated by a boy about nine years old, and I was close to that age, so I read it with interest. The author Ralph Moody wrote about his relationship with his father growing up on a ranch in Colorado . He went on to write several more books about his coming of age in the early 20 th century, and I have them all. I read them aloud to my children when they were growing up, and every now and then, I revisit them.   The first book recounted an episode when Ralph lied to his father about something he wanted. The father punished him, but he also told him a story which resonates with me even today. He told Ralph that a man’s character is like his house. When a man lies to get what he wants, it’s like tearing the boards off his house and burning them to keep himself warm. Eventually he will have destroyed his house for selfish reasons, and a man with a ruine...

   I don’t know whether I’m more upset that many of the Republicans paid no attention to the presentation yesterday or that they did and refuse to accept the truth of Trump’s crime. Kierkegaard said, “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to accept what is true.” Let’s talk about the first problem: Imagine you are the prosecutor for a heinous crime. While you are presenting your case, fully 15% of the jury leaves the box. Some of those who remain turn their face away to video evidence or talk to each other acting like toddlers who’ve been told to sit in time out, but wish to remind you that they really don’t care. Additionally, you discover that some of the jurors met with the defense attorneys in order to help them with their presentation. Can we say MISTRIAL? All of this happened yesterday during Day 3 of Trump’s second impeachment trial. A teacher would not allow this in a classroom of elementary students. Of cour...

  We hear daily that there’s no chance the Republicans will vote to convict Trump for inciting insurrection on January 6 th .   After January 6 th ; however, many Republican Senators had a different story: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “The mob was fed lies,” McConnell said on the Senate floor nearly two weeks after Jan. 6. “They were provoked by the president and other powerful people. And they tried to use fear and violence to stop a specific proceeding of the first branch of the federal government which they did not like.” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) “The call to march down the Capitol — it was inciting,” Cramer said. “It was pouring fuel on a spark.” Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) “I think it was a tragic day, and he was part of it.” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) “Certainly encouraging people to go to the Capitol and some of the sort of                implied suggestions I think are, you know … they just encourage th...

  As I have been watching the second trial of Donald J. Trump, I have been overwhelmed by the mass of arguments meticulously planned and well delivered by the House Managers. Yesterday the impactful video showing the real time juxtaposition of events on January 6th and then, the arguments concerning the constitutionality of the trial seemed to have the weight of truth behind them. It seemed to me that anyone who was listening would come to the conclusion that the January 6th insurrection was not only instigated by Trump, but also had precedent to be a constitutional trial. Trump's defense team gave an incoherent and disorganized defense of their stance that the trial was not constitutional.  Then the vote came: 44 senators voted that the trial was not constitutional . Even though 56 Senators voted that it was, I could not believe that 44 voted against the overwhelming evidence presented by the Democratic Managers. How could this be? Later, I was struck by what  Senat...