The changed media landscape imperils the U.S.

Joe Rogan (youtube image)

I have never listened to this fellow Joe Rogan. In the "old days" of the gatekeeper media, how would he have found a platform? Ditto with so many other commentators who manage to become public figures nowadays. They slip past whatever guardrails once existed. 

So, the guardrails were bad? To an extent they were probably not ideal. They forced you to curry favor with the gatekeeper honchos, to get a job that reached the masses the old way. 

The new system might suggest empowerment. I think all wise people have mixed feelings about this. Don't we all celebrate free speech? We ought to in theory. However, the people who get toward the top of the heap too often do so with rhetorical bomb-throwing. To what extent are these opinions sincere on their part? And to what extent have these people simply learned to appeal to a certain audience? 

You can surmise what I'm talking about, most likely. If you can't, maybe this blog isn't for you. 

I'm thinking of this "Joe Rogan" today because yet again he gets attention on other media. The implication is that we are supposed to pay attention to what he says. He may be a nice, even intelligent person. But it seems you get nowhere in today's media culture if your views tilt left of center sometimes. 

I love her: Stephanie Miller

Right wing ideas "sell" and they are fun to bandy about and react to - would you believe even among the "progressive" crowd? One little example: the Stephanie Miller podcast. Steph has a pretty long and distinguished background. So it's not like she came out of nowhere. I find her program on YouTube - a podcast? - tremendously entertaining. But she seems to have developed a focus of just hashing over the Trump-related ridiculousness every day. So she would seem to owe her current success to the Trump phenomenon. Yes, most ironically. 

So today a top headline on "Mediaite" references this Rogan fellow. The headline tells us that "Joe Rogan encourages listeners to 'vote Republican' due to 'serious errors' made during pandemic." 

Vote Republican! A "name" commentator comes at us with "vote Republican!" Imagine. Meanwhile the people who are inclined to at least consider voting Democrat seem programmed not to get excited by the media at all. It's not central to their lives. They go about their regular affairs daily, so many other personal and family priorities. 

I have actually checked out "liberal" programming using the search mechanism with "iHeart Radio." You know what? Even though I'm inclined to support those progressive views, I find such programming to be boring, unlistenable really. So there's something about the political right that becomes entrancing. 

The people who once ran the gatekeeper media knew human nature, I'm sure. They were quite aware of what they'd call the "crackpot" element out there, the John Birch Society etc. For as long as they held power, they would not allow the extreme thinking to become normalized, as if it warranted respect. I remember being at the Crow Wing County Fair in Minnesota a long time ago, the '70s I think, and seeing a booth that gave out the wacko literature. I took some samples just to explore. I'm sure you'd find this stuff at our Stevens County Fair too. 

Meanwhile the gatekeeper media of old guided us American citizens with a fundamental conscience, one glaring exception being with the Vietnam war. The media held out respect for far too long, for government spokespeople who were trying to rationalize the war. I make a face as I write this. But on the whole, the gatekeeper media exuded wisdom as it was generous in its reporting about civil rights advances. We were persuaded on the need for Federal involvement.

The Voting Rights Act seemed reasonable to a large majority of us. We accepted Jimmy Carter as a president of conscience and high moral character to take over in the wreckage of Nixon. Carter the Democrat, whose brother Billy was the featured guest on "Hee Haw" one week. The heart of "Hee Haw" was right in line with the conservatives of today, the year 2022. 

We're all in the midst of Trump influence, still, not tamped down at all, no matter what comes out. 

 

No love here: Lindsey Graham

Whatever. . .

So we have a U.S. Senator, the wacky Lindsey Graham, saying as of yesterday there will be "riots in the streets" if the Justice Department moves on Trump. Riots in the streets. 

Republicans eventually got a conscience with Nixon. We ought to pray for that kind of phenomenon again, the acquiring of brains by Republicans. Instead we have this daily avalanche of commentary which is connected directly or indirectly to Trump - his phenomenon. It's not a "teachable moment" yet. 

Riots in the streets? Let me repeat: when we begin to see signs of a truly violent uprising, I do not think it will come from the political right. No - surprise - it will come from the left. The ideological part of it will be obscured by the sheer needs on the ground. People will start to feel desperate. We have allowed the Federal Reserve to become the true government of America. It's the central bank. Too few people see this. The Fed is pretending to take on inflation. It is not. To attack inflation we'll need interest rates that are set above the rate of inflation. Ha! I repeat: Ha! 

So when the economic house of cards comes tumbling down, then what? What will Joe Rogan say then? Or Mark Levin? We won't care any more what such individuals have to say. Their "racket" in the media will be ended. They had better be careful or they might be tracked down by the new communists. You know what they did to Mussolini?

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

Kantor gave us a lot of Americana

MacKinlay Kantor

MacKinlay Kantor was a writer who deserves to be remembered better than he is. Kantor gave us a story that was the basis for the best-known movie about scouting, as in the Boy Scouts. Once ensconced in the most pure American tradition/values, the Boy Scouts seem to have crashed and burned. Isn't that something? Really unbelievable. Justified, though, based on the sordid behavior that eventually became known. 

The Catholic Church has at least survived up until now. Scouting, no. But Kantor's story "God and My Country" was the basis for the movie "Follow Me, Boys!" from 1966. Movie was timed to coincide with the young years of the boomer generation. What power we had to determine what was important in our culture. The boomer generation left footprints like no other. But we will pass from the scene like all other generations. 

New values have come into play like gender neutrality. I confess I cannot even follow all the stuff that is happening with gender. But the Boy Scouts? Once a pillar for American wholesomeness, filed away in a dustbin. It was right in line with Norman Rockwell. 

America can survive and maybe even prevail without the Boy Scouts. "Scout's honor" was offered as a humorous line in the movie "Hoosiers," right? As if to suggest it meant nothing. I have used it that way myself, to prompt a chuckle perhaps. 

Let us emphasize that "Follow Me, Boys!" was a product of Walt Disney. In this era, the Disney productions sought to impress various political or philosophical viewpoints. It was subtle, perhaps barely noticeable in the eyes of boomer youth. Now that we're older, we recognize it. The important thing is that we can recognize and react to it. 

You should read the current popular book "Forget the Alamo" to get things straightened out in your head about the Alamo story, to be sure. Walt Disney was anti-communist which is fine to an extent, but people impassioned by this often seem to just be protecting their own personal wealth. The attitude can obviously morph in some dangerous directions. Disney made a myth out of the Alamo and propped up this folk hero Davy Crockett. Coonskin cap. Boys everywhere learned the theme song. In my neighborhood we altered the lyrics to have some fun. 

But whatever, Disney the man and his company had a vision of America that was never really planted in reality. 

The author Kantor was supremely gifted and with a talent for evoking sentiment. I am utterly fascinated by this: Kantor was known for his limited use of punctuation! He shied away from quotation marks too! 

 

The return from war story

I'm thinking of Kantor today because recently I had the opportunity to re-watch the movie "The Best Years of Our Lives." The opening portion of the movie is as sentimental as you can get. I still have to dry my eyes about halfway through that portion. My eyes have to be clear to appreciate the rest. 

Movie producer Samuel Goldwyn commissioned Kantor to write a screenplay shortly after WWII. The theme would be "veterans returning home." Kantor titled his work "Glory For Me." He was disappointed about the title change. Kantor's screenplay or novel was in something called "blank verse." 

The screenwriter Robert Sherwood changed some details. Well, that's the way it goes in corporate entertainment. Kantor did not take all of this in stride. Nevertheless the movie was a boffo success all the way around. Indeed, by any yardstick. 

So I suppose it could not have been done without Kantor. Soldiers returning home: that's the story. So we see their particular challenges. I have enjoyed watching the movie, especially (by far) the opening part, as the three central characters become acquainted with the return home. Then we see the reunion with family/friends. We see adjustment challenges of leaving war, returning to normal life. 

 

The dead don't matter

I am reminded of a poignant comment during the O.J. Simpson trial: "We reserve our sympathies for the living." The masses of war casualties are forgotten because they literally exist no more. They didn't survive to give sanctimonious speeches at Memorial Day programs. We cannot appreciate their "take" on things. Instead we have the survivors. 

I have felt that in an understated way, "The Best Years of Our Lives" takes a generous view toward WWII. Look at it this way: how would the lives of the three men have proceeded if the war had never happened? Dull and full of ennui? Instead the war was the most dramatic possible chapter any young man could have experienced. You just had to survive it. Odds were not super-good of that. 

The military service gave these guys a sense of identity and pride they could not have dreamt of otherwise. In a way, Hollywood put forward a template about "the good war" that made us all more sympathetic to future military actions. Look how the nation was so slow in recognizing the sheer futility of Vietnam. 

Boomer boys like me not only grew up with the Boy Scouts, we grew up with WWII movies, carefully sanitized to not show the full carnage, and with war-themed toys: facsimile weapons, even plastic "hand grenades" that worked with caps for "cap guns." You'd expect all of this to generate some PTSD in our fathers. If it did, it was kept under wraps. 

 

A thread in Kantor's stories

I realized that the two Kantor-inspired movies cited here - "Follow Me, Boys!" and "The Best Years of Our Lives" - have a fascinating theme or commonality. I hugely congratulate the late writer on this. I wonder how many others have noticed this. Here it is: the idea of how a purely chance encounter or impulse can have life-changing results. The three servicemen in "The Best Years of Our Lives" meet in a fleeting way, as they seek plane transportation home after their service commitment. They hop on a military aircraft that has rounds to make. They are headed for fictional "Boone City." Their lives become intertwined. 

And then in "Follow Me, Boys!" Fred MacMurray as the heroic character is playing saxophone with a traveling band when the band bus passes through a typical small town. On main street the character sees a "help wanted" sign on a storefront. Is this the American ideal? He leaves the band, befriends the shop owner and grows into a pillar of the community, gets married etc. And, becomes the iconic scoutmaster. You might say he's a hero like Davy Crockett if you want to subscribe to all that. 

 

Money talks

Whither the Boy Scouts? The Boy Scouts of America reached a settlement with sexual abuse survivors in 2021. The sum was $850 million. And so goes the deconstructing of Norman Rockwell's America, eh? We might pine for an America that in truth never existed, eh? 

Kantor had a fascinating and overall impactful career. I have touched upon just a portion of it here today. His name ought to be bigger. Scout's honor.

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

Wonderful picnic leads into new UMM (UMN?) year

Walkers and runners can have unexpected things come up along the route. I put "walkers" first because that is my thing now, as opposed to the running I once did. Kudos to Kevin Wohlers who is still a committed jogger/runner. Heard the other morning that Kevin might be running for mayor. He is the one person in city government that I have comfort for breaking bread with. 

So on Wednesday, yours truly is taking a late afternoon walk in my usual environs - that includes the outskirts of our UMM campus. Hey, there's a picnic outside of the HFA. Out of curiosity I walked toward it a little. Someone spotted me! It was a UMM staffer with whom I have been friends a long time. So even though I was not invited to the event, I joined the fold with this person who said I could be a "member of her family" for the occasion. 

Such a pleasant surprise and a nice meal too. It was the welcoming picnic for UMM staff. We're getting around to that time: start of new school year. I wonder how enrollment is looking for the new academic year. 

I'm very curious if UMM music will have its concerts at the HFA recital hall. We do not have the full-fledged concert venue that an august institution ought to have. Strange how the public school has that, not UMM. Instead the HFA has this cavernous hallway but a too-small performance site for the music department. We scratch our heads. 

 

That was then

I must remind you: the HFA along with the science auditorium were designed when "avant garde" ideas were the "thing" all over the place. I lived through that, alas. The stranger the idea, the better it was received. It meant you were being imaginative, not locked into old norms. The '70s were a time when shedding of old norms defined the zeitgeist. We are stuck with the HFA.

A friend emailed me some terrific memorabilia a few days ago. It was a UMM music program from a concert in 2004. Way back in 2004! The year does not seem that long ago in my mind. Even 2000 does not seem so distant. Is this a trait of the aging process? I vividly remember "Y2K." How many of y'all remember? I smile as I recall talking to my father the next morning, after the whole thing blew over without incident. Yes, like the Comet Kohoutek.
I asked Dad if our dog "Sandy" showed any apprehension with midnight approaching. My dad chirped "he was snoring." 

The 2004 concert program from UMM (UMN?) included an arrangement of my father's "UMM Hymn." The arrangement was by John Stanley Ross, music faculty member at the time. John Stanley and my father became close. Dad wrote the Hymn for the opening of our august institution. So the "band played on" with the spirited rendition of the UMM Hymn which dated from 1960. 

Dad directed the first-ever UMM music concert in 1960 at the National Guard Armory which then was located where the public library is now. The band played the Hymn on that special day, when the audience was Stevens County 4-H youth and their families. Concert sent a superb message about how UMM would seek to groom a good relationship with community. I don't think that ideal was embraced fully through the years. 

I once mused with Jim Morrison how periodically, Morris would get some new do-gooder community leader who'd make a public proclamation about how the campus and community should have a better relationship. Yours truly and Jim might fall into a cynical mindset, common among journalistic types. Jim might deny that but hey. . . 

People know I wouldn't deny it. I would further point out that to the extent the relationship was not ideal between campus and community, it really was UMM's fault. That's a bald-faced opinion, I concede. 

I can remember the time when students floated around the term "townies" to describe non-UMM inhabitants of this burg. It was not a flattering word, suffice to say. Shall I assume the term has vanished now? Looks to me like UMM students today are (far) more mature and respectful than in earlier times. In the same vein, I'm assuming that UMMers of today are nice and accommodating toward people who come here from other institutions for sports events. Holy cow, I can remember when the inverse of that was so obviously true. 

As I tell these stories today, I sense that a lot of people don't have the background of the remote past at UMM. They might not even believe me. Well. . . 

 

It had to be good

Take a look at the UMM concert program from 2004 that appears with this post. Can't you imagine what a full and delightful musical event this was? 

Last spring the symphonic winds and choir had their big concert in Alexandria. Strangely and sadly, there was no repeat performance here. Stranger than fiction? Was this because the HFA recital hall was too confining in these days of covid? This might be understandable. But the arrangement is very sad and discouraging, n'est-ce pas? 

My friend emailed me a photo of archival quality from the 2004 concert. It's at bottom of this post. You see my father Ralph up front (at left) with Jim Carlson. Carlson was the genius behind the UMM Jazz Festival. He was in vocal music under my father when we had a group go to Seattle for the World's Fair. Don't ever forget the names Williams and Carlson. You can put me aside.

My life has been anticlimactic ever since 2006 when I left the Morris newspaper. Most likely it was a forced departure due to the fallout from the UMM goalpost incident. I got more public criticism than anyone because of this, and I wasn't even there when it happened. Scapegoat, I guess. The nail in the coffin for my career was most likely a letter to the editor from Dr. Busian. He's deceased now. 

I was reminded of ol' Dr. Busian Wednesday night when I saw the surgeon Dr. Sam at the picnic. Is it true that if you were a patient of Dr. Busian, Dr. Sam was reluctant to do surgery on you, might refer you elsewhere? Just asking. You might say "legend has it." 

I thank UMM for having its fine picnic fare available for me Wednesday night. The weather could not have been better. I always see a few familiar faces at events like this. We get used to the turnover.

UMM music: what it's all about

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

Too much Homeric virtue infused in World War II

Perhaps a closer examination is needed of the term "the good war," as a description of World War II. No one takes it literally of course. Not sure of the history of it - maybe it sprang from the disillusionment that came about with subsequent wars. The climax of that was Vietnam. Unbelievable that the U.S. could get sucked into the vortex of Southeast Asia conflict. 

We hear about Korea, but if this military adventure was planned as WWII redux, no dice. So we look back on World War II as being this unique niche of exuberant triumph. Arguably it was nothing short of hell on Earth. Look how crazed the German and Japanese people became. We might view them today as victims or pawns of propaganda. 

This is why I'm so scared at present with what is going on in our United States with the MAGA movement. There are parallels with past uprisings that today are scorned by history. And to think that "evangelical Christianity" has largely given us the Trump phenomenon. We could all take a deep breath and reject this at any time. But the more time passes, the more it seems people get "dug in."

I grew up in the 1960s when the hell of Vietnam got put before us. The media had grown more capable of piercing through the government version of things. We still had a "gatekeeper" media that pushed most of the sheer crazy stuff off to the side. Media is a constantly-evolving organism of course. So while the media was able to open our eyes about Vietnam in an arduous, painfully slow process, it kept morphing and fragmenting to where the gatekeeper seemed lost. So now we see "extreme conservative" media flex its muscles and adjust the tone of America. It pushes in a reactionary direction that is counter to the good sense of most people. 

I put "conservative" in quotes because the people who brandish the term now have polluted it. True conservative philosophy I respect. That would be like Liz Cheney. The Cheneys have gone along a 180-degree pattern from being darlings of the people who call themselves "conservative," to an actual enemy, most likely warranting tight security measures for them. Because, a corner could be turned toward violence again. 

Bad as January 6 was, it took six months for an investigative committee to even be established. Perhaps it makes sense: if the U.S. could be asleep at the wheel during the early stages of Vietnam, just shows how these things can happen. Historians will try to explain someday. We hope the "someday" arrives with the USA still in existence. 

But let's get back on how WWII was "the good war." Strange how the previous world war was pushed way in the background in our consciousness. We'd see the grainy images from WWI - yes, very archival - and the whole thing just seemed so "primitive" with the trenches etc. We heard about the poison gases. The tanks and planes were mere precursors to what was to come. The late author Tony Horwitz talked about "technology to kill with industrial efficiency." 

(The World War I planes could still sink the Bismarck. They were "Swordfish" planes.)

 

On the big screen

The aftermath of WWII saw Hollywood present "the good war" in dramatic terms. The WWII movies of the '60s had a particular quality. They instructed us about a lot that had happened. We were protected from the most gory stuff. Hollywood went out and sought to remedy that with "Saving Private Ryan." Hollywood showed in the '70s that it could present a major Allied failure in an epic picture - "A Bridge Too Far" - with Robert Redford no less. And Sean Connery. 

Before there was "Saving Private Ryan" there was "The Longest Day," the latter being the epitome of '60s-era WWII flicks. It leaves a quite different impression from "Saving Private Ryan." It was Homeric as it projected heroism from the U.S. "grunts." Of course, you could not envision a bigger hell on Earth than what happened at Normandy. 

The Allies sent in troops from the sea which meant there was no retreat. In the U.S. Civil War, "flankers" were sometimes used to keep troops from running. Yes, just shoot the guys. It was considered an extreme measure that endangered morale, but it was used where winning was paramount like at Gettysburg. 

So at Normandy, the masses of young men came off the landing craft and had only one direction to go. "The Longest Day" did not show the extent of the casualties and carnage at Omaha Beach. The movie is careful about showing the troops falling, though we do see this. So many of the troops who fall seem instantly dead, whereas in reality it's harder to kill a human being than that. Once dead, the soldiers become forgotten as the movie moves on to more drama. We reserve our sympathy for the living. 

 

A question of taste

Stop and think: the WWII veterans had an odd detachment from the war's horrors in the years following. Their kids acquired military facsimile toys, for example. 

The vets acted like they had no aversion to reminders of the war's misery. Why would any war veteran family accept a "board game," of all things, called "Hit the Beach?" There it was, a kids' game from 1965. I was ten years old and my own father had served in the Navy in WWII. 

My father just seemed indifferent about all that stuff. You can read about the board game today: "Players control U.S. Marines racing to be the first to island hop to the objective." 

I can't imagine a more harrowing reminder of WWII than the cry "hit the beach." But there it was, a board game. 

Might we view "The Longest Day" as kind of a "cowboys and Indians" movie? Isn't the appeal largely the same? Movies about the Pacific campaign might be a better example. The Japanese could be seen as "the other." John Wayne gave us "Sands of Iwo Jima." Iwo Jima! As nightmarish as Normandy. 

The TV show "Combat!" was a clone of "The Longest Day." It depicted the hellish combat in France. Normandy was just the beginning of all that. 

 

And in war's aftermath. . .

The immediate post-war movie "The Best Years of Our Lives" is just as instructive as anything I'm citing here. Was this the ultimate "male bonding" movie? The opening is so touching: three guys on their way home from the war. They become friends by accident. They're headed for the same city, the fictional "Boone City." 

We are supposed to be touched by their overwhelming camaraderie: fellow servicemen who helped "win the war." They develop a closeness that seems to supersede their own families and friends. They cling to their wartime roles. They develop ongoing closeness. 

So after the movie, I'm wondering about the message here: I'm wondering if we're supposed to conclude that these three guys have a better life because of the military and war, than they would have had otherwise. 

It is said the war pulled the U.S. out of the Depression. If no war, would two of these guys have had a miserable hardscrabble existence? (The third was a banker.) 

The most obvious question we should ask: what of the many soldiers who never made it back? No movie could be made about them, no "best years" lying ahead for them. We forget about them, just as we forget about the soldiers killed on the big screen. The story moves on, we focus on those still surviving. We reserve our sympathy for the living. 

I cannot fathom how WWII vets countenanced stuff like the board game "Hit the Beach." But then again, so much around us is inscrutable. Think of MAGA now. We are so human an animal.

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

Walorski, 3 others done in by distracted driving?

Jackie Walorski (facebook image)

Am beginning to wonder about political types and their ability to drive cars. I am serious. People in politics are so plugged in with communications. There are those cotton pickin' "texts" that demand attention. 

I personally have never gotten into texting. I'm holding steady with a laptop computer, and am quite satisfied. No cotton pickin' "phone" with its mesmerizing effect. 

Political types have to know everything, all the time. They are always looking for an advantage, frankly seeking gossip while in effect drooling. 

All of this might seem harmless, right? I suppose political people find it advantageous to be in the know. That South Dakota attorney general who looks so pathetic now, now that he has been thrown out of office: heaven knows how much ground he was covering with electronic devices on the night when he struck and killed a pedestrian. I guess investigators couldn't prove he was distracted at the precise moment of impact. He had been consuming a conspiracy blog about "Biden and China." 

See? This is the sort of thing I'm talking about. And why am I bringing it up now? Well, it's in the wake of the horrific traffic accident in Indiana. It's disturbing in so many ways. Certainly it illustrates the "frailty of life." And, how we need to give thanks for every day the Lord gives us. 

Remember the abrupt way the main characters of "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry" died? So haunting to consider, as we leave the movie theater: all four of those people, so alive and buzzing one minute, stone cold dead the next. It was an auto mishap with the driver (Peter Fonda) driving carelessly. Driving distracted is driving careless. Some people are arguing it's just as big a hazard as drunk driving, maybe worse. I'd be receptive to the "worse" argument. 

I am so much more careful riding my bike along roads than I used to be. Never again will I ride along a state highway shoulder. Such is life in 2022: ubiquitous means of surfing news and exchanging comments. And when you're in politics, my God the temptation to stay on top of everything. 

 

My take

I will venture to say that distractions were what took the life of U.S. Congressman Jackie Walorski of Indiana. Must confess: I had never heard of her. She was a Republican. So important to know that nowadays: "red" or "blue." Will we get over this at some point? Walorski and two of her staff members died on Wednesday, Aug. 3, in northern Indiana. They collided with a vehicle whose driver was also killed. 

I have read that seat belts were in use and air bags deployed. Four people killed anyway? What a collision it must have been, a lot like the closing scene of the 1970s movie I cited. Pow! Your life ends. No way to prepare, to lay the groundwork with God or loved ones. 

So we all wonder: did the four just wake up in the afterlife? One minute the Walorski party was so absorbed in their professional/political lives, then it's snuffed out in one big crash. Makes us all want to hug our loved ones, to say an extra little prayer in church. God ordains all this. 

The congressional group was in an SUV. There was a puzzling and horrific misstatement of facts at the start. It was reported initially from law enforcement that the other vehicle, driven by Edith Schmucker, crossed the center line to cause the accident. Erratum. But why? Did authorities just want to give the benefit of the doubt to the congressperson? A pox on them, if this is the case. 

The estate for Ms. Schmucker ought to consider suing the authorities. As of Friday, some news reports were still online with the wrong info. Did authorities want to give Walorski the benefit of the doubt because she's a Republican? That is the way some people in this country behave now. But this is speculation. 

The Elkhart County Sheriff's Department is at issue here. On Thursday these gumshoes released a statement saying that "the preliminary determination of which direction the vehicles were traveling was incorrect." A mistake? Not sure I buy that. I think it was eagerness to promote sympathy for Walorski and her staff. As for Ms. Schmucker, well I guess she was just a face in the crowd, you might say collateral damage. Yes that's blunt. But political forces are so strong these days. 

(wsbt 22 image)

Looks like the blame falls on the deceased Zachary Potts, age 27, who "crossed the center line for unknown reasons in a rural area near Wakarusa." Potts was Walorski's district director and - sigh - the Republican chairman for northern Indiana's St. Joseph County. The South Dakota attorney general was an ambitious Republican too. 

So Potts lost his life along with Emma Thomson, 28, of Washington D.C., communications director. Communications! Rather the lifeblood for politicos. 

My strong suspicion - I repeat - is that distracted driving was at play here. Unless you want to believe the guy was dozing off or something. There was a "roundabout" in the vicinity? Hmmm. 

 

Priorities

People fail to realize the power of a motor vehicle as it speeds along. Put aside your communications temptation, relax and just drive the damn car. All your political thoughts of the moment will mean nothing if your concentration lapses. 

I have a hard time typing "Walorski" without confirming the damn spelling every time. She was obscure which leads me to think she was just a "yes person" for Kevin McCarthy in the House. 

As time goes on, my blood just boils over how the late Ms. Schmucker was treated in the aftermath. We see bio capsules of the three others in various places like "Politico." Schmucker's life had the same value. Plus she was totally smeared in the immediate aftermath of the accident. 

So there will be a "special election" now. How untoward to even focus on that. 

Law enforcement needs to come up with more disincentives for using electronic communications when driving. The punishment must become more harsh. The danger is worse than DWI. 

Rest in peace? Well for sure, yes. And I would begin that list with Ms. Schmucker. 

Walorski reportedly had a good sense of humor. Well, she can display that in heaven now.

 

Addendum: The Politico article reported that Walorski was "an advocate for children and families." Really? Who wouldn't be an advocate for children and families? The article also described her as "an influential voice for women." Really? HOW was she an influential voice for women? Did she favor women's reproductive health rights?

 

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

The Apple River stabbings: less than clear facts

The tubing pastime (matador image)

A reason why true crime stories can grip us: too many blanks left to fill in. An initial report in the media can almost seem like a disservice: too sketchy. Problem is, a few tantalizing details get tossed out but they are grossly insufficient. You consume an article like this, then search voraciously for more, often with less than complete satisfaction. 

I view the notorious tragic Apple River incident in this light. The initial reports left us with furrowed brow as we tried to reconstruct in our minds. So futile was this, it leaves us wondering if law enforcement should make public statements at all, until a more complete picture emerges. 

The story reached the New York Times. Like it or not, some of the people involved in the incident could end up in a fishbowl. Some of the people are seriously hurt or dead. One fatality actually, as of today (August 5). 

How? All this happened amidst "tubing" fun on the Apple River. The Apple River in Wisconsin is a magnet for this kind of activity. I have often heard of "tubing" but never participated in it. What could be more harmless than going out for an outing of this type? Let's chalk up the July 30 tragedy as a reminder of the frailty of life. The pandemic has already drilled that into us. Would be advisable to take a moment to thank God for every day you have in this existence, n'est-ce-pas? 

How unspeakably sad: a 17-year-old young man from Stillwater being pronounced dead. Other victims went from critical to stable condition, thank the Lord. 

We shout from the rooftop: "How? Why?" 

The New York Times article and other early articles seemed fleshed out: plenty of paragraphs. This did not prevent us from collectively scratching our heads. We tried forming a picture in our mind of what happened. A conflict developed. But how? Why? We got only snippets. The Star Tribune article by Paul Walsh tells us the case vs. the alleged bad guy "leans heavily on a video." Honest to goodness, how was justice ever achieved in pre-digital days? Well, there must have been a system that worked. 

The story gets thick with intrigue where Walsh tells us that some in a group of tubers shoved the alleged bad guy and accused him of "looking for underage girls." So much left unanswered here. Actually, if anyone is going to submit a statement as provocative as the one I just cited, there ought to be more. The person making the statement should be required to provide a basis for how the bad guy was seen to have prurient motives. Being accused of "looking for underage girls" is as bad as it gets, but can this be verified factually or something approximating factually? 

The alleged bad guy's name is out in public - it's Nicolae Miu, age 52. I have a hard time picturing the onset of the dispute, according to the Strib review. Miu's explanation is that he was looking for a cellphone that was lost by a friend. Certainly seems unusual, but. . . He claims that those accosting him produced weapons, hit him, and "were on top of him" while calling him a child molester. 

Whoa, now he's a child molester? We need to know the basis for this deduction. Miu comes across as suspicious. But he is legally presumed innocent. And I would have profound concerns if suspicions were based on Miu being a relatively old person, compared to the tubing norm. And, being alone.

He may in fact be guilty of over-the-top murder. Of course, we seem only in the early stages of piecing things together. Conclusions are so tentative now, it might be best to lay off following the matter - let the investigation proceed. The limited details so far could push many people to flail away with dodgy conclusions. I'd be in that category because we have no choice. 

Isaac Schuman (kare11)

But the magnet for interest here is that it's a true crime story that includes murder. Isaac Schuman RIP. 

The incident happened in late afternoon. The location was close to the Minnesota border, northeast of Stillwater. 

Were all of the parties here on tubes or was Miu on foot? The tubers decided to abort their tubing? Based on what actual observable behavior? An "older man" by himself, doing something that seemed incongruous? Was it something that actually spelled "child predator?" If the person or persons who made that suggestion, to be quoted in the national media, could elucidate, it would be so helpful.

 

Put on my moccasins

I have a special interest here. I happen to be a 67-year-old male who is alone a lot. I have come to sense that my way of life goes against the grain. I am attuned to that. I remember a stand-up comedian who had a routine where he noted that people who go into a restaurant to dine alone are considered strange. The patron is approached by a hostess and he tells her it's a party of one. "One?" The reaction is one of surprise. 

Some people by their nature are comfortable being alone. I am not averse to being with others at all. I was a caregiver for my aging parents for a long time, got focused on them, so my social life atrophied. It has come back to only a limited degree. I switch around with the restaurants I go to, not wanting to become a fixture at any one. "Who's that guy sitting alone?" Well, it's me. Maybe I would enjoy having a female significant other. It's one thing to want that, another to have it. 

So I am fundamentally content, I really am, and would feel disappointed if people became standoffish. Our society has gotten more sensitive too. A few years ago, I was sitting with two friends at McDonald's and recalled my days when I jogged long distances frequently. I told them that at times I came upon small groups of children out waiting for their approaching school bus. I said that in earlier, less tense times in our society, I'd smile and wave at the kids - they responded in kind. But then as time passed and the tenseness ramped up, I kept to myself, opted to not even look at the kids in a situation like this. Which was sad. 

One of my friends imagined a schoolkid going back to his parents and saying "you know, that guy who jogs by here sometimes, he's awfully friendly." "Friendly" might be said with a suspicious inflection. Sad to say, it's best to not take any chances. 

 

Attending youth sports

Oh, and here's a better example of what I'm talking about: By way of background, I used to cover area high school sports for the commercial media. Today I sometimes blog about it. I have a friend who had two daughters go through our girls basketball and other sports programs. After the years passed and I became less well known to the public, it might have been delicate for me to attend games, I guess particularly girls games: if I was an older man with gray hair and by himself. 

With a friend, no problem! No problem at all. But not by myself. And with a camera? Maybe to shoot a couple of pix to post online in the spirit of journalism? Well absolutely not. Heavens! The cops might come running at me. 

Maybe it was the Jacob Wetterling situation that fostered all this. The Wetterling investigation ended up being a story of horrible law enforcement incompetence, investigators protecting their "turf" etc. And the legacy was an extremely jittery public. 

So if a guy is seen along the shore of a tubing river all by himself? Suspicious? Hell, I don't know if this was the scenario or not. We have to speculate at this point. But watch your back if you're an older man who is a "loner."

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

What standard for being deemed "original?"

(image from amazon)

Milton Berle once mused "I know a good joke when I steal one, I mean when I hear one." 

Joke-stealing appeared to be at issue when Mike Barnicle encountered troubled waters with the Boston Globe. He says today it was merely a joke-stealing matter, nothing worthy of weighty consideration. 

Creative people do not do their thing in a vacuum. It would be impossible to accomplish much if anything that way. So once we recognize our own talents, we bathe ourselves in what's out there in that field. Certainly this is not with the idea of "stealing," at least for most practitioners. These people typically talk about their "influences." 

OK so I do some songwriting. I can think of three of my own songs that I would not have written if I had not been "influenced" by a pre-existing song. Allow me to emphasize right here and now: my own songs would pass any test for being original. So even if I were to strike it rich - 100 percent hypothetical - I would be at ease. But there was a certain quality or feel, or even a few bars of chord progression, that steered me toward writing the three songs. 

It's unfortunate that the wonderful art of songwriting is clouded by lawsuits that can fly like confetti. It's a given if you're in the business, I guess. 

Of late the pendulum appears to have been shifting in these matters. I personally welcome this. Certain cases on appeal have been overturned to cut a break to the alleged "stealer." In other words, theft must be identified in more blatant terms now, not subtle. The subtle criterion could drive everyone nuts. The legal system is striving to set reasonable terms so that people with a love of the songwriting craft can keep doing their thing. In other words, with no heavy deterrent from the legal system. 

Katy Perry got nailed by the arcane and confusing criteria - it was mind-blowing - then a judge higher up erased all that. I gather that the problem is with juries. Best to leave juries out of most of these matters. If an accusation reaches the level where it's heard in a formal court setting, then we can assume that there is some sort of similarity between the two songs. A jury will hear both and very likely buy the accusation of similarity. If a lawyer and "expert witnesses" have to go on at length about how it's "borrowing" or whatever, that in itself throws up doubt. 

If someone stole a song, play the two songs in succession and leave it at that, you knaves. Oh, but lawyers are involved. They'll make your head spin. 

  

Say it ain't so

A few months ago we got word that a Christmas classic is in the lawsuit crosshairs. The publicity itself would put someone like Mariah Carey on the defensive. Just as Katy Perry had to feel humiliated for a time. 

The Carey case has special interest because it tests an old truism. Which is: a song title by itself does not bring IP protection. That's "intellectual property." I'm a songwriter so I'm an "intellectual?" Hmmm. 

I wrote a post in response to the Carey situation, suggesting that the lawsuit might not be written off as frivolous. My argument is based on the unusually long length of the song title: "All I Want for Christmas is You." It's a quite specific thought. But even if the alleged "stealer" did in fact re-purpose the earlier title for a new song, the general understanding in music is that it's OK. 

Why would someone try a lawsuit anyway? Money! Yes, when you strike megabucks with a tune, a whole crowd of people out there will see if they can sue you. So here's another try and it might have potential, albeit of the uphill kind. 

 

Lennon's song, its origins

Remember the John Lennon song "Happy Xmas (War is Over)?" Lennon re-purposed an old English folk melody. There is no legal debate on this because songs in the public domain lose any IP protection. If a song is public domain, go ahead and use the melody and craft some new lyrics. It has been done many times. 

"Peter, Paul and Mary" developed their "Stewball" song with the same melody as what Lennon would use. Oh, and I remember the Jamaica tourism promo melody which was exactly the same melody too! 

I believe there was a hangup with using the "Happy Birthday" song in movies for a long time: someone owned it. "Happy Birthday" should be in the public domain just based on common sense. 

 

A challenge

In the wake of the suit vs. Carey being announced, I have a suggestion: a nationwide songwriting competition for everyone to write a new song with the title "All I Want For Christmas is You." Would be fascinating to see the results. Here is my entry:

  

"All I Want For Christmas is You"

by Brian Williams

We feel infatuation

With tinsel and the like

Wrapping paper on the floor

And the Christmas lights

Yes it seems so festive

Songs enhance the mood

But all I want for Christmas is you

CHORUS:

All I want for Christmas is you

Nothing else can match it, it's true

Just to see your smiling face 

And hear your laughter too

All I want for Christmas is you

We leave some milk and cookies

For Santa to enjoy

He has a special something

For every girl and boy

As for me I'll tell you

From my point of view

All I want for Christmas is you

(repeat chorus)

It's not about the presents

Though they can be nice

Yes I like the music 

Making spirits bright

There is only one thing

Truly I behoove

All I want for Christmas is you

(repeat chorus)

I'd like to watch some football

But the times have changed

Now we know the science

What it does to brains

So to heck with TV

I'll just say I'm through

All I want for Christmas is you

(repeat chorus)

 

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