MAHS musical incorporated the Titanic

Most famous ship ever?

The late great John Madden made a resolution to "stay on the ground." Remember his "Madden Cruiser" bus? He had no tolerance for air travel. "Stay on the ground." Reasonable? I certainly wouldn't say it was not. Which brings us to the subject of travel over the seas. And a subject that our popular culture has clutched for over a century. 

The "Titanic" encapsulates the fear we must instinctively have. How vulnerable we are over open water. The Titanic was made of steel. Yet someone argued "she can't sink." This was in the discussion immediately following the collision with the pesky iceberg. The comment brought the retort "she can't float." And we all know the horrific outcome. 

But there were survivors. Their story kept alive the whole narrative of the big ill-fated ship from back in 1912. The irony of so many rich people not being to buy their way out out of this one. 

The reality of different social classes was really brought forward in the most famous of the Titanic movies. Oh but there were multiple movies. We cling to the subject with maybe a macabre fascination. Or maybe it's just a fascination with the fragility of human life. 

 

Respect water

John Madden certainly wanted to protect his life. As for water dangers, many people under-appreciate them. We might not realize until it's too late. A fisherman wearing "waders" loses his footing in a stream. This happened with a physician out east a couple years ago. His waders stayed full of air which had the effect of tipping him upside down. He drowned. Would have been nigh impossible to appreciate this danger ahead of time. 

The Titanic was a big part of the story for the big MAHS school musical. Anyone who missed this, missed a real treat. Unforgettable. 

I sat there feeling inferior because I knew there was no way I could have ever memorized so much material to be in this performance. Maybe we're in Lake Wobegone where "all our kids are above average." Well that's a given, isn't it? 

 

The full deal, yes

The kids onstage were complemented by a pit orchestra. I don't remember any such thing from when I was in school. 

The only Morris musical I remember from the "old days" was "Oliver!" from back in 1970. 1970! Doesn't seem that long ago in my mind. The director was Michael Johnson. He worked closely with the choir director Judy Hjembo. The role of the lead kid was by someone last name of "Flesner." I watched this at the old now-gone art deco auditorium. Couldn't help but reflect back on that after taking in the current "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" at the MAHS auditorium on Saturday, the matinee show. 

Wanda Dagen

The pit orchestra was under the direction of Wanda Dagen. I think I could describe her as a personal friend of mine. I went down front after the show and complimented her. Word is, she stays highly motivated to be band director and will remain so for as long as her physical capabilities permit. Have you ever watched her direct? Great physical stamina, more than yours truly could ever summon. 

I just noticed I have six photos of Wanda saved on my laptop.

I imagine the MAHS band's "holiday concert" is coming up in mid-December. I'll have to put that on my calendar for sure. Andrea DeNardo directs the younger kids. She and I are regular customers of Caribou Coffee in the morning.

Some people lose interest in school activities when their own kids graduate. One of my personal traits is that I am always interested from one generation to the next. I started writing about Morris prep sports back in 1972. This was for editor Arnold Thompson at the Morris newspaper. The kids who graduated then are having their 50-year reunions now. Mine was in the 2023 summer. 

After 50, is there any hope for continuing to have some excitement in life? Well I think so. The key is to thank God for every day of reasonably normal life I still have. If I can't count on the future, I'll savor the present, right now. Who knows what will happen in the United States now with MAGA in complete control? And we just cannot stop it. It's futile, in vain. 

I hate to think of what the worst scenario might be. My best guess is that Trump will essentially take over the Federal Reserve, always seeking a short-term fix with the "stock market," and after that happens it will hardly matter that stock prices are going up, because we'll have hyper-inflation. Just like in Germany which is what led up to the Nazis. 

Am I comparing MAGA to the Nazis? Well, we're getting there. The old order with reasonable and realistic presidents is not coming back. Their flaw was to get us into wars too often. And that was a pretty serious flaw. But now the danger is, shall we say, "existential." 

 

Abraham Hyman

A novel twist

Everyone who attended "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" was given the name of a counterpart, someone who was actually on the ill-fated vessel. We got an actual "boarding pass." 

The name I was assigned was that of "Mr. Abraham Hyman." Jewish fellow of course. After the show we were asked to check with a big display in the entry area to see if our counterpart lived or died on that night in the north Atlantic. 

Because my assigned person was male, I was somber. Then my eyes bugged out when I noticed he survived! Is this a good omen for yours truly? I looked the guy up on Google and he had an interesting life. He was well-known for having survived the disaster. He was a third class passenger. He was beckoned into a lifeboat, No. 14, by an officer. He reached America aboard "Carpathia." 

Hyman traveled alone to Springfield MA where he had a brother, Harry. 

 

Tragedy portrayed in cinema

I have seen all of the important Titanic movies and this includes the "Nazi" Titanic movie. That sounds strange, right? There really was a Nazi Titanic movie and it did not have the kind of sinister messages about humanity that you'd expect. Its point was just to show the quality (superiority) of German filmmaking. 

The "moral" was to point fingers at the U.S. for greed. It suggested that the ship was in too much of a hurry to cross the ocean, to show off as it were. The "good guy" was a German crewmember of course who issued warnings that went unheeded. All of this was benign compared to what the Nazis might have weaved into such a story. 

I heard about this movie and thought at first I'd never see it. But then out of curiosity I searched with YouTube and there it was! Could watch it for free! And so I did! It was a much better quality movie than what I expected. Maybe as good as any. I blogged about it on my primary blog "I Love Morris." I invite you to read:

https://ilovemorris73.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-nazi-titanic-movie-fascinating-relic.html 

 

The story has been re-told since. Enough to make us all resolve to stay away from the boundless seas. Just like John Madden avoided air travel. Stay on the ground y'all.

 

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

Disheartening memories from MHS Tigers' past

RIP "Butch"

People my age can remember certain of our peers "getting caught drinking" and thus having to step aside from sports. No one would much care about this indiscretion if you were a non-athlete. Sometimes it wasn't just athletes that were caught, my goodness it was the "star" athletes.

So, did our Morris have this happen more often than the typical school through the '60s and into the '70s some? I was in school through 1973. We were made very aware of the custom of alcohol consumption. It was such a no-no for us. It seemed rather the opposite for many of our parents. Naturally the young people of the time came to associate "booze" with being "mature." How could we not? 

So many members of the "greatest generation" from WWII would gravitate to bars on weekends. They'd come home in an impaired state. The clamp-down on DWI had not yet started. An erratic driver late at night might have an officer come up to the window and say "are you sure you're in good enough shape to get home?" Today's young people might be incredulous about this. 

But our culture can change in substantial ways over time. "Social drinking" was once quite the thing. Not long ago I heard some commentary on the Natalie Wood incident where she fell off the boat and died of course. Off Catalina Island. What wayward habits these people developed. It was observed that her party had been sloshing down the alcohol. Just to give the cultural context, a commentator said "that's what people did back then." 

And I was 18 years old when Minnesota lowered the age for alcohol consumption to 18. I had my first drink at a place called the "Broken Wheel" in Detroit Lakes. These places would have live bands. We might remember that virtually all of these bands played the Doobie Brothers' "Long Train Runnin' ". 

And what did we get out of all that, my generation? Nothing. It was totally regressive and even dangerous behavior. Society felt 18 year olds had been drafted to fight in Vietnam. Ah, two wrongs do not make a right. So much dysfunction in our lives then, the opposite of today where health and safety have the highest standards. Let's omit the subject of smoking for now. 

I am prompted to think about all this because of an obituary that recently appeared in our Morris media. It was for a fellow who had been a sports standout here. He was a standout during yours truly's junior high years when I became a "fan" of the high school teams. I was enough of a fan to sign up for the bus to Fergus Falls for the season-ending tournament games. 

It broke our hearts when a prime athlete would get suspended, when he'd get "busted" for drinking. 

Seems strange to think back on this now. 

Punishment is supposed to bring some sense of shame. Shame that would help the kid get turned around. But my goodness, with alcohol associated so strongly with adult life and adults' sense of "propriety," how could the misbehaving kids feel shame? I'm sure they didn't. I doubt they even missed their time on the basketball court. More than ever I think they felt like "big men on campus." They knew they'd be missed competitively speaking. Made then thump their chest even more I think. Now their talents would truly be appreciated. 

Meanwhile the team would have to "make do" and more than likely struggle to a degree. And what fun was that for anyone? 

 

Accountability

The problem wasn't with the misbehaving kids, it was with our societal norms that had "booze" associated with adulthood. But instead of accepting blame for this type of standard, society tried to make underage kids feel terrible if they wanted to experiment with the behavior that the adults bathed in. Bring up the subject of drinking in any way, shape or form and you'd surely induce smiles, right? Guaranteed. 

Comedians made hay out of this. Remember the image of Dean Martin? Legend had it Martin would circulate at cocktail parties with his glass of booze-appearing refreshment but it was actually apple juice. He needed to take care of himself to stay on top in his entertainment profession. 

The recent obituary was for a guy who was one of those natural talents in sports. Great on the basketball court even though he was not tall. I remember vividly his first night back after his suspension. I actually felt a jolt of resentment toward him. I thought it as so totally unnecessary for a young person to risk getting kicked out of sports for such a stupid reason. 

Let me add with emphasis that I can remember at least two other prominent Morris athletes in later years who got sidelined. I remember in both these cases the game in which they came back. And my the kids cheered. They cheered as if those kids were heroes. 

Morris legend has it - I emphasize this is mere legend - that an athlete caught a break once when having to deal with law enforcement because of - ahem - his father being a prominent local banker. Oh my we hearken back to the days when the local bank presidents in our outstate communities were bigger than life, icons. The public sensed these individuals could throw their weight around. The son of the bank president of whom I write was one year older than me and was a good guy, not self-important or anything like that. 

Did he catch a break? Stuff of speculation. That's quite beside the point of what I'm writing about here. My thesis here is that society was errant in how it 1) gravitated to social drinking in the first place, and 2) decided we needed "punishment" for kids who felt they needed to sample the forbidden stuff. 

IMHO you couldn't blame the kids at all, their curiosity. And the suspension of star athletes for the supposedly "egregious" behavior of having some booze was terrible. It was demoralizing for all the kids. It was counterproductive. Hey it was stupid! 

But in a time when our government felt it had to fight the Vietnam war, well I guess "stupid" could be the status quo, pilgrims. Here's a toast to our present-day values. Now we'll see if Donald Trump leads us to the promised land. We have to root for him, would be folly to root for the contrary. I have doubts but am ready to just stop discussing politics. Good luck, all.

 

To further elaborate

The recent obituary for Paul "Butch" Ersted got me sharing a recollection or two with a friend who graduated two years before me at MHS. He had all the same memories. He was able to flesh out some in an email he sent to me. Let history be clear on all this! To quote:

 

In addition to Butch being suspended from basketball that year, Rick Lucken was also included in that. Was Steve Loge? I can’t remember. All I know is that the only senior we had left was Mike Schroeder, who was good but couldn’t carry the team. If I remember correctly, that team was supposed to go well into the post-season, but . . . I was at the last game that year (maybe the first playoff at UMM?) and remember Mike fouling out and sitting down with a towel draped over his head. When Scott Groth and another classmate were suspended for the same reason the spring of ’71, Scott and the other guy weren’t allowed to be in band because Wally [Behm] considered band an “extra-curricular” and not a regular class, even though we got credit for it. John Woell protested as those 2 were pretty “instrumental” in our band’s large and small group contest participation that spring, but to no avail.

 

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

Pure free market is not be-all, end-all

"Scrooge McDuck"

"AOC" has said "no one needs to be a billionaire." Let that bounce around in your head. 

Can you even tell me how much a billion is? The purpose of acquiring wealth should be to live comfortably, to live securely. Once you get past a certain figure, are those your real objectives any more? Or, are you trying to exercise influence? 

The influence that can affect a presidential campaign? And why is that so important? You need to defend free enterprise? Because you figure, freedom is how you were able to exercise your talents to get so ridiculously wealthy? Is it all really due to hard work? Or at a certain point do you capitalize on networking with other well-heeled folks? 

Free enterprise as opposed to what? Well, a system where government encourages a little re-distribution of wealth. The ultra-wealthy are revulsed by this. The Republican presidential candidate complements all his absurdities and sheer offensiveness by wanting to assert that the Democrats are "communists." We've heard such talk down through the years. Seems too easy to assert sometimes. 

After WWII we reviled the Soviet Union as "communists," felt we needed to fight communism in various places like Vietnam. 

No one approves of pure communism. Is Vietnam a communist country today? They would say they are. But I have heard analysis that the country is really "nationalistic." Not so cut and dried. 

The problem is that the U.S. right wingers want all this to be simple. Argue for a little more government intervention in our lives, well that makes you left-leaning and then on comes the terms "communism" and "socialism." I think most people see such talk as a caricature. Oh, but maybe not everyone. 

The Republican presidential candidate has so many people eating out of his hands, so many people with blinders on. So many people who have been persuaded that supporting the political right reflects how proper Christians in their church pews ought to believe. 

But what if instead we have been seeing an oligarchy take root? What if the aims down deep are selfish and sinister? 

I feel you must take a broad-minded approach to this. And that means you should listen seriously to what the Democrats have to say. On everything. Be discerning when the Rudy Giulianis of the world talk about the "far left." They're trying to scare you. 

 

Haven't forgotten this guy

Again I am reminded of my old college friend Brad from the Iron Range. He was a Democrat who saw and understood the big picture that I'm trying to lay out here. He came right out and said that conservatives/Republicans are very strong on pure principle. Chalk one up for the right wing. But it does not tell the whole story. 

Brad asserted that even though conservatives were very good at winning political debates - maybe even unbeatable a la William F. Buckley - there's a defect embedded within them. Brad pointed out: they don't care about people. 

And of course the conservatives would absolutely bristle at that, profess dumbfoundedness. As Shakespeare wrote, "they protest too much." They get so aroused we have to wonder if there's something in their subconscious bothering them. A psychologist might say they are afraid of the broad public getting a hint of the truth. They should know that when Democrats win, it may reflect unease with the pure laissez-faire attitude of conservatives. 

My train of thought today is due to the extensive reaction I received when posting a comment to a Yahoo! News article. This is the most reaction a comment of mine has ever garnered. I claim no genius with what I wrote, just maybe some insight based on the experience of being alive nearly 70 years. It has been a long journey. You'll see the comment and some reactions at the close.

 

Idyllic Christian?

And I am astounded by the tenor of the current political campaign. I am astounded by how this very bad, shallow and old person DJT commands so much support, has been able to sell himself as the idyllic Christian even. It makes me wonder about the quality of our education system in America. 

Or, let's weigh the effects of our media world which has fragmented to a stupefying degree. It has fragmented beyond where the old "gatekeepers" are able to enforce any restraint, any discipline in the public conversation. I mean to enforce guidelines with basic decency, a modicum of civility and reason. 

So DJT says "climate change is a hoax." Can we not reject that out of hand? 

There were always oddball political players on the margins in the old days. We'd hear about the Libertarian candidate for example. Interesting ideas those libertarians have. The "mainstream" held firm in the old gatekeeper days. Prime example was the 1976 presidential campaign. We worried about Gerald Ford stumbling, not committing sexual assault or being dragged into court (dragged into court repeatedly).

 

The legacy of this

Today we have DJT and his lackeys out in front of us daily. Don't you worry about how future generations will remember us? As I sit here on the day after Halloween, 2024, I am having to realize that Trump could still win. And then what? Eliminate the income tax and have a 20 percent national sales tax? Tariffs? Clamp down further on abortion? 

The raw free enterprise advocates are largely sticking with Trump or so it would appear. They cannot give ground to any politician who might want to advocate for some redistribution of wealth. Deploy the term "communist." It scares people. Well, that's what the ultra-wealthy want. 

If you study world history you'll see what happens when the underclass gets fed up. Like in France. It's unfortunate and we must be vigilant to avoid it. But these things happen. The communists tracked down Mussolini, killed him and had his body hung on meat hooks for abuse. People can get really ticked off, eventually, when they realize that an unaccountable order has been making their lives miserable. 

The wealthiest people get cocooned so much, they can fail to notice until it's too late. And history can repeat itself. 

 

Franklin Roosevelt

FDR's arm-twisting

FDR had to appeal to his own class of wealthy folks to sell the New Deal and it was not a slam dunk. I have read that only about half of his fellow gilded folks were really willing to go along with it. But that was enough. But what was wrong with the other half? 

It's what I'm seeking to point out here: the wealthy focus on their own comfort and security, never mind the broad public of really challenged folks. Maybe they're saying "let them eat cake." You know what that quote was a part of, right? 

I'd advise the "Scrooge McDucks" to stop throwing around the terms "communist" and "socialist" so much. Get in the real world. Realize that we're all in this together. Oh my, such a statement will probably fall on deaf ears. 

I smiled as I read some of the many reactions to my Yahoo! News comment. I was not surprised, as many took sharp umbrage at my suggestion that history teaches lessons we ought to heed. 

So many people think the "work ethic" will just solve everything - people just pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. Well, it's easy for them to say. Again I quote "AOC" with "no one needs to be a billionaire." 

I sent my late mother on a motorcoach tour to Washington D.C. when the FDR monument was new, I believe not even finished yet. I told her that if this was not on the itinerary, maybe she could ask the tour guide to go there. She succeeded! She took several nice pictures of the place including one of a sculpture that includes FDR's dog "Falla." 

My comment to Yahoo! News:

 

Humanity is always having to be reminded that in order to reduce the wealth gap, the less-well-off have to demand it, as the very wealthy will never give up any of what they have.

 

"Gus" responded:

If you were part of the wealthy, would you willingly give up what you have?

 

"Bryan" responded:

Humanity is always having to be reminded that in order to reduce the wealth gap, the less-well-off have to earn it, as no one wants to give up what they have. 

 

"Kevin" responded:

LOL. Brian the poor in France demanded wealth like you suggest and they got Napoleon. The 1930s Germans followed your advice demanding wealth and they got Hitler. The 1917 Russians listened to you demanding wealth and got Stalin. May Be... just maybe... instead of demanding wealth the less well off should try WORKING FOR IT.

 

"George Washington" responded:

If the less-less-well-off want something then they should work for it. Someone worked hard to get well off. If they decide to pass it on then that's on them and not the government to take it and hand it out like they are tossing candy at a parade.

"Matt" responded:

How do they demand it? Demand it be "given" to them?? I am not "rich" but everything I do have, I did not obtain by taking it away from someone else or demanding it as a "right" owed to me somehow. For one person to become wealthier DOES NOT require another to become poorer. The poor will always be with us, no matter how rich they get.

 

"Bergbros" responded:

Yep, everybody wants a piece of the other person's success. You get there by working hard not by government redistribution of wealth. 

 

"SuperSam" responded:

The less well off should 100% demand jobs, education and opportunities. In a well run free market society the wealthy can keep what they've earned and the less well-off have opportunities to become wealthy and know they can keep what they worked hard to earn for themselves. It's not a zero-sum game.

 

"Rachel" responded:

That's what Kamala Harris at least says she'll do. Trump has promised to make sure the rich get richer.

 

"John" replied:

Progressive nonsense.

 

"Millabout" responded:

And you don't see the "demand" by the less-well-off as greed? Using the government to steal from an entity to give to another does not shield the fact that it is still greed. 

 

"Realist" responded:

Welcome to America, Brian.Since day #1...

"Anthony" responded:

In order to acquire wealth, you work hard, not taking away from wealthy individuals.

 

"Charles" responded:

Demand what exactly? Free money?

 

"Tom Cruise" responded:

The poorest never give it up either. The way to get money is to provide a good or service that’s in demand and be good at it. At a certain point, you can manage others that are good at it. “Demand it”? Sort of. Make sure your good or service is demand-worthy and consistent and you will never have a problem getting money in America. Then you spend significantly less than what you have over a long period of time and you will eventually have wealth.

 

"BigToad" responded:

We have built an oligarchy out of the ashes of the middle class. 500 golden families absorb 95% of all profits from the GDP.

 

"Nick" responded:

It makes sense that those with the most to lose are the most fearful.

 

"Herb" responded:

Correction - "what they worked for" is the reality for most Americans NOT what they have--get a clue.

"Brian" responded:

How about the less well off working hard, waiting to have children until they are married.

 

"Jeff" responded:

Great news for you, Brian; you have the ability to reduce your wealth gap right now. .

 

"Mike" responded:

Why should they give it up? Go earn it yourself. Just because they have the money doesn't mean you can't go make more yourself. Go invent something, take risks and start a business. That is what a lot of rich people do. They have skills, intelligence, drive to get them to a point of being rich. Just because they have a lot doesn't mean you can't go make some yourself.

 

"Bluedog" responded:

Here’s an idea, how about work hard for it and earn your way, some people refuse do just that. Yes a small portion needs a hand out, so what did this administration do? They let in tens of millions of illegal immigrants unvetted and expect hard working Americans to foot the bill. And that is a slap in the face for all the other legal immigrants that went through the proper process and vetting, some waiting years. And I have zero doubt that there was thousands that are hardened criminals which is just the beginning. 

 

"Susan" responded:

That worked out great for the Bolsheviks in Russia and the backers of the CCP in China. They demanded a “redistribution of wealth” only to have oligarchs and party leaders seize all of the wealth and leave them starving for decade after decade.

 

"Bonnie" responded:

And why should I have gone to college, pay my bills, pay my taxes and budget what is left so I can give it away to whoever does not want to contribute but wants a free ride? That makes zero sense.

 

"Lily" responded:

Maybe you need to spend some time in a communist socialist country before you give any opinions of the utopia you describe. Ask any Cuban where they would rather live.

"Jim" responded:

I would rather have wealthy doctors who work their butts off keeping me alive - have as big as wealth gap as necessary.

 

"Russell" responded:

Work harder. Why do you deserve what someone else risks everything in their life to gain?

 

"Paulus" responded:

You are Robin Hood ... steal from the rich and give to the poor.

 

"Jack Frost" responded:

The only way to have true equality is for everyone to have nothing.

 

"Eduard" responded:

You are not quite right. Why should the poor demand? Or maybe they should work more and live within their means. There have already been many examples in history when they took from the rich and gave to those who did not want to work. And the results are also visible. 

 

(The above is just a sampling of the comments received! The moral of the story is that the topic touches a nerve.)

 

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

School board candidates, their pretense, airs

Here's the official photo of our Morris Area School board.

Stumbled onto the "candidates debate" for Morris Area school board last night. It's "Morris Area" and not "MACA," the latter term devoted to the athletic teams. It can get complicated like when referring to tennis which is actually in with West Central Area. 

The parents with kids in sports can learn this stuff fast. For the rest, it can sometimes seem a little head-scratching. And this applies to understanding the post-season for sports too. So much more complicated than in past times. "Past times" in my mind evokes the boomers' young years. Up until 1971, no varsity girls sports. Girls were left totally out in the cold. I mean, can you believe it? Again and again I am astounded thinking about this. 

And for boys we had the one-class tournament evoked with such dripping nostalgia in the movie "Hoosiers." I think it's the "old oaken bucket philosophy" that suggests that past times were preferable to today, which they most certainly were not. 

So in 2024 - this election year for the school board - we have girls and women's sports bathing in the spotlight of attention. It really should have happened sooner. For whatever reason the year 2024 is a huge step for that. And then we take it for granted. As a boomer aged 69 I can offer a lot of perspective. 

And before we drop the subject of "Hoosiers," why didn't we get to know the cheerleaders? They were definitely there. I don't recall a single line spoken by those girls. We have seen a comeback for cheerleading in our MACA system. Got my attention at Big Cat Field early-on this autumn. I remember so many seasons where cheerleaders were a staple of the experience. 

I weigh different interpretations of why it was phased out and why it came back. I have talked with certain people about this. The most "innocent" explanation for the cancellation was the purported unavailability of an advisor. Hmmm. Sorry but that doesn't really cut it with me. We have always been a totally viable school with the commensurate resources. 

The less-innocent reason would be "political." That would be: cheerleaders were "eye candy" from an earlier age when it was boys who handled the serious business of sports - what the public came to see. Cheerleaders were just supposed to help us cheer louder. So it seemed a rather regressive, uninspiring proposition. You might say it was in line with females' role in the "pre-libbers" days. 

Now in the year 2024, while we totally embrace the widened opportunities for women, we have lightened up on some of the old hard-line attitudes from the land of Gloria Steinem or whatever. Steinem's nature/persona would grate on a lot of us now. 

The typical American would watch the movie "Hoosiers" now and get misty-eyed, right? The sheer power of the Republican Party now means we are not wedded to progressive attitudes, even though it's those attitudes that made the development of girls/women's sports possible in the first place. 

If you went around now talking about how "regressive" the concept of cheerleaders is, people would look at you funny. "What's your problem?" 

Best of both the old and the new? Is this Nirvana? We'll see if we really reach Nirvana if the Republicans take complete command of our national leadership. If Trump comes back. If he doesn't, are we really done with him? Will the cult of Trump remain viable all around us? 

 

Board answers to who?

So another school board election is upon us. I'm sure I watched most of the Wednesday night debate/discussion. Everyone seemed to be trying to say the "proper" things so it was rather yawn-inducing. 

My first question or reaction would be: Why was the teachers association putting on this thing? I assume that MATA stands for "Morris Area Teachers Association." 

The school board members do not work for the teachers - heaven help us - they work for the public. And there is always a major risk of a schism between the public and the self-interested teachers. I use the team "teachers union" rather than "association." It is most certainly a union. And only a child would not see that teachers present a self-interested agenda. 

 

The teachers like this

I heard the candidates talk about high standards, accomplishments and goals. The teachers like such talk because it hints that we need such highly-qualified (and richly compensated) teachers because, what would we do without them? I have written before that teachers like to make their courses hard because it gives them a feeling of importance as teachers. 

Teachers have in fact been forced to back off on this. Best illustration: "honor rolls" that are substantially longer than when I was in school. Why on earth did our parents permit a system where maybe only 3-4 kids made the 'A' honor roll? What did those kids know that the rest of us did not? Teachers played mind games with us with how they developed assignments and exams where a majority of us would come up short for one reason or another. 

Perhaps my philosophy of education is winning in the long run. It is winning in terms of practice even though the school board candidates like to talk in such lofty language about things like standards and goals. Oh to hell with that - if I'm a parent I would want the teachers to be primarily gentle caretakers who are not going to shoot down my child's sense of self-worth with boot camp-style discipline. 

Well I'm a boomer and our fathers quite literally went through boot camp for WWII. Maybe they felt there was something to be said for that kind of discipline. These same fathers turned a blind eye basically to what was going on in Vietnam, the escalation and the "body bags." If you think MAGA is crazy today and I do, it can't be any worse than turning a blind eye to Vietnam. 

 

Vote for Steve Just? You should hear him when he substitutes for our pastor at First Lutheran Church. Some church members think he goes over better than the regular pastor. He projects levity and personality. I'm not sure how independent he'd be on the board but I'd give him benefit of the doubt, for now. Let me add that I'll vote for anyone who has a Hispanic name! I find that those people do not put on the usual airs.

 

So as a parent I would want teachers to be fundamentally gentle to guide my child to basic maturity. For most of the kids a solid mastery of reading, writing and arithmetic is going to be good enough. If you want to be a doctor you'll have to seek more. Don't try to push all the kids in that direction, in the name of promoting "all kids have potential for greatness." That's nothing but a sick cliche. 

So much pretense in the statements made by school board candidates. A public school is not out to change the world so knock it off. Take care of our kids, be empathetic with them, impart some knowledge along the way. The kids really will enrich themselves with their electronic devices. Oh yes they will. I enriched myself with comic books. 

And above all, I think our school should lift up the co-curricular phase which I think is even more valuable than academics! Don't you hate the term "academics?" Do you even hear the term "cramming for finals" any more? I would guess that our colleges have backed off on thrusting this miserable experience on kids - colleges need students! Hear that, UMM? Yes, Provost Imholte would roll over in his grave. 

 

Drum roll?

Who will I vote for? First I'll have to make sure it's safe to vote (at the armory) because there could be MAGA poll-watchers there to intimidate. I'd scram if that happens. The MAGA people think they are doing God's work. Yes, God's work to make favorable comparisons to Hitler. Maybe Trump is being substituted for Jesus and God, both of them. I think he's a dangerous, vain, fat fool. 

"Beware false prophets." Oh heck, most of y'all like at Good Shepherd Church will not pay heed. May God have mercy on their souls.

 

Addendum: The board candidates sought such a convivial air with the MATA last night. But remember the whole progression of teachers showing up for school board meetings and complaining with some intensity? Enough intensity that a spokesman accused the board of "lying." A bridge too far. I have seen teacher unions get too big for their breeches through the years. I have seen teachers try to organize boycotts of businesses. The board should never feel in concert with the teachers. Don't find out the hard way. If the North Dakota property tax revolt spreads to MN, we may realize we cannot even allow teacher unions anymore.

 

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