We hear late clarion call from David Brooks, others

Jim Carrey's artwork, wisdom

The cavalry is coming. This happened four years ago but it was too late. "The cavalry" is the forces of established, sensible media, the type that once reigned for the evening "network news." It ensured we paid attention to the right issues, stayed inside the guardrails. 

There was always a "din" outside of that, voices from the fringe, so excited in tone, irrational so much. 

The Trump phenomenon got the media intoxicated. The competition for eyeballs did not used to be so intense. The people who could reach a broad audience with their voices had to go through vetting. They most likely had a pedigree including a prestige college out East. It was just the way of the world (or of the U.S.). We grumbled sometimes but didn't rebel. 

"The news" could be boring. This was in the days when news was more in the realm of public service than profit generator. The media tech revolution enabled "niche" programming that could be mined successfully. Roger Ailes wanted to create something like Fox News in the '70s. It was not practicable. So there was no blow horn available for someone like Sean Hannity. People of that stripe were marginalized. They could be branded eccentric. 

Can you imagine TV audiences of the '70s taking seriously someone like Jeanine Pirro? "My, who is this odd, unstable person? Change the channel." 

The proliferation of media to staggering degrees has created a numb reaction among us. So that nothing surprises us. We hear coarse language that would have made jaws drop in a previous time. 

 

Sam Kinison, precursor

Changes do not happen overnight. So the trend away from the old norm of assumed propriety was not easy for many of us to notice. We are immersed in our daily tasks, our daily struggles. In the '80s we noticed certain comedians getting away with a coarse presentation on TV. It raised eyebrows but it didn't take long for us to get rather accustomed. "I guess there are bigger problems," we might reason. Sam Kinison represented a new wave. 

The network evening news was still there as a home base. It would remind us of the truly proper perspective from which to make judgments on public issues. That element continues to exist today - it just has to fight so much harder to assert itself. 

And it's trying now, just as it tried in the closing stages of the 2016 campaign. Really, this element tried sounding the alarm, to grab us by the shoulders and shake us, to state the obvious about Donald Trump being a cruel novelty, amusing sometimes but fundamentally dangerous. And surely us American citizens, sensible as we are, would be properly reminded to take action. In the end we'd recognize the likes of Hannity and Pirro as oddball sideshows. 

But no. The cavalry arrived too late. The media denizens were happy to see their profit margins ooze by the shock quality of the Trump campaign, the Trump circus. 

It was hard to switch away from the old Morton Downey Jr. TV show. It was a partner with Kinison with the '80s breakthrough. So the loud, raw and undisciplined voices were getting through to the masses. Had we been merely idly amused, fine. 

The Trump campaign of 2016 was another breakthrough, sort of a tsunami. The shock-oriented stuff was now influencing American political inclinations, so that the old notion of laughing off someone like Trump was not assumed. His sheer ability to get attention worked in the new age of a thick jungle of media, where we are challenged trying to break through with a machete. Everyone starts a podcast today, maybe their dog too, and they all think they can get an audience. 

Trump with his cynically orchestrated bravado and entertainment skills, honed through an entertainment show, got on the political stage, or on the downward escalator, and now we can look back and feel flummoxed. Amazingly he is within reach of re-election even. Why not? We are no longer shocked by anything. It's an age now where limitless porn is a click away. Why should we be surprised by anything? 

And by the same token, why should we elect politicians who bore us? Who would simply "do the job" and do so with a resume of meaningful experience. Why get bored with that, when Trump is out there charging hard in the political realm, like a bull in a china shop. What a dead-on comparison. And we seem to want to take another bite. 

 

David Brooks

An exasperated pundit?

David Brooks of the New York Times represents the old, august media that used to shepherd our sensibilities. I read his current column and heavens, I can read his mind. It's as if he's wondering, "Has the time come where I really have to write this, to state the obvious?" OK it has an "emperor has no clothes" quality. 

Should Brooks even have to write, as if it's a stroke of insight, in the fourth year of the Trump presidency, that the man simply violates codes of decency? Really? Has the public not been able to see the forest for the trees? For that matter, why am I having to spill out such thoughts, as if I too must feel a need to state the obvious. 

Brooks writes that until four years ago, there was a "floor of decency." He writes "even when people did bad things, they at least tried to pretend that they were good, that they operated according to the basic values of society." 

We took this "floor" of behavior for granted. Heavens, my late parents certainly did. The floor was assumed "like the sidewalk you step on when you walk down the street," Brooks wrote. 

Trump comes along and begins teasing opponents with junior high-level wisecracks about their appearance. And on and on. And we take seriously his re-election efforts, like he actually has a chance to "tweet" the next four years for a national audience. Even on Sunday. 

Brooks recalled thinking that the nation would rise up "in moral revulsion." But as we all know, and as Brooks articulated, "nothing happened." Nothing ever happens to reign in the preposterous or even illegal stuff. We ought to be scared as hell.

  

My podcast for Oct. 31

I invite you to visit my "Morris Mojo" podcast where I express surprise at the fireworks over Morris last night (Friday). I did not know beforehand. It could be kind of shocking. Fireworks over Morris on a cold and windy Friday night in October? The day before Halloween? Oh my. You many click on permalink:

https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/Fireworks-scared-me-last-night-Friday-elrb3d 

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwillyu73@yahoo.com

Dr. Tony Hansen of SCSU: scientific eye w/ weather

Dr. Tony Hansen, MHS '71

It is the very missteps of our society that have elevated the need for genius-level meteorologists. We elect a U.S. president who has called climate change theory a "hoax." He appears to have many cheerleaders out here in western MN. We have become like an extension of the Dakotas. Who needs the "experts?" 

Trump derides Dr. Fauci as "a Democrat" (or at least the president thinks he is, or whatever). Let's simplify issues to Republican: good, and Democrat: bad. Such is the orientation of a large slice of our population out here in western Minnesota. Somehow we have hung on to a congressman who calls himself a Democrat: Collin Peterson. Seems more and more anomalous all the time. He'll probably win again. 

Consider the horrifying wind in Iowa not long ago. Strange stuff is happening with the weather. We ignore scientists at our peril. There is hope, if we should happen to elect Joe Biden. He respects science and would put in place experts to oversee the proper adjustments to what is happening, if it's not too late. Re-elect Trump and it may be game over. 

But Trump defies expectation so much, who knows? Maybe if re-elected he'll announce he's aligned with the Democrats, "Chuck and Nancy." Wouldn't that be incredible? Of course, the mere volatility of the president is what's dangerous in the first place. 

Scientists like Dr. Tony Hansen are the epitome of what's needed now. I did not know him as "Dr." in my background. He was Tony Hansen, Class of 1971 graduate of Morris High School. He played "trap" drums with the Morris High School "stage band." It was actually the jazz ensemble but director John Woell I'm sure felt the world was not ready for "jazz" in mainstream. I have no recollection of MHS music having jazz before 1970. So Tony may have been the first-ever drummer in that mold. Important distinction, Tony. It ranks up there with what you have accomplished since, as a science genius in meteorology. 

 

The discipline gets traction

I'm not sure we ever heard the term "meteorology" much before the mid-1970s. I think many of us were introduced to it when WCCO-TV hired Mike Fairbourne. Before the days of Fairbourne, your "weatherman" on TV was an agreeable sort of guy who felt comfortable in the media. It was more of a communications profession than science. 

Before Fairbourne we watched the agreeable Bud Kraehling on WCCO-TV news. Those were the Dave Moore and Hal Scott days. Oh, and Al Austin with his "editorial comment." Al was left-leaning and not at all like Johnny Carson's "Floyd R. Turbo." Dave was pretty liberal too. Liberal people in general felt their oats in the 1970s. Liberals are on the defensive today. But liberals are the type we depend on to respect climate change and its ramifications. Heaven help us if we have to rely on our local Apostolics. 

I wonder if Tony still plays the drums. He must be 67 years old now, an age which in my youth spelled "retirement." Maybe 67 is the new 57. Or 47. 

St. Cloud State, in middle of Minnesota

Tony comes across as very committed and with cutting-edge knowledge in the spring/summer "St. Cloud State Magazine." Please, no wisecracks about SCSU and the "party" image. Maybe this has become shelved to a large extent. And if so, great! I have blamed the State of Minnesota for allowing things to get out of hand at my alma mater, to where it was hard to deny the frivolous image. 

Homecoming became quite the piece of work. Many of us would want to laugh or smirk at mention of this. Maybe this type of reaction has become shelved too. I remember one year when our UMM brought in an official "poet laureate" to speak at graduation, and she began sharing an anecdote that was set at St. Cloud State. Immediately I thought to myself "uh-oh, we'll hear about the party thing." And that's exactly what happened! To a smattering of amused reaction of course. I thought to myself "dammit, this isn't funny any more." 

 

To put aside the barbs

The years roll by. I am now 65 years old, graduated two years after Tony, and I think over time our perception of MN colleges has escaped the shackles of stereotype. It used to be you could "sell" UMM by deriding St. Cloud State as the frivolous party place. And St. Cloud people would "sell" their school by saying we here in Morris were in a desolate place out near the edge of the world! I would suggest it's quaint now to recall such talk. All institutions of higher learning must have a focused mission and set meaningful standards for all their students. 

UMM and SCSU may not attract the same type of student. So what? Young people vary in their talents and potential. But the State of Minnesota should ensure that all the institutions it supports get maximum respect. Don't laugh. Forget about the infamous "Homecoming riots" at St. Cloud State. Or, all the police blotter info from SCSU Homecoming weekend that the media would salivate over getting each year. Oh yes, it happened. 

UMM and St. Cloud State should actually have a feeling of partnership. Tony Hansen - I can't get in the habit of calling him "Dr." - has quotes in the SCSU Magazine article. The article was written by Anna Kurth. I'm pleased to share a portion here:

 

Professors Dr. Alan Srock and Dr. Tony Hansen have been teaching Numerical Weather Prediction for more than a decade. Two years ago they updated the curriculum to make it required.

"Most of our students were taking it anyway, and there's certainly demand in the field for people who know how modeling works," Srock said. "The field of meteorology is shifting hugely toward data and processing, analysis and visualization."

With satellite technology there are millions of observations now that meteorologists need to get into a computer model and have them output something useful.

"That is one of the big challenges in our field right now, and we're getting better at it, but there's certainly more to do," Srock said.

Hansen agreed.

"We adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of the marketplace," Hansen said. "To meet the needs and to equip the students with skills that will serve them when they need to go out in the world."

The class is helping students learn modeling by teaching them how they can use the software to learn about the weather and how human actions can influence weather in unexpected ways.

This spring students modeled cases such as the influence changing corn hybrids has on the intensity of rainstorms in the Upper Midwest.

With new corn hybrids, farmers can plant crops in much higher density than in the past, and each plant creates more stalks, which requires more irrigation. With increased irrigation more water is lost through evaporation and ends up as higher moisture content in the air. Does that lead to more powerful thunderstorms?

It's questions like these students are able to explore through modeling, Hansen said.

 

Size isn't everything

I wonder how St. Cloud State is faring in the face of the pandemic. Enrollment was already sliding and that's not a bad thing. The doors swung open for massive waves of the boomer-age youth in the 1970s, and it was a mixed bag with outcomes. There will always be a share of students who show the proper seriousness and set the stage for a productive career. It's as true at SCSU as anywhere. 

Facing that reality was the dubious reputation of being a place for unserious students who wanted to party. I can affirm this was not myth. 

Our society determined before the '70s that college opportunity was too limited. So society decided to so something about it. And that's how we got St. Cloud State, amigo. I think the institution went through a catharsis where Homecoming activity had to be canceled. My reaction was that this drastic action only underscored the extent of the problem leading up to it. 

I don't mean to suggest that the problems were confined to one weekend called "Homecoming" because they weren't. People like me who attended a state school in the '70s would probably admit there was a lack of accountability in many places. To the extent that a lot of students needed to be straightened out (or expelled), the instructors weren't fulfilling their role with that. Most of them seemed aloof and pretty uncaring about the rank and file students. They were happy we were there and to get paid for herding us into their classrooms. I think as private money got more and more into the mix, it solved a lot of serious problems. Nothing is worse than a government monopoly. 

 

A background with music, fun

Hansen's colleagues of today should know that he "supplied the beat" for what I'm sure was the first-ever jazz ensemble for Morris High School. They should know he could be a pretty ardent fan of the Morris Tigers teams. I remember a tournament basketball game at another town, where Tony held up a sign that was judged inappropriate. I suspect it was a consolation game because the sign complained of officiating in the previous game. It read "we got screwed." Yes, Tony feels commitment in his heart. 

I'm sure I'm in the dwindling circle of people who remember Tony's mother Daisy as a violin player supreme. She anchored the violin section of the UMM orchestra when the ensemble was brand new. The director was my father Ralph E. Williams, and concerts were at Edson Auditorium, now part of the Edward and Helen Jane Morrison Performing Arts Center. I wish the Morrisons hadn't beaten me to purchase naming rights, seriously. I would have outbid them. But that's water under the bridge or whatever. 

The last time I saw Tony he was here in Morris for a UMM concert at the HFA. We talked briefly. In his high school years he was part of a little group that went on "Dead Beat Soul Society" crusades, like to the old Papa John's restaurant. He played on recordings with "Joe Banana and the Bunch." You might say those were "the good old days." He and I were active musically for the Morris Centennial in the summer of 1971. Morris is approaching what should be its Sesquicentennial. The pandemic might erase any celebration, not that I hear of any celebration anyway. Times have changed. 

Oh, I remember Tony's dad as custodian at the old school. He'll forever be in my memory in his tan-colored (top and bottom) custodial engineer uniform. I remember one day he pulled away a wastebasket just as I was trying to scrape some uneaten food into it. He got really upset. Today I never leave any food behind. We all evolve. 

Society would be blessed if listening to Tony's perspective relative to climate change. Will it happen? Let's see first if our denier-in-chief gets re-elected.

Addendum: Tony was a big fan of the Minnesota Vikings in the Fran Tarkenton years!

 

My podcast for October 23

Yes it's Friday but hardly a time for looking forward to the weekend. The pandemic news is too sobering. Also, the news about how Trump has a chance at re-election.

https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/Its-Friday-in-this-time-of-worry-elg840 

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Tony Hansen is drummer at top-left. This is the Morris MN Centennial "German band," 1971. Your blog host is trumpet player at bottom-left. The other drummer is Tracy Dunnum. Let's go left to right in front: Kathy Graff, yours truly, Scott Groth, Del Sarlette, Lynn Christiansen, Terry Rice, Ken Johnson and John Woell Jr.

Laker volleyball gets going - they sweep Benson

Let's start getting caught up on the world of Minnewaska Area Laker athletics. Initially the fall volleyball/football seasons were on hold. Then an adjustment was made. So we're getting volleyball and football news in the usual fall months after all. 

Is that good? We can't be completely sure if it's healthy for the high-profile fall sports to be underway. Surely the kids and their parents find some exhilaration in this. I suppose it's like a sugar rush. But the current headlines about the pandemic don't seem comforting at all. We all must be cautious and not get fooled or hypnotized by Donald Trump's rhetoric. 

The Minnewaska Area Laker volleyball team impressed greatly at the Benson court. It was a sweep win for the Lakers, scores of 25-21, 25-16 and 25-13. 'Waska came out of the night at 1-1. Let's look at the crowd-pleasing hitting department first: here we see eight kills each by MaKena Panizke and Brecklyn Beyer. This duo was followed by Avery Hoeper (5), Brooklyn Larson (4) and Kristen Glover (3). 

So the Lakers have one player named "Brecklyn" and another "Brooklyn!"

Two Lakers shared the setting load: Britta Nelson who had 14 assists and Haley Shea with ten. Hoeper pounded down two ace blocks while Beyer and Larson each executed one. Panizke was at the fore in digs with 21, followed by Hoeper (16), Avery Fier (15), Glover (10), Nelson (7) and Shea (5). Serve aces: Fier 3, Nelson 2, Panizke 1 and Glover 1. 

For the host Braves, Ellie Moesenthin had the only serving ace. Moesenthin was busy in assists where she led with seven. Adysen Himley had three assists while Marissa Connelly, Lilly Slaughter and Zoe Doscher each had one. You know you're typing info about Benson when "Berens" appears, so it's nice to type Rachel Berens as the hitting leader with four kills. Other Braves with kills were Sarah Brandt, Beth Cain, Kimberly Pagel, Slaughter and Greta Szczur. 

Brandt, Cain and Pagel each had one ace block. Here's the digs list for Benson: Cain 15, Moesenthin 13, Berens 11, Doscher 10, Himley 8, Szczur 6 and Connelly 5. This match was Benson's season opener. 

Man, it's weird to see all this stuff get started so late! 'Waska has floundered in early football. Some snow is falling today so we wonder: what lies ahead for winter in high school? Man, how we'd love to see a normal sports season. So sad if the upperclassmen lose their chance to make a mark. 

However, the prudent course of action might end up being: no-go. Sorry. 

You can enjoy video from some very recent 'Waska volleyball on the "Hudl" site, so here's a link: 

https://www.hudl.com/team/v2/167625/Girls-Varsity-Volleyball

  

Appeal to governor re. sports

A headline from "CBS Local" reads: "Minnesota high school athletes deliver letter to Gov. Walz to let them play sports." Aw, is someone not wanting to "let" the kids play sports? Such meanies. But of course it's a complicated question demanding sober consideration. My church is weighing the resumption of in-person for Nov. 1. If this happens, why couldn't we have had some form of service in the sanctuary all along? 

We must be aware that these institutions - high school and church - have their own survival to be aware of, their viability or even their very existence. I suppose we'll always have high schools but churches are a different matter. Could we see some erosion of sports support permanently? I have personally found that I have lost all curiosity about how the Vikings are doing. That's interesting - I would not have expected it. 

So, high school athletes delivered a letter to Gov. Walz on Saturday, asking him to let them play their sports. "They say the Minnesota State High School League restrictions due to Covid-19 are being unfairly applied, saying they're more restrictive than Dept. of Health guidelines." 

There are no state tournaments for fall sports. Well, there were no football playoffs when I was in high school in Morris. It was at the end of September when the High School League voted to reinstate the volleyball and football seasons. It will be a long winter no matter what happens.

 

My podcast as snow falls

I invite you to visit my "Morris Mojo" podcast for this October 19. Snow is coming down! I express worry about a new wave of the pandemic, then I wonder if the media are "waking up" in time to reveal Donald Trump properly. Here's the permalink:

https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/Is-the-media-too-late-el9l09 

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Just a reminder. . .

 

On band instruments, the manner we all tackle them

The challenging oboe, a "double reed"

You played in high school band? Then you probably remember the classmates who were on the exotic instruments. We're talking oboe, bassoon and bass clarinet. What exactly is the purpose of these instruments? I have no idea but they add texture to the band experience. 

Speaking toward simplicity, I'd like to suggest again that Morris area musicians start a brass band, to be showcased at our Killoran stage at East Side Park. Certainly nothing wrong with this idea. It should have been explored many years ago. Remember, this is Morris where we have grand visions about a lot of things but then shrug about actually making the commitment to make them work. We shrug and say "well, we're going to the lake for the weekend," or "we're going to the Cities," or "I don't have time - why don't you do it?" 

In spite of this norm, a group of self-styled community leaders once thought we should have the Killoran stage constructed. Great in theory, almost nonexistent in practice. So I look at it and simply ask the obvious question: this place was built for a medium-sized brass band, and certainly to accommodate the Morris Community Band. In the last year of our standard Prairie Pioneer Days, headquartered at the park (of course), I'm told the community band wasn't even asked to perform on the stage. The band would be the most obvious choice for playing there. 

So, this fuels the already bandied-about theory that certain influential people here, who occupy their lofty perch by default perhaps, wanted to make the axing of the standard PPD a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is a town where people want to escape to "the lake" on weekends in the warm weather months. Or, to go to "the Cities" when weather turns cooler. They make a living by having a sort of home base here, but beyond that are indifferent if not disapproving. 

The community gave up even having a modicum of stability with PPD when it was moved to fall. It retreated from two days to one, prompting Rae Yost at the paper to rather snarkily report in her lead sentence "maybe it should be called Prairie Pioneer Day." 

 

Those exotic instruments

I remember Robin Dunnum playing oboe in the Morris High School band when I did my time there. The unforgettable Peter Timmons was on bass clarinet. No one is surprised that Mr. Timmons is an attorney today. A friend says with a warm heart "I wouldn't want to get in a legal dispute with him." Peter's mom had political distinction with her commitment to Shirley Chisholm when Shirley was breaking ground in the Democratic Party. 

The Morris community seemed to have more of a 50/50 breakdown then: Democrats and Republicans. I may be underestimating the number of Democrats today but I would say this: the Trump-oriented Republicans are so strident as to be intimidating and scary. Yes we're close to Halloween: scary. "All lives matter." 

The bassoon: I once played with a character named Tom Crossler from Moscow ID who had the bassoon passion. I really think it requires a passion. So what attracts people to these double-reed instruments? A desire to be different? To be sophisticated? The instruments are downright challenging to play. Professor Peter Schickele a.k.a. "PDQ Bach" seemed puzzled by them and did parody of them. 

I started on the French horn here in Morris. Seemed like a legitimate and interesting instrument, but I became incredulous at how it seemed to attract nearly all girls. By "nearly" I mean I was the only exception, as I was reminded when Del Sarlette emailed me an old photo from school band that showed a long row of French horn players, all girls except me. Maddening! Why? 

So when I took up trumpet for marching band, I felt an urge to gravitate more to that instrument which was nearly 100 percent for boys. We were all more gender-conscious then. In 1972 I played in a large band outside of Morris that had a long row of trumpets that reflected the norm: like "token" girls, one of whom I'd say was ahead of her time because she was brash and powerful in her approach. She happened to be attractive too in a feminine sort of way, if that's not sexist to suggest. She had blond hair. She sat next to me! 

By "outside of Morris" I mean, well, Italy, France, England. Rather an exciting experience. 

Sarlette says band directors are known to "not put the preacher's kid on tuba." Naturally, preachers are mobile with their professional commitments, kind of sad when you think their kids must say goodbye to old friends, make new ones. But maybe it's not so bad. 

 

VIP with oboe background

Del got to meet an old oboe player a few days ago. He got a VIP visitor to his music store in Morris. This old oboe player was Tina Smith, who happens to be one of Minnesota's two U.S. senators. Quite a privilege to have her stopping by, and I know Del was grinding teeth some because his political inclinations are not in Smith's direction. Sigh, she's a Democrat. Like I said, the lines are drawn much more firmly today between the ideological camps. 

Del as a businessman says he must defer to Republicans as a rule, but for an oboe player, could he make an exception? Remains to be seen. He was cordial with Senator Smith.

Anyone who claims to have been an oboe or bassoon player gets pigeon-holed permanently. As for bass clarinet, how could someone like Peter Timmons not be pigeon-holed? Just kidding, Peter. A few years ago I was very saddened to learn that my old compatriot Crossler had come down with cancer and passed away. It was a reminder for me that all generations go through the process of losing members to the usual human infirmities. The boomers have gotten no pass. Our musical idols have been joining the ranks of the deceased, e.g. Eddie Van Helen. 

Crossler was an incredible jokester, almost to the point of being a little grating sometimes. That's a fault I can accept and it's something our whole society probably needs more of. I remember as we stopped in Munich for a time and I realized - this was 1972 - there must be a fair number of former Nazis out and around. I was in Europe as a spoiled boomer kid having total fun, so different from why our fathers would have been over there. 

Del reflected on oboe player Tina Smith's visit to Sarlettes Music: "I didn't know how to address the senator - Your Highness? Your Eminence? Senator Smith? - so I opted for the latter, but she interrupted me and said "just Tina." Tina told Del she had a secondary instrument as did I. Tina said she played saxophone for college marching band. 

"We definitely covered the important stuff," Del said. "She seemed genuinely interested in our store's history, and how we worked with schools etc." Tina clarified her position on PPP for Del, where he had been misled by Republican advertising. You mean Republicans aren't sincere and honest? So will Del vote for Tina? That's a tough thing for speculation. I'd like to twist his arm.

 

Addendum: Pat Behm was a bassoon player with the Morris High School Class of 1973. She was the daughter of Principal Wally Behm, the "principal to the boomers." Boomers from every community have a firm recollection of the principal who guided them. And the principals (extant) have a vivid memory of us to be sure, a mixed bag to be sure. We were teeming in numbers, like nothing else before or since!

 

My podcast for Homecoming Friday

We're all thinking of the school Homecoming for this pleasant fall weekend, so I acknowledge this on my "Morris Mojo" podcast. I invite you to visit by clicking:

https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/MAHS-Homecoming-2020-ekr5nk 

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Some milestones maybe not so praiseworthy

Rev. Platz: the first

Milestones and anniversaries get tiresome in the news. We can be reminded that 50 years ago, the Lutheran church in all its generosity (?) began allowing women to become ministers. For the media to trumpet this kind of anniversary is cringeworthy. 

I should elaborate when citing the "Lutheran church." The church or synod that first opened the door for women was the "Lutheran Church in America." Elizabeth Platz became the first woman ordained by any Lutheran denomination in America. Keep in mind that the "Lutheran" umbrella also includes the Wisconsin Synod folks who view the Pope as the antichrist. Let's put aside that synod for the purposes of this discussion. 

In 1970 we also had the American Lutheran Church. Confusing: the Lutheran  Church in America and the American Lutheran Church. Not sure why the separation was needed but such is the quality of church matters. I must laugh too, as I'm reminded of the Monty Python movie "Life of Brian." A group of people took umbrage when someone identified them by the technically incorrect name. So they responded: "We aren't the Judean People's Front, we're the People's Front of Judea." Or maybe it was the other way around. 

The American Lutheran Church made Barbara Andrews its pioneering first female to be ordained, one month after Platz. Platz gained the most distinction just as Jackie Robinson stole the show as the pioneering black baseball player. Robinson played in the National League. The A.L. had its pioneer too, named Larry Doby of the Cleveland Indians. Doby faced the same challenges as Robinson. Jim Bouton wrote in "Ball Four" that being the first black in the American League was like "being the second person to invent the telephone." 

We all remember how Robinson made his historic inroads with the N.L.'s Brooklyn Dodgers. I doubt that a movie was ever made about Doby whose team was the Cleveland Indians. The A.L.'s statement would have been more decisive had the storied Yankees opened the door. But MLB probably felt it was walking on eggshells. The Yankees hesitated on promoting Vic Power, a Puerto Rican, and belatedly went with the safer, more conservative Elston Howard. 

And why, today, should we bestow any credit on MLB or in the case of religion, the Lutheran church, for granting a right that ought to be incontrovertible? And as I have written in the past, Martin Luther King Day can be questioned along the same lines. MLK valiantly did what someone had to do and someone was inevitably going to do, ensure that black people got fundamental rights. Oh it's a "milestone" I suppose, just like for the Lutherans to go with women. 

Women OK in the pulpit? People of color being allowed to play major league baseball? And we wax celebratory about such things, to lionize the likes of Branch Rickey who held the power to see if a milestone such as this might be made reality? How brave! Brave to merely acknowledge basic rights, which never should have been a matter for dispute? 

 

Annual holiday evolves

I feel as though my thoughts on MLK Day are shared. I notice that when the holiday arrives, the media have shifted the focus. No longer is it merely to honor a man who crusaded - rather the focus is on "MLK Day of Service." So, a day to accentuate the ideal of service, which is terrific. But I don't think this was the original intent. It has become embarrassing, just as mainstream Lutherans ought to feel shame about not opening the door to women until 1970. 

I was confirmed in 1970 at our First Lutheran Church in Morris. We have since had women pastors. No one thinks anything of it now. Today in fact, it has become very difficult to obtain pastors no matter what kind of beings they are. Now we have gotten past the barrier when it comes to LGBTQ. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has gotten past it through a painful process that brought hemorrhaging. Us ELCAers don't even bother talking about it anymore. We have merely followed our conscience, declared a prohibition on discrimination, so it's no big deal.

(There is a zero percent chance I can type "hemorrhaging" right on the first try!)

Imagine discussing the ordination of women as a big deal in 1970. I suppose it was at the time. Or else, the door would have been opened sooner. I think the Wisconsin Synod still considers the Pope to be the antichrist. And you wonder why a lot of young people are disillusioned about religion? 

 

Let's return to baseball

There are more milestones I wish to discuss here. Here we're back into baseball and again, color is the focus. The year was 1971, 24 years after Jackie Robinson made history (to be followed by Doby, by comparison a footnote). The date was September 1, 1971. I was 16 years old. The Pittsburgh Pirates became the first MLB franchise to field an all-black and Latino starting nine. 

You know, in the long picture I think the day will come when it's quaint to talk so much about color or ethnicity. It's quaint with a capital "Q" to talk about women being ministers. 

 

The day of distinction for Pittsburgh

The so-called "players of color" were already the foundation of Pittsburgh's team. But it was September of '71 when we got that entire non-white lineup. What is a "white" person? We aren't really white. 

The Pirates had a couple white (non-color?) players go down with injury: Richie Hebner and Gene Alley. So Dave Cash and Jackie Hernandez filled in. Let's emphasize that there was no ballyhoo or sense of ceremony at game's start, none at all. Manager Danny Murtaugh gets tons of credit for saying he was just putting his best players out there.

Remember superstar Roberto Clemente? Or Willie Stargell? Endearing names and images from stardom. Al Oliver recalled that in the third or fourth inning, he was sitting next to Cash and one of them said: "You know, we got all 'brothers' out there, man," and then both chuckled. 

Remember the comedy movie "Undercover Brother?" You might need reminding that "brother" was a term with currency in the 1970s. I think it has died. 

The old race codes, whether formal or understood, were getting harder and harder to enforce - damn them anyway - because our society no longer had a clear breakdown of white vs. black, white vs. "Negro." Jim Crow was going to have to die because of this, if it could not break down entirely for the right reasons. People in the legal profession in the Deep South could see this early-on, I'm sure. 

I think a comparison could be made to the abortion issue today. A prohibition simply cannot be legislated. Blame God if we want: He created us with our mystifying reproductive traits. 

So today we hear about Kamala Harris as a pioneering "woman of color" on a presidential ticket. Good grief, we're proud of this? We're proud of seeing this kind of "first?" Why? 

Oh, the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series! Isn't that great.

 

Addendum: The recently-deceased Chadwick Boseman played Jackie Robinson on the big screen. Some justice was done Larry Doby with the 2007 made-for-TV documentary "Pride Against Prejudice: The Larry Doby Story."

 

'71 Pirates on my podcast

So today my "Morris Mojo" podcast shares more about the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates, world champions. I invite you to click on permalink, and thanks for visiting:

https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/1971-Pittsburgh-Pirates-ekpj0c

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

First Lady not exuberant about Christmas

Brown leaves fall gently to the ground as a sign we're entering fall. The arrival of fall means Christmas is around the corner. Premature to think about it? In this anomalous year of the pandemic, a look ahead is always called for. Our very survival probably should be prioritized over Christmas travels and communications. 

A shame I need to insert "probably." A willingness to compromise the ideal has been suggested all along. Our national leaders have behaved in a way like we ought to have a cavalier attitude about the virus. The president proceeded with his rallies, only paying lip service (at times) to the importance of masks. It was just a grudging acknowledgment of the steps recommended to blunt the virus. 

I told my breakfast companion this morning that someday we'll look back and realize that when this thing first broke, or shortly before, national leaders should have felt it incumbent on them to call for about two months of all-out sacrifice. A total shutdown with masks mandated in a universal way. It would be a supremely inconvenient sacrifice but it would only be a couple months. 

President Hillary Clinton would have implored us. She would have pleaded with her emotional political adversaries to please listen and to put aside all the personal acrimony toward her. She would have pleaded to go on any and all Fox News programs, no matter how hostile the questioning would have been. She would have said "I don't give a rip about ever getting a pat on the back from the American people, in fact I promise to never even publish a biography. I am just pleading for everyone to do the necessary things now, and it doesn't matter how far the Dow might drop on a day or two." 

Silly rabbit, the Dow will take care of itself. The stock market always takes care of itself. It's only the "retail investors" who might get screwed. That's people like you knaves, the clueless masses with their 401Ks that were thrust on them. You don't believe there are lots of sharp folks on Wall Street who can make a fortune because they know how to pull strings even in down times? Looks like the market might fall now anyway. It will likely be worse than if we had gotten the bad news about the virus right away, and been asked to take extraordinary measures. 

Good grief, the golden nuggets of U.S. history have been when our populace has made sacrifices, as with the war effort in the '40s. Americans must be a quite different breed today. Our president was shaking in his boots over a possible jolt to the stock market, i.e. the sacred cow of American life. I strongly suspect our Lord God will not pass judgment favorably on this. We have allowed to pass as legitimate opinion, the thought that "it's just older people dying" as if the books might be closed on their lives anyway. We have opinion leaders like Ben Shapiro talking like this, the same people who railed about the alleged "death panels" with Obamacare. 

And so many of our church pews are filled with people who almost seem to worship Trump - not my personal church to be sure. I could name names from here in Stevens County. But right now, I suppose the focus ought to be on how we can extricate ourselves from the current situation. People in the White House are now contracting the Covid. So we might not usher in the Christmas holiday season in the standard way, as even our churches might be closed or severely limited. 

I reported yesterday that my church of First Lutheran will re-institute in-person on November 1. My breakfast companion clarified that, saying the idea is just under consideration.

Jim Carrey portrays Melania Trump

Such language: why?
How can we celebrate Christmas, based on what Melania Trump has said about it? Well, we can celebrate it while at the same time trying to ignore the First Lady. But so many up-front Christians want to lionize the First Family and the circle of people around them. The cult members can never be persuaded to re-think these matters, not even with Melania's comments coming out. The Trump followers weren't discouraged even when the president described fallen U.S. soldiers from our national conflicts as "losers and suckers." We learn now that the First Lady said "who gives a fuck about Christmas stuff and decorations?" 

Such eloquence. "But I need to do it, right?" she added. 

Well Melania, you can be given a pass for skipping it, if it makes you happy. Don't trouble yourself. 

Bob Woodward's book quotes Donald Trump saying "my fucking generals are a bunch of pussies." What a scumbag. Jim Mattis has said "the president has no moral compass." Well, Trump is just president of the U.S. 

This is extremely dangerous, as the passage of time allows Trump more and more to surround himself with people who mirror his views, do his bidding. Didn't Hitler create the S.S. to do this sort of thing? To keep generals in line or even to execute some of them? When will physical violence start entering the picture? And then Trump holds up a Bible, oh upside down. What a jerk. 

 

Wash mouth out with soap

This affinity Republicans have with the "f" word is perplexing in and of itself. These are people who try to proclaim the moral high ground, but it's just a ploy to get a certain element of the American people to eat out of their hands. They're doing well with that if you look at certain residences around Morris with their Trump/Pence signs and flags - yes, flags up on flagpoles, not little ones pushed into the ground. 

Consider how Republican Congressman Ted Yoho spoke to AOC recently. He was pressured to resign from a Christian non-profit board because of this. His language was in line with the First Lady's, as he verbally attacked the Democrat progressive. Yoho referred to Ocasio-Cortez as a "fucking bitch" as the two lawmakers parted ways. 

These are truly dark times. We may have little appreciation of how much darker they could get, if the "Proud Boys" start feeling their oats, emboldened by the president. 

The news media has been far too gentle. Maybe that will end up being the biggest scandal.

  

Please visit my podcast

My "Morris Mojo" podcast episode for today is about the big news item: Donald Trump has Covid. How will it all play out? We have no idea at present but it's fodder for endless news show discussions. I can't escape my usual skepticism about Trump in my podcast. Please click to listen:

https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/Trump-contracts-Covid-ekgnv4 

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com